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brought back to the 21st of March, as it had been settled by the council of Nice; and to prevent the future recurrence of a similar variation, it was ordained, that instead of making every hundredth year bissextile, as was the case before, every four-hundreth year only should be considered as bissextile, and the rest as common years. The length of the solar year, and the time of the vernal equinox, were, by these means, very accurately settled: for as a day was gained, by the former mode of reckoning, in every interval of 130 years, this was nearly equivalent to the gain of three days in every 400 years; and, consequently, by making the years 1700, 1800, 1900, to be common years, instead of leap-years, the error arising from the odd time would be properly corrected; so that the new mode of reckoning cannot vary a single day from true time in less than 5000 years.

When the pope had reformed this calendar, he ordered all the ecclesiastics under his jurisdiction to conform to this new mode of reckoning; and exhorted Christian princes every where to adopt it in their dominions. Hence it was immediately introduced into almost all catholic countries. The catholic states in Germany adopted it; but those that were of the reformed faith rejected it. Hence arose a difference of 10 days between the methods of reckoning afterwards used in catholie and protestant countries. In the year 1700, the reformation of the calendar was introduced into the protestant states of Germany, and also into Denmark. In Sweden it did not exist till March 1753. In this country, an act of parliament was passed to cancel eleven days out of the month of September; because, as 170 days had elapsed since the Gregorian alteration had taken place, the old-style had consequently gained more than a day upon the course of the Sun than it had done at a former period. The old style then in Great Britain, and all its dependencies, ceased on the 2d of September, 1752, and the next day, instead of being the 3d, was called the 14th. By the same act the beginning of

the year was changed from the 25th of March to the 1st of January.

A considerable difficulty still remained, which was to make the lunar year agree with the solar one, and in settling the true time for the observance of Easter, and the other moveable feasts. It had been ordered by the council of Nice, that Easter should be celebrated upon the first Sunday after the first Full Moon, following the vernal equinox. And, in order to the due observance of this rule, it became necessary to know when the Full Moons would happen in the course of every year. Now the revolutions of the Sun and Moon are not very obviously commensurate, the solar year containing twelve lunations, and about eleven days; but it had been discovered by Meto 2000 years ago, that nineteen solar years contain exactly 235 lunations; and this determination is so very accurate, that it makes the lunar month only half a minute too long. Hence, it happens, that in every period of nineteen years the Moon's age is the same on the same day of the year. The number of the year in the Metonic circle is called the Golden Number, the calendar of Meto having been ordered, at the celebration of the Olympic games, to be engraved in letters of gold on a pillar of marble. At present, if we add 1 to the number of the year and divide by 19, the remainder will be the golden number: thus, for 1814,

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95, and 10 over as a remainder, which re

mainder 10 is the golden number.

If we subtract 1 from the golden number, then multiply by 11 and divide by 30, the remainder will be the epact, which is the Moon's age on the 1st of January: thus, for

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9, as a remainder, is the epact. The application of these numbers will be shewn in a future number of this work.

The time of the Sun rising and setting in London during

the month of April, is as follows, viz :—

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Equation of Time.-[See the month of January.]

The following table will shew what is to be added to and what is to be subtracted from the apparent time shewn on the dial, to obtain equal or true time for every 5th day of Friday, April 1, to the time on the dial add

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April.— 4m. 5s.?

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To obtain true

time by the clock.

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Friday,
Thursday 21,
Tuesday,

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26,

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The Moon will be at full at 29m. past 8 in the afternoon of the 4th; it enters its last quarter, on the 12th, at 23m. past 9: the change or new moon, is at 55m. past 7 on the 20th, and it enters its last quarter at 6m. past midnight, on the 26th.

The time of the Moon's rising for the first five days after she is full, as follows, viz.

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Venus will be stationary on the 3d, Mercury on the 15th, and Jupiter on the 27th. The Sun enters the sign Taurus 11m. past 6 in the evening of the 20th. On the 26th, of this month, the moon will eclipse the star. The immersion will occur at 25m. past 12 at night, and the emersion at 18m. after 1 the next morning, the star passing under the moon's centre. On the 1st, there will be an obscuration of

the star A 8, by the planet Mars, the star being 18m. north of the centre of that planet, and on the 8th, the same planet will pass over 2 x 8, 29m south.

The greatest elongation of Mercury, will be on the 30th, and the inferior conjunction at 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the 2nd. At 6 in the morning of the 20th, the planet Saturn will be in its quadrature, that is, three signs distant from the sun.

In the eclipses of the first satellite of Jupiter, that will be visible in London this month, the emersions at the following times, viz. on the

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THE ready insertion you gave my letter with the Princess Charlotte of Wales's nativity, claims my thanks; and with the exception of two or three typographical errors, the mode in which it is introduced, is such as to merit my approbation.

I hasten to redeem my pledge to you, by informing you that the study of starry science has engaged my leisure hours for twelve years past; I flatter myself from the application I have afforded it, in connection with the facilities of planispheric calculations, that I am tolerably conversant with its true principles as perfected by the ancients, and developed in the quadripartite of that prince of the art, the illustrious Ptolemy.

From the closest attention to what he recommends, both in generals and particulars, in the real elucidation of the

heavenly influences, I am fully impressed with these great truths, that whoever deviates from his rules is pursuing error; and that those who have founded opinions on a practice subsequent to his have been very little better than imposters.

It would not be difficult to go into the detail of those absurdities; at present however it will suffice to observe, that of all the nativities of living persons of elevated rank that have been published for some years past, scarcely more than one has resulted a single happy prediction, which could in truth be termed the genuine offspring of astrological science.

This, Sir, may appear to you very extraordinary; but your surprise will cease, when I state, that added to the folly mentioned of founding calculations on spurious principles, the artists appear to have suffered their prejudices and political sentiments to bias their astrological decisions!

In the name of common sense, what other results could have been anticipated? surely none; for if men blindly reject the testimony of ages, and the united experience of the collective wisdom of antiquity, and prefer the conjurations of jugglers, and their own half-witted reveries, the end must be disappointment and disgrace.

I do however assure you, that the contempt attached to such vile professors would give me great pleasure, were it not that the science itself shares the obloquy, and participates with them in one common infamy. Mark this dreadful consequence, Sir; and regret with me, that folly and fraud should produce so deplorable a catastrophe.

The lovers of legitimate science, those who delight to contemplate the portentous physiognomy of the skies, with those who nightly watch the spheres in their round of harmonic influence, and obtain wisdom by observing the heavens, will rejoice with me at the opportunity now afforded for rendering astrology what it was, when even princes, philosophers, and poets, were found amongst its most

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