Project Gutenberg's The Nuttall Encyclopaedia, by Edited by Rev. James Wood
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Title: The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge
Author: Edited by Rev. James Wood
Release Date: May 14, 2004 [EBook #12342]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NUTTALL ENCYCLOPAEDIA ***
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BEING
A CONCISE AND COMPREHENSIVE DICTIONARY
OF GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
CONSISTING OF
OVER 16,000 TERSE AND ORIGINAL ARTICLES ON NEARLY ALL SUBJECTS DISCUSSED IN LARGER ENCYCLOPÆDIAS, AND SPECIALLY DEALING WITH SUCH AS COME UNDER THE CATEGORIES OF HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, GEOGRAPHY, LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, SCIENCE, AND ART
EDITED BY THE
REV. JAMES WOOD
EDITOR OF "NUTTALL'S STANDARD DICTIONARY" AND COMPILER OF THE "DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS"
THE SIXTY-FIRST THOUSAND
"The NUTTALL ENCYCLOPÆDIA" is the fruit of a project to provide, in a concise and condensed form, and at a cheap rate, an epitome of the kind of information given in the larger Encyclopædias, such as may prove sufficient for the ordinary requirements, in that particular, of the generality of people, and especially of such as have not the means for purchasing or the leisure for studying the larger.
An Encyclopædia is now recognised to be as indispensable a book of reference as a dictionary; for while the latter explains and defines the vehicle of thought, the former seeks to define the subject-matter. Now the rapid increase in the vocabulary of a nation, which makes the possession of an up-to-date dictionary almost one of the necessaries of life, is evidently due to the vast increase in the number of facts which the language has to describe or interpret; and if it is difficult to keep pace with the growth in the language, it is obviously more difficult to attain even a working knowledge of the array of facts which in this age come before us for discussion. No man can now peruse even a daily newspaper without being brought face to face with details about questions of the deepest interest to him; and he is often unable to grasp the meaning of what he reads for want of additional knowledge or explanation. In short, it becomes more and more a necessity of modern life to know something of everything. A little knowledge is not dangerous to those who recognise it to be little, and it may be sufficient to enable those who possess it to understand and enjoy intelligently what would otherwise only weigh as a burdensome reflection upon their ignorance. Even a comparatively exhaustive treatment of the multitudinous subjects comprehended under the term universal knowledge would demand a library of large volumes, hence the extent and heavy cost of the great Encyclopædias. But it is doubtful whether the mass of information contained in those admirable and bulky works does not either go beyond, or, more frequently than not, fall short of the requirements of those who refer to them. For the special student there is too little, for the general reader too much. Detailed knowledge of any subject in this age of specialisation can be acquired only by study of the works specifically devoted to it. What is wanted in a popular Encyclopædia is succinct information—the more succinct the better, so long as it gives what is required by the inquiry, leaving it to the authorities in each subject to supply the information desired by those intent on pursuing it further. The value of an Encyclopædia of such small scope must depend, therefore, upon the careful selection of its materials, and in this respect it is hoped the one now offered to the public will be found adequate to any reasonable demands made upon it. If the facts given here are the facts that the great majority are in search of when they refer to its pages, it may be claimed for "The Nuttall Encyclopædia" that, in one respect at all events it is more valuable for instant reference than the best Encyclopædia in many volumes; for "The Nuttall" can lie on the desk for ready-to-hand reference, and yields at a glance the information wanted.
Within the necessary limits of a single volume the Editor persuades himself he has succeeded in including a wide range of subjects, and he trusts that the information he has given on these will meet in some measure at least the wants of those for whom the book has been compiled. To the careful Newspaper Reader; to Heads of Families, with children at school, whose persistent questions have often to go without an answer; to the Schoolmaster and Tutor; to the student with a shallow purse; to the Busy Man and Man of Business, it is believed that this volume will prove a solid help.
The subjects, as hinted, are various, and these the Editor may be permitted to classify in a general way under something like the following rubrics:—
1. Noted people, their nationality, the time when they flourished, and what they are noted for.
2. Epochs, important movements, and events in history, with the dates and their historical significance.
3. Countries, provinces, and towns, with descriptions of them, their sizes, populations, etc., and what they are noted for.
4. Heavenly bodies, especially those connected with the solar system, their sizes, distances, and revolutions.
5. Races and tribes of mankind, with features that characterise them.
6. Mythologies, and the account they severally give of the divine and demonic powers, supreme and subordinate, that rule the world.
7. Religions of the world, with their respective credos and objects and forms of worship.
8. Schools of philosophy, with their theories of things and of the problems of life and human destiny.
9. Sects and parties, under the different systems of belief or polity, and the specialities of creed and policy that divide them.
10. Books of the world, especially the sacred ones, and the spiritual import of them; in particular those of the Bible, on each of which a note or two is given.
11. Legends and fables, especially such as are more or less of world significance.
12. Characters in fiction and fable, both mediæval and modern.
13. Fraternities, religious and other, with their symbols and shibboleths.
14. Families of note, especially such as have developed into dynasties.
15. Institutions for behoof of some special interest, secular or sacred, including universities.
16. Holidays and festivals, with what they commemorate, and the rites and ceremonies connected with them.
17. Science, literature, and art in general, but these chiefly in connection with the names of those distinguished in the cultivation of them.
Such, in a general way, are some of the subjects contained in the book, while there is a number of others not reducible to the classification given, and among these the Editor has included certain subjects of which he was able to give only a brief definition, just as there are doubtless others which in so wide an area of research have escaped observation and are not included in the list. In the selection of subjects the Editor experienced not a little embarrassment, and he was not unfrequently at a loss to summarise particulars under several of the heads. Such as it is, the Editor offers the book to the public, and he hopes that with all its shortcomings it will not be unfavourably received.
(1) The figures in brackets following Geographical names indicate the number of thousands of population.
(2) The figures in brackets given in Biographical references indicate the dates of birth and death where both are given.
A'ali Pasha, an eminent reforming Turkish statesman (1815-1871).
Aachen. See Aix-la-Chapelle.
Aalborg (19), a trading town on the Liimfiord, in the N. of Jutland.
Aar, a large Swiss river about 200 m. long, which falls into the Rhine as it leaves Switzerland.
Aargau, a fertile Swiss canton bordering on the Rhine.
Aarhuus (33), a port on the E. of Jutland, with a considerable export and import trade, and a fine old Gothic cathedral.
Aaron, the elder brother of Moses, and the first high-priest of the Jews, an office he held for forty years.
Abaca, Manila hemp, or the plant, native to the Philippines, which yield it in quantities.
Abacus, a tablet crowning a column and its capital.
Abaddon, the bottomless pit, or the angel thereof.
Abarim, a mountain chain in Palestine, NE. of the Dead Sea, the highest point being Mount Nebo.
Abatement, a mark of disgrace in a coat of arms.
Abauzit, Firmin, a French Protestant theologian and a mathematician, a friend of Newton, and much esteemed for his learning by Rousseau and Voltaire (1679-1767).
Abbadie, two brothers of French descent, Abyssinian travellers in the years 1837-1848; also a French Protestant divine (1658-1727).
Abbas, uncle of Mahomet, founder of the dynasty of the Abbasides (566-652).
Abbas Pasha, the khedive of Egypt, studied five years in Vienna, ascended the throne at eighteen, accession hailed with enthusiasm; shows at times an equivocal attitude to Britain; b. 1874.
Abbas the Great, shah of Persia, of the dynasty of the Sophis, great alike in conquest and administration (1557-1628).
Abbas-Mirza, a Persian prince, a reformer of the Persian army, and a leader of it, unsuccessfully, however, against Russia (1783-1833).
Abbasides, a dynasty of 37 caliphs who ruled as such at Bagdad from 750 to 1258.
Ab`bati, Niccolo dell', an Italian fresco-painter (1512-1571).
Abbé, name of a class of men who in France prior to the Revolution prepared themselves by study of theology for preferment in the Church, and who, failing, gave themselves up to letters or science.
Abbeville (19), a thriving old town on the Somme, 12 m. up, with an interesting house architecture, and a cathedral, unfinished, in the Flamboyant style.
Abbot, head of an abbey. There were two classes of abbots: Abbots Regular, as being such in fact, and Abbots Commendatory, as guardians and drawing the revenues.
Abbot, George, archbishop of Canterbury in the reigns of James I. and Charles I., and one of the translators of King James's Bible; an enemy of Laud's, who succeeded him (1562-1633).
Abbot of Misrule, a person elected to superintend the Christmas revelries.
Abbotsford, the residence of Sir Walter Scott, on the Tweed, near Melrose, built by him on the site of a farm called Clarty Hole.
Abbott, Edwin, a learned Broad Church theologian and man of letters; wrote, besides other works, a volume of sermons "Through Nature to Christ"; esteemed insistence on miracles injurious to faith; b. 1838.
Abdal`lah, the father of Mahomet, famed for his beauty (545-570); also a caliph of Mecca (622-692).
Abdalrah`man, the Moorish governor of Spain, defeated by Charles Martel at Tours in 732.
Abdals (lit. servants of Allah), a set of Moslem fanatics in Persia.
Abd-el-Ka`dir, an Arab emir, who for fifteen years waged war against the French in N. Africa, but at length surrendered prisoner to them in 1847. On his release in 1852 he became a faithful friend of France (1807-1883).
Abde`ra, a town in ancient Thrace, proverbial for the stupidity of its inhabitants.
Abdications, of which the most celebrated are those of the Roman Dictator Sylla, who in 70 B.C. retired to Puteoli; of Diocletian, who in A.D. 305 retired to Salone; of Charles V., who in 1556 retired to the monastery St. Yuste; of Christina of Sweden, who in 1654 retired to Rome, after passing some time in France; of Napoleon, who in 1814 and 1815 retired first to Elba and then died at St. Helena; of Charles X. in 1830, who died at Goritz, in Austria; and of Louis Philippe, who in 1848 retired to end his days in England.
Abdiel, one of the seraphim, who withstood Satan in his revolt against the Most High.
Abdul-Aziz, sultan of Turkey from 1861, in succession to Abdul-Medjid (1830-1876).
Abdul-Aziz, sultan of Morocco, was only fourteen at his accession; b. 1880.
Abdul-Ha`mid II., sultan of Turkey in 1876, brother to Abdul-Aziz, and his successor; under him Turkey has suffered serious dismemberment, and the Christian subjects in Armenia and Crete been cruelly massacred; b. 1842.
Abd-ul-Med`jid, sultan, father of the two preceding, in whose defence against Russia England and France undertook the Crimean war (1823-1861).
Abdur-Rah`man, the ameer of Afghanistan, subsidised by the English; b. 1830.
À'Becket, Gilbert, an English humourist, who contributed to Punch and other organs; wrote the "Comic Blackstone" and comic histories of England and Rome (1811-1856).
À'Becket, A. W., son of the preceding, a littérateur and journalist; b. 1844.
Abel, the second son of Adam and Eve; slain by his brother. The death of Abel is the subject of a poem by Gessner and a tragedy by Legouvé.
Abel, Sir F. A., a chemist who has made a special study of explosives; b. 1827.
Abel, Henry, an able Norwegian mathematician, who died young (1802-1828).
Ab`elard, Peter, a theologian and scholastic philosopher of French birth, renowned for his dialectic ability, his learning, his passion for Héloïse, and his misfortunes; made conceivability the test of credibility, and was a great teacher in his day (1079-1142).
Abelli, a Dominican monk, the confessor of Catharine de Medici (1603-1691).
Abencerra`ges, a powerful Moorish tribe in Grenada, whose fate in the 15th century has been the subject of interesting romance.
Aben-Ez`ra, a learned Spanish Jew and commentator on the Hebrew scriptures (1090-1168).
Abera`von (6), a town and seaport in Glamorganshire, with copper and iron works.
Abercrombie, Sir Ralph, a distinguished British general of Scottish birth, who fell in Egypt after defeating the French at Aboukir Bay (1731-1801).
Aberdeen (124), the fourth city in Scotland, on the E. coast, between the mouths of the Dee and Don; built of grey granite, with many fine public edifices, a flourishing university, a large trade, and thriving manufactures. Old Aberdeen, on the Don, now incorporated in the municipality, is the seat of a cathedral church, and of King's College, founded in 1404, united with the university in the new town.
Aberdeen, Earl of, a shrewd English statesman, Prime Minister of England during the Crimean war (1784-1860).—Grandson of the preceding, Gov.-Gen. of Canada; b. 1847.
Aberdeenshire (281), a large county in NE. of Scotland; mountainous in SW., lowland N. and E.; famed for its granite quarries, its fisheries, and its breed of cattle.
Abernethy, a small burgh in S. Perthshire, with a Pictish round tower, and once the capital of the Pictish kingdom.
Aberration of light, an apparent motion in a star due to the earth's motion and the progressive motion of light.
Aberyst`with (16), a town and seaport in Cardiganshire, Wales, with a university.
Ab`gar XIV., a king of Edessa, one of a dynasty of the name, a contemporary of Jesus Christ, and said to have corresponded with Him.
Abhorrers, the Royalist and High Church party in England under Charles II., so called from their abhorrence of the principles of their opponents.
Abigail, the widow of Nabal, espoused by David.
Abich, W. H., a German mineralogist and traveller (1806-1886).
Abingdon (6), a borough in Berks, 6 m. S. of Oxford.
Abiogenesis, the doctrine of spontaneous generation.
Abipones, a once powerful warlike race in La Plata, now nearly all absorbed.
Able man, man with "a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute" (Gibbon).
Abner, a Hebrew general under Saul; assassinated by Joab.
Abo, the old capital of Finland and seat of the government, on the Gulf of Bothnia.
Ab`omey, the capital of Dahomey, in W. Africa.
Abou`kir, village near Alexandria, in Egypt, on the bay near which Nelson destroyed the French fleet in 1799; where Napoleon beat the Turks, 1799; and where Abercrombie fell, 1801.
About, Edmond, spirited French littérateur and journalist (1828-1885).
Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch, ancestor of the Jews, the very type of an Eastern pastoral chief at once by his dignified character and simple faith.
Abraham, the plains of, a plain near Quebec.
Abraham-men, a class of lunatics allowed out of restraint, at one time, to roam about and beg; a set of impostors who wandered about the country affecting lunacy.
Abran`tes, a town in Portugal, on the Tagus; taken by Marshal Junot, 1807, and giving the title of Duke to him.
Abraxas stones, stones with cabalistic figures on them used as talismans.
Abruz`zi, a highland district in the Apennines, with a pop. of 100,000.
Absalom, a son of David, who rebelled against his father, and at whose death David gave vent to a bitter wail of grief. A name given by Dryden to the Duke of Monmouth, son of Charles II.
Absolute, The, the philosophical name for the uncreated Creator, or creating cause of all things, dependent on nothing external to itself.
Absyrtus, a brother of Medea, whom she cut in pieces as she fled with Jason, pursued by her father, throwing his bones behind her to detain her father in his pursuit of her by stopping to pick them up.
Abt, Franz, a German composer of song-music (1819-1885).
Abu, a mountain (6000 ft.) in Rajputana, with a footprint of Vishnu on the top, and two marble temples half-way up, held sacred by the Jains.
Ab`ubekr, as the father of Ayesha, the father-in-law of Mahomet, the first of the caliphs and the founder of the Sunnites; d. 634.
Ab`u-klea, in the Soudan, where the Mahdi's forces were defeated by Sir H. Stewart in 1885.
A`bul-faraj, a learned Armenian Jew, who became bishop of Aleppo, and wrote a history of the world from Adam onwards (1226-1286).
Abul-fazel, the vizier of the great Mogul emperor Akbar, and who wrote an account of his reign and of the Mogul empire; he was assassinated in 1604.
Abul-feda, a Moslem prince of Hamat in Syria, who in his youth took part against the Crusaders, and wrote historical works in Arabic (1273-1331).
Abu-Tha`leb, uncle of Mahomet, and his protector against the plots of his enemies the Koreish.
Aby`dos, a town on the Asiatic side of the Hellespont, famous as the home of Leander, who swam the Hellespont every night to visit Hero in Sestos, and as the spot where Xerxes built his bridge of boats to cross into Europe in 480 B.C.; also a place of note in Upper Egypt.
Abyssin`ia, a mountainous country SE. of Nubia, with an area of 200,000 sq. m., made up of independent states, and a mixed population of some four millions, the Abyssinians proper being of the Semite stock. It is practically under the protectorate of Italy.
Acacia, a large group of trees with astringent and gum-yielding properties, natives of tropical Africa and Australia.
Academy, a public shady park or place of groves near Athens, where Plato taught his philosophy and whence his school derived its name, of which there are three branches, the Old, the Middle, and the New, represented respectively by Plato himself, Arcesilaos, and Carneades. The French Academy, of forty members, was founded by Richelieu in 1635, and is charged with the interests of the French language and literature, and in particular with the duty of compiling an authoritative dictionary of the French language. Besides these, there are in France other four with a like limited membership in the interest of other departments of science and art, all now associated in the Institute of France, which consists in all of 229 members. There are similar institutions in other states of Europe, all of greater or less note.
Acadia, the French name for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Acanthus, a leaf-like ornament on the capitals of the columns of certain orders of architecture.
Acapul`co, a Mexican port in the Pacific, harbour commodious, but climate unhealthy.
Acarna`nia, a province of Greece N. of Gulf of Corinth; its pop. once addicted to piracy.
Acca`dians, a dark, thick-lipped, short-statured Mongol race in Central Asia, displaced by the Babylonians and Assyrians, who were Semitic.
Acca-Laurentia, the wife of Faustulus, shepherd of Numitor, who saved the lives of Romulus and Remus.
Acciaioli, a Florentine family of 15th century, illustrious in scholarship and war.
Accolade, a gentle blow with a sword on the shoulder in conferring knighthood.
Accol`ti, a Tuscan family, of 15th century, famous for their learning.
Accor`so, the name of a Florentine family, of 12th and 13th centuries, great in jurisprudence.
Accra (16), capital and chief port in British Gold Coast colony.
Accrington (39), a manufacturing town 22 m. N. of Manchester.
Accum, Friedrich, a German chemist, the first promoter of gas-lighting (1769-1838).
Accumulator, a hydraulic press for storing up water at a high pressure; also a device for storing up electric energy.
Acerra (14), an ancient city 9 m. NE. of Naples; is in an unhealthy district.
Acetic acid, the pure acid of vinegar; the salts are called acetates.
Acetone, a highly inflammable liquid obtained generally by the dry distillation of acetates.
Acet`ylene, a malodorous gaseous substance from the incomplete combustion of hydro-carbons.
Achæan League, a confederation of 12 towns in the Peloponnesus, formed especially against the influence of the Macedonians.
Achæ`ans, the common name of the Greeks in the heroic or Homeric period.
Achai`a, the N. district of the Peloponnesus, eventually the whole of it.
Achard, a Prussian chemist, one of the first to manufacture sugar from beetroot (1753-1821).
Achard`, Louis Amédée, a prolific French novelist (1814-1876).
Acha`tes, the attendant of Æneas in his wandering after the fall of Troy, remarkable for, and a perennial type of, fidelity.
Achelo`üs, a river in Greece, which rises in Mt. Pindus, and falls into the Ionian Sea; also the god of the river, the oldest of the sons of Oceanus, and the father of the Sirens.
Achen, an eminent German painter (1556-1621).
Achenwall, a German economist, the founder of statistic science (1719-1772).
Ach`eron, a river in the underworld; the name of several rivers in Greece more or less suggestive of it.
Ach`ery, a learned French Benedictine of St. Maur (1609-1685).
Ach`ill, a rocky, boggy island, sparsely inhabited, off W. coast of Ireland, co. Mayo, with a bold headland 2222 ft. high.
Achille`id, an unfinished poem of Statius.
Achil`les, the son of Peleus and Thetis, king of the Myrmidons, the most famous of the Greek heroes in the Trojan war, and whose wrath with the consequences of it forms the subject of the Iliad of Homer. He was invulnerable except in the heel, at the point where his mother held him as she dipt his body in the Styx to render him invulnerable.
Achilles of Germany, Albert, third elector of Brandenburg, "fiery, tough old gentleman, of formidable talent for fighting in his day; a very blazing, far-seen character," says Carlyle (1414-1486).
Achilles tendon, the great tendon of the heel, where Achilles was vulnerable.
Achmed Pasha, a French adventurer, served in French army, condemned to death, fled, and served Austria; condemned to death a second time, pardoned, served under the sultan, was banished to the shores of the Black Sea (1675-1747).
Ach`met I., sultan of Turkey from 1603 to 1617; A. II., from 1691 to 1695; A. III., from 1703 to 1730, who gave asylum to Charles XII. of Sweden after his defeat by the Czar at Pultowa.
Achit`ophel, name given by Dryden to the Earl of Shaftesbury of his time.
Achromatism, transmission of light, undecomposed and free from colour, by means of a combination of dissimilar lenses of crown and flint glass, or by a single glass carefully prepared.
Acierage, coating a copper-plate with steel by voltaic electricity.
A`ci-Rea`lë (38), a seaport town in Sicily, at the foot of Mount Etna, in NE. of Catania, with mineral waters.
A`cis, a Sicilian shepherd enamoured of Galatea, whom the Cyclops Polyphemus, out of jealousy, overwhelmed under a rock, from under which his blood has since flowed as a river.
Ack`ermann, R., an enterprising publisher of illustrated works in the Strand, a native of Saxony (1764-1834).
Acland, Sir Henry, regius professor of medicine in Oxford, accompanied the Prince of Wales to America in 1860, the author of several works on medicine and educational subjects, one of Ruskin's old and tried friends (1815).
Aclinic Line, the magnetic equator, along which the needle always remains horizontal.
Acne, a skin disease showing hard reddish pimples; Acne rosacea, a congestion of the skin of the nose and parts adjoining.
Acoemetæ, an order of monks in the 5th century who by turns kept up a divine service day and night.
Aconca`gua, the highest peak of the Andes, about 100 m. NE. of Valparaiso, 22,867 ft. high; recently ascended by a Swiss and a Scotchman, attendants of Fitzgerald's party.
Aconite, monk's-hood, a poisonous plant of the ranunculus order with a tapering root.
Aconitine, a most virulent poison from aconite, and owing to the very small quantity sufficient to cause death, is very difficult of detection when employed in taking away life.
Acorn-shells, a crustacean attached to rocks on the sea-shore, described by Huxley as "fixed by its head," and "kicking its food into its mouth with its legs."
Acoustics, the science of sound as it affects the ear, specially of the laws to be observed in the construction of halls so that people may distinctly hear in them.
Acrasia, an impersonation in Spenser's "Faërie Queen," of intemperance in the guise of a beautiful sorceress.
Acre, St. Jean d' (7), a strong place and seaport in Syria, at the foot of Mount Carmel, taken, at an enormous sacrifice of life, by Philip Augustus and Richard Coeur de Lion in 1191, held out against Bonaparte in 1799; its ancient name Ptolemaïs.
Acres, Bob, a coward in the "Rivals" whose "courage always oozed out at his finger ends."
Acroamatics, esoteric lectures, i. e. lectures to the initiated.
Acrolein, a light volatile limpid liquid obtained by the destructive distillation of fats.
Acroliths, statues of which only the extremities are of stone.
Acrop`olis, a fortified citadel commanding a city, and generally the nucleus of it, specially the rocky eminence dominating Athens.
Acrote`ria, pedestals placed at the middle and the extremities of a pediment to support a statue or other ornament, or the statue or ornament itself.
Acta diurna, a kind of gazette recording in a summary way daily events, established at Rome in 131 B.C., and rendered official by Cæsar in 50 B.C.
Acta Sanctorum, the lives of the saints in 62 vols. folio, begun in the 17th century by the Jesuits, and carried on by the Bollandists.
Actæon, a hunter changed into a stag for surprising Diana when bathing, and afterwards devoured by his own dogs.
Actinic rays, "non-luminous rays of higher frequency than the luminous rays."
Actinism, the chemical action of sunlight.
Actinomycosis, a disease of a fungous nature on the mouth and lower jaw of cows.
Actium, a town and promontory at the entrance of the Ambracian Gulf (Arta), in Greece, where Augustus gained his naval victory over Antony and Cleopatra, Sept. 2, 31 B.C.
Acton, an adventurer of English birth, who became prime minister of Naples, but was driven from the helm of affairs on account of his inveterate antipathy to the French (1737-1808).
Acton, Lord, a descendant of the former, who became a leader of the Liberal Catholics in England, M.P. for Carlow, and made a peer in 1869; a man of wide learning, and the projector of a universal history by experts in different departments of the field; b. 1834.
Acts of the Apostles, a narrative account in the New Testament of the founding of the Christian Church chiefly through the ministry of Peter and Paul, written by Luke, commencing with the year 33, and concluding with the imprisonment of Paul in Rome in 62.
Acun`ha, Tristram d', a Portuguese navigator, companion of Albuquerque; Nuna d', his son, viceroy of the Indies from 1528 to 1539; Rodrique d', archbishop of Lisbon, who in 1640 freed Portugal from the Spanish domination, and established the house of Braganza on the throne.
Acupressure, checking hemorrhage in arteries during an operation by compressing their orifices with a needle.
Acupuncture, the operation of pricking an affected part with a needle, and leaving it for a short time in it, sometimes for as long as an hour.
Adair, Sir Robert, a distinguished English diplomatist, and frequently employed on the most important diplomatic missions (1763-1855).
Adal, a flat barren region between Abyssinia and the Red Sea.
Adalbe`ron, the archbishop of Rheims, chancellor of Lothaire and Louis V.; consecrated Hugh Capet; d. 998.
Adalbert, a German ecclesiastic, who did much to extend Christianity over the North (1000-1072).
Adalbert, St., bishop of Prague, who, driven from Bohemia, essayed to preach the gospel in heathen Prussia, where the priests fell upon him, and "struck him with a death-stroke on the head," April 27, 997, on the anniversary of which day a festival is held in his honour.
Ada`lia (30), a seaport on the coast of Asia Minor, on a bay of the same name.
Adam (i. e. man), the first father, according to the Bible, of the human race.
Adam, Alex., a distinguished Latin scholar, rector for 40 years of the Edinburgh High School, Scott having been one of his pupils (1741-1809).
Adam, Lambert, a distinguished French sculptor (1700-1759).
Adam, Robert, a distinguished architect, born at Kirkcaldy, architect of the Register House and the University, Edinburgh (1728-1792).
Adam Bede, George Eliot's first novel, published anonymously in 1859, took at once with both critic and public.
Adam Kadmon, primeval man as he at first emanated from the Creator, or man in his primeval rudimentary potentiality.
Adam of Bromen, distinguished as a Christian missionary in the 11th century; author of a celebrated Church history of N. Europe from 788 to 1072, entitled Gesta Hammenburgensis Ecclesiæ Pontificum.
Adamas`tor, the giant spirit of storms, which Camoëns, in his "Luciad," represents as rising up before Vasco de Gama to warn him off from the Cape of Storms, henceforth called, in consequence of the resultant success in despite thereof, the Cape of Good Hope.
Adamawa, a region in the Lower Soudan with a healthy climate and a fertile soil, rich in all tropical products.
Adamites, visionaries in Africa in the 2nd century, and in Bohemia in the 14th and 15th, who affected innocence, rejected marriage, and went naked.
Adamnan, St., abbot of Iona, of Irish birth, who wrote a life of St. Columba and a work on the Holy Places, of value as the earliest written (625-704).
Adams, Dr. F., a zealous student and translator of Greek medical works (1797-1861).
Adams, John, the second president of the United States, and a chief promoter of their independence (1739-1826).
Adams, John Quincy, his eldest son, the sixth president (1767-1848).
Adams, John Couch, an English astronomer, the discoverer simultaneously with Leverrier of the planet Neptune (1819-1892).
Adams, Parson, a country curate in Fielding's "Joseph Andrews," with a head full of learning and a heart full of love to his fellows, but in absolute ignorance of the world, which in his simplicity he takes for what it professes to be.
Adams, Samuel, a zealous promoter of American independence, who lived and died poor (1722-1803).
Adam's Bridge, a chain of coral reefs and sandbanks connecting Ceylon with India.
Adam's Peak, a conical peak in the centre of Ceylon 7420 ft. high, with a foot-like depression 5 ft. long and 2½ broad atop, ascribed to Adam by the Mohammedans, and to Buddha by the Buddhists; it was here, the Arabs say, that Adam alighted on his expulsion from Eden and stood doing penance on one foot till God forgave him.
Ada`na (40), a town SE. corner of Asia Minor, 30 m. from the sea.
Adanson, Michel, a French botanist, born in Aix, the first to attempt a natural classification of plants (1727-1806).
Ad`da, an affluent of the Po, near Cremona; it flows through Lake Como; on its banks Bonaparte gained several of his famous victories over Austria.
Addington, Henry, Lord Sidmouth, an English statesman was for a short time Prime Minister, throughout a supporter of Pitt (1757-1844).
Addison, Joseph, a celebrated English essayist, studied at Oxford, became Fellow of Magdalen, was a Whig in politics, held a succession of Government appointments, resigned the last for a large pension; was pre-eminent among English writers for the purity and elegance of his style, had an abiding, refining, and elevating influence on the literature of the country; his name is associated with the Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian, as well as with a number of beautiful hymns (1672-1749).
A`delaar, the name of honour given to Cort Sivertsen, a famous Norse seaman, who rendered distinguished naval services to Denmark and to Venice against the Turks (1622-1675).
Adelaide (133), the capital of S. Australia, on the river Torrens, which flows through it into St. Vincent Gulf, 7 m. SE. of Port Adelaide; a handsome city, with a cathedral, fine public buildings, a university, and an extensive botanical garden; it is the great emporium for S. Australia; exports wool, wine, wheat, and copper ore.
Adelaide, eldest daughter of Louis XV. of France (1732-1806).
Adelaide, Port, the haven of Adelaide, a port of call, with a commodious harbour.
Adelaide, Queen, consort of William IV. of England (1792-1849).
Adelaide of Orleans, sister of Louis Philippe, his Egeria (1771-1841).
Adelberg, a town of Carniola, 22 m. from Trieste, with a large stalactite cavern, besides numerous caves near it.
Adelung, Johann Christoph, a distinguished German philologist and lexicographer, born in Pomerania (1732-1806).
A`den (42), a fortified town on a peninsula in British territory S. of Arabia, 105 m. E. of Bab-el-Mandeb; a coaling and military station, in a climate hot, but healthy.
Ad`herbal, son of Micipsa, king of Numidia, killed by Jugurtha, 249 B.C.
Adi Granth, the sacred book of the Sikhs.
Adiaph`orists, Lutherans who in 16th century maintained that certain practices of the Romish Church, obnoxious to others of them, were matters of indifference, such as having pictures, lighting candles, wearing surplices, and singing certain hymns in worship.
Ad`ige, a river of Italy, which rises in the Rhetian Alps and falls into the Adriatic after a course of 250 m.; subject to sudden swellings and overflowings.
Adipocere, a fatty, spermaceti-like substance, produced by the decomposition of animal matter in moist places.
Adipose tissue, a tissue of small vesicles filled with oily matter, in which there is no sensation, and a layer of which lies under the skin and gives smoothness and warmth to the body.
Adirondack Mountains, a high-lying, picturesque, granite range in the State of New York; source of the Hudson.
Adjutant, a gigantic Indian stork with an enormous beak, about 5 ft. in height, which feeds on carrion and offal, and is useful in this way, as storks are.
Adler, Hermann, son and successor of the following, born in Hanover; a vigorous defender of his co-religionists and their faith, as well as their sacred Scriptures; was elected Chief Rabbi in 1891; b. 1839.
Adler, Nathan Marcus, chief Rabbi in Britain, born in Hanover (1803-1890).
Adlercreutz, a Swedish general, the chief promoter of the revolution of 1808, who told Gustavus IV. to his face that he ought to retire (1759-1815).
Adme`tus, king of Pheræ in Thessaly, one of the Argonauts, under whom Apollo served for a time as neat-herd. See Alcestis.
Admirable Doctor, a name given to Roger Bacon.
Admiral, the chief commander of a fleet, of which there are in Britain three grades—admirals, vice-admirals, and rear-admirals, the first displaying his flag on the main mast, the second on the fore, and the third on the mizzen.
Admiralty, Board of, board of commissioners appointed for the management of naval affairs.
Admiralty Island, an island off the coast of Alaska.
Admiralty Islands, a group NE. of New Guinea, in the Pacific, which belong to Germany.
Adolf, Friedrich, king of Sweden, under whose reign the nobles divided themselves into the two factions of the Caps, or the peace-party, and the Hats, or the war-party (1710-1771).
Adolph, St., a Spanish martyr: festival, Sept. 27.
Adolph of Nassau, Kaiser from 1291 to 1298, "a stalwart but necessitous Herr" Carlyle calls him; seems to have been under the pay of Edward Longshanks.
Adolphus, John, an able London barrister in criminal cases, and a voluminous historical writer (1766-1845).
Adona`i, the name used by the Jews for God instead of Jehovah, too sacred to be pronounced.
Adona`is, Shelley's name for Keats.
Ado`nis, a beautiful youth beloved by Aphrodité (Venus), but mortally wounded by a boar and changed by her into a flower the colour of his blood, by sprinkling nectar on his body.
Adoptionists, heretics who in the 8th century maintained that Christ was the son of God, not by birth, but by adoption, and as being one with Him in character and will.
Ador`no, an illustrious plebeian family in Genoa, of the Ghibelline party, several of whom were Doges of the republic.
Adour, a river of France, rising in the Pyrenees and falling into the Bay of Biscay.
Adowa`, a highland town in Abyssinia, and chief entrepôt of trade.
Adras`tus, a king of Argos, the one survivor of the first expedition of the Seven against Thebes, who died of grief when his son fell in the second.
Adrets, Baron des, a Huguenot leader, notorious for his cruelty; died a Catholic (1513-1587).
A`dria, an ancient town between the Po and the Adige; a flourishing seaport at one time, but now 14 m. from the sea.
A`drian, name of six Popes: A. I., from 772 to 795, did much to embellish Rome; A. II., from 867 to 872, zealous to subject the sovereigns of Europe to the Popehood; A. III., from 884 to 885; A. V., from 1054 to 1059, the only Englishman who attained to the Papal dignity; A. V., in 1276; A. VI., from 1222 to 1223. See Breakspeare.
Adrian, St., the chief military saint of N. Europe for many ages, second only to St. George; regarded as the patron of old soldiers, and protector against the plague.
Adriano`ple (60), a city in European Turkey, the third in importance, on the high-road between Belgrade and Constantinople.
Adria`tic, The, a sea 450 m. long separating Italy from Illyria, Dalmatia, and Albania.
Adullam, David's hiding-place (1 Sam. xxii. 1), a royal Canaanitish city 10 m. NW. of Hebron.
Adullamites, an English political party who in 1866 deserted the Liberal side in protest against a Liberal Franchise Bill then introduced. John Bright gave them this name. See 1 Sam. xxii.
Adumbla, a cow, in old Norse mythology, that grazes on hoar-frost, "licking the rime from the rocks—a Hindu cow transported north," surmises Carlyle.
Advocate, Lord, chief counsel for the Crown in Scotland, public prosecutor of crimes, and a member of the administration in power.
Advocates, Faculty of, body of lawyers qualified to plead at the Scottish bar.
Advocates' Library, a library belonging to the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, founded in 1632; it alone of Scotch libraries still holds the privilege of receiving a copy of every book entered at Stationers' Hall.
Advocatus diaboli, the devil's advocate, a functionary in the Roman Catholic Church appointed to show reason against a proposed canonization.
Æacus, a Greek king renowned as an administrator of distributive justice, after death appointed one of the three judges in Hades. See Minos and Rhadamanthus.
Ædiles, magistrates of ancient Rome who had charge of the public buildings and public structures generally.
Æe`tis, king of Colchis and father of Medea.
Æge`an Sea, the Archipelago.
Ægeus, the father of Theseus, who threw himself into the Ægean Sea, so called after him, in the mistaken belief that his son, who had been to slay the Minotaur, had been slain by him.
Ægi`na, an island 20 m. SW. of Athens, in a gulf of the same name.
Ægir, the god of the sea in the Norse mythology.
Ægis (lit. a goat's skin), the shield of Zeus, made of the hide of the goat Amalthea (q. v.), representing originally the storm-cloud in which the god invested himself when he was angry; it was also the attribute of Athena, bearing in her case the Gorgon's head.
Æl`fric, a Saxon writer of the end of the 10th century known as the "Grammarian."
Ælia`nus, Claudius, an Italian rhetorician who wrote in Greek, and whose extant works are valuable for the passages from prior authors which they have preserved for us.
Æmi`lius Paulus, the Roman Consul who fell at Cannæ, 216 B.C.; also his son, surnamed Macedonicus, so called as having defeated Perseus at Pydna, in Macedonia.
Æne`as, a Trojan, the hero of Virgil's "Æneid," who in his various wanderings after the fall of Troy settled in Italy, and became, tradition alleges, the forefather of the Julian Gens in Rome.
Æneas Silvius. See Piccolomini.
Æ`neid, an epic poem by Virgil, of which Æneas is the hero.
Ænesidemus, a sceptical philosopher, born in Crete, who flourished shortly after Cicero, and summed up under ten arguments the contention against dogmatism in philosophy. See "Schwegler," translated by Dr. Hutchison Stirling.
Æolian action, action of the wind as causing geologic changes.
Æolian Islands, the Lipari Islands (q. v.).
Æo`lians, one of the Greek races who, originating in Thessaly, spread north and south, and emigrated into Asia Minor, giving rise to the Æolic dialect of the Greek language.
Æolotropy, a change in the physical properties of bodies due to a change of position.
Æ`olus, the Greek god of the winds.
Æon, among the Gnostics, one of a succession of powers conceived as emanating from God and presiding over successive creations and transformations of being.
Æpyor`nis, a gigantic fossil bird of Madagascar, of which the egg is six times larger than that of an ostrich.
Æ`qui, a tribe on NE. of Latium, troublesome to the Romans until subdued in 302 B.C.
Aerated bread, bread of flour dough charged with carbonic acid gas.
Aerated waters, waters aerated with carbonic acid gas.
Æs`chines, a celebrated Athenian orator, rival of Demosthenes, who in the end prevailed over him by persuading the citizens to believe he was betraying them to Philip of Macedon, so that he left Athens and settled in Rhodes, where he founded a school as a rhetorician (389-314 B.C.).
Æs`chylus, the father of the Greek tragedy, who distinguished himself as a soldier both at Marathon and Salamis before he figured as a poet; wrote, it is said, some seventy dramas, of which only seven are extant—the "Suppliants," the "Persæ," the "Seven against Thebes," the "Prometheus Bound," the "Agamemnon," the "Choephori," and the "Eumenides," his plays being trilogies; born at Eleusis and died in Sicily (525-456 B.C.).
Æscula`pius, a son of Apollo and the nymph Coronis, whom, for restoring Hippolytus to life, Zeus, at the prayer of Pluto, destroyed with a thunderbolt, but afterwards admitted among the gods as god of medicine and the healing art; the cock, the emblem of vigilance, and the serpent, of prudence, were sacred to him.
Aeson, the father of Jason, was restored to youth by Medea.
Æ`sop, a celebrated Greek fabulist of the 6th century B.C., of whose history little is known except that he was originally a slave, manumitted by Iadmon of Samos, and put to death by the Delphians, probably for some witticism at their expense.
Æso`pus, a celebrated Roman actor, a friend of Pompey and Cicero.
Æsthetics, the science of the beautiful in nature and the fine arts.
Ae`tius, a Roman general, who withstood the aggressions of the Barbarians for twenty years, and defeated Attila at Châlons, 451; assassinated out of jealousy by the Emperor Valentinian III., 454.
Æto`lia, a country of ancient Greece N. of the Gulf of Corinth.
Affre, archbishop of Paris, suffered death on the barricades, as, with a green bough in his hand, he bore a message of peace to the insurgents (1793-1848).
Afghan`istan` (5,000), a country in the centre of Asia, between India on the east and Persia on the west, its length about 600 m. and its breadth about 500 m., a plateau of immense mountain masses, and high, almost inaccessible, valleys, occupying 278,000 sq. m., with extremes of climate, and a mixed turbulent population, majority Afghans. The country, though long a bone of contention between England and Russia, is now wholly under the sphere of British influence.
Af`ghans, The, a fine and noble but hot-tempered race of the Mohammedan faith inhabiting Afghanistan. The Afghans proper are called Pathans in India, and call themselves Beni Israel (sons of Israel), tracing their descent from King Saul.
Afra`nius, a Latin comic poet who flourished 100 B.C.; also a Roman Consul who played a prominent part in the rivalry between Cæsar and Pompey, 60 B.C.
Africa, one of the five great divisions of the globe, three times larger than Europe, seven-tenths of it within the torrid zone, and containing over 200,000,000 inhabitants of more or less dark-skinned races. It was long a terra incognita, but it is now being explored in all directions, and attempts are everywhere made to bring it within the circuit of civilisation. It is being parcelled out by European nations, chiefly Britain, France, and Germany, and with more zeal and appliance of resource by Britain than any other.
Africa`nus, Julius, a Christian historian and chronologist of the 3rd century.
Afridis, a treacherous tribe of eight clans, often at war with each other, in a mountainous region on the North-Western frontier of India W. of Peshawar.
Afrikan`der, one born in S. Africa of European parents.
Afrit`, a powerful evil spirit in the Mohammedan mythology.
Aga`des, a once important depôt of trade in the S. of the Sahara, much decayed.
Agag, a king of the Amalekites, conquered by Saul, and hewn in pieces by order of Samuel.
Agamem`non, a son of Atreus, king of Mycenæ and general-in-chief of the Greeks in the Trojan war, represented as a man of stately presence and a proud spirit. On the advice of the soothsayer Calchas sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia (q. v.) for the success of the enterprise he conducted. He was assassinated by Ægisthus and Clytæmnestra, his wife, on his return from the war. His fate and that of his house is the subject of Æschylus' trilogy "Oresteia."
Agamogenesis, name given to reproduction without sex, by fission, budding, &c.
Aganippe, a fountain in Boeotia, near Helicon, dedicated to the Muses as a source of poetic inspiration.
Ag`ape, love-feasts among the primitive Christians in commemoration of the Last Supper, and in which they gave each other the kiss of peace as token of Christian brotherhood.
Agar-agar, a gum extracted from a sea-weed, used in bacteriological investigations.
Aga`sias, a sculptor of Ephesus, famous for his statue of the "Gladiator."
Agass`iz, a celebrated Swiss naturalist, in the department especially of ichthyology, and in connection with the glaciers; settled as a professor of zoology and geology in the United States in 1846 (1807-1873).
Ag`athe, St., a Sicilian virgin who suffered martyrdom at Palermo under Decius in 251; represented in art as crowned with a long veil and bearing a pair of shears, the instruments with which her breast were cut off. Festival, Feb. 5.
Aga`thias, a Byzantine poet and historian (536-582).
Agath`ocles, the tyrant of Syracuse, by the massacre of thousands of the inhabitants, was an enemy of the Carthaginians, and fought against them; was poisoned in the end (361-289 B.C.).
Ag`athon, an Athenian tragic poet, a rival of Euripides (447-400 B.C.).
Ag`athon, St., pope from 676 to 682.
Ag`de (6), a French seaport on the Hérault, 3 m. from the Mediterranean.
A`gen (21), a town on the Garonne, 84 m. above Bordeaux.
Ages, in the Greek mythology four—the Golden, self-sufficient; the Silver, self-indulgent; the Brazen, warlike; and the Iron, violent; together with the Heroic, nobly aspirant, between the third and fourth. In archeology, three—the Stone Age, the Bronze, and the Iron. In history, the Middle and Dark, between the Ancient and the Modern. In Fichte, five—of Instinct, of Law, of Rebellion, of Rationality, of Conformity to Reason. In Shakespeare, seven—Infancy, Childhood, Boyhood, Adolescence, Manhood, Age, Old Age.
Agesan`der, a sculptor of Rhodes of the first century, who wrought at the famous group of the Laocoon.
Agesila`us, a Spartan king, victorious over the Persians in Asia and over the allied Thebans and Athenians at Coronea, but defeated by Epaminondas at Mantinea after a campaign in Egypt; d. 360 B.C., aged 84.
Aggas, Ralph, a surveyor and engraver of the 16th century, who first drew a plan of London as well as of Oxford and Cambridge.
Agglutinate languages, languages composed of parts which are words glued together, so to speak, as cowherd.
Agincourt`, a small village in Pas-de-Calais, where Henry V. in a bloody battle defeated the French, Oct. 25, 1415.
A`gis, the name of several Spartan kings, of whom the most famous were Agis III. and IV., the former famous for his resistance to the Macedonian domination, d. 330 B.C.; and the latter for his attempts to carry a law for the equal division of land, d. 240 B.C.
Ag`nadel, a Lombard village, near which Louis XII. defeated the Venetians in 1509, and Vendôme, Prince Eugène in 1705.
Agna`no, Lake of, a lake near Naples, now drained; occupied the crater of an extinct volcano, its waters in a state of constant ebullition.
Agnello, Col d', passage by the S. of Monte Viso between France and Italy.
Agnes, an unsophisticated maiden in Molière's L'École des Femmes, so unsophisticated that she does not know what love means.
Agnes, St., a virgin who suffered martyrdom, was beheaded because the flames would not touch her body, under Diocletian in 303; represented in art as holding a palm-branch in her hand and a lamb at her feet or in her arms. Festival, Jan. 21.
Agnes de Méranie, the second wife of Philip Augustus by a marriage in 1193, declared null by the Church, who, being dismissed in consequence, died broken-hearted in 1201.
Agnes Sorel, surnamed Dame de beauté, mistress of Charles VII. of France (1409-1450).
Agne`si, Maria Gætana, a native of Milan, a woman of extraordinary ability and attainments, prelected for her father in mathematics in the University of Bologna under sanction of the Pope; died a nun at her birthplace (1718-1799).
Ag`ni, the god of fire in the Vedic mythology, begets the gods, organises the world, produces and preserves universal life, and throughout never ceases to be fire. One of the three terms of the Vedic trinity, Soma and Indra being the other two.
Agnolo, a Florentine artist, friend of Michael Angelo and Raphael, distinguished for his carvings in wood (1460-1543).
Agnosticism, the doctrine which disclaims all knowledge of the supersensuous, or denies that we know or can know the absolute, the infinite, or God.
Agnus Dei, the figure of a lamb bearing a cross as a symbol of Christ, or a medal with this device; also a prayer in the Mass beginning with the words, "Lamb of God."
Agonic line, line along which the needle points due north and south.
Agora, the forum of a Grecian town.
Agos`ta, a city on east coast of Sicily.
Agoult, Countess of, a French authoress under the pseudonym of Daniel Stern (1805-1876).
Agoust, Capt. de, a "cast-iron" captain of the Swiss Guards, who on May 4, 1788, by order of the Court of Versailles, marched the Parliament of Paris out of the Palais de Justice and carried off the key. See Carlyle's "French Revolution," Bk. I. chap. viii.
Agou`ti, a rodent, native of Brazil, Paraguay, and Guiana; very destructive to roots and sugar-canes.
A`gra (168), a handsome city on the Jumna, in NW. Province of India, famous for, among other monuments, the Taj Mahal, a magnificent mausoleum erected near it by the Emperor Shah Jehan for himself and his favourite wife; it is a centre of trade, and seat of manufactures of Indian wares.
Ag`ram, (37), a Hungarian town, the capital of Croatia, with a fine Gothic cathedral and a university; is subject to earthquakes.
Agrarian laws, laws among the Romans regulating the division of lands.
Agric`ola, a Roman general, father-in-law of Tacitus, who conquered Great Britain in 80, recalled by the Emperor Domitian in 87, and retired into private life (37-93).
Agricola, Johann, a follower and friend of Luther, who became his antagonist in the matter of the binding obligation of the law on Christians (1492-1566).
Agricola, Rudolphus, a learned and accomplished Dutchman, much esteemed by Erasmus, and much in advance of his time; his most important work, "Dialectics," being an attack on the scholastic system (1442-1485).
Agrigen`tum, an ancient considerable city, now Girgenti, on the S. of Sicily, of various fortune, and still showing traces of its ancient grandeur.
Agrippa, H. Cornelius, a native of Cologne, of noble birth, for some time in the service of Maximilian, but devoted mainly to the study of the occult sciences, which exposed him to various persecutions through life (1486-1535).
Agrippa, Herod. See Herod.
Agrip`pa, M. Vipsanius, a Roman general, the son-in-law and favourite of Augustus, who distinguished himself at the battle of Actium, and built the Pantheon of Rome (63-12 B.C.).
Agrippi`na, the daughter of Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia, and thus the granddaughter of Augustus; married Germanicus, accompanied him in his campaigns, and brought his ashes to Rome on his death, but was banished from Rome by Tiberius, and d. in 33.
Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus and the former, born at Cologne, and the mother of Nero. Her third husband was her uncle, the Emperor Claudian, whom she got to adopt her son, and then poisoned him, in order to place her son on the throne; but the latter, resenting her intolerable ascendancy, had her put to death in 59.
Agtelek, a village NE. of Pesth, in Hungary with vast stalactite caverns, some of them of great height.
Agua`do, A. M., an enormously wealthy banker of Spanish-Jewish descent, born in Seville, and naturalised in France (1784-1842).
Aguas Calientes (31), a high-lying inland trading town in Mexico.
Ague-cheek, Sir Andrew, a silly squire in "Twelfth Night."
Aguesseau`, d', a French magistrate under Louis XIV. and Louis XV., of unimpeachable integrity and unselfish devotion, a learned jurist and law reformer, and held high posts in the administration of justice (1668-1751).
Aguilar, Grace, a Jewess, born at Hackney; authoress of "Magic Wreath," "Home Influence," "Vale of Cedars"; of a delicate constitution, died young (1816-1847).
A`gulhas, Cape (i. e. the Needles), the most southerly point of Africa, 100 m. ESE. of the Cape, and along with the bank of the whole south coast, dangerous to shipping.
A`hab, a king of Israel fond of splendour, and partial to the worship of Baal (918-896 B.C.).
Ahasue`rus, a traditionary figure known as the Wandering Jew; also the name of several kings of Persia.
Ahaz, a king of Judah who first brought Judea under tribute to Assyria.
Ahlden, Castle of, a castle in Lüneburg Heath, the nearly lifelong prison-house of the wife of George I. and the mother of George II. and of Sophie Dorothea of Prussia.
Ahmadabad (148), a chief town of Guzerat, in the Bombay Presidency, a populous city and of great splendour in the last century, of which gorgeous relics remain.
Ahmed, a prince in the "Arabian Nights," noted for a magic tent which would expand so as to shelter an army, and contract so that it could go into one's pocket.
Ah`med Shah, the founder of the Afghan dynasty and the Afghan power (1724-1773).
Ahmednug`ar (41), a considerable Hindu town 122 m. E. of Bombay.
Aholibah, prostitution personified. See Ezek. xxiii.
Aholibamah, a grand daughter of Cain, beloved by a seraph, who at the Flood bore her away to another planet.
Ah`riman, the Zoroastrian impersonation of the evil principle, to whom all the evils of the world are ascribed.
Aidan, St., the archbishop of Lindisfarne, founder of the monastery, and the apostle of Northumbria, sent thither from Iona on the invitation of King Oswald in 635.
Aignan, St., the bishop of Orleans, defended it against Attila and his Huns in 451.
Aiguillon, Duke d', corrupt minister of France, previously under trial for official plunder of money, which was quashed, at the corrupt court of Louis XV., and the tool of Mme. Du Barry, with whom he rose and fell (1720-1782).
Aikin, Dr. John, a popular writer, and author, with Mrs. Barbauld, his sister, of "Evenings at Home" (1747-1822).
Aikman, W., an eminent Scotch portrait-painter (1682-1731).
Ailly, Pierre d', a cardinal of the Romish Church, and eminent as a theologian, presided at the council of Constance which condemned Huss (1350-1420).
Ailsa Craig, a rocky islet of Ayrshire, 10 m. NW. of Girvan, 2 m. in circumference, which rises abruptly out of the sea at the mouth of the Firth of Clyde to a height of 1114 ft.
Aimard, Gustave, a French novelist, born in Paris; died insane (1818-1883).
Aimé, St., archbishop of Sens, in France; d. 690; festival, 13th Sept.
Ain, a French river, has its source in the Jura Mts., and falls into the Rhône; also a department of France between the Rhône and Savoy.
Ainmiller, a native of Münich, the reviver of glass-painting in Germany (1807-1870).
Ai`nos, a primitive thick-set, hairy race, now confined to Yezo and the islands N. of Japan, aboriginal to that quarter of the globe, and fast dying out.
Ainsworth, R., an English Latin lexicographer (1660-1743).
Ainsworth, W. H., a popular English novelist, the author of "Rookwood" and "Jack Sheppard," as well as novels of an antiquarian and historical character (1805-1882).
Ain-Tab (20), a Syrian garrison town 60 m. NE. of Aleppo; trade in hides, leather, and cotton.
Aird, Thomas, a Scottish poet, author of the "Devil's Dream," the "Old Bachelor," and the "Old Scotch Village"; for nearly 30 years editor of the Dumfries Herald (1802-1876).
Airdrie (19), a town in Lanarkshire, 11 m. E. of Glasgow, in a district rich in iron and coal; is of rapid growth; has cotton-mills, foundries, etc.
Airds Moss, a moor in Ayrshire, between the rivers Ayr and Lugar.
Aire, a Yorkshire river which flows into the Ouse; also a French river, affluent of the Aisne.
Airy, Sir G. B., an eminent English astronomer, mathematician, and man of science, astronomer-royal from 1836 to 1881, retired on a pension; was the first to enunciate the complete theory of the rainbow.
Aisne, a French river which, after a course of 150 m., falls into the Oise near Compiègne; also a department in the N. of France.
Aïsse, Mlle., a Circassienne brought to France about 1700; left letters on French society in the eighteenth century, sparkling with wit and full of interest.
Aiton, Wm., a botanist, born in Lanarkshire, the first director of the Royal Gardens at Kew (1731-1793).
Aitzema, Leo, historian of Friesland (1600-1669).
Aix (22), a town, the ancient capital of Provence, 20 m. N. of Marseilles, the seat of an archbishop and a university; founded by the Romans 123 B.C.; near it Marius defeated the Teutons.
Aix, Isle of, island in the Atlantic, at the mouth of the Charente.
Aix-la-Chapelle` (103), in Rhenish Prussia, one of the oldest cities in Germany, made capital of the German empire by Charlemagne; derives its name from its mineral springs; is a centre of manufacturing industries and an important trade; is celebrated for its octagonal cathedral (in the middle of which is a stone marking the burial-place of Charlemagne), for treaties of peace in 1668 and 1748, and for a European congress in 1818.
Aix-les-Bains`, a small town near Chambéry, in the dep. of Savoy, and much frequented by invalids for its waters and baths.
Ajac`cio (18), the capital of Corsica, the birthplace of the Bonaparte family, of Cardinal Fesch, and Bacciochi.
Ajalon, Valley of, in Palestine, scene of a battle between Joshua and five Canaanitish kings, during which the sun and moon stood still at the prayer of Joshua, to enable him to finish his victory.
A`jan Coast, a district on the E. coast of Africa, from Cape Guardafui to the mouth of the Juba, under the protectorate of Germany.
A`jax the name of two Greek heroes in the Trojan war, and the synonym of a fiery and impetuous warrior: Ajax, the son of Telamon of Sparta, one of the bravest of the Greeks, who, on the death of Achilles, contended with Ulysses for his arms, but was defeated, in consequence of which he lost his reason and put an end to his life; and Ajax, the son of Oïleus, swift of foot, like Achilles, who suffered shipwreck on his homeward voyage, as a judgment for an outrage he perpetrated on the person of Cassandra in the temple of Athena in Troy.
Ajmere` (68), a city in a small territory in the heart of Rajputana, under the rule of the Viceroy; well built, and contains some famous edifices.
Ajodhya, an ancient city of Oudh, 77 m. E. of Lucknow, once, on religious grounds, one of the largest and most magnificent cities of India, now in ruins; the modern town is an insignificant place, but has an annual fair, attended by often 600,000 pilgrims.
Ak`aba, a gulf forming the NE. inlet of the Red Sea.
Akakia, Doctor, a satire of a very biting nature by Voltaire, directed against pretentious pedants of science in the person of Maupertuis, the President of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin, which so excited the anger of Frederick the Great, the patron of the Academy, that he ordered it to be burnt by the common hangman, after 30,000 copies of it had been sold in Paris!
Akakia, Martin, physician of Francis I., born at Châlons-sur-Marne, his real name being Sans-Malice; d. 1551.
Ak`bar, the great Mogul emperor of India, who, after a minority of a few years, assumed the reins of government at the age of eighteen, and in ten or twelve years, such was his power of conquest, had the whole of India north of the Vindhya Mts. subject to his rule. He was wise in government as well as powerful in war, and one of the most large-minded and largest-hearted rulers recorded in history. He reigned half a century (1542-1605).
Akenside, Mark, an English physician, who wrote, among other productions and pieces, the "Hymn to the Naiads," especially a poem entitled the "Pleasures of Imagination," much quoted from at one time, and suggested by the study of Addison on the Imagination in the Spectator (1721-1770).
Akers, B. P., an able American sculptor (1825-1861).
Akerman` (55), a fortified town in Bessarabia, at the mouth of the Dniester.
Akiba, Ben Joseph, a famous Jewish rabbi of the 2nd century, a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition, flayed alive by the Romans for being concerned in a revolt in 135.
Akkas, a wandering race of negro dwarfs in Central Africa, with large heads and slender necks, who live by hunting.
Akron (27), a town in Ohio, U.S., seat of manufactures and centre of traffic.
Aksakof`, a Russian littérateur and advocate of Panslavism (1823-1886).
Aksu (20), a trading town in E. Turkestan, 250 m. NE. of Yarkand.
Ak`yab (37), the capital of Aracan, in British Burmah, 90 m. SE. of Calcutta.
Al Rakim, the dog that guarded the Seven Sleepers (q. v.), and that stood by them all through their long sleep.
Alaba`ma (1,513), one of the United States of N. America, traversed by a river of the name, a little larger than England, highly fertile and a great cotton-growing country, and abounding in iron, coal, and marble, bounded on the W. by the Mississippi, on the N. by Tennessee, and the E. by Georgia.
Alabama, The, a vessel built in Birkenhead for the Confederates in the late American Civil War, for the devastation done by which, according to the decision of a court of arbitration, the English Government had to pay heavy damages of three millions of money.
Alacoque, Marie, a French nun of a mystic tendency, the founder of the devotion of the Sacred Heart (1647-1690).
Alad`din, one of the chiefs of the Assassins in the 13th century, better known by the name of the Old Man of the Mountain.
Aladdin, a character in the "Arabian Nights," who became possessed of a wonderful lamp and a wonderful ring, by rubbing which together he could call two evil genii to do his bidding.
Aladinists, free-thinkers among the Mohammedans.
Alago`as (397), a maritime province of Brazil, N. of Pernambuco, with tropical products as well as fine timber and dye-woods.
Alain de L'Isle, a professor of theology in the University of Paris, surnamed the Doctor universel (1114-1203).
Alais` (18), a town at the foot of the Cévennes, in the centre of a mining district; once the stronghold of French Protestantism.
Alaman`ni, Luigi, an Italian poet and diplomatist, born at Florence (1495-1556).
Aland Isles, a group of 300 small islands in the Gulf of Bothnia, of which 80 are inhabited; fortified by Russia.
Alans, a barbarous horde from the East, who invaded W. Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries, but were partly exterminated and partly ousted by the Visigoths.
Alar`con y Mendo`za, Juan Ruiz de, a Spanish dramatist born in Mexico, who, though depreciated by his contemporaries, ranks after 200 years of neglect among the foremost dramatic geniuses of Spain, next even to Cervantes and Lope de Vega; he was a humpback, had an offensive air of conceit, and was very unpopular; he wrote at least twenty dramas, some of which have been translated into French; d. in 1639.
Al`aric I., the king of the Visigoths, a man of noble birth, who, at the end of the 4th and beginning of the 5th century, ravaged Greece, invaded Italy, and took and pillaged Rome; died at Cosenza, in Calabria, in 412, at the early age of thirty-four.
Alaric II., king of the Visigoths, whose dominions included all Gaul and most of Spain; defeated by the Franks at Poitiers, and killed by the hand of Clovis, their king, in 567.
Alaric Cotin, Voltaire's nickname for Frederick the Great, the former in recognition of him as a warrior, the latter as a would-be littérateur, after an indifferent French poet of the name of Cotin.
Alas`co, John, the uncle of Sigismund, king of Poland, and a zealous promoter in Poland of the Reformation, the friend of Erasmus and Zwinglius (1499-1560).
Alas`ka (32), an immense territory belonging to the U.S. by purchase from Russia, extending from British N. America to Behring Strait; it is poor in resources, and the inhabitants, who are chiefly Indians and Eskimos, live by hunting and fishing, and by the export of salmon; seal fishery valuable, however.
Alasnam, a hero related of in the "Arabian Nights" as having erected eight statues of gold, and in quest of a statue for a ninth unoccupied pedestal, finding what he wanted in the person of a beautiful woman for a wife.
Alas`tor, an avenging spirit, given to torment families whose history has been stained by some crime.
A`lava (97), the southernmost of the three Basque provinces of Spain, largest, but least populous; rich in minerals, and fertile in soil.
Alava, Ricardo de, a Spanish general, born in Vittoria, joined the national party, and was aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington, and became eventually ambassador to London and Paris (1771-1843).
Alba Longa, a city of Latium older than Rome.
Albacete (229), a province in Spain, with a capital (30) of same name, 173 m. SE. of Madrid.
Alban Lake, near Alban Mount, 6 m. in circuit, occupying the basin of an extinct volcano, its surface 961 ft. above the sea-level.
Alban Mount, a small mountain overlooking Alba Longa.
Alban, St., the first martyr in Britain to the Christian faith in 303; represented in art as carrying his head between his hands, having been beheaded.
Alba`ni, an Italian painter, a disciple of Caracci, born at Bologna; surnamed the Anacreon of painting; his pictures more distinguished for grace than vigour.
Alba`ni, an illustrious Roman family, members of which attained the highest dignities in the Church, one, Clement XI., having been Pope.
Albani, Mme., née Emma la Jeunesse, a well-known and highly popular operatic singer of French-Canadian descent; b. 1847.
Alba`nia, a region in Balkan peninsula, on the Adriatic, extending from Servia to Greece.
Albano, Lake of, a small crater-like lake 15 m. SE. of Rome, near which rises the Castel Gandolfo, where the Pope has a villa.
Albany, the old Celtic name for the Scottish highlands.
Albany, a town in W. Australia, on King George Sound, 261 m. SE. of Perth, a port of call for Australian liners; also the capital (94) of the State of New York, on the Hudson River, a well-appointed city; seat of justice for the State, with a large trade and numerous manufactures.
Albany, Countess of, wife of English pretender, Prince Charles Stuart, a dissolute woman (1753-1824).
Albany, the Duke of, a title formerly given to a member of the royal family, and revived in the present reign.
Albany, Duchess of, daughter of Prince Waldeck Pyrmont and widow of Prince Leopold of England; b. 1861, widow since 1884.
Albategni, a distinguished Arabian astronomer, born in Mesopotamia in the 9th or 10th century of our era; his observations extended over 50 years; he so improved the methods and instruments of observation as to earn the title of the Ptolemy of the Arabs.
Albatross, the largest and strongest of sea-birds, that ranges over the southern seas, often seen far from land; it is a superstition among sailors that it is disastrous to shoot one.
Albero`ni, an Italian of humble birth, became a Cardinal of the Church and Prime Minister to Philip V. of Spain, wrought hard to restore Spain to its ancient grandeur, was defeated in his project by the quadruple alliance of England, France, Austria, and Holland, and obliged to retire (1664-1752).
Albert, archbishop of Mainz, a dignity granted him by Pope Leo X. at the ransom of £15,000, which he was unable to pay, and which, as the Pope needed it for building St. Peter's, he borrowed, the Pope granting him the power to sell indulgences in order to repay the loan, in which traffic Tetzel was his chief salesman, a trade which roused the wrath of Luther, and provoked the German Reformation (1450-1545).
Albert, the last Grandmaster of the Teutonic knights, who being "religious in an eminent degree and shaken in his belief" took zealously to Protestantism and came under the influence of Luther, who advised him to declare himself Duke of Prussia, under the wing of Sigismund of Poland, in defiance of the Teutonic order as no longer worthy of bed and board on the earth, and so doing, became founder of the Prussian State (1490-1568).
Albert, markgrave of Brandenburg, defined by Carlyle "a failure of a Fritz," with "features" of a Frederick the Great in him, "but who burnt away his splendid qualities as a mere temporary shine for the able editors, and never came to anything, full of fire, too much of it wildfire, not in the least like an Alcibiades except in the change of fortune he underwent" (1522-1557).
Albert, Prince, second son of Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, born Aug. 26, 1819, an accomplished man with a handsome presence, who became the consort of Queen Victoria in 1840, and from his prudence and tact was held in the highest honour by the whole community, but died at Windsor of typhoid fever, Dec. 14, 1861, to the unspeakable sorrow of both Queen and country.
Albert, St., bishop of Liège, was assassinated by the emissaries of the Emperor Henry VI. in 1195. Festival, Nov. 21.
Albert Edward. See Wales, Prince of.
Albert I., emperor of Germany from 1298 to 1308, eldest son of Rudolf of Hapsburg, "a most clutching, strong-fisted, dreadfully hungry, tough, and unbeautiful man, whom his nephew at last had to assassinate, and did assassinate, as he crossed the river Reuss with him in a boat, May 1, 1308."
Albert II., a successor, "who got three crowns—Hungary, Bohemia, and the Imperial—in one year, and we hope a fourth," says the old historian, "which was a heavenly and eternal one," for he died the next year, 1439.
Albert III., elector of Brandenburg. See Achilles of Germany.
Albert Medal, a medal of gold and of bronze, instituted in 1866, awarded to civilians for acts of heroism by sea or land.
Albert the Bear, markgrave of Brandenburg, called the Bear, "not from his looks or qualities, for he was a tall handsome man, but from the cognisance on his shield, an able man, had a quick eye as well as a strong hand, and could pick what way was straightest among crooked things, was the shining figure and the great man of the North in his day, got much in the North and kept it, got Brandenburg for one there, a conspicuous country ever since," says Carlyle, "and which grows more so in our late times" (1100-1175).
Albert Nyan`za, a lake in Equatorial Africa, in the Nile basin, discovered by Sir Samuel Baker in 1864, 150 m. long by 40 broad, and 2500 feet above sea-level.
Alber`ta (26), a fertile region with large forests in British America, on the E. slope of the Rocky Mountains, the south abounding in cattle ranches, and the mountainous districts in minerals.
Alberti, an illustrious Florentine family, rivals of the Medicis and the Albrizzi.
Alber`tus Magnus, one of the greatest of the scholastic philosophers and theologians of the Middle Ages, teacher of Thomas Aquinas, supreme in knowledge of the arts and sciences of the time, and regarded by his contemporaries in consequence as a sorcerer (1190-1280).
Albi, a town of some antiquity and note in S. of France, 22 m. NE. of Toulouse.
Albigen`ses, a religious sect, odious, as heretical, to the Church, which sprung up about Albi, in the S. of France, in the 12th century, against which Pope Innocent III. proclaimed a crusade, which was carried on by Simon de Montfort in the 13th century, and by the Inquisition afterwards, to their utter annihilation.
Albinos, persons or animals with preternaturally pale skin and fair hair, also with pupils of a red or pink colour, and eyes too weak to bear full light.
Albinus, an able professor of anatomy and therapeutics at Leyden (1696-1770).
Albion, a white cliff, the ancient name of Great Britain.
Alboin, king of the Lombards in the 6th century, from 561 to 573; invaded Italy as far as the Tiber, and set up his capital in Pavia; incurred the resentment of his wife, who had him assassinated for forcing her to drink wine out of the skull of her father.
Alborak, a wonderful horse of Mahomet, an impersonation of the lightning as his steed.
Albor`noz, a Spanish statesman, archbishop of Toledo, a bold defender of the faith against the Moor and a plain-spoken man in the interest of Christianity (1310-1367).
Albrizzi, a powerful Florentine family, rivals of the Medicis and the Alberti.
Albue`ra, a Spanish village 12 m. SE. of Badajoz, scene of a victory (May 16, 1811) of General Beresford over Marshal Soult.
Albufe`ra, a lake on the coast of Spain, 7 m. S. of Valencia, near which Marshal Suchet gained a victory over the English in 1811.
Al`bula, Swiss mountain pass in the canton of Grisons, 7595 ft. high.
Albumen, a glairy substance a constituent of plants and animals, and found nearly pure in the white of an egg or in the serum of the blood.
Albuquerque`, Alfonso d', a celebrated Portuguese patriot and navigator, the founder of the Portuguese power in India, who, after securing a footing in India for Portugal that he sought for, settled in Goa, where his recall at the instance of jealous rivals at home gave him such a shock that he died of a broken heart just as he was leaving. The Indians long remembered his benign rule, and used to visit his tomb to pray him to deliver them from the oppression of his successors (1453-1513).
Albyn, ancient Celtic name of Scotland.
Alcæ`us of Mitylene, a Greek lyric poet, an aristocrat by birth, a contemporary and an alleged lover of Sappho, and much admired by Horace; flourished about 600 B.C.
Alca`la de Hena`res (14), a town in Spain, the birthplace of Cervantes, 21 m. E. of Madrid, long the seat of a famous university founded by Cardinal Ximenes.
Alcan`tara, a town of Spain, on the Tagus, near Portugal, with a bridge of six arches, 670 ft. long and 210 ft. high, built in honour of Trajan in 104. The Order of Alcantara, a religious and military order, was established in 1176 here, for defence against the Moors, and was suppressed in 1835.
Alceste, the chief character in Molière's Misanthrope.
Alces`tis, the wife of Admetus, who gave herself up to death to save her husband. Hercules descended to the lower world and brought her back. She is the subject of one of the tragedies of Euripides.
Alchemy, the early analysis of substances which has in modern times developed into chemistry, and which aimed chiefly at the discovery of the philosopher's stone, of a universal solvent, and of the elixir of life; it has been defined to be "an art without art, which has its beginning in falsehood, its middle in toil, and its end in poverty."
