In 1862, Mr. F. W. Gingell, of Wood House, East Ham, while sitting at dinner with the family, observed to his father, “I have a presentiment that I shall die suddenly:” at the same time his head dropped, and he expired.
Religious Thought.
Moveable Feasts.
The following short explanation of the Moveable Feasts of the Church, and their dependence on Easter, cannot be improved:
“In the English nomenclature Easter Sunday has always the six Sundays in Lent immediately preceding, and the five Sundays after Easter, immediately following. Of these the nearest to Easter before and after are Palm Sunday and Low Sunday; the farthest before and after are Quadragesima (first in Lent), and Rogation Sunday (fifth after Easter). Preceding all these are, in reverse order, Quinquagesima, Sexagesima, Septuagesima: and following them, in direct order, are the Sunday after Ascension (Holy Thursday, Thursday five weeks after Easter); Whit Sunday and Trinity Sunday. So that Easter Sunday, as it takes its course through the almanacks, draws after it, as it were, nine Sundays, and pushes eight before it, all at fixed denominations. Looking farther back, every Sunday preceding Septuagesima, but not preceding the fixed day of Epiphany (June 6), is named as of Epiphany or after Epiphany: the least number of Sundays after Epiphany is one, the greatest number six. Looking farther forwards, all the Sundays following Trinity are named as after Trinity in succession, until we arrive at the nearest Sunday (be it before or after) to the St. Andrew’s Day (November 30th), which is the first Sunday in Advent. The least number of Sundays after Trinity is twenty-two; the greatest, twenty-seven. From thence, up to Christmas Day, exclusive, the Sundays are named as in Advent, and from Christmas Day to Epiphany, exclusive, they are named as Christmas Day, or as the first or second Sunday after Christmas.”—Prof. de Morgan’s Book of Almanacks.
Christmas.
The celebration of Christmas is still rife among us. Its stream of joy is not narrowed, but more equally diffused through society; and although much of the custom of profuse hospitality has passed away, Christmas is yet universally recognised as a season when every Christian should show his gratitude to the Almighty for the inestimable benefits procured to us by the Nativity, by an ample display of goodwill towards our fellow-men: