PERPETUAL CALENDAR.

This may be carried to an indefinite period in the past or future, by extending the table of years and repeating the same letter every 28 years.

1776] 200 YEARS. [1976

1776 1804 1832 1860 1888 1916 1944 1972
77 05 33 61 89 17 45 73
78 06 34 62
90
18" 46" 74
91 19 "47" 75

92 20 48 76

"93" 21" 49

94 "22 - 50

82 10
83 11

79 07 "35 63
80 08 36 64
81
"09 37
65
38 "66
39
67 95
"23" 51
84 12
"40
"68" 96" 24
85
13
41 "69 "97 25
86 14
42
"70"98" 26" 54
87 15 43
88 16 "4472 1900
89 17 45 "7301" 29

52
53

71 99 "27 55

28 56

57

30

58

59

90 18 46 174 02
4775 03 31
4876
04

32

60

91 19
92 20

93 21
94 22
23

49 77 05 33 61
50" 78
06 34 62
51790735
63
52 8008 36 464
53 81 "09 37
82
54
53 11 39
5684 12 40

65
"66

"10 38

55

67 "68

85

13
"14" 42
15 43 71

NOTE. All dates prior to March 1st, 1800, carry forward one day of the week and back one day after February 28th, 1900. This is accounted for by the added day in every fourth, or leap year, being 11 minutes, 10 seconds and three tenths of a second too much, hence the correct time falls behind, an overplus of 18 h. 37 m. and 10 sec. in a century; it was agreed that every centennial year that could not be divided by 400 (1700, 100, 1900, 2100, etc.) should not be what is termed a leap year, as it otherwise would be: thus dropping the extra day three times every 400 years.

The 12 letters above the line, show the calendars to be used for 1876 and 1877 below.

[Copyright 1875, by E. B. TREAT, 805 Broadway, New York.]

On what day of the week was the Declaration of Independence signed? A is at right angles with the year and month, and the 4th day of the A calendar comes on and the rule requiring one of the

to be added to all dates prior to 1800, makes it Thursday. F

The 2nd Centennial Anniversary (drop one day of the week after 1900) comes on Sunday, July 4th, 1976.

HISTORY OF THE FLAG.

BY A DISTINGUISHED HISTORIAN.

MEN, in the aggregate, demand something besides abstract ideas and principles. Hence the desire for symbols-something visible to the eye and that appeals to the senses. Every nation has a flag that represents the country-every army a common banner, which, to the soldier, stands for that army. It speaks to him in the din of battle, cheers him in the long and tedious march, and pleads with him on the disastrous retreat.

Standards were originally carried on a pole or lance. It matters little what they may be, for the symbol is the same.

In ancient times the Hebrew tribes had each its own etandard-that of Ephraim, for instance, was a steer; of Benjamin, a wolf. Among the Greeks, the Athenians had an owl, and the Thebans a sphynx. The standard of Romulus was a bundle of hay tied to ▲ pole, afterwards a human hand, and finally an eagle,

Eagles were at first made of wood, then of silver, with thunderbolts of gold. Under Cæsar they were all gold, without thunderbolts, and were carried on a long pike. The Germans formerly fastened a streamer to a lance, which the duke carried in front of the army. Russia and Austria adopted the double headed eagle. The ancient national flag of England, all know, was the banner of St. George, a white field with a red cross. This was at first used in the Colonies, but several changes were afterwards made.

Of course, when they separated from the mother country, it was necessary to have a distinct flag of their own, and the Continental Congress appointed Dr. Franklin, Mr. Lynch, and Mr. Harrison, a committee to take the subject into consideration. They repaired to the American army, a little over 9,000 strong, then assembled at Cambridge, and after due consideration, adopted one composed of seven white and seven red stripes, with the red and white crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, conjoined on a blue field in the corner, and named it "The Great Union Flag." The crosses of St. George and St. Andrew were retained to show the willingness of the colonies to return to their allegiance to the British crown, if their rights were secured. This flag was first hoisted on the first day of January, 1776. In the meantime, the various colonies had adopted distinctive badges,

so that the different bodies of troops, that flocked to the army, had each its own banner. In Connecticut, each regiment had its own peculiar standard, on which were represented the arms of the colony, with the motto, "Qui transtulit sustinet "(he who transplanted us will sustain us.) The one that Putnam gave to the breeze on Prospect Hill on the 18th of July, 1775, was a red flag, with this motto on one side, and on the other, the words inscribed, “An appeal to Heaven." That of the floating batteries was a white ground with the same "Appeal to Heaven" upon it. It is supposed that at Bunker Hill our troops carried a red flag, with a pine tree on a white field in the corner. The first flag in South Carolina was blue, with a crescent in the corner, and received its first baptism under Moultrie. In 1776, Col. Gadsen presented to Congress a flag to be used by the navy, which consisted of a rattle-snake on a yellow ground, with thirteen rattles, and coiled to strike. The motto was, "Don't tread on me." "The Great Union Flag," as described above, without the crosses, and sometimes with the rattle-snake and motto, "Don't tread on me," was used as a naval flag, and called the "Continental Flag."

As the war progressed, different regiments and corps adopted peculiar flags, by which they were designated. The troops which Patrick Henry raised