Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-01-07

The Jewish year is based upon the cal
culation that the world WAS created $500
years before Christ was born, and that
number of years. added TO the sum since
the birth of Christ, gives jG40, as the jew
ish wear Of the world. The Jewish wear
consisted OF II or Is months of 20 or 80
days each, by which we may infer thal it
consisted Of one or the other ut different
periods.
The Roman calendar divided the wear
into 10 months, comprising 3O4 days,
bout 73S years before Christ. This was
IL days less than the lunar year, and Gl
days less than the solar year, and, of
course did not correspond III any degree
with the seasons as now. At somew hat
later period Numa Pomplius, in 73l B.
o., added two months to The year of Rom
nIus, namely, January and February, and
his. it would seem, continued till the time
of Julius Cesar, 10 years B. c., or more
than 600 years, when that emperor, acting
upon the evidence and advice of the AS.
tronomers, no doubt, adopted the solar
year of 3G5 days 6 hours us he basis OF
what is known as the julian calendar, aud
made provision for the eAcess of the solar
year over the number of days by introduc-
my bsSeXile, or leap year, when the year
was 3G6 days, tie name being derlvrd
from two skies.
But the true solar year, it was known,
was composed of 365 days, hours and 49
minutes This sight difference. it was
found in the 10th ceplury-l5S2- had
amounted to 10 days. and, TO obviate this
error, Pope Gregory XIII. ordained that
year Q5S2) should consist of only 3G5
days, by which order the 9th of October
became the 10th of October; and, in order
prevent any further irregularities, it
was determined that the year which was
first in each century should not be bisscx
tile or leap year, excepting every fourth
"entury; thus the first year of the 18Th
md l9.h centuries, or the year 100 and
1900 we've not leap years, and the year
1000 will not be, but the year 20OO will be
cap year. So that, 1t may be reasonably
believed, this matter is fully determined,
is it has remained undSturbed since the
line of Pope Gregory, nearly 800 years,
The question of dividing the solar yem
into months Of II different number Of days
has no doubt often been considered, and
he question asked, how the division, us
now existing. was determined upon; but
II VIII DC EtCu ~ tuNC tliat, Will OOO VI
j6G days, they could not be made of equal
eng,h. julius Caesar, ut the time the cal
en!nr was reformed and first arranged
upon IL proper basis, gave to the month of
January 81 days: The next month 80 days,
md SO on, alternating through the whole
number, when the deficit found in DGccm-
Der was supplied by taking days from
he I'd month and giving TO this month the
extra day in leap years. This arrangement
guve to January, March, May. July, Sep
cmber and November 81 days, and to
April, June, August, October and Decem-
ber so days each, and TO FEBRUARY 2S.
This continued until Augustus Caesar, ior
whom the month Of August had been
named, frivolously determined that his
month should not be less than the month
nf Julius Cesar (JuI!), and, therefore,
added one day 10 the month Of August,
which was, probably, taken from the
month which followed, September; and
Ibis action had the effect TO derange the
system Of his plcdrctss ssor by increasing
he numher of months with 81 days to Z,
and making the arrangement rs 1t now
stands, altogether arbitrary. The only
case in which any one month has The same
number of days as lis previous month, Is
the month Of August, caused by the
order of Augustus. This is II concise his
tory of the calendar. row adopted by most
Christian nations, under which the new
wear commences today. 1t recognizes
The order of the universe by the adoption
| of the solar system approXmaIing a
nearly as possible TO the lunar system, and
also the coming of Christ upon the earth
us the Savior oi mankind and ii seems as
if no further changes will ever become
necessary. The reform established by
! Pope Gregory was adopted by France,
Italy, Spain, Denmark, Holland, Flanders
and Portugal, in 1882 Germany 9 years
later; Switzerland and Hungary, in 1888
and 1871, and by England in l7jl-2, by
leaving out IL days. making the 81 Of
September the l4lh of that month. In
Russia, Greece, and throughout the east,
The old style is still retained, with differ
ence now Of - days.