of EPINAY-EPISODE. vols., 1818. They give a true picture the refined but corrupt manners which prevailed among the higher classes in France during the government of Louis XV. Madame d'Epinay died in 1783. EPIPHANY; a festival, otherwise called the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, observed on the 6th of January, in honor of the appearance of our Savior to the three magi, or wise men, who came to adore him, and bring him presents. The kings of England and Spain offer gold, frankincense and myrrh, on Epiphany, or twelfth day, in memory of the offerings of the wise men to the infant Jesus. The festival of Epiphany is called by the Greeks, the feast of lights, because our Savior is said to have been baptized on this day; the baptism is by them called illumination. The feast of Epiphany is also called, in Germany, the festival of the three holy kings. The primitive church also gave this name to the birthday of our Savior. The Greek church calls the same feast Theophany (appearance of God). EPIPHORA. This figure of rhetoric is the emphatic repetition of a word at the end of several sentences, or stanzas, as the anaphora is the repetition of it at the beginning. Thus, in Byron's song, Zwn us, as these words are repeated at the end of every stanza; and in the Spanish Romance muy doloroso (translated by Byron), the words Ay de mi, Alhama! αγάπως no EPIRUS; a province bordering on Greece, and often included in it; the most southerly part of modern Albania. (q. v.) The oracle of Dodona (q. v.), the oldest in Greece, was in Epirus, in a temple of Jupiter, which was built according to the direction of a black pigeon, or rather of an Egyptian priestess. There are traces remaining of that celebrated city, nor has the grove of oaks, with the neverfailing fountains, been yet discovered. Mythology probably derived from this country the infernal rivers of Acheron and Cocytus; and here, too, the poisonous vapors exhaled from Avernus (now called Vall dell' Orso). The country is mountainous, but, along the sea-coast, pleasant and fertile. In ancient times, the Chaonians were the most powerful tribe. Several Greek colonies settled among them. The most celebrated of the kings of Epirus was Pyrrhus, who made war upon the Romans. Being delivered from the Macedonian yoke by the Romans, when they conquered Philip II, the Epirots gradually became so powerful, that 545 they assisted Antiochus and Perseus against the Romans, but thereby only hastened their own downfall. Paulus Æmilius (q. v.) subdued them, and gave up their towns to pillage. Seventy towns were destroyed, and 150,000 men sold into slavery. Epirus, from this time, shared the fortunes of the Roman empire, till it was conquered by the Turks, under Amurath II, in 1432. Castriot (Scanderbeg, q. v.), the last of the royal family in Epirus, and educated at the Ottoman court, threw off the Turkish yoke; but, after his death, his country was again conquered by Mahomet II, 1466. It is principally inhabited by Arnauts. (q. v.) EPISCENIUM, in modern theatres, the front part of the stage; in ancient theatres, the upper part of the scene. EPISCOPACY. (See England, Church of, and Roman Catholic Church.) EPISODE (Latin episodium, from the Greek nodion) is employed by Aristotle, in two significations. Sometimes it denotes those parts of a play which are between the choruses, and sometines an incidental narrative, or digression in a poem, which the poet has connected with the main plot, but which is not essential to it. In modern times, it has been used in the latter sense only. With the best poets, the episode is not a mere patch or piece to fill out the poem, not an unnecessary appendage, serving merely to swell the size of the work, but it is closely connected with the subject, points out important consequences, or developes hidden causes. Of this kind is the narrative of the destruction of Troy, in Virgil's Æneid. This was the cause of the hero's leaving his country, and wandering over the sea; but the poet does not commence with it, because he wishes to bring the plot into a narrower space, in order to make it more distinct and lively. He therefore inserts it in the course of the story, but so skilfully, that we expect it in this very place; and it not only serves as a key to what has gone before, but prepares us for what is to come, viz., the passion of Dido. In this way, the episode becomes an essential part of the whole, as it must necessarily be, if it is of any importance to preserve the unity of the poem. So with the tale in Wieland's Oberon; it appears incidental, but explains to us the reason of Oberon's singular interest in the fate of Huon. In epic poetry, there is much more room for the episode than in dramatic, where the poem is confined to a present action. The term episode has also been transferred to painting, especially historic paint ing, in a sense analogous to that which it has in poetry. EPISTOLÆ OBSCURORUM VIRORUM (Letters of obscure Men-in the double sense of obscure); a collection of satirical letters, which first appeared in 1515, pretending to be written by well known clergymen and professors in the countries on the