HEBREW CALENDAR.
To the Bible student a knowledge of the Hebrew calendar is indispensable,
if he would know how the date of events recorded in the Bible are made to
correspond with our present English calendar. From the exodus (1491 B. C.)
downward, the Hebrew month was lunar, and commenced invariably with the
new moon.
Dr. Smith, author of Bible Dictionary, says that the terms for month and
moon have the same close connection in the Hebrew language as in our own,
only the Hebrew Codesh (that is new moon) is, perhaps, more distinctive
than the corresponding term in our language; for it expresses not simply
the idea of a lunation, but the recurrence of a period commencing
definitely with the new moon. Though the identification of the Jewish
month with our own cannot be effected with precision on account of the
variations that must necessarily exist between the lunar and the solar
month, each of the former ranging over portions of two of the latter,
still it can be shown how they may be made to coincide very nearly by a
systematic method of intercalation.
Now from new moon to new moon again, is about 29-1/2 days; therefore, the
Hebrew year consisted of 354 days, for 29-1/2 x 12 = 354; so that the
epact, (which is the excess of the solar year beyond the lunar) is eleven
days. Hence, had they no method of intercalation, the commencement of
their year would go back eleven days every year, and consequently make a
revolution of the seasons every thirty-three years, for 365 / 11 = 33
nearly.
To illustrate, let us suppose that the new moon of Nisan, which is the
first month in the Sacred year, should on any given year fall on the 10th
of April, then the following year it would fall on the 30th of March,
which is eleven days earlier; the second year it would fall on the 19th of
March or twenty-two days earlier; the third year the new moon would fall
on the 8th of March or thirty-three days earlier, but that would not be
the new moon of Nisan, which cannot happen earlier than the 11th, so the
following moon which happens thirty days later on the 7th of April is the
new moon of Nisan. Hence it may be seen that by intercalating a full month
every three years, or which comes nearer to accuracy seven times in
nineteen years, restores the coincidence of the solar and the lunar year,
and consequently the moons to the same day of the month on which they fell
nineteen years before.
The method of designating the months previous to the exodus, was by their
numerical order, as the ancient Hebrews had no particular name to express
their month. They said the first, second and third month, and so on. No
names of months appear in the Bible until about the time of the
institution of the passover, when the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in
the land of Egypt, saying this month, (Abib, which appears to have had its
origin in Egypt,) shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be
the first month of the year to you.
The names of the months appear to belong to two distinct periods. In the
first place we have those peculiar to the Jews previous to the captivity,
viz: Abib, the first month in commemoration of the exodus; Zif, the
second, Ethanim, the seventh, and Bul, the eighth. These names are of
Hebrew origin, and have reference to the characteristics of the seasons, a
circumstance which clearly shows that the months, by intercalation, were
made to return at the same period of the year. Thus, Abib was the month of
the ears of corn, that is the month in which the ears of corn became full,
or ripe on the 16th day, that is the 2d day of the feast of unleavened
bread. Zif, the month of blossoms or the bloom of flowers. Ethanim, the
month of gifts, that is of fruits, and Bul, the month of rain. These were
superceded after the captivity, by Nisan, Iyar, Tisri and Hesvan, or
Marchesvan.
Marchesvan, coinciding as it does with the rainy season in Palestine, is
considered a pure Hebrew term. The modern Jews consider it a compound
word, from mar, drop, and Chesvan; the former betokening that it was wet,
and the latter being the proper name of the month. Hence the name
indicates the wet month. In the second place we have the names of six
others which appear in the Bible subsequently to the Babylonian captivity,
viz.: Sivan, the third; Elul, the sixth; Kislev, the ninth; Tebet, the
tenth; Sebat, the eleventh, and Adar, the twelfth. There are two other
months whose names do not appear in the Bible, viz.: Tamuz, the fourth,
and Ab, the fifth. The name of the intercalary month is called Ve-Adar, or
2d Adar because placed in the calendar after Adar and before Nisan.
Dr. Smith says these names are probably borrowed from the Syrians in whose
regular calendar we find names answering to most of them. He also says it
was the opinion of the Talmudists, that these names were introduced by the
Jews who returned from the Babylonish captivity, and also that they are
certainly used exclusively by writers of the post-Babylonian period.
