of March. It fell on that day in 1818, and cannot happen on that day till the year 2285. The latest possible day whereon Easter can happen is the 25th of April.

66

Going a mothering," is from the Roman Catholic custom of going to the mother church on Mid-lent Sunday, to make offerings at the high altar; and that custom of the Roman church is derived from the hilaria, or heathen festival, celebrated by the ancient Romans, in honour of the mother of the gods on the ides of March.*The offerings at the altars were in their origin voluntary, and became church property. At length the parish priests compounded with the church at a certain sum, and these voluntary donations of the people have become the dues known by the name of Easter offerings.

Easter offerings, says another, are derived from the gifts of the wise men of the east at Bethlehem; a custom which the church of England would do well to consider would be more honoured in the breach than the observance. The following clever and amusing satire on the subject will not be misplaced :

"A few years ago there lived in Lambourne Woodlands one of the Society of Friends. One day just after Easter, the clerk of the parish called upon him for the Easter offerings. The quaker received the clerk very graciously, invited him to eat, drink, and smoke, which was accepted, and the evening was spent very convivially. The clerk was now about to depart, and again asked for his Easter offering, when the quaker replied- An Easter offering! I have never read of such in the Old or New Testament. I have read of the meat offering, the drink offering, and the burnt offering, all which I have made to thee for a peace offering. If thou art not satisfied, friend, there is one more, which I will make for a trespass offering an offering of bitter herbs," casting a most significant look at a bundle of ground ash which was placed upon the bacon-rack, when the clerk, laying his hand on the latch of the door, was glad to make a precipitate exit, without even conferring his official blessing.

TANSEY PUDDING ON EASTER DAY.

The eating of tansey pudding at Easter, and particularly on Easter Sunday, is derived from the Romish church. Tansey symbolized the bitter herbs used by the Jews at their paschal; but that the people might show a proper abhorrence of the Jews, they ate also from a gammon of bacon at Easter, as many still do in several country places at this season, without knowing from whence this practice is derived.

KEEPING EASTER AFTER THE ROMAN MANNER.

Whitby, in Yorkshire, was anciently called Streanshall, and has been always proverbial for its legends. Oswy, king of Northumberland, held a council here in the year 663, to determine on the controversy between those who kept Easter after the British manner, and those who kept it after the Roman, which the monk Augustine had introduced. After the party for the first had spoken, the other insisted in answer, that they kept Easter after the manner

Fosbroke.

of Saint Peter, on whom Christ promised to build his church, and who had the keys of Heaven. Upon which the king asked, if it was true that Christ had spoken to Saint Peter?-which the adverse party allowing, the king swore a great oath, that he would not disoblige this porter of Heaven, lest when he came to the gates he should remember him;-and so established the celebration of Easter after the Roman manner.

CHANTING IN CATHEDRALS.

The practice of singing in Antiphony, i. e. by change or course, now on one side, and now on the other, which is still preserved in cathedrals, was the practice of the churches in the earliest ages of Christianity, and was no doubt derived from the usages of the Jewish ritual.* In the reign of Theodosius, towards the latter end of the fourth century, St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan,† introduced into the churches at that place what is called the Ambrosian chant, in order to rectify the practice of ecclesiastical chanting, which was then falling into great confusion; and St. Augustine, when speaking of his first entrance into the church there after his conversion, says"The voices flowed in at my ears, truth was distilled in my heart, and the affection of piety overflowed in sweet tears of joy." That splendidly sublime composition the Te Deum, is generally attributed to St. Ambrose, though the Benedictine editors of his works do not describe it as his; whilst by Cave and Stillingfleet it is said to have been composed by him in conjunction with St. Augustine; and Usher ascribes it to Nicentius. The method of singing and chanting was, according to Eusebius, first established by St. Ambrose at Antioch, where he had long resided.

UNAPPROPRIATED ROOM IN CATHEDRALS.

A person might enquire the use of a large portion of unappropriated room in some of our ecclesiastical edifices-the answer is, at this time, nothing. But in days when Roman superstition and rites were paramount in this country, it was appropriated to crosscarrying, canopy-carrying, censing, chanting, flower-strewing, and all the other accessories and essentials of the grand pageantry, which distinguished Catholic from Protestant worship. The ut most stretch of Episcopal ceremonial in England can scarcely extend to the use of an eighth part of any of our old cathedrals, each of which, in every essential particular as a building, is papal.