Alcibi`ades, an Athenian of high birth, and related to Pericles, possessed of a handsome person, brilliant abilities, and great wealth, but was of a wayward temper and depraved, whom Socrates tried hard to win over to virtue, but failed. He involved his country in a rash expedition against Sicily, served and betrayed it by turns in the Peloponnesian war, and died by assassination in exile (450-404 B.C.).
Alci`des, the grandson of Alcæus, a patronymic of Hercules.
Alcin`ous, a king of the Phæacians, the father of Nausicaa, who figures in the Odyssey as the host of Ulysses, who had been shipwrecked on his shore.
Alci`ra (18), a walled town in Spain, on an island 22 m. SW. of Valencia.
Alcman, an early Greek lyric poet, born at Sardis.
Alcme`ne, the wife of Amphitryon and the mother of Hercules.
Alcmeonidæ, a powerful Athenian family, of which Pericles and Alcibiades were members, who professed to be descended from Alcmæon, the grandson of Nestor.
Alcock, John, an eminent ecclesiastic of the reign of Edward IV., distinguished for his love of learning and learned men; d. 1500.
Alcohol, pure or highly rectified spirit obtained from fermented saccharine solutions by distillation, and the intoxicating principle of all spirituous liquors.
Alcoholism, the results, acute or chronic, of the deleterious action of alcohol on the human system.
Alcott, Louisa Mary, a popular American authoress, who acted as a nurse to the wounded during the Civil War; her works mostly addressed to the young (1832-1888).
Alcoy (30), a town in Spain, N. of Alicanti; staple manufacture, paper.
Al`cuin, a learned Englishman, a disciple of Bede; invited by Charlemagne to introduce scholarly culture into the empire and establish libraries and schools of learning; was one of those men whose work lies more in what they influence others to do than in what they do themselves (735-804).
Alcy`one, daughter of Æolus, who threw herself into the sea after her husband, who had perished in shipwreck, and was changed into the kingfisher.
Alde`baran, the bull's-eye, a star of the first magnitude in the eye of the constellation Taurus; it is the sun in the Arabian mythology.
Aldehyde, a limpid, very volatile liquid, of a suffocating odour, obtained from the oxidation of alcohol.
Al`derney (2), one of the Channel Islands, 3 or 4 m. long by 2 broad, celebrated for its breed of cows; separated from Cape de la Hogue by the dangerous Race of Alderney.
Al`dershot, a permanent camp, established in 1855, for instruction in military manoeuvres, on a moorland 35 m. SW. of London.
Aldine Editions, editions, chiefly of the classics, issued from the press of Aldus Manutius in Venice in the 16th century, and remarkable for the correctness of the text and the beauty and clearness of the printing.
Aldingar, Sir, legendary character, the steward of Eleanor, wife of Henry II., who accused her of infidelity, and offered to substantiate the charge by combat, when an angel in the form of a child appeared and certified her innocence.
Aldobrandini, a Florentine jurisconsult (1500-1558).
Al`dred, bishop of Worcester in the reign of Edward the Confessor, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, became archbishop of York, and crowned the last of the Saxon and the first of the Norman kings of England; d. 1063.
Al`drich, dean of Oxford, an accomplished ecclesiastic; was a skilful musician, and composed many services for the Church; wrote a system of logic, long in use in Oxford University (1647-1710).
Aldrovan`di, Ulysses, a famous Italian naturalist of Bologna, who collected an immense body of interesting facts in natural history, published partly in his lifetime and partly after his death (1522-1607).
Aldus Manutius, or Aldo Manuzio, an Italian printer, born at Bassano, established a printing-office in Venice in 1488, issued the celebrated Aldine Editions of the classics, and invented the italic type, for the exclusive use of which for many years he obtained a patent, though the honour of the invention is more probably due to his typefounder, Franciso de Bologna, than to him (1447-1515).
Alec`to, one of the three Eumenides or Furies.
Aleman`, a Spanish novelist, author of the celebrated romance Guzman de Alfarache, which in 6 years ran through 26 editions, was translated several times into French; died in Mexico in 1610.
Aleman`ni, a confederacy of tribes which appeared on the banks of the Rhine in the 3rd cent., and for long gave no small trouble to Rome, but whose incursions were arrested, first by Maximinus, and finally by Clovis in 496, who made them subject to the Franks, hence the modern names in French for Germany and the Germans.
Alemte`jo (369), a southern province of Portugal; soil fertile to the east.
Alençon (17), a town in the dep. of Orne, 105 m. W. of Paris, once famous for its lace.
Alençon, Counts and Dukes of, a title borne by several members of the house of Valois—e. g. Charles of Valois, who fell at Crécy (1346); Jean IV., who fell at Agincourt (1415).
Alep`po (130), a city in Northern Syria, one of the finest in the East, once one of the greatest trading centres in the world.
Ale`sia, a strong place in the E. of Gaul, which, as situated on a hill and garrisoned by 80,000 Gauls, cost Cæsar no small trouble to take.
Alesius, or Alane, a noted Reformer, born in Edinburgh, converted to Protestantism by Patrick Hamilton; was driven first from Scotland and then from England, till he settled as a theological professor in Germany, and took an active part in the Reformation there (1500-1563).
Alessandria (78), a strongly fortified and stirring town on the Tenaro, in Northern Italy, the centre of 8 railways, 55 m. SE. of Turin.
Alessi, architect, born at Perugia, architect of the monastery and church of the Escurial, q. v. (1500-1572).
Aletsch Glacier, The, the largest of the glaciers of the Alps, which descends round the south of the Jungfrau into the valley of the Upper Rhône.
Aleu`tian Islands (2) a chain of volcanic islands, 150 in number, stretching over the N. Pacific from Alaska in N. America, to Kamchatka, in Asia.
Alexander the Great, the king of Macedonia, son of Philip by Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus; born at Pella, 356 B.C.; had the philosopher Aristotle for tutor, and being instructed by him in all kinds of serviceable knowledge, ascended the throne on the death of his father, at the age of 20; after subduing Greece, had himself proclaimed generalissimo of the Greeks against the Persians, and in 2 years after his accession crossed the Hellespont, followed by 30,000 foot and 5000 horse; with these conquered the army of Darius the Persian at Granicus in 334 and at Issus in 333; subdued the principal cities of Syria, overran Egypt, and crossing the Euphrates and Tigris, routed the Persians at Arbela; hurrying on farther, he swept everything before him, till the Macedonians refusing to advance, he returned to Babylon, when he suddenly fell ill of fever, and in eleven days died at the early age of 32. He is said to have slept every night with his Homer and his sword under his pillow, and the inspiring idea of his life, all unconsciously to himself belike, is defined to have been the right of Greek intelligence to override and rule the merely glittering barbarity of the East.
Alexander, St., patriarch of Alexandria from 311 to 326, contributed to bring about the condemnation of Arius at the Council of Nice; festival, Feb 26.
Alexander, Solomon, first Protestant bishop of Jerusalem, of Jewish birth, cut off during a journey to Cairo (1799-1845).
Alexander III., pope, successor to Adrian IV., an able man, whose election Barbarossa at first opposed, but finally assented to; took the part of Thomas à Becket against Henry II. and canonised him, as also St. Bernard. Pope from 1159 to 1181.
Alexander VI., called Borgia from his mother, a Spaniard by birth, obtained the popehood by bribery in 1492 in succession to Innocent VIII., lived a licentious life and had several children, among others the celebrated Lucretia and the infamous Cæsar Borgia; d. in 1503, after a career of crime, not without suspicion of poison. In addition to Alexanders III. and VI., six of the name were popes: Alexander I., pope from 108 to 117; Alexander II., pope from 1061 to 1073; Alexander IV., pope from 1254 to 1261; Alexander V., pope from 1409 to 1410; Alexander VII., pope from 1653 to 1667, who was forced to kiss his hand to Louis XIV.; Alexander VIII., pope from 1689 to 1691.
Alexander I., king of Scotland, son of Malcolm Canmore and Margaret, sister of Edgar Atheling, a vigorous prince, surnamed on that account The Fierce; subdued a rising in the North, and stood stoutly in defence of the independent rights of both Crown and Church against the claim of supremacy over both on the part of England; d. 1124.
Alexander II., of Scotland, successor of William the Lion, his father, a just and wise ruler, aided the English barons against John, and married Joan, the sister of Henry III.; d. 1249.
Alexander III., son of the preceding, married a daughter of Henry III., sided with him against the barons, successfully resisted the invasion of Haco, king of Norway, and on the conclusion of peace gave his daughter in marriage to Haco's successor Eric; accidentally killed by falling over a cliff near Kinghorn when hunting in 1285.
Alexander I., emperor of Russia, son and successor of Paul I., took part in the European strife against the encroachments of Napoleon, was present at the battle of Austerlitz, fought the French at Pultusk and Eylau, was defeated at Friedland, had an interview with Napoleon at Tilsit in 1813, entered into a coalition with the other Powers against France, which ended in the capture of Paris and the abdication of Napoleon in 1814. Under his reign Russia rose into political importance in Europe (1777-1825).
Alexander II., emperor of Russia, son and successor of Nicholas I., fell heir to the throne while the siege of Sebastopol was going on; on the conclusion of a peace applied himself to reforms in the state and the consolidation and extension of the empire. His reign is distinguished by a ukase decreeing in 1861 the emancipation of the serfs numbering 23 millions, by the extension of the empire in the Caucasus and Central Asia, and by the war with Turkey in the interest of the Slavs in 1877-78, which was ended by the peace of San Stephano, revised by the treaty of Berlin. His later years were clouded with great anxiety, owing to the spread of Nihilism, and he was killed by a bomb thrown at him by a Nihilist (1818-1881).
Alexander III., emperor of Russia, son of the preceding, followed in the footsteps of his father, and showed a marked disposition to live on terms of peace with the other Powers; his reign not distinguished by any very remarkable event. The present Czar is his son and successor (1845-1894).
Alexander I., king of Servia, b. 1876.
Alexander Nevsky, grand-duke of Russia, conquered the Swedes, the Danes, and the Teutonic Knights on the banks of the Neva, freed Russia from tribute to the Mongols, is one of the saints of the Russian Church.
Alexander of Hales, the Doctor irrefragabilis of the Schools, an English ecclesiastic, a member of the Franciscan order, who in his "Summa Universæ Theologiæ" formulated, by severe rigour of Aristotelian logic, the theological principles and ecclesiastical rites of the Romish Church; d. in 1222.
Alexander of Paris, a Norman poet of the 16th century, who wrote a poem on Alexander the Great in twelve-syllabled lines, called after him Alexandrines.
Alexander of the North, Charles XII. of Sweden.
Alexander Seve`rus, a Roman emperor, a wise, virtuous, and pious prince, conquered Artaxerxes, king of Persia, in an expedition against him, but setting out against the Germans, who were causing trouble on the frontiers of the empire, fell a victim, along with his mother, to an insurrection among his troops not far from Mainz (205-235).
Alexan`dria (230), a world-famous city, the chief port of Egypt, founded by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C., at one time a great centre of learning, and in possession of the largest library of antique literature in the world, which was burned by the Caliph Omar in 640; at one time a place of great commerce, but that has very materially decayed since the opening of the Suez Canal. Alexandria, from its intimate connection with both East and West, gave birth in early times to a speculative philosophy which drew its principles from eastern as well as western sources, which was at its height on the first encounter of these elements.
Alexandria (14), a town on the Potomac, 7 m. S. of Washington, accessible to vessels of the largest size; also a thriving town (7) on the river Leven, 3 m. N. of Dumbarton.
Alexandrian Codex, an MS. on parchment of the Septuagint Scriptures in Greek in uncial letters, which belonged to the library of the patriarchs of Alexandra.
Alexandrian Library, the library burned by the Caliph Omar in 642, said to have contained 700,000 volumes.
Alexandri`na Lake, a lake in Australia into which the river Murray flows.
Alexandrine Philosophy, a Gnostic philosophy, combining eastern with western forms of thought.
Alexandrines. See Alexander of Paris.
Alexan`dropol (22), the largest town in the Erivan district of Russian Armenia, and a fortress of great strength.
Alexis, St., the patron saint of beggars and pilgrims, represented in art with a staff and in a pilgrim's habit; sometimes lying on a mat, with a letter in his hand, dying.
Alexis Michaelovitch, czar of Russia, the father of Peter the Great, the first czar who acted on the policy of cultivating friendly relations with other European states (1630-1677).
Alexis Petrovitch, son of Peter the Great, conspired against his father as he had broken the heart of his mother, was condemned to death; after his trial by secret judges he was found dead in prison (1695-1718).
Alexius Comne`nus, emperor of the East, began life as a soldier, was a great favourite with the soldiers, who, in a period of anarchy, raised him to the throne at the period of the first crusade, when the empire was infested by Turks on the one hand and Normans on the other, while the crusaders who passed through his territory proved more troublesome than either. He managed to hold the empire together in spite of these troubles, and to stave off the doom that impended all through his reign of thirty-seven years (1048-1118).
Alfa, an esparto grass valuable for making paper.
Al`fadur, the All-Father or uncreated supreme in the Norse mythology.
Alfara`bi, an Arabian philosopher of the 10th century, had Avicenna for a disciple, wrote on various subjects, and was the first to attempt an encyclopedic work.
Alfie`ri, an Italian dramatist, spent his youth in dissipation before he devoted himself to the dramatic art; on the success of his first drama "Cleopatra," met at Florence with the Countess of Albany, the wife of Charles Edward Stuart, on whose death he married her; was at Paris when the Revolution broke out, and returned to Florence, where he died and was buried. Tragedy was his forte as a dramatist (1749-1803).
Alfonsine Tables, astronomical tables drawn up at Toledo by order of Alfonso X. in 1252 to correct the anomalies in the Ptolemaic tables; they divided the year into 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, 16 seconds.
Alfonso I., the "Conqueror," founder of the kingdom of Portugal, was the first king, originally only count, as his father before him; in that capacity took up arms against the Moors, and defeating them had himself proclaimed king on the field of battle, a title confirmed to him by the Pope and made good by his practically subjecting all Portugal to his sway (1110-1185).
Alfonso X., the Wise, or the Astronomer, king of Castile and Leon, celebrated as an astronomer and a philosopher; after various successes over the Moors, first one son and then another rose against him and drove him from the throne; died of chagrin at Seville two years later. His fame connects itself with the preparation of the Alfonsine Tables, and the remark that "the universe seemed a crank machine, and it was a pity the Creator had not taken advice." It was a saying of his, "old wood to burn, old books to read, old wine to drink, and old friends to converse with" (1226-1284).
Alfonso III., surnamed the Great, king of Asturias, ascended the throne in 866, fought against and gained numerous victories over the Moors; the members of his family rose against him and compelled him to abdicate, but on a fresh incursion of the Moors he came forth from his retreat and triumphantly beat them back; died in Zamora, 910.
Alford, Henry, vicar of Wymeswold and afterwards Dean of Canterbury; his works and writings were numerous, and included poems and hymns. His great work, however, was an edition of the Greek New Testament, with notes, various readings, and comments (1810-1871).
Alford, Michael, a learned English Jesuit, left two great works, "Britannia Illustrata" and "Annales Ecclesiastici et Civiles Britannorum."
Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, son of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria; b. 1844.
Alfred the Great, king of the West Saxons, and the most celebrated and greatest of all the Saxon kings. His troubles were with the Danes, who at the time of his accession infested the whole country north of the Thames; with these he fought nine battles with varied success, till after a lull of some years he was surprised by Gunthrum, then king, in 878, and driven to seek refuge on the island of Athelney. Not long after this he left his retreat and engaged Gunthrum at Edington, and after defeating him formed a treaty with him, which he never showed any disposition to break. After this Alfred devoted himself to legislation, the administration of government, and the encouragement of learning, being a man of letters himself. England owes much to him both as a man and a ruler, and it was he who in the creation of a fleet laid the first foundation of her greatness as monarch of the deep. His literary works were translations of the "General History" of Orosius, the "Ecclesiastical History" of Bede, Boëthius's "Consolations of Philosophy," and the "Cura Pastoralis" of Pope Gregory, all executed for the edification of his subjects (849-901).
Algæ, sea-weeds and plants of the same order under fresh water as well as salt; they are flowerless, stemless, and cellular throughout.
Algar`di, an Italian sculptor of note, born at Bologna; his greatest work is an alto-relievo, the largest existing, of Pope Leo restraining Attila from marching on Rome (1602-1654).
Algaro`tti, Francesco, a clever Italian author, born at Venice, whom, for his wit, Frederick the Great was attached to and patronised, "one of the first beaux esprits of the age," according to Wilhelmina, Frederick's sister. Except his wit, it does not appear Frederick got much good out of him, for the want of the due practical faculty, all the faculty he had having evaporated in talk (1712-1764).
Algar`ve (240), the southernmost province of Portugal, hilly, but traversed with rich valleys, which yield olives, vines, oranges, &c.
Algebra, a universal arithmetic of Arabian origin or Arabian transmission, in which symbols are employed to denote operations, and letters to represent number and quantity.
Alge`ria, in the N. of Africa, belongs to France, stretches between Morocco on the W. and Tripoli and Tunis on the E., the country being divided into the Tell along the sea-coast, which is fertile, the Atlas Highlands overlooking it on the S., on the southern slopes of which are marshy lakes called "shotts," on which alfa grows wild, and the Sahara beyond, rendered habitable here and there by the creation of artesian wells; its extent nearly equal in area to that of France, and the population numbers about four millions, of which only a quarter of a million is French. The country is divided into Departments, of which Algiers, Oran, and Constantine are the respective capitals. It has been successively under the sway of the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Arabs, the Byzantines, and the Berbers, which last were in the 16th century supplanted by the Turks. At the end of this period it became a nest of pirates, against whom a succession of expeditions were sent from several countries of Europe, but it was only with the conquest of it by the French in 1830 that this state of things was brought to an end.
Algesi`ras (12), a town and port in Spain on the Bay of Gibraltar, 5 m. across the bay; for centuries a stronghold of the Moors, but taken from them by Alfonso IX. after a siege of twenty months.
Algiers` (75), the capital of Algeria, founded by the Arabs in 935, called the "silver city," from the glistening white of its buildings as seen sloping up from the sea, presenting a striking appearance, was for centuries under its Bey the head-quarters of piracy in the Mediterranean, which only began to cease when Lord Exmouth bombarded the town and destroyed the fleet in the harbour. Since it fell into the hands of the French the city has been greatly improved, the fortifications strengthened, and its neighbourhood has become a frequent resort of English people in winter.
Algine, a viscous gum obtained from certain sea-weeds, used as size for textile fabrics, and for thickening soups and jellies.
Algo`a Bay, an inlet at the E. of Cape Colony, 20 m. wide, on which Port Elizabeth stands, 425 m. E. of the Cape of Good Hope.
Al`gol, a double star in the constellation Perseus, of changing brightness.
Algonquins, one of the three aboriginal races of N. American Indians, originally occupying nearly the whole region from the Churchill and Hudson Bay southward to N. Carolina, and from the E. of the Rocky Mts. to Newfoundland; the language they speak has been divided into five dialects.
Alham`bra (Red Castle), an ancient palace and stronghold of the Moorish kings of Granada, founded by Muhammed II. in 1213, decorated with gorgeous arabesques by Usuf I. (1345), erected on the crest of a hill which overlooks Granada; has suffered from neglect, bad usage, and earthquake.
A`li, the cousin of Mahomet, and one of his first followers at the age of sixteen, "a noble-minded creature, full of affection and fiery daring. Something chivalrous in him; brave as a lion; yet with a grace, a truth and affection worthy of Christian knighthood." Became Caliph in 656, died by assassination in the Mosque at Bagdad; the Sheiks yearly commemorate his death. See Carlyle's "Heroes."
A`li Pasha, pasha of Janina, a bold and crafty Albanian, able man, and notorious for his cruelty as well as craft; alternately gained the favour of the Porte and lost it by the alliances he formed with hostile powers, until the Sultan sentenced him to deposition, and sent Hassan Pasha to demand his head; he offered violent resistance but being overpowered at length surrendered, when his head was severed from his body and sent to Constantinople (1741-1822).
Alican`te (40), the third seaport-town in Spain, with a spacious harbour and strongly fortified, in a province of the same name on the Mediterranean.
Aligarh` (61), a town with a fort between Agra and Delhi, the garrison of which mutinied in 1857.
Alighie`ri, the family name of Dante.
Al`ima, an affluent on the right bank of the Congo, in French territory.
Alimentary canal, a passage 5 or 6 times the length of the body, lined throughout with mucous membrane, extends from the mouth to the anus, and includes mouth, fauces, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, and small and large intestines.
Alison, Archibald, an Episcopal clergyman in Edinburgh, of which he was a native, best known for his "Essay on the Nature and Principles of Taste" (1757-1839).
Alison, Sir Archibald, son of the preceding, a lawyer who held several prominent legal appointments, and a historian, his great work being a "Modern History of Europe from the French Revolution to the Fall of Napoleon," afterwards extended to the "Accession of Louis Napoleon" (1792-1867).
Alison, W. Pulteney, brother of the preceding, professor of medicine in Edinburgh University, and a philanthropist (1790-1859).
Aliwal`, a village in the Punjab, on the Sutlej, where Sir Harry Smith gained a brilliant victory over the Sikhs, who were provided with forces in superior numbers, in 1846.
Al`kahest, the presumed universal solvent of the alchemists.
Alkalies, bodies which, combining with acids form salts, are soluble in water, and properly four in number, viz., potash, soda, lithia, and ammonia.
Alkaline earths, earths not soluble in water, viz., lime, magnesia, strontia, and baryta.
Alkaloids, bodies of vegetable origin, similar in their properties, as well as toxicologically, to alkalies; contain as a rule carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen; many of them are poisonous and invaluable in medicine.
Alkmaar` (14), the capital of N. Holland, 25 m. NW. of Amsterdam, with a large trade in cattle, grain, and cheese.
Alkmer, Henrik van, the reputed author of the first German version of "Reynard the Fox."
All the Talents, Administration of, a ministry formed by Lord Grenville on the death of Pitt in 1806.
Al`lah, the Adorable, the Arab name for God, adopted by the Mohammedans as the name of the one God.
Allahabad` (175), the City of God, a central city of British India, on the confluence of the Ganges and the Jumna, 550 m. from Calcutta, and on the railway between that city and Bombay.
Allan, David, a Scottish portrait and historical painter, born at Alloa; illustrated Ramsay's "Gentle Shepherd"; his greatest work is the "Origin of Painting," now in the National Gallery at Edinburgh (1744-1796).
Allan, Sir William, a distinguished Scottish historical painter, born at Edinburgh, many of his paintings being on national subjects; he was a friend of Scott, who patronised his work, and in succession to Wilkie, president of the Royal Scottish Academy; painted "Circassian Captives" and "Slave-Market at Constantinople" (1782-1850).
Allantois, a membrane enveloping the foetus in mammals, birds, and reptiles.
Allard`, a French general, entered the service of Runjeet Singh at Lahore, trained his troops in European war tactics, and served him against the Afghans; died at Peshawar (1785-1839).
Allegha`ny (105), a manufacturing city in Pennsylvania, on the Ohio, opposite Pittsburg, of which it is a kind of suburb.
Allegha`ny Mountains, a range in the Appalachian system in U.S., extending from Pennsylvania to N. Carolina; do not exceed 2400 ft. in height, run parallel with the Atlantic coast, and form the watershed between the Atlantic rivers and the Mississippi.
Allegorical interpretation, assigning a higher than a literal interpretation to the Scripture record of things, in particular the Old Testament story.
Allegory, a figurative mode of representation, in which a subject of a higher spiritual order is described in terms of that of a lower which resembles it in properties and circumstances, the principal subject being so kept out of view that we are left to construe the drift of it from the resemblance of the secondary to the primary subject.