Inasmuch as the Hebrew months coincided with the seasons, as we have
already shown, it follows as a matter of course, that an additional month
must have been inserted every third year, which would bring the number up
to thirteen. No notice, however, is taken of this month in the Bible,
neither have we reason to think that it was inserted according to any
exact rule, but it was added whenever it was discovered that the barley
harvest did not coincide with the ordinary return of the month Abib. It
has already been shown that in the modern Jewish calendar the intercalary
month is introduced seven times in nineteen years, according to the
Metonic, or lunar cycle which was adopted by the Jews about 360 A. D.
The Hebrew calendar is dated from the creation, which is supposed to have
taken place 3761 years before Christ. Hence, to find the number of cycles
elapsed since the creation, also the number in the cycle, we have the
following rule: Add 3761 to the date, divide the sum by nineteen; the
quotient is the number of cycles, and the remainder is the number in the
cycle. Should there be no remainder, the proposed year is, of course, the
last or nineteenth of the cycle. Thus, for the year 1883, we have 1883 +
3761 / 19 = 297, remainder 1; therefore, 297 is the number of cycles, and
1 the number in the cycle. Again, for the year 1893, we have 1893 + 3761 /
19 = 297, remainder 11; therefore 297 is the number of cycles, and 11 the
number in the cycle. Again for the year 1901, we have 1901 + 3761 / 19 =
298, remainder 0; therefore 298 is the number of cycles, and 19 the last
of the cycle. Hence it may be seen that the present cycle commenced with
1883, that 11 is the number in the cycle for the present year 1893, also
that the cycle ends with 1901; so that the next cycle commences with 1902.
If the remainder after dividing by nineteen be 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17 or 19
(0), the year is intercalary or embolismic, consisting of 384 days; if
otherwise it is ordinary, containing only 354 days; so that in a cycle of
nineteen years, we have twelve ordinary years of 354 days each, and seven
embolismic years of 384 days each. But, in either case, the year is
sometimes made a day more, and sometimes a day less, in order that certain
festivals may fall on proper days of the week for their due observance.
Hence the ordinary year may consist of 353, 354 or 355 days, and the
embolismic year of 383, 384 or 385 days.
In the modern Jewish calendar the New Year commences with the new moon of
Tisri, which may happen as early as the 5th of September or as late as the
5th of October. The new moon of Nisan, which is the first month in the
Sacred year, may happen as early as the 11th of March or as late as the
11th of April. It should be borne in mind that the names of the months
Abib, Zif, Ethanim and Bul were superceded after the captivity, by Nisan,
Iyar, Tisri and Hesvan or Marchesvan; also the name of the third month in
the civil year, Chisleu in the Bible, Kislev in the modern Jewish
calendar. In table No. 1 we have the names of the months in numerical
order, also the number of days in each month. Though the months consist of
30 and 29 days alternately, yet, in the embolismic year, Adar, which in
common years has 29 days, is given 30 days, and 2d Adar 29; so that two
months of 30 days come together. Table No. 2 shows the earliest and the
latest possible date of the new moons of each of the months respectively.
TABLE 1. HEBREW MONTHS.
_Sacred Year._ _Civil Year._
Nisan 30 | Tisri 30
Iyar 29 | Hesvan 29
Sivan 30 | Kislev 30
Tamuz 29 | Tebet 29
Ab 30 | Sebat 30
Elul 29 | Adar 30
Tisri 30 | 2d Adar, Embolismic 29
Hesvan 29 | Nisan 30
Kislev 30 | Iyar 29
Tebet 29 | Sivan 30
Sebat 30 | Tamuz 29
Adar 30 | Ab 30
2d Adar, Embolismic 29 | Elul 29
TABLE II. HEBREW MONTHS.
Nisan, March 11th or April 11th
Iyar, April 11th " May 10th
Sivan, May 10th " June 9th
Tamuz, June 9th " July 9th
Ab, July 9th " August 7th
Elul, August 7th " September 5th
Tisri, September 5th " October 5th
Hesvan, October 6th " November 4th
Kislev, November 4th " December 3d
Tebet, December 3d " January 2d
Sebat, January 3d " February 10th
Adar, February 10th " March 12th
The charts on the three following pages are used to illustrate the
correspondence of the Hebrew months with our own. Each chart represents
the ecliptic, which is the apparent path of the Sun or real path of the
Earth, also the names of the months as they occur in their seasons. The
figures represent the days of the month on which the new moons of the
Hebrew calendar fall. These charts represent the month and the day of the
month on which both the Sacred and the Civil year begins and ends for
three successive years. Hence it may be seen that by intercalating a month
every three years the new moons are restored, very nearly, to the place
they occupied three years before.
