Divides Things Into Three Parts.
There are three Fates, three Furies, and three Graces. The Harpies are three in number; there are three Sibylline books, and the fountain in Mysia, from which Hylas drew water, was presided over by three nymphs. The pythoness sat on a tripod; the Muses are three times three. Both Man and the World are threefold—the former, body, soul, and spirit; the latter, earth, sea, and air. The enemies of Man are the world, the flesh, and the devil; the kingdoms of Nature are animal, vegetable, and mineral. The cardinal colors are red, yellow, and blue.
In almost all countries new laws have to pass three bodies. In the United States, State laws pass the Assembly, the State Senate, and the Governor. Federal laws pass the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the President. In England there are the Commons, the Lords, and the King to be reckoned with.
Concerning the church there were the “Three Chapters,” otherwise three books on the subject of the Incarnation and the two natures of Christ, which caused a great controversy during the reign of Justinian and the popedom of Vigilius. In 553 these books were condemned by the General Council at Constantinople. One was written by Theodore, of Mopsuestia; one by Theodoret, of Cyprus; and the third by Ibas, Bishop of Edessa.
It was the “three bishoprics” of France that passed to the German rule after the Franco-Prussian War. They were Metz, Verdun, and Lorraine, each of which was once under the lordship of a bishop. In early days the churches were usually provided with what was known as a “three decker.” This structure consisted of the clerk’s desk, the reading-desk, and the pulpit, one above the other. Then again, Epiphany or Twelfth Day is sometimes known as “Three Kings’ Day,” as it is supposed to commemorate the visit of the three kings, or wise men, to the infant Jesus.
The three estates of the realm are the nobility, the clergy, and the commonalty in England, the sovereign being in a class by himself. One of the collects in the English prayer-books thanks God for preserving “the king and the three estates of the realm.” It was Burke who designated the press of the country “the fourth estate.”
Mention must also be made of the “three R’s” of education: reading, ’riting, and ’rithmetic; and the Bible is composed of three parts: Old Testament, New Testament, and Apocrypha.