s disappeared at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and have
not since been in use except in Spain.

Besides the processions of _Corpus Christi_, and those of Holy Week,
there are several others paid for by the clergy themselves, by the
brotherhoods, or by the public, according to the favourite devotions in
the respective localities. The city of Valencia is particularly noted
for its attachment to this class of exhibitions. There is scarcely a
week in the year in which two or three processions are not celebrated
there, in which a great majority of the people take a part. On these
occasions all useful labours are suspended, and the sums which are spent
in ornaments, music, and, above all, in wax, are beyond calculation.
Every individual in the procession carries a wax candle in the hand. The
images of the saints are adorned with great profusion. The balconies of
the houses make an ostentatious display of rich festoons and garlands;
while the presence of the authorities and of the troops, which serve as
an escort to the clergy, the flowers which cover the streets, and the
music, both military and religious, which never fails on these occasions,
form a whole more like a public amusement than any part of religious
worship.

In many of the towns in Spain, and particularly those of Andalusia, there
is a nocturnal procession called the Rosary (_el Rosario_), for those who
compose it go along either praying or singing those prayers of the rosary
to which we have already alluded, when describing this part of devotion.
The Rosary of the Aurora is another procession which goes forth at
daybreak, to the great nuisance of the more peaceable inhabitants, who
are then enjoying the sweets of sleep. In Toledo this nuisance has
reached such an extent as really to be one of the gravest character.
Before the procession sets out, there are certain heralds sent round the
town, each having a bell in his hand which he rings continually, and at
the same time calls out with all his might this doggrel couplet:--

"El Rosario de la Aurora!
Ya es hora! Ya es hora!"

In some places the nearest relatives of some person recently deceased
assemble together, and then all the full concourse are seen directing
their steps towards the cemetery, and there to collect round the grave of
the departed, whilst the relatives kneel at the tomb, and the clergy
recite a part of the office for the burial of the dead. It cannot be
denied tha