January is so called from Janus, son of Appolo. He had two faces, like those who keep up festivities during this month, and who look remarkably different the night of the fun, and the morning after. He appears with a key in his right hand and a rod in his left, hence, about the 25th. Mammas lock up the jam-cupboard and despatch the ravagers thereof to the Rev.Dr.Swishtail’s. Sometimes he has a beard, sometimes he has not, and the same thing may be observed concerning the jovial Janites, whose hands are not always steady enough to use the razor. If a certain king of England had not tried so hard to imitate the two-faced Janus, he might not have been towards the end of the month, without any face at all.
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