of the most famous of the military orders of Europe. Selden says that
it “exceeds in majesty, honor, and fame all chivalrous orders in the
world.” It is said to have been devised for the purpose of attracting
to the king’s party such soldiers of fortune as might be likely to aid
in asserting the claim which he was then making to the crown of France,
and to have been intended as an imitation of King Arthur’s Round Table.
The original number of knights of the garter was twenty-five, his
Majesty himself making the twenty-sixth. The story that the Countess of
Salisbury let fall her garter when dancing with the king, and that the
king picked it up and tied it round his own leg, but that, observing
the jealous glances of the queen, he restored it to its fair owner,
with the exclamation, “_Honi soit que mal y pense_” (Evil be to
him who evil thinks), is about as well authenticated as most tales of
the kind, and has, moreover, in its favor, that it accounts for the
otherwise unaccountable emblem and motto of the order.
75. How do you determine the years covered by a given Congress?
To determine the years covered by a given Congress, double the number
of the Congress, and add the product to 1789; the result will be the
year in which the Congress closed. Thus, the forty-fifth Congress
equals 90 plus 1789 equals 1879, that being the year which terminated
the forty-fifth Congress, on the 4th of March. To find the number of a
Congress sitting in any given year, subtract 1789 from the year; if
the result is an even number, half that number will give the Congress
of which the year in question will be the closing year. If the result
is an odd number, add one to it, and half the result will give the
Congress, of which the year in question will be the first year.
76. What town was the birthplace of two Presidents?
Braintree, Massachusetts, is the only town in the United States which
can claim this distinction. John Adams and John Quincy Adams were both
born in this town, in that part which, in 1792, was set off as the town
of Quincy, where the Adams family still have their summer residence.
John Hancock was also born in the same town.
77. Where is the “Cave of the Winds”?
It lies in behind the cataract of Niagara, midway between the American
and the Horseshoe Falls. It is fifty feet wide, seventy feet high,
and thirty feet deep. Visitors, provided with oil-skin dresses and
attendant guides, make the tour of the cave, which forms an exciting
and novel amusement.
78. Give the color and portrait of each of our postage stamps.
1c. Imperial ultramarine blue, Benjamin Franklin.
2c. Terra-cotta, George Washington.
2c. (old). Vermilion, Andrew Jackson.
3c. Green, George Washington.
4c. Green, Andrew Jackson.
5c. Steel, James A. Garfield.
5c. (old). Blue, Zachary Taylor.
6c. Red, Abraham Lincoln.
7c. Vermilion, Edwin M. Stanton.
10c. Chocolate, Thomas Jefferson.
12c. Neutral purple, Henry Clay.
15c. Orange, Daniel Webster.
24c. Purple, Winfield Scott.
30c. Black, Alexander Hamilton.
90c. Carmine, Oliver H. Perry.
79. Who were the “Nine Worthies”?
These famous personages, so often alluded to by writers and poets, have
been counted up in the following manner:
{ 1. Hector, son of Priam.
Three Gentiles { 2. Alexander the Great.
{ 3. Julius Cæsar.
{ 4. Joshua, conqueror of Canaan.
Three Jews { 5. David, king of Israel.
{ 6. Judas Maccabæus.
{ 7. Arthur, king of Britain.
Three Christians { 8. Charlemagne.
{ 9. Godfrey of Bouillon.
80. Who was the “Father of Ridicule”?
Francois Rabelais (1495?-1553), the most original and remarkable of all
humorists, and the first noteworthy comic romancer of modern times,
is chiefly noted for his great satirical work, _Les Faits et Dicts
du Geant Gargantua et de son Fils Pantagruel_, which continues to
take rank as one of the world’s masterpieces of humor and grotesque
invention. Lord Bacon calls Rabelais “the great jester of France”;
others have called him a “comic Homer.” More than sixty editions of his
work have been published.
81. What did the North American Indians use as money?
Strings of shells and shell-beads called wampum. There were two kinds:
_wampumpeag_, which was white, and was made from the conch or
periwinkle; and _suckanhock_, which was black, or rather purple,
and was made from the hard-shell clam. The latter was worth twice as
much as the former. The shell was broken into pieces, rubbed smooth on
a stone till about the thickness of a pipe-stem, then cut and pierced
with a drill. It was then strung or made into belts, and served not
only as money, but also as ornaments.