CHART I.
[Illustration: This chart represents the day of the month on which all the
new moons fall in the year 1891-92. The sacred year commenced with the new
moon of Nisan on the 9th of April, and the civil year with the new moon of
Tisri on the 3d of October, 1891, and ended respectively with the 28th of
March and the 21st of September, 1892.]
CHART II.
[Illustration: This chart represents the day of the month on which all the
new moons fall in the year 1892-93. It may be here seen that the year
begins and ends about eleven days earlier than the year preceding, also
that all the new moons fall eleven days earlier than they did in the
preceding year.]
CHART III.
[Illustration: This chart represents the year 1893-94. Though the year
begins about eleven days earlier than the preceding, viz.: the 17th of
March, yet it being the year in which a 2d Adar is intercalated, instead
of falling back eleven days, the beginning of the following year is
carried forward 20 days, making a year of 384 days; so that the year
1894-95 will commence with April 5. In 1891 we commenced with April 9. It
will be 19 years before we commence on the 9th of April again.]
APPENDIX.
A.--PAGE 12.
Authors differ in regard to the length of the solar year. One gives 365
days, 5 hours, 47 minutes and 51.5 seconds; another, 365 days, 5 hours, 48
minutes and 46 seconds; and still another, 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes
and 49.62 seconds. In this work the last has been accepted as the true
length of the solar year, and all calculations have been made accordingly.
B.--PAGE 19.
There is an apparent discrepancy among authors in regard to the
intercalary day. While one asserts that it was between the 24th and 25th
of February, another equally reliable, says that the 25th was the sexto
calendas and the 24th was the bis-sexto calendas of the Julian calendar.
Now it should be borne in mind that the Julian calendar is the basis of
our own, and is identical with it in the number of months in the year, and
in the number of days in the month. Also when the method of numbering the
days from the beginning of the month was adopted, the intercalation was
made to correspond with the intercalary day in the Julian calendar.
As in the Julian calendar there were twice the sixth day, so in the
reformed calendar there were twice the 24th day, which was equivalent to
29 days in February. When the calendar was again corrected, making the
29th the intercalary day, then the 24th corresponded with the bis-sexto
calendas of the Julian calendar. This reconciles the apparent
discrepancy. While one author refers to the calendar in which the Julian
rule of intercalation is adopted, another refers to the calendar when so
corrected as to make the 29th of February the intercalary day. See
following table:
-----------------------------------++-----------------------------------
JULIAN METHOD || MODERN METHOD
OF INTERCALATION. || OF INTERCALATION.
-----------------------------------++-----------------------------------
1 |_Cal._ | Calendae || 1 |_Cal._ | Calendae
2 | 4 | Quarto Nonas || 2 | 4 | Quarto Nonas
3 | 3 | Tertio Nonas || 3 | 3 | Tertio Nonas
4 | 2 | Pridie Nonas || 4 | 2 | Pridie Nonas
5 |_Nomes_| Nonae || 5 |_Nomes_| Nonae
6 | 8 | Octavo Idus || 6 | 8 | Octavo Idus
7 | 7 | Septimo Idus || 7 | 7 | Septimo Ides
8 | 6 | Sexto Idus || 8 | 6 | Sexto Idus
9 | 5 | Quinto Idus || 9 | 5 | Quinto Idus
10 | 4 | Quarto Idus || 10 | 4 | Quarto Idus
11 | 3 | Tertio Idus || 11 | 3 | Tertio Idus
12 | 2 | Pridie Idus || 12 | 2 | Pridie Idus
13 | _Ides_| Idus || 13 | _Ides_| Idus
14 | 16 | Sextodecimo Calendas || 14 | 16 | Sextodecimo Calendas
15 | 15 | Quintodecimo Calendas || 15 | 15 | Quintodecimo Calendas
16 | 14 | Quartodecimo Calendas || 16 | 14 | Quartodecimo Calendas
17 | 13 | Tertiodecimo Calendas || 17 | 13 | Tertiodecimo Calendas
18 | 12 | Duodecimo Calendas || 18 | 12 | Duodecimo Calendas
19 | 11 | Undecimo Calendas || 19 | 11 | Undecimo Calendas
20 | 10 | Decimo Calendas || 20 | 10 | Decimo Calendas
21 | 9 | Nono Calendas || 21 | 9 | Nono Calendas
22 | 8 | Octavo Calendas || 22 | 8 | Octavo Calendas
23 | 7 | Septimo Calendas || 23 | 7 | Septimo Calendas
24 | 6 | Bis-Sexto Calendas || 24 | 6 | Bis-sexto Calendas
24 | 6 | Sexto Calendas || 25 | 6 | Sexto Calendas
25 | 5 | Quinto Calendas || 26 | 5 | Quinto Calendas
26 | 4 | Quarto Calendas || 27 | 4 | Quarto Calendas
27 | 3 | Tertio Calendas || 28 | 3 | Tertio Calendas
28 | 2 | Pridie Calendas || 29 | 2 | Pridie Calendas
---+-------+-----------------------++----+-------+----------------------
C.--PAGE 20.
