274. 
elebrate as the foundation of their moft 
glorious hopes, fhould be commemorated 
in fo hadicrous and imdecent a way : 
others have. therefore fuppofed, that it was 
originally a pagan ceremony, defigned to 
ridicule the chriftian doftrine of a refur- 
rection; but this is. {till more unlikely, 
as it cannot be imagined that chriftians 
would adopt a cuftom exprefsly intended 
to expofe themfelves, and the moft effential 
do&vine of their religion, A third 
opinion is, that it was introduced by the 
Protefants to ridicule the elevation of 
the hoft in catholic churches, But it 
might have been expeéted that a cuftom 
of fo late a date would have had the time 
and the occafion of its introduction noticed 
by fome hiftorical or topographical writer ; 
béfides, why fhould this be done at Eafter, 
rather than at any other time of the year ? 
Not to fay, that in any one of thefe three 
cafes, it is likely that the ceremony 
would have been accompanied by the 
repetition of fome memorial verfe or 
verfes. And what, in) any of them, 
fhould lead the men and women alternately 
to take liberties with cach other? 
On removing into Northumberland, I 
found a cuftom in the city of Durham 
rikingly correfpondent, im this laft parti- 
cular, with the Lancafhire dytizgs. Mr. 
Brand (p..254.) deferibes it thus. ‘¢ There 
is acutftom fill retarmed in the city of 
Durham. on thefe holidays ; on one day 
the men take off the women’s fhces *, 
which are only to be redeemed by a pre- 
fent; on the next day the women take off 
the men’s in like manner.’’—-He refers, 
in the fame: place, to’ Durand’s Ritual 
ot the Romith Church, 1. 6. -c.. 86. 9. 
“< In plerifque etiam regionibus mulieres 
fecunda die poft pafcha verberant mariios 
fuos 3 die vero teriia meriti uxores fuas. 
On the fecond day of Eatter the women 
écat their hafbands ; on the third the 
hutbands their wives.”’ : 
From this it dppears that the effence of 
all thefe three.cuftoms confifts in the two 
fexes exprefling, in ditferent ways, their 
feme of fome nuitual grudge againft each 
other: But what can this be; omwhy at 
Eafter ?—-Is it poflible that it can hove 
any reference to the tradition of the fall 
bemg occasioned by the fault of the firft 
woman; and to ithe rémedy fer the con- 
fequences of this catafirophe in the refur- 
recon? oT his,» however, would not, 
 furely,- ibe < air. evidence - of any~ great 
proficiency.in the chriftian {pirit ef ‘for- 


y Z Bi Bey 5 a 
*. Mgr. Brandis not itriétly corre ét, duckles 
onlyare the objedt of -attackz. 
the French army, 
Cuftom of Lifting in Lancafoivre. 
bearance, for the two fexes.to quatre]; 
and endeavour to throw the blame-.on each 
other. Befides, the circumftance of the- 
women beginning firft, does not feem to 
favour this fuppofitien*,  . ma 
Will you allow. me to requeft the at. 
_tention of your, Lancafhire correfpondents 
to this fabje&t? Perhaps fome of them 
may have heard. explanations of this 
{trange cuftom, which may not have fallen 
in the way of your’s, &c. VE; 
Eafier Tue{day, April 10, 1798» 
EES 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
MONG tthe different ufeful inftitu- 
tions which have been noticed in 
your Magazine, I am furprifed to find 
that no mention has been made of Ander- 
Jon's Injittution, or The New School of Phi- 
lofophy, Arts, and Manufaétures, elta- 
blifhed in this city. 
This inftitution was founded about 
two years fince, by the late John Ander- 
fon, who was Profeffor of Natural Phi- 
lofophy in our univerfity for more than 
40 years, and whofe name is well known 
in moft parts of Europe, particularly as 
the inventor of the flying artillery +. 
This gentleman, confidering that the fta- 
tutes and difcipline of the univerfity cut 
off from opportunities of acquiring ufeful 
knowledge one half of the fpecies, viz. 
the fair fex; and reflecting, likewife, that 
the knowledge taught in fimilar femina- 
ries, is more fitted for the education of 
thofe intended for the learned profeffions, 
than for perfons defigned for manufac- 
tures and commerce; he had, for many 
years before his death, been digefting the 
plan of an inftitution which might be 
attended by gentlemen intended for, or 

* Can it partake in any refpect of the 
nature of the Saturnalia? As in thefe the 
flaves had a privilege of taking freedoms with 
their mafters: fo on thefe occafions is it 
pofiible that the women may have availed 
themfelves of the opportunity of afferting 
their equality with the ether fex. ., 
-+ The method of preventing the recoil, 
and confequently diminifhing the weight of 
great Zuns, was communicated to the Mafter 
General cf the Ordnance by Profeffor Ander- 
fon; but the difcovery was treated, by the 
noble Duke, with a-degree of contempt, 
which irritated Mr. A. and induced him to _ 
communicate the invention to the French, 
with whom we were not then at war.—it 
was immediately approved of, and adopted by 
FAYETT#, and put in practice by Dumou-. 
R1zR, and has fince been. generally ufedin 
; oo Aaa 
actually 
