The parts that time is distinguished into, are _Days_, _Hours_,
_Weeks_, _Months_, and _Years_.
A Day is either natural or artificial.
[Sidenote: _Natural_ and _Artificial Day_.]
A _Natural Day_ is the space of time elapsed while the Sun goes from
any meridian or horary circle, ’till he arrives to the same again; or,
it is the time contained from noon, or any particular hour, to the next
noon, or the same hour again: An _Artificial Day_ is the time betwixt
the Sun’s rising and setting; to which is opposed the _Night_, that is,
the time the Sun is hid under the horizon.
[Sidenote: _Hours_, &c.]
[Sidenote: _Equinoxes._]
[Sidenote: _Vernal_ and _Autumnal Equinox_.]
[Sidenote: _Solstices._]
[Sidenote: _Summer_ and _Winter Solstices_.]
The _Natural Day_ is divided into 24 _Hours_, each hour into 60
_Minutes_, each minute into 60 _Seconds, &c._ The _Artificial Days_ are
always unequal to all the inhabitants that are not under the equator,
except when the Sun is in the equinoctial points ♈ and ♋, which happens
(according to our way of reckoning) about the 21st of _March_, and
the 23d of _September_; at those times the Sun rises at six and sets
at six to all the inhabitants of the Earth. These days are called the
_Equinoxes_, or _Equinoctial Days_; the first of which, or when the Sun
is in the first point of _Aries_, is called the _Vernal Equinox_, and
the latter is called the _Autumnal Equinox_. In all places where the
Sun descends below the horizon, excepting under the equator, the days
continually lengthen or shorten, and that faster or slower, according
as the Sun is nearer to, or further from the equinoctial, until he
arrives to either of the _Solstitial Points_ ♋ or ♑. At those times
the Sun seems to stand still for a few days, and then begins to return
with a slow motion towards the equinoctial, still hastening his pace
as he comes nearer to it: The Sun enters the tropics of ♋ and ♑, about
the 21st of _June_, and the 22d of _December_, which days are sometimes
called the _Solstices_; the first of which we call the _Summer
Solstice_, and the latter the _Winter Solstice_.
[Sidenote: The different beginning of the day.]
All nations do not begin their day, and reckon their hours alike. In
_Great-Britain_. _France_, and _Spain_, and in most places in _Europe_,
the days is reckoned to begin at midnight, from whence is counted
twelve hours ’till noon, then twelve hours more ’till next midnight,
which makes a compleat day; yet the _Astronomers_ (in these countries)
commonly begin their day at noon, and so reckon 24 hours ’till next
noon, and not twice twelve, according to the vulgar computation.
[Sidenote: _Babylonish Hours._]
[Sidenote: _Italian Hours._]
The _Babylonians_ began their day at Sun-rising, and reckoned 24 hours
’till he rose again! This way of computation we call the _Babylonish
Hours_. In several parts of _Germany_ they count their hours from
Sun-setting, calling the first hour after the Sun has set, the first
hour, _&c._ ’till he sets the next day, which they call the 24th hour:
These are commonly called the _Italian Hours_. According to both these
ways of computation, their hours are commonly either a little greater
or less than the ¹/₂₄ part of a natural day, in proportion as the Sun
rises or sets sooner or later in the succeeding days. They have also
this inconvenience, that their mid-day and midnight happen on different
hours, according to the seasons of the year.
[Sidenote: _Jewish Hours._]
[Sidenote: _Planetary Hours._]
The _Jews_ and the _Romans_ formerly divided the artificial days and
nights each into 12 equal parts; these are termed the _Jewish Hours_,
and are of different lengths, according to the seasons of the year;
a _Jewish Hour_ in summer being longer than one in winter, and a
night-hour shorter. This method of computation is now in use among the
_Turks_, and the hours are stiled the _first hour_, _second hour, &c._
of the day or night; so that _Mid-day_ always falls on the sixth hour
of the day. These hours are also called _Planetary Hours_, because in
every hour one of the seven Planets were suppose to preside over the
World, and so take it by turns. The first hour after Sun-rising on
_Sunday_ was allotted to the _Sun_; the next to _Venus_, the third to
_Mercury_; and the rest in order to the _Moon_, _Saturn_, _Jupiter_,
and _Mars_. By this means on the first hour of the next day, the Moon
presided, and so gave the name to that day; and so seven days by this
method had names given them from the Planets that were supposed to
govern on the first hour.
