The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-04-29
Reduced Ten Days.

Home three centuries ago In southern Eu-
rope men tried TO correct an error that had
been growing continually for more than
thousand years, and the result was that
they called the day after Oct 4, 1889, Oct.
10 instead Of Oct. 8. The roots of the err
ror run back into the darkness Of prehis-
torio times, for at the dawn of history men
are found using three units for measures of
time; two of these are dependent on the
suns apparent motion, the year and the
day, or group of seven days; the other Is
dependent on the moon, the lunar month
Now as these three units have no common
measure we can see that 1t would be i'm
possible to fix anniversaries by combining
all Of the units. Yet this impossible thing
Is what the European world has been try
Ing to do for nearly 20 centuries.
We get our ideas and principles regard
Ing 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 distribution OF days
within the month, etc., to suit their pride
or political schemes, much as modern poll
tician hasten or postpone a convention, and
brought things into great confusion until
Julius Caesar decreed that the coming year
should consist of 865 days, and every
fourth year OF 1856. The extra day was to
be inserted between the gath and 25th of
February. In their way of numbering the
days of the month, which seems to us so
awkward the gath was sexto calendas or
the sixth day before the calendas Of March
When the extra day was inserted 1t was
called the second sixth, or, In Latin, bis
sexto calendas, whence our bissextile.
From Jewish sources we get other fea-
lures The great Jewish festival of the
= 4
the first full moon after the spring equi-
nox. The early Christians or many Of
them. took the same day, but this led to
charges of heresy to discussion, criticism,
and even oontempt; so 1t was decreed
probably by Constantine the Great, In 825
A. D., in connection with the council Of
Nicea that the Christian festival Easter
should be observed on the Sunday follow
ing the Passover, and the other movable
feasts Of the church were made dependent
| on this. So the element Of fixed day Of
the week was brought into the calcula-
| ton In addition to the movements of the
sun and moon.
In this year-325-the vernal equinox
fell on March 81, and, If Caesars work In
establishing the Julian calendar had only
been correct, this event would have hap
| pened on this date forever. But nature
| Se6IuB 10 dDuOr CdulOS hS sHo Nhs
said to abhor vacuum. Unfortunately
for simplicity the year Is not exactly 865
days hours, but about II minutes IA Sec
onds less So the insertion Of the extra
day In four years was overriding the oorrec-
ton, as was known even In the dark ages,
but after the revival Of learning and the
establishment Of observatories, 1t was
commented on In the council OF Trent,
and was very much discussed by mathe-
matioians. And by the middle Of the six
teenth century the hundreds Of small err
rors had accumulated to ten days. so the
vernal equinox fell, not on the 21st, but
on the 18th of March.
This was the condition Of things when,
In 1879, Pope Gregory XIII was elected
He realized the glory that 1t would be to
his reign If this confusing matter was set
tied, and so set a company Of mathema-
tioians to work out the problem, not only
of rectifying the old errors, but Of provid-
ing rules to prevent errors in the future.
The hardest part of the work was to fix the
movable church feasts without doing vio-
lenoe to the traditions. That good deal
could be said about the work Is evidenced
by the book of 800 pages written by Cla-
vius one of the company. The result was
that in 1851 papal bull was issued, de-
claring among other things that in 1882
the day following Oct. should be called
Dot. 10, and that centuries should not be
leap years unless divisible by 400.
Rulers and states that were then Catho-
lio responded to the pope's request for &C
ceptance Of the reform. In France the ten
days were dropped after Dec. 8, 1852; in
Catholic Germany the change was made
In 1884, but the Protestant states delayed
until Feb 10 March y, 1900. In Swift
zerland and Poland there was such resist
anoe made that the troops were necessary
to suppress 1t. In Russia the change has
not yet been made, and as the Julian cal
endar called for leap years in 100 and
1900, when the Gregorian did not, the
dates of the Russians are IL days behind
those of the rest of Europe.
The change was long delayed in Protes-
tant England which would not willn -ly
accept an alleged reform due to IA pope That
had encouraged the Armada. But The
need of the uniformity among neighboring
states was too great, and in 1851 Lord
Chesterfield introduced into parliaWrut a
bill for the reform of the calendar some
details of the law may be quoted from Il
magazine of September, 1852: sept Il
This day the Gregorian style took place in
all Europe, Asia, Africa and America
This day had not this act passed, would
have been the Sd of September, but II was
now reckoned the 18th, ii nominal days
being omitted. Every fourth year will be
bissextile, or leap year, until 1900, which
will be common year of 865 days, but
1904 will be leap year Easter and the
movable feasts thereon depending are to
be reckoned according to the new tables
prefxed to the act of parliament. All the
fixed feast days = = = are to be kept on the
same nominal day as heretofore. Payment
of rent notes, = the attainment Of ma
jority, or expiration of apprenticeships,
49, shall not be accelerated hereby -
If servants wages are usually paid at the
quarter days, II days wages may be de-
Quoted out of the present quarter, and the
reckoning for the future 60 regularly on "
Such We're some of the minute provisions
of the act. 1t will be readily believed that
ignorant people could not understand this,
and we are told OF mobs marching through
the land, crying, Give us back our II