and all this in so plain and distinct a manner, as if he had always dwelt along with them.

In consequence of this discourse, the earl sent a knight, the bishop a clerk, and the abbot a monk, as ambassadors to Maniches, the Emperor of Constantinople, carrying letters and presents from the King. The Emperor received them very graciously; and, after a friendly entertainment, sent them to the bishop of Ephesus, with letters, which they name sacred, commanding him to admit the English ambassadors to see the Seven Sleepers. And it came to pass, that the prophetic vision of King Edward was approved by all the Greeks, who protested, that they were assured by their fathers, that the Seven Sleepers had always before that time reposed on their right sides, but, upon the entry of the Englishmen into the cave where they lay, their bodies confirmed the truth of the foreign vision and prophecy to their countrymen. Neither were the calamities long delayed, which had been foretold by the King. For the Agareni, Arabians, and Turks, enemies of the people of Christ, invading the country of the Christians, spoiled and destroyed many cities of Syria, Lycia, and the Lesser and Greater Asias, and, among the rest, depopulated Ephesus, and even the holy city of Jerusalem.'

The newspaper which is published at Bangor, under the title of North-Wales Gazette, reflects great credit on the literature of that part of the island, and is particularly to be remarked for the succession of original compositions, in the Welsh language, which appear in its columns. The following is a specimen :

fat.

THE SLUGGARD'S PRAYER.

The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made Solomon. And the Lord said unto Moses, wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Isracl, that they go forward. Erodus.

WEDDI'R SEGURUN.

Efynnai y Gath bysgod, ond ni fyn
wlychu ei throed.

Gweddiwch yn ddibaid, medd Crist wrth ei ddeiliaid
Am fendith ir Enaid, angenrhaid yw hyn.

Na fyddwch amheuol o flaen eich Tad nefol,

Ond credwch yn fywiol wrth ofyn.

Mae rhai yn gweddio er pan ynt yn cofio,
A disgwyl eu gwrando, wrth geisio 'n ddigudd ;
Ac eraill drwy 'u dyddiau heb weddi na moesau
Yn dderbyn pob doniau a deunydd.

Ar

Ar hwn sy 'n gweddio yn cael ei gernodio
Ac attal oddiwrtho ei wir eisio wrth raid:
Ar llall heb un weddi yn cael ei ddigoni
A llwddiant iw lenwi ci lonaid.

Ni ddichon neb lwyddo er iddo weddio,
Rhaid gweithio a'r dwylo i uno ai air;
Y we thred a'r weddi ynghŷd a wna'i lonni;
Duw felly ddaioni 'n ddianair.

Rhy en vannog 'ym ninnau i ddisgwyl am wrthiau
Heb a fer dun moddau, ond geiriau fel gwin;
Os yn y byd llwyddwn y modd y dymunwn,
Gweddiwn a gweithiwn yn gethin.

Gweddiwn a gweithiwn, ac felly ni lwyddwn,
Ar fendith a geisiwn, ni byddwn heb hon:
Y sawl sydd yn gweithio, ac yn iawn weddio,
Fe dderbyn a geisio yn gyson.

SEGURUN,

In Newcastle, and other places in the North of England, eggs, of which the shells are either coloured or gilt, are given to children at Easter. The shells are coloured with dying-drugs, put into the water in which the eggs are boiled. The children, at Easter, ask for their paste-eggs, as they would for a fairing. Paste,' or' pace,' and Pasche,' are words derived from Pascha,' Easter.

In Coles's Latin Dictionary, Pasche, or Easter egg,' is rendered by Ovum paschale, croceum, seu luteum;' a description which refers to the dying, or staining; but Ainsworth, who was probably unacquainted with what really characterizes the Paschal egg, calls it only Ovum paschale.'

