The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-04-17

we know very We'll how there came
to be seven days III a week. These
days did not have any names for many
centuries except bN their numbers,
Is the first day and second day. ETC..
but i'll course Of time the ScaHdina-
yians gave them names in honor of
their gods. the sun and moon and Sa-
turn and Wooden and Thor. etc Modem
WAS their greatest god and Thor MAS
the god Of the clouds. Wednesday
used to be "Wednesday and Thursday
was Thorsday. They believed that
Thor made thunder by picking mp two
great mountains in the Sky and clap
ping them together, and that ne WAS
ten miles high and his arms twenty
miles long But the division of the
wear into months and how and when
the months got their names IS not
generally known to the Young people
and perhaps Will not be until some
body tells them. | was thinking about
this month of April and how il got its
nagae from Il Latin word that means
TO open. because during this month
the ca ;th begins 10 open for the seed
to con e up and the grass to grow and
the buds on the trees open into leaves
and flowers. Young people should
know that away back before the
Christian era there were but ten
months and the wear ended with De
cember and began with January, be-
cause their god Janus WAS a double
faced god and with one face looked
haci, at the old year and with the
other looked forward at the new year.
That was pretty and appropriate. Re
fore the reign of Numa, January and
February were not in the beginning
of the year. but those old Roman en-
! IL i
they pleased with time and so Janua-
rv was made the first month to please
.Ianus. Then Nuna transpOSed Feb
ruary to please Lupercus. another cod
who they said was the she wolf that
sucked Romulus and Remus in
cave, and the Romans established q
| yearly festival in honor Of this she
| wolf and called it Februes, which
| me.sns eNpiation. March was named
| in honor OF Mars, another c3G sn1
| the 25th of March was the beginning
| of the year for 1900 years, not only
| With the Romans, but with many
| Christian nations. Indeed, it was not
| changed from this distinction until
| the year 1852. and it seems to me q
| pity that it ever was changed. The
time of the vernal equinox. the 21st.
| Of March. seems more like Il new year
| had come than does the cold bleak
| midwinter of the first day Of January.
The next month to April was named
| in honor of another god or goddess
named Niaias. who was the mother of
! Mercury. Then came June, a name
F! given in honor Of Junius, the god Of
youth. Then came the other four
| months. September, October. Novem-
! her and December. Gods and god
! desse,s had given out ] reckon. But
! latt3 on julius Caesar imagined he was
a god and made new month and call
| ed it July and Augustus Caesar did
| the same thing and called it August.
| Of course they had to rob the other
! months Of some Of their days in order
| 70 get these two months in. Now. my
| Young friends just think OF il. how
| the civilized Christian world has been
| imposed upon by superstition. Every
day in the week and almcsr every
| month in the year named iii honor of
| some imaginary god that the heat then
| people WOrshiped. Paul preached
| grand sermon When he said 10 them:
Whom We ignorantly worship him
| declare | unto YOU Not only did we
| oct from them the names Of DAYS and
months. but the names of all th., plan
| cts except one. and that is the earth
! that we live upon. How faithfully
| they did worship their gods. How
| lO.3l were they TO Jupiter. the god OF
| all gods. whom they imagined sat
| upon a throne on the top OF Mount
| Olympus, an imaginary mountain faf
/ UP in the heavens. and from there
! overlooked and blessed the children
| of men Love is the foundation of
| character OF every god. whether real
or imaginary. 1t Is worthy of re
| melnbrance that all the historic na
! tions worshiped gods whom they be-
| lieyed 10 be good. No people have ever
worshiped a god who did not love
! and care for the children Of men.
| There were gods Of evil. too. but the
people did not love them. They fear
ed them ust az we fear the power
| of Satan now The origin OF many
things Of every day use in the
| business Of life is u curious and inter
esting study. For instance VINO estab
Iishcd the exact length Of an inch. q
| foot. a yard. Who fixed the weight Of
a pound of sugar OF . ten dollar coin
| of gold or a buShel Of meal. These
! things haven't been fixed 50 very
| long. The nations have been working
! on them for centuries and they were
not finally agreed on until about 80
| wears ago. During the reign Of King
| George N the house Of parliament
! in London was burned up ana the
| standards of weights and measures
/ WeIc burned up with it and it took
| Years TO reproduce them. fer although
| thousands Of people had yard sticks
! and weights and measures, they were
not exactly alike. Many yardsticks
/ were a trifie short and there We're
| scales to buy by and scales to sell BY
| and so with peck measures and half
| buShel measures. for there We're dis
; honest merchants then and | reckon
! there are some now. The first foot
measure is said to have been the eX-
act length of an ancient Roman en-
) peror's foot. The first inch was the
: length Of three grains of English bar