82. Who was “Old Hickory”?
This sobriquet was conferred upon General Andrew Jackson, in 1813,
by the soldiers under his command. “The name of ‘Old Hickory,’” says
Parton, “is not an instantaneous inspiration, but a growth. First of
all, the remark was made by some soldier, who was struck with his
commander’s pedestrian powers, that the general was ‘tough.’ Next it
was observed of him that he was ‘tough as hickory.’ Then he was called
Hickory. Lastly, the affectionate adjective ‘old’ was prefixed, and the
general thenceforth rejoiced in the completed nickname, usually the
first-won honor of a great commander.” According to another account,
the name sprung from his having on one occasion set his men an example
of endurance by feeding on hickory nuts, when destitute of supplies.
83. Which is the “City of Elms”?
This is a familiar denomination of New Haven, Ct., many of the streets
of which are thickly shaded with lofty elms.
84. How did the schooner obtain its name?
The first schooner ever constructed is said to have been built in
Gloucester, Mass., about the year 1713, by a Capt. Andrew Robinson,
and to have received its name from the following trivial circumstance.
When the vessel went off the stocks into the water, a by-stander cried
out, “Oh, how she _scoons_!” Robinson instantly replied, “A
_scooner_ let her be”; and, from that time, vessels thus masted
and rigged have gone by this name. The word _scoon_ is popularly
used in some parts of New England to denote the act of making stones
skip along the surface of water.
85. Who was the “Mill-boy of the Slashes”?
This nickname was given to Henry Clay, who was born in the neighborhood
of a place in Hanover County, Va., known as _the Slashes_ (a local
term for a low, swampy country), where there was a mill, to which he
was often sent on errands when a boy.
86. What was the origin of “Honeymoon”?
The term “honeymoon” is of Teutonic origin, and is said to be derived
from a luxurious drink prepared with honey by the ancients. It was the
custom to drink of diluted honey for thirty days, or a moon’s age,
after a wedding feast.
87. What was the origin of the expression “Printer’s Devil”?
Aldus Manutius (1449–1515), the celebrated Venetian printer and
publisher, had a small black slave whom the superstitious believed
to be an emissary of Satan. To satisfy the curious, one day he said
publicly in church, “I, Aldus Manutius, printer to the Holy Church,
have this day made public exposure of the printer’s devil. All who
think he is not flesh and blood, come and pinch him.” Hence in Venice
arose the somewhat curious sobriquet of the “printer’s devil.”
88. Who were the “Seven Sleepers”?
According to a very widely diffused legend of early Christianity, seven
noble youths of Ephesus, in the time of the Decian persecution, who
fled to a certain cavern for refuge, and were pursued, discovered, and
walled in for a cruel death, were made to fall asleep, and in that
state were miraculously kept for almost two centuries. Their names are
said to have been Maximian, Malchus, Martinian, Denis, John, Serapion,
and Constantine. The legend, in speaking of their death, said,
following the usual form, that they had fallen asleep in the Lord.
The vulgar took occasion thence to say that these holy martyrs were
not dead; that they had been hid in the cavern, where they had fallen
asleep; and that they at last awoke, to the great astonishment of the
spectators. Such is the origin of the legend of the Seven Sleepers.
At Ephesus the spot is still shown where this pretended miracle took
place. As a dog had accompanied these seven martyrs into their retreat,
he has been made to share the celebrity of his masters, and is fabled
to have remained standing all the time they slept, without eating or
drinking, being wholly occupied with guarding their persons. The Church
has consecrated the 27th of June to their memory. The Koran relates the
tale of the Seven Sleepers, and declares that out of respect for them
the sun altered his course twice a day that he might shine into the
cavern.
89. Who were the “Seven Wise Men of Greece”?
These men, who lived in the sixth century B. C., were distinguished for
their practical sagacity and their wise maxims or principles of life.
Their names are variously given, but those most generally admitted to
the honor are Solon, Chilo, Pittacus, Bias, Periander (in place of whom
some give Epimenides), Cleobulus, and Thales. They were the authors of
the celebrated mottoes inscribed in later days in the Delphian temple:
Know thyself (_Solon_); Consider the end (_Chilo_); Know
thy opportunity (_Pittacus_); Most men are bad (_Bias_);
Nothing is impossible to industry (_Periander_); Avoid excess
(_Cleobulus_); Suretyship is the precursor of ruin (_Thales_).
90. Who were the “Seven Champions of Christendom”?
St. George, the patron saint of England; St. Denis, of France; St.
