great standing memorial of the first historical event on record after the Creation, namely, the fall of man; and a testimony of one of the main doctrines of Christianity -Original Sin. It is just as I said then. Your first impressions of religion were derived from a thing done, not from books, or prayers, or sermons. Most persons will acknowledge the same truth in some such way. Yes. As children, long before the mind had arrived at any maturity, religious truths were learned by religious customs. John. But the dissenters, as a body, are opposed to religious customs, and yet they are religious men. Vicar. I believe, and conscientiously can say, that I hope and trust there are many religious men among the Dissenters. But we are not speaking of individuals but of systems, and certainly the system of dissenters as such, has done anything but tend to promote true religion; for— saving your presence John-the ignorance, turbulence, ungodliness, and wickedness. of large manufacturing towns, such as the one we live in, where dissenters prevail, is anything but a proof of the value of the dissenters' system. John. Ah, but that's the Church that's done the mischief, not dissenters. Vicar. It is indeed the Church neglected, misused, and perverted by the creeping in of the dissenters' system to the loss of its own. The dissenters in fact, and the dissenters in theory, make up together four-fifths of the population. The Old Church has scarcely a fifth of the people, (I mean, the poor;) really, substantially, and vitally her members. That is the naked truth, John. The dissenters' system has crept into the Church and driven out the Church system, and so, consequently, all have gone on together into one great stream of forgetfulness of GOD. John. You set great stress indeed on religious customs if you say that forgetfulness of GOD is the consequence of neglecting them. Vicar. This is what I say, John: that while religion may possibly be a vital thing in the mind of a highly cultivated intellect, and fully exist in it as an abstract contemplative matter, without any religious customs to back it; yet since the great mass of the world, is not of this highly cultivated intellect, but on the contrary the men and women who compose it are, of necessity, more or less "hewers of wood and drawers of water," i.e., are immersed in the necessities of providing for their daily bread by manual or mechanical labour; and consequently their minds or intellects must be at a very low standard: I say, since this is the case; such a religion as can only depend on intellectual power is no religion for them. Something of an inferior principle (if we may call it inferior when it is GOD's) must be brought to bear on them; they must have something visible to the external senses. It is here that Dissenters, and altogether the Protestant system fails, and must fail, for it has nothing to give: it is here that the Church if she had her way, would "preach the gospel to the poor," which now she confessedly does not. is in this way, namely, by living, breathing, acting memorials of GOD and His wonderful ways, that the Church used to teach, and would now, if permitted, hand down from generation to generation the doctrines of the Gospel. It Here one of the boys broke in with some little degree of impatience. "Please Sir, we dont understand all this; we want to hear something amusing about old times and customs." Ficar. You see John, the minds of the young need tangible realities; they will not enter into speculations. The boys want to hear what I promised I would tell them about the old English customs: so they shall. But first, my boys, remember what we are about. My desire is to shew you how remarkable it is that our forefathers in the Church were so very fond of keeping distinct days and times for all things. They always kept everything in the right place. When they wished to mourn in token of their many times of displeasing GOD; or to keep in memory the remarkable events of our blessed Saviour's death and passion; they did it really in sorrow. Their customs were to be not only signs, but ways of creating the sorrow which they wished to feel. When on the contrary they wished to rejoice and be glad in the possession of their many privileges as Christians, or desired to commemorate the joyful part of our LORD's life, such as His Resurrection; they did it by such customs as would really shew and promote the joy which they inwardly felt: they were not, as we are, a half-and-half sort of people, doing nothing thoroughly: that is to say, they did not make holy days of festivity, and go out in excursion traius for pleasure as we do on GOOD FRIDAY! the day when our LORD suffered crucifixion for their sins; neither did they make Sunday and other