The city where the great council was convened in 325 is not in France, as
some have supposed, that being a more modern city of the same orthography,
but pronounced Nees. The city which is so frequently referred to in this
work is in Bythinia, one of the provinces of Asia Minor, situated about 54
miles southeast of Constantinople, of the same orthography as the former,
but pronounced Ni'ce, and was so named by Lysimachus, a Greek general,
about 300 years before Christ, in honor of his wife Nicea.
D.--PAGE 23.
Between the 23d and 24th of February, 46 years before Christ, there was
intercalated a month of 23 days according to an established method, but
still the civil year was in advance of the solar year by 67 days; so that
when the Earth in her annual revolutions should arrive to that point of
the ecliptic marked the 22d of October, it would be the 1st day of January
in the Roman year.
Caesar and his astronomers, knowing this fact and fixing on the 1st day of
January, 45 years before Christ and 709 from the foundation of Rome, for
the reformed calendar to take effect, were under the necessity of
intercalating two months, together consisting of 67 days. Now, as the
civil year would end on the 22d of October, true or solar time, it would
be reckoned in the old calendar the 1st day of January; so they let the
old calendar come to a stand while the Earth performs 67 diurnal
revolutions, and thereby restored the concurrence of the solar and the
civil year.
As an illustration, let us suppose that in a certain shop where hangs a
regulator are two clocks to be regulated. Both are set with the regulator
at 8 a. m. to see how they will run for ten consecutive hours. It was
found that when it was 6 p. m., by the first clock, it was 5:50 by the
regulator, the clock having gained one minute every hour.
To rectify this discrepancy we must intercalate 10 minutes by stopping the
clock until it is 6 by the regulator. By this means the coincidence is
restored, and the time lost in the preceding hours is now reckoned in this
last hour, making it to consist of 70 minutes. By this it may be seen how
Caesar reformed the Roman calendar. The Roman year was too short, by reason
of which the calendar was thrown into confusion, being 90 days in advance
of the true time, so that December, January and February took the place in
the seasons of September, October and November, and September, October and
November the place of June, July and August. To make the correction he
must stop the old Roman clock (the calendar) while the Earth performs 90
diurnal revolutions to restore the concurrence of the solar and the civil
year, making the year 46 B. C. to consist of 445 days.
It was also found that when it was 6 p. m., by the regulator, it was only
5:50 by the second clock, it having lost one minute every hour. To rectify
this discrepancy we must suppress 10 minutes, calling it 6 p. m., turning
the hands of the clock to coincide with the regulator, making the last
hour to consist of only 50 minutes, too much time having been reckoned in
the preceding hours. It may be seen by this illustration, how Gregory
corrected the Julian calendar, the Julian year was too long, consequently
behind true or solar time, so that when the correction was made in 1582,
the ten days gained had to be suppressed to restore the coincidence,
making the year to consist of only 355 days.
As the solar year consists of 365 days and a fraction, Caesar intended to
retain the concurrence of the solar and the civil year by intercalating a
day every four years; but this made the year a little too long, by reason
of which it became necessary, in 1582, to rectify the error, and by
adopting the Gregorian rule, three intercalations are suppressed every 400
years; so that by a series of intercalations and suppressions, our
calendar may be preserved in its present state of perfection.
