of barrels containing a good store of beer, rum, and schiedam invariably graces the principal apartment.

A few days before the ceremony, the "Braut Bitter," a kind of official whose business it is to invite the guests, makes the round of the intended party, and addresses to each of the individuals an oration in rhyme, which contains an elaborate account of the preparations making for the reception of the guests, and occupies about half an hour in the delivery. "This Brautrede" which is a very ancient production, breathes the true spirit of the old Dutch, or rather old Saxon mother-wit, but we fear that a translation would scarcely be tolerated by "ears polite".

The wedding-day of a Dutch peasant, would seem to be by no means the happiest day of his life; girded with a white apron he must act the part of waiter to the whole party, and notwithstanding the assistance of the bridesman, whose duty it is to aid him in this office, it generally happens that long before evening he is scarcely able to stand from fatigue; while on the second day of the festivities, the bride and bridesmaid are expected to take their turn to wait upon the visitors.

The dances of the guests on the first day, are arranged according to the same antiquated program, as the order of the dishes. First on the list comes the "dance of honour" in which the young couple must dance with all the grandfathers, grandmothers, and other ancient relatives who may be assembled in the company; to make a rapid end of such a dance on the score of fatigue, or for any other reason, would be looked upon as an insult never to be forgiven, and the etiquette has therefore fixed certain rules, as to how long the bride and bridegroom must dance to the honour of each particular person, according to their different degrees of affinity.

In some parts of North Holland and Friesland, the custom of holding what is called a "Brauttafel" (Bride-table) is still not unusual. In this case notice is given to the Clergyman or schoolmaster of the village, and on the second day of the feast a large dish is placed on a table, before which the guests pass in single file, each depositing as he passes, his offering in hard cash, and as no one will give less than the person who preceded him, it sometimes happens that the guests are made to pay rather dearly for the hospitality they experience. When this is the case the demeanor of the company undergoes a sudden alteration, and the part of guests and host becomes as it were reversed; they dictate in what manner the remainder of the feast shall be conducted, give a sharp eye to the stock of provisions and drinkables, and not unfrequently insist that another ox or a few more barrels of beer shall be added to the stock.

As a considerable part of the entertainment consists of sturdy drinking bouts, it follows that on some occasions most extraordinary freaks are performed by the company while in their cups. Little however, has been left for the present generation to invent in the way of drunken extravagance, their forefathers having anticipated them in almost every contrivance of this kind; One of the most favorite pranks is the dance of "the long row"; in this dance, the men and women are ranged alternately in a long line, each holding the person before him by the gown or coat, the musicians take their places at the side, and

RIVERS

OXFORD

ERIES

away the party go, with a strange mixture of hopping, jumping, running, and staggering, through the streets of the village, over hedges and ditches, into the houses by the door, and out again by the window; it is indeed not uncommon for these bacchanalian processions to pay a visit to other villages in this fashion, and should any opposition to their movements be offered by the inhabitants, a general fight is not unfrequently the result.

We have said enough to give a general idea of these festivities, which however they may vary in minor details, are ever essentially the same. The highly humorous and characteristic picture of Teniers, speaks for itself, and needs no particular description, but a notion of the spirit that animates the party he has depicted, may be gathered from the above sketch.

THE MARRIAGE IN CANA.

Painted by PAUL VERONESE.

The first miracle of our Lord, has furnished this great master with a subject in every way suited to his peculiar genius, which delighted in portraying, feasts, marriages, and other festal ceremonies, in which a large number of persons are brought together. Even if the usual glory around the head of the Redeemer had been omited, we should have had no difficulty in deciding which of the guests is intended for the divine person; his noble bearing and the celestial cheerfulness beaming from his features, being amply sufficient to distinguish him. The moment chosen by the artist is that, in which "the governor of the feast" is addressing the remonstrance to the bridegroom: "Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." The appointment of this officer' for regulating their more public entertainments was probably borrowed by the Hebrews from the Greeks; among the latter people he was called the simposiarch; he was one of the guests distinguished by his agreeable manners and pleasant address, and his duty was to preside over the feast, to prevent disorder, and while he promoted hilarity, to discourage intemperance. He gave particular attention to the drinking, and noted how the several guests were affected by their wine; and when he observed that some were more liable to be disordered by it than others, he mixed more water with their wine, to keep them equally sober with the rest of the company. Thus the symposiarch took care that none should be forced to drink against his will; and also that, although there was a general liberty of drinking, none should, even by own consent become intoxicated. Such seem to have been the offices of this "governor of the feast;" and, in accordance with it, we observe that the wine was taken to him to taste, before it was presented to the guests.

It may perhaps be interesting to some of our readers to learn, that the Cana of the sacred text, still exsists as a very neat little village, about eight miles to the north of Nazareth. It is pleasantly situated upon the declivity of a hill, facing the south-east: it enjoys the blessing of a copious spring, and is surrounded with plantations of the olive and other fruit trees. The spring is alleged, with sufficient probability, to be that which supplied the water that was turned into wine; for which reason pilgrims usually stop and drink from it. This spring is about quarter of a mile from the village. At Cana there is a neat Greek church, and the ruins of another, which was built by the Empress Helena, over the spot where the marriage feast was supposed to have been held. In walking about the ruins of the church, Dr. Clarke says," we saw large massy stone pots, answering the discription of the ancient vessels of the country, not preserved or exhibited as relics, but lying about disregarded by the present inhabitants as antiquities with whose original use they were not acquainted. From their appearance, and the number of them, it was evident that a practice of keeping water in large stone pots, each holding from eighteen to twenty-seven gallons, was once common in the country." It would seem however that these pots have not been wholly neglected, as Dr. Clarke supposed; for Dr. Richardson, on visiting the modern Greek church, says, "Here we were shown an old stone pot, of the compact limestone of the country, which, the hierophant informed us, is one of the original pots which contained the water, which underwent the miraculous change.

THE TRIBUTE MONEY.

Painted by TITIAN.

This composition, in which the great Venetian Master has represented the well-known biblical scene, of the temptation of Christ by the Pharisees and Herodians, is remarkable for its extreme simplicity. It consists of only two half-figures, those of Christ, and the Pharisee, who is putting to him the insidious question, "Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cesar or not? "a question which involved one of the most cunningly-devised snares ever laid for the Redeemer. If he had answered in the affirmative, they calculated rightly that he would alienate and offend his diciples and all the people, for there was never a nation by whom the yoke of bondage was felt more heavily than by the Jews: which may be easily accounted for by their peculiar institutions, and the recollection of the signal privileges they had enjoyed, and the deliverances with which they had been favoured. Their servitude was hateful to them; and they questioned, whether it was lawful for them to live in bondage to idolaters and foreigners, and whether their duty to God and their Coun