festival by the Romans one of feasting and congratulation. Throughout Christendom it is kept as a holiday. Bells are rung at midnight to celebrate the exit of the old, and the advent of the new year.

The commencement of the year, has at different times been assigned to the 25th of December, or Christmas day, the 1st of January, or the day of Circumcision, and the 25th of March, or Easter day, commemorative of the Resurrection.

Despite its icy breath and frigid aspect, rugged winter seems to be prophetic of a joyous new existence, as those who have become frosted with age appear for the time to have acquired a spirit of rejuvenescence. It forms a sort of restingplace in the progress of life's journey, from which we all persuade ourselves, however we may deprecate the past, that the future is gilded with Iris hopes of happiness. If the external aspect of nature appear cheerless and chilly, the scene is but the more heightened by the contrast of the sunny smiles and generous hospitalities of the happy fireside of kindred and friends. There is something picturesque as well as grateful in this time-honored custom of commemorating the nativity of the year, by acts of beneficence and votive offerings to friendship.

Friendly interchange of visits, congratulations and the presentation of gifts, seem to have been in vogue in every age. The ancient Druids were accustomed to cut the sacred misletoe, with a golden knife, in a forest dedicated to the gods, and to distribute its branches with much ceremony, as new year's gifts to the people.

Of the special holidays and festivals of this month, the first in order is that of Circumcision-a festival of the Romish church, and adopted also by the Episcopacy since the year 1550. The next festival in the Calendar is that styled Epiphany, or Twelfth-day-indicating the manifestation of Christ to the Gentile world, which event is ascribed to this date. This holiday used to be characterized in Saxon times by the wassail-bowl-a spiced decoction, deriving its name from was

hael (be healthy), the toast the sturdy old Saxons adopted on the occasion of their libations.

The second, and briefest of the family of months-February, derives its name from Februo, to purify; hence Februarius, the appellation assigned by the Romans to the expiatory sacrifices they were accustomed to offer at this season. Pisces, the constellation over which Neptune was supposed to preside, was regarded by the ancients as the last of the winter signs, and was represented under the figure of two fishes; but at present it is the first in order of the stellar groups of the zodiac, presiding over the vernal equinox.

The Saxon name for this month was sprout-kele, also sal-monath, or pancake month, from their custom of offering cakes to the sun, for his increasing power.

Midway in this month comes the festival of St. Valentine. All we know of him is that he was canonized in consequence of his having suffered martyrdom in the third century, under the emperor Claudius.* Some have conjectured that the custom of devoting this day to Cupid is traceable to the ancient Romans, whose festivals, called Lupercalia, were celebrated about this time. On these occasions, amidst a variety of cercmonies, the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by a band of devotees, as chance directed.

The practical joking which prevails so universally on the day in question, the love of fun and caricature with Cupid, is of comparatively modern date. Formerly, love-making among our sober progenitors wore a much more grave and demure aspect :

"St. Valentine was a holy priest of Rome, who, with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the Emperor to the Prefect of Rome, who, on finding all his efforts to make him renounce his faith ineffectual, commanded him to be beaten with clubs, and afterwards beheaded; and this occurred on the 14th. About the year 270, Pope Julius is said to have built a church near Ponte Mole, to his memory, which for a long time gave name to the gate afterwards called Porta del Populo. The greatest part of his relics are preserved in the Church of St. Praxedes.

it was not a matter to be trifled with, that of linking hearts and hands, with the joint fortunes or misfortunes of life.

Oh love! how potent is thy sway;

Thou'rt terrible, indeed, to most men!
But once a year there comes a day
When thou tormentest chiefly postmen.
Oh hard indeed the lot must be

Of him who wears thy galling fetters!
But e'en more miserable he,

Who must go round with all thy letters.

Without pretending to estimate the obligations of many of the devotees to Hymen to this worthy saint's influence, the festival, occurring half-way in this most inclement and unpopular month, certainly tends to beguile many of its objectionable accompaniments-snow, sleet, and that worst of all kinds of weather-a penetrating thaw, against which even a suit of mail may be said to be scarcely impervious. Shrove-Tuesday and Ash-Wednesday occur in this month, both being initiatory days to the season of Lent; the religious observance of which originated with the Romish Church.

