tract to prove the "drinking and pledging of healths to be sinful and utterly unlawful to Christians," and Charles II.'s health was drunk so frequently as to threaten to disturb the peace, and occasioned a royal proclamation. The "loving cup" at the Lord Mayors' feasts, and also at the presentation of the Lord Mayor elect to the Lord Chancellor, as well as on many other occasions. at the dinners of our City Companies and other Corporations throughout the country, will always preserve the custom from falling into disuse. BAPTISM. Grotius is of opinion that baptism had its origin from the time of the deluge, after which, he thinks, it was instituted in memory of the world having been. purged by water; and some think that it was added. to circumcision soon after the Samaritan schism, as. a mark of distinction to the orthodox Jews. It is,. however, generally agreed on that the Jews practised this ceremony on their proselytes after circumcision, long before the coming of Jesus Christ. In the primitive times, the ceremony was performed by immersion, as it is to this day in the Oriental Churches, agreeably to the original signification of the word,. which means dipping, or plunging. The practice of the western Churches is to sprinkle the water upon the head or face of the person to be baptized, except the Church of Milan, in whose ritual it is ordered, that the head of the infant be plunged three times into the water. A trine immersion was used first, and continued for a long time. This was either to signify the three days our Saviour lay in the grave, or the three persons in the Trinity; but it was afterwards laid aside because the Arians used it. There are abundance of ceremonies recorded by ecclesiastical writers, as used in baptism, which are now laid aside, though there are not wanting those who contend for their re-admission. It is a matter of controversy whether, in the primitive times, any but adults were baptized, several learned men contending that infants were admitted to this sacrament. Formerly there were great disputes whether baptism of heretics was valid; the general opinion ran for the affirmative, provided it was conferred in the name of the Trinity; and therefore they allowed that given by laymen, or even by women, in cases of necessity.. It was the doctrine of many of the fathers that baptism washed away all previous sins, and that there was no atonement for sins committed after baptism. On this account many deferred that sacrament till they were arrived at the last stage of life, and were pretty safe from the danger of sinning any This they termed clinic, signifying death more. bed baptism. HAND-FESTING. Hand-festing was an ancient custom, as a substitute for marriage, by joining hands, which lasted for a year; when, if the parties were agreeable, it was renewed. The children (if any) were kept by the inconstant. BIDDENDEN CAKES. Hasted, in his "History of Kent," speaking of Biddenden, tells us that 'twenty acres of land, called the Bread-and-Cheese land, lying in five pieces, were given by persons unknown, the yearly rents to be distributed among the poor of this parish. This is yearly done on Easter Sunday, in the afternoon, in 600 cakes, each of which has the figures of two women impressed upon it, and they are given to all who attend the church; and 270 loaves, weighing three pounds and-a-half a-piece, to which latter is added one pound and-a-half of cheese, are given to the parishioners only at the same time. There is a vulgar tradition in these parts, that the figures on the cakes represent the donors of this gift, being two women, twins, who were joined together in their bodies, and lived together so till they were between twenty and thirty years of age. But this seems without foundation. The truth seems to be that it was the gift of two maidens of the name of Preston, and that the print of the women on the cakes has taken place only within the last century, and was made to represent two poor widows as the general objects of a charitable benefaction.' CROSS BUNS. While seasons keep rolling, and ages glide by, Like clouds in their circuit, beneath the blue sky, The cry on Good Friday of "Buns, hot cross buns.” The infidel shudders that neʼer shook before, There's a balm in that voice which endearingly cries, UTOPIA. This custom was supposed to originate from the fast of Good Friday, but it is also in remembrance of the apostolic custom of breaking bread from house to house; and it does not appear at all improbable that buns or cakes, something like those in use at present, were employed in this manner in the early ages. It is to be observed also, that if four persons divide a bun among them, each taking a division, they will naturally stand in the form of a cross, and the bun will break at its partitions. Thus, both the position of the parties, and the figure to which the bun breaks, as well as the act of breaking, are emblematical of the crucifixion. Bryant says, that boun was the sacred bread anciently offered to the gods. The Jewish women ask, in allusion to this custom, "Did we make her cakes to worship her?"-Jer. chap. xliv. 19). Hutchinson says, "small loaves of bread peculiar in their form, being long and sharp at both ends, are called Buns." These he derives as above, and says, "We only retain the name and form of the boun; the sacred uses are no more." "There is an old saying," says Chambers, in his "Book of Days," "that hot cross-buns, if properly made, will never get mouldy." "To make them properly, you must do the whole of the business on the Good Friday itself; the materials must be mixed, the dough made, and the buns baked |