Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1900-01-12
TWENTIETH CENTURY.
Camille Flammarion Says 1t Be.
gins on January I, 1901.
VIEWS OF FRENCH ASTRONOMER.

lie ASSERTS That All Chronological
Scientists Agree In Placing Dawn
OF Twentieth Hundred at Midnight
of December n, 1900 - Discussion
R~rur. ut Close of Each Period.
Every hundred years, toward the end
Of each century. this question of the
date of the change of century Is dis
cusScd. have before me documents
Of l199. lG99 and 1899, which pose the
problem and turn it over and over,
writes Camille Flammarion, the French
astronomer. in the New York Herald
Again. 100 years hence, In the year
of grace l999-which. by the way, will
be favored hy very fine eclipse of the
sun. total in the neighborhood of Paris
on Aug. II nj - minutes past 10 o'clock
In the morninS-our great grandchil-
drcn will put the same question. Again,
In the fin de steele newspapers of the
period there will still he distinguished
minds to repeat the centuries old con-
fusion.
Progress Is slow In the human race.
One hundred years ago the discussion
was very keen and was even reflected
on the stage. In 1900 there was played
at little thcater in the boulevard du
Temple a piece entitled En- Qucl Sic
Gle NivonS Nous. Bon Dieu:" which
had some little success. title which
would again be an "actualite" next
year.
In what times are we living? Ger
tainly not in those of the age of reason.
Moreover the discussions Of the last
century have not convinced everybody.
For example, Victor Hugo was born on
Feb. %. 1902. At that date the cen.
tury was Is months. % days and few
hours old. do not think that any one
ever says Of child of that age that it
Is > years old. yet the immortal poet,
speaking Of his birth at Besancon,
wrote. as every one knows:
c. steele await dcux ans; Rome rcmplacait Sparte;
p,ia Napoleon pcrcait sous Bonspartc,
IT du premier consul; dcia par mant endroit
he Foht uc tilpertut bTlsal le Wasquc ctOlt'
In spite of what Is called poetical H.
CcnSe Victor Hugo would not have
written these words unless he had
thought that the nineteenth century
began in $500.
Poets perhaps reckon otherwise than
astronomers. Did not NJ. de Ileredia
of the French academy say recently,
in October. 1896 in his greeting to the
Emperor Nicholas In connection with
the ront Alexandre, which will be
Et ouand raubc du steele ven!r aura lui
Paris, on un transport universal de joe.
Ouyrpri hcrcmCnt Ia tromphac vote
Au couple triomphal quill acclame aujourdhui
FranclSQuc Sarcey also called the
year 1900 "laube du Steele Well
no: the dawn of the twentieth century
will not vet have shone In 1900. Al.
though we hear the exhibition of 1900
spoken of every moment as the in
auguration of the twentieth century, II
Is the cnd-thc twilight-of the nine
tecnth century.
| have before me several works of
the year 1859. First; a dissertation oil
the beginning of the next century to
ascertain which of the two years, 1IOC
or lTO1. is the first Of the century: sec
ond. a critical letter to the author OF
the dissertation: third. a fresh disserta
ton on the next century in which II Is
shown that the year 100 is the first OF
the century; fourth. "The authors
quarrel on the beginning OF the next
century decided
These four little books were printed
In Paris in the year 1869. They consist
of endless discussions with arguments
drawn from the Bible from the IA
Tiers of the church, from the Christian
dogma, from Noah's deluSc, from the
institution of jubilees by the pope
the intcrminable gossip of advocates,
which confuses the question to such IN
extent that it is impossible to make
anything of it, in spite of the subtle
distinctions drawn between ordina'
cardinal numbers.
The authors have even taken the
trouble to insert geometrical figures IL
show how the years should be scparat-
ed and counted. Dissertations of the
same Kind are met with in 1899. Even
the pope. who was mixed up in them
did not settle the question, but left IT
to the astronomers, who, moreover,
have never varied any more than has
arithmetic. Yet this. eternal question
is simple enough.
\ dozen Is composed of II unitics
and No. - forms Part Of the dozen
\ hundred is composed of 100 unitics
and No. 100 forms part of the hun
drcd. Now. there was no year .. In
the Christian era the first II months
are called the first yea, or the year l.
When Christ came into the world
no one suspected the Importance of his
coming nor the place which the re-
rgion that lie was to found would take
In the political history of nations. The
year of his birth passed unperceivcd
by the Romans as by the Hebrews.
Even the first century of Christianity
and the second, third. fourth and fifth
had no place in the calendar. 1t was
only in the year $50 that the Christian
era was proposed by n monk of the
Roman church. born in Scythia. named
DionysiuS, who on account Of his short
stature was nicknamed Dionysius the
Little. or Dionysius EXiguus.
1t was he who constituted the Chris
tan era. That. as has been seen. was
only in the sixth century. He supposed
that Christ was born on Dec. %, in the
year of Rome 7553, and the year T5f Of
the foundation of Rome became the
first of the Christian era. This first
year was not, therefore, even in the
idea of Diorysius. that of the birth OF
Christ It's beginning was seven days
pOstcrOr to his birth.
The monk Dionysius made in his his