festival days of rejoicing, days of mournful monotony as we do by shutting out from the poor every avenue of innocent pleasure such as museums of literature and galleries of pictures, and other such sources of really good instruction and happiness; but they had, as Solomon says, we ought to have, a "time for all things.' Each time had its appropriate observances, and although it may be allowed to our present refined notions, that some of their customs for these religious uses have a very coarse teaching; still, making allowance for difference of times, you will see a great deal of meaning hid beneath their rugged exterior. But let us come to Lent and Easter. The principal days attached to Lent and Easter upon which their customs were observed were the following: 1 Shrove-Tuesday, or the last day before Lent. 2 Ash-Wednesday, or the first day of Lent. 3 Mid-Lent, or Mothering Sunday, the Fourth Sunday in Lent. 4 Passion-Sunday, or the fifth Sunday in Lent. 5 Palm-Sunday, or the Sunday before Easter. 6 Maunday, or Shere-Thursday,-is the Thursday before Easter. 7 Good-Friday. 8 Easter Eve. 9 Easter Day. Boys. Oh! please Sir, let's hear about them all; what was done on those days? Vicar. I cannot tell you all, for that would take a very long time to do, but I will pick out some. Let us see, we have now past Mid-Lent Sunday, yes, and Passion-Sunday too, but there is PalmSunday and the Holy Week still before us; let us speak of those. This year-1857, Palm-Sunday falls upon the fifth of April. Now it would take no great amount of learning to know the reason of the name Palm-Sunday, would it boys? Boys. It was the procession of cur Blessed LORD into Jerusalem, when they strewed the way with branches, and carried Him into the city in triumph. Vicar. Alas! the triumph was only to slay Him with a bitter death a few days after. You are right. But why Palm branches? the Scriptures do not say anything of the palm or any other tree. Boys. Palm is the emblem of victory. Vicar. True, but that can have nothing to do with our LORD, for it was only by the heathens that the palm was esteemed the emblem of victory; and yet strange to say, this is given in an old author as the reason nevertheless. Look at this: "And thus we take palme and floures in the processyon as they dyde, and go in processyon knelynge to the Crosse in the worshyp and mynde of Hym that was done on the crosse, worshyppynge and welcomynge Hym with songe into the Chyrche, as the people dyde our LORD into the cyte of Jherusalem. It is called Palme-Sundaye for bycause the palme. betokeneth vyctory, wherefore all crysten people sholde bere palme in processyon in tokennynge that he hath fighten with the fende our enemye and hath the vyctory of Him." * Boys. What curious old writing that is, sir; it says that it was victory that made the palms. I can make it out so far at any rate. Vicar. Yes it does; but I think wrongly. The fact is true, and so far we all agree, that on the Sunday before Easter it was an old custom for the people to carry in procession branches of palm, and in the Roman Church these palm branches were blessed with a particular and solemn ceremony by the Priest. All this is true, but I do not think it was because the palm was an emblem of victory; for the reason I told you: but I must give you my reason for it. You will remember that the place whence our LORD came immediately before His entry into Jerusalem, was the Garden of Olives. At the descent of the Garden of Olives, they met Him and led Him on in triumph; so that most probably it was olive branches with which they strewed the way. But again,we know that the palm tree was very common in Judea, and most probably grew along the road * Author of the Festiyvall, quoted in Brand's 270 side, planted like the common trees which "Wherefor in holi Chirche this daye in "Besides thy candles up do light, of virtue And willow branches hallow, that they And so it is said, in another book: "The blossoms of the willow come forth before any leaves appear, and are in their most florishing estate usually before Easter, divers gathering them to deck up their houses on Palm-Sunday, and therefore the said flowers are called Palm." There is plenty of proof of this custom scattered through various old books, and specially in the old accounts of the Parish Churchwardens, wherein we find charges made for box tree, and palm tree, and flowers for Palm Sunday; and one curious custom I must tell you, which we meet with in Lanark, a town in Scotland. "A gala is kept by the boys of the * Caxton's Directions for keeping Feasts-quoted in Strutt. Googe Popish Kingdome. Coles' Adam in Eden. Brande's Popular Antiquities. Grammar School, beyond all memory in "And it is still customary with our John. Well, that