DAY

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D E A

word, signifies that space of time during which it continues to belight; in contradistinction to night, being that partition of timewherein it is dark; but the space of time in which it is light, beingsomewhat vague and indeterminate, the time between the risingand sett ng of the sun is usually looked on as the day; and thetime which lapses from its setting to its rising again, the night.The word day is often taken in a larger sense, so as to include thenight also ; or to denote the time of a whole apparent revolutionof the sun round the earth, in which sense it is called by some anatural day, and by others an artificial one : but to avoid confu-sion, it is usual to call it in the former sense’ simply the day, andin the latter a nychthemeron, by which term that acceptation of itis aptly denoted, as it implies both day and night. The nychthe-meron is divided into 24 parts called hours; which are of twosorts, equal and unequal, or temporary. See Hour. Differentnations begin their day at different hours. See Chronology.The method of beginning the day at midnight prevails in GreatBritain, France, Spain, and most parts of Europe, except Italy ,and several parts of Germany ; where they begin their day at sun-setting, and reckon on till it sets next day, calling that the 24thhour : these are generally termed Italian hours. The Jews also be-gan their nychthemeron at sun-setting: but then they divided it intotwice twelve hours, as we do; reckoning twelve for the day, be itlong or short, and twelve for the night; so that their hours conti-nually varying with the day and night, the hours of the day werelonger than those of the night for one half-year, and the contrarythe other ; from whence their hours are called temporary : thoseat the time of the equinoxes became equal, because then those ofthe day and night are so. The Romans also reckoned their hoursafter this manner, as do the Turks at this day. This kind of hoursis called planetary, because the seven planets were anciently look-ed upon as presiding over the affairs of the world, and to take itby turns each of these hours, according to the following order:Saturn first, then Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus , Mercury, andlast of all the Moon : hence they denominated each day of theweek from that planet whose turn it was to preside the first hourof the nychthemeron. Thus, assigning the first hour of Saturdayto Saturn, the second fell to Jupiter, the third to Mars , and so the22d of the same nychthemeron fell to Saturn again, the 23d to Ju-piter, and the 24th to Mars : so that on the first hour of the nextday, it fell to the Sun to preside ; and by the like reckoning, thefirst hour of the next fell to the Moon; of the next to Mars ; ofthe next to Mercury; of the next to Jupiter; of the next to Venus :hence the days of the week came to be distinguished bv the Latinnames, of Dies Saturni, Solis, Lunar, Martis, Mercurii, Jovis, andVeneris ; and among us, by the names of Saturday, Sunday, Mon-day, & c.

Day, Civil, Natural, Sidereal , and Solar. See Chro-nology and Astronomy. The sidereal day is shorter t! an themean solar day by 3' 56" nearly. We are inclined to think that'many persons, especially in the higher walks of life, avail them-selves of the change of seasons ; insomuch, that by the law of fa-shion, in winter they convert the night into day ;”and in summerexchange the most agreeable mornings and forenoons, for damp,unwholesome evenings and nights. It would be a vain attemptto reprobate this unnatural custom, in those circles where it is fan-cied to be equally vulgar to repair to bed in good time, and torise earlv ; a practice instinctively followed evenbv the lower ani-mals. To the industrious and more domestic members of society,we venture to recommend, while in a good state of health, the fol-lowing division of die day : namely, in spring and autumn to risewith the first rays of the sun ; in summer, one hour after ; ami inwinter, one hour before the luminary appears;—to allot everyday (Sundays excepted,) from ten to twelve hours to useful occu-pations ; from six to seven hours to the various purposes of dress-ing, taking provisions, exercise, or amusements; and also from sixto seven, or eight hours, to repose, accordingly as they have beenmore or less fatigued the preceding day, either by mental or bo-dily exertions.