E.--PAGE 23.
As the day and the civil year always commence at the same instance, so
they must end at the same instance; and as the solar year always ends with
a fraction, not only of a day, but of an hour, a minute and even a second;
so there is no rule of intercalation by which the solar and the civil year
can be made to coincide exactly. But the discrepancy is only a few hours
in a hundred years, and that is so corrected by the Gregorian rule of
intercalation that it would amount to a little more than a day in 4,000
years; and by the improved method less than a day in 100,000 years.
F.--PAGE 26.
It has been stated that by adopting the Julian rule of intercalation, time
was gained; it has also been stated that by the same rule time was lost.
Now both are true. Time is gained in that there is too much time in a
given year, in other words, the year is too long; but what is gained in a
given year is lost to the following year.
As an illustration let us take the case of the supposed solar year of 365
days, and the civil year of 366. The civil year would gain one day every
year, or be too long by one day; but the one day gained is lost to the
following years, and if continued 31 years, when the Earth is in that part
of its orbit marked the 1st day of January 32, the civil year would reckon
the 1st day of December 31; so that in the thirty-one years would reckon
thirty-one days too much, and before the civil year is completed, the
Earth will have passed on in its orbit to a point marked the 1st day of
February.
Now to reform such a calendar, we would have to suppress or drop the
thirty-one days, by calling the 1st day of December the 1st day of
January, and thus the month of December would disappear from the calendar
in the year 31, making a year of only eleven months, consisting of 334
days.
If this method be continued 92 years, there would be gained 92 days, to
the loss of 92 days in the year 92. If the calendar be now reformed by
suppressing 92 days, calling the 1st day of October, 92, the 1st day of
January, 93, then October, November and December would disappear from the
calendar in the year 92; and if continued 365 years there would be crowded
into 364 years, 364 days too much; gained to the 364 years to the total
loss of the year 365, passing from 364 to 366; 365 disappearing from the
calendar.
G.--PAGE 50.
An era is a fixed point of time from which a series of years is reckoned.
Among the nations of the Earth there are no less than twenty-five
different eras; but the most of them are not of enough importance to be
mentioned here. Attention is particularly called to the Roman era which
commenced with the building of the city of Rome 753 years before Christ.
Also the Mahometan era, or the era of the Hegira, employed in Turkey,
Persia and Arabia, which is dated from the flight of Mahomet from Mecca to
Medina, which was Thursday night, the 15th of July, A. D., 622, and it
commenced on Friday, the day following.
But there is a point from which all computation originally commenced,
namely, the creation of man. Such an era is called the Mundane era. Now
there are different Mundane eras--the common Mundane era 4,004 B. C., the
Grecian Mundane era 5,598 B. C., and the Jewish Mundane era 3,761 B. C.
All these commence computation from the same point, but differ in regard
to the time which has elapsed since their computation commenced. God's
people used the Mundane era, until the Great Creator appeared among us, as
one of us, in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, to accomplish the great
work of redemption; then His name was introduced as the turning point of
the ages, the starting point of computation.
This was done by Dionysius Exiguus in the year of our Lord about 540,
known at that time as the Dionysian, as well as the Christian era, and was
first used in historical works by the venerable Bede early in the eighth
century. "It was a great thought of the little monk (whether so called
from his humility or littleness of stature is unknown), to view Christ as
the turning point of the ages, and to introduce this view into
chronology."
All honor to him who introduced it, and to the nations which have
approved, for thus honoring the Great Redeemer. Dionysius probably did not
know, neither is it now known for a certainty the year of Christ's birth,
but it is evident, however, from the best authorities, that the era
commenced at least five years too late, and probably more.
H.--PAGE 57.
It is recorded that, in the time of Numa, the vernal equinox fell on the
25th of March, and that Julius Caesar restored it to the 25th, when he
reformed the ancient Roman calendar in the year 46 B. C. It is also
recorded that in less than 400 years from that time, at the meeting of the
Council of Nice in 325, it had fallen back to the 21st--four days in less
than 400 years.
