Draft proposals for rectifying the Julian calendar

<1r>

The Iulian year now in use is very irregular, February has but 28 days & the other months 30 & 31 days without any regular order or reason for the irregularity.

The best form of the solar year is to divide it by the 4 cardinal periods of the Equinoxes & Solstices into 4 quarters, so that the quarters of the yeare may begin at the Equinoxes & Solstices as they ought to do, & then to divide every quarter into 3 equal months which will be done by making the six winter months to consist of 30 days each & the six summer months of 31 days each excepting one of them (suppose the last) which in the leap year shall have 31 days in the other thre years only 30 days. / At the end of every hundred years omit the intercalary day in the leap year excepting at the end of every five hundred years. For this rule is exacter then the Gregorian of omitting it at the end of every hundred years excepting at the end of every 400 years. And this recconing by five hundreds & thousands of years is rounder then the other by four, eight & twelve hundreds. And this I take to be the simplest & in all respects the best form of the civil year that can be thought of.

And this is all the reformation of the year which need be made at first

As for the Ecclesiastical year if the fixt Feasts be still placed on the same days of the months of this New Year as in the Iulian year, they will come nearer to the truth then they do at present. For they are now become about 14 days later then they were in the first century in respect of summer & winter whereas in this new year they will be only eight or 9 days sooner. So that the Calendar will be amended almost half in half by this new year without translating the fixt feasts to other days of the months.

But if it may be allowed to translate them to other days of the months so as to bring them nearer to the places where they were in the first Century in respect of Summer and Winter the Calendar may be still amended as follows.

1. Let Lady day (the first day of the Ecclesiastical year) be removed from the 25^t of March to the first of Aprill & the Ecclesiastical year will begin at the Equinox & on the first day of the month as it ought to do, whereas in the present Iulian year it begins neither at the Equinox nor on the first day of the month but on the 25^t of March & 16 days after the Equinox.

2. Let Michaelmas be removed from the 29 of September to the 1^st of October & the two principal days of payment will fall on the Equinoxes & on the first days of the months which begin the spring & autumnal quarters of the year which is very proper & ready for recconing, & also more just for contracts. For the summer half year is eleven days longer then the winter half year in the vulgar Calendar but in this new one the difference will be but 5 days.

3 In like manner To regulate the days of quarterly payments let S^t Iohn Baptists {day} be removed from the 24^th of Iune to the 1^st of Iuly & Christmas day from the 25^t of December to the 1^st of Ianuary or perhaps to the 2^d that it may be distinguished from New years day.

Thus will the year become fitter for civil uses & the festivals reduced within a day or two to the places where they were in the first Century in respect of summer & winter: whereas they now err 14 days from those places. And the like correction may be made <1v> {to} all the other unmoveable Festivals, by setting them 7 or 8 days later.

Easter is determined by making it the first Sunday after the first full Moon after the first of April. And the rest of the moveable Feasts are determined by their distance from Easter as in the Vulgar Calendar.

The old Rule for finding Easter by the Prime & Dominical Letter is to be corrected at the end of every hundred or two hundred years by Ecclesiastical authority & so is the Rule for finding the new Moon by the Epact in the margin of the Calendar, & with such correction both Rules may be retained for ever.

^{[Editorial Note 1]} <2v>

Ianuary

February

March

April

May

Iune

<2r>

Iuly

August

Septemb.

Octob.

Novemb.

Decemb

^{[Editorial Note 2]} <3v>

Make Ian 1 1701 the 2^d day of the first month of the second cycle

Or make Decem 31 1700 the first day of the first month of the second cycle.

Or if the 1^st & last cycle have 17 months & the middlemost 15, make Decemb 31 1700 the first day of the great cycle of 49 months.

NB. Anno 1780 Mar 20 st. n. hor. 16 48′ post mediam noctem Luna media fuit plena et hora 10$\frac{3}{4}$ circiter Luna apparens fuit plena. Lit. Domin B. A. Epact 29 Aur. num. 14 Pascha Mar 26 juxta cal Greg. Rectius Luna plena Apr. 19. 5^h post med. noct Pasch Apr 23 st. n.

Item anno 1867. Aur num 6. Epact 1. Luna media plena Mar 20. 14^h 49′ et iterum Apr 19. 3^h. 33′. Litera Dominica F. Pascha Ap. 21. Had the Dominical letter been D the Pascha would have been on the new moon Apr 19.

<4r>

The only feasts in the beginning till the reign of Trajan were the Lords day, Easter & Whitsonday. See Origen l 8 cont. Cels. Christmas began to be celebrated in divers places about the year 190 (Theophilus Cæsariensis in epist. paschal.

The Martyrs began to be commemorated on their passion days about the year 170 & these days at length were celebrated as Feasts. by the institution of Constantine the great Euseb. in vit. Const. l. 4 who also instituted the observation of friday. Euseb. ib. The heathen Feasts turned into the Christian Theodoret l 8 de martyribus & Greg. M. l 9 cap 71 citante Hospin. De Origin. Christ. Fest. p 15.

The Greeks celebrated the Epiphany or baptism of Christ on the same day with his birth, the latines on Ian 6 Hospin ad Ian 6.

Timothy martyred on Ian 24. Pauli Conversio Ian 25. The burning of lights on Candlemas day Feb 2 taken from the sacra of Ceres seeking her daughter Proserpina with lighted torches. Feb 1 The Bacchinal rights turned into Christian carnivals in the 3 first days of the Quinquagesima or week before Lent. Matthias Feb. 24. Festum annunciationis Mariæ Mart. 25. S^t Mark martyred Apr. 25. The Greeks celebrated to all the Apostles the feast of Peter & Paul Iun 29 the Latines that of Philip & Iames May 1. At length the day is left Phil. & Iames alone. Quadratus May 26. Nativity of Iohn Baptist Iune 24. Peter & Paul on Iune 29 on which day the Heathens celebrated the feast of Hercules & the Muses. Iuly 25 S^t Iames. Aug. 24 S^t Bartholomew Sept 21 S^t Matthew. Sept 25 Cleopas. Sept 25 S^t Michael & all angels. Octob 18 S^t Luke. Octob 28 Simon & Iude. Novemb. 28 Adventus Domini. Nov. 30 S^t Andrew

^{[Editorial Note 3]} <5v>

Arrogant

Invincible

Strong