are rightly placed against the days of the month in the kalendar, it will only serve for that period old style. For, as the new and full moons anticipate a day in that time, the golden numbers ought to be placed one day earlier in the kalendar for every succeeding 310 years. These numbers were rightly placed against the days of the new moon, in the kalendar of the Council of Nice in 325-but the anticipation, which was neglected until the Reformation of the kalendar in 1582, had grown into five days, and, therefore, all the golden numbers ought be placed five days lower in the kalendar for the old style, than they were at the time of that council-or six days lower for the new style. The following observations on the lunar cycle and the cycle of 19 years, more commonly called by the moderns the Golden Number, are made by the French chronologists :

"We distinguish, with the ancient computists, and a certain number of charters, the Lunar Cycle and the Cycle of 19 years, or Golden Number, though some authors, and a greater number of charters, entirely confound them. It is common enough, in fact, to find in ancient monuments, Cyclus Lunæ or Lunaris, and Cyclus Decemnovennalis, taken indifferently one for the other. This mistake is occasioned by the resemblance of the two cycles. The lunar cycle, as well as the cycle of 19 years, is a revolution of 19 years, after which it begins with I and continues to XIX by a perpetual circle. All the difference that we shall mark between them is, that the cycle of the moon commences three years later than that of 19 years. This difference proceeds from the Greeks and modern Jews: the latter use the cycle which we call that of the moon, and they commence it at the autumnal equinox, with their month of Tisri. Nevertheless, in conformity with the usage adopted by the editors of charters, we make the years of this cycle commence with January, which is an anticipation of about nine months in the years of this lunar cycle of the Jews. Thus this lunar cycle is not, as the learned Guibert thinks, the envelope of the epacts, but an invariable lunar cycle, which the modern Jews adopted in 338 of our era, and which forms the basis of their present kalendar. It is the Greeks of Alexandria who transmitted to us the cycle of 19 years, which we make to commence with our month of January. In the first ages, the Christians made use of both cycles; but at length that of 19 years prevailed-and our modern authors have so forgotten the Jewish cycle, that we know none who have employed it in explanation of charters which are dated by it.

"The following is one of these charters-the more remarkable, as both cycles are expressed. It is that of Henry, count d'Eu, in favour of the abbot of St. Lucian of Beauvais, and bears the following dates: Acta sunt hæc, an ab Incarn. Dom. MCIX, indict. 11, epacta XVII, concurrente IIII, cyclus lunaris V, cyclus decemnovennalis VIII, regularis Paschæ IIII, terminus Paschalis XIIII kal. Maii, dies Paschalis VII kal. Maii, lunæ ipsius (diei Pascha) XX1' (Mabill. Diplom., 594). All these dates are very exact. It is rare to find charters, in which the lunar cycle and the cycle of 19 years are so clearly distinguished; but it is not rare to find some dated with the lunar cycle, according to the modern Jews, instead of the cycle of 19 years, according to the Greeks. Of this number are the foundation of the monastery of Quimperle, in 1209, which is dated cyclus lunæ 1, instead of 4; VOL. II.

BB

a donation of 1169 to the same abbey, cyclus lunæ 1, instead of 4, and a a letter of Baldric, bishop of Dol, cyclo lunari 5, for 8.

Among charters dated by the lunar cycle according to the Jews, we have found some in which this cycle does not commence at Jan. 1; but among those which are dated by the cycle of 19 years, or the lunar cycle, confounded with the cycle of 19 years, we have met some which commence with Jan. and others with March; but the Alexandrians only commenced this cycle with their year, which began August 29. This difference in the commencement of the cycle of 19 years ought to be remarked, in order to reconcile certain dates, in which there would appear to be an error, although there is none. They serve also to fix the dates of charters granted in January or February. Such is that of the foundation of the priory of Quiberon: "Anno ab Incarn. Dom. MXXVII, circulus lunæ II, indict. XI, epacta XXII, concurrens B 1." We see by all these dates, that this charter was granted in January or February of 1028, according to our present manner of reckoning the years. It states the year to be 1027, because at that time they commonly began the year at Easter. The circulus lunæ II is here the same as the cycle of 19 years. The author of the charter counts only 2, as if 1028 were only the 2nd year of the cycle of 19 years, though it is the 3rd, because he began to count this 3rd year only in March, and the charter was granted the year before. The indiction II, and the epact 22, mark the year 1028, as also the concurrent B 1-that is to say, bissextili 1. This concurrent 1, instead of 17, which the author should have put (the charter having been granted before Feb. 25), proves what is said of concurrents (under Dominical Letters)-namely, that there are charters granted in Leap Years, in which the concurrent, that would not take place except after that, is nevertheless marked from January. As to the luna VII, it shews that the charter was granted Jan. 7 or Feb. 6. The agreement of all these dates is, therefore, perfect; but the agreement is not seen without making the lunar cycle, taken for that of 19 years, commence with March.