Now there is an error somewhere, for it is found by actual computation
that the discrepancy between the solar and the Julian year is about three
days in 400 years. It certainly is true that the vernal equinox fell on
the 21st in 325, and was restored to that place by Gregory in 1582; since
which time it has been made to fall on the 21st by the Gregorian rule of
intercalation. Again it is stated by the same author that the
discrepancies in time from Caesar to Gregory is thirteen days, from the
Council of Nice to Gregory ten days; now 10 + 4 = 14. While our author
states it is thirteen days, he also states it is fourteen days; a
discrepancy of one day. The mistake evidently is in making the 25th
instead of the 24th, the date of the vernal equinox in the time of Caesar,
consequently a difference of four days instead of three from Caesar to the
Council of Nice.
I.--PAGE 59.
The concurrence of the solar and the civil year was restored by Gregory in
1582, or 1600 is the same in computation; but the discrepancy between
civil and solar time is 11 minutes and 10.38 seconds every year, which in
100 years will amount to 18 hours, and 37.3 minutes; reckoned in round
numbers 18 hours, and is represented on the chart, hours behind time 18.
The intercalary day or 24 hours being suppressed in 1700, causes the civil
year to be 6 hours in advance of the solar, and is represented on the
chart 6 hours in advance.
Now this discrepancy of 18 hours for the next 100 years, will cause the
civil year in 1800 to be 12 hours behind; again suppressing the
intercalation it will be 12 hours in advance. In 1900 it will be 6 hours
behind, but the correction makes 18 hours in advance. The 18 hours gained
the next 100 years restores the coincidence in the year 2000 and so on,
the solar and the civil year being made to coincide very nearly every 400
years.
From close examination it will become evident that the solar and the civil
year coincide twice every 400 years, though no account is made of it in
computation. From 6 hours in advance in 1700, the civil year falls back to
12 hours behind the solar in 1800, consequently they must coincide in
1733.
Again from 12 hours in advance in 1800, it falls back to 6 hours behind
the solar in 1900, consequently they must coincide again in 1867.
Discrepancy between Julian and solar time in--1 year is (365d. 6h.)
- (365d. 5h. 48m. 49.62s.) = (11m. 10.38s.)
100 years is (11m. 10.38s.) x 100 = (18h. 37.3.)
400 " (18h. 37.3m.) x 4 = (3d. 2h. 29.2m.)
4,000 " (3d. 2h. 29.2m.) x 10 = (31d. 0h. 52m.)
100,000 " (31d. 0h. 52m.) x 25 = (773d. 21h. 40m.)
Discrepancy between Gregorian and solar time in--
1 year is .373m.
100 years is .373m. x 100 = 37.3m.
400 years 37.3m. x 4 = 2h. 29.2m.
4,000 " (2h. 29.2m.) x 10 = 1d. 0h. 52m.
100,000 " (1d. 0h. 52m.) x 25 = 25d. 21h. 40m.
Discrepancy between corrected Gregorian and solar time in--
4,000 years is (1d. 0h. 52m.) - 1 day = 52m.
100,000 " " (52m. x 25) = 21h. 40m.
J.--PAGE 89.
Lilius, author of the "Extended Table of Epacts," says, when the full moon
falls on the 10th of March, the following moon, which happens 29 days
later, is the paschal moon, making the 18th of April its latest possible
date. For, says he, because of the double epact that occurs on the 4th and
5th of April that lunation has only 29 days. It may have been very
convenient for Lilius, in his peculiar method of determining the date of
the paschal moon, to give to that lunation only 29 days; but nevertheless,
when he did so, it was at the expense of accuracy, for he makes a
difference of 12 days in the date of the paschal moon of that year, and
the year preceding, and only 10 days difference between that year and the
succeeding year; whereas the difference is uniformly 11 days from year to
year through the whole cycle of 19 years.
By referring to the table on the 93d page, it will be seen that, in fixing
the date of the paschal moon, six times in a cycle of 19 years the full
moon falls before the 21st of March, and in every instance except this one
the following moon is reckoned by Lilius 30 days later. By this uniform
method of determining the date of the paschal moon, we make the 19th of
April instead of the 18th, its latest possible date; so it should be borne
in mind that whenever the 19th of April is the date of the paschal moon,
as indicated in the tables commencing with the 93d page, that Lilius, and
probably most, if not all other authors, have the 18th.
Now it is admitted that notwithstanding the cumbersome apparatus employed
by Lilius in his calculations, the conditions of the problem are not
always satisfied, nor is it possible that they can be always satisfied by
any similar method of proceeding. We admit that none of these calculations
are perfectly exact, but the sum of the solar and lunar inequalities is
compensated in the whole period, or corrections made at the end of certain
periods, not by interrupting the order of a uniform method during the
cycle of 19 years.
