The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1893-12-15
OLDEN FESTIVITIES.
WILD ReYELS CELEBRATED THE
CHRISTMAS OF LONG AGO.

Feasts of Janus-Episode of the Four
teenth Century In Paris. When Four
Mobiles Persisted at Court.
In spite of clerical protests, in spite of
anathemas, In spite Of the condemnation
of the more thoughtful andthe more vir
tuous, Christmas in the earlier days fro
quently~ reproduced all the worst orgies.
the debauchery and indecency of the
bacchanalia and the saturnalia. Even
the clergy were whirled into the vortex.
A special celebration called the feast of
fools had been instituted in their behalf,
with Il view, said the doctors of the
church, that the folly which is natural
to and born with us might exhale at least
once a year"
If eve among the clergy heather ira
ditions survived so strenuously, what
wonder that they survived among the
laity? The wild revels indeed Of the
Christmas period in olden times almost
stagger belief. License was carried to
the fullest extent of RIGHTEOUSNESS. Even
in the seventeenth century, when ne
festivities had been slightly toned down,
Master William Prynne discovered in
them the vestiges of paganism which are
apparent enough to the historians of to-
day.
IF we compare" he says in his
''Histrio-Mastix," our b~acchanalian
Christmas and New Years tides with
these sa~turnalia and feasts of Janus, we
shall find such near aflinitye between
them both in regard of time-they being
both in the end of December and on the
list of January-and in their
solemnizing-both being spent in revel-
ling, epicurism, ~wantonnesse, i~dlenesse,
dancing. drinking. stage plates, Mosques
and carnail ponp and jollity-that we
must needs conclude the one to be but
the ape, or issue, of the other"
Yet the practices which STUDIES and
Prynne condemned We're mild and tame
compared with the excuses practiced at
the French court for centuries. Inebrle-
ty ran rampant. No wonder that in the
period of torches and wooden palaces ac-
cidents frequently occurred which more
than once involved provinces in mourn
ing.
Memorable above all other episodes of
this sort was the catastrophe which oc-
Cured at Paris in 1893. The Christmas
festivities had been partaken of in the
widest spirit of riot and disorder. But
the court was not yet satisfied. Then
Sir hugonin de Guisay, the most reck-
less among all the reckless spirits of the
period, suggested that as an excuse for
%prolonging the merriment a marriage
should be arranged between two of the
cou attendants. This was eagerly
agreed upon.
The management was intruSted to Sir
Hugonin himself. He was well fitted
for anything wild and unusual. He
was loved and admired by the dlsorderiy
as ardently as he was hated and feared
by the orderly, for it was his pleasant
habit to exercise his wit upon trades
men and mechanics, whom he would
accost in the street, prick with his spurs
and compel to creep on all fours and
bark like dogs before he released them.
Such were the traits which endeared hun
to the courtiers Of his most gracious
AlaJOSb1 uiNL IL otAd4 h1AS VI IIS
The marriage passed off i'll a blaze of
glory with an accompaniment of at
tendant G%argantuan pleasantly. At the
height of the ceremonies Sir Hugonin
quietly withdrew with the king and four
other wild ones-scions of the noblest
houses in France. With a pot of tar and
a quantity of tow the six conspirators
We're speedily changed into very fair
limitations of the dancing bears then
very common in niountebanks' booths.
A mask completed the transformation.
Five were then bound together by means
of a silken rope cut from the tapestry.
The sixth, the king himself, led them
into the hall. Their appearance created
a general sensation. WHO are they?'
was the cry. No one could answer.
At this moment entered the widest of
all the wild dukes of Orleans. who
are they?" he echoed between hiccoughs.
"Well, we'll soon find out" Selling a
brand from one of the t~orchbearers
ranged along the wall, he staggered for
ward. Some gentlemen attempted to
stay HIM. But he was obstinate and
quarrelsome. Main force could not be
thought Of against a prince of the
blood. He was given his way. He thrust
his torch under the chin of the nearest
of the maskers. The tow caught fire. In
a moment the whole group was envel-
oped in flames. Presence Of mind or
common sobr1ety might have saved
them. But there was none of the latter
there and but two instances of the for
mer.
The young Duchess Of Berry seized
the king and enveloped him in her am
pie robe. Thus he was saved. Another
masker, the lord Of acknowledgement
for strength and agility, rent the silken
rope with a wrench of his strong teeth,
pitched himself like a flaming comet
through the first window and dived into
a cistern in the court, whence he emerged
black and smoking, but almost unhurt.
As for the other four, they whirled
hither and thither through the Mortified
mob, struggling with each other, fight
ing with the flames, cursing, shrieking
with main. Women fainted nv scores