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Numa changed the commencement of the year to January 1st, though it retained its original name.

November (Lat. novem, "nine") was among the Romans the ninth month of the year (the Ger. Wind month) at the time when the year consisted of ten months, and then contained 30 days. It subsequently was made to contain only 29, but Julius Cæsar gave it 31; and in the reign of Augustus the number was restored to 30, which number it has since retained.

December means the tenth month, and received that name from the Romans when the year began in March, and has retained its name since January and February were put at the beginning of the year.

THE ORIGIN OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK.

The names of these are derived from Saxon idolatry. The Saxons had seven deities more particularly adored than the rest, namely: The Sun, the Moon, Tuisco, Woden, Thor, Friga and Saeter. Sunday being dedicated to the sun, was called by them Sunandaeg; his idol represented the bust of a man, with the face darting bright rays, holding a wheel before his breast, indicative of the circuit of the golden orb around our sphere. Monday was dedicated to the moon, and was represented by a female on a pedestal, with a very singular dress and two long ears. Tuesday was dedicated to Tuisco, a German hero, sire of the Germans, Scythians and Saxons. He was represented as a venerable old man, with a long, white beard, a scepter in his hand and the skin of a white bear thrown over his shoulders. Wednesday was consecrated to Woden, or Odin, a supreme god of the northern nations, father of the gods and god of war. He was represented as a warrior in a bold martial attitude, clad in armor, holding in his right hand a broad, crooked sword and a shield in his left. Thursday was consecrated to Thor, eldest son of Woden, who was the Roman Jupiter. He was believed to govern the air, preside over lightning and thunder, direct the wind, rain, and seasons. He was represented as sitting on a splendid throne, with a crown of gold adorned with twelve glittering stars, and a scepter in his right hand. Friday was sacred to Friga-Hertha or Edith-the mother of the gods and wife of Woden. She was the goddess of love and pleasure and was portrayed as a female with a naked sword in her right hand and bow in her left hand, implying that in extreme cases women should fight as well as men. Saturday was named in honor of Saeter, who is the Roman Saturnus. He was represented on a pedestal, standing on the back of a prickly fish called a perch, his head bare, with a thin, meager face. In his left hand he held a wheel and in his right a pail of water with fruits and flowers. The sharp fins of the fish implied that the worshipers of Saeter should. pass safely through every difficulty. The wheel was emblematic of their unity and freedom, and the pail of water implied that he could water the earth and make it more beautiful.

THE HISTORIC AGES.

The Age of the Bishops, according to Hallam, was the ninth century. The Age of the Popes, according to Hallam, was the twelfth century. Varo recognizes Three Ages: 1st. From the beginning of man to the great Flood (the period wholly unknown). 2nd. From the Flood

U. 1.-4

to the first Olympiad (the mythical period). 3rd. From the first Olym piad to the present time (the historical period).

The Golden Age, a mythical period when the earth brought forth spontaneously, and the gods held converse with men.

The Silver Age the second period, when the gods taught men the useful arts.

The Age of Bronze, the third or transition period, semi-historical. The age of heroes. It followed the "Stone Age.

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The Iron Age, the historic period, when wars abound, and man earns his food by labor.

LEGAL HOLIDAYS IN THE VARIOUS STATES.

JANUARY 1. NEW YEAR'S DAY: In all the States except Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

JANUARY 8.

Louisiana.

ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS: In

JANUARY 19. LEE'S BIRTHDAY: In Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

FEBRUARY 12. LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY: In Illinois.

FEBRUARY 14. 1893. MARDI GRAS: In Alabama and Louisiana. FEBRUARY 22. WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY: In all the States except Arkansas, Iowa and Mississippi.

MARCH 2. ANNIVERSARY OF TEXAN INDEPENDENCE: In Texas.
MARCH 4. FIREMAN'S ANNIVERSARY: In New Orleans, La.

MARCH 31, 1893. GOOD FRIDAY: In Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

APRIL 5, 1893. STATE ELECTION DAY: In Rhode Island.

