AMERICA

My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From ev'ry mountain side,
Let freedom ring.

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;

I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills,
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees,
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake,
Let all that breathe partake,
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God, to thee,

Author of liberty,

To thee we sing;

Long may our land be bright,
With freedom's holy light,
Protect us by thy might,

Great God our King.

The Red, White and Blue, by Thomas A. Becket, is also a popular patriotic song, and is often called Columbia the Gem of the Ocean. The words of this school favorite follow:

THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE
Oh, Columbia the gem of the ocean,
The home of the brave and the free,
The shrine of each patriot's devotion,
A world offers homage to thee.
Thy mandates make heroes assemble,
When Liberty's form stands in view,
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,

When borne by the red, white and blue
When borne by the red, white and blue,
When borne by the red, white and blue.
Thy banners make tyranny tremble,

When borne by the red, white and blue.

When war wing'd its wide desolation,
And threatened the land to deform,
The ark then of freedom's foundation,
Columbia rode safe thro' the storm.
With the garlands of vict'ry around her,
When so proudly she bore her brave crew,
With her flag floating proudly before her,
The boast of the red, white and blue,
The boast of the red, white and blue,
The boast of the red, white and blue,
With her flag floating proudly before her,
The boast of the red, white and blue.

HOLIDAYS

COMMON, LEGAL, PUBLIC, SPECIAL

H

OLIDAYS are days set apart as religious anni

versaries, or for the purpose of commemorating some extraordinary event, or of honoring the memory of a distinguished person, or for some public policy. As a rule, holidays are occasions for rejoicing. People are expected to observe them "with a voice of joy and praise" (Psalm 42:4). At times, however, they are accompanied by fasts rather than feasts. Of this character are days of humiliation and prayer, such as Fast Day, formerly observed in Massachusetts and other New England States, and days appointed from time to time by proclamation of governmental or ecclesiastical authorities.

During the Middle Ages holidays became so numerous, in many parts of Europe, as to seriously interfere with industrial pursuits. One of the most important results of the religious reformation of the sixteenth century was the abolition of excessive holidays with its consequental increase in volume of secular labor.

A legal holiday is one set apart, either by common or statute law, as a day of rest, or of cessation in whole or in part from ordinary business activities. Sunday is the only common-law holiday in the United States, although in England Good Friday has been recognized as such for centuries. Legal holidays are of two kinds-general or public, and special or limited. On a public holiday, such as Sunday or the

Fourth of July, public offices are closed, and persons under contract to render services cannot lawfully be required to work. In England, and in many of the United States, persons are prohibited from carrying on business or making contracts on Sunday, though there is no general rule prohibiting voluntary labor on other public holidays. On special or limited holidays, such as some of the bank holidays, exemption from labor and from the performance of contracts generally is confined to a particular class of employees or to a designated section of the community, as public officials and employees, bank clerks, etc.

As a rule, negotiable paper due on a public or general holiday is not payable until the following day.

There are no National holidays in the United States, although Congress has at various times designated special holidays. Sundays, certain fast days, as Mardi-Gras (Shrove Tuesday) in Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana, and Saturdays after twelve o'clock noon are now legal holidays in all States and territories where they are so designated by act of legislature. When holidays occur on Sunday, the following day is usually observed. The principal holidays in all of the United States are as follows:

SUNDAY, a common-law holiday, the first day of the week, observed by Christians almost universally as a holy day in honor of the resurrection of Christ. For some time after the foundation of the Christian Church the converts from Judaism still observed the Jewish Sabbath to a greater or less extent at first, it would seem, concurrently with the celebration of

the first day; but before the end of the Apostolic Period, Sunday, known as the Lord's day, had thoroughly established itself as the special day to be sanctified by rest from secular labor and by public worship. The hallowing of Sunday appears incontestably as a definite law of the Church by the beginning of the fourth century; and the Emperor Constantine confirmed the custom by a law of the State. Throughout the Mediaeval Period the authority of the Church was so universally recognized that legislation in this regard was unnecessary.

The Catholic Church then required, and still requires, abstinence from servile work on that day, and the assistance at mass of all who are not lawfully hindered.

In the Mediaeval Period the courts were presided over or dominated by the clergy, and Sunday early became in the legal sense a dies non, on which legal proceedings could not be conducted. By common law, however, all other business might lawfully be transacted on Sunday. The first substantial limitation of this right was first imposed by the Statute 5 and 6, Edward V, c. 3, which provided that all secular labor should be unlawful on Sunday, except in cases of necessity. This was supplemented by the sweeping Act of 29 Car. II, c. 7, which prohibited all worldly business on the Lord's day, except where absolutely necessary or for charity. These statutes have been substantially followed in practically all of the United States. The New England States were the first to