TRINITY SEASON. sequences. rians, the rural patriarchs of the neighborhood; | off the face of the earth may be one of the con- The 1st of October is set down in the English The scenes described so well by Howitt be-man Church also commemorates the "Rosary," long to a by-gone age. Michaelmas, in a great degree, has faded as a "jolly day," and become merely "quarter-day." But in the Church the festival of St. Michael and all the Holy Angels will ever be celebrated as long as devotion and love of the beautiful exist in the world. which is only a string of beads of various sizes to facilitate believers in saying Paters and Aves The feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, which and other prayers in a perfunctory way. and seems to be similar, but subordinate, to that comes on the 2d, is entirely a Roman festival, of the feast of St. Michael. Holme ranks the angels in "nine quoires-seraphims, cherubims, archangels, angels, thrones, principalities, powers, dominions, virtues ;" and Father HenHe was one of the prom-riquez describes their mode of life, habits, dress, Inferior to Chrysostom etc., but says that they have "no particular St. Paul, however, warns people Father houses." against worshiping of angels, and intruding into those things one hath not seen. Henriquez, being a Jesuit, did not heed the admonition, but describes Paradise and its inThe truth is, no one habitants as minutely as if he had been in the heavenly Jerusalem. knows any thing about the details of the next world and heaven; and though it may be a curious, yet it is a fruitless, subject of speculation. St. Jerome's Day, the 30th, closes the month of September. It may be found in the English Hieronymus, or St. Jeand Roman almanacs. rome, was a distinguished presbyter who lived about the year 400. inent Latin fathers. and Augustine in genius, and perhaps talents, He travhe excelled them both in learning. eled extensively, and wrote voluminously on a variety of subjects. His translation of the Bible was the foundation, to some extent, of the Vulgate version, and for that he will always be The latter days of his life he remembered. passed in a monastery, becoming gloomy and His views are not perfectly unsympathetic. reliable, and, we may add, no father is more There is nothing of It is disingenuously quoted. interest in his day beyond his memory. chiefly honored in the Roman Church, which of course duly celebrates it with a proper office. October, or the eighth month of the Roman, was called by the Saxons Winter-fulleth, or Wynmonath-" Wine month." Spenser says: The 4th is dedicated to St. Francis of Assis, the founder of the order of mendicant friars. He flourished about the year 1200, and gained The Romanists esteem him a great reputation by his sanctity, his travels, and his works. highly, and Cousin even pays a tribute to his memory. St. Denys, whose name occurs in the calen"Then came October, full of merry glee, He was dars on the 8th, was another worthy who lived For yet his noule was totty of the must." The change in the year becomes now thor- in the seventh and eighth centuries. The harvests are gathered, the patron saint of France, which country, Bishoughly apparent. the flowers are gone, and the woods present, op Patrick says, "glories in his relics." Neverwith the ripe leaves, hues ever varying and ever theless Germany claims to have his bones, and beautiful. Hardly any spectacle can be more where they really are the saint himself perhaps rich and glorious than that presented by the knows. He is celebrated for the rather apocryAmerican forest in October-"the many-col-phal act of walking after his martyrdom. The ored woods." In England shooting and fox-hunting begin in October. The pheasants are then in season, and the fox must lose his brush. As there is no riding after hounds in our own country, we substitute deer-stalking or a buffalo-chase. Squirrels and prairie-hens and quail are also favorite objects of sport with our people in October, especially in the Far West, where game abounds. But shooting is degenerating from a manly sport to a common business, and it is to be feared that the destruction of the game from Roman Missal says: "He fell indeed, but presently arose, The breathless body finds both feet and way, He takes his head in hand and forward goes." He is thus usually represented in the old pictures. The memory of King Edward the Confessor, so dear to the Anglo-Saxons, is preserved upon the 13th. The day which is in the English almanac is the anniversary of the so-called translation of his bones to their final restingplace. King Edward was long affectionately remembered for his wise and beneficent laws, which made his people good and happy. the guild of shoemakers and cobblers; and as late as 1822 St. Crispin was crowned by the St. Theresa's Day, the 15th, is noted chiefly cordwainers of Newcastle. In Flanders the on account of the memorable