SALIQUE LAW IN FRANCE.

The Salique law, or the ancient and fundamental law of the kingdom of France, usually supposed to have been made by Pharamond, or at least by Clovis, in virtue whereof males are only to inherit. Du Haillan, after a critical examination, declares it to have

* St. Ignatius, who was a disciple of St. John, is generally said to be the first who suggested to the Jewish Christians the method of singing psalms and hymns alternately; dividing the singers into two bands or choirs placed on opposite sides.

+ St. Ambrose was constituted bishop of Milan, A. D. 374, and presided over it till A. D. 398.

been an expedient of Philip the Long, in 1316, for the exclusion of the daughter of Lewis Hutin, from inheriting the crown.

Father Daniel, on the other hand, maintains, that it is quoted by authors more ancient than Philip the Long, and that Clovis is the real author of it. This law has not any particular regard to the crown of France; it only imports, in general, that in Salic land no part of the inheritance shall fall to any female, but the whole to the male sex. By Salic lands, or inheritances, were anciently denoted among us, all lands, by whatever tenure held, whether noble or base from the succession whereto women were excluded by the Salic law; for they were by it admitted to inherit nothing but moveables and purchases wherever there were any males.

VOWS.

Among the ingenious contrivances of papal authority and policy, we learn from Erasmus, that vota or vows had been introduced in the thirteenth century, under the pontificate of Boniface the Eighth. Those who refer the origin of this practice to the council of Chalcedon, speak of vota, of a more simple and dispensable kind; but under Boniface these solemn acts were enjoined on princes, to answer the designs of ecclesiastical policy, and were not only obligatory, but indefeasable. When the mind of a powerful but bigotted prince was agitated between hope and fear, on the bed of sickness, or on the eve of battle, he was informed that the prayers of the church would be efficacious; but those prayers could only be employed by the priest, or listened to by the saint to whom they were addressed, on certain prescribed conditions. A monastery was to be erected for a new order of religious votaries, or an extensive domain was to be alienated to those already established. Such is the origin of most of the convents, abbeys, and other temporalities of the papal church.

COIN OF DORT.

Upon the coin of Dort, or Dordrecht, in Holland, is a cow, under which is sitting a milk maid. The same representation is in relievo on the pyramid of an elegant fountain in that beautiful town. Its origin is from the following historical fact:

When the united provinces were struggling for their liberty, two beautiful daughters of a rich farmer, on their way to the town, with milk, observed, not far from their path, several Spanish soldiers, concealed behind some hedges. The patriotic maidens pretended not to have seen any thing, pursued their journey, and as soon as they arrived in the city, insisted upon an admission to the burgomaster, who had not yet left his bed; they were admitted, and related what they had discovered. He assembled the council, measures were immediately taken, the sluices were opened, and a number of the enemy lost their lives in the water. The magistrates, in a body, honoured the farmer with a visit, where they thanked his daughters for the act of patriotism, which saved the town; they afterwards indemnified him fully for the loss he sustained from the inundation; and the most distinguished young citizens, vied with each other, who should be honoured with the hands of those virtuous Milk-Maids.

ARMS OF THE COBBLERS OF FLANDERS.

The emperor Charles 5th, being curious to know the sentiments of his meanest subjects concerning himself and his administration,

often went incog. and mixed himself in such companies and conversations as he thought proper. One night, at Brussels, his boot requiring immediate mending, he was directed to a cobbler. Unluckily, it happened to be St. Crispin's Day, or holiday, and instead of finding the cobbler inclined for work, he was in the height of his jollity among his acquaintances. The emperor acquainted him with what he wanted, and offered him a handsome gratuity. "What friend!" says the fellow, "do you know no better than to ask one of our craft to work on St. Crispin? Was it Charles himself, I'd not do a stitch for him now; but if you'll come in and drink St. Crispin, do and welcome; we are as merry as the emperor can be." The emperor accepted the offer: but while he was contemplating their rude pleasure, instead of joining in it, the jovial host thus accosts him "What, I suppose you are some courtier politician or other, by that contemplative phiz; but be you who, or what you will, you are heartily welcome drink about, here's Charles the Fifth's health." "Then you love Charles the Fifth?" replied the emperor. "Love him!" says the son of Crispin; " aye, aye, I love his long-noseship well enough; but I should love him much better, would he but tax us a little less; but what have we to do with politics? round with the glasses, and merry be our hearts." After a short stay, the emperor took his leave, and thanked the cobler for his hospitable reception. "That," cried he, "you are welcome to; but I would not have dishonoured St. Crispin to-day to have worked for the emperor." Charles, pleased with the good nature and humour of the man, sent for him next morning to court. You must imagine his surprise to see and hear his late guest was his sovereign: he feared his joke upon his long nose must be punished with death. The emperor, however, thanked him for his hospitality, and as a reward for it, bade him ask for what he most desired, and take the whole night to settle his surprise and his ambition. Next day he appeared, and requested that, for the future, the cobblers of Flanders might bear for their arms, a boot with the emperor's crown upon it. That request was granted, and, as his ambition was so moderate, the emperor bade him make another. "If," says he, "I am to have my utmost wishes, command that, for the future, the Company of Cobblers shall take place of the Company of Shoemakers." It was, accordingly, so ordained; and, to this day, there is to be seen, a chapel in Flanders, adorned with a boot and imperial crown on it: and in all processions, the Company of Cobblers take precedence of the Company of Shoemakers.*

