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RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS
is again to be gladdened by the proximity of the fountain of light and heat.
In looking for the more striking points of coincidence between the observances of the East and West at this particular season, it is not necessary to be restricted to dates, beyond approximate limits. Our own calendar has been subjected to different reforms, which have, even within a recent term, advanced, by twelve days, the enumeration of the days of the month; and alterations of an astronomical nature have also been alluded to, which may perhaps explain further deviations in this respect. The main point of agreement is unaffected. It is not the recurrence of any precise day of the week or month that constitutes the occasion of the celebration; it is the recurrence of the commencement of the sun's north ward course, the Uttarayana, or winter solstice, from which all the manifestations of gladness derive their origin; and whether this be fixed accurately or inaccurately – whether the period at which the phenomenon was first noticed has in the course of ages undergone a change- is immaterial. Little doubt can be entertained that the same event gave rise to the same feelings; and that they have been expressed by actions, varying in form, but not in spirit, by very distant nations, through a very long succession of the generations of mankind.
It has already been seen that the Romans connected the beginning of the year with the sun's entrance into Capricorn, and that they then celebrated the
