Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/249

AGE. The Sil>yllinp Books <•( mi pared it to the seasons of the sular your, calling' the (loldcii Age the sprin;;, itf.; aiul, on the lomiiletioii of the cycle, the old Older was renewed. The idea of a suc- cession of ages is so natural that it has in- vrought itself into the religious convictions of almost all nations. It is sanctioned by Scrip- ture, for it is synibolieally adopted in the Apoc- alypse to a certain e.v:tent: it also manifests itself in the sacred books of the Hindus. Mod- ern i)liilosophy, at least in (iernjany and France, has also attempted to divide liunian liislory into definite ages or period^. Fichte numbers five, of which he conceives that we are in the third; Hegel and Auguste Comte reckon three, placing us in the last. Modern anthropology divides the prehistoric period of man into the older and newer Stone Ages (Paleolithic and Neolithic I and the Bronze Age. Stone and bronze are here not lignratie. as in lli'siod's classification, but are indications of the state of man's civiliza- tion. In reference to this and other ages, as de- fined in science, see Geology, etc.

AGE. In law, that period of life at which persons emerging from infancy become capable of e.Kcrcising the rights or become subject to the obligations and penalties of normal persons. As these rights and obligations vary greatly, the age of capacity may vary according to the riglit or obligation in (|uestion. Full age is the period at which a person acquires full legal capacity, and, in England and the United States, is usiially fixed by law at twenty-one years, for men and Momen alike. This is considered to be attained on the day preceding the twenty-first anniversary of birth. In a few States, however, a woman comes of age at eighteen. Political capacity is usually coincident with the attainment of legal capacity, though greater maturity is usually required in this country of the holders of certain imiiortant otlices of State. Thus, while one may become a member of the British Parliament at twenty- one, no one can be a representative in Congress until he is twenty-five, or a senator of the T'nited States until he is thirty, nor become President before attaining the age of thirty-five. Short of full age, a male minor may become capable of military service at eighteen (military age), and l)ecome capable of consenting to mar- riage and the choice of a guardian at fourteen lagc of discrrlion). At common law the age of discretion for female infants was twelve, and the age of consent to unlawful carnal intercourse was ten, but recent legislation in the United States has raised the age of consent to fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, and, in several States, including New York, to eighteen years. (See Consent; E.PE. ) The term 'age of discretion' is also more eonunonly emi)loyed to designate the period (usually the age of fourteen) at which jiersons become subject to criminal liability, an infant un- der seven years of age being deemed inca]iable of crime, and one between seven and fourteen being presumed to lack the discretion which such lia- bility assumes; but this presumption is capable of being rebutted by proof. (See Infant; Con- tract; Cki.me; Militia.) For the modern law of infancy consult Sehotiler. Trcaliae on the Domrstic ftrhilions (Boston, 1870).

AGE, Canonical. The age which, according to the canons, a man must have reached for ordination. This, in the Roman Catholic Church, is 22 for the sub-diacouate, 2,3 for the diaconate. for the priesthood, and .id lor the episcopate. Dispensations may. however, be granted from this rule. In the tireek Church the age is 2.') for a deacon,:i for a priest or bishop; in the .Vnglican Conununion 2.'! for a deacim and 24 for a priest.

AG'ELA'DAS (Ok. 'AytXdtSac) (520-»460 li.C). An early Greek sculptor, born at Argos. He is now chieHy noted for having been the teacher of the famous artists, Myron, Phidias, and Polyclitus (q.v.). By him, however, were modeled the statues of Zeus and Hercules, as well as of various victors in the Olympian games, and Pausanias mentions numerous works of his. None of them, so far as known, has come down to us.

AGEN,:i'z!iiix'. The capital of the depart- ment of Lot-et-Garonne, France. It is situated in a fertile region on the right bank of the Garonne, 37 miles from Bordeaux (Map; France, G 7). The town is very ancient, and was found- ed during the Roman occupation, when it was known as Aginnum. It is the seat of a bishopric, and the cathedral dates from the days of C'lovis. There is a fine stone bridge over the Garonne, and a still more beautiful structure is the aque- duct bridge of the Canal Lat(''ral. Among monu- ments of note is a statue of the poet Jasmin. Its public institutions include a seminary for the training of the clergy and a library of 20,000 volumes. Standing between Bordeaux and Toulou.se, Agen interchanges trade with both these places, and has. besides, several inqiortant home industries. The prunes of Agen are <'ele- brated, and it also prodtices cotton, woolen, and linen fabrics of the first quality. Agen is the birthplace of Joseph Scaliger, Lac^pede. and Bory de St. Vincent. Pop._, 1!)01, 22,482.

AGENCE HAVAS, a'zhiiN' sa'va'. .See Havas Agency.

AGEN'DA (Lat., things to be done, from orjcrc. to do). A term applied by theologians to practical duties as distinguished from the credenda, things to be believed, or doctrines that must be accejited as articles of faith. Among writers of the iincient Church the term signified both divine service in general and the mass in particular. We meet with (uiciida matiitiiia and icfipfrtind, morning and evening prayers; (iijcnda diri, the olliee of the day: (itiniiln Diorliioruiii, tbe service of the dead. It is also applied to Church books compiled by public authority, pre- scribing the order to l)e observed by the ministers and people in the ceremonies and observances of the Church. In this sense agenda occurs for the first time in a work of .lohannes de Janna about 12S7. The name was especially used to designate a book containing the formula' of prayer and ceremonies to l)e observed by the priests in their several ecclesiastical functions. It was gener- ally adopted by the Lutheran Church of (^.er- many, in which it is still in use. while in the Roman Church it has been, since the sixteenth century, supjilanted by the term ritual (q.v.).

AGENOR,!i-je'n,-„. (Qk. 'Ayf/vui,). Originally a mytliic;il personage in the Argive legends, and later said to have been a king in Phfenicia or Egypt. son of Poseidon, and father of Kuropa, Cadmus. Phrenix. and Cilix. When Europa was carried oil' by Zeus, .genor sent his sons in search, with orders not to return without their sister. As she was not found, Cadmus founded Thebes, and