SELKIRK ARMS.

A singular custom is observed at Selkirk, on the conferring of the freedom of that borough. Four or five bristles, such as are used by shoemakers, are attached to the seal of the burgesses' tickets. These the new made burgess must dip in his wine, in token of respect for the "Soulters of Selkirk." This ceremony is on no account dispensed with. The ancient and received tradition affirms, that the Soulters of Selkirk distinguished themselves in the battle of Flodden, eighty in number, and headed by the town clerk, they joined their monarch on his entry into England. James, pleased with the appearance of this gallant troop, knighted the leader, William Brydom, upon the field of battle, from which, few of the men of Selkirk were destined to return. They distinguished themselves in the conflict, and were

* European Magazine.

almost all slain. The few survivors, on their return home, found by the side of Lady-Wood-Edge, the corpse of a female, wife to one of their fellow comrades, with a child suckling at her breast. In memory of this last event, continues the tradition, the present arms of the burgh bear a female with a child in her arms, and seated on a sarcophagus, decorated with the Scottish lion.

LONDON ARMS.

The dagger, which is quartered in the London arms, was granted by Richard 2d, in commemoration of Sir William Walworth, after having felled Wat Tyler to the ground with his mace, having dispatched him with that weapon. The original dagger may be seen in the hand of the statue of Sir William Walworth, in Fishmonger's Hall.

ABLUTIONS OF THE ROMANS ON THE FIRST OF APRIL.

The Romans on the first of April abstained from pleading causes, and the ladies, in particular, performed ablutions under myrtle trees, crowned themselves with its leaves, and offered sacrifices to Venus. This custom originated in a mythological story, that as Venus was drying her wetted hair by a river side, she was perceived by Satyrs, whose gaze confused her:

"But soon with myrtles she her beauties veil'd,

From whence this annual custom was entail'd.-Ovid.

ORIGIN OF FAIRS.

A fair is a solemn, or greater sort of market, granted to any town or city, by privilege, for the more speedy and commodious providing of such things as the subject needeth. Both the English and French word for fairs seem to come from feria, because it is incident to a fair, that persons shall be privileged from being arrested or molested in it, from any other debt than that contracted in the fair, or at least was promised to be paid there.

It is observed, that fairs were first occasioned by the resort of people to the Feast of Dedication; and, therefore, in most places, the fairs, by old custom, were held on the same day with the wake, or festival of the saint to whom the church was dedicated, and for the same reason kept in the church-yard.

Our ancestors were particularly anxious to make fairs useful to the public, and not, as many suppose, a public nuisance. Fairs are not to be kept longer than the time allowed, on pain of being seized into the king's hands. No merchant is to sell goods and merchandize in a fair after it is ended, under the penalty of forfeiting double the value of the goods so sold. One fourth goes to the prosecutor, and the rest to the king. 5 Ed. 3d, cap. 13. The citizens of London could not carry their goods to any fair or market out of London, before 3d Hen. 7th, cap. 9, but by that statute, they can take their merchandize to any market or fair in England.

BARTHOLOMEW FAIR.

Stow says, that "to the priory of St. Bartholomew, king Henry 2d, granted the privilege of a faire to bee kept yeerly at Bartholomewtide, for three daies, to wit, the eve, the day, and the next morrow, to which the clothiers of England, and drapers of London, repaired, and had their boothes and standings within the church-yard of this priory, closed in with walls and gates, locked every night, and