Allegri, the family name of Correggio; the name of an Italian composer, born at Rome, the author of a still celebrated Miserere (1580-1652).
Al`leine, Joseph, a Puritan writer, author of a book once, and to some extent still, much in favour among religious people, entitled "Alarm to the Unconverted" (1632-1674).
Allen, Bog of, a dreary expanse of bogs of peat E. of the Shannon, in King's Co. and Kildare, Ireland; Lough of, an expansion of the waters of the Shannon.
Allen, Ethan, one of the early champions of American independence, taken prisoner in a raid into Canada; wrote a defence of deism and rational belief (1738-1789).
Allen, Grant, man of letters, born in Kingston, Canada, 1848, and a prolific writer; an able upholder of the evolution doctrine and an expounder of Darwinism.
Allen, John, an M.D. of Scotch birth, and a contributor to the Edinburgh Review (1771-1843).
Allen, Wm., a distinguished chemist and philanthropist, son of a Spitalfields weaver, a member of the Society of Friends, and a devoted promoter of its principles (1770-1843).
Allentown (34), a town on the Lehigh River, 50 m. NW. of Philadelphia, the great centre of the iron trade in the U.S.
Alle`rion, in heraldry, an eagle with expanded wings, the points turned downwards, and without beak or feet.
Alleyn, Edward, a celebrated actor in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., the founder of Dulwich College, and was voluntarily along with his wife one of its first beneficiaries and inmates; was a contemporary of Shakespeare (1566-1626).
Al`lia, a stream flowing into the Tiber 11 m. from Rome, where the Romans were defeated by the Gauls under Brennus, 387 B.C.
Alliance, the Triple, in 1668, between England, Holland, and Sweden against Louis XIV.; the Quadruple, in 1718, between France, England, Holland, and the Empire to maintain the treaty of Utrecht; the Holy, in 1815, between Russia, Austria, and Prussia against Liberal ideas; the Triple, in 1872, between Germany, Austria, and Russia, at the instigation of Bismarck, from which Russia withdrew in 1886, when Italy stepped into her place. Under it the signatories in 1887 guarantee the integrity of their respective territories.
Allier, a confluent of the river Loire, in France, near Nevers; also the department through which it flows.
Allies, the name generally given to the confederate Powers who in 1814 and 1815 entered France and restored the Bourbons.
Allies, Thomas William, an English clergyman who turned Roman Catholic, and wrote, in defence of the step, among others, the "See of St. Peter, the Rock of the Church."
Alligator, a N. American fresh-water crocodile, numerous in the Mississippi and the lakes and rivers of Louisiana and Carolina; subsists on fish, and though timid, is dangerous when attacked; is slow in turning, however, and its attacks can be easily evaded.
Allingham, William, a poet and journalist, born in Ireland, of English origin; his most celebrated works are "Day and Night Songs" and "Lawerence Bloomfield in Ireland"; was for a time editor of Fraser's Magazine (1824-1889).
Allman, George J., M.D., Emeritus Professor of Natural History in Edinburgh, an eminent naturalist; born in Ireland (1812-1898).
Alloa (12), a thriving seaport on north bank of the Forth, in Clackmannan, 6 m. below Stirling, famous for its ale.
Allob`roges, a Celtic race troublesome to the Romans, who occupied the country between the Rhône and the Lake of Geneva, corresponding to Dauphiné and Savoy.
Allopathy, in opposition to homoeopathy, the treatment of disease by producing a condition of the system different from or opposite to the condition essential to the disease to be cured.
Allotropy, the capability which certain compounds show of assuming different properties and qualities, although composed of identical elements.
Alloway, the birthplace of Burns, on the Doon, 2 m. from Ayr, the assumed scene of Tam o' Shanter's adventure.
Alloway Kirk, a ruin S. of Ayr, celebrated as the scene of the witches' dance in "Tam o' Shanter."
All-Saints' Day, the 1st of November, a feast dedicated to all the Saints.
All-Souls' Day, a festival on the 2nd November to pray for the souls of the faithful deceased, such as may be presumed to be still suffering in Purgatory.
Allspice, the berry of the pimento, or Jamaica pepper.
Allston, Washington, an American painter and poet, whose genius was much admired by Coleridge (1779-1843).
Alma, a river in the Crimea, half-way between Eupatoria and Sebastopol, where the allied English, French, and Turkish armies defeated the Russians under Prince Menschikoff, Sept. 20, 1854.
Almack's, a suite of assembly rooms, afterwards known as Willis's Rooms, where select balls used to be given, admission to which was a certificate of high social standing.
Almaden (9), a town on the northern slope of the Sierra Morena, in Spain, with rich mines of quicksilver.
Alma`gro, Diego d', a confederate of Pizzaro in the conquest of Peru, but a quarrel with the brothers of Pizzaro about the division of the spoil on the capture of Cuzco, the capital of Chile, led to his imprisonment and death (1475-1538).—Diego d', his son, who avenged his death by killing Pizzaro, but being conquered by Vaca de Castro, was himself put to death (1520-1542).
Al-mamoun, the son of Haroun-el-Raschid, the 7th Abbaside caliph, a great promoter of science and learning; b. 833.
Almanach de Gotha, a kind of European peerage, published annually by Perthes at Gotha; of late years extended so as to include statesmen and military people, as well as statistical information.
Almansur, Abu Giafar, the 2nd Abbaside caliph and the first of the caliphs to patronise learning; founded Bagdad, and made it the seat of the caliphate; d. 775.
Almansur, Abu Mohammed, a great Moorish general in the end of the 10th century, had overrun and nearly made himself master of all Spain, when he was repulsed and totally defeated by the kings of Leon and Navarre in 948.
Al`ma-Tad`ema, Laurence, a distinguished artist of Dutch descent, settled in London; famous for his highly-finished treatment of classic subjects; b. 1836.
Almaviva, a character in Beaumarchais' Marriage de Figaro, representative of one of the old noblesse of France, recalling all their manners and vices, who is duped by his valet Figaro, a personification of wit, talent, and intrigue.
Almeida, a strong fortress in the province of Beira, on the Spanish frontier of Portugal.
Almeida, Francesco, the first Portuguese viceroy of India, a firm and wise governor, superseded by Albuquerque, and killed on his way home by the Kaffirs at the Cape in 1510.—Lorenzo, his son, acting under him, distinguished himself in the Indian seas, and made Ceylon tributary to Portugal.
Almeria (37), a chief town and seaport in the S. of Spain, an important and flourishing place, next to Granada, under the Moors, and at one time a nest of pirates more formidable than those of Algiers.
Almighty dollar, the Almighty whom the Americans are charged with worshipping, first applied to them, it would seem, by Washington Irving.
Almohades, a Moslem dynasty which ruled in N. Africa and Spain from 1129 to 1273.
Almo`ra, a high-lying town at the foot of the Himalayas, 85 m. N. of Bareilly.
Almoravides, a Moslem dynasty which subdued first Fez and Morocco, and then S. Spain, from 1055 to 1147.
Alnwick, the county town of Northumberland, on the Aln; at the north entrance is Alnwick Castle, the seat of the Duke of Northumberland, one of the most magnificent structures of the kind in England, and during the Border wars a place of great strength.
Aloe, a genus of succulent plants embracing 200 species, the majority natives of S. Africa, valuable in medicine, in particular a purgative from the juice of the leaves of several species.
Aloes wood, the heart of certain tropical trees, which yields a fragrant resinous substance and admits of high polish.
Alost (25), a Belgian town on the Dender, 19 m. NW. from Brussels, with a cathedral, one of the grandest in Belgium, which contains a famous painting by Rubens, "St. Roche beseeching Christ to arrest the Plague at Alost."
Aloysius, St., See Gonzaga.
Aloysius, St., an Italian nobleman, who joined the Society of Jesus; canonised for his devotion to the sick during the plague in Rome, to which he himself fell a victim, June 21, 1591.
Alpaca, a gregarious ruminant of the camel family, a native of the Andes, and particularly the tablelands of Chile and Peru; is covered with a long soft silky wool, of which textile fabrics are woven; in appearance resembles a sheep, but is larger in size, and has a long erect neck with a handsome head.
Alp-Arslan (Brave Lion), a sultan of the Seljuk dynasty in Persia, added Armenia and Georgia to his dominions (1030-1072).
Alpes, three departments in SE. France: the Basses-A, in NE. part of Provence, bounded by Hautes-Alpes on the N. and Var on the S., sterile in the N., fertile in the S., cap. Digne; Hautes-A., forming part of Dauphiné, traversed by the Cottian Alps, climate severe, cap. Gap; A. Maritimes, E. of the Basses-A., bordering on Italy and the Mediterranean, made up of the territory of Nice, ceded by Italy, and of Monaco and Var; cap. Nice.
Alphe`us, a river in the Peloponnesus, flowing west, with its source in Arcadia; also the name of the river-god enamoured of the nymph Arethusa, and who pursued her under the sea as far as Sicily, where he overtook her and was wedded to her.
Alpine Club, a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of which have successfully addressed themselves to attempts of the kind on loftier mountains.
Alpine plants, plants whose natural habitat approaches the line of perpetual snow.
Alps, The, the vastest mountain system in Europe; form the boundary between France, Germany, and Switzerland on the N. and W., and Italy on the S., their peaks mostly covered with perpetual snow, the highest being Mont Blanc, within the frontiers of France. According to height, they have been distributed into Fore, Middle, and High: the Fore rising to the limit of trees; the Middle, to the line of perpetual snow; and the High, above the snow-line. In respect of range or extent, they have been distributed into Western, Middle, and Eastern: the Western, including the Maritime, the Cottian, the Dauphiné, and the Graian, extend from the Mediterranean to Mont Blanc; the Middle, including the Pennine and Bernese, extend from Mont Blanc to the Brenner Pass; and the Eastern, including the Dolomite, the Julian, and the Dinaric, extend from the Brenner and Hungarian plain to the Danube. These giant masses occupy an area of 90,000 sq. m., and extend from the 44th to the 48th parallel of latitude.
Alpujar`ras, a rich and lovely valley which stretches S. from the Sierra Nevada in Spain.
Alruna-wife, the household goddess of a German family.
Alsace-Lorraine` (1,640), a territory originally of the German empire, ceded to Louis XIV. by the peace of Westphalia in 1648, but restored to Germany after the Franco-German war in 1870-71, by the peace of Frankfort; is under a governor general bearing the title of "Statthalter"; is a great wine-producing country, yields cereals and tobacco, its cotton manufacture the most important in Germany.
Alsa`tia, Whitefriars, London, which at one time enjoyed the privilege of a debtors' sanctuary, and had, till abolished in 1697, become a haunt of all kinds of nefarious characters.
Alsen (25), a Danish island adjacent to Sleswig, one of the finest in the Baltic, now ceded to Germany.
Al-Sirat, the hair-narrow hell-bridge of the Moslem, which every Mohammedan must pass to enter Paradise.
Alsten, an island off the coast of Northland, Norway, with seven snow-capped hills, called the Seven Sisters.
Altai` Mountains, in Central Asia, stretching W. from the Desert of Gobi, and forming the S. boundary of Asiatic Russia, abounding, to the profit of Russia, in silver and copper, as well as other metals.
Altdor`fer, Albrecht, a German painter and engraver, a distinguished pupil of Albert Dürer, and as a painter, inspired with his spirit; his "Battle of Arbela" adorns the Münich Picture Gallery (1488-1538).
Al`ten, Karl August, a distinguished officer, native of Hanover, who entered the British service, bore arms under Sir John Moore, was chief of a division, under Wellington, in the Peninsular war, and closed his military career at the battle of Waterloo (1763-1840).
Al`tenburg (33), capital of Saxe-Altenburg, and 4 m. S. of Leipsic; its castle is the scene of the famous "Prinzenraub" (q. v.), related by Carlyle in his "Miscellanies."
Althen, a Persian refugee, who introduced into France the cultivation of madder, which became one of the most important products of the S. of France.
Alton Locke, a novel, by Charles Kingsley, written in sympathy with the Chartist movement, in which Carlyle is introduced as one of the personages.
Alto`na (148), a town and seaport of Sleswig-Holstein, now belonging to Germany, close to Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe, and healthier, and as good as forming one city with it.
Alto-relievo, figures carved out of a tablet so as to project at least one half from its surface.
Al`torf, an old town in the canton Uri, at the S. end of the Lake of Lucerne; associated with the story of William Tell; a place of transit trade.
Altruism, a Comtist doctrine which inculcates sacrifice of self for the good of others as the rule of human action.
Alumbra`do, a member of a Spanish sect that laid claim to perfect enlightenment.
Alured of Beverley, an English chronicler of the 12th century; his annals comprise the history of the Britons, Saxons, and Normans up to his own time; d. 1129.
Alva, Duke of, a general of the armies of Charles V. and Philip of Spain; his career as a general was uniformly successful, but as a governor his cruelty was merciless, especially as the viceroy of Philip in the Low Countries, "very busy cutting off high heads in Brabant, and stirring up the Dutch to such fury as was needful for exploding Spain and him" (1508-1582).
Alvara`do, Pedro de, one of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico, and comrade of Cortez; was appointed Governor of Guatemala by Charles V. as a reward for his valiant services in the interest of Spain; was a generous man as well as a brave.
Alvarez, Francesco, a Portuguese who, in the 15th century, visited Abyssinia and wrote an account of it.
Alvarez, Don José, the most distinguished of Spanish sculptors, born near Cordova, and patronised by Napoleon, who presented him with a gold medal, but to whom, for his treatment of his country, he conceived so great an aversion, that he would never model a bust of him (1768-1827).
Alviano, an eminent Venetian general, distinguished himself in the defence of the republic against the Emperor Maximilian (1455-1515).
Amadeus, Lake, a lake in the centre of Australia, subject to an almost total drying-up at times.
Amade`us V., count of Savoy, surnamed the Great from his wisdom and success as a ruler (1249-1323).
Amadeus VIII., 1st duke of Savoy, increased his dominions, and retired into a monastery on the death of his wife; he was elected Pope as Felix V., but was not acknowledged by the Church (1383-1451).
Amadeus I., of Spain, 2nd son of Victor Emmanuel of Italy, elected king of Spain in 1870, but abdicated in 1873 (1845-1890).
Am`adis de Gaul, a celebrated romance in prose, written partly in Spanish and partly in French by different romancers of the 15th century; the first four books were regarded by Cervantes as a masterpiece. The hero of the book, Amadis, surnamed the Knight of the Lion, stands for a type of a constant and deferential lover, as well as a model knight-errant, of whom Don Quixote is the caricature.
Amadou, a spongy substance, consisting of slices of certain fungi beaten together, used as a styptic, and, after being steeped in saltpetre, used as tinder.
Amaimon, a devil who could he restrained from working evil from the third hour till noon and from the ninth till evening.
Amalaric, king of the Visigoths, married a daughter of Clovis; d. 581.
Amalekites, a warlike race of the Sinaitic peninsula, which gave much trouble to the Israelites in the wilderness; were as good as annihilated by King David.
Amal`fi, a port on the N. of the Gulf of Salerno, 24 m. SE. of Naples; of great importance in the Middle Ages, and governed by Doges of its own.
Amalfian Laws, a code of maritime law compiled at Amalfi.
Ama`lia, Anna, the Duchess of Weimar, the mother of the grand-duke; collected about her court the most illustrious literary men of the time, headed by Goethe, who was much attached to her (1739-1807).
Amalric, one of the leaders in the crusade against the Albigenses, who, when his followers asked him how they were to distinguish heretics from Catholics, answered, "Kill them all; God will know His own;" d. 1225.
Amalthe`a, the goat that suckled Zeus, one of whose horns became the cornucopia—horn of plenty.
Ama`ra Sinha, a Hindu Buddhist, left a valuable thesaurus of Sanskrit words.
Ama`ri, Michele, an Italian patriot, born at Palermo, devoted a great part of his life to the history of Sicily, and took part in its emancipation; was an Orientalist as well; he is famous for throwing light on the true character of the Sicilian Vespers (1806-1889).
Amaryl`lis, a shepherdess in one of Virgil's pastorals; any young rustic maiden.
Ama`sia (25), a town in Asia Minor, once the capital of the kings of Pontus.
Ama`sis, king of Egypt, originally a simple soldier, took part in an insurrection, dethroned the reigning monarch and assumed the crown, proved an able ruler, and cultivated alliances with Greece; reigned from 570 to 546 B.C.
Ama`ti, a celebrated family of violin-makers; Andrea and Niccolo, brothers, at Cremona, in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Amatitlan (10), a town in Guatemala, the inhabitants of which are mainly engaged in the preparation of cochineal.
Amaurosis, a weakness or loss of vision, the cause of which was at one time unknown.
Amazon, a river in S. America and the largest on the globe, its basin nearly equal in extent to the whole of Europe; traverses the continent at its greatest breadth, rises in the Andes about 50 m. from the Pacific, and after a course of 4000 m. falls by a delta into the Atlantic, its waters increased by an immense number of tributaries, 20 of which are above 1000 m. in length, one 2000 m., its mouth 200 m. wide; its current affects the ocean 150 m. out; is navigable 3000 m. up, and by steamers as far as the foot of the Andes.
Amazons, a fabulous race of female warriors, who had a queen of their own, and excluded all men from their community; to perpetuate the race, they cohabited with men of the neighbouring nations; slew all the male children they gave birth to, or sent them to their fathers; burnt off the right breasts of the females, that they might be able to wield the bow in war.
Ambassador, "an honest man sent to lie abroad for the commonwealth" (Wotton).
Amber, a fossil resin, generally yellow and semi-transparent, derived, it is presumed, from certain extinct coniferous trees; becomes electric by friction, and gives name to electricity, the Greek word for it being electron; has been fished up for centuries in the Baltic, and is now used in varnishes and for tobacco pipes.
Amberger, a painter of Nürnberg in the 16th century, a disciple of Holbein, his principal work being the history of Joseph in twelve pictures.
Ambergris, an ashy-coloured odorous substance used in perfumery, presumed to be a morbid fragment of the intestines of the spermaceti whale, being often found floating on the ocean which it frequents.
Amberley, Lord, son of Lord John Russell, wrote an "Analysis of Religious Belief," which, as merely sceptical, his father took steps to secure the suppression of, without success.
Ambleside, a small market-town near the head of Lake Windermere, in the Wordsworth or so-called Lake District.
Amblyopsis, a small fish without eyes, found in the Mammoth Cave, U.S.
Amboise (5), a town on the Loire, 14 m. E. of Tours, with a castle, once the residence of the French kings. The Conspiracy of A., the conspiracy of Condé and the Huguenots in 1560 against Francis II., Catharine de Medici, and the Guises. The Edict of A. (1563) conceded the free exercise of their worship to the Protestants.
Amboise, George de, Cardinal, the popular Prime Minister of Louis XII., who, as such, reduced the Public burdens, and as the Pope's legate in France effected a great reform among the religious orders; is said to have died immensely rich (1460-1510).
Amboyna (238), with a chief city of the name, the most important of the Moluccas, in the Malay Archipelago, and rich before all in spices; it belongs to the Dutch, who have diligently fostered its capabilities.
Am`brose, St., bishop of Milan, born at Trèves, one of the Fathers of the Latin Church, and a zealous opponent of the Arian heresy; as a stern puritan refused to allow Theodosius to enter his church, covered as his hands were with the blood of an infamous massacre, and only admitted him to Church privilege after a severe penance of eight months; he improved the Church service, wrote several hymns, which are reckoned his most valuable legacy to the Church; his writings fill two vols. folio. He is the Patron saint of Milan; his attributes are a scourge, from his severity; and a beehive, from the tradition that a swarm of bees settled on his mouth when an Infant without hurting him (340-397). Festival, Dec. 7.
Ambro`sia, the fragrant food of the gods of Olympus, fabled to preserve in them and confer on others immortal youth and beauty.
Amelia, a character in one of Fielding's novels, distinguished for her conjugal affection.
Amende honorable, originally a mode of punishment in France which required the offender, stripped to his shirt, and led into court with a rope round his neck held by the public executioner, to beg pardon on his knees of his God, his king, and his country; now used to denote a satisfactory apology or reparation.
Amerbach, Johann, a celebrated printer in Basel in the 15th century, the first who used the Roman type instead of Gothic and Italian; spared no expense in his art, taking, like a true workman, a pride in it; d. 1515.
America, including both North and South, 9000 m. in length, varies from 3400 m. to 28 m. in breadth, contains 16½ millions of sq. m., is larger than Europe and Africa together, but is a good deal smaller than Asia; bounded throughout by the Atlantic on the E. and the Pacific on the W.
America, British N., is bounded on the N. by the Arctic Ocean, on the E. by the Atlantic, on the S. by the United States, and on the W. by the Pacific; occupies one-third of the continent, and comprises the Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland.
America, Central, extends from Mexico on the north to Panama on the south, and is about six times as large as Ireland; is a plateau with terraces descending to the sea on each side, and rich in all kinds of tropical vegetation; consists of seven political divisions: Guatemala, San Salvador, British Honduras, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mosquitia, and Costa Rica.
America, North, is 4560 m. in length, contains over 8½ millions sq. m., is less than half the size of Asia, consists of a plain in the centre throughout its length, a high range of mountains, the Rocky, on the W., and a lower range, the Appalachian, on the E., parallel with the coast, which is largely indented with gulfs, bays, and seas; has a magnificent system of rivers, large lakes, the largest in the world, a rich fauna and flora, and an exhaustless wealth of minerals; was discovered by Columbus in 1492, and has now a population of 80 millions, of which a fourth are negroes, aborigines, and half-caste; the divisions are British North America, United States, Mexico, Central American Republics, British Honduras, the West Indian Republics, and the Spanish, British, French, and Dutch West Indies.
America, Russian, now called Alaska; belongs by purchase to the United States.
America, South, lies in great part within the Tropics, and consists of a high mountain range on the west, and a long plain with minor ranges extending therefrom eastward; the coast is but little indented, but the Amazon and the Plate Rivers make up for the defect of seaboard; abounds in extensive plains, which go under the names of Llanos, Selvas, and Pampas, while the river system is the vastest and most serviceable in the globe; the vegetable and mineral wealth of the continent is great, and it can match the world for the rich plumage of its birds and the number and splendour of its insect tribes.
America, Spanish, the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, till lately belonging to Spain, though the designation is often applied to all the countries in N. America where Spanish is the spoken language.
American Fabius, George Washington.
American Indians, a race with a red or copper-coloured skin, coarse black straight hair, high cheek-bones, black deep-set eyes, and tall erect figure, limited to America, and seems for most part fast dying out; to be found still as far south as Patagonia, the Patagonians being of the race.
Ameri`go-Vespuc`ci, a Florentine navigator, who, under the auspices first of Spain, and afterwards of Portugal, four times visited the New World, just discovered by Columbus, which the first cartographers called America, after his name; these visits were made between 1499 and 1505, while Columbus's discovery, as is known, was in 1492 (1451-1512).
Ames, Joseph, historian of early British typography, in a work which must have involved him in much labour (1689-1759).
Amha`ra, the central and largest division of Abyssinia.
Amherst, Lord, a British officer who distinguished himself both on the Continent and America, and particularly along with General Wolfe in securing for England the superiority in Canada (1717-1797).
Amice, a flowing cloak formerly worn by pilgrims, also a strip of linen cloth worn over the shoulder of a priest when officiating at mass.
Am`iel, a professor of æsthetics, and afterwards of ethics at Geneva, who is known to the outside world solely by the publication of selections from his Journal in 1882-84, which teems with suggestive thoughts bearing on the great vital issues of the day, and which has been translated into English by Mrs. Humphrey Ward.