APRIL 21. ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE of San JACINTO: In

Texas.

APRIL 26. MEMORIAL DAY. In Alabama and Georgia.
MAY 10. MEMORIAL DAY. In North Carolina.

MAY 20. ANNIVERSARY OF THE SIGNING OF THe MecklenbURG DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. In North Carolina.

MAY 30. DECORATION DAY: In Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, Washington and Wyoming.

JUNE 3. JEFFERSON DAVIS' BIRTHDAY: In Florida.
JULY 4. INDEpendence DAY: In all the States.

JULY 24. PIONEERS' DAY: In Utah.

SEPTEMBER 4, 1893. LABOR DAY: In California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

SEPTEMBER 9. ADMISSION DAY: In California.

OCTOBER 31. ADMISSION IN THE UNION DAY: Nevada.

NOVEMBER - GENERAL ELECTION DAY: In Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. In the States which hold elections in November, 1893, election day falls on the 7th instant.

NOVEMBER 30, 1893. THANKSGIVING DAY: Is observed in all the States, though in some it is not a statutory holiday.

NOVEMBER 25. LABOR DAY: In Louisiana.

DECEMBER 25. CHRISTMAS DAY: In all the States, and in South Carolina the two succeeding days in addition.

Sundays and Fast Days (whenever appointed) are legal holidays in nearly all the States.

ARBOR DAY is a legal holiday in Kansas, Rhode Island and Wyoming, the day being set by the Governor-in Nebraska, April 22; California, September 9; Colorado, on the third Friday in April; Montana, third Tuesday in April; Utah, first Saturday in April; and Idaho, on Friday after May 1.

Every Saturday after 12 o'clock noon is a legal holiday in New York, New Jersey, and the city of New Orleans, and from June 15 to September 15 in Pennsylvania.

There is no national holiday, not even the Fourth of July. Congress has at various times appointed special holidays, and has recognized the existence of certain days as holidays, for commercial purposes, in such legislation as the Bankruptcy act, but there is no general statute on the subject. The proclamation of the President designating a day of Thanksgiving only makes it a holiday in those States which provide by law for it.

THE ADJUSTMENT OF The calendar.

The Chaldeans, Egyptians and Indians, and indeed almost all the nations of antiquity, originally estimated the year, or the periodical return of summer and winter, by 12 lunations; a period equal to 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, 36 seconds. But the solar year is equal to 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 49 seconds; or 10 days, 21 hours, 13 seconds longer than the lunar year, an excess named the epact; and accordingly the seasons were found rapidly to deviate from the particular months to which they at first corresponded; so that, in 34 years, the summer months would have become the winter ones, had not this enormous aberration been corrected by the addition or intercalation of a few odd days at certain intervals. Thus was the calendar first adjusted, and the solar year estimated to consist of 12 months, comprehending 365 days. But no account was taken of the odd hours, until their accumulation forced them into notice; and a nearer approximation to the exact measurement of a year was made about 45 years before the birth of Christ, when Julius Cæsar, being led by Sosigenes, an astronomer of his time, to believe the error to consist of exactly 6 hours in the year, ordained that these should be set aside, and accumulated for four years, when, of course, they would amount to a day of 24 hours, to be accordingly added to every fourth year. This was done by doubling or repeating the 24th of February; and, in order to commence aright, he ordained the first to be a “year of confusion," made up of 15 months, so as to cover the 90 days which had been then lost. The "Julian style" and the "Julian era" were then commenced; and so practically useful and comparatively perfect was this mode of time-reckoning, that it prevailed generally amongst Christian nations, and remained undisturbed till the renewed accumulation of the remaining error, of 11 minutes or so, had amounted, in 1582 years after the birth of Christ, to 10 complete days; the vernal equinox falling on the 11th instead of the 21st of March, as it did at the time of the council of Nice, 325