be good enough indeed. But all that belongs to olden times long long past-Papist times, don't it Vicar? Not fit for us now-a-days? Vicar. Yes. I am trying to shew you what was the ancient custom of PalmSunday. I do not pretend to say that w of this enlightened age are to do such We are very enlightened you things. know, John, now-a-days. The Steam En gine The Factory. The Poor Laws and the Union. The Reformatory Schools, and the Convicts that go about with public tickets-of-leave to commit what crimes So that, of they please, free; all these things prove how very enlightened we are. course, the idea of such teaching of the poor would be an indignity too great to thrust on this present generation! But it is not so very long ago, John, that these things were real customs in the Church of England actually practised. The bearing of palms on Palm-Sunday was one of those customs declared by Henry VIII, in 1536, to be not necessary to be conHe made a protemned or done away. clamation to the effect, that "On Palme-Sunday it shall be declared that bearing of palms renueth the memorie of the receiving of CHRISTE in lyke ner into Jerusalem before His deathe." In Fuller's Church History it is menPalmtioned that "Bearing of Palms on Sunday is in memory of the receiving of man CHRIST into Jerusalem a little before His death, and that we may have the same desire to receive Him into our hearts."* John. But wasn't it superstitious; this blessing of palms, and all the rest of it? Vicar. I am not going to defend every particular of it, nor will I deny that there might have been abuses in it. No doubt there were. But, John, are there not abuses in every thing; yes, even in the LORD's Supper itself. Do not frivolous and worldly, if not wicked men, abuse that holy rite? Are we to abolish it for that reason? No. The bearing of palms, the decking of our churches with the willow branches; the mere fact of doing so, I feel quite sure, did teach in those days, and would teach now in these days, many and many a poor man and woman, who now knows nothing whatever about CHRIST; what He did; how He entered into the holy city on that day; and what, at that particular time, He began to suffer for man's redemption. I say, such a custom if retained, would teach the poor real facts of our Lord's history, of which from sermons they never receive one iota of knowledge within their spiritually starved understandings. John. Well, it may be so, perhaps. Vicar. Yes, more than you think. Boys. Please, sir, won't you go on to tell us more about the days-Shere Thursday comes next. What could that have been? Vicar. No, my boys. I fear we must put that off to another time. You have learnt something about Palm-Sunday at any rate. But I will conclude to-day by telling you of a very curious custom which prevailed-perhaps it may prevail even to this day-in a parish of Lincolnshire, regarding Palm-Sunday. It will not a little amuse you. “There is a very singular ceremony at Paistor Church, Lincolnshire, on Palm-Sunday, which must not be passed over unnoticed. A deputy from Broughton brings a very large ox-whip, called there a gad-whip. Gad is an old Lincolnshire measure of ten feet; the stock of the gad-whip is, perhaps, of the same length. The whip itself is constructed as follows. A large piece of ash, or any other wood, tapered towards the top, forms the stock; it is wrapt with white leather half-way down, and some small pieces of mountain ash are inclosed. The thong is very large, and made of strong white leather. The man comes to the north porch about the commencement of the first lesson, and cracks his whip in front of the porch door, three times; he then, with much ceremony, wraps the thong round the stock of the whip, puts some rods of mountain ash lengthwise upon it, and binds the whole together with whipcord. He next ties to the top of the whip-stock a purse containing two shillings (formerly this sum was in twenty-four silver pennies), then taking the whole upon his shoulder, he marches into the church, where he stands in front of the reading-desk till the commencement of the second lesson: he then goes up nearer, waves the purse over the head of the clergyman, kneels down on a cushion, and continues in that position, with the purse suspended over the clergyman's head till the lesson is ended. After the service is concluded, he carries the whip, &c., to the manor-house of Undon, a hamlet adjoining, where he leaves it. There is a new whip made every year; it is made at Broughton and left at Undon. Certain lands in the parish of Broughton are held by the tenure of this annual custom." THE CROSS OF JESUS. FOR GOOD FRIDAY. Hail to thee, blessed Rood! Hung in His agony. Thou art the queen of trees, O our salvation's sign Thou bearest