Evening star., 1922-07-23
ABLE dispatches recently an
nounced that Belgium had
decided to substitute Novem-

~ decided to substitute Novem-
ber IL for August 4 as a ma
tional fete day or holiday. The ma
tional fete day Of Belgium is July
81, and is celebrated in that country
as Independence day. 1t is true that
the celebration continues over three
days, but the 21st is the important
day, for from July 81. 1881, when
, Leopold 1 ascended the throne Of Bel
GUM. dates the independence Of that
country. separation from Holland.
Belgium designated August 4 as a
national holiday. for 1t commemorated
the invasion of Belgium by the Ger
mans. or rather 1t commemorated the
heroism of that gallant nation in de-
flying the German hordes that men
aced its sovereignty. 1t marked a
day of grief. but not day of humtli-
| alton, for the Belgian resistance to
the German armies made Belgium
the hero and martyr of nations" But
Belgium has decided to give national
significance to a happier day. and has
added November II. Armistice day.
to her list of holidays.
Every nation has its special days"
remarks President C. A. Herrick OF
Girard College, in his book, out
standing DAYS." and as with an In
dividual the enjoyment of his pleas
ures is the finest index Of his char
acter, SO in national life the holidays
and the days which are made out
standing AFFORD an index by which
national character may be guaged.
k.
ran, may be known by its festivals.
Began M "Unlucky" Days.
] It is somewhat curious that the in
stitution of holidays owes its exist
ence to the belief Of primitive peo-
pies that certain days were unlucky
days and on those days the usual
occupations and employments were
forbidden. In some cases the num-
Der Of days thus set apart included
more than a fifth Of all the days in
! the year. And as time went on and
tho significance of tie days changed
the number Of holidays increased. In
the Greek city of Tarentum at the
time of it's greatest prosperity the
number of holidays exceeded the
number of working days. OF the SOB
dayS in the Roman calendar, 1O9 were
held to be unlawful for political or
| judicial business. Under the empire
Roman holidays increased until at
the middle of the fourth century their
| number was IT'S. Many Christian fes-
tivals were borrowed or adopted from
pagan celebrations and were given a
new meaning by the church. Instead
| of being tabooed days they became
times for special observance. AS Is
we'll known the word holiday" was
! derived directly from the holy day.
| the term coming from the church
custom Of setting aside a day for the
cessation of usual employments and
| devoting it to religious observance,
| In tho progress Of time holidays
| of another nature developed. As ma
| tional consciousness among the world
| powers increased days were set aside
f, for commemorating great events in
national history. Thus France in
stftuted Bastille day, July, IL. when
| the power of autocracy was over
| thrown, and the countries OF South
America designated the date on which
| freedom from Spanish rule was es-
| tablished. The oldest and most i'm
portant date on which freedom from
| foreign rule was declared is July 4.
1776, when the American colonies at
| tested their independence Of England.
Then, too, holidays were established
| to perpetuate the memories Of great
men such as Washington. Lincoln and
Bolivar. England designated May
"a, the birthday of Queen Victoria,
as Victoria day. but later the day was
| observed throdghodt the British en-