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Many surprising instances of extraordinary fasts are recorded by the early ecclesiastics, Saint Gregory Nazianzen assures us, that, in his time, several solitaires spent twenty days and nights together without food, and that he personally knew one, in his own diocese, who practised this rigorous fast. Eusebius, a celebrated abbot in Syria, used commonly to abstain from all food for three or four days together; and when a youthful monk, ate but once a week. Equally strange instances of habitual abstinence are also related. Paul, the first hermit, lived in a palm-tree for thirty years, his food and clothes being given to him; the former was composed of raw herbs and pulse, yet he attained the age of one hundred and thirteen years. At the early age of fifteen, Saint Hilarion abstained entirely from bread, and, for six years, his daily diet was limited to fifteen figs. For the next three years he ate lentils steeped in cold water; and from his 24th to his 27th year, lived on bread, salt, and water; from this time, till he attained his thirtieth year, he confined himself to wild herbs and roots; and during the five succeeding years, his daily allowance was six ounces of barley bread, and a small quantity of boiled herbs; to which he afterwards added, by way of luxury, a little oil; and thus he lived till he was sixty-three years old. He then retrenched his bread, and drank a liquid not much better than water, his whole meal never exceeding five ounces. Hilarion attained the age of eighty years; although he never ate till sunset, or made any difference in his fasts on account of his health. It were easy to multiply these examples, but as it would neither profit nor amuse our readers, we shall conclude this subject with Herrick's sensible directions for 'keeping the true Lent,'

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Matthias was, probably, one of the seventy disciples, and was a constant attendant upon our Lord, from the time of his baptism by St. John until his ascension. Upon the death of Judas, St. Peter recommended to the consideration of the Christians assembled at Jerusalem, the necessity of supplying this vacancy: and two were appointed; Joseph, called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. It was determined by lot in favour of the latter, who was accordingly numbered with the eleven apostles. Matthias employed the first years of his ministry in Judea; afterwards he travelled eastward, his residence being principally, according to St. Jerome, near the river Apsarus, and the haven Hyssus. Here he contiued for some time, but was at last murdered by the barbarous natives. The gospel and traditions published under his name are considered spurious. 27.—QUADRAGESIMA, or, FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. See SEPTUAGESIMA, p. 31.

Astronomical Occurrences.

Divisions of Time.

As the Sun is the most conspicuous body in our system, and as he appears to move regularly through the heavens, his motion has been fixed on as one of the best measures of time that is afforded to us by nature. By means of his apparent diurnal and annual revolutions, we obtain the two grand and important divisions of time, into days and years. By combining the revolution of the Sun and Moon, we embrace the larger intervals; and thence form an idea of those grand periods of time, which will be noticed hereafter.

In civil computations, a day is usually divided into twenty-four, or twice twelve, hours; reckoning from midnight to noon, and from noon to midnight: but an astronomical day is the interval between the noon on one day and that on the next, and on this principle the Nautical Almanack is constructed; but the Connaissance des Tems, a French work intended for the same purposes, viz. for the special use of practical astronomers and navigators, follows the usual course of reckoning by twice twelve hours, beginning their day at 19 at midnight. In England, then, the astronomical day is behind the common day 12 hours: thus, by the Nautical Almanack, the new Moon for February takes place on the 19th day, at 11 minutes past 19; but, in common reckoning, we say it occurs on the 20th day, at 11 minutes past 7 in the morning.

An astronomical day is the interval between two successive transits of the Sun's centre over the same meridian, and is divided into twenty-four hours, reckoned from one to twenty-four, without any interruption; so that what is called 9 o'clock in the morning of the 10th of February, by the civil or usual mode of reckoning, is denominated by astronomers Feb, the 9th, at 21 hours. In some parts of Italy, the clocks and watches are made to go from 1 to 24.

The Sun appears to go round the earth in twentyfour hours, and the fixed stars in nearly four minutes less, or in 23 h. 56 m. 4 s.; so that any given fixed star is found to gain 3 m. 56 s. upon the Sun every day, which amounts to one diurnal revolution in a year; and therefore in 365 days, as measured by the returns of the Sun to the meridian, there are 366 days, as measured by the return of any given fixed star to the meridian; the former of which are called solar days, and the latter sidereal. The difference between the solar and sidereal days is occasioned by the immense distance of the fixed stars; for the earth's orbit, though 190 millions of miles in diameter, is but as a point compared with that distance; and, therefore, any meridian of the earth will revolve from a fixed star, to that star again, in exactly the same time as if the earth had only a diurnal motion, and was to remain for ever in the same part of its orbit. This, however, is not the case with respect to the Sun; for, as the earth advances almost a degree eastward in its orbit in the same time that it turns eastward round its axis, or completes its diurnal revolution, whatever star passes over the meridian any day with the Sun, will pass over the same meridian the next day, when the Sun is 3 m. 56" short of it. If the year contained exactly 360 days, as the ecliptic does 360 degrees, the Sun's apparent place would change a degree every day; and, in this case, the sidereal days would be just 4 minutes shorter than the solar ones.

The daily revolution of the earth, which is known to be uniform, is always completed, when any particular meridian is exactly parallel to the situation which it had at a certain time of the preceding day. For the same meridian can never be brought round from the Sun, to the Sun again, by one entire revolution of the earth upon its axis, but it will require as much more of another revolution, as is equivalent to the space that the earth has advanced in its orbit during that time; which is, at a medium, the 365th part of

a circle. So that, in 365 days, the earth will have turned 366 times round its axis; and therefore, as one complete rotation makes a sidereal day, in a year there will be a sidereal day more than there are solar days, be that number what it may.

It may be observed, that the regular return of the fixed stars to the meridian affords an easy method of determining whether our chronometers keep true time. For if, through a small hole in a window shutter, or other fixed object, it be observed at what time a given star disappears behind any building at a small distance; then if the same star disappears, the next night, 3 m. 56 s. sooner by the clock or watch, than it did the night before; and on the second night 7 m. 52 s. sooner, and so on, it is a proof that the instrument goes right; but if it does not observe this rule, it is evidently not accurate, and requires to be regulated. As the disappearing of a star is instantaneous, this rule may be depended on to half a second. The following are the times of Sun-rising and setting at London for this month :

1st. Sun rises 27 m. past 7

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Sun sets 33 m. past 4.

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Equation of Time.-[See the month of January.] The following table will show what is to be added to the time pointed out on the dial, to obtain true or equal time for every 5th day of February :—

m. S.

Tuesday, Feb. 1, to the time on the dial ADD 13 561

Sunday,

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Friday, 11,
Wednesday, 16,

Monday, 21,

Saturday, 26,

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14 26 to obtain 14 35 true time

14 26 by the

13 59

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clock.

The Sun enters Pisces on the 19th, at 20 m. past 5 o'clock in the morning. Venus appears stationary on the 18th.

The Moon is full on the 4th, at 46 m. past 6 in the afternoon: it enters its last quarter on the 12th, at

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