"But there are other charters, in which January is regarded as the first month of the cycle of 19 years. Such is a diploma of Gaston VI, vicomte de Bearn: "Factum est hoc, an° Incarnationis Verbi MCLXXXI, indict. XIV, epacta III, concurrente III, cyclo decemnovennali IIII, feria II, idus Februarii," or Feb. 9,1181. All the dates mark this year; but the decemnovennal cycle 4, to agree with them, must commence in Jan. In making it commence in March, it should be 3 instead of 4-an evident proof that there were some of the ancients who made the commencement of this cycle commence with Jan. 1-others at March; whence it results that the rule,-" Muta cyclum lunarem in kalendis Januarii, cyclum decemnovennalem in kalendis Marti," which is found in a MS. of the monastery of St. Sergius of Angers, of the 11th century, is like the greater part of the computi and calculations of that time, and that it is not less subject to frequent exceptions, at least for what regards the commencement of the cycle of 19 years with the month of March. "The two cycles of the moon according to the modern Jews, and of 19 years according to the notaries, are equally called Golden Numbers. It is believed that they are so named, because they were written in golden characters in the ancient kalendars, in which they served to shew on what day of the 12 solar months the new moon fell, every year of one or other of these

CENTURIES.

100

YEARS LESS THAN A HUNDRED.

0123456789101112131415161718

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37

38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56

57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99

01 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1400 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1500 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1600 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 1700 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1800 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

1900

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

cycles. For this purpose, they wrote them opposite that day of every solar month on which the new moon fell, in the same manner as the epacts printed in the Breviaries since the reformation of the kalendar in 1582. It is thus that they are printed in the perpetual lunar character where they are united with the new epacts, which indicate the new moons according to the new style."-L'Art de verif. les Dates, t. I, p. 62 [See Embolismus.]

The Golden Number being the same in both the old and the new style, may be found by simple inspection of the accompanying Table, from the first year of the Christian era to the year 1999-or for any other period, by substituting, in the column of centuries, 2000 for 100, 2100 for 300, 2300 for 400, and so on as long as required to 3800, and recommencing the same process. [Vide TABLE, p. 187.] Gole, or Gole Feast-Gole, sometimes Giouli, and sometimes Geola (see Hickes, Thes. ii, 106), was the Saxon name of January and December. Christmas, from the Saxon names of that festival-gehul, gehol, and geol. It frequently occurs in the Chronicle of Robert of Brunne, pp. 47, 49, 65, 72, 125, 147, 263, &c. Of King Stephen he says

Go-Harvest -A northern name of the post-autumnal season. "Go-Harvest, the open weather between the end of harvest, and the snow or frost."-Survey of Bariffs., App. p. 40.

Good Friday. Probably a corruption of God's Friday. It precedes Easter, or God's Sunday, and is sometimes termed Holy Friday. "Wretyn at Cant'burye, to Caleys ward, on Tewesday, and happe to be [if hap be] uppon Good Fridaye ye xij daye of Apryll Ao E. iiij'i xiij" (Paston Letters, vol. II, p. 134). On this date Sir John Fenn remarks-"This is the first letter so fully dated, by which the exact time of King Edward's reign can be precisely ascertained. By the Tables to find Easter, it appears that in 1473, the prime being 11, and the Dominical Letter C, Easter Sunday was on the 18th April. Edward IV began to reign the 4th March. The 16th April, 1473, was, therefore, the 13th Edw. IV, and consequently he began to reign on the 4th of March, 1460." Now, although the 16th of April, 1473, was 13 Edw. IV, the computation is from March 4, 1461, on which day and year the reign commenced (see Nicholas' Tables); and in a subsequent letter (v. II, p. 206), this is actually the computation used, the writer dating on February 18, Friday before Shrove Tuesday, 16 Edw. IV.-See Fastingong.

