The full ritual is gone through by the Roman Catholic archbishop of Westminster, and abroad it survives in all Catholic countries, a notable example being that of the Austrian emperor. In the Greek Church the rite survives notably at Moscow, St Petersburg and Constantinople. It is on Maundy Thursday that in the Church of Rome the sacred oil is blessed, and the chrism prepared according to an elaborate ritual which is given in the _Pontificale_. MAUPASSANT, HENRI RENÉ ALBERT GUY DE (1850-1893), French novelist and poet, was born at the Château of Miromesnil in the department of Seine-Inférieure on the 5th August 1850. His grandfather, a landed proprietor of a good Lorraine family, owned an estate at Neuville-Champ-d'Oisel near Rouen, and bequeathed a moderate fortune to his son, a Paris stockbroker, who married Mademoiselle Laure Lepoitevin. Maupassant was educated at Yvetot and at the Rouen lycée. A copy of verses entitled _Le Dieu créateur_, written during his year of philosophy, has been preserved and printed. He entered the ministry of marine, and was promoted by M. Bardoux to the Cabinet de l'Instruction publique. A pleasant legend says that, in a report by his official chief, Maupassant is mentioned as not reaching the standard of the department in the matter of style. He may very well have been an unsatisfactory clerk, as he divided his time between rowing expeditions and attending the literary gatherings at the house of Gustave Flaubert, who was not, as he is often alleged to be, connected with Maupassant by any blood tie. Flaubert was not his uncle, nor his cousin, nor even his godfather, but merely an old friend of Madame de Maupassant, whom he had known from childhood. At the literary meetings Maupassant seldom shared in the conversation. Upon those who met him--Tourgenieff, Alphonse Daudet, Catulle Mendès, José-Maria de Heredia and Émile Zola--he left the impression of a simple young athlete. Even Flaubert, to whom Maupassant submitted some sketches, was not greatly struck by their talent, though he encouraged the youth to persevere. Maupassant's first essay was a dramatic piece twice given at Étretat in 1873 before an audience which included Tourgenieff, Flaubert and Meilhac. In this indecorous performance, of which nothing more is heard, Maupassant played the part of a woman. During the next seven years he served a severe apprenticeship to Flaubert, who by this time realized his pupil's exceptional gifts. In 1880 Maupassant published a volume of poems, _Des Vers_, against which the public prosecutor of Etampes took proceedings that were finally withdrawn through the influence of the senator Cordier. From Flaubert, who had himself been prosecuted for his first book, _Madame Bovary_, there came a letter congratulating the poet on the similarity between their first literary experiences. _Des Vers_ is an extremely interesting experiment, which shows Maupassant to us still