[Sidenote: _A Week._]
A _Week_ is a system of seven days, in which each day is distinguished
by a different name. In most countries these days are called after the
names of the seven Planets, as above noted. All nations that have any
notion of religion, lay apart one day in seven for public worship; the
day solemnized by _Christians_ is _Sunday_, or the first day of the
week, being that on which our saviour rose from the grave, on which
the apostles afterwards used more particularly to assemble together
to perform divine worship. The _Jews_ observed _Saturday_, or the
seventh day of the week, for their sabbath, or day of rest, being that
appointed in the fourth commandment under the Law. The _Turks_ perform
their religious ceremonies on _Friday_.
[Sidenote: _A Month._]
[Sidenote: _Periodical_ and _Synodical Month_.]
A _Month_ is properly a certain space of time measured by the Moon in
his course round the Earth. A _Lunar Month_ is either _Periodical_
or _Synodical_. A _Periodical Month_ is that space of time the Moon
takes to perform her course from one point in the ecliptic ’till she
arrives to the same again, which is 27 days, and some odd hours; and
a _Synodical Month_ is the time betwixt one new Moon, and the next
new Moon, which is commonly about 29½ days. But a _Civil Month_, is
different from these, and consists of a certain number of days, fewer
or more, according to the laws and customs of the country where they
are observed.
[Sidenote: A _Year Sydereal_ and _Tropical_.]
The compleatest period of time is a _Year_, in which all the variety
of seasons return, and afterwards begin anew. A _Year_ is either
_Astronomical_ or _Civil_. An _Astronomical Year_ is either a _Sydereal_
wherein the Sun departing from a fixed Star, returns to it again; or
_Tropical_, which is the space of time the Sun takes to perform his
course from any point of the ecliptic, ’till he returns to it again.
A _Tropical Year_ consists of 365 days, 5 hours, and 49 minutes; this
is the time in which all the seasons compleatly returns, which is a
small matter less than a Sydereal Year.
[Sidenote: _Egyptian Year._]
The _Civil Year_ is the same with the _Political_ established with the
laws of a country; and is either moveable or immoveable. The moveable
year consists of 365 days, being less than the tropical year by almost
six hours, and is called the _Egyptian Year_, because observed in that
Country.
The _Romans_ divided the year into 12 kalendar months, to which they
gave particular names, and are still retained by most of the _European_
nations, _viz. January_, _February_, _March_, _April_, _May_, _June_,
_July_, _August_, _September_, _October_, _November_, and _December_.
The number of days in each month may be known by the following verses:
_Thirty Days hath_ September,
April, June, _and_ November;
February _hath Twenty-eight alone_,
_And all the rest have Thirty-one_.
The year is also divided into four quarters or seasons, _viz._
_Spring_, _Summer_, _Autumn_, and _Winter_. These quarters are properly
made when the Sun enters into the equinoctial and solstitial points
of the ecliptic; but in civil uses they are differently reckoned,
according to the customs of several countries. In _England_, we
commonly reckon the first day of _January_ to be the first in the
year, which is therefore vulgarly called _New-Year’s-Day_; but in
political and ecclesiastical affairs, the year is reckoned to commence
on _Lady-day_ which is the 25th of _March_; and from thence to
_Midsummer-day_, which is the 24th of _June_, is reckoned the first
quarter; from _Midsummer-day_ to _Michaelmas-day_, which is the 29th of
_September_, is the second quarter; the third quarter is reckoned from
_Michaelmas-day_ to _Christmas-day_, which is the 25th of _December_;
and from _Christmas-day_ to _Lady-day_, is reckoned the last quarter
in the year. In common affairs, a quarter is reckoned from a certain
day to the same in the fourth month following. Sometimes a month is
reckoned four weeks, or 28 days, and so a quarter 12 weeks. To all the
inhabitants in the (Northern/Southern) Hemisphere, their _Midsummer_ is
properly when the Sun is in the tropic of (_Cancer_,/_Capricorn_,) and
their _Midwinter_ at the opposite time of the year; but those who live
under the equinoctial have two winters, _&c._ when the Sun is in either
tropic; tho’ indeed properly, there is no season that may be called
winter in those parts of the world.