fruit divine, Where they who hate, and they "O GOD, I LOVE THEE" My GOD, I love Thee, not because Nor because they who love Thee not Upon the Cross embrace, For me didst bear the nails, the spear, A sinner, and thine enemy. Not that I dread the pains of hell, And for no hope that tongue can tell; But so I love, and will love Thee, As thou, O CHRIST, hast loved me, Only because Thou art my LORD, My King beloved, my GoD adored. OUR CHURCH WINDOW. "I joy deare Mother when I see, Thy perfect lineaments and hue Both sweet and bright" "Doctrine and life, colours and light, in one Where they combine and mingle, bring A strong regard and aw." GEORGE HERBERT. One by one the lights are extinguished. The bright glare has all departed. The echoing footsteps have died away, and only the soft twilight streams through the rich painted glass, and the moonlight casts a chequered gleam upon the inlaid floor; faint but beautiful; lighting up the sacred ground our weary feet so often press in search of consolation, with a blending of rainbow hues, reflecting on earth, something of the glory and brightness of Heaven. How holy, deep, and full of meaning are the symbols of the Church; how in every outward type is the hidden reality distinguishable, if only rightly sought for. Little they know of our mother's sweet silent teachings, who scorn her visible loveliness, for to her true children there are contained unutterable revelations in these things, vast and wondrous mysteries revealed to them from above. The chequered pavement, eloquent of man's varied lot of good and ill, the stately pillars supporting the triple aisles, the open seats, where rich and poor may mingle, have they not each a meaning for us? The half revealings of the lofty screen, the lights on the holy altar, the most sacred of symbols, the Cross of JESUS, surmounting all; do they not harmonize. with the Christian's meditation, while he ponders on his Saviour's love, his Father's mercy, like a sweet organ accompaniment to solemn words? and the dim soft light that falls on the regenerate soul, that twilight of earth before the Christian beholds the glory of Heaven, those flitting glimpses of beauty that melt his spirit even in its joy with holy awe, are they not imaged in the deep colours streaming from the gothic windows, whose threefold division recalls our great foundation mystery, of the Trinity in Unity? In this dim evening light we see but these. The chancel steps, the threefold ivy, the thousand minor tokens of one great Catholic meaning, are no longer visible; but we may find a few illuminated pages in the moonlit windows, and turn them over for our evening meditation. Those rich colours blended in harmony yet full of contrast, do they not serve to remind us of the attributes of our GOD? Mark how the deep purple, presenting power and majesty, contrasts with the pure white that images immaculate truth; while the crimson hue of justice is bordered on one side by the soft blue that tells of love, and on the other by a shade of green that reminds us of the Christian's hope and his Father's providence. And through all, streams the light of a Saviour's mercy, lightening tenfold those radiant hues, flinging them down upon our lower earth, shedding them like glory rays around the saintly head of some humble worshipper, gilding with them the marble tombs where our dead are lying. But for this light, the colours would not exist for us, they would still be there, but we should no more behold them, than those who gaze upon the church from without. We must enter the portal, we must cast in our lot with those within, and then for us, too, streams the glorious light; for us too, there are revelations through CHRIST of our Father's wondrous attributes. Again we may see in these windows the Church herself, as visible in her children; different they are, as colours from each other, yet harmonizing together, lighted up by the same smile set in the same rich mullioned tracery, united by one gothic frame; here, this bright glowing tint, recalls a son all zeal and courage, formed to withstand and baffle persecution, one who will conquer or die in the struggle; there, in a soft pale shade, is imaged some meek daughter of the Church shrinking from observation; her way among the lowly haunts of men; her voice only raised in prayer; her face most often seen beside the sick and dying. Here is the type of one whose life is love, there, in that deep orange glow, of another, whose strength is silent communion with GOD; here is the sparkle of the eloquent teacher, there the mingled crimson and white that bespeak the martyr and the saint. Distinct in character, yet one in CHRIST: one in the beautiful setting of these jewels of our LORD, one in elevation above the things |