The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1906-10-05

POPE sREeo7 60 RascT ON OF,
THE JULIAN CALENDAR

n. FfdE JULIAN Ia l=aN l4lAfAs
Af-Ohe Thine October Was the Yeast
sIsoFtest 1IOnth-tt CohtaIned OniS
TWenry-one Days Ia 1Ss%-Comuno-
tion the Chaase Made In EnsIHnsl.
Did you ever hear OF the famous
Gbort month OF October. which hae
only twenty-one days? Some three cen
turtles ago IN southern Europe taer
tried to correct an error JLat mad oeer
growing continually for more than >
thousand years. and the result was
thar they called the day after Oct 4
1882. Oct. Is Instead OF Oct. ;.
we get our ideas and principles re
earding the calendar from two sources
Roman and Jewish. Every one knows
that the names OF the months are
Latin, and in the histories we readhow
the yurioEs Roman rulers changed the
distribution Of days within the month
etc. to suit their pride or political
schemes. much as modern politicians
hasten or postpone a convention, md
brought things into great confusion
until julius Caesar decreed that the
coming year should consist OF sos days
and every fourth year OF $3.50. The eN-
ira day was TO be inserted between the
24th aua 9th OF February. Ia their
way Of numbering the days OF the
month, which seems to us so awkward
the 9th was sexto calendas. or the
sixth day before the calenls Of
March. When the extra day was In
serteI 1t was called the second sixth,
or. In Latin. bissext0 calendRs, whence
our bisseXtile.
From Jewish sources we get other
features. The great Jewish festival Of
the passover was celebrated on the
very day of the frst full moon after
the spring equinox. The early Chris
tians. or many Of them, took the same
day. but this led 20 charges of heresy,
to discussion. criticism and even con.
tempt: so IT was decreed probably BY
Constantine the Great In 325 A. d. in
connection with the council OF Nicaea.
that the Christian festival Eastsr
should be observed on the Sunday fol-
lowing the passover. and the other
movable feasts of the church were
made dependent on this. So the ele-
nlent OF a fixed day OF the week was
brought into the calculation
In this year-825-the vernal equinox
fell on March 81. and. IL Caesars work
in establishing the Julian calendar had
only brea correct. this event would have
happened on this date forever. But ma
turc seems to abhor simple ratios lsshe
was said % abhor a vacuum. Unfortu
nately for simplicity ti.e year IS not cx-
actiy 3C5 days q hours. but about II
minutes II seconds less. So the inser
ton OF the extra day in four yeurs was
overdoiug tie correction, rs was known
even in thc dark ages. but after the re-
rr.irf
OF ohscrt-a-nrirs ii was commented on
In the council OF Trent and vas very |
much discussed 10y mathemaiclaus. |
And 10y the middle OF the sixteenth cen |
fury the hundreds OF small errors had |
to ten days, SO the vernal |
equinox fell not on the 2Ist. but on |
the 18th. of March.
This was the condition Of things |
when. in 1872. Pope Gregory NH. was
elected. He realized the glory that II |
would be to his reign If this confusing |
matter was settled. and 50 set q cOm-
pany OF mathemIticians TO work OUT |
the problem, not only OF rectifying the
Did errors. but Of providing rules to |
prevent errors in the future. The hard
est part OF the work was to fix the
movable church feasts without doing
to the traditions. That q gaOd
deal GslIlI 9e said about the work Il
by the book of 500 pages
written by Clavius, one OF the compa-
ny. The result was that In 1851 q pa
pa! bull was issued declaring, among
Other things, that In 1852 the day fol-
owing Oct. should be called Oct. Is
Ind that centuries should not be leap
TsarS unless dlvisibie by 400.
Rulers and states that were then
Catholic responded to the pope's re-
luest for acceptance of the reform. In
France the ten days We're dropped aft.
II Dec. 8. 1882; in Catholic Germany
he change was made in 1884. but the
Protestant states delayed until Feb.
o (NGnrch II, 1000. In Switzerland and
poland there was such resistance made
hat the troops were necessary to sup
,ress It.
The chnnge was long delayed In Prot
slant England. which would not will.
nEYy accept an alleged reform due TO
pope that had encouraged the ar
NADIA. But the need of the uniformity
mong neighborIng states was too
,reat, and in 1851 Lord Chesterfield In
reduced into parliament Il bill for the
eform Of the calendar. Some details
I the law mny be quoted from maga
Inc of September. 1852: sept. ~
his day the GreGorIan style took pluce
n all Europe. Asia, Africa and Amer
IA. This day. had not this net passed
you'd have been the Sd OF September
ut IL was now reckoned the 18th. eleV
II nominal days being omitted Every
ourth year will be blsscXtile. OF leap
ear, until 1900. which will he CON
lou year of 30N days. but 1904 vii! be
leap year. Easter and the movable
casts thereon depending are to be
eckoned according to the new tables
refxed to the act OF parliament. An