Sundials

The sun-dial of Ahaz is mentioned by Isaiah, 713 B.C. Sundials with appropriate mottoes have been at all times fashionable. Mrs. Palliser gives a long selection of such mottoes: e.g.:— Nulla hora sine line a , “No hour without a line.” ( Nec momentum sine line a , was Cardinal Richelieu’s motto.) Pereunt et imputantur —“They pa and are imputed”—( Martial ). Of the pa ing hour , Dubia omnibus, ultima multis —(“Uncertain to all, the last to many”); or, suprema hæc multis for sit an tibi —(“The last to many, perhaps to thee”). The old sun-dial at the Palais de Justice in Paris is inscribed, in letters of gold, Sacra Them is mores, ut pendula dirigit horas —(“Holy Justice guides manners, as this dial does the hours”). The largest number are allusions to Death , as: Io vado e vengo ogni giorno. Ma tu andrai senza ritorno —(“I go and come daily, but thou shalt go and never return.”) And on a sun-dial at Bourges is the following: “ La vie est com me l’hombre, Insensible en son cours. On la croit immobile: Elle s’avance toujours. ” More cheerful mottoes are found from Horace, as: Carpe diem. Horas non numero nisi serenas (at Venice), . (Consult Mrs. Alfred Gatty , “ Book of Sundials .”)