Now the table of epacts was introduced by Lilius himself, making the
excess of the solar year beyond the lunar, in round numbers 11 days. Then
why interrupt this order every 19 years, for a period of 114 years; that
is from 1596 to 1710, by making the epact 12 days for one year, and the
following year only 10? After which, from 1710 to 1900, a period of 190
years, according to Lilius' own calculations, the epact is uniformly 11
days, coinciding exactly with the calculations made in this work.
Then again after the year 1900, he gives to that particular lunation, in
every lunar cycle for a period of 304 years, only 29 days; and having done
so, he is under the necessity of giving only 29 days to another lunation
in the same cycle, and also to all the cycles in the period to avoid the
absurdity of making the paschal moon fall twice on the same day in the
course of a lunar cycle.
By reference to the 101st page, opposite the year 1905, it will be seen
that the date of the paschal moon is the 19th of April. Lilius, by giving
to that lunation only 29 days, makes its date the 18th; and then again in
the year 1916, lest he should make the paschal moon fall twice on the 18th
of April in the course of a lunar cycle, (a thing which cannot really
occur) he for the first time in more than 400 years, gives only 29 days to
a second lunation in the same cycle and of course to all the cycles in the
period of 304 years. Now the epacts for a lunar cycle of 19 years are
represented thus:
26
--
0, 11, 22, 3, 14, 25, 6, 17, 28, 9, 20
27
--
1, 12, 23, 4, 15, 26, 7, 18
The number 26 placed over the 25 shows Lilius' first error in giving to
that lunation only 29 days. He thereby makes a difference of 12 days
between the epact 14 and 26, and only 10 between 26 and 6. He now has two
epacts of the same number 26. In order to get out of the dilemma he makes
that 27, by giving to another lunation only 29 days.
K.--PAGE 122-3.
It will probably be noticed that according to the showing in the tables
the ecclesiastical year contains only 364 days. The reason for this is,
that Advent Sunday, which is the first day of the year, happens one day
earlier every year until it occurs on the 27th of November, its earliest
possible date; then the first Sunday after the 26th of November, which is
Advent Sunday, falls on the 3d of December, its latest possible date, so
that the year begins six days later, making a year of 371 days. Then there
is the loss of a day every year until Advent Sunday again falls on the
27th of November and so on. Hence, did the civil year always consist of
365 days, then the ecclesiastical year would always contain either 364 or
371 days. But as every fourth year contains 366 days, this order is so
interrupted that sometimes the first Sunday falls on the 2d instead of the
3d of December; so that the year begins only five days later, making a
year of only 370 days. Hence the ecclesiastical year may consist of either
364, 370 or 371 days. But five times out of six it will contain only 364
days.
L.--PAGE 83.
But why did the Pope, in correcting the Julian calendar in 1582, not
correct the whole error of thirteen days? Why did he leave the three days
uncorrected? This question has been asked an hundred times, but a correct
answer has never yet been given. Some say that the Pope did according to
his best ability, and would make us believe that neither he nor his
astronomers knew what the error was. This is not true, for history records
the fact of the error, and just what that error was. He simply did not
want to correct the three days, and for good reasons, which we shall
endeavor to show; reasons which every churchman ought to know.
When Caesar formed his calendar, 46 B. C., the vernal equinox fell on the
24th of March. At the meeting of the Council of Nice, in 325, it had
fallen back to the 21st, the error being three days in about 400 years.
Now it should be borne in mind that the Julian calendar was the only one
in use at that time, and for the next 1257 years, when in 1582, it was
corrected by Pope Gregory XIII. Easter, and all the movable feasts, had
been unsettled during the 1257 years intervening, from the Council of Nice
to Gregory, on account of the errors of the Julian calendar. The Easter
question had been the cause of a good deal of discussion between the
Eastern and Western churches during the second and third centuries, as
they could not agree on the day of the week on which that event should be
celebrated.
The Western churches observed the nearest Sunday to the full moon of
Nisan. The Asiatics, on the other hand, adopted the 14th of Nisan upon
which to commemorate the crucifixion, and observed the festival of Easter
on the third day following, upon whatever day of the week that might fall.