James, of Spain; St. Anthony, of Italy; St. Andrew, of Scotland; St.
Patrick, of Ireland; and St. David, of Wales.
91. What were the “Seven Wonders of the World”?
These very remarkable objects of the ancient world have been variously
enumerated. The following classification is the one most generally
received: 1. The Pyramids of Egypt; 2. The Pharos of Alexandria; 3.
The Walls and Hanging Gardens of Babylon; 4. The Temple of Diana at
Ephesus; 5. The Statue of the Olympian Jupiter; 6. The Mausoleum of
Artemisia; 7. The Colossus of Rhodes.
92. What was the “Wicked Bible”?
This name was given to an edition of the Bible published in 1632 by
Barker & Lucas, because the word _not_ was omitted in the Seventh
Commandment. The printers were called before the High Commission, fined
heavily, and the whole impression destroyed.
93. Why does a dog turn round several times before he lies down?
The dog belongs to the same genus as the wolf, fox, etc., and
originally made his home in the forests and jungles. In preparing his
lair in these places, nature prompted him to turn round several times
in order to arrange the grass or weeds, and bend them from his body
before he lay down. In his domesticated state he has not yet overcome
this early prompting of nature.
94. Who were the first paper-makers?
Wasps. Their nest is made of a paper-like substance, which is merely
wood reduced to a paste by the action of the jaws of the insects, and
this, put into the required form, is left to dry: essentially the same
thing that our paper manufacturers are doing by other processes and on
a larger scale in their mills to-day.
95. How does the Red Sea get its color?
The reddish appearance of the waters of this sea is due to the
prevalence of a minute bright red plant, which is a kind of sea-weed.
This plant is said to be so small that twenty-five millions of them
can live and thrive in one square inch. From it is made a beautiful
red dye, which tradition says was used hundreds of years ago. In some
places, where the weed is not found, the waters are blue or green. To
the Hebrews it was known as _Yam Sûph_, the sea of weeds or sedge.
96. What was the Parthenopean Republic?
This was the name given to the state into which the kingdom of
Naples was transformed by the French Republicans, Jan. 23, 1799, and
which lasted only till the following June. The name is derived from
Parthenope, an ancient name for Naples.
97. What is the origin of the names of the months?
January is derived from _Janus_, the god of the year, to whom this
month was sacred.
February is from _Februus_, an old Italian divinity, or from
_Februa_, the Roman festival of expiation, celebrated on the 15th
of this month. January and February were added to the Roman calendar by
Numa, Romulus having previously divided the year into ten months.
March is from _Mars_, the god of war, and reputed father of
Romulus. It was the first month of the Roman calendar.
April is from the Latin _Aperire_, to open, from the opening of
the buds, or the bosom of the earth in producing vegetation.
May is from _Maia_, the mother of Mercury, to whom the Romans
offered sacrifices on the first day of this month.
June is from _Juno_, the sister and wife of Jupiter, to whom this
month was sacred.
July was named by Mark Antony after _Julius Cæsar_, who was born
in this month. It was previously called _Quintilis_, the fifth
month.
August was named after _Augustus Cæsar_, on account of several
of the most fortunate events of his life having occurred during this
month. It was formerly _Sextilis_, or sixth month.
September is from the Latin _septem_, seven, because it was
originally the seventh month.
October, formerly the eighth month, is formed from the Latin
_octo_, eight.
November is from the Latin _novem_, nine, as this month was
originally the ninth month.
December is from the Latin _decem_, ten, as it was formerly the
tenth and last month of the Roman calendar.
98. What was the origin of the names of the days of the week?
As the names of the months were all derived from the Romans, so the
names of the days of the week come to us from the Saxons.
Sunday takes its name from the sun, which was one of the principal
objects of worship.
Monday is so called after the moon, also an ancient object of worship.
Tuesday is so called from _Tiu_ or _Tiw_, the son of Odin,
and the old Saxon god of war and of fame.
Wednesday derives its name from _Woden_, or _Odin_, the god
of battle, and the chief god of the Northern mythology.
Thursday is so styled from _Donar_, or _Thor_, who, as god of
the air, had much in common with the Roman Jupiter, to whom the same
day was dedicated.
Friday is named from _Frigga_, the wife of Odin and the mother of
all the deities.
Saturday is named from _Saterne_, or _Saturn_, to whom the
day was consecrated.
