El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-03-31

| faithful, who receive his benedictions.
which are dispensed with a flourish OF
three fingers, as ne Is carried along.
At Easter he wears the tiora or triple
crown-the EN- blem of ponti6cal, i'm
perial and royal authority united. The
| 'tJubilate'' is cheoted at this season
| and there is q universal eXhultatlon,
which is more striking, as it is con-
| trasted with the gloomy period OF Lent
| just drawn to a close.
The custom of eating eggs at Easter
has been traced up not onlv to the
theology of Egypt, but to the Ph1ioso-
ply of the Persians, the Gauls, the
Greeks and the Romans-all OF whom
regarded the egg as an EN- blem OF the
universe and the work OF Deity. The
Early Christians of Mesopotamia had
the custom of dyeing and decorating
eggs at Easter. They were stained
red in memory of the blood OF Christ
shed at the crucifixion. The Catholic
church adopted the custom
and regarded eggs as the EN- blem OF
the resurrection, as is evinced by the
benediction of Pope Paul V about 1910,
which read thus: "Bless, oh, Lord,
we beseech thee, this thy creature OF
eggs; that it may become wholesome
sustenance to thy faithful servants
eating it in thankfulness to thee on &C
count of the resurrection of the Lord"
Thus the custom has come down from
ages lost In antiq uity.
AS in France down to the days of
Louis XIV, so in Russia up to tc1ay,
colored and gilt eggs are distributed
among the members of the imperial
family and court on Easter Sunday.
The custom of making presents of eggs
sion to the Mundane Egg" from
which the world was tabled by certain
natious to nave been derived. 1t is
still a custom amOrg Jews, Egyptians
and HindoOs, and, as 1t has been stated +,
WAS adopted by Christians to symbol
iZe the resurrection.
The com mon game of 'picking eggs
is an old English custom. The owner
of q hard boiled Easter egg in England
eggs with him. If his egg breaks the
other, it is called the "cock of one, -
and it's owner gets the broken one as a
trophy. When it has broken two, it Is
''cock of two. and SO on. If an egg
which is cock of one or more is
broken, the winner adds the number of
eggs won by the svictim to his own
score.
OF Easter Monday rites some curious
relics still linger. One called "clipping
the church," is performed in England
by children of the charity school amid
crowds OF people and shouts of joy.
The children place their backs against
the outside Of the church, join hands
until the circle is complete and the
building surrounded, when the cere-
mony is over, and they go to another
church.
Another custom in Durham is for
men to go about the streets and take
off shoe from every woman they
meet, unless she will pay small fee to
prevent it. The next day, as Is hut
fair the women retort by doing the
same to men.
In some parts a still more ridiculous
custom is found, called of the "hesv-
ing" or ''lifting." On Eastern Mon
day the men "lift" woman, and on
Tuesday the women are the 'lifters. ~
This.is'done thus: Two strong men cross
hands in the way we use to CALI making
| a CHI air. in our school days, or they
carry chair lined with white and de-
corated with flowers and ribbons. On
meeting a woman ia thestreet, they in
vite her to take a seat-in fact, they in
sist.upon it They then lift her into the