The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-05 00:00:00

TWELFTH-DAY.

Epiphany is called Twelfth-day because it falls on
the twelfth-day after Christmas Day. Epiphany signi-
fies manifestation, and is applied to this day because it
is the day wherean Ohria was manileted to the Gen-
tiles. Bourne, in his " Vulgar Antiquities," remarks
that this is the greatest of the twelve holydays, and is,
therefore, more jovia'ly kept by the visiting of friend's
and Christmas gambols than any alter.
KING AND QuELN.—Tte practice of choosing king
and queen on Twelfth-night owes its origin to a custom
among the Romans, which they took from the Grecians,
of casting dice for who should be the rex conrivii ; or,
as Horace calls him, the arbiter bibendi. Whoever
threw the lucky cast, which the termed Venus or Bssi-
licus, gave laws for the night.

A simikr custom was observed at the festival of Sa-
turnalia, among the Romans and Grecians, when per-
sons of the same rank drew lots for kingdoms, and, like
Kings, exercised their temporary authority. In the
cities and academies of Germany, the students and citi-
zens chose one of their own number for king, providing
a most Ir.agnifi, eat banquet for the occasion.
In France, the twelfth-cake is plain, with a tiean ;
the drawer of the slice containing the bean is King or
Queen ; all drink to her or his Majesty, who reigns and
receives homage from a!1 during the evening. There
is no other drawing, and consequently the Sovereign ia
the only distinguished character, In Normandy they
place a child under a table, which is so covered with,
a cloth that he cannot see ; and when the cake is
divided, one of the company, taking up the first piece,
cries out, " Fags Domini pour quoi '?"The chili
answers, " Pour le bon Dieu," and in this manner the
pieces are all)tted to the company. If the bean Iva
found in the piece for the " bon Dieu," the King is
chosen by !ong or short straws. Whoever gets the
bean chooses the King or Queen, according as it hap-
pens to be a man or woman. According to Brand,
under the old order of things the Epipharay was kept
at the French Court by one of the courtiers being
chosen king, and the other nobles attended an enter-
tainment prepared for the occasion ; but, in 1792,
during the revolution, La Fete de Rois was abolished;
'frielltli-day was ordered to be called " La Ftte de
Sans Culottes ;'' the old feast was declared anti-civic ;
and any priest keeping it was,deemed n It.ayalist. The
" Literary Pocket-Book " alms `,'„at at La Fete de
Rois the French Manarch
the Twelfth-nigla
ll'od his nobles waited on
and that the custom was not
revived on the
of it the of the Bourbons, but that instead
".:•yal family washed the feet of some people
and gave them alms.

A REMARKABLE FACT.—It is a remarkable fact
that so late as 1731 the King and Prince, on Twelfth-
day, at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, made the offer-
ings at the altar of gold, frankincencc, and myrrh, ac-
cording to custom, and that at night their Majesties,
&c., played at hazard for the benefit of the groom-
porter. These offerings, which are clearly taken from
the Roman Church, and are not analogous to any cere-
mony of the Church of England, continue to be antia-
ally made, with this difference, however, that the King
is represenied by proxy in the person of some distin-
guished officer of the household. In other respects Out
proceedings are conducted with the usual state.
In Glouecstershira and Herefordshire there is a
custom on Twelfth-da- of having twelve small first made,
and one large one in honour of this day ; and in Devon-
shire they carry cider to the orchard, and there encir-
cling one of the best bearing trees, they drink the fol-
lowing toast time several times :

" Ecru's to the old apple tree,
Whence thou tirtyst bud and whence thou tnayest bkw,
And whence thou mayest bear apples enow !
Hats full—caps full—
Bushel—Bushel—chucks' full,
And my pockets full, too.—Huzza !"