speech she is said company of cobblers, by an ancient command to have uttered. One day, being in poverty and of Charles V., who had been hospitably entersorrow, with only two sous left, she exclaimed, tained by one of the craft, takes precedence of "Theresa and two sous-nothing!" Reflect- the company of shoemakers, and has for its ing, she added, "Theresa, two sous, and God-arms a boot surmounted by a crown. In this every thing!". Such is faith in a pure mind. country, however, we fancy "shoes are not It savors of the sublime. sewed with merry notes," and St. Crispin's Day saints are allowed but half a day apiece, but so it is. Both belonged to the Twelve Apostles. The former was called Zelotes; little or nothing is known of him beyond a bare rumor that he went to Britain, where he suffered death. The latter was the brother of James, the uterine brother of Christ. He wrote the remarkable epistle of one chapter, which St. Peter probably had read when he wrote his second epistle. Tradition relates that Jude traveled as far east as Persia, where he preached and was martyred. St. Simon's and St. Jude's Day is observed by the Church generally, and there is a special office for its commemoration in the Book of Common Prayer. St. Luke's Day comes upon the 18th. Evan- is not as familiar to shoemakers as Blue-Monday. gelist, historian, friend and physician of St. St. Simon and St. Jude have their day toPaul, his day, of course, is in all Christian cal-gether on the 28th. We can not tell why these endars. But little is known of Luke beyond what Scripture recounts. Tradition has partially confounded him with Lucius, but without reason. Some writers infer that he was a painter, and think that the old masters' ideas of the Madonna were derived from some work of his pencil. He accompanied St. Paul to Philippi, where he remained and wrote his gospel. At a later day he compiled the Acts. His style, though not always pure, is refined. The introduction to the gospel is the finest specimen of classic Greek in the New Testament. This is not the place to discuss his writings. Mr. Taylor, his biographer, thinks that he removed to Achaia at last, where he died at the age of eighty-four. There is a special service for his day in the Prayer-Book, and it is observed by all the Churches which honor the memories of the good and wise men of ancient days. St. Crispin's Day, the 25th, will ever be remembered as the anniversary of the battle of Agincourt, fought in the year 1415, when Henry V. of England signally defeated the French under the Constable d'Albret. The scene at night before the action has been exquisitely described by Shakspeare in his play of Henry V.: "From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night, The hum of either army stilly sounds, Agincourt may be classed with Cressy and Poictiers in its importance and influence among the memorable battles of the world, and Henry could say with truth: "And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered." St. Crispin and St. Crispinian were two Christian cordwainers, who removed from Rome to Soissons in the third century, and in imitation of St. Paul followed their gentle craft and preached the Gospel. Having finished their course they suffered cruel martyrdom, and have ever since been the patron saints of the "mystery" of shoemakers. No miracle is reported of these saints, unless it be that they made shoes which fitted without being broken in-something not often accomplished in these more enlightened days. In former days the pious memory of St. Crispin was honored in England by feasting and jollity on the part of All-Hallow-e'en comes upon the last day of the month. Ecclesiastically speaking, it is the vigil of All-Saints'-day. In early days it was a custom to keep the day before a leading feast, and especially the night, as a vigil or preparation for the more solemn observance of the coming festival. As asceticism has for the most part passed away, probably vigils are seldom kept now, even by the "rigidly righteous," and devotees are rare, too, in the few monasteries that remain. The loss of the vigil will not be esteemed great by those who, in religion, think it is far better to be good than to feel good. "It's Hesper, Hallow-eve! Sweet, new-old Hallow-eve! For what thou wert, for what thou art, Holy-eve, or Nutcrack-night, is another of those seasons which abound with curious and superstitious practices, or rather did so in the days of our Saxon ancestors. "In the north of England," says Mary Howitt, "many of these are still found to linger. One of the most common is that of diving for apples; or catching at them with the mouth only, the hands being tied behind and the apples suspended on one end of a long transverse beam, at the other extremity of which is fixed a lighted candle. The fruit and nuts form the most prominent part of the evening feast, and from this circumstance the night has