Rhine, particularly of Cologne, in barbarous Latin, in which, together with theological controversies on different topics, were contained sharp satires on the excesses of the clergy of that time. The celebrated Ulrich von Hutten, with other men of learning, took part in this work. Oldest edition, by Aldus Manutius (Cologne, 1505, 4to.). In 1517, these letters were numbered among the prohibited books by a papal bull. They have been lately republished, in 1826. This was undoubtedly one of the most interesting publications of its time. EPISTYLIUM. (See Architecture, vol. 1, page 338, right column.) EPITAPH (from the Greek intraptor, from inì, upon, and rápos, tomb); the inscription on a tombstone. The Greeks applied this name to those verses which were sung in memory of a deceased person, on the day of his funeral, and on the anniversary of this day. An epitaph should be characterized by brevity and truth. Nothing can be farther from its nature than the long-winded stories on tombs, of ten as untrue as they are long, and which differ from common prose in nothing but an arbitrary division into long and short lines. The Germans have a proverb, "He lies like a tombstone, and is as impudent as a newspaper." The English are peculiarly addicted to long epitaphs, relating a whole life, with a catalogue of the merits of the deceased. An English churchyard affords much food for reflection. It is plain, that the form of an epitaph should correspond with the character of the subject of it. The epitaphs of men who have performed great actions, known to the whole world, or who have made discoveries in science and art, which are acknowledged by their age, should be as simple as possible, consisting of little else than their name, which is, of itself, enough to bring up a whole history to the memory of the reader. Long panegyric and reflection are out of place here. would not prefer, on a tombstone erected to Washington, the single name Washington, to any attempt to point out his merits? The column erected to the memory of general Massena, who is buried in the cimetière de l'Est, in Paris, contains Who only the word Masséna. And simplicity is equally essential to give effect to the record of the gentle virtues of domestic life. We will here give a few epitaphs deOne of the serving of remeinbrance. happiest is that of sir Christopher Wren, in St Paul's, London, of which he was the architect: Si monumentum quæris, circumspice. Mercy's epitaph on the field of battle at Nordlingen is also very appropriate. It is, Sta, viator; heroem calcas. Count Tessin, governor of Gustavus to be inscribed on his tomb. The follow- Isaacum Newton, Fatetur. M. Ducis wrote the following epitaph on his friend J. J. Rousseau, buried on the island in the lake of Ermenonville. (q. v.) One of Entre ces peupliers paisibles, Repose Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Approchez, cours droits et sensibles, of the simplest and saddest is that pope Adrian, written by himself: Adrianus, Papa VI, hic situs est, Quam quod imperaret. The following epitaph, by doctor Johnson, on a celebrated musician, is extremely happy: Phillips, whose touch harmonious could remove The pangs of guilty power and hapless love, Rest here, distressed by poverty no more; Find here that calm thou gar'st so oft before; Sleep undisturbed within this peaceful shrine, Till angels wake thee with a note like thine. But the finest we have ever read is the simple inscription in St. Anne's church, at Cracow, dedicated by count Sierakowski to the illustrious Copernicus: Sta, sol, ne moveare. The very words of Scripture, which were used as a pretext for the persecution EPITAPH-EPOCH. 547 EPITHALAMIUM (from 0áλapos); a nuptial song. Among the Greeks and Romans, it was sung by young men and maids at the door of the bridal chamber of a new married couple. It was accompanied with shouting and stamping with the feet. It consisted of praises of the bridegroom and bride, with wishes for their happiness. Among the Romans, the husband scattered nuts among the young men at the same time. Examples may be seen in Theocritus's epithalamium of Helen, and the epithalamium of Catullus. EPITOME (from the Greek intron, from ini (q. v.), and repvw, I cut); an abridgment, an abbreviation, or compendious abstract. EPOCH, or ERA, is a certain fixed point of time, made famous by some remarkable event, from whence, as from a root, the ensuing years are numbered or computed. As there is no astronomical consideration to render one epoch preferable to another, their constitution is purely arbitrary, and, therefore, various epochas have been used at different times, and among different nations. The following article is from the Companion to the British Almanac for 1830: It will render the comparison of eras much easier, if we give some account of what is meant by a solar and a lunar year. A solar year is that space of time, during which all the seasons have their course. The following is said to be found in the This takes place in 365 days, 5 hours, cemetery of Père la-Chaise: Ci-git ma femme. Ah! qu'elle est bien Pour son repos et pour le mien. The following was made on Montmaur, a man of