21. SAINT THOMAS THE APOSTLE. Thomas, surnamed Didymus, or the Twin, was a Jew, and, in all probability, a Galilean. There are but few passages in the gospel concerning him. Thomas is said to have suffered martyrdom in the same city, being killed by the lances of some people instigated by the Bramins.-At Great Gransden, ‘in Cambridgeshire, the widows go about on this day, asking for money; which is called, going a Tho masing.

This is the shortest day, and is, at London, 7 h. 44 m. 17 s.; allowing 9 m. 5 s. for refraction.

25.-CHRISTMAS DAY.

The feast of our Saviour's nativity was undoubtedly celebrated in the early ages of Christianity; for we are told that, under the persecution of Maximinus, that emperor burnt a church at Nicomedia, which was filled with Christians assembled to keep this festival. St. Gregory terms it the festival of festivals; and St. Chrysostom, the chief of all festivals. It is named Christmas-day, from the Latin Christi Missa, the Mass of Christ, and thence the Roman Catholic Liturgy is termed their Missal or Mass-Book. About the year 500, the observation of this day became general in the Catholic church.

In the primitive church, Christmas-day was always preceded by an eve or vigil. When the devotion of the eve was completed, our forefathers used to light up candles of an uncommon size, which were called Christmas candles, and to lay a log of wood upon the fire, called the yule-clog or log.

For many other customs formerly observed in England at this season, see T. T. for 1814, pp. 309-315; and, for some particulars of the Fête de l'Ane, or Feast of the Ass, see T. T. for 1815, pp. 318-321.

A BOAR'S HEAD, soused, was antiently the first dish on Christmas-day, and was carried up to the principal table in the hall, with great state and solemnity, a carol being sung at the time. The old song, with

some variations, is yet retained in Queen's College, Oxford, and is sung annually, on Christmas-day, when a boar's-head is served up as the principal dish.

.

The following Christmas customs are thus prettily noticed in Christmas, a Poem,' by R. J. Thorn, 8vo, Bristol, 1795, and quoted in Brand's Popular Antiquities, vol. i, pp. 361, 370, 384, 416, quarto edition.

CHRISTMAS EVE.

Thy welcome Eve, loved Christmas, now arrived,
The parish bells their tuneful peals resound,
And mirth and gladness every breast pervade.
The ponderous Ashen-faggot, from the yard,
The jolly farmer to his crowded hall
Conveys, with speed; where, on the rising flames
(Already fed with store of massy brands)
It blazes soon; nine bandages it bears,
And, as they each disjoin (so Custom wills),
A mighty jug of sparkling cider's brought,
With brandy mixt, to elevate the guests.

THE CAROL.

Now too is heard

The hapless cripple, tuning through the streets
His Carol new; and oft, amid the gloom

Of midnight hours, prevail th' accustomed sounds
Of wakeful Waits, whose melody (composed

Of hautboy, organ, violin, and flute,

And various other instruments of mirth)

Is meant to celebrate the coming time.

CHRISTMAS Box.

Gladly, the Boy, with Christmas Box in hand,
Throughout the town, his devious route pursues;
And of his master's Customers implores

The yearly mite; often his cash he shakes;
The which, perchance, of coppers few consists,
Whose dulcet jingle fills his little soul
With joy as boundless as the debtor feels,
When, from the bailiff's rude, uncivil gripe
His friends reedem him, and, with pity fraught,
The claims of all his creditors discharge.

Ff

VISITING.

Now social friends their social friends invite
To share the feast; and on the table's placed
The famed sirloin, with Puddings nicely baked,
Surcharged with plums, and from the oven hot;
Nor wanting are Minced Pies, in plenteous heaps,
T'augment the dainties of the brave repast.

At Clare Hall, in Cambridge, a Collar of Brawn is always provided for the Fellows' table on Christmasday, which comes up every day during the twelve days, and then makes another and last appearance on Candlemas-day. A sprig of ivy with berries is stuck into the centre of the top: the berries are first dipped in flour, probably to represent the hoar frost.