Good Thursday.—In Lower Saxony, Der Gute Donnerstag is Maundy Thursday, and perhaps so called from the acts of charity which were universally performed, in fulfilment of our Saviour's mandate.

GORDIAN & EPIMACHUS.-May 10: G. 405; V. 426; T. 439; E. 453 (see EPIMACHUS). Gordian was a convert to Christianity in the time of Julian the emperor, and beheaded by his order. His body was cast to the dogs

but, remaining unhurt, was at last buried (Jac. de Vorag., Leg. 69; Petr. de Natal., 1. IV, c. 149; Hospin. de Fest., fo. 35.

GORGONIUS.-Sept. 9: G. 413; V. 430; T. 443; E. 457 (see AUDOMARUS). Gorgonius was a martyr with Dorotheus in Nicomedia, under Dioclesian.— (Petr. de Natal., l. VIII, c. 55.

GOTHARD.-May 5: a Bavarian monk, afterwards abbot, and finally Bishop Hildemeus. He lived under Otto II & III, and Henry II.-Surius, Vit. Sanct., t. VII; Hospin., fo. 84.

Goule Daugust, Goule d'Aust.-The Gule of August, in stat. 3 Ed. I, c. 30; 27 Ed. III, Ordin. de Feodis; 31 Ed. III, c. 15; 43 Ed. III, c. 2. See Gula Augusti.

Gowry Conspiracy.-From Howe's Chronicle, it appears that the 5th of August was ordered to be strictly observed, for the king's delivery from the Gowrie conspiracy, an. 1603. Wilson, in his Life of King James, says"The fifth of August had a new name given to it. The king's deliveries in the north must resound here. Whether the Gowries attempted upon the king's person, or the king on theirs, is variously reported" (Nichols's Progr. of K. James, v. I, p. 245). Dr. Robertson states in his Hist. Scotland, v. III, b. viii, that this day was appointed to be annually observed as a day of public thanksgiving in the year 1600.

Grand Days, Grans Jours.-Days in the Terms, which are solemnly kept in the inns of court and chancery, i. e. Candlemas in Hilary Term, Ascension Day in Easter Term, St. John the Baptist's Day in Trinity Term, and All Saints' Day in Michaelmas Term, which days are dies non juridici, or no days in court (Jacob). We have the name from the French. While their parliaments were ambulatory, or, like the Anglo-Saxon and Norman courts de More, uncertain as to the place in which they were held, the kings were accustomed to hold plenary courts, and to deliver judgment in person, on the days on which Parliament assembled. These were usually the days of the principal feasts, which were from this circumstance named by the laity, if not by the clergy, Grans Jours. Hence, mention is often made, in French historians, of acts (arrêts) made in the parliament at All Saints, Whitsuntide, Martinmas and Candlemas. After parliaments became stationary, the kings often gave commission to judge absolutely in certain causes; and this court and sovereign justice was called Grands Jours, because it was an image of the ancient deambulatory parliaments, which were held on the days of the grand festivals, called Grand Days.-Casseneuve, Origines de la Langue Fr., p. 69.

Grass Week.-Rogation Week, so called from the restriction of food to salads and greens.

Gratiæ Generales.-The year of the Jubilee, when plenary indulgences were granted to all the faithful, on conditions expressed in the bull of 1371: Tempore Gratiarum-ivit Avimonem ad dictas Gratias."-Du Cange, t. III, col. 949.

Gregorian Kalendar.-In order to rectify the errors of the Julian kalendar, Gregory XIII invited men of the first mathematical talent to Rome, and, having employed ten years in discussing the various formula presented to him, he gave preference to that of the two brothers, Aloysio and Antonio Lilio. He sent copies of it in 1757 to all the catholic princes, republics and acade