Days of Grace, in commerce, are a customary number ofdays allowed for the payment of a bill of exchange, &c. after thesame becomes due. Three days of grace are allowed in Britain ;ten in France and Dantzic ; eight at Naples; six at Venice, Am-sterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp ; four at Frankfort; five inLepsic; twelve at Hamburgh; six in Portugal ; fourteen in

II Spain; thirty in Genoa, &c. In Britain the days of grace aregiven and taken as a matter of course, the bill being only paid onthe last day : but in other countries, where the time is muchlonger, it would be reckoned dishonourable for a merchant to takeadvantage of it; bills are therefore paid on the very day they falldue.

Days of Grace, in law, are those granted by the court at theprayer of the defendant or plaintiff.

Day, in a legal sense, relates to the day of appearance of par-ties, or the continuance of suits, where a day is given, &c. Seethe article Essoin. In real actions there are common days andspec ial days given hv the judges, in an assise, &cc.

Days in Bank, "are days set down by statute or order of thecourt, when writs shall be returned, or when the party shall appearon the writ served. They say also, if a person lie dismissed with-out clay, he is finally dricharged.

Day-light, in "our law, some time after sun-setting, and be-fore sun-rising, being accounted part of the day, when thehundred is liable for any robberies committed within that time.

Day’s Man, in the north of England, an arbitrator or personchosen to determine an affair in dispute.

Days of Grace, in trade and commerce, an indulgencegranted to the acceptor of a bill, by which it is ordered that theholder shall take no measures, and not even protest an acceptanceuntil the expiration of certain clays after the bill becomes due. InLondon tinee days of grace are allowed ; in Amsterdam , six; inHamburgh, twelve ; in Dantzic, ten; in Copenhagen , eight; inBerlin, three ; and a different term in almost every distinct mer-cantile city.

Day’s Point, a districtof Virginia , on the banks of James river.

Day’s Work, among seamen, the reckoning or account of theship’s course during twenty-four hours, as between noon andnoon, according to the rules "of trigonometry. See Dead Reck-oning.

DEACON , [Aiaxev®*, Gr. a servant,] in ecclesiastical polity,one whose business is to baptise, read in the church, and assist atthe celebration of the eucharist. Seven deacons were institutedby the apostles, Acts chap. vi. which number was retained a longtime in several churches. Their office was to serve in the Agapse,and to distribute the bread ami wine to the communicants. An-other part of their office was to he a sort of directors to the peoplein the exercise of (heir public devotions in the church ; tor whic hpurpose they used certain forms of words, to give notice wheneach part ot the service began. Whence they are sometimescalled eirokerukes; or holy criers of the church. Deacons had, by licence from the bishop, a power to preach, to recon-cile penitents, and to represent their bishops in general councils.Their office out of the church was to take care of orphans, widows,prisoners, and all the poor and sick who had any title to he main-tained out of the revenues of the church ; to inquire into the mo-rals of the people, anil to make their report to the bishop. Whence,on account of the variety of business, it was usual to have severaldeacons in the same church. In the Latin church, it is thedeacon’s office to incense the officiating priest or prelate; to laythe corporal on the altar; to receive the pattern or cup from thesubdcacou, and present them to the person officiating; to incensethe choir; to rec eive the pax from the officiating prelate, andcarry it to the subcleacon; and at the pontifical mass, when thebishop gives the blessing, to put the mitre on his head, anil to takeoff'the archbishop’s pall and lay it on the altar. In England, theform of ordaining deacons, declares that it is their office to assistthe priest in the distribution of the holy communion : in which,agreeably to the practice of the ancient church, they are confinedto the administering wine to the communicants. A deacon inEngland is not capable of any ecclesiastical promotion ; yet hemay be a chaplain to a family, c urate to a benelicecl clergyman,or lecturer to a parish church, lie may be ordained at 23 yearsof age, but it is expressly provided, that the bishop shall not or-dain the same person a priest and deacon in the same dry. Thequalifications of a deacon in the primitive church are mentionedby the apostle Paul, 1 Tim. iii. 8 —13.

DEACONESS, an order of women who had their distinctoffices anil services in the primitive church. This office appearsas ancient as the apostolical age ; for St. Paul calls Pliebe, Aiom®',a servant of the church of Cenchrea . Tcrtullian calls them, vidua 1 ,

widows,