received the name of Nutcrack-night. Nuts also were employed as one, and perhaps the oldest, of the many modes of divination practiced at this season, for Hutchinson is quite correct when he says of this eve that it seems to retain the celebration of a festival to Pomona, when it is supposed the summer stores are opened on the approach of win TRINITY SEASON. ter. Divinations and consulting of omens attended all these ceremonies in the practice of the heathen. Hence, in the rural sacrifice of nuts, if the nuts lie still and burn together it prognosticates a hopeful love; if, on the contrary, they bounce and fly asunder the sign is unpropitious. Here, again, as in so many instances, the custom may be traced back from an unmeaning frolic to a popish superstition, and from that to a classic rite. Nuts have a religions import, says the Roman calendar; and, going yet farther, we find this is but an echo from the times of paganism. Among the Romans it was a custom for the bridegroom to throw nuts about the room that the boys might scramble for them, thereby, as some will have it, intimating that the new husband meant henceforth to lay aside the sports of boyhood." In an old pictured missal an individual is seen, according to Brand, on All-Hallow-e'en, "balancing himself upon a pole laid across two stools," playing antics. Harvey, the conjuror, writes: "This is the last day of October. I am alone; but the servants have demanded of me apples, ale, and nuts, and so I may run over my own annals of All-Hallows'-eve; for I have been an adept on occasion of this anile solemnity." It was an old custom in Scotland for young girls to decide upon their future husbands by pulling cabbages, blindfold, upon Hallow-e'en. Burns says: "The first ceremony is pulling kail. They must go out, hand in hand, with eyes shut, and pull the first they meet with. Its being big or little, straight or crooked, is prophetic of the size and shape of the grand object of all their spells-the husband or wife. If any earth stick to the root, that is fortunate; and the taste of the stem is indicative of the disposition. The stalks are placed over the door, and the Christian names of those who by chance pass under are the names in question." We believe that pulling cabbages is in vogue even in our country in some rural districts on Hallow-e'en, so that at such a time notable housewives are very apt to keep a look-out on their cabbages. November, the ninth month of the Roman, The 1st is All-Saints'-day, in fact a comple- Many of the old customs which we have described as practiced upon Hallow-e'en were continued upon All-Saints'-day, especially the div"All-Saints'-day was a time of pleasant gossipinations and festal fires; farther we read that ing." It is followed by All-Souls'-day. On this day the Abbot of Cluny, in the ninth century, inand out of which grew the masses for the dead troduced the ceremony of praying for the dead, The customs of All-Hallow-eve are too sung in the Roman Church. One of these connumerous to permit us to give any thing like a tain the celebrated hymn Dies Ira. All-Souls'Much on the subject day, though in the English almanac, is not full account of them. may be found in the notes to Burns's poem of recognized in the Prayer-Book. The Roman"All-Hallow-e'en." Hone tells us of bonfires, ists, however, regard the day as important; for Protestants do not and divinations by ashes and white stones; burn-if it occur on a Sunday it is kept on Saturday, ing and cracking of nuts; pulling of oats; wind- and not postponed to Monday, as is the case ing of blue yarn; of eating the apple with an with some other feasts. "good examples" of those who have gone beeye on a mirror; of harrowing hemp-seed; of honor the day, as they only appeal to the winnowing corn; of stacking barley; of the Hallow-e'en cake, and we wot not how much fore, and do not pray for the departed. To preserve and prize the memory of the distinguished dead is just and profitable; it is a reavail, and touches upon superstition. mar-ward for right conduct in life; more is of no more. The end or aim of all which practices "Mysterious Hallow-eve! Much joy and pain have cause more vain The 4th is the day upon which the Italians recall the noble acts of the good Cardinal-ArchHe lived bishop Charles Borromeo of Milan. in the sixteenth century; and from the great services that he rendered while Milan was afflicted by famine and plague will be remembered as long as time shall last. Never was there a more noble, pious, beneficent, self-sacrificing spirit. His tomb is revered even at this day. The 5th is Guy Fawkes Day. The English Prayer-Book contains "A Form of Prayer with Thanksgiving, to be used yearly upon the Fifth day of November, for the happy deliverance of King James I. and the three Estates of England from the traitorous and bloodyintended Massacre by Gunpowder." "Please to remember the fifth of