American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-01-18
The GregOrian Calendar.

1t is generally understood, according
to certain profound calculations and in
ferenees, more or less reliable, that tn,
world enters to-day Jan. /, 1927 upor
the 5S79th year since the creation; or
possibly, according to the Julian period
the 6592d year; but, of course, the Ger
tainty that this is something about
which, we may say, we know nothing
makes one number answer our purpose
quite as well as the other. But one
thing, it is believed, we do know, APP.
proximately, if not with absolute Ger.
tainty, and this is recognized and
adopted by the civilized world, namely
that we begin to-day the 1S79th year OF
the Christian era; Ammo Domihni
or year of our Lord, 1879. The new
year will stand in history as
Ammo mundi, year of the world. .5s7.
Ammo Domini, year of the Lord. ISL.
Jewish year $685.
Jullah PERIOD .6o9a
Hegira, or flight of Mahomet. 1926
| A. U. c., foundation of Rome.............2 6s!
Independence of the United States. -. IOs- 4
The Jewish year is based upon the
calculation that the world was created
$3.50 years before Christ was born, and
that Number of years added to the sum
since the birth of Christ, gives $3.50 as
the Jewish year of the world. The jew
ish year consisted of twelve or thirteen
months of Twenty-Five or thirty days
each, by which we may infer that it con-
sisted of one or the other at different
periods.
The Roman calendar divided the year
nto ten months, comprising 304 days,
about seven hundred and thirty eight
years before Christ. This year was fif-
ty-one days less than the lunar year, and
sixty-one days less than the solar year,
and, OF course, did not correspond in
any degree with the seasons as now. At
a somewhat later period Numa Pompil-
ius, in 713 B. c., added two months to
the year of Romulus, namely. January
and February, and this, it would seem,
continued until the time of Julius Cas-
ar, As B. c., or more than six hundred
years, when that Emperor, acting upon
the evidence and advice of the astrono-
mers, no doubt, adopted the solar year
of 365 days 6 hours as the basis of what
is known as the Julian calendar, and
made provision for the excess of the
solar year over the number of days, by
Introducing bissextile, or leap year,
when the year was of 366 days, the name
being derived from two skies.
But the true solar year, it was known,
was composed of sos days 5 hours and
40 minutes. This slight difference it
was found in the sixteenth century
15s2-had amounted to ten days, and,
to obviate this error, Pope Gregory
XIII. oEda' ned that that year O5S2)
should consist only of $50 days, BY
which order the 9Th of October became
the 18th of October; and, in order to
prevent any furthur irregularities,it was
determined that the year which was the
first in each century, should not be bis
sextile, or leap year, excepting every
fourth century; thus the frs years OF
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,
or the years 100 and 1900, were no;
leap years, and the year 1900 will rot
be, but the year 200O WI be leap ye II.
So that it may be easonably Le''Cvcd
this matter is fully de, >"mined, as it he
remained undisturDcd since The Tine OF
Pope Gregory, nearly 800 years.
The question of dividing the solar
year into months Of d.fel emit numoe
of days has, no DOUBT, oi-en been con
sidered, and the question asked, how the
division, as now existing, was deter
mined upon; but it viii be seen at once
that, with sos or SEC days
they could not be made o.
equal length. julius Caesar, at tie
time the calendar was reformed auc
first arranged upon proper basis, gave
to the month of January thitoy-opt
days; the next month thirty da7s, ant
so on, alternating through the whole
number, when the deficit found in De
cember was supplied by taking two days
from the second month, and giving u
this month the extra day n leap years
This arrangement gave to January
March, May. July, September, and No
vember thirty-one days each, and t.
April, June, August, October, AID De
cember thirty days each, and to Eepru
airy twenty-eigh This continued ia i
Augustus Cesar, for whom the mon j
of August had been named, ltivolor5'y
determined that his month should no
be less than the month of julius C;e-a,
(July), and, therefore, added one da
to the month of August, which WIS
probably, taken from the month whic
followed, September; and this actio
had the effect to derange the system c
rs predecessor by increasing the nun
Ter of months with th:rty-one days /
rever, and making the arrangement 8
It now stands, being altogether arb IA
ry. The only case in which any on
:. month has the same number of days 8
the previous month is the month of Al
gust, caused by the order of Augus u
This is a concise history of the Gale
, dar, now adopted by most Christian n;
tions, under which the new year con
mences to-day. 1t recognizes the ortt
of the universe by the adoption of {,
: solar system, approximating as near
as possible to the lnnat system, and al:
:. the coming of CHI It upon the earth
the Savior of mankind; and it seems
J if no further changes will ever becon
necessary. The reform established
u pope Gregory was adopted by Franc