S. R.

AFFECTING SUICIDE.
An inquiry was gone into yesterday before William
Carter, Esq., the Coroner for Surrey, at the Queen
Charlotte, Millpond-street, Bermondsey, on the body of
Mrs. Ann Matilda Bachelour, aged °9.
Mary Ann Porter, and Mrs. Porter, her mother, the
first witnesses examined, exactly corresponded in their
evidence with that of Mr. Bachelour's following.
Mr. W:lliam Bachelour (who was much affected)
stated that he had been married to his wife four or five
years. Oa Friday Mrs. Bachelour was much excited,
and observed to me, " You, and my;father and mother,
are against me, and I will not put up with it any longer.
Since my mother has bees here, saying all she can
against me, you don't seem to like me as well as you
did. I have borne the persecution of my mother, but
I can bear it no longer:'
The CORONER —Her own mother ? Mr. Bachelour
—Yes (bursting into tears), she has been a very cruel
woman ;my wife was an excellent creature. Witness
went on t) say that his wife was very strange in her
conduct all the afternoon, and while he was sitting by
the fire she got up and went to a sideboard where there
was some medicine—(she could make them up as well
as ho could)—and she had not been there a second
when she exclaimed " I have taken it." Witness asked
her what she taken, and she said " Morphine." He
asked her how much, and she said, " There is the
glass." He looked, and found she had taken et least
30 grains, and he was satisfied she must die. He said
" You are a deal woman." Mr. Field was called in,
but she died that night from the effects of the poison.
The CORONTR—We have heard that family differ-
ences have had something to do with the depressed
state of mind in which she appears to have been for so
long a time. Can you tell us what they were ? Mr.
Bachelour—l have always understood that because she
would not marry a gentleman her mother desired, her
(the mother's) conduct had been most unnatural. She
came to me and told all she could to prejudice me
against my wife since she was two years of age.
The CottoNEß—And the feeling has continued ?
Yes, even up to yesterday ; I went to Chatham to tell
her parents of her death, and her mother said, 6` I am
glad of it!"—(Great surprise in the Court was here
expressed )
The ColiosEß—Has your practice here been exten-
sive or limited ? Limited.

The CORONER—Do you think that had any effect
upon her mind? Mr. Bache!our (bursting into tears)
—I fear it had.

The CORONLIt said be knew of no one thing more
likely to break a young woman's heart than continued
unkindness from a mother ; it is felt by the criminal on
the scaffold, and how much more acute must be the
feelings of a young lady of twenty-nine.
The Jury then returned a verdict "That the deceased
destroyed herself, being at the time in a state of tem-
porary insanity."

EXTRAORDINARY RUN WITH BARON
Itornsenrufs HOUNDS.—These hounds met on Monday,
at Marsh-hill, near Bishopstone, when a stag was turned
out, which, however, gave but a short chase, in conse-
quence of which the field returned to the same spot. A
second stag was now uncarted, which took a route over
the district of Haddenham, Chearsley, Cuddington,
Chilton, and was eventually taken by moon-light, at
Warminghall, near Weaticy, Oxon. Seine of the first-
rate nags were brought to a stand-still some time before
the take ; at which time only the Baron and a very few
gentlemen were present. The run must have been up-
wards of twenty miles. Thursday the noble Baron and
his friends had another splendid run. The start was at
Horsham, and the take in the field adjoining the Bucks
Infirmary, where, unfortunately, the stag dropped dead
from exhaustion.—Aplesburg News.
Baronet
a A desperate affray occurred on the night of the
23d of December, near Fairfield, the seat of Barlow Hey'Esq.
Esq. A determined body of poachers, amounting
to twelve in number, entered the preserves, and began
popping down the game in all directions. The keepers,
and their assistants (who, it appeared, had received
previous notice of their coming) mustered their
strength, and endeavoured to make them prisoners ; but
being far inferior in numbers, the poachers levelled
them in all directions with the butts of their fowling-
pieces, and gained a complete victory. Some of the
keepers received severe injuries, but the whole of the
poachers got clear off, leaving one gun and a hat in their
possession. A reward of twenty-five guineas has been'
offered for the discovery of the offenders, since which we.
are informed a person named button has been taken at
Hyde, and committed by the Magistrates of that town to
take his trial at the next sessions.—Hants Independent.
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