Another dress, which he named "Military," had some resemblance to the
military costume at the beginning of the present century; the hat
was between the old-fashioned cocked-hat and that worn by military
commanders; but, instead of the military plume, it had two upright
peaks on the crown, not unlike the tips of a horse's ears. This hat,
which he asserted cost five pounds, he never wore but on important
occasions.
A mania for _symbolization_ pervaded all his thoughts and doings. His
garden was a complete collection of emblems. The trees--the walks--the
squares--the beds--the flowers--the seats and arbours--were all
symbolically arranged. In the passage leading into the garden were
"the three seats of Self-Inquiry," each inscribed with one of these
questions: "Am I vile?" "Am I a Hypocrite?" "Am I a Christian?"
Among the emblems and mottoes which were marked by different coloured
pebbles or flowers were these:--"The vessels of the Tabernacle;" "The
Christian's Armour--olive-branch, baptismal-font, breastplate of
righteousness, shield of faith," &c. "Mount Pisgah;" a circle enclosing
the motto, "Eternal Love has wed my Soul;" "A Beehive;" "A Church;"
"Sacred Urn;" "Universal Grave;" "Bed of Diamonds;" "A Heart, enclosing
the Rose of Sharon." All the Implements used in Gardening: "The two
Hearts' Bowers;" "The Lovers' Prayer;" "Conjugal Bliss;" "The Hermit's
Coat-of-Arms;" "Gossips' Court," with motto, "Don't tell anybody!"
"The Kitchen-walk" contains representations of culinary utensils, with
mottoes. "Feast Square" contains, "Venison Pasty;" "Round of Beef,"
&c. "The Odd Fellows' Square," with "The Hen-pecked Husband put on
Water-gruel." "The Oratory," with various mottoes; "The Orchestry,"
mottoes, "God save our Noble Queen;" "Britons never shall be Slaves,"
&c. "The Sand-glass of Time;" "The Assembly-room;" "The Wedding-Walk;"
"The Holy Mount;" "Noah's Ark;" "Rainbow;" "Jacob's Ladder," &c. "The
Bank of Faith;" "The Saloon;" "The Enchanted Ground;" "The Exit"--all
with their respective emblems and mottoes. Besides these fantastical
devices, there are, or were, in his garden, representations of the
Inquisition and Purgatory; effigies of the Apostles; and mounds covered
with flowers, to represent the graves of the Reformers. In the midst
of the religious emblems stood a large tub, with a queer desk before
it, to represent a pulpit. His garden was visited by persons residing
in the neighbourhood, when he would clamber into his tub, and harangue
the people against all kinds of real or fancied religious and political
oppressions. He declaimed vociferously against the Pope as Antichrist
and the enemy of humanity; and when he fled from Rome in the guise of
a servant, our old hermit decked his head with laurels, and, thus
equipped, went to the Independent Chapel, declaring that "the reign of
the man of sin was over." He also raised a mock-gallows in his garden,
and suspended on it an effigy of the Pope, whimsically dressed, with
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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