26.-SAINT STEPHEN.

Stephen was the first deacon chosen by the apostles. He was cited before the Sanhedrin, or Jewish Council, for prophesying the fall of the Jewish Temple and economy; and while vindicating his doctrine by several passages of the Old Testament, he was violently carried out of the city, and stoned to death, in the year 33. See Acts, chap. vii, for his admirable defence.

27. JOHN EVANGELIST.

See pp. 168-170.

This day is the Jewish Festival of Lighting the Lamps, or the dedication of the Second Temple by the Maccabees [see chap. x of book ii], after its profanation by Antiochus Epiphanes, and when the holy vessels were again set apart for its service. During this festival, the Jews return thanks for the victories obtained by their ancestors over the Greeks that invaded the Holy Land. At this time, in remembrance of a miracle said to have been wrought by the seal of the High Priest upon the only flask of oil which remained unpolluted, they light up lamps eight evenings alternately, beginning with one lamp the first evening, and increasing one every time in succession, till there are eight. As, before the High Priest had sealed this flask, it only contained oil sufficient for

one day, but which was made, by a miracle, to last eight, the same period is observed in its celebration.

28.-INNOCENTS.

The slaughter of the Jewish children, by Herod, is commemorated on this day. The festival is very antient, for Tertullian and Saint Cyrian call these Innocents martyrs, and Prudentius has written a hymn upon the subject. Childermas day is another name for this feast.

Hail you, sweet babes! that are the flowers

Whom, when you life begin to taste,

The enemy of Christ devours,

As whirlwinds down the roses cast.

DRUMMOND.

This day is observed by the Jews on account of Jehoiakim's burning the scroll that the Prophet Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah.

31.-SAINT SILVESTER.

He was Bishop of Rome, and succeeded Miltiades in the papacy, in 314. Silvester is accounted the author of several rites and ceremonies of the Romish church, as asylums, unctions, palls, corporals, mitres, &c. He died in 334.

History of Astronomy.

[Concluded from p. 324]

Astronomy of Modern Europe.

DR. HERSCHEL says, that there is a remarkable purity or clearness in the heavens, when we look out of our stratum at the sides, that is, towards Leo, Virgo, and Coma Berenices, on the one hand, and towards Cetus on the other; whereas the ground of the heavens become troubled as we approach towards the length or height of it. The Doctor was some time before he could understand the true reason of these phenomena, but he afterwards found that these troubled appearances were to be explained by ascrib

ing them to some distant straggling stars that yield scarcely light enough to be distinguished.

In his enumeration of very compound nebulæ, or milky ways, he says it may not be amiss to point out some other very remarkable nebula which cannot well be less, but are probably larger, than our own system, and, being extended, the inhabitants of the planets that attend the stars which compose them, must likewise perceive the same phenomena. Hence he calls them milky-ways for the sake of distinction. His opinion of their size is grounded on the following observations. There are many round nebulæ, of 5 or 6 minutes in diameter, the stars of which he can distinctly see, and the centres of which he estimates to be 600 times the distance of Sirius from us. Some of these round nebulæ have others near them, perfectly similar in form, in colour, and in the distribution of stars, but of only half the diameter; and the stars in them seem to be doubly crowded, and only at about half the distance from each other: indeed, they are so minute as not to be visible without the utmost attention. These miniature nebulæ are supposed to be at double the distance of the first. In a few of the extended nebulæ, Dr. Herschel found that the light changes gradually, which appears an indication that the milky light of nebula is owing to their greater distance; a nebula, therefore, whose light is perfectly milky, cannot well be supposed to be at less than 6 or 8000 times the distance of Sirius ; and hence it cannot be otherwise than of a wonderful magnitude, and may well outvie our milky way in grandeur. Among the nebula of this sort, described by Dr. Herschel, is the beautiful one of Orion. Its extent is more than a degree; the eastern branch passes between two very small stars, and runs on till it meets a very bright one. Close to four small stars, which can have no connection with the nebula, is a total blackness; and within the open part, towards the north-east, is a distinct, small faint nebula, of an