was first practised. The custom, however, had prevailed long before in other countries. The translator of the Hedaya (a commentary on the Mussulman laws), in his preliminary discourse, mentions, among the most celebrated lawyers of India (native), one Aboo Yoosaf, who flourished about A.D. 750. He not only acquired a high degree of fame by his legal knowledge, but also amassed a very considerable fortune in the space of a few years. He is reported to have been a person of great acuteness, ready wit, and prompt in expedients; of which a remarkable instance is recorded in the Negaristan, whereby he obtained, in one night, fees to the amount of 50,000 gold denars, at a round computation, £20,000! What would some of our celebrated lawyers say to this? Their paltry fees of two or three hundred guineas, would have been mere drops in the bucket of Aboo Yoosaf. DE COURCY PRIVILEGE. The privilege which this family enjoy, of standing before the king covered, was granted, it is said, by king John, in 1203; in consequence of one of that family having vanquished a foreign knight, who had challenged every court in Europe, and up to that period had carried off every laurel. COURTING ON SATURDAY NIGHTS. Even in cities, amid the more busy haunts of men, on a Saturday evening we toast "Sweethearts and Wives," and this arose out of the country courtings on the night of the same day. It was an ancient practice to cease from all servile labour at three o'clock on Saturday afternoon, and to attend evening prayers preparatory for the ensuing Sabbath. This vigil offered a convenient opportunity for courting, which custom continued after religious observances had ceased. WILLS. Roman Wills were sealed by seals applied after they had pierced the deeds, and had passed the linen envelope three times through the holes, a method established in the time of Nero against forgers, and adopted in Germany and Gaul, where it remained till the middle age. Outside the will, were written the names of those who had affixed their seals. Upon the first page, or left hand tablet, were written the names of the principal heirs; upon the second, or right hand tablet, the names of the legatees. To this Horace alludes. The Greek wills were signed and sealed in the presence of the magistrate. Cicero shews how easy of detection were the Roman testamentary tablets. AngloSaxon wills were written on three copies, each to match, like a tally, and after being read over in the presence of various persons, were severally consigned to separate custodies, and this custom continued to the 15th and 16th centuries; for then Lord Maurice Berkeley, before he went abroad, left three several wills in the custody of three several friends, lest any one should be lost. Du Cange mentions wills written on wood or bark; the latter in 699. Church chests were the depositaries of wills. From the Norman Conquest, they had been generally written in Latin; but in the reign of Edward the Third, English was used. Wills were made so far back as the reign of Henry I. (says another writer), in 1100; there was no law, however, to make them binding. Wills to devise lands, were first established by law in the reign of Henry VIII., and universally so, as to all real and movable property, at the Restoration. The first will of a Sovereign of England on record, is that of Richard II., in 1399. There is little doubt but wills originated with the Egyptians, although not used in Europe till ages after. MOURNING. Mourning, among the ancients, was expressed by very different signs, as by tearing their clothes, wearing sackcloth, laying aside crowns, and other ensigns of honour; thus Plutarch, in his life of Cato, relates, that from the time of his leaving the city with Pompey, he neither shaved his head, nor, as usual, wore the crown or garland. A public grief was sometimes testified by a general fast. Among the Romans, a year of mourning was ordained by law, for women who had lost their husbands. In public mourning, the shops of Rome were shut up; the senators laid aside their laticlavian robes, the consuls sat in a lower seat than usual, and the women put aside all their ornaments. The colours of the dress, or habit, worn to signify grief, are different in different countries. In Europe, the ordinary colour for mourning is black; in China it is white, a colour that was the mourning of the ancient Spartan and Roman ladies; in Turkey it is blue, or violet; in Egypt, yellow; in Ethiopia, brown; and kings and cardinals mourn in purple. Every nation and country gave a reason for their wearing the particular colour of their mourning: black, which is the privation of light, is supposed to denote the privation of life; white is an emblem of purity; yellow is to represent, that death is the end of all human hopes, because this is the colour of leaves when they fall, and flowers when they fade; brown denotes the earth, to which the dead return; blue is an emblem of the happiness which it is hoped the deceased enjoys; and purple, or violet, is supposed to express a mixture of sorrow and hope. The custom of mourning for the dead in shrieks and howlings, is of great antiquity, and prevails almost universally among the followers of Mahomet. INTERMENTS AND CHURCHYARDS. Agreeably to the Old Roman Law of the Twelve Tables, the places of inhumation of the ancients were universally excluded from the precincts of their cities. In England, churchyards for burial are not of earlier date than the year 750, and the moderns would have done well if they had followed the custom of the ancients, in burying not within the city, but without its walls. Clemens is of opinion, that the tombs of the Athenians (see article Mausoleum) were the origin of all their temples. says, the first place of worship in the Acropolis of Athens, was the Sepulchre of Cecrops; upon which spot the Parthenon was afterwards erected. He