ON THE ORIGIN AND CELEBRATION OF EASTER. THERE are but few, even in the number of those who have oftenest participated in the commemoration of Easter, that are acquainted with the origin and early observances of that festival. We will therefore cast a glance backwards at the ways of our Christian ancestors; rather with a view to satisfy the cravings of human inquisitiveness, than with any intent to point out those to obloquy, whose zeal, perseverance, and constancy, have bequeathed to us the rich legacy of a faith, the practices and promises of which enhance human happiness, and afford us a sublunary foretaste of "the bliss immortal." The festival of Easter took its birth from the Paschal feast of the Jews for the first Christians retained many of the Mosaic customs and celebrations, and in the sequel, either abolished them altogether, or rendered them typical of some remarkable occurrence in the annals of their religion. In this way they came to adopt the Paschal feast of the Jews, in the first instance, with all its customary observances, little careful of observing it as a commemoration of the resurrection of their Saviour. The Jews held this feast on the 14th day of the month "Nisan :" and the Eastern Christians began by celebrating it, conjointly with their rivals, on the same day. The Western church, however, did not follow their example in the day of its appointment; but kept this festival on the Sunday immediately succeeding the full moon of the Vernal Equinox, using a tradition of the apostles Peter and Paul as their authority for this variation. These two churches, therefore, observed the Easter feast at two different periods; but neither entered the lists against the other until Pius, Bishop of Rome, took occasion to ordain that it should be kept on a Sunday throughout Christendom. Anticetas, his successor, rigidly enforced this ordinance: and Victor, the Roman Bishop, afterwards held a synod at Rome, which decreed, that the Paschal feast should never be kept in correspondence with the Jewish observance, but should always be celebrated on a Sunday. The Bishops of the Western churches, however, having refused to conform with the synodical ordinance, were denounced in excommunication by Victor; but the papistical ban was subsequently recalled, and the Eastern Christians continued in the practice of siding with the Jews in the keeping of this festival. The general assembly of the church at Nice, in 325, ultimately decreed, that Easter should be held on the first Sunday after the full moon of the spring by the whole of Christendom. And its celebration now received another character. The Paschal feast of the Jews, in commemoration of the departure of the people of Israel from Egypt, was henceforward to be converted into a memorial of Christ's resurrection, as that event was known to have taken place on a Sunday; and it was to be observed also in the spring, as at this season the resurrection had taken place, though the precise day of its occurrence had not been handed down. From these circumstances we are naturally led to infer, that the early Christians little concerned themselves about the resurrection itself in their paschal festival; otherwise, the recollection of the exact day in the year of that memorable event would scarcely have been lost. The decree of the council was generally recognized throughout the Christian world; and the few who persisted in adhering to the Jewish custom, were called the "Quartodecimani." With a view to prevent any mistake in the future eelebration of Easter, the Vernal Equinox was fixed for the 21st of March, although it does not always fall on this day according to astronomical computation. 66 The derivation of our English name of " Easter," we are warranted in tracing back to our Saxon ancestors, who called this feast the "Oster fest:"-the word "Ost," of old, signifying the East, in which quarter the sun rises; and being the more suitable a designation, since Scripture acquaints us, that our Saviour "very early in the morning, when it was yet dark, had risen from the grave." Hence it became a common custom on Easter-day to rise before the sun, which an old tradition made our ancestors believe was used to dance on that morning. The early Christians, indeed, were accustomed to devote the night preceding it to prayers and thanksgivings until the time of cockcrow, which they conceived to be the moment of Christ's resurrec+ tion. And when these nocturnal observances fell into disuse, it became the custom to rise early and spend the morning in pious devotions, and walking in the fields; and the usual salutation, which even now prevails in the Greek church, was "Jesus Christ is risen;" to which the person accosted, replied, "The Lord is risen indeed," This was accompanied by the interchange of "Paschal eggs," stained with various colours, and devices emblematic of the resurrection; they are referred to in the following form of benediction, contained in the Ritual of Pope Paul the Fifth, "made for the use of England, Ireland, and Scotland." It runs in these words: "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, &c." Dr. Chandler, in his Eastern travels, received from the Greeks " presents of coloured eggs, and cakes of Easter bread :" from which last our custom of cross-buns on Good Friday probably arose. The usage of interchanging eggs at this season has been referred for its origin to the egg games of the Romans, which they celebrated at the time of our