Of the Original of the Gregorian Year, or New Style.

Civil Solar Year, by adding 10 Days to every common Year of Numa's, and one Day extraordinary to every fourth Year, as aforefaid. This therefore was ever fince call'd the Julian Year or Account, and Old Style, which is still used by us in England, and by all Proteftant Countries, except thofe of Holland and Germany.

BUT fince the Julian Year of 365 Days and 6 Hours exceeds the true Solar Year by 11 Minutes, this Excess in 131 Years amounts to one Day; and in the Time of Pope Gregory XIII. was grown into 10 Days. The Nicene Council A. D. 325. having fix'd Easter to the next Sunday after the Full Moon, which came next after the Vernal Equinox, which was then on the 20th of March, it happen'd that in the Year of our Lord 1582 Pope Gregory obferv'd, that the faid Fault of the Julian Year had caft the Equinoxes 10 Days, and the Full Moons 4 Days more backward, than they were at the Time of the faid Council; viz. to the 11th of March, and ift of April. Thus the Feast of Easter, and confequently all other Moveable Feafts, became unfix'd, and attended with great Disorder. To remedy this, the Pope order'd 10 Days to be taken from October that Year, that thus the Equinox might be reduced to the 21ft of March; and to keep it there, order'd, that, fince in the Julian Account every 100th Year is a Biffextile, and fo 4 in 400 Years, in the Ages to come, 3 of thofe 4 Leap-Years fhould be chang'd to common Years, and that only one 100th Year in every 4 Centuries fhould conclude with a Biffextile. This Correction adjusts the Year and Seafons near the Truth, and is call'd the Gregorian Account, or New Style, and is used by the Papists every where.

THE

THE firft and principal Divifion of the Year Of Months is into Parts we call Months; and these are of and the feveral Sorts. as many Kinds as are the Years of which they are Parts; viz. Aftronomical and Civil. The Aftronomical Aftronomical Month, which is alfo the natural and Civil, one, is properly a Lunar Month, or the Space

of Time in which the Moon runs thro' the Zodiac; and is either (1.) Synodical, call'd a' Lu- Lunar Synodi nation; which is the Time contain'd between the cal. Moon's parting from the Sun at a Conjunction, and returning to him again; which is in 29 D. 12 H. 44' 3". (2.) Periodical Month; which is the Periodical, Space of Time wherein the Moon makes one compleat Revolution, or returns to the fame Point of the Zodiac whence the departed; this contains 27 D. 7 H. 43' 8". (3.) The Illu- Illuminativą. minative Month is the Time between the Appearance of two New Moons next each other, or the Time a Moon is obferv'd to shine; which is always variable.

THE Solar Month is improperly thus call'd, as being only the Space of Time in which the Sun runs thro' one Sign of the Zodiac: Which Months, one with another, contain each 30 D. 10 H. 29'. 5".

Civil Months are thofe which are framed to ferve the Ufes of civil Life; and are different in different Nations and Countries of the World. These come very near the Quantity of Aftronomical Months, both Lunar and Solar: Whence came the Diftinction of Civil Lunar and Civil Solar Months. A Civil Lunar Month confifteth alternately of 29 and 30 Days thro' the Year. Thofe of 29 Days were call'd Cavi, or Hollow; and thofe of 30, Pleni, or Full. Civil Solar Months confifted alternately of 30 and 31 Days; except one of the 12, which every 4th Year was to have 30 Days, in other Years 29 only. Z 3

THE

THE Names, Quantities, &c. of the Civil Months used by feveral Nations to compofe their Years or Calendars, may be seen in the following Tables.

Days.

A MONTH is divided into four Parts which The Divifion of a Month into we call Weeks, and each Week is again made to Weeks and confift of feven Parts call'd Days. Of these Months there are thirteen in a Julian Year, and one Day over; of Weeks there are fifty-two, and of Days three hundred and fixty-five, as before obferv'd.

A DAY is either the Space of Time contain❜d Definition of between the Moments of the Sun's Rifing and a Day. Setting, or in which he makes one entire Revolu

tion. The firft is call'd an Artificial Day; the Artificial and Latter a Natural Day, and by the Greeks Nych- Natural. themeron, because it included the Night and artificial Day together.

THE Artificial Day is ever variable and un- Of Artificial equal; for the Sun's Courfe being always oblique Days. to the Horizon, and always varying, caufeth that the Time of his Stay, or his Duration above the Horizon, which is the artificial Day, is ever variable and changing, and that in Reality for one

Z 4

half

Of Natural Days. Aftronomical or Civil.

half of the Year, or the Time the Sun is paffing from one Solstice to the other, increafing or decreafing. This is evident from the Doctrine of the Sphere.

THE Natural Day is either Aftronomical or Civil: The Aftronomical Day is the Time which flows between the Sun's leaving any Meridian and its Return to the fame; that is, the Space of Time in which the Earth makes one Revolution Aftronomical about its Axis, which is twenty-four Hours, and Day unequal. the Time answering to the Degrees it hath defcrib'd in its annual Orb during that Revolution, Now this additional Motion is always unequal,both becaufe of the Obliquity of the Plane of the Ecliptic to the Plane of the Equator, and also because of the Oval Figure of the Earth's Motion; but one time with another it is 59' 8'1 per Day, Its mean Mea- which is perform'd in 3' oll 32. Therefore a Jure. mean aftronomical Day confifts of 24 H. 3' o' 32/11.

Of the Civil
Day.

The time when Several Nations begin their Civil

Day.

THE Civil Natural Day is that which is mea fur'd out by the equable Motion of Machines, as Clocks, Watches, and other Automata. This is always equal, and contains 24 Hours.

THE Beginning of this Natural Civil Day is various according to the different Ufage of People. The antient Greeks, Jews, Bohemians, Silefians, with the modern Italians, and Chinese, commence the Civil Day at Sun-fet. The an tient Babylonians, Perfians, Syrians, with the modern Grecians, &c. begin their Day from Sunrife. The Aufonians, Egyptians, Romans, with the modern English, French, Dutch, Germans, Spaniards and Portuguese, at Midnight. And, laftly, the Umbrians, and Arabians, with the modern Aftronomers, begin their Day at Noon, But in this Affair you meet with fome Uncer