eremonies they had been in the habit of performing. The English, as
may be supposed, made various additions and alterations suited to their
rougher habits and ideas, and what at one time probably retained
somewhat of the elegance of its classical origin, became the strange
burlesque it now appears.

Another nautical custom still in vogue is also derived from remote
antiquity. At the present day, with doubtful propriety, in imitation of
the rite of baptism, we christen a ship, as it is often called, by
breaking a bottle of wine on her bows as she glides off the stocks. The
custom is of thoroughly heathen origin. A similar ceremony was
practised by the ancient Greeks when they launched a ship. We ornament
our vessels with flags; they decked theirs with garlands. At the moment
the ship was launched forth into the deep the priest of Neptune raised
to his lips a goblet of wine, and after quaffing from it, he poured the
remainder out as a libation to his deity. The modern Greeks still
perform the ceremony much in the manner of their ancestors. Clearly,
the custom we have of breaking a bottle of wine is derived from the
libations of the ancients. In most instances, at the present day, the
ship is named at the moment she is launched by a young lady, who acts
the part of the priest or priestess of old.

Of late years a religious service is usually performed at the launch of
a man-of-war. The heathen libation is not, however, omitted, and the
whole ceremony presents a curious jumble of ancient and modern forms
suited to the tastes of the day. Still we are bound heartily to pray
that the gallant sailors who will man the stout ship may be protected
while in the performance of their duty to their country; and, still
more, that they may be brought to a knowledge of the Gospel.

The Greeks invariably gave feminine names to their ships, choosing,
whenever possible, appropriate ones; while the less courteous Romans
bestowed masculine names on theirs. Though we may not have followed the
Greek rule, we to the present day always look upon a ship as of the
feminine gender.

The mariner's compass, the most important instrument used in navigation,
demands further notice. The magnet, or loadstone, was known to the
ancient Greeks many centuries before the Christian era. The legend
runs, that one Magnes a shepherd, feeding his flocks on Mount Ida,
having stretched himself on the ground to sleep, left his crook, the
upper part o