The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-01-08
TWELFTH NIGHT.
THE LORD OF MIsRULE AND HIS
MERRY REvELLERs.


MERRY REyELLERs.
The Festival, with Full Accounts of How
II was Observed, for 1875.
This day, called "Twelfth Day." as being that
number after Christmas, and " Epiphany" from
the Greek word signifying " appearance, is fes-
tival OF the Church In oommemoration of the mani.
feststion Of Christ to the Gentiles more expressly
TO the three Magi. or wise men of the East, also
known as the three Kings of Cologne, who came,
led by star, to worship our Saviour just after
His birth. The circumstance is detailed in the
second chapter of Matthew.
IN trs CHARACTER AS POPULAR FESTIVAL
Twelfth Night is inferior only to Christmas, the
leading idea being to do honor to the three wise
men, or kings, of the East. Il is Christian
custom ancient past memory, and, like nearly all
other festivals that have been perpetusted from
the primitive Church, is unquestionsbiy Of Pagan
erigin. It was undoubtedly handed down to us.
as also have been many Of the most beautiful
and impressive ceremonies Of the Church, from
that period of transition wherein
THE CONVERSION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
was accomplished, aud In which the Christian
ceremonies and saints were substituted for the
festivals and dviuities Of the Psgsns. 1t is very
easy to understand how this should have been So
Indeed it would be very hard to comprehend
how people accustomed, as the old Pagans
were, to material, idoatrous and polythsistio
faith, should have been able to accept aud realize
all at once the worship and divinity of an i'm
material and spiritual God, and forget alto
gether the manifestations Of religious fervor and
emotion which had been hsbitua with them.
There are many
CURIOUS AND PICTURESQUE LEGENDS
OF that time, which attest the grief of the old
Psgans for their vanquished gods and the popu-
lar belief that the old Roman and barbarian di-
whites, as d@mons, were still wsging an unrelent.
ing war against the triumphant faith. We have
recently seen one Of these legends rendered here
in Wsgner's grand opera OF "rsnhauser," the
same that has been told in English by Swim
burne in his great poem of "Laus Veners.'
The ''devotedness of woe" Of these old psgans is.
indeed, the very soul and inspiration of Swim
burnes muse, which has embalmed In immortal-
ty many Of these old traditions. In his ''Hymn
TO Proserpine, after the proclamation In Rome
Of the Christian faith" he has given an express
sion to this sentiment in poem which must
rank among the most classical productions OF
modern literature. 1t begins with the salu-
tation,
"vIorsTI aALILRE
"Thou hast conquered, o pale Gallilesn, the
world has grown gray from thy breath
We have drunken of things Lethesn, and fed
on the fullness OF death"
After mourning with the most agonizing Ia
mentstions his old gods, "dethroned, wiped out
in day" the old Pagan is made TO say:
"New gods are crowned in the city; their flowers
have broken your rods;
They are meroifu clothed with pity, the young,
compassionate gods"
The same homage is rendered TO the ''pale
dallilean" that was once given to Proserpiue and
Apollo, "a bitter gcd to follow, o beautiful god to
behold." and this worship is given expression in
the same ceremonies, and The manifestations Of
religious feeling are almost identical.
Thus it happened that many of the old reli-
gious festivals and ceremonies of the Pagans
were perpetuated with but slight changes and
diversion to other objects of reverence by the
primitive Church. and have been handed down to
us.
THE TWELFTH NIGHT REvELs
are among these, and have th cir origin from
game Of the old Romans, in which king OF the
day was chosen by the drawing of the bean. OF
course, tho manner in which the day Is observed
has undergone some changes, but the drawing
of the bean remains yet, as in the old Pagan
davs, the peculiar ceremony of the occasion.
In England the custom OF
PLACING THE BEAN IN A CAKE
was originated, and IL is from England that
we derive our traditions OF the day. There are
many descriptions in the old English writer's of
the vial diversions with which IL observed.
at one time it was grand court festival, and one
old chronioler tells how Queen Mary dressed in
her own royal jewels and robes one Of her maids
who had drawn the bean, and another tells how
"Priuoe Oh riley" lost his hundred pounds just to
start the revels But of these revels, as kept by
our old English ancestors what more lovely and
exquisite memorial could we have than in
sAAKEsPEARE's DELIGHTFUL PLAY OF TWELFTH
NIGHT,
Or What You WILL" In his supplementary notice
OF this play, Mr.. Knight says:
"There ia some hing to our minds very pre-
| oous in that memorial OF Shakespeare, which is
preserved in that little table book OF the student
| OF the Middle Temple; February Q, 1901 raj. At
our feast we had play called "Twelve Night or
What You Will."' What a scene do these few
plain words call up. before usl The Christmas
| festivities have fingered on till Candlemass
The Lord Of Msrule has resigned his sceptre;
| the fox and the cat have been hunted round the
hall; the masters OF the revels have sung their
| songs; the drums are silent which lent their
noisy chorus to the marshaPs procs nations; and
| Sir Francis FIatterer and Sir Randle Raohsbite
| have passed into the ranks of ordinary men. But
| there Is still feast, and after the dinner play;
| and that play Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
And the actual roof under which the happy com
pany of benchers, and barristers. and stu tents
first listened to that Joyous and exhilarating
play, full of the truest and most beau j.
ful humsnites. especially ft ted for
| q season Of cordial mrthuness, is still standing
aud We may walk into that stat ly hall and think
Here Shakespeares Twelfth Night was acted in
the Christmas Of 1901; and here its exquisite:
poetry first fell upon the ear Of some secluded
scholar, and was to him as q fragrant flower
blooming amidst the arid sands OF his Brscton
and his Fleta and here its gentle satire upon the
vain and the foolish penetrated into the natural
heart Of some grave and formal dispenser Of JUS
tice and made him look with tolerance, If not
with sympathy, upon the mistakes of less grave
| and formal fellow. men; and here its ever-gushing
prit OF enjoyment, Of fun without malice, of wit
without grossness. of humor without extraya-
canoe, taught the swaggering roaring, over