TIME-RECKOXHs^a FOR THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. 



r?y Sanford Flkmino, C. M. (}., LL. D., C. E., ktc. 



During the oarly historical ages ranch chronological confusion ])ie- 

 vailed, and it is largely owing to this cause that the annals of the cen- 

 tnries which preceded the Christian era are involved in obscnrity. The 

 attempt to end this general disorder was made by Jnlius Caesar, who 

 established regnlations with respect to the divisions of time and the 

 mode of reckoning to be followed. The Julian Calendar was introduced 

 forty-six years before Christ. It continued unchanged until the six- 

 teenth century. In 1582 recognition was obtained of the errors and 

 defects which the circumstances of the period had made manifest and 

 which demanded correction. Pope Gregory XIII accordingly directed 

 the reformation of the calendar and established new rules of intercala- 

 tion. These two epochs are certainly the most important in the history 

 of our chronology. 



Three centuries have passed since the reform of Pope Gregory. New 

 continents have been opened to civilization and immense regions then 

 wholly unknown to Europe have been peopled by races busied in com- 

 merce and skilled in the arts, and characterized by unwearied energy and 

 determination. In these three hundred years a marvellous succession 

 oC inventions bearing upon human activity and {>rogress has been intro- 

 duced, and the character of nearly every requirement of life has under- 

 gone change. The discoveries and inventions which have marked this 

 period have produced new conditions of society; and our minds have 

 received an impulse which leads to investigation wherever need of im- 

 provement appears to be demanded. It is within the last half century 

 more especially that the bounds of human knowledge have been so 

 wonderfully extended ; perhaps in the whole world's annals no fifty 

 years have witnessed such a marvellous revolution. The triumphs of 

 applied science in facilitating intercourse between men and nations 

 have given an extraordinary impulse to general progress, but in so do- 

 ing they have developed imperfections in our system of time-notation 

 which previously were unknown, and it is no longer possible to escape 

 the conviction that we have reached a stage when further reform is de- 

 manded as a requirement of our condition. The necessity for a reform 

 in time-reckoning is recognized by the highest authority, and has ob- 

 tained a hold of public opinion. The President of the United States, 

 General Arthur, at the request of Congress, authoritatively took pro- 

 ceedings to bring the subject prominently to the attention of the world. 

 After prolonged diplomatic correspondence with the Governments of 



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