them
is certain of paradise, and must be a good Moslem. The pillars have
been worn thin by the friction of countless devotees. An iron bar has
now, however, been placed between the pillars by the present
enlightened Pasha of Jerusalem to prevent the practice in future. The
other instance is what is popularly known as "threading the needle" in
the Cathedral of Ripon. Beneath the central tower of this minster
there is a small crypt or vaulted cell entered from the nave by a
narrow passage. At the north side of this crypt there is an opening
thirteen inches by eighteen, called St. Wilfred's needle. This passage
was formerly used as a test of character; for only an honest man, one
new-born, could pass through it. "They pricked their credits who could
not thread the needle," was the quaint remark of old Fuller in
reference to the original use of the opening. It may be remarked that
the well-known boys' game of "Through the needle's e'e, boys," had its
origin in all likelihood in the old superstition. Thus we can trace
the use made of the Bocca della Verita in Rome to the primitive
idolatry associated perhaps with the Temple of Ceres that formerly
stood on the spot.

Some other superstitious practices of a closely allied nature may be
traced to the same source. In the Orkney Islands, not far from the
famous Standing Stones of Stennis, there is a single monolith with a
large hole through it, which has become celebrated, owing to the
allusion to it of Sir Walter Scott in his novel of the _Pirate_. It is
called Odin's Stone; and till a very recent period it was the local
custom to take an oath by joining hands through the hole in it; and
this oath was considered even by the regular courts of Orkney as
peculiarly solemn and binding; the person who violated it being
accounted infamous and excluded from society. In the old churchyard of
the ruined monastery of Saints Island in the Shannon, there is an
ancient black marble flagstone called the "Cremave" or "swearing
stone." The saints are said to have made it a revealer of truth. Any
one suspected of falsehood is brought here, and if the accused swears
falsely the stone has the power to set a mark upon him and his family
for several generations. But if no mark appears he is known to be
innocent. Many other equally interesting instances might be quoted all
akin to the superstition in Rome. It is not too fanciful to suppose
that even the Jewish mode of making a covenant had something