Amiens` (88), the old capital of Picardy, on the Somme, with a cathedral begun in 1220, described as the "Parthenon of Gothic architecture," and by Ruskin as "Gothic, clear of Roman tradition and of Arabian taint, Gothic pure, authoritative, unsurpassable, and unaccusable"; possesses other buildings of interest; was the birthplace of Peter the Hermit, and is celebrated for a treaty of peace between France and England concluded in 1802.
Amiran`tes, a group of small coral islands NE. of Madagascar, belonging to Britain; are wooded, are 11 in number, and only a few feet above the sea-level.
Ammana`ti, Bartolomeo, a Florentine architect and sculptor of note, was an admirer of Michael Angelo, and executed several works in Rome, Venice, and Padua (1511-1592).
Ammia`nus Marcelli`nus, a Greek who served as a soldier in the Roman army, and wrote a history of the Roman Empire, specially valuable as a record of contemporary events; d. 390.
Ammirato, an Italian historian, author of a history of Florence (1531-1601).
Am`mon, an Egyptian deity, represented with the head of a ram, who had a temple at Thebes and in the Lybian Desert; was much resorted to as an oracle of fate; identified in Greece with Zeus, and in Rome with Jupiter.
Ammonia, a pungent volatile gas, of nitrogen and hydrogen, obtained from sal-ammonia.
Ammonio, Andrea, a Latin poet born in Lucca, held in high esteem by Erasmus; sent to England by the Pope, he became Latin secretary to Henry and a prebendary of Salisbury; d. 1517.
Ammonites, a Semitic race living E. of the Jordan; at continual feud with the Jews, and a continual trouble to them, till subdued by Judas Maccabæus.
Ammonites, a genus of fossil shells curved into a spiral form like the ram-horn on the head of the image of Ammon.
Ammo`nius Saccas, a philosopher of Alexandria, and founder of Neo-Platonism; Longinus, Origen, and Plotinus were among his pupils; d. 243, at a great age.
Amnion, name given to the innermost membrane investing the foetus in the womb.
Amoeba, a minute animalcule of the simplest structure, being a mere mass of protoplasm; absorbs its food at every point all over its body by means of processes protruded therefrom at will, with the effect that it is constantly changing its shape.
Amomum, a genus of plants, such as the cardamom and grains of paradise, remarkable for their pungency and aromatic properties.
Amorites, a powerful Canaanitish tribe, seemingly of tall stature, NE. of the Jordan; subdued by Joshua at Gibeon.
Amory, Thomas, an eccentric writer of Irish descent, author of the "Life of John Buncle, Esq.," and other semi-insane productions; he was a fanatical Unitarian (1691-1789).
Amos, a poor shepherd of Tekoa, near Bethlehem, in Judah, who in the 8th century B.C. raised his voice in solitary protest against the iniquity of the northern kingdom of Israel, and denounced the judgment of God as Lord of Hosts upon one and all for their idolatry, which nothing could avert.
Amoy` (96), one of the open ports of China, on a small island in the Strait of Fukien; has one of the finest harbours in the world, and a large export and import trade; the chief exports are tea, sugar, paper, gold-leaf, &c.
Ampère`, André Marie, a French mathematician and physicist, born at Lyons; distinguished for his discoveries in electro-dynamics and magnetism, and the influence of these on electro-telegraphy and the general extension of science (1775-1836).
Ampère, Jean Jacques, son of the preceding; eminent as a littérateur, and a historian and critic of literature; attained to the rank of a member of the French Academy (1800-1864).
Amphic`tyonic Council, a council consisting of representatives from several confederate States of ancient Greece, twelve in number at length, two from each, that met twice a year, sitting alternately at Thermopylæ and Delphi, to settle any differences that might arise between them, the decisions of which were several times enforced by arms, and gave rise to what were called sacred wars, of which there were three; it was originally instituted for the conservation of religious interests.
Amphi`on, a son of Zeus and Antiope, who is said to have invented the lyre, and built the walls of Thebes by the sound of it, a feat often alluded to as an instance of the miraculous power of music.
Amphisbæna, a genus of limbless lizards; a serpent fabled to have two heads and to be able to move backward or forward.
Am`phitrite, a daughter of Oceanus or Nereus, the wife of Neptune, mother of Triton, and goddess of the sea.
Amphit`ryon, the king of Tiryns, and husband of Alcmene, who became by him the mother of Iphicles, and by Zeus the mother of Hercules.
Amphitryon the True, the real host, the man who provides the feast, as Zeus proved himself to the household to be when he visited Alcmene.
Am`ran range, pronounced the "scientific frontier" of India towards Afghanistan.
Amrit`sar (136), a sacred city of the Sikhs in the Punjab, and a great centre of trade, 32 m. E. of Lahore; is second to Delhi in Northern India; manufactures cashmere shawls.
Am`ru, a Mohammedan general under the Caliph Omar, conquered Egypt among other military achievements; he is said to have executed the order of the Caliph Omar for burning the library of Alexandria; d. 663.
Amsterdam (456), the capital of Holland, a great trading city and port at the mouth of the Amsel, on the Zuyder Zee, resting on 90 islands connected by 300 bridges, the houses built on piles of wood driven into the marshy ground; is a largely manufacturing place, as well as an emporium of trade, one special industry being the cutting of diamonds and jewels; birthplace of Spinoza.
Amur`, a large eastward-flowing river, partly in Siberia and partly in China, which, after a course of 3060 m., falls into the Sea of Okhotsk.
Amurnath, a place of pilgrimage in Cashmere, on account of a cave believed to be the dwelling-place of Siva.
Amyot, Jacques, grand-almoner of France and bishop of Auxerre; was of humble birth; was tutor of Charles, who appointed him grand-almoner; he was the translator, among other works, of Plutarch into French, which remains to-day one of the finest monuments of the old literature of France, it was much esteemed by Montaigne (1513-1593).
Amyot, Joseph, a French Jesuit missionary to China, and a learned Orientalist (1713-1794).
Anabaptists, a fanatical sect which arose in Saxony at the time of the Reformation, and though it spread in various parts of Germany, came at length to grief by the excesses of its adherents in Münster. See Baptists.
Anab`asis, an account by Xenophon of the ill-fated expedition of Cyrus the Younger against his brother Artaxerxes, and of the retreat of the 10,000 Greeks under Xenophon who accompanied him, after the battle of Cunaxa in 401 B.C.
Anacharsis, a Scythian philosopher of the 6th century B.C., who, in his roamings in quest of wisdom, arrived at Athens, and became the friend and disciple of Solon, but was put to death on his return home by his brother; he stands for a Scythian savant living among a civilised people, as well as for a wise man living among fools.
Anacharsis Clootz. See Clootz.
Anacon`da, a gigantic serpent of tropical America.
Anac`reon, a celebrated Greek lyric poet, a native of Teos, in Asia Minor; lived chiefly at Samos and Athens; his songs are in praise of love and wine, not many fragments of them are preserved (560-418 B.C.).
Anacreon of Painters, Francesco Albani; A. of Persia, Häfiz; A. of the Guillotine, Barère.
Anadyom`ene, Aphrodité, a name meaning "emerging," given to her in allusion to her arising out of the sea; the name of a famous painting of Apelles so representing her.
Anadyr, a river in Siberia, which flows into Behring Sea.
Anag`ni, a small town 40 m. SE. of Rome, the birthplace of several Popes.
Anahuac`, a plateau in Central Mexico, 7580 ft. of mean elevation; one of the names of Mexico prior to the conquest of it by the Spaniards.
An`akim, a race of giants that lived in the S. of Palestine, called also sons of Anak.
Anam`alah Mountains, a range of the W. Ghâts in Travancore.
Anamu`di, the highest point in the Anamalah Mts., 7000 ft.
Anarchism, a projected social revolution, the professed aim of which is that of the emancipation of the individual from the present system of government which makes him the slave of others, and of the training of the individual so as to become a law to himself, and in possession, therefore, of the right to the control of all his vital interests, the project definable as an insane attempt to realise a social system on the basis of absolute individual freedom.
Anasta`sius, the name of four popes: A. I., the most eminent, pope from 398 to 401; A. II., pope from 496 to 498; A. III., pope from 911 to 913; A. IV., pope from 1153 to 1154.
Anastasius, St., a martyr under Nero; festival, April 15.
Anastasius I., emperor of the East, excommunicated for his severities to the Christians, and the first sovereign to be so treated by the Pope (430-515).
Anato`lia, the Greek name for Asia Minor.
Anatomy of Melancholy, a "mosaic" work by Burton, described by Professor Saintsbury as "a wandering of the soul from Dan to Beersheba, through all employments, desires, pleasures, and finding them barren except for study, of which in turn the tædium is not obscurely hinted."
Anaxag`oras, a Greek philosopher of Clazomenæ, in Ionia, removed to Athens and took philosophy along with him, i. e. transplanted it there, but being banished thence for impiety to the gods, settled in Lampsacus, was the first to assign to the nous, conceived of "as a purely immaterial principle, a formative power in the origin and organisation of things"; d. 425 B.C.
Anaxar`chus, a Greek philosopher of the school of Democritus and friend of Alexander the Great.
Anaximander, a Greek philosopher of Miletus, derived the universe from a material basis, indeterminate and eternal (611-547 B.C.).
Anaxim`enes, also of Miletus, made air the first principle of things; d. 500 B.C.; A., of Lampsacus, preceptor and biographer of Alexander the Great.
Ancæus, a son of Neptune, who, having left a flagon of wine to pursue a boar, was killed by it.
Ancelot, a French dramatic poet, distinguished both in tragedy and comedy; his wife also a distinguished writer (1792-1875).
Ancenis (4), a town on the Loire, 23 m. NE. of Nantes.
Ancestor-worship, the worship of ancestors that prevails in primitive nations, due to a belief in Animism (q. v.).
Anchieta, a Portuguese Jesuit, born at Teneriffe, called the Apostle of the New World (1538-1597).
Anchi`ses, the father of Æneas, whom his son bore out of the flames of Troy on his shoulders to the ships; was buried in Sicily.
Anchitherium, a fossil animal with three hoofs, the presumed original of the horse.
Anchovy, a small fish captured for the flavour of its flesh and made into sauce.
Anchovy pear, fruit of a W. Indian plant, of the taste of the mango.
Ancient Mariner, a mariner doomed to suffer dreadful penalties for having shot an albatross, and who, when he reaches land, is haunted by the recollection of them, and feels compelled to relate the tale of them as a warning to others; the hero of a poem by Coleridge.
Ancillon, Frederick, a Prussian statesman, philosophic man of letters, and of French descent (1766-1837).
Anco`na (56), a port of Italy in the Adriatic, second to that of Venice; founded by Syracusans.
Ancre, Marshal, a profligate minister of France during the minority of Louis XIII.
Ancus Marcius, 4th king of Rome, grandson of Numa, extended the city and founded Ostia.
Andalusia (3,370), a region in the S. of Spain watered by the Guadalquivir; fertile in grains, fruits, and vines, and rich in minerals.
Andamans, volcanic islands in the Bay of Bengal, surrounded by coral reefs; since 1858 used as a penal settlement.
Andelys, Les, a small town on the Seine, 20 m. NE. of Evreux, divided into Great and Little.
Andermatt, a central Swiss village in Uri, 18 m. S. of Altorf.
Andersen, Hans Christian, a world-famous story-teller of Danish birth, son of a poor shoemaker, born at Odense; was some time before he made his mark, was honoured at length by the esteem and friendship of the royal family, and by a national festival on his seventieth birthday (1805-1875).
Anderson, James, a Scotch lawyer, famous for his learning and his antiquarian knowledge (1662-1728).
Anderson, James, native of Hermiston, near Edinburgh, a writer on agriculture and promoter of it in Scotland (1739-1808).
Anderson, John, a native of Roseneath, professor of physics in Glasgow University, and the founder of the Andersonian College in Glasgow (1726-1796).
Anderson, Lawrence, one of the chief reformers of religion in Sweden (1480-1552).
Anderson, Mary, a celebrated actress, native of California; in 1890 married M. Navarro de Viano of New York; b. 1859.
Anderson, Sir Edmund, Lord Chief-Justice of Common Pleas under Elizabeth, sat as judge at the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots. Anderson's Reports is still a book of authority; d. 1605.
Andes, an unbroken range of high mountains, 150 of them actively volcanic, which extend, often in double and triple chains, along the west of South America from Cape Horn to Panama, a distance of 4500 m., divided into the Southern or Chilian as far as 23½° S., the Central as far as 10° S., and the Northern to their termination.
Andocides, an orator and leader of the oligarchical faction in Athens; was four times exiled, the first time for profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries (467-393 B.C.).
Andor`ra (6), a small republic in the E. Pyrenees, enclosed by mountains, under the protection of France and the Bishop of Urgel, in Catalonia; cattle-rearing is the chief occupation of the inhabitants, who are a primitive people and of simple habits.
Andover, an old municipal borough and market-town in Hampshire, 66 m. SW. of London; also a town 23 m. from Boston, U.S., famous for its theological seminary, founded in 1807.
Andral, Gabriel, a distinguished French pathologist, professor in Paris University (1797-1876).
An`drassy, Count, a Hungarian statesman, was exiled from 1848 to 1851, became Prime Minister in 1867, played a prominent part in diplomatic affairs on the Continent to the advantage of Austria (1823-1890).
Andre, John, a brave British officer, tried and hanged as a spy in the American war in 1780; a monument is erected to him in Westminster Abbey.
André II., king of Hungary from 1205 to 1235, took part in the fifth crusade.
Andrea del Sarto. See Sarto.
Andrea Pisano, a sculptor and architect, born at Pisa, contributed greatly to free modern art from Byzantine influence (1270-1345).
Andreossy, Count, an eminent French general and statesman, served under Napoleon, ambassador at London, Vienna, and Constantinople, advocated the recall of the Bourbons on the fall of Napoleon.
Andreossy, François, an eminent French engineer and mathematician (1633-1688).
Andrew, St., one of the Apostles, suffered martyrdom by crucifixion, became patron saint of Scotland; represented in art as an old man with long white hair and a beard, holding the Gospel in his right hand, and leaning on a transverse cross.
Andrew, St., Russian Order of, the highest Order in Russia.
Andrew, St., the Cross of, cross like a X, such having, it is said, been the form of the cross on which St. Andrew suffered.
Andrewes, Lancelot, an English prelate, born in Essex, and zealous High Churchman in the reign of Elizabeth and James I.; eminent as a scholar, a theologian, and a preacher; in succession bishop of Ely, Chichester, and Winchester; was one of the Hampton Court Conference, and of the translators of the Authorised Version of the Bible; he was fervent in devotion, but of his sermons the criticism of a Scotch nobleman, when he preached at Holyrood once, was not inappropriate: "He rather plays with his subject than preaches on it" (1555-1626).
Andrews, Joseph, a novel by Fielding, and the name of the hero, who is a footman, and the brother of Richardson's Pamela.
Andrews, Thomas, an eminent physicist, born and professor in Belfast (1813-1885).
Andrieux, St., a French littérateur and dramatist, born at Strassburg, professor in the College of France, and permanent secretary to the Academy (1759-1822).
Andro`clus, a Roman slave condemned to the wild beasts, but saved by a lion, sent into the arena to attack him, out of whose foot he had long before sucked a thorn that pained him, and who recognised him as his benefactor.
Androm`ache, the wife of Hector and the mother of Astyanax, famous for her conjugal devotion; fell to Pyrrhus, Achilles' son, at the fall of Troy, but was given up by him to Hector's brother; is the subject of tragedies by Euripides and Racine respectively.
Androm`eda, a beautiful Ethiopian princess exposed to a sea monster, which Perseus slew, receiving as his reward the hand of the maiden; she had been demanded by Neptune as a sacrifice to appease the Nereids for an insult offered them by her mother.
Androni`cus, the name of four Byzantine emperors: A. I., Comnenus, killed his ward, Alexis II., usurped the throne, and was put to death, 1183; A. II., lived to see the empire devastated by the Turks (1282-1328); A. III., grandson of the preceding, dethroned him, fought stoutly against the Turks without staying their advances (1328-1341); A. IV. dethroned his father, Soter V., and was immediately stripped of his possessions himself (1377-1378).
Andronicus, Livius, the oldest dramatic poet in the Latin language (240 B.C.).
Andronicus of Rhodes, a disciple of Aristotle in the time of Cicero, and to whom we owe the preservation of many of Aristotle's works.
Andros (22), the most northern of the Cyclades, fertile soil and productive of wine and silk.
Androuet du Cerceau`, an eminent French architect who designed the Pont Neuf at Paris (1530-1600).
Andujar (11), a town of Andalusia, on the Guadalquivir, noted for the manufacture of porous clay water-cooling vessels.
Anemometer, an instrument for measuring the force, course, and velocity of the wind.
Aneroid, a barometer, consisting of a small watch-shaped, air-tight, air-exhausted metallic box, with internal spring-work and an index, affected by the pressure of the air on plates exposed to its action.
Aneu`rin, a British bard at the beginning of the 7th century, who took part in the battle of Cattraeth, and made it the subject of a poem.
Aneurism, a tumour, containing blood, on the coat of an artery.
Angara, a tributary of the Yenisei, which passes through Lake Baikal.
Angel, an old English coin, with the archangel Michael piercing the dragon on the obverse of it.
Angel-fish, a hideous, voracious fish of the shark family.
Angelic Doctor, Thomas Aquinas.
Angel`ica, a faithless lady of romance, for whose sake Orlando lost his heart and his senses.
Angelica draught, something which completely changes the affection.
Angelico, Fra, an Italian painter, born at Mugello, in Tuscany; became a Dominican monk at Fiesole, whence he removed to Florence, and finally to Rome, where he died; devoted his life to religious subjects, which he treated with great delicacy, beauty, and finish, and conceived in virgin purity and child-like simplicity of soul; his work in the form of fresco-painting is to be found all over Italy (1387-1455).
An`gelus, a devotional service in honour of the Incarnation.
Angers` (77), on the Maine, the ancient capital of Anjou, 160 m. SW. of Paris, with a fine cathedral, a theological seminary, and a medical school; birthplace of David the sculptor.
Angerstein, John, born in St. Petersburg, a distinguished patron of the fine arts, whose collection of paintings, bought by the British Government, formed the nucleus of the National Gallery (1735-1822).
Angi`na pec`toris, an affection of the heart of an intensely excruciating nature, the pain of which at times extends to the left shoulder and down the left arm.
Angler, a fish with a broad, big-mouthed head and a tapering body, both covered with appendages having glittering tips, by which, as it burrows in the sand, it allures other fishes into its maw.
Angles, a German tribe from Sleswig who invaded Britain in the 5th century and gave name to England.
An`glesea (50), i. e. Island of the Angles, an island forming a county in Wales, separated from the mainland by the Menai Strait, flat, fertile, and rich in minerals.
Anglesey, Marquis of, eldest son of the first Earl of Uxbridge, famous as a cavalry officer in Flanders, Holland, the Peninsula, and especially at Waterloo, at which he lost a leg, and for his services at which he received his title; was some time viceroy in Ireland, where he was very popular (1768-1854).
Anglia, East territory in England occupied in the 6th century by the Angles, corresponding to counties of Norfolk and Suffolk.
Ang`lican Church, the body of Episcopal churches all over the British Empire and Colonies, as well as America, sprung from the Church of England, though not subject to her jurisdiction, the term Anglo-Catholic being applied to the High Church section.
Anglo-Saxon, the name usually assigned to the early inflected form of the English language.
Ango`la (2,400), a district on the W. coast of Africa, between the Congo and Benguela, subject to Portugal, the capital of which is St. Paul de Loando.
Ango`ra (20), a city in the centre of Anatolia, in a district noted for its silky, long-haired animals, cats and dogs as well as goats.
Angostu`ra, capital of the province of Guayana, in Venezuela, 240 m. up the Orinoco; also a medicinal bark exported thence.
Angoulême` (31), an old French city on the Charente, 83 m. NE. of Bordeaux, with a fine cathedral, the birthplace of Marguerite de Valois and Balzac.
Angoulême, Charles de Valois, Duc d', natural son of Charles IX., gained great reputation as a military commander, left Memoirs of his life (1575-1650).
Angoulême, Duc d', the eldest son of Charles X., after the Revolution of 1830 gave up his rights to the throne and retired to Goritz (1778-1844).
Angoulême, Duchesse d', daughter of Louis XVI. and wife of the preceding (1778-1851).
An`gra, the capital of the Azores, on the island of Terceira, a fortified place.
An`gra Peque`na, a port in SW. Africa, N. of the Orange River, and the nucleus of the territory belonging to Germany.
Ang`strom, a Swedish physicist and professor at Upsala, distinguished for his studies on the solar spectrum; b. 1814.
Anguil`la (2), or Snake Island, one of the Lesser Antilles, E. of Porto Rico, belonging to Britain.
Anguier, the name of two famous French sculptors in the 17th century.
An`halt (293), a duchy of Central Germany, surrounded and split up by Prussian Saxony, and watered by the Elbe and Saale; rich in minerals.
Anhalt-Dessau, Leopold, Prince of, a Prussian field-marshal, served and distinguished himself in the war of the Spanish Succession and in Italy, was wounded at Cassano; defeated Charles XII. at the Isle of Rügen, and the Saxons and Austrians at Kesseldorf (1676-1747).
Anichini, an Italian medallist of the 16th century; executed a medal representing the interview of Alexander the Great with the High Priest of the Jews, which Michael Angelo pronounced the perfection of the art.
Aniline, a colourless transparent oily liquid, obtained chiefly from coal-tar, and extensively used in the production of dyes.
Animal heat, the heat produced by the chemical changes which go on in the animal system, the intensity depending on the activity of the process.
Animal magnetism, a name given to the alleged effects on the animal system, in certain passive states, of certain presumed magnetic influences acting upon it.
Animism, a belief that there is a psychical body within the physical body of a living being, correspondent with it in attributes, and that when the connection between them is dissolved by death the former lives on in a ghostly form; in other words, a belief of a ghost-soul existing conjointly with and subsisting apart from the body, its physical counterpart.
An`io, an affluent of the Tiber, 4 m. above Rome; ancient Rome was supplied with water from it by means of aqueducts.
Anise, an umbelliferous plant, the seed of which is used as a carminative and in the preparation of liqueurs.
Anjou`, an ancient province in the N. of France, annexed to the crown of France under Louis XI. in 1480; belonged to England till wrested from King John by Philip Augustus in 1203.
Ankarström, the assassin of Gustavus III. of Sweden, at a masked ball, March 15, 1792, for which he was executed after being publicly flogged on three successive days.
Anklam (12), an old Hanse town in Pomerania, connected by railway with Stettin.
Ankobar, capital of Shoa, in Abyssinia; stands 8200 ft. above the sea-level.
Ann Arbor (10), a city of Michigan, on the Huron, with an observatory and a flourishing university.
Anna Comne`na, a Byzantine princess, who, having failed in a political conspiracy, retired into a convent and wrote the life of her father, Alexius I., under the title of the "Alexiad" (1083-1148).
An`na Ivanov`na, niece of Peter the Great, empress of Russia in succession to Peter II. from 1730 to 1740; her reign was marred by the evil influence of her paramour Biren over her, which led to the perpetration of great cruelties; was famed for her big cheek, "which, as shown in her portraits," Carlyle says, "was comparable to a Westphalian ham" (1693-1740).
An`nam (6,000), an empire, of the size of Sweden, along the east coast of Indo-China, under a French protectorate since 1885; it has a rich well-watered soil, which yields tropical products, and is rich in minerals.
