The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-01-17
The Calendar.

s
The Calendar.
We sabjoin q note upon this subject, receiv-
Ga few days ago. The writer may be correct.
for aueht We know, though We profess to nave
very little knowledge on the subject. All ma
W possess 10 the following:
The Julian year, or old style as It mas since
heen called, was used in England unui l7'',
although the Gregorian Calendar MAD been
adopted BY every nation on the Continent, ex-
cant the Turks. the Swedes, and the Russians,
the two latter adhering to the old style, and
the former still dating frcm the Hcgira or
Ai~bt of MAuoxMxI. In ISL Lord CHESTER
FIELD. who knew no moreof the matter scien-
tiacaily than we do, but who, nevertheless,
has obtained all the credit with posterity,
brought in a bill comprehending profound
sctsntihcAi calculations, prepared and clabo-
rated by two OF the ablest mathematiciaDs in
Europe (BRADLEY and the Earl Of Maccles-
neld) TO correct the Calendar, or, in common
pArlance, to change the style. 1t was found
upon computation, that from C-EsAE's error,
alluded to by our correspondent, OF eleven
minutes in the length Of the year, eleven days
had been lost mp 10 that time. In order 10 get
things right, cleveA days were struck ou' oi
September Of l.52-that rs 10 say. the list day OF
September was called the 18th. A most absurd
clamo was rfsed by the ignorant and SUPER
stiaous, comprehending 1T that time the large
majority Of the British peopl. againstthis in
~rovation. They conceived that they had been
cheated on, OF eleven days of their lives, a3d
as the new style was made TO correspond with
that introduced by Pope GREGORY XIII, and
already In general useon the continent, they
scrupled not 10 denounce i; As Il plot Tor IN
trod ucing Popery into the country. The bill,
Notwithstanding, got through the House OF
Lords, owing It's success principally to The
lucid, popular explanation of its contents, by
Lord CHESTERFIELD, in Il speech which was
greatly lauded at the time. and has ever since
bcen considered a mastery effort. Doubtless
he did this part OF The business much better
than the two mathematiciaDs could have done
IL, as IL is said that men with not q 1.-THE of
NEwToN's ability conld explain his Priac,pia
much better than he could himself. The bill
hxed the beginning of the year on the list jan
uary, instead of 25ih March, as Tie Julian
styie had il. The difference between the old
styles and the new often puzzles young read
ers of history, and the difficulty comes princi-
pally from this chan ge in the beginning of the
year. For instance, CLARENDON and all the
historians who wrote previously to 1872, tell
rs that CHARLES /. was executed in January
it!s; HUME, and all who have written since
i552, name January, 1919, as the time. Both
are right, as will be apparent when we con-
slider that at that time 1919 did not come in
until 25th March.
Sweden adopted the new style in 1853
neither Russia, nor any other country in
which the Greek Church is established, has
adopted il to this day-and the Turks still hold
on 10 the Hegira.
Thus much we know historically. But the
subject Of leap years. and the necessity OF sup
plying a whole additional day every four years
the whole matter in n words still a mys-
terry to us. II it has been discovered that 365
days 5 hours and 40 minutes bring us exactly
10 the end Of the year-bring the earth back
into the very exact spot in her orbit that she
held exactly that length of time before-we
cannot comprehend why it is necessary to
r fly her bearings by throwing in a day every
. : years. We know it is SO, asd We believe
We once understood why but we have forgot
ten completely.
1t strikes MS, moreover, that the calculation
OF both GREGORY and the English astronomers
was wrong. If Julius CESAR made The year
too long by eleven Minutes, unquestionably il
had lost more than ten days before the time at
which the former corrected the calendar.
U5s2,) and more than eleven at the time his
corrected style was adopted by the English
Parliament. A very simple calculation may
ascertain this. CESAR was killed ii years be-
fore Christ, in March. He must, then, have
corrected the calendar at least IS years before
Christ. 1t is not necessary to be very accu-
rate, but the battle of Pharsalia was fought A.
Il c., and the campaign in Egypt, as well rs
NA.N - C--:, .-l sk.t - a %.--
after wards, and it is well known that he en-
tered apon none of his projected reforms until
he had subdued all his enemies, (nt least, all he
knew Of) Add, then, IS to 1882, and multiply
by II, and we have the number of minutes lost
from the commencement of the Julian calen-
dar to its correction by GREGORY. Now, Is
added to 1882 make 1927. Multiply this sum
BY II and the product is 1887 minutes. Re.
duce these minutes to hours, and The result is
Dos hours and a fraction. These hours reduced
to days give ~ days and 10 hours. This is the
true result within a few inmates. The whole
loss up to 1852 would have been within a frac-
ton Of IA days. VIZ: 10 days Is hours and II
minutes.
But, as we have already said, We do not COM
prehend the business at all.
Mr. EDITOR: Permit me to correct an error INTO
which your clerical fnend has tallen-that the ear
1894 was not leap year. Doubtless he was thlnkIng
of the year IS ~ which was not bissextiie.
The Roman calendar, introduced by Romulus,
divided the year into 10 months, comprising POI
days, which was fits days less duration than the
lunar year. and sixty "nC less than tie solar year,
and its commencement id not correspond with
any liked season. This C endar was corrected hv
NumA PompIilus b, add ny TWO months. and Julius
Caesar, desiring to make II more correct, hxed TIE
solar year as he ing $50 DAYS and 6 hours. This ar
rAngementw was denoiaInated the Julian st, le. and
prevailed generally 'nlous aont the Christian
world The calen ar -. Julius Crsar was IL min
utes too long. as tae solar year consists of SIS days,
ehours and ~ minutes. At the time OF Gregory
XIII. this difference had amounted TO 10 entire
days, the vernal equinox falling on the 18th instead
OF the jlst oil Marc. To obvIate fAe error, Gregory
ordained that the year 1889 should consist OF 35
Gays only, and that a year BEGINNING n century
should not be bissextile. with the exception of that
beginning each 4h century. Thus E0o and 1909
were not. nor will 1900 he leap year. but the year
10 will he bissextile. Three da,s are thus re-
tsnched IN 400 Years. because the lapse OF ii MN
utes makes three days in about that period. Thus
the year Of the calendar and tho true solar wear are
made a. nearly as poss bic to correspond.
This calendar was adopted by Protestants in Gel
many IN the year l7e0, and IN England in 1852. A.
John Browns FavoTiie Text.
Much has been said about JOHN BROWN IA
vorite hymn-very little about JOHN Browns
favorite teri. Some admirer called for the
former at the abolition meeting in Phi,adel-