Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-01-12

NoTEs OF THE WEEK-To-day is the first
Sunday after Epiphany. The Christian year begins with
the Advent season, and during the four or five weeks it
continues, the church prepares for the festival on which
Is celebrated the advent or coming of Christ, which is
Christmas The lessons and prayers have in view the
birth Of the Savior. After the interesting services of
Christmas succeeds the celebration of the event Of the cir
cumcision, which, in It's turn, Is followed by the obsery-
anees OF the Epiphany. The six following Sundays are
termed " Sundays after Epiphany /" and the portion of the
services peculiar to this period have generally reference
TO the epiphany or manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles
as p~refgursd by the visit of the wise men of the East
to the cradle of the newborn Messiah. They refer to the
eonqnests of the church, and have a missionary tendency.
After that period the "Paschal system" commences,
which is preparatory to the celebration of the c~ruci6xion
and the resurrection This Includes the solemn observ.
anees of Lent. From the beginning of the Advent season
10 the termination Of Pentaeost, or Whitsuntide, is the
time when most of the important fasts and festivals Of the
church are held These observanees are generally disre-
garded by those churches that have not preserved a his
tOdeal connection with the primitive church. Many good
men, shocked with the abuses and eorruptOns with which
these periods have been connected, have declined to OBJ.
serve them in all, or most ms ances, with the exception 4
the Sunday festival, which has rarely been disregarded by
any Christian sect. Other religious bodies have thought
it well to make the various prominent s~cTiptural events
matters Of special celebration, avoiding the superstitious
obsrvanees with which the lapse Of time has in some in
stances connected them thus endeayorng to steer a mid
dc course between two extremes,
MISUNDERSTANDING St Hilary. Wednesday-Festi.
val Of St Paul, the first hermit Thursday-Festival Of st.
Msrccllus. Friday-Festiva of st. Anthony. Saturday
Festival of St Peters chair at Rome. The occasion of
this feast is the establishment at Rome, by St. Peter, of
his episcopal authority as bishop of that church. St Pc
ter having tfiumph.d over the devil in the East, pursued
him to Rome in the person of Simon Magus-he preached
the faith in that city, and the bishops Of Rome and the
Popes have always been his successors. Peter
and Paul both planted Christianity in Rome, and were
both martyred together under the tJrant Nero, Peter
being buried on the Vatican bin. and Paul on the Ostian
road. Ii Is an ancient custom in fhe church to annually
commemorate the conservation Of their bishops, and this
day celebrates the founding Of the Romish church.
This day is the first anniversary OF the taking Of Fort
Barancas and the navy yard at Pensacola by the Floridt
troops, and of the passing Of bills BIZ both Virginia and
Tennessee for the holding Of State conventions; Major
IHaskin evacuated the garrison at Baton Rouge aeamp
was established at Vieksburg to prevent northern rein
-forcements being sent down the river from the North.
Monday-The Federal troops left Baton Rouge on the
Steamer Magenta, for St I,oais. Taesday-Davis and
brown, Of Mississippi. Withdrew from the United States
Senate, their State having seseded Th~ursday-Georgia
- AaAul phH.t4 I
a bin calling a convention. saturday-=A party of vol
Enteers took possession of Fort MeRae, Pensacola harbor-
Tho aasvicsn JGraat ef Science and art states that
8 reuarkable discovery has been made by eminent Az
rqromers during the past year. This discovery goes to
establish the new feature Of the solar system, that there
d, 81 least, one ring Of meteorie formation surrounding
the sun it has a regular revolution. The recurrence
Of the meteOric displays in August Of each year, is ex
planned by the fact that the earth passes, at that time,
through the ring. and the contact Of its formation with
our atmosphere renders them visible in combustion. To
those who are acquainted with what il called ythe neb-
gaE hypothesis, the discovery Is only a conformation Of
a theory which has many significant but often obscurely
known facts to support II. If the whole mass Of matter
of which the sun, planets, satellites, comets and other
bodies ofOur system are made Was onee 10 gaseous form
If in s~oldifying, circular motion WAS generated Il this
motion threw off rings whose rupture was the origin Of
planetary bodies other rings may exist not of SUFFICIENT
density to have assumed the globular form, and the ring
alluded to may be one Of then. 4he rings Of Saturn
prove the possibility OF the phenomenon, What Is known
as the Eodiscal light, seen after sunset in spring, and be-
fore sunrise in the fall, has probably u connection with
the alleged new discovery.