r fellow to do all that; still, my idea
continues the same. When he began to caulk the calendar, he ought to
have finished the business in a workmanlike manner."

"That, however," continued Wolston, "he left to Pope Gregory, who
decreed that three leap years should be suppressed in four centuries.
Thus, the years 1700 and 1800, which should have been leap years, did
not reckon the extra day; so the years 2000 and 2400 will likewise be
deprived of their supplementary four-and-twenty hours."

"There is one difficulty about this mode of stowing away extra days;
these leap years may be forgotten."

"Not if you keep in mind that leap years alone admit of being divided
by four."

"Did the Pope manage to get entirely rid of the fraction?"

"Not entirely; but the error does not exceed one day in four thousand
years, and is so small that it is not likely to derange ordinary
calculations; and so, Willis, you now know the origin of the calendar,
and likewise how time came to be divided into weeks, months, and
years."

"You have only spoken of the Christian calendar," remarked Ernest.
"There have been several other systems in use. Those curious people
that call themselves the children of the sun and moon, possess a mode
of reckoning that carries them back to a period anterior to the
creation of the world. Then, the Greeks computed by Olympiads, or
periods of four years. The Romans reckoned by lustri of five years,
the first of which corresponds with the 117th year of the foundation
of Rome."

"And when does our calendar begin?"

"It dates only from the birth of Christ, but may be carried back to
the creation, which event, to the best of our knowledge, occurred four
thousand and four years before the birth of our Savior. This period,
added to the date of the present, or any future year, gives us, as
nearly as we can ascertain, the interval that has elapsed since our
first parents found themselves in the garden of Eden."

"Our calendar," remarked Jack, "appears simple enough; it is to be
regretted that there have been, and are, so many other modes of
reckoning extant. What with the Greek Olympiads, the Roman lustres,
the Mahometan hegira, and Chinese moonshine, there is nothing but
perplexity and confusion."

"It is possible, however," said Becker, "to accommodate all these
systems with each other. Leaving the Chinese out of the question, we
have only to bear in mind, that the Christian era begins on the first
year of t