Easter, when they ran races in an oval, egg-shaped ring, and the victor received eggs as his prize. These games were instituted in honour of Castor and Pollux, whom fabulists relate to have come forth from an egg, deposited by Leda after Jupiter had visited her in the shape of a swan. Others allege that the custom was borrowed from the Jews, who, at their passover, set on the table 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. We will only add in reference to this custom, that Ray has recorded an old proverb, running—" I'll warrant you for an egg at Easter:" which points at the descent of this custom to later times. Amongst the other symbols of the Easter season, it was formerly customary for work to cease and servants to be at liberty; and this resembled the practice of the early Christians, who set apart the whole week after Easter, in order that they might praise and glorify God for the Redeemer's resurrection. But without detaining the reader farther, we must refer him at once to a popular work, for some curious Brand's Antiquities of the Common People. memorials of the public shows, games, &c. by which this season was distinguished by our forefathers. It is well known that fire has in the infancy of most nations been held in high esteem; and, among some of them, even accounted worthy of veneration. Religion, having ever been used as the vehicle and coverlid to superstition, and fire and water having been looked upon as the most efficient means of purification, we shall not feel at a loss to account for the origin and design of the Easter fire. The "Lustrationes per Ignem" were, with the Romans, a sort of expiatory sacrifice offered, in deprecation and atonement, to an offended Deity, and resting upon the maxim that " fire purifies." Moses himself prohibited the Jews (Deuteron. xviii. 10.) from making their sons or daughters pass through the fire as a means of purification*; and Pliny tells us the reverence for this element was carried so far among the Romans, that the Hirpii, in consideration of their skill in passing over ignited piles of wood, were absolved by the senate from military service, and endowed with other exclusive immunitiest. And again, if by any neglect the fire sacred to Vesta became extinguished, we are told by Festus and Plutarch that the bowl, or oxapia, being filled with tinder, sulphur, and other combustible materials, was exposed in a certain direction before the sun, until its concentrated rays ignited the contents. It would be curious to trace in how far the holy lamp used in Catholic churches is the offspring of "Vestal fire;" however, this at least appears evident, that the igneous superstitions common to Paganism, imperceptibly crept into Christian observance. And these superstitions must have made a violent inroad among our Christian predecessors, since it became necessary for the Sixth General Assembly of the Church, which was held in the year 680, under Constantine Pogonatus, to prohibit "the practice of lighting fires in front of the houses or shops, and leaping over them at the time of the new moon." The Easter fire in particular, which has not fallen into disuse even in our own times in some parts of the south of Germany, is probably of Pagan origin and its institution, like that of so many other of the corruptions which disfigured the primitive churches, seems not to have been altogether foreign to sound policy: for "the most respectable bishops had persuaded themselves, that the ignorant rustics would more cheerfully renounce the superstitions of Paganism, if they found some resemblance, some compensation, in the bosom of Christianity §." The old chronicles record a twofold celebration of the Easter fire: the one held within, and the other outside of, the sacred edifice. Some particulars of the first may be gleaned from a letter written by Pope Zachary to Boniface, archbishop of Mentz: wherein the pontiff says, in allusion to this ceremony, "As to your inquiry about the Easter fire, let it serve for answer, that this thing has been ordained by the Holy Fathers ever since the time when, by the grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and with his dear blood, the fifth Easter day was instituted, on which the holy ointment is consecrated. Three large lamps, * Some idea of the cruel observance of this rite may be gathered from Sonnerat's account of the "Feast of Fire" in honour of Darma Rajah. + Hist. Nat. vii. 2. Gibbon's Decl. and Fall, vol. v. c. xxviii. in which the oil shall be collected from others in the church, shall unfailingly burn in a secret spot, as well as in the sanctuary, and oil be poured into them, such as shall suffice until the third day. From these lights shall the fire required for baptism on the Holy Sunday be renewed," Leo the Fourth left this ordinance unaltered; merely adding in his Cura Pastorali, that on Easter day the old fire should be extinguished, a new one consecrated, and distributed among the people. This usage seems unquestionably to be derived from a Roman prototype: for the everlasting Vestal fire (as it was called) was annually put out in the month of March, and a fresh one kindled by means of the solar rays. The fire was distributed to the Christian congregation through the medium of what were denominated "Easter Tapers," to which a label was attached, designating the number of the new year then celebrated, as computed from the period of the sufferings and death of Christ. The new year, it should