99. What year is 1886 by the Jewish calendar?
The year 5646 of the Jewish era began Sept. 10, 1885, and will continue
385 days, as it is an embolismic year. The Jewish calendar is dated
from the creation, which is considered to have taken place 3760 years
and three months before the commencement of the Christian era. The year
is luni-solar, and, according as it is ordinary or embolismic, consists
of twelve or thirteen lunar months, each of which has twenty-nine or
thirty days. Thus the duration of the ordinary year is 354 days, and
that of the embolismic year is 384 days. In either case it is sometimes
made a day more, and sometimes a day less, in order that certain
festivals may fall on proper days of the week for their due observance.
The following table gives the names of their months and the number of
days in each:--
HEBREW MONTHS.
=========+===========+=============
Month. | Ordinary. | Embolismic.
---------+-----------+-------------
Tisri | 30 | 30
Hesvan | 29+[1] | 29+
Kislev | 30--[1]| 30--
Tebet | 29 | 29
Sebat | 30 | 30
Adar | 29 | 30
Veadar | (--)[2] | (29)
Nisan | 30 | 30
Yiar | 29 | 29
Sivan | 30 | 30
Tamuz | 29 | 29
Ab | 30 | 30
Elul | 29 | 29
---------|-----------|-----------
Total | 354 | 384
=================================
[1] The signs + and -- are respectively annexed to Hesvan and
Kislev to indicate that the former of these may sometimes require to
have one day more, and the latter one day less, than the number of days
shown in the table.
[2] The intercalary month, Veadar, is introduced in embolismic
years in order that Passover, the 15th day of Nisan, may be kept at its
proper season, which is the full moon of the vernal equinox, or that
which takes place after the sun has entered the sign Aries.
The following table shows when Tisri 1, the Jewish New-Year, occurs for
each of the next five years by our calendar.
Tisri 1, 5647 == September 30, 1886.
„ 5648 == „ 19, 1887.
„ 5649 == „ 6, 1888.
„ 5650 == „ 26, 1889.
„ 5651 == „ 15, 1890.
100. What was the name of the penitent thief?
St. Dismas is the name which Romish tradition has attached to the “good
thief.” He is represented with a cross beside him.
101. What was the origin of the term “halcyon days”?
The seven days which precede and the seven days which follow the
shortest day were, by the ancients, called halcyon days, on account
of the fable that, during this time, while the halcyon bird, or
kingfisher, was breeding, there always prevailed calms at sea. From
this the phrase “halcyon days” has come to signify times of peace and
tranquillity.
102. Who was the “Christ of India”?
Buddha Gautama (624–543 B. C.), the reputed founder of Buddhism, has
been so termed. He was of ascetic habits, till, tempted by his father,
he abandoned himself to every pleasure. Afterward he renounced the
world, and as a result of long study and bodily maceration, discovered
that non-sentient repose is the highest good attainable by the pure and
the just.
103. What religious sect anoint the sick with oil, depending upon this
unction and prayer, and rejecting the use of medicine?
The Tunkers are found widely scattered throughout the northern and
middle parts of the United States, but are nowhere numerous. They were
recently estimated to have over five hundred churches and some fifty
thousand members. The name which they take for themselves is simply
that of Brethren, and they profess that their association is founded on
the principle of brotherly love. The name Tunkers is of German origin,
signifying Dippers, and is due to their dipping in baptism. They
anoint their sick with oil, depending upon this unction and prayer for
their recovery, and rejecting the use of medicine. They do not insist
upon celibacy as an absolute rule; but they commend it as a virtue,
and discourage marriage. Chiefly engaged in agriculture, they are
industrious and honest, and universally held in good repute among their
neighbors.
Sole dependence upon prayer is the characteristic also of a small
religious sect of which a few members are to be found in England,
calling themselves the _Peculiar People_.
In Switzerland, the name of Dorothea Trudel, who died in 1862, was long
famous for the cure of ailments by prayers.
104. What noted sage advocated the doctrine that virtue was
intellectual, a necessary consequence of knowledge; while vice was
ignorance, and akin to madness?
This was the fundamental doctrine of the philosophy of Socrates, the
Athenian philosopher (469–399 B. C.). Knowledge, virtue, and happiness
he held to be inseparable. His religious doctrines culminated in the
conception of the Deity as the author of the harmony of nature and the
laws of morals, revealed only in his works, and of the soul as a divine
and immortal being, resembling the Deity in respect to reason and
invisible energy.