remarkable memory, but deficient in judgment: Sous cette casaque noire We cannot assert, however, that these three last, any more than the two preceding them, ever appeared, except on paper. Epitaphs have not unfrequently been written on animals, as the following: L'oiseau, sous ces fleurs enterré, Byron's misanthropy vented itself in the epitaph on his Newfoundland dog, which he concluded with the following lines: 48 minutes, and 49 seconds; and an approximation to that time has been adopted by those nations which have had sufficient astronomical science to determine it. But, as it would be impracticable to begin every new year at a different hour of the day, which would be necessary if the perfect year should always be completed before the commencement of a new one, 365 days have been taken as the and minutes to accumulate until they length of a year, leaving the odd hours amount to a whole day, when they are added to the year, making what is called a leap year, or intercalary year, of 366 days. The various ways of doing this will be detailed when we speak of the different eras. Some nations still use a year of 365 days, without any intercalation; and this is called a vague, or erratic year, because its commencement varies through all the different seasons. lunar year consists of 12 moons, or 354 days. This may be convenient enough for short periods, but is so ill adapted for A the computation of a civilized nation, that none but Mohammedans have continued in the use of it, even for a little time. It suits the course of time so ill, that its commencement varies, in a few years, through all the seasons; and many men amongst the nations which use it can remember the fasts and festivals altering from summer to winter, and again from winter to summer, and their seed-time and harvest alternately wandering from the beginning of the year to the end. The luni-solar year is that in which the months are regulated according to the course of the moon, but to which, from time to time, a month is added, whenever the year would range too widely from its original situation. This year is inconvenient, from its varying duration; but as, in a long course of years, the months remain nearly at the same situation, it is less objectionable than the pure lunar year. It was the mode of computation of the Greeks and Romans, and is even now that of the Chinese, Tartars, Japanese and Jews. All these vary ing modes render the comparison of dates much more difficult than it appears to be at the first view. We shall endeavor so far to simplify the calculation as to enable any arithmetician to compute, within a day or two, the eras of every nation, and to reduce them to the Christian era. The Roman Era. The Roman year, in its arrangement and division, is that on which our year is entirely founded. The Romans reckoned their time from the date which some of their antiquaries chose to assign for the founding of Rome, viz. the 21st of April, in the 2d year of the 6th Olympiad, or 754 B. C. This era is designated by the letters A. U. C., or ab urbe condita (from the building of the city). The first year used by them, and attributed to Romulus, consisted of ten months, from March to December, or 304 days. (For an account of the Roman mode of computing time, see Calendar.) The Roman year has been adopted by almost all Christian nations, with no other variation than taking the birth of Christ as the commencement, instead of the building of Rome. If the given Roman year be less than 754, deduct it from 754; if the given Roman year be not less than 754, deduct 753 from it; the remainder gives the year (B. C. and A. D., in the first and second cases respectively) in which the Roman year commences. Examples: Required the year 780 A. U. C. 27 A. D. Required the year 701 A. U. C. 754 701 53 B. C. The Olympiads. The Greeks computed their time by the celebrated era of the Olympiads, which date from the year 776 B. C., being the year in which Corobus was successful at the Olympic games. This era differed from all others in being reckoned by periods of four years instead of single years. Each period of 4 years was called an Olympiad; and, in marking a date, the year and Olympiad were both mentioned. The year was luni-solar, of 12 or 13 months. The names of the months varied in the different states of Greece, but the Attic months are most usual. (For a further account of the Greek mode of computing time, see Calendar.) To reduce the date by Olympiads to our era, multiply the past Olympiad by 4, and add the odd years; subtract the sum from 777 if before Christ, and subtract 776 from the sum if after Christ; the re mainder will be the beginning of the given year. To decide on the exact day would be very difficult, on account of the alterations which the system has undergone. It will be, perhaps, sufficient to observe, that the year begins within a fortnight of the middle of July.