The ceremonies of sepulture vary with most nations, and have undergone various changes even in this country. Spelman says, "much more joyous was the ceremony of sepulture among the Anglo-Saxons than that of marriage. The house in which the body lay till its burial, was a perpetual scene of feasting, singing, dancing, and every species of riot. This was very expensive to the family of the deceased; and in the north it was carried so far, that the corpse was forcibly kept unburied by the visiting friends, until they were certain that they had consumed all the wealth that the deceased had left behind him, in games and festivity. In vain did the Church exert itself against such enormities. The custom had prevailed during the times of Paganism, and was much too pleasant to be abandoned by the half Christians of the early centuries." Were every place of sepulture like unto the celebrated one of Pere la Chaise (see article under this head), at Paris, how much more consistent and conformable they would be with the mild spirit of Christianity; instead of the disgusting receptacles which disgrace every large town in England, and which will shortly be placed under the entire control of parliament. HEARSES. Du Cange says: hearses erected in the church were anciently common, and the term signified a candlestick, furnished with different lights, and erected at the head of the cenotaph. We are told also, that about the time of Edward III. began the use of hearses, composed entirely of wax lights, called castra doloris (keeps of grief). Hearses over the grave for a continuance, and with lights, occur long before and after. As to movable hearses, they were of different forms, and not of so early an origin. The term, as applied to the vehicle containing the body, was first used in the reign of William and Mary. So late as the reign of Charles II., at the burial of a peer, the body was borne on men's shoulders to the grave. BILLS OF MORTALITY. Bills of mortality took rise (says Pennant) in 1592; in which year began a great pestilence, which continued till the 18th of December, 1595. During this period they were kept, in order to ascertain the number of persons who died; but when the plague ceased, the bills were discontinued. They were resumed again in 1603. At the original institution there were only 109 parishes; others were gradually added, and by the year 1681, the number was 132. Since that time 14 more have been added, so that the whole amounts to 146, viz.: 97 Within the walls. 16 Without the walls. 23 Out Parishes in Middlesex and Surrey. 10 In the City and Liberties of Westminster. DIVORCES. ""Twas Parisian aspect which upset old Troy, And founded Doctors' Commons; I have conn'd The Jewish Law of Divorce is founded on the directions given in the 24th chapter of Deuteronomy. In Greece, in ancient times, the practice of divorce seems to have been varied in different States. Our Saviour's declaration to the Pharisee, in the 19th chapter of St. Matthew, became the foundation of the law on this subject in Christian countries, and divorces were consequently allowed in one particular case only. In England, divorce on the ground of adultery can only be obtained by Act of Parliament. JUDGES' BOUQUETS. The practice of judges having a nosegay placed before them, is not, as is generally imagined, a mere preservation against the close air of a crowded court, but is the relic of a primitive and ancient custom of the judge holding the bough, or sceptre of justice, in his hand; it was formerly called a bouquet, or little bough, whence the French took their word bouquet for a nosegay. ERA, MONTHS, WEEKS, DAYS, &c. SUMMER. The word Summer is derived from Sun, or rather from its prevalence at the season of the year so named. It was originally Sun-ner, or Sun-mer; the latter syllable, as in many other instances, being introduced for the sake of harmony. WINTER. The word Winter is derived from the Wind, i. e., the time of year when the wind is most prevalent or boisterous; the t having taken place of the d; and the er being merely added to harmonize the word. MONTH. This term, as applied to the twelve divisions of the year, is derived from our Saxon ancestors, who called it Monat or Monath. It is so called from its being the period of the moon's revolution round the earth. WEEK. A period of seven days, of uncertain origin, but which has been used from time immemorial in eastern countries. By some writers, the use of weeks is supposed to be a remnant of the tradition of the creation; while others refer its origin to the seven planets known in ancient time. JANUARY. This is the first, and generally the coldest, month in the year, says Hone, in his "Every Day Book." It derives its name from Janus, a deity represented by the Romans with two faces, because he was acquainted with past and future events. FEBRUARY. This month hath Pisces, or the fishes, for its zodiacal sign. Numa, who was chosen by the Roman people to succeed Romulus as their king, and became their legislator, placed it the second in the year, as it remains with us, and dedicated it to Neptune, the lord of waters. Its name is from Februa or Feralia, sacrifices offered to the gods at this season. MARCH. March is the third month of the year; with the ancients it was the first. According to Mr. Leigh Hunt, from Ovid, the Romans named it Mars, the god of war, because he was the father of their first prince. As to the deity's nature, March has certainly nothing in common with it; for though it affects to be very rough, it is one of the best-natured months in the year, drying up the superabundant mixture of winter with its fierce winds, and thus restoring us our paths through the fields, and piping before the flowers like a Bacchanal. APRIL. This is the fourth month of the year. Its Latin name is Aprilis, from Aperio, to open or set forth. The Saxons called it Oster or |