EPA MINONDAS EPEE. 



days, 8 hours, 4S minutes, 38 seconds, the anmuu 

 epact will be 10 days, 21 hours, 11 minutes, 22 

 seconds, that is, nearly 11 days. Consequently, the 

 epact of 2 years is 22 days ; of 3 years, 33 days, or 

 rather 3, since 30 days makes an embolismic or in- 

 tercalary month : of 4 years, 1 4 days, and so of the 

 rest. Every 19th year the epact is 12, in place of 1 1, 

 which causes the first year of the succeeding cycle to 

 have the same epact as the first year of the one pre- 

 ceding it; and so the cycle of (-parts expires with 

 the golden number, or lunar cycle of 19 years, and 

 begins with the same. After a lapse of 312 years, 

 the moon gets 1 day in advance of the epacts, which 

 therefore, at the end of this period, require a day to 

 be added to them. The equation of the epacts ac- 

 cording to the Gregorian computation, must, how- 

 ever, be preferred, as by this method compensa- 

 tion is at once made for the excess of the Julian 

 year, and the deficiency in the cycle of epacts. Three 

 bissextiles bemg omitted every 400 years, causes 

 3 days to be lost in that period ; and equating 3 days 

 lost in 400 years, with 1 day gained in 312 years, we 

 find that an average deduction of 1 day in about 230 

 years is required for a due correction of the epacts. 

 Table of Gregorian Epacts till the year 1 600 



Rule to find the Gregorian Epact. Till the year 

 1899, inclusive, the epact of any year is found by 

 mulliplying the golden number, or lunar cycle, of 

 the previous year by 11, and dividing the product by 

 30, the remainder is the epact. The following is a 

 general rule: Subtract 1600 from the given year, 

 and from the hundreds in the remainder take one- 

 fourth, omitting fractions; then for as many com- 

 plete hundreds as this second remainder contains, 

 reckon days for deduction; divide the first remainder 

 by 312, and the quotient gives days for addition; 

 subtract the days to be atMvd from the days to be 

 deducted, and the remainder gives the days to be 

 subtracted from the epart of the golden number in 

 the preceding Table. Note. If in dividing by 312 

 the remainder amount to or exceed 156, add 1 to 

 the quotient. To find the golden number, add 1 to 

 the given year, and divide by 19, when the remainder 

 is the number sought. 



EPAMINONDAS ; a Theban hero, who, for a 

 short time, raised his country to the summit of power 

 and prosperity. He was descended from the ancient 

 kings of Boeotia, but was without fortune, and lived 

 in seclusion till his 40th year. He was fortunate in 

 enjoying the instructions of the Pythagorean philoso- 

 pher, Lysis, who inspired him with the high senti- 

 ments which ennobled his life. He made his first 

 public appearance in Sparta, whither he had been 

 sent, with others, at the invitation of the Lacedae- 

 monians, in order to end the war between the two 

 countries by negotiation. In this affair, he displayed 

 as much firmness and dignity as eloquence, and stead- 

 fastly opposed the surrender of the towns of Boeotia, 

 in the possession of Thebes. The war was continued, 

 and Epaminondas was made general. With 6000 men 

 he defeated the invading army, of double the num- 

 her, at Leuctra (378 B. C.). He led the attack in 

 person on the enemy's phalanx, while his friend Pe- 



lopidas, at the head of the sacred band, fell upon 

 their flank. The Spartans lost their king, Cleombro- 

 tus, and 4000 men. Two years after, Epaminondas 

 and Pelopidas were made Bceotarchs. They invaded 

 Peloponnesus together, detached several nations 

 from the alliance of Lacedaemon, and delivered the 

 Messenians, whose capital they rebuilt. Epaminon- 

 das then marched with his army to Sparta ; but this 

 city was so bravely and skilfully defended by Agesi- 

 laus, that the Theban hero, finding winter approach- 

 ing, and the Athenians now in declared hostility with 

 Thebes, evacuated Laconia, after laying waste the 

 low country. An accusation was brought against him 

 on his arrival in Thebes, because he and Pelopidas 

 had kept the Boeotarchate beyond the legal time ; 

 but after having pled his own cause, he was 

 acquitted. After procuring, by his influence, the 

 freedom of Pelopidas, who was kept prisoner by 

 the tyrant of Pherae, a new war broke out between 

 Sparta and Thebes. Both sides raised large armies. 

 Epaminondas invaded Peloponnesus again, and ad- 

 vanced suddenly upon Lacedaemon, which he expect- 

 ed to find destitute of defenders. But Agesiiaus, 

 having been apprized of his march, had hastened 

 back, and was prepared to meet him. The Thebans, 

 however, attacked him, and forced their way into 

 the middle of the city ; but despair stimulated the 

 courage of the Lacedaemonians, and the Thebans 

 were forced to retreat. To make amends for this 

 failure, Epaminondas marched with 33,000 men into 

 Arcadia, where the greatest force of the enemy was 

 assembled. Here was fought the battle of Mantinea, 

 in which Epaminondas was slain, B. C. 363. 



EPAULETTE (the French diminutive of epaule, 

 shoulder,) signifies a military ornament, worn on the 

 shoulder. It originated, in the time of Louis XIV., 

 from the riband by which the belt sustaining the 

 sword was kept from slipping from the shoulder. In 

 some armies, every officer wears them, as in the Prus- 

 sian ; but there is a sufficient difference between those 

 worn by different ranks, to enable a lieutenant or a 

 captain to be distinguished immediately from a major 

 or a colonel, and these again from the generals^ a 

 circumstance sometimes of great importance in 

 battles. This means of distinction has the advantage, 

 that it is not obvious to the enemy, as white plumes, 

 &c., are. In the Russian and Prussian armies, every 

 officer has two epaulettes ; in the French army, this 

 is not the case, but the shoulder on which the epau- 

 lette is worn distinguishes a captain or lieutenant. 

 Many troops in the French service wear woollen 

 epaulettes ; for instance, the grenadiers ; and Napo- 

 leon thought them an efficient protection of the 

 shoulder against the blows of swords. Many of his 

 cavalry and infantry had epaulettes. In the English 

 army, all officers now wear two epaulettes ; the bul- 

 lion, in those of field officers, and captains, are dis- 

 tinguished by being much thicker. The epaulettes 

 of a colonel, have a silver star, surmounted by a 

 crown on the strap ; those of a lieutenant-colonel have 

 a crown, while those of a major are distinguished by 

 a star. Epaulettes have been introduced into the 

 English navy, and, in that service, the following are 

 the gradations of rank, as distinguished by them. 

 Masters and commanders have one epaulette on the 

 left shoulder ; post-captains, under three years, one 

 epaulette on the right shoulder, afterwards two epau- 

 lettes ; rear-admirals have one star on the strap of 

 the epaulette, vice-admirals two stars, and admirals 

 three stars. Epaulettes are also worn by many civil 

 officers on the continent of Europe, when in uni- 

 form. 



EPEE, CHARLES MICHAEL (abbe' del'). This 

 benefactor of the deaf and dumb was born in 1712, 

 at Versailles. He had chosen the clerical profession, 