105. What palace in an ancient city contains five hundred rooms?
The Palazzo Imperiale, at Mantua, Italy, contains five hundred rooms,
whose choicest embellishment consists in the glorious paintings and
exquisite designs of the great Mantuan artist, Giulio Romano.
106. What was the “most useful conquest ever made by man”?
Baron Cuvier, the most eminent naturalist, says of the dog: “It is
the completest, the most singular, and the most useful conquest ever
made by man.” This conquest was made long before the dawn of history.
Cuvier has also asserted that the dog was, perhaps, necessary for the
establishment of human society. Though this may not be apparent in the
most highly civilized communities, a moment’s reflection will convince
us that barbarous nations owe much of their elevation above the brute
to the possession of the dog.
107. When was the first blood shed in the Revolution?
In the conflict known as the “Boston Massacre,” between the
British soldiers and the citizens of Boston, March 5, 1770. Two
Americans--Samuel Gray and James Caldwell--and a half-breed Indian
negro--Crispus Attucks--were killed, and eight citizens were wounded,
two of them mortally,--an Irishman named Carr, and Maverick, an
American.
108. What remarkable fish is found only in Lake Baikal?
The golomynka, the only known species of its genus, which belongs to
the goby family. It is about a foot long, is destitute of scales, and
is very soft, its whole substance abounding in oil, which is obtained
from it by pressure. It is never eaten.
109. Who was inventor of the most perfect alphabet ever devised for any
language?
George Guess, or Sequoyah, a half-breed Cherokee Indian (1770–1843),
invented, in 1826, a syllabic alphabet of the Cherokee language, which
consisted of eighty-five characters, each representing a single sound
in the language. This is said to be the most perfect alphabet ever
devised for any language. For the characters he used, as far as they
went, those which he found in an English spelling-book, although he
knew no language except his own. A newspaper called the _Phœnix_
was established, a part of it printed in Cherokee, using the alphabet
of Guess. A part of the New Testament was also printed in this
character. Guess was not a Christian, and is said to have regretted his
invention when he found it was used for this purpose.
110. Who was the “Little Giant”?
This was a popular sobriquet conferred upon Stephen Arnold Douglass
(1813–1861), a distinguished American statesman, in allusion to the
disparity between his physical and his intellectual proportions.
111. Which was the grandest funeral pageant ever known?
That of Alexander the Great. For two years after his death the body
was deposited at Babylon, while preparations were being made for the
march to Egypt. At length all was ready, and the grandest funeral
pageant ever witnessed on earth started on the long march of over one
thousand miles from Babylon to Alexandria. Over a year was occupied
in this journey. The accounts of the splendor and magnificence of the
golden car that bore his body are almost incredible. The spokes and
naves of the wheels were overlaid with gold, and the extremities of the
axles, where they appeared outside at the centre of the wheels, were
adorned with massive golden ornaments. Upon the wheels and axle-trees
was supported a platform twelve feet wide and eighteen feet long, upon
which was erected a magnificent pavilion supported by Ionic columns,
and profusely ornamented, both within and without, with purple and
gold. The interior of this pavilion was resplendent with precious
stones and gems. Upon the back of the platform was placed a throne,
profusely carved and gilded, and hung with crowns representing the
various nations over which Alexander had ruled. At the foot of the
throne was the coffin, made of solid gold, and containing, besides
the body, a large quantity of the most costly spices and aromatic
perfumes, which filled the air with fragrance. Between the coffin
and throne were laid the arms of Alexander. On the four sides of the
carriage were _basso-relievos_, representing Alexander himself,
with various military concomitants. There were the Macedonian columns,
the squadrons of Persia, the elephants of India, troops of horses, etc.
Around the car was a fringe of golden lace, to the pendants of which
were attached bells, which tolled continually with a mournful sound as
the carriage moved along. This ponderous car was drawn by a long column
of sixty-four mules, in sets of four, all selected for their great
size and strength, and richly caparisoned. Their collars and harnesses
were mounted with gold and enriched with precious stones. A large army
of workmen kept at a considerable distance in advance, repairing the
roads, strengthening the bridges, and removing all obstacles along the
entire line.
112. What is the “oft-quoted epitaph” composed by Franklin?
“THE BODY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, PRINTER, LIKE THE COVER OF AN OLD
BOOK, _its contents torn out, and stripped of its lettering and
gilding, lies here food for worms_. Yet the work itself shall not be
lost; for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more
beautiful edition, corrected and amended by the Author.”
113. Which is the largest stationary engine in the world?