Shrove-Tuesday regulates most of the movable feasts. It is the next after the first new moon in the month of February, and follows the first Sunday in Lent. Formerly, the people were expected to prepare themselves for Lent by confessing themselves, hence the word shrove.

Ash-Wednesday is the first day of Lent, supposed to have been so called from a custom in the Church of sprinkling ashes that day on the heads of the penitents.

MARCH is so called from Mars, the reputed father of Romulus, and god of war. It was, as already intimated, placed as the first month by some of the ancients, and by others as the third, fourth, or fifth, and even the tenth month of the year.

The SAXONS called it lenct monath, or length month, because the days then begin in length to exceed the nights.

Lenct, now called Lent, means spring; hence March was the spring month. The Saxons also called it Hlyd-monath, from hlyd, which means stormy, and in this sense March was the stormy month.

March is a rude, and sometimes boisterous month, possessing many of the characteristics of winter, yet awakening sensations more pleasant than the two following months, for it gives us the first announcement and taste of spring. What can equal the delight of the heart at the very first glimpse of spring -the first peeping of buds and green herbs? It is like a new life infused into our bosoms. A spirit of tenderness—a burst of freshness and luxury of feeling possesses us; and though fifty springs have broken upon us, their joy, unlike many joys of time, is not an atom impaired.

True it is that blustering, rude Boreas causes boisterous excitement about this time, as if seeking to awaken nature from her long sleep of winter; while dusty particles scorn all local habitation, performing fantastic gyrations in the air, to the serious discomfiture of our physical organs, especially the optical and olfactory.

The dry winds of lusty March, however they may be deprecated for their personal incivilities, are nevertheless useful to the purposes of agriculture. Its zodiacal sign, Aries, was assigned to this, originally the first month of the year, because the ancients considered the ram as the father of the fleecy flock which afforded them both food and raiment.

St. David's Day is celebrated by the Welsh as commemora tive of their patron Saint: it occurs on the first of the month. We now come to the festival held in honor of the tutelar Saint of Ould Ireland-Saint Patrick-who, according to ancient lore, in the year of grace 433 landed near Wicklow, having, it is said, been born at Kilpatrick, Scotland. His glorious memory is mnemonized by the well-known Shamrock. The real name of this notable apostle of the Irish was 'Maenwyn. Pope Celestine gave him his ecclesiastical patronymic of Patri

cus, when he consecrated him as bishop to Ireland in 433, A.D. Originally there was a dispute, according to Lover, as to the true anniversary of this renowned saint, some supposing the eighth and others the ninth to be the correct date: the humorist, however, represents a priest as settling the difficulty as follows:

Says he," Boys, don't be fighting for eight or for nine;
Don't be always dividing--but sometimes combine.
Combine eight with nine, and seventeen is the mark.
So let that be his birth-day."

Amen," says the clerk.

So they all got blind drunk--which completed their bliss,
And we keep up the practice from that day to this.

St. Agnes' Eve was deemed propitious for young maidens in the affair of securing good husbands; and St. Paul's Day was also regarded as one among the numerous days of ominous character by the superstitious of olden time.

Easter Sunday is always the first Sunday after the full moon which happens upon, or next after, the 21st day of March, and if the full moon should occur upon a Sunday, Easter day is the Sunday after. It was so fixed in early times, that the Christians might avoid the celebration of Easter at the time of the Jewish passover, held on the very day of the full moon.

Palm, or Passion Sunday, is the first Sunday before Easter, so called in commemoration of Christ's entering into Jerusalem, eight days before the passover. The Passover of the Jews closely agrees with the time when the sun crosses or passes over the equator, an event that could hardly fail to be celebrated with rites and ceremonies by a people so devoted to astronomy as the Egyptians who had educated Moses. Pascha was the primitive term, the English name passover being derived from God's passing over the houses of the Israelites and sparing their first-born, when those of the Egyptians were put to death,

Lady-day occurs on the 25th. Its title is also derived from