118 MusEeuM AND Art NOTES

see the greater part of a week was devoted to the Communion season. Since then
tokens have been replaced by cards.

Although the use of the token is quite recent, its origin goes back to the time of
the Reformation. There is no mention of tokens in the Bible. Paul, in his sacra-
mental warrant for engaging in this holy ordinance, simply says: “Let a man examine
himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” The late Mr. A. H.
Miller, F.S.A. Scot., thus describes the origin of the token: “To the intelligent collector
every token is as full of historic suggestion as is any Greek or Roman coin of ancient
date. The origin of the token is itself replete with pathetic history. The earliest
tokens were used by the Covenanters subsequent to 1638, and it was probably after
1660, when Episcopacy was restored, that they were used as a safeguard. The
conventicles, or field-preachings, began in 1663, and were held in secret by the ‘outed’
ministry. To prevent the spies of the Government from gaining admission to these
meetings, the leaden tokens were introduced, and the possession of one of these per-
mitted the holder to join in the open-air services, and entitled him to partake of the
sacrament. Only five Covenanters’ tokens are known to exist. It is supposed that
the earliest Covenanters’ tokens are those that bear no date. The method of dating
the tokens came into use towards the close of the seventeenth century.” The earliest
dated token is that of Insch, in the Presbytery of Garioch, 1685.

Il. TokeNn-cRAFT. One must differentiate between token-craft and token-collecting.
The one is a study; the other is a hobby.

Many people, especially in Scotland, have found token-collecting an interesting
hobby. King Edward VII. was reported to have had a good representative collection.
As the hobby became widespread, old tokens increased in value correspondingly. In
Scotland the largest private collection belonged to the late Mr. John Reid, of Blair-
gowrie. He was one of the earliest systematic collectors. It is said that he wrote to
every minister in Scotland, as well as to many in other parts of the world. His collec-
tion contained nearly 5000 specimens.

Rey. G. A. MacLennan was instrumental in bringing together the collection that
was presented to the Presbyterian College, Montreal. “Some of the rarer tokens were
only secured through the great kindness of two collectors, W. A. Kain of St. John,
N.B., and Louis Laurin of Ottawa, Ont., who out of their own duplicates and by
personal correspondence provided most generously and as an appreciation of the pur-
pose for which my collection was made.”

Token-craft has many points in common with stamp collecting, which also may be
a study or a fad. Just as history and geography may be studied in stamps, so in
token-craft one may search for the history of divisions and unions within the ranks
of Presbyterianism. Besides this, every collection has a real value in helping to keep
alive the memory of the old-time communion service.

Ill. Museum Correction. The tokens in our Museum must be regarded as the
nucleus of a collection, which we hope may be increased from time to time. Before
it can compare with the representative collection listed and described by MacLennan,
over 200 specimens must be added yet. At present the provinces represented in our
collection are as follows: Quebec, 1; Ontario, 9; Nova Scotia, 6; New Brunswick, 3;
Prince Edward Island, 3; general token, 1; making in all 23. The dates range from