The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-11-16
\ OUR \ AIRS
nssss rhat HAYS Bssn aass u Oal'
"a 8 ealations In the
Past. 53 NJ jsss
the oRDERlae or POPE aREaRoY

Changes He Made Mere Afterwards
Universally Adopted BY HI
tho People.
Did you ever hear Of the famous short
month of October, which had only
twenty -one days? Some three centuries
aga in Southern Europe men tried to cor
rect an error that had been growing con-
tinualIy for more than a thousand years,
and the result was that they called the
day after Oct. 4, 1882, Oct. Is instead of
Oct. 5. The roots of the error run back
into the darkness of prehistoric times;
for at the dawn Of history men are found
using three units or measures Of time;
two of these are dependent on the sun s
apparent motion, the year and the day,
OF group of seven days; the other is de-
pendent on the moon, the lunar month.
Now as these three units have no COM
mon measure, we can see that 1t would
be impossible to fix anniversaries by
combining all of the units: yet this inn
possible thing is what the European
world has been trying to do for nearlv
twenty. centuries. Other people have
treated the problem in a similar way;
thus the ancient Egyptians followed a
purely solar year of 365 days; SO every
four years it's commencement fell one
day earlier with respect to the seasons,
and in the course of 1850 years any as
Economical event as the vernal equinox,
or the longest day, would have happened
= Of I,,a
backward to Jan. L. The modern Mo-
hammedan year. on the other hand, is
regulated solely by the moon, says the
Washington Post.
We get our ideas and principles re-
garding the calendar from two sources,
Roman and Jewish. Every one knows
that the names of the months are Latin,
and in the histories we read how the
various Roman rulers changed the dis
tribution of the days within the month,
etc, to suit their pride or political
schemes, much as modern politicians
hasten or postpone a convention, and
brought things into great confusion until
julius Caesar decreed that the coming
every fourth year, of 366. The extra day
was to be inserted between the oath and
18th of February; in their way Of num-
boring the days of the month, which
seems to us so awkward, the Gath was
saxto calendas or the sixth day before
the calendas of March; when the extra
day was inserted, it was called the sec
cnd sixth, or, in Latin, lois-sextc caien-
dss. whence cur bissextile.
From Jewish sources we get other fea-
lures. The great Jewish festival OF the
Passover was celebrated on the very day
of the first full moon after the spring
equinox; the early Christians, OF many
of them, took the same day, but this led
to charges of heresy, to dicussion, crit
csm, and even contempt: so it was de-
creed probably by Constantine the Great,
in 325 A. D., in connection with the
Council of Micaea, that the Christian fes-
tiyal, Easter, should be observed on the
Sunday following the Passover, ana the
other movable feasts of the church were
made dependent on this. So the element
of 2 fixed day Of the week was brought
into the calculation in addition to the
movements OF the sun and moon.
IN this year, 325, the vernal equinox
fell on March q, and, if Caesars work
in establishing the julian calendar haa
only been correct. this event would have
happened On this date forever. But ma
ture seems TO abhor simple ratios as
Itiucil GS Sic was SG.LN w ca 49,
fortunately for simplicity the year is
rot exactly SOS days 6 hours, but about
II minutes Ia seconds less: so the iuser-
ton of the extra day in four years was
OVERRIDING the correction, as was known
even in the dark ages; but after the re-
yjyai OF learning and the establishment
OF observatories, it was commented GA
inNthe Council Of Trent, and was very
,mnch discussed by mathematicians. And
by the middle of the sixteenth century
the hundreds of small errors had acc,l-
rufated to ten days, so the ysrnal equl-
ncx fell. not on the 21st but on the llth
OF March.
This was the condition of things when.
IN 1872. Pope Gregory XIII. was elected.
He realized the glory that it would be to-
his reign il this confusing matter was
settled and SO set q company OF mathe-
maticians 10 work cut the problem,
rot only of rectifying the old errcrs.
but of providing rules to prevent errors
in the future The hardest part OF the
work was to fix the movable church
feast without doing vio!ence to the ira
tiitions; that good deal could be SAID
about the work is evidenced by the book
of 500 pages written by Clayius, one e
the company The result was that in
1881 a pspal bull was issued, declaring
among other things. that in 1892 the day
following Oct. 4 should be called Oct. 10,
and that centuries should not ne leap
wears unless divisible by 400.
Rulers and states that were then Cath
niic responded to the Pope's request for
aeceptance Of the reform; IN France the
ten days were dropped after Dec. y, 1897
In Catholic Germany the change was
made in 1884. but the Protestant states
DELAYED until Feb 19 March H. 1900; IN
Switzerland and Poland there was such
resistance made that the troops We're me-
cessary to suppress it. In Russia the
change has not yet been made, and as
the Julian calendar called for leap years
in 1900 and 1906, when the Gregorian did
not. the dates of the Russian are twelve
DAYS behind those Of the rest OF Europe.
The change was long delayed in Pro
festant England. which would not will
ingly accept an alleged reform due to
pope that had encouraged the Armada.
But the need of the uniformity among
neighboring states was too great. and IN
1f5i Lord Chesterfield introduced into
Parliament bill for the reform OF the
calendar. Some details OF the law may
be Quoted from a magazine Of Septem-
Der. 1852; "Sepr. IA This day the GRECO
RAN style took place in all Europe, Asia,
africa and America This day, had not
This act raised, would have been the Sd
of September, but it was now reckoned
The 18th. eleven nominal days being
omitted. Every fourth year will be g
rift tvJh