From a book, entitled, An Extract from the Ritual of Pope Paul the Vth, made for the use of England, Ireland, and Scotland, it appears, that the Paschal egg is held by the Roman church to be an emblem of the Resurrection, and that it is made a holy egg by the regular benediction of the priest. The following is the form of benediction:

'Subveniat, quæsumus, Domine, tuæ benedictionis gratia, huic Ovorum creaturæ, ut cibus salubris fiat fidelibus tuis, in tuarum gratiarum actione sumentibus, ob resurrectionem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui, tecum, &c.'-Extract, &c. p. 133. In English,

thus:

'Bless, O Lord; we beseech thee, this thy creature of Eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance to thy faithful servants, eating it in thankfulness to thee, on account of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, with thee, and the Holy Spirit, &c.'

This custom prevails in the Greek church. Dr. Chandler, in

his travels in Asia Minor, gives us the following account of the manuer of celebrating Easter among the modern Greeks: 'The Greeks now celebrated Easter: a small bier, prettily decked with orange and citron buds, jasmine flowers, and boughs, was placed in the church, with a Christ crucified rudely painted on board, for the body we saw it in the evening, and before day-break were suddenly awakened by the blaze and crackling of a large bonfire, with singing and shouting, in honour of the Resurrection. They made us presents of coloured eggs, and cakes of Easter bread.

Easter day, says the Abbé d' Auteroche, in his Journey to Siberia, is set apart, in Russia, for visiting.-A Russian came into my room, offered me his hand, and gave me at the same time an egg, Another succeeded, he embraced me, and also gave me an egg. I gave him in return the egg I had just received. The men go to each other's houses in the morning, and introduce themselves into the houses, by saying, 'Jesus Christ is risen.' The answer is, "Yes, he is risen.' The people then embrace, give each other eggs, and drink a great deal of brandy.

This corresponds pretty much with the subsequent account, of far older date, which is transcribed from Hakluyt's voyages, 1589, black letter. Page 342.

I

of

They (the Russians) have an order at Easter, which they always observe, and that is this ;-Every year, against Easter, to die, or, colour red with brazzel (Brazil wood), a great number of eggs, which every man and woman giveth one unto the priest of the parish, upon Easter-day, in the morning. And, moreover, the common people use to carry in their hands one of these red eggs, not only upon Easter-day, but also three or four days after, and gentlemen and gentlewomen have eggs gilded, which they carry in like manner. -They use it, as they say, for a great love, and in token of the Resurrection, whereof they rejoice. For, when two friends meet during the Easter holy-days, they come and take oneanother by the hand; the one of them saith, the Lord, or Christ, is risen.' The other answereth, It is so of a truth.' Then they kiss, and exchange their eggs, both men and women continuing in kissing four days together.'

Our ancient voyage-writer means no more, it should seem, than that the ceremony was kept up for four days.

Ray has preserved an old English proverb on this subject:

'I'll warrant you for an Egg at Easter.'

Mr. Brand conjectures, that the custom in question was derived from the Jews, who, in celebrating their Passover, set on the table

In the ancient calendar of the Romish church, to which, says Mr.Brand, I have so often referred, I find the subsequent observation on the 25th of March, which I confess myself entirely at a loss how to translate :

'Ova annunciatæ, ut aiunt, reponuntur,

two

two unleavened cakes, and two pieces of the lamb; to this, they added some small fishes, because of the Leviathan; a hard egg, because of the bird Ziz; and some meal, because of the Behemoth; these three animals being, according to the rabbinical doctors, appointed for the feast of the elect, in the other life.

