EXTRAORDINARY RELIGIOUS SPECTACLE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2465, 28 April 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

EXTRAORDINARY RELIGIOUS SPECTACLE.

Thk London Daily News says:—The vicar of the Church of the Ascension, Lavender Hill, the Rev. C. S. Wallace, marked the expiring days of the old year by the representation of a series of Scriptures events by a number of 'sacred tableaux' constituting as it were a Bible lesson illustrated with living figures. On the two occasions in the last week of December the school-room adjacent to the church wa3 crowded by ticket-holders. Tlie_ representation was entitled 'The Desire of All Nations,' and consisted of 14 tableaux supported by certain members of the congregation robed in appropriate dresses. The platform which was fitted up as a stage, was veiled from the ful! gaze of the audience by a filmy gauze curtain, in addition to the usual drop scene, and the whole light of the room concentrated upon it. During each scene the vicar read passages of Scriptu re explanatory and descriptive of the tableaux presented; and while the curtain waadown, a psalm, and, in the cise of " The Annunciation,' ' Ave Maria,' from the ' Christian Year,' were softly sung by the choir. The first scene represented the expresion from Paradise, and Hie central figures, Adam and Eve, clad in skins, assumed a sorrowful and down-cast attitude, while the angel, holding a fiery sword pointed the way out of the Garden of Eden to them. The serpent was shown amidst the tropical plants in the foreground. Next came the birth of Isaac, and Abraham in the hall of an Eastern palace, taking the newlyborn infant from the hands of his servant Hagar ; and Ishmael and attendants in Oriental costumes, filled up the picture. The third tableau represented the deathbed of Jacob, surrounded by his sons. The dying patriarch was iu the act of blessing Judah ; Balaam in sacerdotal robes, blessing Israel in the presence of King Balak. The next scene wa9 effective, the encampment of the Isaelites forming the background, The remaining old testament tableaux were the anointing of David by the prophet Samuel, Isaiah before King Ahaz-ind the appearance of the angel Gabriel to Daniel announcing the coming of the Messiah. The new testament scenes vvere equally redistic. The angel Gabriel, holding a lily in his left hand, appeared to the Virgin Mary ■who was discovered in the attitude of prayer. Then came the visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, accompanied by the singing of the Magnificat. The next tableau, of the augels singing over the fields of Bethlehem and delivering their good tidings of great joy, was one of the prettiest and best scenes. The Nativity, with the child Jesus in the manger and the worshipping shepherds followed. Then came the presentation in tlie temple, where Simeon took the Holy Child in his arms. Herod consulting the chief priests and scribes as to the prophesied birth of a king, nnd the ador ation of the wise men were the last tab