be observed, commenced at the feast of Easter among the earlier Christians: in the same way as it began the holy year with the Israelites. The great exterior fire was subsequently instituted in commemoration of the resurrection of our Saviour, as the light of the world: and this ceremony consists in the lighting of a bonfire upon an adjoining eminence or mountain, on the first day of Easter. The people are encamped around the fire; the younger classes jump over it, and as it burns out, every one carries a stake from it home with him, as a certain talisman against the effects of lightning. It was the custom of the Western church, under an ordinance of Constantine the Great, to celebrate the chanting of the vigils of Easter Eve, accompanied by the splendour of immense wax tapers, which Eusebius calls waxen pillars:" and the whole city of Constantinople was illuminated by thousands of lamps throughout the night. 66 On Easter Eve it was usual for the Jews also to make a bonfire in the open air, into which all leavened bread was cast, with the following formula: "All leaven, which I have either seen or not seen, and which I have wholly expelled or not expelled from under my roof, shall henceforth be scattered out, destroyed, and be as nought but dust of the earth." And they grounded this custom on Exodus xii. v. 10. though this text has reference only to the paschal lamb. In respect to the origin of the Easter Fire, we may still be permitted to add that Timeus, a Lutheran clergyman, would derive it from the Old Testament, 2 Kings, c. xxiii. where Josiah orders all the idols, altars, groves, &c. which the Jews had used in worshiping Baal and other false gods, to be destroyed; and thereupon celebrates the Passover. Josiah's example was followed by Charlemagne in his extirpation of the Saxon idols, which was succeeded by the celebration of Easter; when the people assembled round an immense fire, made in commemoration of the destruction of Pagan worship, sang hymns in remembrance of our Saviour's resurrection, and then bent their steps homewards in Christian soberness and peace. * Serrarii Reb. Moguntiac. Vita Const. iv. c. 22. THE SILESIAN TRAVELLERS. "Miseris succurrere disco." WHEN I was returning from Russia into France, I found myself, on entering the post-coach which runs between Riga and Breslaw, in company with a considerable number of travellers of different nations. We were arranged, two and two, upon wooden benches, with our portmanteaus at our feet, and without any covering but the heavens. We travelled night and day, exposed to the inclemency of the weather, and finding nothing in the inns on the route but black bread, malt brandy, and coffee. This is the common mode of travelling in Russia, Prussia, Poland, and the greater part of the northern states. After having traversed enormous forests of pines and birch trees, alternating with extensive plains of sand, we entered upon the mountains, clothed with beech and oak, which separate Poland from Silesia. Although my companions understood French well (for it has now become almost the universal language of Europe), they had hitherto spoken but little. One morning at break of day, we arrived at a hill, which overlooked a castle, remarkable for the beauty of its situation. Several small streams wound through its long avenues of limes, and formed a number of islands, which were laid out in orchards and in meadows. In the distance, as far as the eye could reach, the rich plains of Silesia extended themselves, covered with harvests, villages, and country-houses, and watered by the Oder; which, as it crossed the country, sparkled in the distance like a bandeau of silver and blue. "What an enchanting view!" cried an Italian painter, who was on his road to Dresden. "I could fancy myself in the Milanese." 66 An astronomer of the Berlin academy replied, "Yes, those are fine plains! What a base might be traced on them! while the steeples would serve to form a magnificent series of triangles." An Austrian baron, smiling contemptuously on the geometrician, observed, "Know, Sir, that this is the most noble district in all Germany; all the steeples you see are its dependencies." "Then, Sir," said a Swiss, "the people must be serfs; what an unfortunate land!" A Prussian officer of hussars, who was smoking his pipe, took it with great gravity from his mouth, and in a tone of decision replied, "Not a man here depends upon any one, except on the King of Prussia. He has delivered the Silesians from the yoke of Austria and of its nobles. I remember when he encamped us on this spot four years ago. They are famous plains for giving a battle upon. I would fix my magazines in the castle, and plant my artillery on its terraces; I would line the river with my infantry, place my cavalry on its wings; and This ingenious trifle was originally written by Bernardin de St. Pierre, when the author was professor of morality in the écoles normales, as a lesson of tolerance, but by the premature dissolution of those establishments was not employed in their service. It was, however, read before the institute with considerable applause; and was afterwards printed by the author, rather, I believe, for private distribution, than for publication. At all events, being but little known in England, it cannot but prove agreeable to the readers of the New Monthly Magazine, as an additional trait of the amiable disposition and philosophic turn of mind of the author of the Chaumière Indienne. |