Thus far, the observations adduced are those of Mr. Brand, in his work on Popular Antiquities. It should seem, however, that the origin of the Paschal egg is much more remote, as well as more easy of explanation, than this writer was led to imagine. The Persians, before their conversion to Mohammedanism, reckoned the beginning of the year from the day in which the sun enters into Aries, which is in March. According to one of the ancient cosmogonies, all things were produced from an Egg, hence called the Mundane Egg. This cosmogony was received in Persia, and, on this account, there obtained, among the people of that country, a custom of presenting each other with an Egg, the symbol of a new beginning of time, on every New-year's day, that is, on the day when the sun enters Aries. The doctrine of the Mundane Egg was not confined to the limits of Persia, but was spread, together with the consequent practice of presenting New-year eggs, through various other countries. But the New-year was not every where kept on the day on which the sun enters Aries, or, at least, it ceased, in process of time, to be so kept. In Persia itself, the introduction of the Mohammedan faith brought with it a removal of New-year's day. Among the Jews, the season of the ancient New-year became that of the Passover, and, among the Christians, the season of the Passover has become that of Easter. Now, amid all these changes, the custom of giving eggs at the sun's entrance into Aries has continued. The egg has also continued to be held as a symbol, and the sole alteration is in the prototype. At first, it was said to be the symbol of the beginning of time, and now it is called the symbol of the resurrection. We see, hence, what was the real origin of the Easter egg of the Greek and Roman churches. The Roman church brought it into England.

In Persia, the celebration of the New-year at its ancient season has been revived, and with this, the practice of giving eggs. We are told by Sir John Chardin,' that the Mohammedans of this country would not observe the first day of the solar year, out of opposition to those that persisted in their old country-worship of fire, considering it as consecrated by them to the sun, which they thought was idolatrous, and therefore abhorred all public rejoicing on that day. But, at length, the lucky circumstance of one of their princes happening to succeed to the crown that day, revived the observation, and it is now celebrated with great splendour: the exact time of the entering of the sun into this sign of the zodiac

being observed by their astronomers with great care. And with the greatest joy an old custom is revived, of presenting one another with painted and gilded eggs, some of them being so curiously done as to cost three ducats a piece. (Seven or eight and twenty shillings. Tome 3. p. 191.)

Mr. Brand thinks the egg a sufficiently apt symbol of the resurrection of the body, because, according to him, it exhibits the exclusion of a living creature by incubation, after the vital principle has lain a long while dormant, or extinct.' But is this accurate physiology: Does not the egg exhibit the beginning of life, and not revivification? Is the young bird excluded from the egg after the vital principle has been extinct? Is the vital principle, from the first moment in which it is imparted to the embryo, at any time dormant? The truth probably is, that as the egg had been the symbol of the birth of time, and of the birth of the newyear, so, it was originally received by Christians as the symbol of the birth of Christ, and not of his resurrection. But the egg is given at the season of Easter, and not at that in which we celebrate the Nativity. In accounting for this, we discover a singular refinement in symbolizing. The production of the egg precedes the birth of the young bird, and therefore the egg is less the symbol of birth, than of impregnation. Strictly speaking, then, the egg is not so much the symbol of the birth of Christ, as of the conception. Now, the conception is the fact, which the angel announced to the Virgin Mary, and the annunciation is celebrated by the Church. Under these circumstances, can we not explain the 'Ova annunciatæ,' cited by Mr. Brand, in an observation, in the Romish calendar, on the 25th of March, commonly called Lady Day, that is, the day of the Annunciation? As to the word 'reponuntur,' its explanation, under the view now offered, might possibly be found in the context.

But, if Christians originally received the Mundane aud Newyear egg of the Pagans as a symbol of the Annunciation, how did they subsequently come to receive it as a symbol of the Resurrection? The festival of Easter occurs at a very short interval from the festival of the Annunciation. The symbol of the egg, though less aptly applied to the Resurrection than to the Annunciation, is yet a passable symbol even of the latter; and, from the passage produced by Mr. Brand, it is evident, that the Romish church has, or at least has had, its Ova annunciatæ, as well as its Ova paschale. But the use of the symbol of the Annunciation has sunk in that of the Resurrection, partly, perhaps, through the caprice of fashion, and the forgetfulness of ancient meanings, and partly, also, perhaps, because a symbol of the Annunciation is better adapted to the free turn of oriental language and imaginations, than to the more reserved habits, and severer modesty, of western worshippers. To the twofold application of the eggs, it is possible that the word reponuntur' refers.