VOL. XXI.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 435 



rather than Pope Gregory, on his own single authority, should take upon him 

 to impose a law on all the churches, kingdoms, and states of Christendom, to 

 alter both their ecclesiastical and civil year, for a worse form than what we had 

 before. 



Or, if merely on account of the Paschal tables, for he made no other pre- 

 tence, it were thought necessary to make a change, he might have corrected 

 them, or given us new Paschal tables, instead of those of Dionysius, without 

 altering the civil year, which has introduced the confusion of the old and new 

 stiles, and which now can never be remedied, unless all nations should at once 

 agree upon one, which is not to be supposed. I say, at once; for if some 

 should alter their stile sooner, and some later, the confusion in history will be 

 yet greater than it is now. 



As to the equinox going backward, for 10 or 1 1 minutes each year, it is very 

 inconsiderable, and which in celestial computations is easily rectified, as are 

 many other inequalities of much greater concern. And I think it was never 

 pretended that the civil year must necessarily agree exactly to a minute with the 

 celestial, which is impossible ; for the solar and sidereal year differ more from 

 each other than the Julian from either, which is a middle between them. And 

 the seat of Easter, which only concerns the ecclesiastical, not the civil year, may 

 easily be rectified, without affecting the civil year at all. Or, if not rectified, 

 the celebration of Easter a week or month sooner or later does not influence 

 at all our commemoration of Christ's resurrection. And it is agreed by most, 

 if not all chronologers, that as to the year of our Lord, the vulgar year is not 

 the true year, though it be not agreed how much they differ ; but it would create 

 much confusion in history if we should now alter the vulgar account. All the 

 pretence that I can understand for altering our stile is, that in so doing we 

 should agree with some of our neighbours, with whom we now differ ; but it 

 will then be as true, that we shall differ from others, with whom we now agree. 

 If it be said, that they in time may come to follow our example, this would only 

 make the confusion the greater ; for then we must be obliged not only to know 

 what countries use the new stile, but from what time they began to do so, if 

 we would understand their dates. And i-f we should, by a new law, alter our 

 stile in England, this would not comprise Scotland. And after all, there will 

 still be a necessity of keeping up the distinction of old stile and new stile, which 

 Pope Gregory's pretended correction has made necessary, and with that distinct- 

 tion things may be now as well adjusted as by a new change of our stile. I for- 

 bear to discourse at large how much better a constitution the Julian year is than 

 the new Gregorian, being so well known that no astronomer can be ignorant 

 of, however he may dissemble it ; so that, in their astronomical calculations, 



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