November, Holla, boys! Huzza!" So they sang when they burned "Guys" and cried "No popery!" Doubtless Guy Fawkes is too well remembered through history and romance to need that we should enlarge upon his day. The service in the English Prayer-Book for the fifth also commemorates "The Happy Arrival of His Majesty King William III. on this day, and the Deliverance of the Church and Nation." It was the overflow of Protestant feeling which begot both the services of the fifth. Now they seem out of date, like the service for King Charles the Martyr. They are still used, however, in the cathedrals and in the Queen's chapel. Lord Mayor's Day, the 9th, is a conspicuous day in London. Prior to the thirteenth century the chief magistrate of the city held his office for life, but in 1214 the mayoralty was made elective annually. Later, in the reign of Richard II., the title of lord was given to the incumbent, in consequence of the important service the Mayor Walworth was then considered to have rendered the crown in killing Wat Tyler in Smithfield. Upon the inauguration of the mayor a great parade is made. But the "Lord Mayor's Show," while it was a great exhibition, and awakened a great deal of interest among the people formerly, has declined. It was, as Mary Howitt remarks, "a degenerate copy of the old pageant or triumph, which assumed a variety of forms at different times, blending paganism, Christianity, and chivalry in marvelous confusion. At one period it was the fashion for the city to employ dramatists of note upon these matters; and there are extant pageants by Decker, Middleton, and Webster." The Mayor's Show is frequently alluded to in English novels, especially the scene on the Thames, which was quite brilliant. Martinmas, or St. Martin's Day, occurs on the 11th. It is in both the calendars. The Romanists call this saint "the Great St. Martin, the glory of Gaul." He was a Hungarian soldier who lived in the fourth century, and became a hermit and exorcist. Tradition gives him the credit of working a number of miracles and of being a man of wondrous ability. He is best known from the following anecdote which is related of him, and which has been illustrated by an old painter. Meeting one hard winter's day, at the gate of Amiens, a poor man, half naked and starved with cold, whom no one took compassion upon, he drew his sword and cut his cloak-the only garment he had on, having given his other clothes away to the poor-in twain and gave half to the beggar. It is said that he had a vision that night of Christ, who commended him for ministering to Him in the person of the pauper. As a consequence Martin became a devotee. His day is only observed in the Romish Church. In olden time Martinmas had its customs, and was a convivial day in town and country. Martilmasse beef was as well known as Easter bacon and Michaelmas goose. But some affirm that Martinmas also had a goose, and that Martinmas goose was better than Michaelmas goose, for it was not so “green.” An old ballad alludes to the day thus: "It is the day of Martilmasse; St. Cecilia's Day, the 22d in the English calendar, is worthy of a passing note. She is reputed to have been one of the early martyrs, but derives her particular reputation from being regarded as patroness of church music. She was married to a nobleman of the name of Valerian. Attracted by sweet sounds one day he entered her room suddenly and found her rapt in ecstasy, and a young man with wings playing upon an instrument. After that she had angel visits. Tradition gives her great pre-eminence in music, and she is generally represented as engaged in that art or in listening to the angelic choirs. The composition of an ode to St. Cecilia was once considered almost the test of poetic genius. The most celebrated are those of Dryden, Pope, and Collins. Hone has a copy of the engraving by Sadler giving the scene we have described. There are also pictures of her by the old painters. St. Clement's Day, the 23d. Clemens Romanus, as he is sometimes styled, was one of the early fathers of the Church, and also Bishop of Rome before the establishment of the Papacy. Whether he is the same Clement whose name St. Paul says "is written in the Book of Life" is quite uncertain; but he is the author of the fine epistle to the Corinthians which bears his name. Apocryphal stories are told of the miracles he performed, and especially of his having caused the sea to retire on a certain occasion. He is the patron saint of blacksmiths. The guild of blacksmiths in England used to hold a festival upon St. Clement's Day and cel ebrate it much as the cordwainers did the day upon the habits, feelings, and affections of the of St. Crispin. "Come all you Vulcans stout and strong, cise ?" people. The Romanists are the only denomination of Christians which disregards it, and appears unwilling to unite in the general custom of returning thanks to Providence for the blessings