4 or, 



C H R O N O L O G Y. 



March, Mar, Quintilir, and October having 31 days, 

 17- ' and the rel .SO : He made it commence on ihe tint of 

 -*^*** _ March; but there is no evidence for believing that any 

 method was adopted for reconciling this singular calen- 

 dar with the return of the season". 



Cfcsasfti With the view of making a complete lunar year of 



'I** 354 days, Numa added 50 days to the 304 days or 10 

 " * months of Romulus. He borrowed one day from each 

 . of the months of 3O days, and out of these 5o supernume- 



rary days he formed the months of January and February. 

 In order to make the number of days in the year 355 a 

 lucky number, he added one day to January, and trans- 

 ferred the beginning of the year to the first of January, 

 February being placed at the end of the year. As the 

 yeir of 355 days is 1 1 J shorter than the solar year, the 

 excess of the latter amounted in 8 years to 90, and ac- 

 cordingly this number of days was intercalated every 8 

 years. They were formed into four months of 22 and 

 13 days alternately, and one of these months was inter- 

 calated every two years, thus 



In the first 2 years, 22 days were added to the second yfar. 

 In the next 2 years, 23 fourth year. 



2 yean, 22 sixth year. 



2 years, 23 eighth year. 



90 



But since the excess of the solar year above 365 days is 

 here assumed at 6 hours instead of 5 h 48' 45", the inter- 

 calations were too great by 8 days l h 27' 56". To re- 

 medy this defect, 66 days instead of 90 were to be added 

 in every third octennial period, or 3 months of 22 days 

 each. This addition was still too great by 4' 1 is 

 but the calendar thus rectified was sufficiently correct 

 for all the purposes of civil life. 



From the negligence of the pontiffs, however, to whom 

 the duty of intercalation was confided, the supernume 

 rary months were not properly applied ; and in the time 

 of Julius Czsar the civil had receded from the solar year 

 by no less than 90 days. With the assistance and advice 

 of Sosigenes, Julius Czsar undertook, B. C. 46, the for- 

 mation of a new calendar. In order to include the 90 

 days which had been lost, he formed a year of 355 + 90= 

 415 days or 15 months; and this year, which was called 

 the year of confusion, terminated on the day preceding 

 the first of January B. C. 46, in which the Julian year 

 commenced. The 10 days which the year of Numa fell 

 short of the solar year, were included by adding one day 

 to January, August, and December, and one to April, 

 June, September, and November, and the year was thus 

 made to consist of 365 days. The excess of six hours, 

 which amounted to one day in four years, was taken 

 into account by making every fourth year consist of 

 366 days. This intercalary day was added to the 23d 

 of February, that is, the 24th day, or the 6th of the 

 calends of March, was twice counted. Hence the year 

 of 366 days was called Bitsrjctile by the Romans ; and 

 it has very improperly received the name of Leap year 

 in this country, an appellation which might have been 

 more appropriate had it consisted of 3ri4 days. 



This correction of the calendar, though extremely 

 simple and ingenious, was still imperfect, as it was found- 

 ed on the supposition that the solar year consisted of 

 'M~,5 days 6 hours, instead of 365 days 5 1 ' 48' 45J". The 

 difference between the one employed by Juliu* Czsar, 

 and the true solar year wa therefore 11' 14i", which 

 amounted to a whole day in 130 years. This impcrfecion 

 in the Julian calendar was first noticed by the venerable 

 Bedc in 730 ; and at the Council of Nice, which met in 



Itrforma. 

 lion of the 

 calendar by 



Julmi Cz- 

 ur. 



nrfornu- 

 linn uf the 

 calendar 

 ly Pope 

 rfgory. 



'ie vernal equinox, which happened on the 55th of Chrnneto. 

 March, in the time of Julius Cietar, had receded to the y> .Matlie- 

 21st of March, where it wa fixed by the council. The ne- """'<'' 

 crssity of some change in the calendar was now obvious, ' J *~'~* ' 

 and attempts were made at different times to accomplish 

 this desirable object ; but it was not till near the close of 

 the Ifith century that a complete reformation was effect- 

 ed by Pope Gregory XIII. The most learned astro- 

 nomers and mathematicians of the age were invited to 

 Rome to consider this important subject, and after it had 

 undergone a discussion of ten years, the plan proposed 

 by two brothern, Aloisius and Antoninus Lilius, from 

 Verona, was ultimately preferred. Copies of this plan 

 were sent to all Catholic states, academies, &c. in 

 A. D. 1577, and in March 1582, a brief was published, 

 abrogating the ancient calendar, and substituting in its 

 room the new Gregorian Calendar. 



In the year 1582, the vernal equinox had receded ten 

 days since the Council of Nice, and happened on the 

 1 1th instead of the 21st of March. It was therefore de- 

 creed, that the vernal equinox should be brought back 

 to the 21st of March as in the year 325, and that for 

 this purpose ten days should be taken from the month of 

 October 1582. In order to avoid any future deviation 

 of the civil from the solar year, it was determined that 

 instead of every 100th or centurial year being a leap 

 year, every 400th year only should be a leap year. By 

 this means the excess of the civil Julian year of 365 

 days 6 hours above the tropical or solar year of 365 

 days 5 h 48' 45.^" was t .ken into account, and in the 

 course of 5000 years the error of this method of intercal- 

 ation does not exceed one day and a half to be suppressed. 



The calendar thus reformed was immediately intro- 

 duced into all Catholic countries, viz. Spain, Portu- 

 gal, and part of Italy ; but it was not received in 

 France till December, when the 10th was reckoned the 

 20th of the month. The German Catholic states adopt- 

 ed the new calendar in 1583; but the Protestants, ac- 

 tuated by a mean and unworthy jealousy, declined to re- 

 ceive a measure which originated among the Catholics. 

 Time, and the progress of liberal sentiment, however, 

 gradually removed their objections, and in the year 1700 

 the Protestant states in Germany adopted the Gregorian 

 calendar. In 1752, an act of parliament was passed in 

 this country, by which the 3d of September was reckon- 

 ed the 14th; and in 1753 the new style was introduced 

 into Denmark and Sweden. The Russians, however, 

 still reckon by the old style ; but from the important 

 events which are now passing in Europe, it is probable 

 that this great empire will conform to the usages of all 

 civili/.ed nations. 



The y.eal for innovation which accompanied the French r , 

 ...... 1^,, rrench ca- 



revolution, induced them to change their calendar along 



with their government. It was decreed by the conven- 

 tion, that trie vulgar sera should be abolished in all civil 

 concerns ; that the new French zra should be reckoned 

 from the foundation of the republic S.-pt. '2'2. 1792 of 

 the vulgar zra, on the day of the true autumnal equinox, 

 when the sun entered Libra at 9 h 18' 30" in the morn- 

 ing, according to the meridian of Paris ; that each year 

 should begin at the midnight of the day on which the 

 true autumnal equinox falls; and that the fust year of 

 the French republic had begun on the midnight of the 

 22d September, and terminated on the midnight between 

 the 21st and 22d September 1793. In order to effect a 

 correspondence between the seasons and the civil year, it 

 was decreed that the 4th year of the republic should be 

 the fint textilr, or leap year 5 that a sixth complementa- 