Finally, the Council of Nice was convened, and the matter came before that
council, and a reconciliation was accomplished. It was then and there
agreed by the two parties that Easter should be celebrated on the first
Sunday after the full moon that falls upon or next following the day of
the vernal equinox, and that the 21st of March should be accounted the day
of the vernal equinox.
It has already been shown that the error in the Julian calendar is three
days in 400 years; so that in 400 years from the Council of Nice the
vernal equinox had fallen back to the 18th of March; in 800 years it had
fallen back to the 15th; in 1257 years, that is in 1582, it fell on the
11th. Still the 21st of March, by the only calendar in use at that time,
was accounted the date of the vernal equinox, by which date Easter was
determined, so that, in 1582, when it was the 21st by the calendar, the
correct date was the 31st. Hence, the error had been increasing at the
rate of three days every 400 years until in 1582 it amounted to ten days.
Again it should be borne in mind that the Pope was a churchman and wished
to abide by the decision of that council in celebrating the festival of
Easter, so he drops the ten days and restores the vernal equinox to the
21st of March, its date at the meeting of the Council of Nice in 325, the
date by which Easter day was determined. He not only made the correction,
but he so reformed the calendar that the solar and the civil year are now
made to coincide very nearly. Had he dropped the thirteen days, the vernal
equinox would have been restored to the 24th of March, its date in the
time of Caesar, and the 24th would still be its date. But the Council of
Nice decided that the 21st should be the date by which Easter day should
be determined. Hence the reason for dropping the ten days instead of the
thirteen is evident; and it is also evident that the Pope acted
understandingly when he made the correction in 1582.
ERRATA.
On 51st page, ninth line from the bottom of the page, instead of 1453 / 43
= 63+, should be 1453 / 4 = 363+.
On 76th page, twelfth line from the top of the page, 356 should be 365.
THE COLUMBUS CELEBRATION.
THE WELLSBORO MAN WHO BROUGHT ABOUT THE CHANGE IN THE DATE.
_State Superintendent D. J. Waller, in the School Journal._
Who brought about the change in the date? It was down in the books as
October 12th. The Committee of the National Educational Association issued
circulars to the country to observe that day. Congress solemnly resolved
that that day should be celebrated throughout the land. The Commissioners
of the World's Fair fixed upon October 12, as dedication-day, and sent out
invitations to the exercises. Suddenly there was a change. Heralded by no
newspaper discussion, preceded by no exhaustive treatise, without any
authoritative decree, a change was made to October 21.
The following facts are indisputable. An aged retired minister in the
Methodist Episcopal Church, living in Wellsboro, Tioga County, Pa., author
of a little book entitled "Our Calendar," Rev. George Nichols Packer, saw
the error. He possessed the confidence of Judge Henry W. Williams, of the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. After laying the facts before him, he
secured through him the approval by the several Justices composing that
body, of an effort to change to the proper date, October 21st. Equipped
with this approval, he secured the endorsement of his project by Governor
Pattison and some of the heads of the Executive departments at Harrisburg.
He then went to Washington, gained an audience with the President, laid
the subject before the member of Congress from his district, and went
before the Congressional Committee.
The evidence in support of the proposition was so presented that it could
not be successfully disputed. Congressman W. A. Stone skillfully enlisted
influential collegiates in an effort to correct the error already widely
spread. The correction by the National Legislature was in time to have its
influence upon President Harrison, who named October 21 in his
proclamation, as the day to be observed, and Boston and Chicago fell into
line.
All honor to Rev. George Nichols Packer, of Wellsboro, Tioga County,
Pennsylvania.
Transcriber's Notes:
Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.
Punctuation has been corrected without note.
Corrections noted in the Errata section have been applied to the text.
The following misprints have been corrected:
"aad" corrected to "and" (page 8)
"leap-year" corrected to "leap-years" (page 45)
missing "the" added (page 45)
"1993" corrected to "1793" (page 63)
"co-incide" standardized to "coincide" (page 71)
"Caesar" standardized to "Caesar" (page 71)
"conseqently" corrected to "consequently" (page 74)
"1736" corrected to "1737" (page 96)
"countenace" corrected to "countenance" (page 114)
Other than the corrections listed above, inconsistencies in spelling and
hyphenation have been retained from the original.
On page 37, "3 400" is presented with a space as in the original text.