The
Vestments Of The Priests Were The Same As Those Worn By Our
Clergymen, And The Commencement Of The Service Also Closely
Resembled The Ritual Of Our Own Church; But Soon This Resemblance
Ceased.
The bishop stepped up to the altar with the candidates, and
performed certain ceremonies; then one would mount the
Pulpit and
read part of a sermon, or sing a psalm, while the other clergymen
sat round on chairs, and appeared to listen; then a second and a
third ascended the pulpit, and afterwards another sermon was
preached from the altar, and another psalm sung; then a sermon was
again read from the pulpit. While ceremonies were performed at the
altar, the sacerdotal garments were often put on and taken off
again. I frequently thought the service was coming to a close, but
it always began afresh, and lasted, as I said before, until four
o'clock. The number of forms surprised me greatly, as the ritual of
the Lutheran Church is in general exceedingly simple.
On this occasion a considerable number of the country people were
assembled, and I had thus a good opportunity of noticing their
costumes. The dresses worn by the women and girls are all made of
coarse black woollen stuffs. The dress consists of a long skirt, a
spencer, and a coloured apron. On their heads they wear a man's
nightcap of black cloth, the point turned downwards, and terminating
in a large tassel of wool or silk, which hangs down to the shoulder.
Their hair is unbound, and reaches only to the shoulder:
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