737 



EASTER. 



EASTER. 



738 



Bede says it was derived from a goddess called Eoetrc, to whom the 

 people used at this season to celebrate festivals. Wheatley (' On the 

 Common Prayer ') says it is from the Saxon Ostcr, to rise ; another 

 derivation is from the Anglo-Saxon yst, a storm, the time of Easter 

 being subject to the continual recurrence of tempestuous weather. 



That the observation of Easter is as ancient as the time of the 

 Apostles seems undoubted. In the 2nd century, however, a contro- 

 versy arose as to the exact time of its celebration. The Eastern 

 churches kept it on the 14th day of the first Jewish month; the 

 Western churches on the night which preceded the anniversary of our 

 Saviour's resurrection. The inconvenience of the former was, that this 

 festival was commonly held upon other days of the week than the first, 

 or Sunday, which was undoubtedly the proper day. The disputants 

 retained their respective customs till towards the middle of the 4th 

 century, when the rule for the celebration of Easter was fixed by the 

 Council of Nice, A.D. 325. It was ordered to be held on the Sunday 

 which falls next after the first full moon following the 21st of March, 

 or vernal equinox. But the calculation for the full moon of the Calen- 

 dar does not always follow that for the full moon of the astronomer, as 

 was the case in 1845. For the true method of finding Easter, see the 

 following article. 



Brand, in his ' Popular Antiquities," has given a long enumeration of 

 the sports and observances at Easter in former times, including a few 

 superstitions. The mutual presentation of coloured eggs at this season 

 from friends continues both in the East and in Russia. Lifting, origi- 

 nally designed to represent our Saviour's resurrection, is also still 

 practised on Easter Monday and Tuesday hi England, hi Lancashire 

 and some other counties. Tansey puddings and cakes were anciently 

 eaten in England at Easter. 



EASTER, Method of Finding. The importance of this question, in 

 aiding historical reference, is confined to that definition of Easter 

 Sunday which was finally adopted by the Western Church. As this 

 definition is given in the prayer-books of the establishment in a 

 manner which has led to misconceptions, we here give an amended 

 version of that definition, which truly represents the tables of the 

 Gregorian Calendar, being the very tables which the English Church 

 uses. Easter day, on which the rest of the moveable feasts depend, is 

 always the first Sunday after the fourteenth day (not the full moon) of 

 the calendar moon (not the moon of the heavens, nor even the mean 

 moon of the astronomers) which happens upon or next after the 21st 

 of March, according to the rules laid down for the construction of the 

 calendar ; so that if the fourteenth day happen upon a Sunday, Easter 

 day is the Sunday after. 



By common consent, it is not the real sun or the real moon which 

 is employed in finding Easter, but the fictitious sun and moon of 

 astronomers, which move uniformly with the average motion of the 

 real bodies : and even these, as we shall see, are only used to construct 

 a calendar moon for ecclesiastical convenience. It must therefore never 

 surprise any one to find the Easter of any year not agreeing with the 

 moon to a day, since such a case might (and sometimes must) arise. 

 But the following rules will determine the Easter day of chronologists 

 in any year of the Christian era, which is all that is required : 



First, ascertain the dominical letter, taking the second where there 

 are two. [DOMINICAL LETTER.] Next, ascertain the golden number 

 (year of the Metonic cycle) as follows : add one to the date of the 

 year and divide by 19, the remainder (or if there be no remainder, 19 

 itself) is the golden number. The following table must then be used, 

 in the manner to be immediately explained : 



O. 8. meant old itylt ; N. S., new ttyle. 



Having the golden number, and the dominical letter, find out the 

 golden number in the second or third column, according as old style 

 or new style is meant ; and look down the first column until the tie.rt 

 occurrence of the dominical letter comes. Easter day is opposite. 

 Thus the golden number being 13 and the dominical letter F, Easter 

 day is March 31 in the old style, April 7 in the new style. 



ARTS A1TO SCI. DIT. VOL. in. 



Example 1. What was Easter day A.D. 1688 (old style) ? 

 The dominical Utters are A G. Take the second, G. 



1688 

 1 



19)1689(88 



rem. 17 the golden number. 



Opposite to 17, under 0. S., comes April 9 A, and the next G which 

 occurs is opposite April 15, which was therefore Easter day. 

 Example 2. When did Easter day fall, A.D. 1841 ? 

 The dominical letter is C. 



1841 

 1 



19)1842(96 



rem. 18 the golden number. 



Opposite to 18, under N. S., is April 6 E, and the next C is opposite 

 to April 11, which is therefore Easter day. 



The following table gives Easter day for every year from 1800 to 

 1999. Thus in 1873 Easter day is April 13 (a. 13) ; in 1973 it is 

 April 22 (a. 22). 



Some years, such as 1818 and 1845, are made remarkable by Easter 

 Sunday being kept in direct defiance of the statement made in the Act 

 of Parliament (24 Geo. II. cap. 23), by which it is " the first Sunday 

 after the full moon which happens upon or next after the 21st day of 

 March ; and if the full moon happens upon a Sunday, Easter Day is 

 the Sunday after." The act which makes this statement also pre- 

 scribes rules ; that is, copies the rules of the Gregorian calendar, and 

 the tables constructed from them. According to the rules and tables, 

 Sunday, March 23rd, was Easter Day of 1845. But the full moon was 

 on this very day, at past 8 o'clock in the evening ; so that by the expla- 

 nation, Easter day ought to have fallen on the 30th. The error arises 

 from a mistake and an omission in the Act of Parliament : Easter was 

 never determined by the day of the " full moon," but by the "fourteenth 

 day of the moon," which words ought to have been written instead of 

 " full moon ; " and, moreover, the moon of the calendar is not the 

 moon of the heavens, but an imaginary moon in advance of it, contrived 

 for reasons we shall presently mention. The definition at the beginning 

 of this article has the mistakes corrected. 



We shall in this article give as much of the history of Easter, and of 

 the reformation of the calendar, as may explain the discussions upon 

 this subject, referring for fuller information to an article ' on the Eccle- 

 siastical Calendar' in the 'Companion to the Almanac' for 1845, and to 

 some supplemental information in the same work for 1846. A sharp 

 discussion occurred in 1818, at which period we cannot ascertain that 

 the true explanation was given by any one : the discussion of 1845 

 was checked by the article first referred to. When it next happens, the 

 same misunderstandings will be repeated, unless either the explanation 

 ?iven by the Act of Parliament be altered in the mean time, or works 

 of reference be made to contain an account free from the usual errors. 



The disputes which agitated the Christians of the 2nd century 

 respecting the observance of Easter depended upon two questions : 



SB 



