tness should be extracted!

BE SURE HOW YOU BEGIN.

by GEORGE BIRDSEYE.

"When once begun,
The work's half done,"
So says the proverb old;
But even here,
You'll see it clear,
The truth is but half told;
For wisdom says
There are two ways,
One loses and one wins;
You'll find, young friends,
That all depends
Upon how one begins.

If wrong begun,
And work half done,
So much the worse for you;
If right--go on
Until you've won
The goal you had in view.
In life you gaze
Upon the ways
Of virtue and of sin;
Be led by truth,
And in your youth
Be sure how you begin.

ECLIPSES AND HISTORICAL DATES.

In a total eclipse of the sun the point of the shadow cone, which is
constantly projected into space by the moon, touches a narrow strip of
the earth's surface, from which region alone the sun is totally
obscured.

These total eclipses occur about three times in four years, but a total
eclipse for any given region does not occur oftener than once in two
hundred years.

It is therefore possible when an eclipse of the sun is described in
connection with some remote historical event, and the hour is mentioned,
to fix the period of the occurrence exactly.

Historical research is thus aided, and, to facilitate reference,
Professor Von Oppolzer, Viennese Astronomer Royal, has, with the aid of
ten assistants, fixed the date of 8000 eclipses of the sun and 5200
eclipses of the moon, extending over a period from 1200 B.C. to 2163
A.D., the calculations filling 242 thick folio volumes.

Two applications of these data may be cited. The oldest recorded
eclipse, which occurred in China 4000 years ago, is mentioned in the
Chinese book "Schuking" as taking place in the early morning, in the
last month of harvest, in the fifth year of Emperor Tschung-hang's
reign. Other sources show that this reign was undoubtedly in the
twenty-second century B.C., and the only eclipse that would apply took
place on October 22, 2137 B.C.

It is recorded that Christ suffered in the nineteenth year of Tiberias,
in which year the sun was darkened, Bithynia shaken and much of Nicea
laid in ruins. One writer mentions that a total eclipse of the sun,
lasting from the sixth to the ninth hour, occurred in the reign of
Tiberias, during full moon, and another adds that it occurred on the
14th day of the month.

Now, an eclipse of the sun at full moon is impossible.