of the year and the fruits of the earth. The features of Thanksgiving-day are so familiar to our readers that it would be superfluous to say any thing about them. The 29th of November is Advent-Sunday, the first day of another ecclesiastical year. The Trinity season ends upon the 28th. St. Catherine's Day follows, upon the 25th. She lived in the third century, and was put to death by Maxentius upon a wheel, which gave name to the fire-work long known as a Catherine-wheel. Such were her piety and erudition that she was regarded after her martyrdom as We now close the series of articles, in the the patroness of Christian philosophy. Bar-course of which we have carried our readers naby Googe says: through the entire circle of an ecclesiastical "What should I tell what sophisters on Cathrin's-year-from Advent to its recurrence. We have day devise, necessarily been concise, and have left much Or else the superstitious toyes that maisters exer- unsaid that might be said upon so fruitful a topic. Something might be written about evIt would be unkind to forget that St. Cathe-ery day in the year. Our labor has been to rine is the patroness of spinsters. Young women used to make merry together upon her day, or go "Cath'arning," as they called it. The custom is still in vogue in distant parts of England where old rustic fashions remain. Camden intimates that in Ireland the girls used to keep St. Catherine's Day that they might get good husbands, and the women that they might get better ones. Hence it may be inferred that though St. Catherine was a spinster saint, and patroness of spinsters, she was not consid prune our material. Yet in taking leave of our readers we venture to indulge a hope that our brief notices of times and seasons, of fasts and festivals, of days that bear their own names, have revived in their minds agreeable memories and associations, and have yielded them a measure of profit and pleasure. A REPORT OF OUTRAGES. By J. W. DE FOREST. T the close of every month a Bureau officer ered as a pattern saint. The window of West Amakes out a report of "outrages committed Wickham Church, Kent, contains a fine representation of St. Catherine in stained glass. Engravings of her and pictures are also numer ous. 66 by whites against freedmen," and another of outrages committed by freedmen against whites." As each of these papers must be in triplicate-one copy for the Assistant Commissioner of the State, one for the military com THE CASE OF CATO ALLUMS. Thanksgiving-day occurs this year in the State of New York upon the 26th of November, or the last Thursday of the month. For-mandant of the district, and one for retentionmerly this was a day set apart by the authori- it follows that during my fifteen months of duty ties of the respective States; but now it has be- as Sub-Assistant Commissioner in Greenville, come also a national day, and is appointed by South Carolina, I ruled, and filled out, and certhe Executive of the nation. This is very well, tified to just ninety documents of this nature. for it insures a harmony throughout the Union In this period there were, if I remember aright, with regard to its proper observation. The seven outrages, which makes very nearly onefestival of annual thanksgiving for the fruits of thirteenth of an outrage to each paper. For the earth seems to have existed for all time. the more convenient information of the public It existed among the pagans of every nation, I will consolidate my ninety reports into one. and among the Jews. We trace it in the East, on the banks of the Nile, and in the sacrifices to Ceres and Pomona. We find it among the Saxons, Britons, and Northmen. We discover it in the wave-offerings of the Jews, and in their feast of ingathering. The Christian Church doubtless adopted it from the latter. The Church for a long time had her Rogationdays and fasts of the four seasons, or Emberdays, and finally added what we call Thanks-it giving-day. There is a regular service in the Prayer-Book for the due celebration of this festival, which provides that it shall be read upon the first Thursday in November, unless some other day shall be appointed by the civil au- "Good-morning, Sir," he said, in better Enthority. It is a day now recognized through-glish than is common to our manumitted slaves. out the country, and has obtained a fast hold "I wants very much to see you, Sir, right away." The first morning after my predecessor had turned over to me his records and left me alone in my South Carolina pashalic—yes, at six o'clock on that morning of new responsibilities and untried power, a timorous yet persistent rap roused me from bed. Hastening to the door in such drapery as could be secured at once, I set ajar and looked out upon a negro of about thirty-five, medium in height, but singularly muscular in build, whose eager face and somewhat crouching carriage indicated strong anxiety for protection. |