Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-01-02
January !, 1880.
FIGURES AND HISTORY APPROPRIATE To THE
SEASON.

FIGURES AND HISTORY APPROPRIATE To THE
SEASON.
1t is generally understood, according TO
certain profound calculations and infer
ences. more or less reliable, that the
world enters to-day upon the 5sS0th
year since the creation or, possibly, ac-
cording to the Julian period, the 6J93d
year but, of course, the certainty that
this is something about which, We may
say, we know nothing, makes one num-
Der answer our purpose quite as well IA
the other. But one thing, it il believed,
we do know, approximately, if not with
absolute certainty, and this is recognized
and adopted by the civilized world, name
ly, that We begin to-day the 1SS0th year
Of the Christian era Ammo Domini, or year
Of our Lord, 1850. The new year will
stand in history as
Ammo mundi, year Of the world, ........... $3.50
Ammo Domni, year VI the Lord, ..--.....-.. lsso
Jewish year, ............ ................. 500
Julian period, OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 1928
Hegra or flight Of Mahomet, .............. l296
A. L. G., foundation OF Rome, ............ 1903
Independence of the United States, ........ lnl-5
Regin OF Queen Victoria, .................. 43-4
The Jewish year is based upon the cal
culation 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 564O, rs the
Jewish year Of the world The Jewish
year consisted of II or Is months of 80 or
30 days each, by which we may infer that
ii consisted of ons or the other at differ
ent periods.
The Roman calendar divided the year
into 10 months, comprising 304 days,
uhnnf TtS h.fAr. (fhriSt fnhi,
81 days less than the lunar year, and 81
days less than the solar year, and, of
course, did not correspond i'll any degree
with the Seasons NJ now At somewhat
later period Numa Pompilius, in 73l b.
C., added two months to the year Of
Romulus, namely, january and February,
and this. 1t would seem, continued until
the time Of julius Caesar, IS b. C., or
more than GOO years, when that emperor,
acting upon the evidence and advice of
the astronomers, no doubt, adopted the
solar year of 365 days 6 hours Ms 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 10y
introducing bissextile, or leap year, when
the year WAS OF 3G6 days, the nume being
derived from two skies
But the true solar year. 1t was known,
WAS composed Of 3G5 days, 5hours and -
minutes. This slight difference, it was
found Ill tine sixteenth century 1852
hnd amounted to 10 days, and, to obviatc
this error, Pope Gregory XIII ordained
that year 15S2) should consist only of 356
days. by which order the 9th of October
became the 18th Of October; and, in or
der to prevent any further Irregularities,
1t was determined TINT thc year which WI.
first Ill each century should not be bis
sextile, or leap year, excepting every
fourth century; thus the first year of the
18th and 18th centuries, or the year 100
and 1900, were not leap years, and
the year 1900 will no: be, but tle year
1000 will be leap year. So that, it may
be reasonably believed, this matterisfully
determined ny it has remained untlisturb-
ed since the time Of Pope Gregory, nearly
300 years.
The question Of dividing the solar yenr
into months of Il different number Of DAYS
has no doubt often been considered, and the
question asked, how the division, rs now
existing, WIS determined upon but it will
he seen ut once that, with ;i6jor :iGG DAYS,
they could not be made Of equal length