The Sun.
London, England, 1825-02-18 00:00:00

LENT.

Air.. Enuron—ln an article, purporting to be
an Extract from Mr. RAE WILSON'S Travels in
the Holy Land (in THE SUN of yesterday), the
following very extraordinary passage occurs/
which I shall be happy to see explained in your
Paper, and rendered intelligible, for at present it
is a piece of chaos

" I now came to a terrible desert, surrounded
with mountains, tossed and jumbled in the wildest
possible confusion by some violent agitation of
nature. On one of these, of prodigious altitude, are,
to use the words of that Evangelist,, an exceed-
ing high mountain, it was said our Saviour, after
being baptized in Jordan, was led gaud tempted
by the devil." Quere—W here ?
But, to return to the first part of the sentence
—Did Mr. RAE WILSON see (for he speaks in
the present tense) the mountains tossed and
jumbled in wild confusion, with the exceeding
high mountain on the top of the one ofprodigious
altitude ?—or did the one of prodigious altitude
POP up on the top of the exceeding high mountain
after' the dance or violent agitation of Nature wag
over, which excited the Learned Traveller's at-
tention ?

Bless me, Mr. Editor, what strange things tra-
vellers see! Au answer from any of your Readers
will oblige

A SUBSCRIBER-AND AMICUS.

FOR THE SUN.

FESTIVAL OF EASTER.
MR. EDITOR—The fixing of EASTER SUNDAY
is of considerable importance, since it serves to
determine the period of all the moveable Feasts
throughout the current year. It was, in conse
quence of this importance, that the general Coun-
cil of Nice, held in the year 325, decreed, that
the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, or
after the full moon that happens on, or after the
21st of March, should be Easter Sunday. It so
happens this year that our almanacks inform DS
at once that the Moon is full on the 3d of April
at 23 minutes after six in the morning, and that
this same day, which happens to be a Sunday,
is Easter Sunday, which is thus fixed on the very
day of the paschal full moon, instead of on the
Sunday immediately following it. This singular
fact attracted the notice of a Morning Paper,
and a paragraph upon the subject being insert( d
in the Courier a few weeks ago, produced a let-
ter in the Courier of the following day, signed
PLTAVIUS, Junior, giving an explanation of the
accuracy of the almanack, upon the correctness
of which the writer assures the Editor he may
positively depend.
According to him, there is no error in the al-
manack, because the full moon, which occurs at
6 A.M. of Sunday, the 3d of April, according to
our almanacks, and the mode of reckoning our
civil day, from the midnight preceding sun-rise,
is, astronomically considered, as falling on the
2d of April, which commences at noon of the 2d
of April, and terminates at noon of the 3d of
April, according to our reckoning.
This is all very true, and very correct no
doubt. It is true that the astronomical days are
reckoned from noon to noon, and can therefore
never agree with any ono civil day. It is
true, that all astronomical calculations are re-
ferred to such days. But although PETATIUS,
Junior, be correct in what he has stated, it
does not follow that he is equally so in his
conclusion, that the almanack is right. We
humbly apprehend, that Easter, being a civil day,
can have nothing whatever to do with astronomi-
cal days, which have been adopted merely for
the greater convenience of astronomical opera-
tions. When the manner of determining Easter
'Sunday was laid down by the Council of Nice,
astronomical days could not have been taken
into consideration, as regulating the time of the
paschal full moon, since such days were not then
in existence. The Council had, and could have,
in view, only the days such as we usually reckon
them. A short illustration will make this more
evident :

It is a well known fact, acknowledged by all
writers upon astronomy and the calendar, that
Easter Sunday cannot happen sooner than the
22d of March, nor later than the 25th of April.
It will fall upon the latter day, if the Moon be
new on the 6th of March ; for in this case, as
it would be full on the 20th, it would not be a
Paschal Moon. It would be, therefore, neces-
sary to wait until the 18th of April, the next full
moon, and if this should be a Sunday, Easter
would not happen on that day, but on the follow-
ing Sunday, or on the 25th of April. Now let me
ask PrrAvtus, Jun. if there is any thing in all
this arrangement that has, or can have, the least
reference whatever to astronomical days ? I hum-
bly apprehend that, on the contrary, it clearly
proves that such days were not taken into consi-
deration, nor could they, as I stated before, since
they were not known at the time when these ar-
rangements were made. In fine, this arrange•
meat is made with reference to the 21st of March
civil time, and not at all with astronomical time,
since, according to the latter, the 21st of March
would be only the 20th. A. P.

BIRTH.
On the 16th inst., the lady of Mr. George Macirone, of
Bishopsgate-street, of a son.

MARRIED.
On the 14th inst., Mr. Macdonald, to Margaret, and Mr.
Chambers, to Catherine Saunders, daughters of Thomas Mad-
i:Jcks, Esq., of Ellesmere, deceased.
On the 14th inst., at St. George's church, Honorer-square,
Mr. Robert Humphreys, of Brewer-street, Golden-square, to
Mary, eldest daughter of Mr. Patterson, Union-street, Dept-
,ford.

Lately, at Ilenbury, John Francis Worth, Esq., of Worth.!
house, in the county of Devon, to Lucy Worth, only daughter
of the late Henry Bloydon orth, Esq., of Tiverton," in the
same county, having been previously married in Scbtland.

DIED.
At the Rectory, on the 16th inst., Anne, wife of the Rev.
'Willi:lm Gilly, rector of Wanstead, Essex.
On Thursday, the 17th inst., at his house, Islington, the
Rev. William Draper, in his 80th year.

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OFFICE, Nth 112, strand, by J, CiPIMAJ"