250 
ORIGIN OF THE CORONEU’r INQUEST. 
(lelighf, was then supposed to have commeneed. On hoth continents, 
some very remarkable traits of the jocundity which then reigned, 
remain even to these distant times. Of those preserved in Britain, 
none of the least remarkable or ludicrous is that relic of its pristine 
pleasantry, the general practice of making April fools, as it is called, 
on the first day of the month ; but this. Colonel Pearce (Asiatic 
Researches, vol. ii. p. 334,) proves to have been an immemorial cus- 
tom among the Hindoos, at a celebrated festival holden about the 
same period in India, which is called the Hub festival. “ During 
the Huli, when mirth and festivity reign among the Hindoos of every 
class, one subject of diversion is, to send people on errands and expe- 
ditions that are to end in disappointment, and raise a laugh at the 
expense of the person sent. The Huli is always in March, and the 
last day is the general holiday. I have never 5 et heard any account 
of the origin of this English custom; but it is unquestionably very 
ancient, and is still kept up even in great towns, though less in them 
than in the country. With us, it is chiefly confined to the lower class 
of people: but in India, high and low join in it ; and the late Suraja 
Doulah, I am told, was very fond of making Huli fools, though he 
was a Mussulman of the highest rank. They carry the joke, here so 
far, as to send letters, making appointments in the name of persons 
who, it is known, must be absent from their house at the lime fixed 
upon ; and the laugh is always in proportion to the trouble given.” 
The least inquiry into the ancient customs of Persia, or the minutest 
acquaintance with the general astronomical mythology of Asia, would 
have taught Colonel Pearce that the boundless hilarity and jocund 
sports prevalent on the first day of April in England, and during the 
Huli festival of India, have their origin in the ancient practice of 
celebrating with festival rites the period of the vernal equinox, or the 
day when the new year of Persia anciently began. 
Origin of the Coroner’s Inquest. 
A GENTLEWOMAN of London, after having buried six husbands* 
found a gentleman hardy enough to make her a wife once more. For 
several months their happiness was mutual ; a circumstance which 
seemed to pay no great compliment to the former partners of her bed, 
who, as she said, had disgusted her by their sottishness and infidelity. 
In the view of know ing the real character of his amorous mate, the 
gentleman began frequently to absent himself, to return at late hours, 
and, when he did return, to appear as if intoxicated. At first, 
reproaches, but afterwards menaces, w^ere the consequence of this 
conduct. The gentleman persisted, aad seemed every day to become 
more addicted to his bottle : one evening, when she imagined him to 
be dead drunk, she unsew'ed a leaden w eight from one of the sleeves 
of her gown, and, having melted it, she approached her husband, who 
pretended still to be sound asleep, in order to put it into his ear witli 
a pipe. Convinced of her wickedness, the gentlemen started up, and 
seized her ; when, having procured assistance, he secured her till the 
morning, and conducted her before a magistrate, who conducted her 
to prison. The bodies of her six husbands w ere dug up, and, as marks 