[Sidenote: _Bissextile_, or _Leap-Year_.]
The _Egyptian_ year of 365 days being less than the true solar year,
by almost six hours, it follows, that four such years are less than
four solar years by a whole day; and therefore in 365 times four years,
that is, in 1460 years, the beginning of the years move through all
the seasons. To remedy this inconveniency, _Julius Cæsar_ (considering
that the six hours, which remain at the end of every year, will in four
years make a natural day) ordered that every fourth year should have an
intercalary day, which therefore consists of 366 days; the day added
was put in the month of _February_, by postponing St. _Matthias_’s
day, which in common years fall on the 24th, to the 25th of the said
month, all the fixed feasts in the year from thenceforwards falling
a week-day later than otherwise they would. According to the _Roman_
way of reckoning, the 24th of _February_ was the sixth of the kalends
of _March_, and it was ordered that for this year there should be two
sixths, or that the sixth of the kalends of _March_ should be twice
repeated; upon which account the year was called _Bissextile_, which we
now call the _Leap-Year_.
To find whether the year of our Lord be leap-year, or the first,
second, or third after; divide it by four, and the remainder, if there
be any, shews how many years it is after leap-year; but if there be no
remainder, then that year is leap-year: Or, you may omit the hundreds
and scores, and divide the residue by 4, _Examp._ 1757, omitting the
hundreds and the twenties, I divide the residue 17, by 4, and the
remainder 1, shews it to be the first after leap-year.
[Sidenote: _Julian Account_ or _the Old Style_.]
This method of reckoning the year, _viz._ making the common year to
consist of 365 days, and every fourth year to have 366 days, is now
used in _Great-Britain_ and _Ireland_, and some of the Northern parts
of _Europe_, and is called the _Julian Account_, or the _Old Style_.
But the time appointed by _Julius Cæsar_ for the length of a solar year
is too much; for the Sun finishes his course in the ecliptic, in 365
days, 5 hours, and 49 minutes, which is 11 minutes less than the civil
year; and therefore he again begins his circuit 11 minutes before the
civil year is ended; and so much being gained every year, amounts in
131 years, to a whole day. So that if the Sun in any year entered the
equinox upon the 20th of _March_ at noon, after the space of 131 years,
he’ll enter the same point on the same hour, on the 19th of _March_.
And therefore the exquinoxes will not always fall on the same day of
the month, but by degrees will move towards the beginning of the year.
[Sidenote: _Gregorian Account_, or _New Style_.]
At the time of the _Council of Nice_, when the terms were settled for
observing of _Easter_, the _Vernal Equinox_ fell upon the 21st of
_March_; but by its falling backwards 11 minutes every year, it was
found that in _Anno_ 1582, when the kalendar was corrected, the Sun
entered the equinoctial circle on the 11th of _March_, having departed
ten whole days from its former place in the year: and therefore Pope
_Gregory_ the XIIIth, designing to place the equinoxes in their
situation with respect to the year, took these ten days out of the
kalendar, and ordered that the 11th of _March_ should be reckoned as
the twenty-first: And to prevent the seasons of the year from going
backwards for the future, he ordered every hundredth year, which in
_Julian_ form was to be a _Bissextile_, should be a common year, and
consist only of 365 days; but that being too much, every fourth hundred
was to remain _Bissextile_. This form of reckoning being established
by the authority of Pope _Gregory_ XIII. is called the _Gregorian
Account_, or the _New Style_; and is observed in all the countries
where the authority of the Pope is acknowledged, and likewise by
several nations of the reformed religion. There being now above an
hundred years past, since the reformation was made in the kalendar, the
_Gregorian_ account has accordingly got before the _Julian_ one day
more than it was in the time of its institution, the difference between
these two accounts being now eleven days; so that the first day of any
month, according to that way of reckoning, is the 12th of the same
month, according to the New Style.