An`nan (3), a burgh in Dumfries, on river Annan; birthplace of Edward Irving, and where Carlyle was a schoolboy, and at length mathematical schoolmaster.
Annap`olis (3), seaport of Nova Scotia, on the Bay of Fundy; also the capital (7) of Maryland, U.S., 28 m. E. of Washington.
Anne, Queen, daughter of James II.; by the union of Scotland with England during her reign in 1707 became the first sovereign of the United Kingdom; her reign distinguished by the part England played in the war of the Spanish succession and the number of notabilities, literary and scientific, that flourished under it, though without any patronage on the part of the Queen (1665-1714).
Anne, St., wife of St. Joachim, mother of the Virgin Mary, and the patron saint of carpentry; festival, July 26.
Anne of Austria, the daughter of Philip III. of Spain, wife of Louis XIII., and mother of Louis XIV., became regent on the death of her husband, with Cardinal Mazarin for minister; during the minority of her son, triumphed over the Fronde; retired to a convent on the death of Mazarin (1610-1666).
Anne of Brittany, the daughter of Francis II., Duke of Brittany; by her marriage, first to Charles VIII. then to Louis XII., the duchy was added to the crown of France (1476-1514).
Anne of Clèves, daughter of Duke of Clèves, a wife of Henry VIII., who fell in love with the portrait of her by Holbein, but being disappointed, soon divorced her; d. 1577.
Annecy (11), the capital of Haute-Savoie, in France, on a lake of the name, 22 m. S. of Geneva, at which the Counts of Geneva had their residence, and where Francis of Sales was bishop.
Annobon, a Spanish isle in the Gulf of Guinea.
Annonay (14), a town in Ardèche, France; paper the chief manufacture.
Annunciation Day, a festival on the 25th of March in commemoration of the salutation of the angel to the Virgin Mary on the Incarnation of Christ.
Anquetil`, Louis Pierre, a French historian in holy orders, wrote "Précis de l'Histoire Universelle" and a "Histoire de France" in 14 vols.; continued by Bouillet in 6 more (1723-1806).
Anquetil`-Duperron, brother of the preceding, an enthusiastic Orientalist, to whom we owe the discovery and first translation of the Zend-Avesta and Schopenhauer his knowledge of Hindu philosophy, and which influenced his own system so much (1731-1805).
Ansbach (14), a manufacturing town in Bavaria, 25 m. SW. of Nürnberg, the capital of the old margraviate of the name, and the margraves of which were Hohenzollerns (q. v.).
Anschar or Ansgar, St., a Frenchman born, the first to preach Christianity to the pagans of Scandinavia, was by appointment of the Pope the first archbishop of Hamburg (801-864).
Anselm, St., archbishop of Canterbury, a native of Aosta, in Piedmont, monk and abbot; visited England frequently, gained the favour of King Rufus, who appointed him to succeed Lanfranc, quarrelled with Rufus and left the country, but returned at the request of Henry I., a quarrel with whom about investiture ended in a compromise; an able, high-principled, God-fearing man, and a calmly resolute upholder of the teaching and authority of the Church (1033-1109). See Carlyle's "Past and Present."
Anson, Lord, a celebrated British naval commander, sailed round the world, during war on the part of England with Spain, on a voyage of adventure with a fleet of three ships, and after three years and nine months returned to England, his fleet reduced to one vessel, but with £500,000 of Spanish treasure on board. Anson's "Voyage Round the World" contains a highly interesting account of this, "written in brief, perspicuous terms," witnesses Carlyle, "a real poem in its kind, or romance all fact; one of the pleasantest little books in the world's library at this time" (1697-1762).
Anstruther, East and West, two contiguous royal burghs on the Fife coast, the former the birthplace of Tennant the poet, Thomas Chalmers, and John Goodsir the anatomist.
Antæus, a mythical giant, a terræ filius or son of the earth, who was strong only when his foot was on the earth, lifted in air he became weak as water, a weakness which Hercules discovered to his discomfiture when wrestling with him. The fable has been used as a symbol of the spiritual strength which accrues when one rests his faith on the immediate fact of things.
Antal`cidas, a Spartan general, celebrated for a treaty which he concluded with Persia whereby the majority of the cities of Asia Minor passed under the sway of the Persians, to the loss of the fruit of all the victories gained over them by Athens (387 B.C.).
Antananari`vo (100), the capital of Madagascar, in the centre of the island, on a well-nigh inaccessible rocky height 5000 ft. above the sea-level.
Antar, an Arab chief of the 6th century, a subject of romance, and distinguished as a poet.
Ant-eaters, a family of edentate mammals, have a tubular mouth with a small aperture, and a long tongue covered with a viscid secretion, which they thrust into the ant-hills and then withdraw covered with ants.
Antelope, an animal closely allied to the sheep and the goat, very like the latter in appearance, with a light and elegant figure, slender, graceful limbs, small cloven hoofs, and generally a very short tail.
Anteque`ra (27), a town in Andalusia, 22 m. N. of Malaga, a stronghold of the Moors from 712 to 1410.
Anthe`lia, luminous rings witnessed in Alpine and Polar regions, seen round the shadow of one's head in a fog or cloud opposite the sun.
Anthe`mius, the architect of the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople; d. 534.
Anthon, Charles, a well-known American classical scholar and editor of the Classics (1797-1867).
Anthrax, a disease, especially in cattle, due to the invasion of a living organism which, under certain conditions, breeds rapidly; called also splenic fever.
Anthropoid apes, a class of apes, including the gorilla, chimpanzee, orang-outang, and gibbon, without tails, with semi-erect figures and long arms.
Anthropology, the science of man as he exists or has existed under different physical and social conditions.
Anthropomorphism, the ascription of human attributes to the unseen author of things.
Anti`bes (5) a seaport and place of ancient date on a peninsula in the S. of France, near Cannes and opposite Nice.
Antichrist, a name given in the New Testament to various incarnations of opposition to Christ in usurpation of His authority, but is by St. John defined to involve that form of opposition which denies the doctrine of the Incarnation, or that Christ has come in the flesh.
Anticosti, a barren rocky island in the estuary of St Lawrence, frequented by fishermen, and with hardly a permanent inhabitant.
Antig`one`, the daughter of Oedipus, king of Thebes, led about her father when he was blind and in exile, returned to Thebes on his death; was condemned to be buried alive for covering her brother's exposed body with earth in defiance of the prohibition of Creon, who had usurped the throne; Creon's son, out of love for her, killed himself on the spot where she was buried. She has been immortalised in one of the grandest tragedies of Sophocles.
Antigone, The Modern, the Duchess of Angoulême, daughter of Louis XV. See the parting scene in Carlyle's "French Revolution."
Antig`onus, surnamed the Cyclops or One-eyed, one of the generals of Alexander the Great, made himself master of all Asia Minor, excited the jealousy of his rivals; was defeated and slain at Ipsus, in Phrygia, 301 B.C.
Antigonus, the last king of the Jews of the Asmonean dynasty; put to death in 77 B.C.
Antigonus Gonatas, king of Macedonia, grandson of the preceding; twice deprived of his kingdom, but recovered it; attempted to prevent the formation of the Achæan League (275-240 B.C.).
Antigua, one of the Leeward Islands, the seat of the government; the most productive of them belongs to Britain.
Antilles, an archipelago curving round from N. America to S. America, and embracing the Caribbean Sea; the Greater A., on the N. of the sea, being Cuba, Hayti, Jamaica, and Porto Rico; and the Lesser A., on the E., forming the Leeward Islands, the Windward Islands, and the Venezuelan Islands—the Leeward as far as Dominica, the Windward as far as Trinidad, and the Venezuelan along the coast of S. America.
Antimony, a brittle white metal, of value both in the arts and medicine.
Antinomianism, the doctrine that the law is superseded in some sense or other by the all-sufficing, all-emancipating free spirit of Christ.
Antinomy, in the transcendental philosophy the contradiction which arises when we carry the categories of the understanding above experience and apply them to the sphere of that which transcends it.
Antin`ous, a Bithynian youth of extraordinary beauty, a slave of the Emperor Hadrian; became a great favourite of his and accompanied him on all his journeys. He was drowned in the Nile, and the grief of the emperor knew no bounds; he enrolled him among the gods, erected a temple and founded a city in his honour, while artists vied with each other in immortalising his beauty.
An`tioch (23), an ancient capital of Syria, on the Orontes, called the Queen of the East, lying on the high-road between the E. and the W., and accordingly a busy centre of trade; once a city of great splendour and extent, and famous in the early history of the Church as the seat of several ecclesiastical councils and the birthplace of Chrysostom. There was an Antioch in Pisidia, afterwards called Cæsarea.
Anti`ochus, name of three Syrian kings of the dynasty of the Seleucidæ: A. I., Soter, i. e. Saviour, son of one of Alexander's generals, fell heir of all Syria; king from 281 to 261 B.C. A. II., Theos, i. e. God, being such to the Milesians in slaying the tyrant Timarchus; king from 261 to 246. A. III., the Great, extended and consolidated the empire, gave harbour to Hannibal, declared war against Rome, was defeated at Thermopylæ and by Scipio at Magnesia, killed in attempting to pillage the temple at Elymaïs; king from 223 to 187. A. IV., Epiphanes, i. e. Illustrious, failed against Egypt, tyrannised over the Jews, provoked the Maccabæan revolt, and died delirious; king from 175 to 104. A. V., Eupator, king from 164 to 162.
Anti`ope, queen of the Amazons and mother of Hippolytus. The Sleep of Antiope, chef-d'oeuvre of Correggio in the Louvre.
Antip`aros (2), one of the Cyclades, W. of Paros, with a stalactite cavern.
Antip`ater, a Macedonian general, governed Macedonia with great ability during the absence of Alexander, defeated the confederate Greek states at Cranon, reigned supreme on the death of Perdiccas (397-317 B.C.).
Antiph`ilus, a Greek painter, contemporary and rival of Apelles.
An`tiphon, an Athenian orator and politician, preceptor of Thucydides, who speaks of him in terms of honour, was the first to formulate rules of oratory (479-411 B.C.).
Antipope, a pope elected by a civil power in opposition to one elected by the cardinals, or one self-elected and usurped; there were some 26 of such, first and last.
Antipyretics, medicines to reduce the temperature in fever, of which the chief are quinine and salicylate of soda.
Antipyrin, a febrifuge prepared from coal-tar, and used as a substitute for quinine.
Antisa`na, a volcano of the N. Andes, in Ecuador, 19,200 ft. high; also a village on its flanks, 13,000 ft. high, the highest village in the world.
Antise`mites, a party in Russia and the E. of Germany opposed to the Jews on account of the undue influence they exercise in national affairs to the alleged detriment of the natives.
Antiseptics, substances used, particularly in surgery, to prevent or arrest putrefaction.
Antis`thenes, a Greek philosopher, a disciple of Socrates, the master of Diogenes, and founder of the Cynic school; affected to disdain the pride and pomp of the world, and was the first to carry staff and wallet as the badge of philosophy, but so ostentatiously as to draw from Socrates the rebuke, "I see your pride looking out through the rent of your cloak, O Antisthenes."
Anti-Taurus, a mountain range running NE. from the Taurus Mts.
Antium, a town of Latium on a promontory jutting into the sea, long antagonistic to Rome, subdued in 333 B.C.; the beaks of its ships, captured in a naval engagement, were taken to form a rostrum in the Forum at Home; it was the birthplace of Caligula and Nero.
Antiva`ri, a fortified seaport lately ceded to Montenegro.
Antofagas`ta (7), a rising port in Chile, taken from Bolivia after the war of 1879; exports silver ores and nitrate of soda.
Antommar`chi, Napoleon's attached physician at St. Helena, wrote "The Last Moments of Napoleon" (1780-1838).
Antonelli, Cardinal, the chief adviser and Prime Minister of Pope Pius IX., accompanied the Pope to Gaeta, came back with him to Rome, acting as his foreign minister there, and offered a determined opposition to the Revolution; left immense wealth (1806-1876).
Antonel`lo, of Messina, Italian painter of the 15th century, introduced from Holland oil-painting into Italy (1414-1493).
Antoni`nus, Itinerary of, a valuable geographical work supposed of date 44 B.C.
Antoni`nus, Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor, successor to the following, and who surpassed him in virtue, being also of the Stoic school and one of its most exemplary disciples, was surnamed the "philosopher," and has left in his "Meditations" a record of his religious and moral principles (121-180).
Antoni`nus Pius, a Roman emperor, of Stoic principles, who reigned with justice and moderation from 138 to 161, during which time the Empire enjoyed unbroken peace.
Antoni`nus, Wall of, an earthen rampart about 36 m. in length, from the Forth to the Clyde, in Scotland, as a barrier against invasion from the north, erected in the year 140 A.D.
Anto`nius, Marcus, a famous Roman orator and consul, slain in the civil war between Marius and Sulla, having sided with the latter (143-87 B.C.).
Anto`nius, Marcus (Mark Antony), grandson of the preceding and warm partisan of Cæsar; after the murder of the latter defeated Brutus and Cassius at Philippi, formed a triumvirate with Octavius and Lepidus, fell in love with the famous Cleopatra, was defeated by Octavius in the naval battle of Actium, and afterwards killed himself (83-30 B.C.).
An`tony, St., a famous anchorite of the Thebaïd, where from the age of thirty he spent 20 years of his life, in a lonely ruin by himself, resisting devils without number; left his retreat for a while to institute monasteries, and so became the founder of monachism, but returned to die; festival, Jan. 17 (251-351).
Antony of Padua, a Minorite missionary to the Moors in Africa; preached to the fishes, who listened to him when no one else would; the fishes came in myriads to listen, and shamed the pagans into conversion, says the fable; festival, June 13 (1195-1234)
Antraigues, Count d', one of the firebrands of the French Revolution; "rose into furor almost Pythic; highest where many were high," but veered round to royalism, which he at length intrigued on behalf of—to death by the stiletto (1765-1812).
Ant`rim (471), a maritime county in the NE. of Ulster, in Ireland; soil two-thirds arable, linen the chief manufacture, exports butter, inhabitants mostly Protestant.
Antwerp (240), a large fortified trading city in Belgium, on the Scheldt, 50 m. from the sea, with a beautiful Gothic cathedral, the spire 402 ft. high; the burial-place of Rubens; has a large picture-gallery full of the works of the Dutch and Flemish artists.
Anu`bis, an Egyptian deity with the body of a man and the head of a jackal, whose office, like that of Hermes, it was to see to the disposal of the souls of the dead in the nether world, on quitting the body.
Anwari, a Persian lyric poet who flourished in the 12th century.
An`ytus, the most vehement accuser of Socrates; banished in consequence from Athens, after Socrates' death.
Aos`ta (5), a town of Italy, N. of Turin, in a fertile Alpine level valley, but where goitre and cretinism prevail to a great extent; the birthplace of Anselm.
Apa`ches, a fierce tribe of American Indians on the S. and W. of the United States; long a source of trouble to the republic.
Apel`les, the most celebrated painter of antiquity; bred, if not born, at Ephesus; lived at the court of Alexander the Great; his great work "Aphrodité Anadyomene" (q. v.); a man conscious, like Dürer, of mastery in his art, as comes out in his advice to the criticising shoemaker to "stick to his last."
Ap`ennines, a branch of the Alps extending, with spurs at right angles, nearly through the whole length of Italy, forming about the middle of the peninsula a double chain which supports the tableland of Abruzzi.
Apes, Dead Sea, dwellers by the Dead Sea who, according to the Moslem tradition, were transformed into apes because they turned a deaf ear to God's message to them by the lips of Moses, fit symbol, thinks Carlyle, of many in modern time to whom the universe, with all its serious voices, seems to have become a weariness and a humbug See "Past and Present," Bk. iii. chap. iii.
Aph`ides, a family of insects very destructive to plants by feeding on them in countless numbers.
Aphrodi`te, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, wife of Hephæstos and mother of Cupid; sprung from sea-foam; as queen of beauty had the golden apple awarded her by Paris, and possessed the power of conferring beauty, by means of her magic girdle, the cestus, on others.
Api`cius, the name of three famous Roman epicures, the first of whom was contemporary with Sulla, the second with Augustus, and the third with Trajan.
A`pion, an Alexandrian grammarian of the 1st century, and an enemy of the Jews, and hostile to the privileges conceded them in Alexandria.
A`pis, the sacred live bull of the Egyptians, the incarnation of Osiris; must be black all over the body, have a white triangular spot on the forehead, the figure of an eagle on the back, and under the tongue the image of a scarabæus; was at the end of 25 years drowned in a sacred fountain, had his body embalmed, and his mummy regarded as an object of worship.
Apocalyptic writings, writings composed among the Jews in the 2nd century B.C., and ascribed to one and another of the early prophets of Israel, forecasting the judgments ordained of God to overtake the nation, and predicting its final deliverance at the hands of the Messiah.
Apocrypha, The, a literature of sixteen books composed by Jews, after the close of the Hebrew canon, which though without the unction of the prophetic books of the canon, are instinct, for most part, with the wisdom which rests on the fear of God and loyalty to His law. The word Apocrypha means hidden writing, and it was given to it by the Jews to distinguish it from the books which they accepted as canonical.
Apol`da (20), a town in Saxe-Weimar with extensive hosiery manufactures; has mineral springs.
Apollina`ris, bishop of Laodicea, denied the proper humanity of Christ, by affirming that the Logos in Him took the place of the human soul, as well as by maintaining that His body was not composed of ordinary flesh and blood; d. 390.
Apollo, the god par excellence of the Greeks, identified with the sun and all that we owe to it in the shape of inspiration, art, poetry, and medicine; son of Zeus and Leto; twin brother of Artemis; born in the island of Delos (q. v.), whither Leto had fled from the jealous Hera; his favourite oracle at Delphi.
Appllodo`rus (1), an Athenian painter, the first to paint figures in light and shade, 408 B.C.; (2) a celebrated architect of Damascus, d. A.D. 129; and (3), an Athenian who wrote a well-arranged account of the mythology and heroic age of Greece.
Apollonius of Rhodes, a grammarian and poet, flourished in the 3rd century B.C., author of the "Argonautica," a rather prosaic account of the adventures of the Argonauts.
Apollonius of Tyana, a Pythagorean philosopher, who, having become acquainted with some sort of Brahminism, professed to have a divine mission, and, it is said, a power to work miracles; was worshipped after his death, and has been compared to Christ; d. 97.
Apol`los, a Jew of Alexandria, who became an eloquent preacher of Christ, and on account of his eloquence rated above St. Paul.
Apollyon, the destroying angel, the Greek name for the Hebrew Abaddon.
Apologetics, a defence of the historical verity of the Christian religion in opposition to the rationalist and mythical theories.
Apostate, an epithet applied to the Emperor Julian, from his having, conscientiously however, abjured the Christian religion established by Constantine, in favour of paganism.
Apostle of Germany, St. Boniface; A. of Ireland, St. Patrick; of the English, St. Augustine; of the French, St. Denis; of the Gauls, Irenæus; or the Gentiles, St. Paul; of the Goths, Ulfilas; of the Indian, John Eliot; of the Scots, Columba; of the North, Ansgar; of the Picts, St. Ninian; of the Indies, Francis Xavier; of Temperance, Father Mathew.
Apostles, The Four, picture of St. John, St. Peter, St. Mark, and St. Paul, in the museum at Münich, painted by Albert Dürer.
Apostolic Fathers, Fathers of the Church who lived the same time as the Apostles: Clemens, Barnabas Polycarp, Ignatius, and Hermas.
Apostolic succession, the derivation of episcopal power in an unbroken line from the Apostles, a qualification believed by High Churchmen to be essential to the discharge of episcopal functions and the transmission of promised divine grace.
Appala`chians, a mountainous system of N. America that stretches NE. from the tablelands of Alabama to the St. Lawrence, and includes the Alleghanies and the Blue Mountains; their utmost height, under 7000 feet; do not reach the snow-line; abound in coal and iron.
Appenzell` (67), a canton in the NE. of Switzerland, enclosed by St. Gall, divided into Outer Rhoden, which is manufacturing and Protestant, and Inner Rhoden, which is agricultural and Catholic; also the name of the capital.
Ap`pian, an Alexandrian Greek, wrote in 2nd century a history of Rome in 24 books, of which 11 remain.
Ap`pian Way, a magnificent highway begun by Appius Claudius, 312 B.C., and finished by Augustus, from Rome to Brundusium.
Apple of Discord, a golden apple inscribed with the words, "To the most Beautiful," thrown in among the gods of Olympus on a particular occasion, contended for by Hera, Athena, and Aphrodité, and awarded by Paris of Troy, as referee, to Aphrodité, on promise that he would have the most beautiful woman of the world for wife.
Appleby, the county town of Westmorland, on the Eden; is a health resort.
Applegath, Augustus, inventor of the vertical printing-press (1788-1871).
Appleton (11), a city of Wisconsin, U.S., on the Fox River.
Appleton, Ch. Edward, founder and editor of the Academy (1841-1879).
Appomattox Courthouse, a village in Virginia, U.S., where Gen. Lee surrendered to Gen. Grant in 1865.
Apraxen, Count, a celebrated naval commander under Peter the Great and his right-hand man in many enterprises (1671-1728).
April, the fourth month of the year, the month of "opening of the light in the days, and of the life of the leaves, and of the voices of the birds, and of the hearts of men."
Ap`teryx, a curious New Zealand bird with rudimentary wings, plumage like hair, and no tail.
Apule`ius, a student of Plato, of N. African birth, lived in the 2nd century; having captivated a rich widow, was charged at one time with sorcery; his most celebrated work was the "Golden Ass," which contains, among other stories, the exquisite apologue or romance of Psyche and Cupid (q. v.).
Apu`lia (1,797), an ancient province in SE. of Italy, which extends as far N. as Monte Gargano, and the scene of the last stages in the second Punic war.
Apu`re, a river in Venezuela, chief tributary of the Orinoco, into which it falls by six branches.
Aqua Tofa`na, Tofana's poison, some solution of arsenic with which a Sicilian woman called Tofana, in 17th century, poisoned, it is alleged, 600 people.
Aqua`rius, the Water-bearer, 11th sign of the Zodiac, which the sun enters Jan. 21.
Aquaviva, a general of the Jesuits of high authority (1543-1615).
A`quila (20), capital of the province of Abruzzo Ulteriora, on the Alterno, founded by Barbarossa; a busy place.
A`quila, a Judaised Greek of Sinope, in Pontus, executed a literal translation of the Old Testament into Greek in the interest of Judaism versus Christianity in the first half of the 2nd century A.D.
A`quila, Gaspar, a friend of Luther who aided him in the translation of the Bible.
Aquileia, an Italian village, 22 m. W. of Trieste, once a place of great importance, where several councils of the Church were held.
Aqui`nas, Thomas, the Angelic Doctor, or Doctor of the Schools, an Italian of noble birth, studied at Naples, became a Dominican monk despite the opposition of his parents, sat at the feet of Albertus Magnus, and went with him to Paris, was known among his pupils as the "Dumb Ox," from his stubborn silence at study, prelected at his Alma Mater and elsewhere with distinguished success, and being invited to assist the Council at Lyons, fell sick and died. His "Summa Theologiæ," the greatest of his many works, is a masterly production, and to this day of standard authority in the Romish Church. His writings, which fill 17 folio vols., along with those of Duns Scotus, his rival, constitute the high-water mark of scholastic philosophy and the watershed of its divergence into the philosophico-speculative thought on the one hand, and the ethico-practical or realism of modern times on the other, q. v. (1226-1274).
Aquitaine`, a division of ancient Gaul between the Garonne and the Pyrenees, was from the time of Henry II. till 1453 an appanage of the English crown.
