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
