Our Calendar

hort time; but as the years rolled on and century after century had passed away, astronomers began to discover the discrepancy between the solar and the civil year; that the vernal equinox did not occ

21st. A

the meeting of that council. Roger Bacon, in the 13th century, wrote a treatise on this subject and sent it to the

ely to confer great eclat on his pontificate, undertook the long desired reformation; and having found the governments of the principal Catholic states ready to adopt his views, he issued a brief in the month

1582 to consist of only 355 days. So we see that the ten days that had been gained by incorrect computation during the past 1257 years, were deducted from 1

but most of the Protestant countries adhered to the Old Style until after the year 1700. Among the last was Great Britain; she, after having suffered a great deal of inconvenience for nearly two hundred years by using a different date from the most of Europe, at le

e is now twelve days behind the true time. The discrepancy between solar and civil time does not effect the day, for, as has a

uniformly seven of those days. But it effects

d events have transpired on the same day of the week as they have with us who have ad

which have adopted the New Style. Columbus sailed from Palos, in Spain, on Friday, August 3d, 1492, Old Style, which was Friday,

calling the 3d the 12th of August. In regard to the birth of Washington, the change is effected by suppressing eleven days, calling the 11th of February the 22d. As regards Russia, she could have made the change last year by calling the 20th of December

agram on the 25th page. The figures represent the ecliptic, which is the apparent path of the Sun, or the real path of the Eart

arch, the 21st of September, the 21st of December and the 21st of June. It has already been stated that if the civil year correspond with the solar, the seasons of the year will always come at the same p

ing error in his calendar. The error, which was 11 minutes and 10.38 seconds every year, was hardly perceptable for a short period, but still amounte

the vernal equinox was found to occur on the 21st of March, true or solar time; thus concurring with the vernal equinox of 325. But the erroneous Julian calendar would make the Earth perform 459,119 daily revolutions to complete the 1257 year

ce, in 12,175 years the equinoxes would take the place of the solstices, and the solstices the place of the equinoxes. In 24,350

r one entire revolution of the Earth. So, to restore the concurrence of the Julian and Gregorian years, there

elve months, or one whole year, it having been d

er I

of 365 days, there would still be wanting one day to complete the civil year of 366 days, so one day must be added to that year, and to every succeeding year, to complete the

there would be an advance or gain of one day in that year and every succeeding year, so that in 365 years there would be a gain of