ent. Later, I ventured out for a walk. Only here
and there could a team be seen, and the throng of pedestrians usually
on the sidewalks in a bright spring afternoon seemed to have deserted
the busy streets, in which comparative silence reigned.

"I am glad there is here _one_ sabbath in the year," was our inward
comment, "even though it falls on a Friday." Easter was a day of
gladness in the churches, though elaborate adornments of flowers and
new spring bonnets were not so prominent as in American cities. The
respectable church communicant, even if he goes to church on no other
day in the year, usually takes the communion at Easter.

Easter Monday was one great gala-day. All Berlin seemed to be in the
streets in holiday attire; and, to our eyes, no other day ever showed
such universal gladness reflected in the faces and demeanor of the
people. "Prayer Day," answering somewhat to the original New England
Fast Day, was solemnly observed in May; and the holidays of
Whitsuntide dress every house and market-stall and milk-cart with
green boughs, and crowd the railways and the steamers with throngs of
pleasure-seekers.

The few weeks before Easter is a favorite season for weddings, and
these are invariably celebrated in church. Even people in moderate
circumstances make much display at the church ceremony, with or
without an additional celebration at home. We were invited to one at
the Garrison Church, which the soldiers attend, and where most of the
pews on the main floor are held by officers and their families. We
entered the church fifteen minutes before the hour appointed,--four
o'clock. An elderly usher in a fine suit, with swallow-tail coat and a
decoration on his breast, politely gave us liberty to choose our
seats, as the invitations were not numerous and the church is large. A
few persons, mostly ladies, were there before us, and had already
taken the best seats,--those running lengthwise of the church, and
facing a wide central aisle. We joined them, and while waiting felt
more at liberty to inspect the church than at the service on a
previous Sunday. The Grecian interior was undecorated, except that a
mass of green filled the space to the right and left of the altar,
beginning on each side with tall oleanders succeeded by laurels and
other evergreens, growing gradually less in height, until they reached
the pews in the side aisles. A rich altar-cloth of purple velvet,
embroidered with gold, fell below the cruci