-N. B. Some authors, as Jerome and Eusebius, have confounded the Olympiads with the era of the Seleucides, and computed them from the 1st of September. The Christian Era. The Christian era, used by almost all Christian nations, dates from January 1st, in the middle of the 4th year of the 194th Olympiad, in the 753d of the building of Rome, and 4714th of the Julian period. It was first introduced in the sixth century, but was not very generally employed for some centuries after. The Christian year, in its division, follows exactly the Roman year; consisting of 365 days for three successive years, and of 366 in the fourth year, which is termed leap year. This computation subsisted for 1000 years, throughout Europe, without alteration, and is still used by the followers of the Greek church: other Christians have adopted a slight alteration, which will be shortly explained. The simplicity of this form has brought it into very general use, and it is customary for astronomers and chronologists, in treating of ancient times, to date back in the same order from its commencement. There is, unfortunately, a little ambiguity on this head, some persons reckoning the EPOCH. year immediately before the birth of Christ, as 1 B. C., and others noting it with 0, and the second year before Christ with 1, making always one less than those who use the former notation. The first is the most usual mode, and will be employed in all our computations. The Christian year (or Julian year), arranged as we have shown, was 11' 11" too long, amounting to a day in nearly 129 years; and, towards the end of the sixteenth century, the time of celebrating the church festivals had advanced ten days beyond the periods fixed by the council of Nice, in 325. It was in consequence ordered, by a bull of Gregory XIII, that the year 1582 should consist of 355 days only, which was effected by omitting ten days in the month of October, viz., from the 5th to the 14th; and, to prevent the recurrence of a like irregularity, it was also ordered, that, in three centuries out of four, the last year should be a common year, instead of a 549 leap year, as it would have been by the Julian calendar. The year 1600 remained a leap year, but 1700, 1800 and 1900 were to be common years. This amended mode of computing was called the new style, and was immediately adopted in all Catholic countries, while the old style continued to be employed by other Christians. Gradually the new style was employed by Protestants also. The last ten days of 1699 were omitted by the Protestants of Germany, who, in consequence, began the year 1700 with the new style; and in England, the reformed calendar was adopted in the year 1752, by omitting eleven days, to which the dif ference between the styles then amounted. The alteration was effected in the month of September, the day which would have been the third being called the fourteenth. The Russians continued to use the old style till the present year, 1830, when they adopted the new style. To turn the Old Style to the New. From the alteration of style to the 29th February, 1700, add 10 days. 66 11 66 66 1800, 66 1900, " 66 17th March, Examples. 1801, O. S., is 29th March, 19th February, 1703, O. S., is 2d March, 24th December, 1690, O. S., is 3d January, 20th December, 1829, O. S., is There will sometimes be a difference of one year in a date, from the circumstance that, in many countries, the time of beginning the year has varied. In England, until the year 1752, the year was considered to begin on the 25th of March: any date, therefore, from the 1st of January to the 24th of March, will be a year too little. It had been the practice, for many years preceding the change of style, to write both years, by way of obviating mistakes; as, 1st of February, 1703 or 1707-8, meaning the year 1708, if begun in January, or 1707, if begun in March. In some countries, Easter day was the first day of the year; in others, the 1st of March; and in others, again, Christmas day; but no certain rule can be given, as, even in the same nation, different provinces followed a different custom. All nations, at present using either the old or new style, begin the year on the 1st of January. The Creation has been adopted as an epoch by Christian and Jewish writers, and would have been found very convenient, by doing away with the difficulty and ambiguity of counting before and af 1801, N. S. 1st January, 1830, N. S. ter any particular date, as is necessary when the era begins at a later period. But, unfortunately, writers are not agreed as to the precise time of commencing. We consider the creation as taking place 4004 years B. C.; but there are about 140 different variations in this respect.* The following are those that have been most generally used: The Era of Constantinople. In this era the creation is placed 5508 years B. C. It was used by the Russians until the time of Peter the Great, and is still used in the Greek church. The civil year begins the first of September, and the ecclesiastical towards the end of March; the day is not exactly determined. To reduce it to our era, subtract 5508 years from January to August, and 5509 from September to the end. Era of Antioch, and Era of Alexandria. We place these together, because, although they differed at their formation by 10 years, they afterwards coincided. They were both much in use by the early *See Companion to the British Almanac for 1828, p. 49. |