Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-04-05
COMING OF EASTER.
The PIovu "R&urrectlon" and Its
Lesson.
LIFE HERE AND HEREAFTER
The Name Of the Day--semc Ancient
Customs and Belicfs-The White
House Egs-Roliing-A Proposed
Excursion.
tcorre.pondence Of the pIspatch.l

| tide fresh. green shoots replace the sere
and withered grass. and last years dry
ness and decay II covered over and for
gotten. The sps ucepines are tipped with
tassels OF living emerald, and the FIR trees
upon the mountain sides show tender
shades OF Lght-green upon their darker
robes The robin sings his own welcome
from every budding hedge, and new
earth gladdens the eye on every side. No
| other time that comes TO US in this world
| Of stern reality Is SO much In keeping
| with the holy Christ spirit
Each year that the glorious sight OF re-
touch Of that higher. holier Life beyond
the barren wastes and the valley of the
shadows" AS flowers live and die, to
spring UP again in sweetness and beauty
after winters desoaton, so Will love
crown with everlasting glory the resur-
rected soul when thu wild storm OF life
Is swept by. Would II not be well IL we
| learned from natures lessons TO divest
| ourselves OF the terror OF death--that we
| learned to consider 1t not so much the
| winters death Of life as the sweet spring
| time Of eternal blessedness?
The love OF immortality Is innate.
Every good man." says Cicero, burns
with the desire for another life" Natures
| laws are Gods lawS-the harmonious ex-
preston Of one creative mind There is
| no room for discord between the laws Of
ma tier. or OF mind. or OF spirit, and none
between the life Of to-day here and that
OF tomorrow in the hereafter
| Yet, we cannot help feeling an intense
curiosity about the future life. How. with
anguished hearts we question in the days
that are broken by sorrow. when our
| loved ones are laid to rest in the lap OF
| Mother Earthl How we search the rele-
want passages of Scripture for comfort
always for the comfort OF the resurrec-
toni II Is St Paul who has given us the
| most extended description OF the resur-
rection OF the body, which he likens to q
/ buried seed, and nothing in the whole
| Bible Is palmer than the natural law OF
the body's resurrection as written In 1.
| Corinthians chapter XIV. 35-45 verses
/ The seed must rot in the earth or all
ones time and effort 10 plough and rake
and plant and water will be in vain. We
know nothing Of 1t, save that IT holds a
germ which We could not make grow, but
can only place where rain and sun and
subtle magnsusms-not one OF which we
comprehend-shall be its minister's
DYING FOR THE GOOD.
II was long time before men learned
that the material part OF the body was
steadily changing dying for the good OF
the individual; but now we know that we
drop. little by little, the wornout body
for the spirits good, and that natures
divine alchemy cares for IL in the best
way. If the spirits garments may be thus
put aside piece by piece, and suffer no
harm, but rather profit thereby, why
should one fear to drop them all at once2
She Is right who sings;
Whoever sees meath winters field of
snow
Tho silent harvest OF the future grow,
Gods power must knowl
Whoever plants a leaf beneath the sod,
Ana waits to see II push away the clod,
He trusts In God!
And Easter Is the object lesson which
Christ lived and died and lives again TO
teach
Palm Sunday dawned with lowering
clouds that lifted only enough for divine
services at Hebron but the transient
brightness settled into a starless evening,
and the steady rain held Its way for three
long days Streams OF water ran down
the winding country roads and dripped
from the wet boughs OF heavy evergreens:
the early crocus bent its golden head In
mute sympathy. and the daffodls and
Passion Week. To-day the sun is out.
and Easter. always typical, will be fair.
THE NAME OF EASTER.
The name OF Easter. like those of the
days OF the week, is survival Of the
old Teutonic mythology. To the Germans
II was Ostern; to the Anglo-Saxons
Eastre, from Ostara, the goddess OF
spring, whose name comes from the Saxon
oster-to rise. To other nations Easter is
Pasqua, from the Latin Pascha, forms OF
the Hebrew word pesach signifying the
Passover" The queen OF festivals
was the perpetuation OF this feast by the
first Christians. who, from their close con-
nection with the Jewish Church, continued
to observe Jewish festivals Thus the
Passover, further ennobled by the
thought Of Christ, the realized Paschal
sacrihcial lamb-the first fruits of the
dead-became the Christian Easter But
at all times and in all places 1t has been
the Sunday OF JOY" the brightest day
in the years calendar. OF its many GUS
toms. the Oldest. most familiar and most
universal are those associated with eggs.
Hundreds OF years before Christ eggs held
an important place In the theology and
philosophy OF the Egyptians, Persians,
Greeks, and Romans. among whom an
egg was the emblem OF the universe.
The sight OF street boys striking their
rival eggs together to see which is the
stronger, and shall win the other, was
as common In the streets Of Rome and
Athens 1900 years ago, IL we are TO believe
the antiquarians, as II Is in American
cities to-day.
The ancient Firms believed that mys-
tic bird laid an egg and that IL fell in
the water and broke The lower portion
OF the shell formed the earth, the upper
the sky. the liquid white became the sun,
the yolk the moon. and the broken bits
OF egg-shell were turned into stars.
In Germany neither hen, goose, nor
duck is held responsible for eggs for the
gay Eastertide. To the pretty white
hare are accredited oviparous qualities,
and nest Of sugar eggs presided over
by toy hare is a most favored gift.
wHITE-HOUSE EGG ROLLING.
There is no country where eggs are
used more lavishly than In America,
where the President gives the children OF
Washington the freedom of the White
House-grounds on Easter Monday, and
thousands OF them gather there for an
egg-roliing contest. This Is as demo-
cratic festival as one could we'll
imagine. for children OF all classes play
side by side. regardless. matching eggs,
or ''pecking' them. Eggs In all colors of
the rainbow are brought In hampers, nets.
and baskets. and a great many people in
carriages and on foot stop TO see the fun.
One OF the Oldest superstitions of
Easter, and the most commendable after
the winters sombre robes, Is, that unless
some new article OF dress Is worn on
Easter misfortune will be sure to follow
through the year.
"At Easter let your clothes be new.
Or else be sure you will II rue"
II the water Is not too cold there viii