The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1894-01-05
NEW YEARS DAY.
January Ist Fixed by the Coun-
Gil of Trent Under
Gregory XIII.

A year Is the lapse OF time which the sum-
from having its place over either tropic
moves to the other and returns, or (what is
the same thing) starting from the equator
at the vernal equinox of our hemisphere it
performs its complete circuit to the yer.
nal equinox again, is, from the circumstance
by which it is thus defined, termed the
tropical year; and because it is the period
recognized in legislation and history as the
year, it is called the civil year. Its mean
length is 365 days, hours, 4S minutes, 40. 7
seconds. Most civilized nations have
adopted, as their mode of reconing, the
tropical year which was directly derived
from the calendar of the Romans. In At.
tempting to devise perfect calendar, the
chief difficulty in the way of exactly con.
forming the circuit of the months to the
tropical year, has consisted in the extremely
incommensurable fraction of day over the
365 which the natural year presents. For
convenience, the civil year must begin with
a day, and must contain some number of
complete days. But if any number of com.
plete days is maintained invariable, the
effect must be in time that the days and
months gain or loose on the seasons, and the
latter are, during the lapse of long periods.
thrown successively into all parts of the
civil year. Such was the want of harmony
between the early Roman civil year and the
tropical, that in the time of Julius Caesar,
the months in which spring occurred were
those originally belonging to the season OF
summer. Historians have variously stated
the Roman year to have contained twelve
and ten months. The latter was probably
at first the real number and began with the
month Martius (March). An attempt was
made to correct the variation growing up
between the civil and tropical year but ap-
pears not to have been accomplished. Mean
time, however, the month Januarius and
Februariny had been introduced, making
the year twelve months in length; but the
beginning of the year which was intended
to occur at the winter solstice, had receded
until in C@sar's time it actually took place
some seventy days previously. In 46 B. G I.
Caesar, aided by the astronomer Sosigenus.
undertook to correct the. error. and added to
the current year the number of days
requisite to extend it to the winter solstice,
ordering that its length should be 44b days.
The next year and all following were to
have the length of 3654 days, but for con-
venience the fraction was to be INTRODUCED in
the form of an additional day every fourth
year. The pontifces who subsequently en-
forced Caesars rule mistook his intention
and in 8 B. G. three days too many had
been inserted. At this time Augustus in
terfered and corrected the error. The error
of the Julian calendar was in mixing each
year eleven minutes and ten and one.third
seconds too long. This excess in 400 years
would amount to about three days. The
of such a correction of the
as would keep the religious festi-
vals in the same part of the tropical year,
they were fixed by the council of Nice A.
D. 1926, had been for some time discussed,
before it was finally decided on by Gregory
XIII, under the authority of the council of
Trent. The Gregorian reformation was at
once accepted by Italy and Spain and sub
by all countries.
"Ring out the old, ring in the new
Ring happy bells across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true"
New Years Day! This, the first day of
the year, has for many ages and in various
parts of the world been celebrated as a re-
ligious festival. The Romans made an
especial holiday of it offering sacrifices to
James, whose principal festival occurred ON
this day, and taking care that all they
thought, said and did should be pure and
since everything was ominous for
the occurrences for the whole year. They
in the street in festive garments,
exchanged kindly salutations, and gave to
each other presents. This custom of be.
slowing presents was made by some of the
an important source of their per-
sopal reverence, until modified by decree
Of the emperor Claudius. The early Chris
tian emperors, however, continued to re-
ceive them, notwithstanding they were con.
demned by the ecclesiastical councils on &C.
coune of the pagan ceremonies at their
The bestowal of gifts on New Years day
was not peculiar to the Romans. The
Druids distributed branches of the sacred
mistletoe as new years gifts among the
people. Henry III of England, is said to
have extorted new years gifts, and Queen
Elizabeth's wardrobe and jewelry were
probably almost wholly supplied from these
annual contributions. Under the Tudors
and Stuarts new years gifts were given and
received with mutual wishes of happy
new year among all conditions of people.
Tenants sent their landlords capons, and
ladies' received presents of gloves or pins,
or in lieu thereof a compensation in money,
whence the terms 'glove money" and "pin
In England the ringing in of the
new year from the belfries of the churches
is new the only open demonstration of joy
at the recurrence of the anniversary. In
Germany many ceremonies derived from
old superstitions are in vogue. In the
city of New York the day is made the oc-
casion of social visits by gentlemen among
the families of their acquaintance-a custom
dating back almost to the settlement of the
town by the Dutch, and which has been
initiated with more or less success in cities
and towns throughout the United States,
but is gradually becoming less fashionable.
The legislature of Oregon has recognized
this holiday and enumerated it among the
lays when no judicial business may legally
be transacted. New Hampshire, Rhode
Island and Massachusetts, are the only