years after the birth of Christ. This shifting of days had caused great disturbances, by unfixing the times of the celebration of Easter, and hence of all the other movable feasts. And, accordingly, Pope Gregory XIII, after deep study and calculation, ordained that 10 days should be deducted from the year 1582, by calling what, according to the old calendar, would have been reckoned the 5th of October, the 15th of October, 1582. In Spain, Portugal and parts of Italy, the pope was exactly obeyed. In France the change took place in the same year, by calling the 10th the 20th of December. In the Low Countries the change was from the 15th of December to the 25th, but was resisted by the Protestant part of the community till the year 1700. The Catholic nations in general adopted the style ordained by their sovereign pontiff, but the Protestants were then too much inflamed against Catholicism in all its relations to receive even a purely scientific improvement from such hands. The Lutherans of Germany, Switzerland, and, as already mentioned, of the Low Countries, at length gave way in 1700, when it had become necessary to omit eleven instead of ten days. A bill to this effect had been brought before the Parliament of England in 1585, but does not appear to have gone beyond a second reading in the House of Lords. It was not till 1751, and after great inconvenience had been experienced for nearly two centuries, from the difference of the reckoning, that an act was passed (24 Geo. II, 1751) for equalizing the style in Great Britain and Ireland with that used in other countries of Europe. It was enacted, in the first place, that eleven days should be omitted after the 2d of September, 1752, so that the ensuing day should be the 14th; and, in order to counteract a certain minute overplus of time, that "the years 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300, or any other hundredth year of our Lord which shall happen in time to come, except only every fourth hundredth year of our Lord, whereof the year 2000 shall be the first, shall not be considered as leap years." Our present Eastern States being then British colonies, the forefathers of the Republic, of course, used this altered calendar as soon as it was adopted. A similar change was about the same time made in Sweden and Tuscany; and Russia is now the only country which adheres to the old style; an adherence which renders it necessary, when a letter is thence addressed to a person in another country, that the date should 1 June 26 be given thus:-April or for it will be observed, the year 1800 13 July 9 not being considered by us as leap year, has interjected another (or twelfth) day between old and new style.

The twelve calendar or civil months were so arranged by Julius Cæsar, while reforming the calendar, that the odd months-the first, third, fifth, and so on, should contain 31 days, and the even numbers 30 days, except in the case of February, which was to have 30 only in what has been improperly termed leap year, while on other years it was assigned 29 days only; a number which it retained till Augustus Cæsar deprived it of another day. How the changes were effected is shown in a prior chapter on "The Months.”·

LANGUAGE: ITS USE AND MISUSE.

The grand debate,

The popular harangue, the tart reply,
The fogic, and the wisdom, and the wit,

And the loud laugh-I long to know them all.

PICKINGS FOR STUDENTS.

There are said to be 2,754 languages.

Rhetoric, as an art, dates from 466 B. C.

A poet terms words "the soul's embassadors."

-COWPER.

The rude speech of fishwives is called Billingsgate. Lyric poetry has to do with the feelings and emotions. A terse and poetical expression of an idea is an Epigram. Leibnitz was first to reduce philology to a science of induction. Appolonius of Alexandria was called the Prince of Grammarians. In the Turkish language are to be met the longest compound words. When we express a principle very concisely we employ an Aphorism. The tales, ballads and legends of a people constitute its Folk-lore. A pithy saying that conveys an important truth, is called an Apophthegm.

Rhetoric is the theory and practice of eloquence, whether spoken or

written.

Language is claimed to have begun in the use of cries to help out gestures.

A Hellenist is one that is versed in the Greek languages and literature.

One verse in the Bible (Ezra vii. 21) will be found to contain all the letters of our alphabet.

Orientals aver that the serpent who tempted Eve spoke Arabic, "the most suasive of tongues."

The Italian, Spanish, French and other tongues derived mainly from Latin, are called the Romance languages.

It was not Talleyrand, but Montron, the diplomat, who said: "Language is given to man to conceal his thoughts."

Acrostic is a term for any given number of verses, the first letters of which in their order form a given word, phrase or sentence.

Didactic poetry is that class which aims, or seems to aim, at instruction as its object, making pleasure entirely subservient thereto.

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