days. On one day, the men take off the women's shoes, which are only to be redeemed by a present: on another day, the women take off the men's in like manner. The practice of lifting is pursued in some of the northern counties on Easter Monday and Tuesday. On the first of these days, the men lift the women, by taking hold of their arms and legs; and on the Tuesday, the women use the like ceremony with the men, which is repeated three times by each party. In the counties of Shropshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire, a ceremony, similar to this, is called heaving. On Easter Monday, a party of men go with a chair, decorated with ribbons and favours, into every house into which they can get admission, force every female to be seated in their vehicle, and lift her up three times with loud huzzas. On the Tuesday, the women claim the same privilege.

17.-LOW SUNDAY.

It was a custom among the primitive Christians, on the first Sunday after Easter-Day, to repeat some part of the solemnity of that grand festival; whence this Sunday took the name of Low-Sunday, being celebrated as a feast, though in a lower degree. In Latin, this day is called Dominica in Albis, or rather post Albas, (i. e. depositas) that is, the Sunday of taking off the Chrysoms, or white robes; because those who were baptized on Easter Eve now laid aside these garments, and deposited them in the churches, to be used as evidence against them, if they should at any time violate or deny that faith which they had professed at their baptism.

19. SAINT ALPHEGE.

A native of England, Alphege was first abbot of Bath, then Bishop of Winchester, in the year 984, and, twelve years afterwards, Archbishop of Canterbury. In the year 1012, the Danes being disappointed of some tribute money which they claimed as due to them, they entered Canterbury, and burnt

both the city and church, and the greater part of the inhabitants were put to the sword. After seven months' miserable imprisonment, the good Archbishop was stoned to death at Greenwich,

23.-SAINT GEORGE.

This illustrious saint, termed by the Greeks the great martyr,' was born in Cappadocia, of noble christian parents. He was strong and robust in body, and, having embraced the profession of a soldier, was made a tribune or colonel in the army under Dioclesian: his courage and constancy soon induced the emperor to promote him. But that prince having declared war against the christian religion, St. George laid aside the marks of his dignity, threw up his commission and posts, and complained to the emperor himself of his severities and bloody edicts. He was immediately cast into prison, and tried first by promises; and afterwards put to the question, and tortured with great cruelty; but nothing could shake his constancy. The next day he was led through the city, and beheaded, in the year 290.

Saint George is the patron saint of England; for this the following reason is assigned. When Robert, Duke of Normandy, the son of William the Conqueror, was fighting against the Turks, and laying siege to the famous city of Antioch, which was expected to be relieved by the Saracens, St. George appeared with an innumerable army coming down from the hills all clad in white, with a red cross on his banner, to reinforce the christians; this so terrified the infidels, that they fled and left the christians in possession of the town. Under the name and ensign of St. George, our victorious Edward II, in 1330, instituted the most noble order of knighthood in Europe, consisting of twenty-five knights besides the sovereign. Its establishment is dated fifty years before the knights of St. Michael were instituted in France by Lewis XI, eighty years

before the order of the Golden Fleece, established by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy; and one hundred and ninety before the order of St. Andrew was set up in Scotland by James V. The Emperor Frederic IV instituted, in 1470, an order of knights in honour of St. George; and an honourable military order in Venice bears his name. St. George is usually painted on horseback, and tilting at a dragon under his feet: but this representation is no more than an emblematical figure, purporting, that by his faith and christian fortitude he conquered the devil, called the dragon in the Apocalypse.-(Butler.)

25.-SAINT MARK.

Mark, according to Eusebius, was sent into Egypt by the Apostle Peter, where he converted an immense number of people. He did not confine his preaching to Alexandria, but, according to Nicephorus, travelled through the countries of Marmorica, Pentapolis, and others, in which places the people were barbarous in their manners, and idolatrous in their worship. Here Mark continued till he had established them in the profession of the Gospel. Returning to Alexandria, he preached there, arranged the affairs of the church, and constituted governors and pastors; but about Easter, when some of the heathens kept the solemnities of their idol Serapis, St. Mark fell a victim to their fury; for, being seized while officiating in the church, a rope was tied round his neck, and he was dragged over the rocks by the sea-shore, till he died. His Gospel was written in the year 63. The order of Knights of St. Mark at Venice, under the protection of this evangelist, was instituted in the year 737, the reigning doge being always grand master :-their motto was, Pax tibi, Marce, Evangelista Meus.'

Astronomical Occurrences.

Of the Calendar.

We are able to trace the origin of the Calendar to Romulus, the founder of Rome; but it has undergone various reformations since his time, of which it will be the business of this article to give a brief account. Romulus distributed time into several periods, for the use of those under his command: he observed, with as much accuracy as the knowledge of the times would admit, the recurrence of the seasons, and divided the year into ten months, making the first in the spring, and on the first of March. He suspected that the Sun run its course in 304 days, and the months of this legislator were not, at first, equally divided; some of them consisted of only 20 days, and some had 35 or perhaps 40 days; but, afterwards, he made four of his months to consist of 31 days, and the other six of 30 days, making together 304 days.

The calendar of Romulus was reformed by Numa, who made it consist of 355 days, and transferred the beginning of the year from March to January, reckoning March the second month, April the third, and placing February, which even then consisted of only 28 days, at the end of the calendar. The year thus arranged, remained undisturbed till the year 452 before Christ, when the decemviri changed the order of the months, reckoning them in the same manner that they are now found in the almanack, viz. January, February, March, April, &c.

As the real length of the year had not yet been ascertained, great disorders were occasioned in its constitution, which Julius Cæsar, with the advice and assistance of Sosigenes, a celebrated mathematician, undertook to rectify about the year B.C. 46. He found that the months had considerably receded from the seasons to which they had been adjusted by Numa, and that the dispensation of time in the calendar could

never be properly settled without having a regard to the annual course of the Sun. To bring forward the months to their proper places, he took an account of the days which had been lost by the former mode of reckoning, and formed a year of 15 months, or 445 days, which, on account of its quantity and design, has been called the year of confusion. This year being ended, the Julian year commenced on the 1st of January B. C. 46. From this time, the civil year and months were regulated by the course of the Sun. As the philosopher found the annual course of the Sun to consist of 365 days 6 hours, he made his year to consist of 365 days for three years successively, and every fourth year of 366 days, in order to comprehend the odd six hours. For this purpose, he ordained that an intercalary day should be added every fourth year to the 23d of February; that is, the 24th day, or the 6th of the calends of March, was to be reckoned twice; and hence this year was denominated Bissextile. It is likewise called Leap Year, from the year leaping over a day more of time in that year than in a common year. Hence the Julian Calendar, so called from Julius Cæsar, is disposed into periods of four years each; of which the first three are called common, and consist of 365 days, and the fourth bissextile, having 366 days.

The Julian year was still imperfect; for as the time in which the Sun apparently performs his annual revolution, that is, the time in which the earth actually makes its journey round that luminary, is 365 d. 5 h. 48 m. 48 sec., the civil year of 365 d. 6 h. must have exceeded the solar year by 11 m. 12 see., which, in the space of about 130 years, amounted to a whole day. The imperfections of the Julian Calendar were not observed for several hundred years, and it was not till the year 1582 that the next reformation was effected the error, accumulated by this means, amounted to about 10 days at that time, so that the vernal equinox, which had been fixed, by Sosigenes,