The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1899-03-31

cient times devoted to Eastre, the God
dess Of Spring, and the whole Easter
month was set aside to do her honor.
Socrates attributed the introduction Of
the festival Of Easter in the church TO
the perpetuation Of an old usuage.
The observance Of Easter dates back
to about the year 6S, at which time
there was much contention among the
Eastern and Western churches as to
what day the festival should be OBJ
served. It was finally ordained at the
Council Of Nice in the year 1916, that
it must be observed throughout the
Christian world on the same day. This
decision settled that Easter should be
kept upon the Sunday first after the
fourteenth day of the first Jewish
month, but no general conclusion was
arrived at as to the cycle by which the
festival was to be regulated, and some
churches adopted one rule and some
another. This diversity of usuage was
put an end to, and the Roman rule
making Easter the first Sunday after
the fourteenth day of the calendar
moon was established in England In
$50. After nine centuries a discrep-
ancy in the keeping of Easter was
caused by the authorities of the Eng
lish Church declining to adopt the re-
formation of the Gregorian Calendar
in 1882. The difference was settled
in 1852 by the adoption Of the rule
which makes Easter Day always the
first Sunday after the full moon which
happens on or next after the twenty
first day of March. If the full moon
happens upon Sunday, Easter is the
Sunday after.
Pretty customs which have obtained
in recent years are the decoration of
the churches on IEaster Sunday, and
the sending of gifts of flowers to ones
friends. to invalids, and to the hos
pitfalls, and the distribution of the pot.
ted plants used in the church decora-
tions among the sick members of the
congregation.
Among all the quaint ceremonies
which characterize Easter Day the
practice Of giving presents of eggs is
doubtless the most ancient, as we'll as
the most universal Eggs have been
associated with Easter always. The
Jews believed them to be emblematic
of the Passover; the Egyptians held
them as a emblem of the renewal of
the human race after the deluge, and
the Christians as the symbol Of the
Resurrection.
In ancient times the eggs would be
boiled hard and dyed, then clergymen
and layman alike would play ball
with them, and after much sport
eat them.
The simplest method of coloring
= eggs is to use the aniline dyes, or to
t coat them with metallic paint and
Y frost them with diamond dust, or to
I cover them with gilt, silver or colored
!; paper. To make an Easter egg with
' fancy head, blow the egg hollow
k and then rub the shell gently with
e benzine to make the color take. Then
give it a complexion wash to suit the
b character. Then hold the egg with
b the small end down and paint the
l. face. When this is done glue the egg
:. into a hole cut in piece of card
IS board, placing a tissue-paper hat on
u it's head. A pen-wiper may be at,
tached to the card.
Y Egg caricature is another popular
" idea in Easter-egg decoration. Pre-
It pare the eggs as before, and paint
n upon them a caricature Of man,
It woman, child, crying baby Ct
n Brownie. Spool thread of either
black or yellow may be attached by {
I little wax and will serve as hair. Thu
le funnier the faces the more delighted
If the children will be.
lie A simple way by which the littl
II folks, unaided, may prepare Easte
of eggs for themselves and their littl
gs friends is by tying up each egg sepa
~ rately in a piece Of bright-coloret
silk or cotton, having previousl,
", pasted on the surface of the egg som
n little design Have the eggs boile
as slowly for half an hour and then sc
lis aside to cool. When quite cold unit
the covering and the eggs will b
found nicely colored and with an in
- preston Of the design clearly repre-
20 sented. These eggs may be placed i
- egg cups which have been lined wit
aP fringed tissue paper, and placed upo
~. ~ the breakfast table on Easter morr
Mt ing.
~ ~ There are countless other caste
" conceits, such as nests, birds an
chickens, all of which may be evolve
with little ingenuity, and viii brin
u Joy to the children's hearts on Eastt
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