Attic Philosopher in Paris

Excerpt from An Attic Philosopher in Paris: Or, a Peep at the World From a Garre; Being the Journal of a Happy Man I walk up and down my attic out of temper, and I determine to light my fire. Unfortunately, the matches are bad, the chimney smokes, the wood goes out! I throw down my bellows in disgust, and sink into my old arm-chair. In truth, why should I rejoice to see the birth of a new year? All those who are already in streets, with their holiday looks and smiling face - do they understand what makes them so gay? Do they even know what is the meaning of this holiday, or from whence comes the custom of New-year's gifts? Here my mind pauses to prove to itself its superiority over that of the vulgar. I make a parenthesis in my ill-temper in favour of my vanity, and I bring together all the evidence which my knowledge can produce. (The old Romans divided the year into ten months only; it was Numa Pompilius who added January and February. The former took its name from Janus, to whom it was dedicated. As it opened the new Year, they surrounded its commencement with good omens, and thence came the custom of visits between neighbours, of wishing happiness, and of New-year's gifts. The present given by the Romans were symbolic. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.