Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1870-01-12
Is Friday an UnluckY DaY ?

| rev educated people put any fa1th
in that popular superstition which has
obtained among the ignorant and un-
learned, from time immemorial, that
"Friday is an unlucky day." Yetwe
heard some persons say ''it is unfor-
tunate that the great Assemblies con-
sumated their union on Friday"
We are well assured that, nOtwith-
standing this superstitious prejudice
does not prevail so universally as it
did in days gone by, there are many
/ good meaning and excellent people
/ who feel reluctant to undertakes work
of great moment or importance on a
day which idle tradition has marked
as inauspicious in the calendar. 1t is
seldom that ships set out on a long
voyage on Friday. Hardened, sturdy
and daring tars, who will spring to
the top-gallant and stand on the yard
arm amidst the surgiDg of a tempest
tossed ocean, and the fearful rocking
of the frail bark, have a "holy hOr-
ror" of setting out on a voyage on
that day.
1t is seldom that a lady or gentle
man walks to the hymenial altar on
Friday. Many would look upon it as
an omen that foreboded much i'll if the
bans were celebrated on what is some
times called "hangman's day."
Few of our readers, we think, in
dulge in any such feelings. There is
no reason why any should. The facts
will not warrant the assumption that
Friday is day of i'll omen.
1t was on Friday that Christopher
Columbus set sail on his great voyage
of discovery; on Friday he first dis
covered land, and it was on the same
day of the week that he sailed on his
return voyage to Spain, where he ar
rived in safety, also on Friday.
Other important events in the his
tory of the United States transpired
on Friday. 1t was on Friday, Nov. |
10th 1920, that the May-flower, freight |
ed with her precious cargo of Puri- |
tans, reached the harbor of Province |
town. On the same day the noble |
pioneers of Christian civilization sign
ed, in the presence of God and of one |
another, the first constitution that was /
framed within the limits of the Unit |
ed States. "This," says Bancroft, "was |
the birth of constitutional liberty
In the cabin of the Mayfiower hu- |
manity recovered its rights and insti- /
rights for the general good. AS the
Pilgrims landed, their institutions
were already perfected. Democratic
liberty and Independent Christian
worship at once existed in America" /"
1t was on Friday that Henry VII,
of England, gave John Cabot his COM
to proceed on a voyage of dis
coveTy to the North American cOnti-
nent.
Saint Augustine, in Florida, the
oldest town in the United States, was
founded by Melendez, on Friday,
., 1865.
George Washington was born on
Friday. Bunker Hill was seized,
and Yorktown were surren-
dered on Friday. On the same day of
the week, the treachery of Arnold
was discovered.
1t was on Friday that John Adams
and Richard Henry Lee sec
Dnded, a resolution in Congress that ,,
the United Colonies were, and Ofright ,
0ught to be, free and independent. ,,
1t may be looked upon by some as a !
coincidence that on the q,
.wO hundred and forty-ninth anniver-
,ary of the signing of the Cape Cod !
the General Assemblies :
If the Presbyterian Church should :
ign the "august compact" of perpetu-
Il Union.
We may add that it was on Friday !
he Pilgrims landed finally on Plym- >
'uth Rock. !
Who will say, then, that Friday is =
IN unlucky day in American history?
We have the strongest faith that the
of the two Assemblies will E
'e productive of the most blessed re- b
ults; that more abundant fruits even L
han those produced by the landing of -
he Pilgrims will flow from their cor d
iai and fraternal Union.-Pitts. G0z. o