out of any ship, such ship shall not be deemed a wreck. On the 6th December, 1824, the ship Dart, of Sunderland, drifted into Portsmouth without a soul on board; a live cat, however, being found in the cabin, she escaped becoming a droit of the Admiralty, and was given in charge of the sheriff, to be delivered to the owners. SPITAL SERMON. This sermon, yearly preached on Easter Monday at Christ Church, Christ's Hospital, derives its name from the priory and hospital of our blessed lady, St. Mary Spital, situated on the east side of Bishopsgate Street, with fields in the rear, which now form the suburb called Spitalfields. This hospital, founded in 1197, had a large churchyard, with a pulpit cross, from whence it was an ancient custom on Easter Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, for sermons to be preached on the resurrection, before the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, Sheriffs, and others, who sat in a house of two stories for the purpose, the Bishop of London and the prelates being above them. In 1594, the pulpit was taken down, and a new one set up, and a large house for the governors and children of Christ's Hospital to sit in.* In April 1559, Queen Elizabeth came in great state from St. Mary Spital, attended by a thousand men in harness, with shirts of mail, and croslets, and morris-pikes, and ten great pieces carried through London unto the court, with drums, flutes, and trumpets sounding, and two morris-dancers, and two white bears in a cart.t The Spital sermons were, after the restoration, preached at St. Bride's, Fleet Street, but have been since removed to Christ Church, Newgate Street, where they are still preached every Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday, before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen. LION SERMON. A merchant of London,‡ about two centuries ago, went on a voyage to Africa; the ship was wrecked on the coast, and all perished save himself. Exhausted, and deeply impressed with his melancholy situation, he lay stretched on the shore, when to his surprise and fright he saw approaching him an immense lion! Petitioning the Almighty to spare his life, he vowed, in return for such a boon, to give on his arrival in England a part of his wealth to the poor of his parish; likewise, to perpetuate his miraculous escape (should it be permitted him), to leave a certain sum § for the preaching of a sermon on the day on which it occurred. The tradition states, his prayer was heard, the lion looked on him and passed him; he shortly after had the gratifi+ Maitland. * Stow. Sir John Gager, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1646. cation to see a vessel approach; he was taken on board, arrived in London, and fulfilled his vow. At the parish church of St. Catherine Cree, in Leadenhall Street, what is called the Lion Sermon is preached on the day of the aforesaid miraculous escape. "Mighty monarch of the forest Noble Nature beats through thee; MAY-POLES. The May-pole is up I'll drink to the garlands around it; But first unto those Whose hands did compose The glory of flowers that crown'd it. Herrick. London in former times abounded with May-poles,-they were called shafts. Jeffrey Chaucer, writing of a vain boaster, hath these words, alluding to a shaft in Cornhill, near to the church of St. Andrew Undershaft. "Right well aloft, and high you bear your head, As you would bear the great shaft of Cornhill.”* This shaft, or May-pole, was kept in an alley in the vicinity, called Shaft Alley; and on the 1st of May was brought out, dressed with flowers and birds' eggs, and reared up near unto the church, amid the shoutings and rejoicings of the lookers-on. At Gisor's Hall (Gerard's) also, was a long shaft, and which was supposed by the ignorant to be the staff of one Geraldus a giant, but which in fact was nothing more than a May-pole, that was wont to be yearly brought out on the 1st of May, and placed before the door.t A processional engraving, by Vertue, among the prints of the Antiquarian Society, represents a May-pole at a door or two westward, beyond "Where Catherine Street descends into the Strand." Washington Irving says, "I shall never forget the delight I felt on first seeing a May-pole. It was on the banks of the Dee, close by the picturesque old bridge that stretches across the river from the quaint little city of Chester. I already had been carried back into former days by the antiquities of that venerable place; the examination of which is equal to turning over the pages of a black letter volume, or gazing on the pictures in *Formerly Cornhill extended thus far. + Stow. Froissart. The May-pole on the margin of that poetic stream completed the illusion. My fancy adorned it with wreaths of flowers, and peopled the green bank with all the dancing revelry of May-day. 6 "The mere sight of this May-pole gave a glow to my feelings, and spread a charm over the country for the rest of the day; and as I traversed a part of the fair plains of Cheshire, and the beautiful borders of Wales, and looked from among swelling hills down a long green valley, through which the Beva wound its wizard stream, my imagination turned all into a perfect Arcadia. One can readily imagine what a gay scene it must have been in jolly old London, when the doors were decorated with flowering branches, when every hat was decked with hawthorn; and Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Maid Marian, the Morris-dancers, and all the other fantastic masks and revellers, were performing their antics about the May-pole in every part of the city." The May-pole is of Roman origin, and formed part of the games of Flora; but it is mere conjecture as to the period when it was first introduced into this country. WHIPPING OF APPLE-TREES. There are various customs still prevalent in honour of the goddess Pomona, whom it was said presided over fruit. Among others, is that of whipping the apple-trees, in order that they may produce a plentiful crop. This custom is still observed at Warkingham, in Surrey. Early in the spring the boys go round to several orchards in the parish, and having performed the ceremony, they carry a little bag to the house, when the good woman gives them some meal or oatmeal. ETON MONTEM. The triennial custom of the Eton scholars parading to Salt-hill, and distributing salt, originated in the early days of monkish superstition, when the friars used to sell their consecrated salt for medical purposes. The Montem was abolished in 1847, on the representation of the Master of the College to Her Majesty and the government, that its celebration was attended with certain inconveniences. Its abolition was, however, vigorously opposed by many influential persons who had been educated at Eton. SWEARING BY BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLE. This originated in the manner of the Pope's blessing the world yearly, from the balcony of St. Peter's at Rome. He holds a wax taper lighted, a cardinal reads a curse on all heretics, and no sooner is the last word uttered, than the bell tolls, and the Pope changes the curse into a blessing, throwing down his taper among the people. EASTER. Easter-day is distinguished by its peculiar name through our Saxon ancestors, who at this season of the year held a great festival, in honour of the goddess Eastor, probably the astarte of the Eastern nations. Others think it is so called from the Saxon Oster, to rise, being the day of Christ's resurrection. The French call this festival paques, derived from the Greek pascha, and Hebrew pesech, i. e., passover, and whence we have the English paschal, as applied to the Lamb in the last supper. The earliest possible day whereon Easter can happen is the 22nd 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. "Going a mothering," is from the Roman Catholic custom of going to the mother church on Midlent 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. 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. 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, * 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. 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. 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 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 movables and purchases wherever there were any males. COIN OF DORT. Upon the coin of Dort, or Dordrecht, in Holland, is a cow, under which is sitting a milkmaid. 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, |