HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



199 



There is no national holiday, not even the 

 Fourth of July. Congress has at various 

 times appointed special holidays. In the sec- 

 ond session of the fifty-third Congress it passed 

 an act making Labor Day a public holiday in 

 the District of Columbia, and it has recognized 

 the existence of certain days as holidays, for 

 commercial purposes, but, with the exception 

 named, there is no general statute on the sub- 

 ject. The proclamation of the President des- 

 ignating a day of Thanksgiving only makes it 

 a legal holiday in those States which provide 

 by law for it. 



The Months and their Names. Jan- 

 uary, the first month of the year, was among 

 the Romans held sacred to Janus, from whom 

 it derived its name, and was added to the calen- 

 dar along with February by Numa in 713 B. C. 

 It was not till the eighteenth century that Jan* 

 nary was universally adopted by European 

 nations as tlnefirst month of the year, although 

 the Roman's considered it as such as far back 

 as 251 B. C. 



February is the name given to the second 

 month, in which wei'e celebrated the Februa, 

 or feasts to the manes of deceased persons. 



March, the first month of the Roman year, 

 and the third according to our present calen- 

 dar, consists of 31 days. It was considered as 

 the first month of the year in England until 

 the change of style in 1752, and the legal 

 year was reckoned from the 25th of March. Its 

 last three days (old style) were once popularly 

 supposed to have been borrowed by March from 

 April, and are proverbially stormy. 



To the fourth month of our year the Romans 

 gave the name of Aprilis, derived from aperire, 

 " to open," probably because it is the season 

 when the buds begin to open. By the Anglo- 

 Saxons it was called Eastermonth. 



The name of the fifth month, May, is said 

 to be derived from Main, the mother of Mer- 

 cury, to whom the Romans on the first day 

 offered sacrifices. It was the third month of 

 the Roman year. 



June, the sixth month of the year in our 

 calendar, but the fourth among the Romans, 

 consisted originally of 26 days, to which four 

 were added by Romulus, one taken away by 

 Numa, and the month again lengthened to 30 

 days by Julius Caesar. 



The seventh month of the year in our 

 calendar, and the fifth in the Roman calendar, 

 was originally called Quintilis (the fifth). 

 At first it contained 36 days, was reduced to 

 31, then to 30, but was restored to 31 days by 

 Julius Caesar, in honor of whom it was named 

 July. 



August, the eighth month of the year, was 

 so named by the Emperor Augustus (B. C. 63 



-A. D. 14), who commanded that his name 

 should be given to the month. August. was 

 the sixth month of the Roman year and was 

 previously called Sexlilis. 



September (Lat. Septem, seven) was the 

 seventh month of the Roman calendar, but is 

 the ninth according to our reckoning. The 

 Anglo-Saxons called it gerst-monath, " barley- 

 month." 



October (Lat. octo, eight) was the eighth 

 month of the so-called "year of Romulus," 

 but became the tenth when (according to tra- 

 dition) 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 Caesar 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 re- 

 ceived 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 repre- 

 sented the bust of a man, with the face dart- 

 ing 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 Sax- 

 ons. 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 atti- 

 tude, clad in armor, holding in his right hand 

 a broad, crooked sword and in his left a 

 shield. 



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, 



