216 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



drifted through all the true seasons until Numa, about 713 B.C., added 

 January and February. That is evidenced in our almanacs by Septem- 

 ber (7), October (8), November (9), December (10) still ending the 

 year, which then began with March. 



The quarters of the moon originated our 7-days week, as the moon's 

 cycle is 29.53 days, one-fourth of wliich is 7.38 days. The adoption 

 of the nearest day was inevitable and was most wisely ordained in the 

 Mosaic Law and adopted by the early Christians, whose consistent observ- 

 ance of the Sabbath gradually impressed the liomans with its practical 

 advantages over their ten days counted thrice on the hands as thirty 

 days per moon. That led the Emperor Constantine, after he adopted 

 Christianity, to worthily derive his- title of '' the Great," by decreeing 

 the observance of every seventh day as Sunday, under the name ''Dies- 

 Solis " in 321 A.D., when Europeans rejoiced on receiving that greatest 

 blessing of the almanac's fixed seven-days week and day of rest. 



It is the glory of the Christian Church that it thus secured that 

 priceless boon to humanity. Will its sections now unite for their com- 

 mon good with their governments to relieve us from moon-wandering 

 Easters, which never do good by drifting, that tends to empty the 

 churches of people? 



Citizens feeling the inconvenience caused by the churches maintain- 

 ing shifting Easters, blame the church authorities on seeing the children 

 catch cold by wearing Easter costumes in early Easters. Then the 

 change from the warming winter football, etc., games to the standing 

 cricket tempts youths to cripple their health, whilst toiling farmers, 

 labourers, and artisans are tempted to take the first opportunity of 

 planting potatoes, etc., in early Easters and have their crops ruined by 

 subsequent frosts. 



The adherence to wandering Easters has been a constant drag upon 

 church usefulness. Numerous churches continue to keep parish accounts 

 from Easter to Easter, as in your modern Cathedral at Ottawa. That 

 antiquated accounting resulted in fifty weekly collections for last year 

 and fifty-five for this, and a prospect of fifty-one for next. Such old 

 fogey methods tend to confusion and fail to profit anybody. 



The churches have an excellent opportunity to remedy all those 

 evils by simply agreeing to permanently establish Easter (like Christ- 

 mas), when it falls most conveniently for their people on April 23rd 

 in 1916, and support refonn of the months which have neither Church 

 origin nor Bible authority, as their historv proves them to be of Pagan 

 origin by direct decree of the Caesars, who, at least, understood (the 

 benefit of fixed arrangements for good government. 



The Koman Pontiffs, as High Priests in Pre-Christian times, 

 «lecretly controlled the declarations as to whether twelve or thirteen 