Arabella Stuart, a cousin of King James I., the victim all her days of jealousy and state policy, suspected of aspiring to the crown on the death of Queen Elizabeth, was shut up in the Tower of London, where she died bereft of reason in 1615 at the age of 38.
Arabesque, an ornamentation introduced by the Moors, consisting of imaginary, often fantastic, mathematical or vegetable forms, but exclusive of the forms of men and animals.
Ara`bi, Ahmed Pasha, leader of an insurrectionary movement in Egypt in 1882; he claimed descent from the Prophet; banished to Ceylon; b. 1839.
Arabia (12,000), the most westerly peninsula of Asia and the largest in the world, being one-third the size of the whole of Europe, consisting of (a) a central plateau with pastures for cattle, and fertile valleys; (b) a ring of deserts, the Nefud in the N., stony, the Great Arabian, a perfect Sahara, in the S., sandy, said sometimes to be 600 ft. deep, and the Dahna between; and (c) stretches of coast land, generally fertile on the W. and S.; is divided into eight territories; has no lakes or rivers, only wadies, oftenest dry; the climate being hot and arid, has no forests, and therefore few wild animals; a trading country with no roads or railways, only caravan routes, yet the birthland of a race that threatened at one time to sweep the globe, and of a religion that has been a life-guidance to wide-scattered millions of human beings for over twelve centuries of time.
Arabia Felix, the W. coast of Arabia, contains Yemen and El Hejaz (q. v.), and is subject to Turkey.
Arabian Desert. See Arabia.
Arabian Nights, or the Thousand and One Nights, a collection of tales of various origin and date, traceable in their present form to the middle of the 15th century, and first translated into French by Galland in 1704. The thread on which they are strung is this: A Persian monarch having made a vow that he would marry a fresh bride every night and sacrifice her in the morning, the vizier's daughter obtained permission to be the first bride, and began a story which broke off at an interesting part evening after evening for a thousand and one nights, at the end of which term the king, it is said, released her and spared her life.
Arabs, The, "a noble-gifted people, swift-handed, deep-hearted, something most agile, active, yet most meditative, enthusiastic in their character; a people of wild, strong feelings, and iron restraint over these. In words too, as in action, not a loquacious people, taciturn rather, but eloquent, gifted when they do speak, an earnest, truthful kind of men, of Jewish kindred indeed, but with that deadly terrible earnestness of the Jews they seem to combine something graceful, brilliant, which is not Jewish." Such is Carlyle's opinion of the race from whom Mahomet sprang, as given in his "Heroes."
Arach`ne, a Lydian maiden, who excelled in weaving, and whom Athena changed into a spider because she had proudly challenged her ability to weave as artistic a work; she had failed in the competition, and previously hanged herself in her despair.
Arad (42), a fortified town in Hungary, seat of a bishop, on the right bank of the Maros; manufactures tobacco, trades in cattle and corn.
Araf, the Mohammedan sheol or borderland between heaven and hell for those who are from incapacity either not morally bad or morally good.
Arafat`, a granite hill E. of Mecca, a place of pilgrimage as the spot where Adam received his wife after 200 years separation from her on account of their disobedience to the Lord in deference to the suggestion of Satan.
Ar`ago, François, an eminent physicist and astronomer, born in the S. of France, entered the Polytechnic School of Paris when seventeen, elected a member of the Academy of Sciences at the early age of twenty-three, nominated Director of the Observatory in 1830, was member of the Provisional Government in 1848, refused to take the oath to Louis Napoleon after the coup d'état, would rather resign his post at the Observatory, but was retained, and at his death received a public funeral (1786-1853).
Arago, Jacques, a brother of the preceding, a littérateur and a traveller, author of a "Voyage Round the World" (1790-1855).
Ar`agon (925), a territory in the NE. of Spain, traversed by the Ebro, and divided as you proceed southward into the provinces of Huesca, Saragossa, and Teruel, mountainous in the N.; with beautiful fertile valleys, rather barren, in the S; was a kingdom till 1469.
Araguay, an affluent of the Tocantins, in Brazil, which it joins after a course of 1000 m., augmented by subsidiary streams.
Arakan (671), a strip of land in British Burmah, on the E. of the Bay of Bengal, 400 m. long and from 90 to 15 m. broad, a low, marshy country; produces and exports large quantities of rice, as well as sugar and hemp. The natives belong to the Burman stock, and are of the Buddhist faith, though there is a sprinkling of Mohammedans among them.
Aral, The Sea of, a lake in Turkestan, 265 m. long and 145 broad, larger than the Irish Sea, 150 m. E. of the Caspian; has no outlet, shallow, and is said to be drying up.
Aram, Eugene, an English school-usher of scholarly attainments, convicted of murder years after the act and executed 1759, to whose fate a novel of Bulwer Lytton's and a poem of Hood's have lent a romantic and somewhat fictitious interest.
Aramæa, the territories lying to NE. of Palestine, the inhabitants of which spoke a Semitic dialect called Aramaic, and improperly Chaldee.
Arama`ic, the language of Palestine in the days of Christ, a Semitic dialect that has now almost entirely died out.
Aramæ`ans, a generic name given to the Semitic tribes that dwelt in the NE. of Palestine, also to those that dwelt at the mouths of the Euphrates and the Tigris.
Aran, Val d', a Pyrenean valley, source of the Garonne, and one of the highest of the Pyrenees.
Aran Islands, three islands with antique relics across the mouth of Galway Bay, to which they form a breakwater.
Aranda, Count of, an eminent Spanish statesman, banished the Jesuits, suppressed brigandage, and curtailed the power of the Inquisition, was Prime Minister of Charles IV., and was succeeded by Godoy (1719-1798).
Aranju`ez (8), a town 28 m. SE. of Madrid, long the spring resort of the Spanish Court.
Ar`any, Janos, a popular Hungarian poet of peasant origin, attained to eminence as a man of letters (1819-1882).
Ar`arat, a mountain in Armenia on which Noah's ark is said to have rested, 17,000 ft. high, is within Russian territory, and borders on both Turkey and Persia.
Ara`tus, native of Sicyon, in Greece, promoter of the Achæan League, in which he was thwarted by Philip of Macedon, was poisoned, it is said, by his order (271-213 B.C.); also a Greek poet, author of two didactic poems, born in Cilicia, quoted by St Paul in Acts xvii. 28.
Arauca`nia (88), the country of the Araucos, in Chile, S. of Concepcion and N. of Valdivia, the Araucos being an Indian race long resistant but now subject to Chilian authority, and interesting as the only one that has proved itself able to govern itself and hold its own in the presence of the white man.
Arauca`ria, tall conifer trees, natives of and confined to the southern hemisphere.
Arbe`la, a town near Mosul, where Alexander the Great finally defeated Darius, 331 B.C.
Arbroath (22), a thriving seaport and manufacturing town on the Forfarshire coast, 17 m. N. of Dundee, with the picturesque ruins of an extensive old abbey, of which Cardinal Beaton was the last abbot. It is the "Fairport" of the "Antiquary."
Arbuthnot, John, a physician and eminent literary man of the age of Queen Anne and her two successors, born in Kincardineshire, the friend of Swift and Pope and other lights of the time, much esteemed by them for his wit and kind-heartedness, joint-author with Swift, it is thought, of the "Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus" and the "History of John Bull" (1667-1735).
Ar`cachon (7), a popular watering-place, with a fine beach and a mild climate, favourable for invalids suffering from pulmonary complaints, 34 m. SW. of Bordeaux.
Arca`dia, a mountain-girt pastoral tableland in the heart of the Morea, 50 m. long by 40 broad, conceived by the poets as a land of shepherds and shepherdesses, and rustic simplicity and bliss, and was the seat of the worship of Artemis and Pan.
Arca`dius, the first emperor of the East, born in Spain, a weak, luxurious prince, leaving the government in other hands (377-405).
Arcesila`us, a Greek philosopher, a member of the Platonic School and founder of the New Academy, who held in opposition to the Stoics that perception was not knowledge, denied that we had any accurate criterion of truth, and denounced all dogmatism in opinion.
Archæology, the study or the science of the monuments of antiquity, as distinct from palæontology, which has to do with extinct organisms or fossil remains.
Archangel (19), the oldest seaport of Russia, on the Dvina, near its mouth, on the White Sea, is accessible to navigation from July to October, is connected with the interior by river and canal, and has a large trade in flax, timber, tallow, and tar.
Archangels, of these, according to the Korân, there are four: Gabriel, the angel who reveals; Michael, the angel who fights; Azrael, the angel of death; Azrafil, the angel of the resurrection.
Archela`us, king of Macedonia, and patron of art and literature, with whom Euripides found refuge in his exile, d. 400 B.C.; a general of Mithridates, conquered by Sulla twice over; also the Ethnarch of Judea, son of Herod, deposed by Augustus, died at Vienne.
Archer, James, portrait-painter, born in Edinburgh, 1824.
Archer, Wm., dramatic critic, born in Perth, 1856.
Ar`ches, Court of, an ecclesiastical court of appeal connected with the archbishopric of Canterbury, the judge of which is called the dean.
Ar`chil, a purple dye obtained from lichens.
Archil`ochus, a celebrated lyric poet of Greece; of a satiric and often bitter vein, the inventor of iambic verse (714-676 B.C.).
Archima`go, a sorcerer in Spenser's "Faërie Queene," who in the disguise of a reverend hermit, and by the help of Duessa or Deceit, seduces the Red-Cross Knight from Una or Truth.
Archime`des of Syracuse, the greatest mathematician of antiquity, a man of superlative inventive power, well skilled in all the mechanical arts and sciences of the day. When Syracuse was taken by the Romans, he was unconscious of the fact, and slain, while busy on some problem, by a Roman soldier, notwithstanding the order of the Roman general that his life should be spared. He is credited with the boast: "Give me a fulcrum, and I will move the world." He discovered how to determine the specific weight of bodies while he was taking a bath, and was so excited over the discovery that, it is said, he darted off stark naked on the instant through the streets, shouting "Eureka! Eureka! I have found it! I have found it!" (287-212 B.C.).
Archimed`es screw, in its original form a hollow spiral placed slantingly to raise water by revolving it.
Archipel`ago, originally the Ægean Sea, now the name of any similar sea interspersed with islands, or the group of islands included in it.
Architrave, the lowest part of an entablature, resting immediately on the capital.
Ar`chon, a chief magistrate of Athens, of which there were nine at a time, each over a separate department; the tenure of office was first for life, then for ten years, and finally for one.
Archy`tas of Tarentum, famous as a statesman, a soldier, a geometrician, a philosopher, and a man; a Pythagorean in philosophy, and influential in that capacity over the minds of Plato, his contemporary, and Aristotle; was drowned in the Adriatic Sea, 4th century B.C.; his body lay unburied on the shore till a sailor humanely cast a handful of sand on it, otherwise he would have had to wander on this side the Styx for a hundred years, such the virtue of a little dust, munera pulveris, as Horace calls it.
Arcis`-sur-Aube (3), a town 17 m. N. of Troyes, in France, birthplace of Danton; scene of a defeat of Napoleon, March 1814.
Ar`cot, the name of two districts, N. and S., in the Presidency of Madras; also chief town (11) in the district, 65 m. SW. of Madras; captured by Clive in 1787; once the capital of the Carnatic.
Arctic Ocean, a circular ocean round the N. Pole, its diameter 40°, with low, flat shores, covered with ice-fields, including numerous islands; the Gulf Stream penetrates it, and a current flows out of it into the Atlantic.
Arctu`rus, star of the first magnitude and the chief in the N. constellation Boötes.
Ardèche, an affluent of the Rhône, source in the Cévennes; gives name to a department traversed by the Cévennes Mountains.
Arden, a large forest at one time in England, E. of the Severn.
Arden, Enoch, hero of a poem by Tennyson, who finds, on his return from the sea, after long absence, his wife, who believed him dead, married happily to another; does not disclose himself, and dies broken-hearted.
Ardennes, a forest, a tract of rugged woodland on the confines of France and Belgium; also department of France (325), on the borders of Belgium.
Ar`doch, a place in Perthshire, 7 m. from Crieff, with the remains of a Roman camp, the most complete in Britain.
Arends, Leopold, a Russian of literary ability, inventor of a system of stenography extensively used on the Continent (1817-1882).
Areopagitica, a prose work of Milton's, described by Prof. Saintsbury as "a magnificent search for the Dead Truth."
Areop`agus, the hill of Ares in Athens, which gave name to the celebrated council held there, a tribunal of 31 members, charged with judgment in criminal offences, and whose sentences were uniformly the awards of strictest justice.
Arequi`pa (35), a city in Peru, founded by Pizarro in 1536, in a fruitful valley of the Andes, 8000 ft. above the sea, 30 m. inland; is much subject to earthquakes, and was almost destroyed by one in 1868.
A`rés, the Greek god of war in its sanguinary aspects; was the son of Zeus and Hera; identified by the Romans with Mars, was fond of war for its own sake, and had for sister Eris, the goddess of strife, who used to pander to his passion.
Aretæ`us, a Greek physician of 1st century; wrote a treatise on diseases, their causes, symptoms, and cures, still extant.
Arethu`sa, a celebrated fountain in the island of Ortygia, near Syracuse, transformed from a Nereid pursued thither from Elis, in Greece, by the river-god Alphæus, so that the waters of the river henceforth mingled with those of the fountain.
Areti`no, Pietro, called the "Scourge of Princes," a licentious satirical writer, born at Arezzo, in Tuscany, alternately attached to people and repelled from them by his wit, moved from one centre of attraction to another; settled in Venice, where he died after an uncontrollable fit of laughter which seized him at the story of the adventure of a sister (1492-1557).
Arezzo (44), an ancient Tuscan city, 38 m. SE. of Florence, and eventually subject to it; the birthplace of Mæcenas, Michael Angelo, Petrarch, Guido, and Vasari.
Ar`gali, a sheep of Siberia, as large as a moderately-sized ox, with enormous grooved curving horns, strong-limbed, sure-footed, and swift.
Argan`, the hypochondriac rich patient in Molière's "Le Malade Imaginaire."
Argand, a Swiss physician and chemist, born at Geneva; inventor of the argand lamp, which, as invented by him, introduced a circular wick (1755-1803).
Argelan`der, a distinguished astronomer, born at Memel, professor at Bonn; he fixed the position of 22,000 stars, and recorded observations to prove that the solar system was moving through space (1799-1874).
Ar`gens, Marquis d', a French soldier who turned to letters, author of sceptical writings, of which the best known is entitled "Lettres Juives" (1704-1771).
Argenson, René-Louis, Marquis d', French statesman, who left "Memoirs" of value as affecting the early and middle part of Louis XV.'s reign (1694-1757).
Argentine Republic, or Argentina (4,000), a confederation like that of the United States of 14 states and 9 territories, occupying the eastern slopes of the Andes and the vast level plain extending from them to the Atlantic, bounded on the N. by Bolivia and Paraguay; its area ten times that of Great Britain and Ireland; while the population includes 600,000 foreigners, Italians, French, Spaniards, English, and Germans.
Ar`go, the fifty-oared ship of the Argonauts (q. v.).
Ar`golis, the north-eastern peninsula of the Morea of Greece, and one of the 13 provinces of Greece, is 12 m. long by 5 m. broad.
Ar`gon, a new element lately discovered to exist in a gaseous form in the nitrogen of the air.
Argonautica, the title of a poem on the Argonautic expedition by Apollonius of Rhodes.
Ar`gonauts, the Greek heroes, sailors in the Argo, who, under the command of Jason, sailed for Colchis in quest of the golden fleece, which was guarded by a dragon that never slept, a perilous venture, but it proved successful with the assistance of Medea, the daughter of the king, whom, with the fleece, Jason in the end brought away with him to be his wife.
Argonne`, Forest of, "a long strip of rocky mountain and wild wood" in the NE. of France, within the borders of which the Duke of Brunswick was outwitted by Dumouriez in 1792.
Ar`gos (9), the capital of Argolis, played for long a prominent part in the history of Greece, but paled before the power of Sparta.
Ar`gus, surnamed the "All-seeing," a fabulous creature with a hundred eyes, of which one half was always awake, appointed by Hera to watch over Io, but Hermes killed him after lulling him to sleep by the sound of his flute, whereupon Hera transferred his eyes to the tail of the peacock, her favourite bird. Also the dog of Ulysses, immortalised by Homer; he was the only creature that recognised Ulysses under his rags on his return to Ithaca after twenty years' absence, under such excitement, however, that immediately after he dropped down dead.
Argus, a pheasant, a beautiful Oriental game-bird, so called from the eye-like markings on its plumage.
Argyll (74), a large county in the W. of Scotland, consisting of deeply indented mainland and islands, and abounding in mountains, moorlands, and lochs, with scenery often picturesque as well as wild and savage.
Argyll, a noble family or clan of the name of Campbell, the members of which have held successively the title of Earl, Marquis, and Duke, their first patent of nobility dating from 1445, and their earldom from 1453.
Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquis of, sided with the Covenanters, fought against Montrose, disgusted with the execution of Charles I., crowned Charles II. at Scone, after the Restoration committed to the Tower, was tried and condemned, met death nobly (1598-1661).
Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of, son of the preceding, fought for Charles II., was taken prisoner, released at the Restoration and restored to his estates, proved rebellious at last, and was condemned to death; escaped to Holland, made a descent on Scotland, was captured and executed in 1685.
Argyll, George John Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of, as Marquis of Lorne took a great interest in the movement which led to the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843, a Whig in politics, was a member of the Cabinets of Aberdeen, Palmerston, and Gladstone; of late has shown more Conservative tendencies; takes a deep interest in the scientific theories and questions of the time; wrote, among other works, a book in 1866 entitled "The Reign of Law," in vindication of Theism, and another in the same interest in 1884 entitled "The Unity of Nature"; b. 1824.
Argyll, John Campbell, 2nd Duke of, favoured the Union, was created an English peer, fought under Marlborough, opposed the return of the Stuarts, defeated Mar at Sheriffmuir, ruled Scotland under Walpole (1678-1743).
Ariad`ne, daughter of Minos, king of Crete, gave to Theseus a clue by which to escape out of the labyrinth after he had slain the Minotaur, for which Theseus promised to marry her; took her with him to Naxos and left her there, where, according to one tradition, Artemis killed her, and according to another, Dionysos found her and married her, placing her at her death among the gods, and hanging her wedding wreath as a constellation in the sky.
Arianism, the heresy of Arius (q. v.).
Aria`no (12), a city with a fine cathedral, 1500 ft. above the sea-level, NE. of Naples; has a trade in wine and butter.
Ari`ca, a seaport connected with Tacna, S. of Peru, the chief outlet for the produce of Bolivia; suffers again and again from earthquakes, and was almost destroyed in 1832.
Ariège, a department of France, at the foot of the northern slopes of the Pyrenees; has extensive forests and is rich in minerals.
A`riel, in Shakespeare's "Tempest," a spirit of the air whom Prospero finds imprisoned by Sycorax in the cleft of a pine-tree, and liberates on condition of her serving him for a season, which she willingly engages to do, and does.
Ariel, an idol of the Moabites, an outcast angel.
Aries, the Ram. the first of the signs of the Zodiac, which the sun enters on March 21, though the constellation itself, owing to the precession of the equinoxes, is no longer within the limits of the sign.
Ari`on, a lyrist of Lesbos, lived chiefly at the court of Periander, Corinth; returning in a ship from a musical contest in Sicily laden with prizes, the sailors plotted to kill him, when he begged permission to play one strain on his lute, which being conceded, dolphins crowded round the ship, whereupon he leapt over the bulwarks, was received on the back of one of them, and carried to Corinth, arriving there before the sailors, who, on their landing, were apprehended and punished.
Arios`to, Ludovico, an illustrious Italian poet, born at Reggio, in Lombardy; spent his life chiefly in Ferrara, mostly in poverty; his great work "Orlando Furioso" (q. v.), published the first edition, in 40 cantos, in 1516, and the third in 46 cantos, in 1532; the work is so called from the chief subject of it, the madness of Roland induced by the loss of his lady-love through her marriage to another (1474-1532).
Ariovistus, a German chief, invaded Gaul, and threatened to overrun it, but was forced back over the Rhine by Cæsar.
Aristæ`us, a son of Apollo, the guardian divinity of the vine and olive, of hunters and herdsmen; first taught the management of bees, some of which stung Eurydice to death, whereupon the nymphs, companions of Orpheus, her husband, set upon his bees and destroyed them. In this extremity Aristæus applied to Proteus, who advised him to sacrifice four bullocks to appease the manes of Eurydice; this done, there issued from the carcasses of the victims a swarm of bees, which reconciled him to the loss of the first ones.
Aristar`chus of Samos, a Greek astronomer, who first conceived the idea of the rotundity of the earth and its revolution both on its own axis and round the sun, in promulgating which idea he was accused of impiously disturbing the serenity of the gods (280 B.C.).
Aristarchus of Samothrace, a celebrated Greek grammarian and critic, who devoted his life to the elucidation and correct transmission of the text of the Greek poets, and especially Homer (158-88 B.C.).
Ariste`as, a sort of Wandering Jew of Greek fable, who turns up here and there in Greek tradition, and was thought to be endowed with a soul that could at will leave and enter the body.
Aristi`des, an Athenian general and statesman, surnamed The Just; covered himself with glory at the battle of Marathon; was made archon next year, in the discharge of the duties of which office he received his surname; was banished by ostracism at the instance of his rival, Themistocles; recalled three years after the invasion of Xerxes, was reconciled to Themistocles, fought bravely at Salamis, and distinguished himself at Platæa; managed the finances of the State with such probity that he died poor, was buried at the public charges, and left the State to provide for his children.
Aristion, a philosopher, tyrant of Athens, put to death by order of Sylla, 86 B.C.
Aristip`pus of Cyrene, founder of the Cyrenaic school of philosophy, a disciple of Socrates; in his teaching laid too much emphasis on one principle of Socrates, apart from the rest, in insisting too exclusively upon pleasure as the supreme good and ultimate aim of life.
Aristobu`lus I., son of John Hyrcanus, first of the Asmonæan dynasty in Judea to assume the name of king, which he did from 104-102 B.C., a pronounced Helleniser; A. II., twice carried captive to Rome, assassinated 50 B.C.; A. III., last of Asmonæan dynasty, drowned by Herod in the Jordan, 34 B.C.
Aristode`mus, king of Messenia, carried on for 20 years a war with Sparta, till at length finding resistance hopeless he put an end to his life on the tomb of his daughter, whom he had sacrificed to ensure the fulfilment of an oracle to the advantage of his house; d. 724 B.C. Also a Greek sculptor, 4th century B.C.
Aristom`enes, a mythical king of Messenia, celebrated for his struggle with the Spartans, and his resistance to them on Mount Ira for 11 years, which at length fell to the enemy, while he escaped and was snatched up by the gods; died at Rhodes.
Aristophanes, the great comic dramatist of Athens, lived in the 5th century B.C.; directed the shafts of his wit, which were very keen, against all of whatever rank who sought in any way to alter, and, as it was presumed, amend, the religious, philosophical, social, political, or literary creed and practice of the country, and held up to ridicule such men as Socrates and Euripides, as well as Cleon the tanner; wrote 54 plays, of which 11 have come down to us; of these the "Clouds" aim at Socrates, the "Acharnians" and the "Frogs" at Euripides, and the "Knights" at Cleon; d. 384 B.C.
Ar`istotle, a native of Stagira, in Thrace, and hence named the Stagirite; deprived of his parents while yet a youth; came in his 17th year to Athens, remained in Plato's society there for 20 years; after the death of Plato, at the request of Philip, king of Macedon, who held him in high honour, became the preceptor of Alexander the Great, then only 13 years old; on Alexander's expedition into Asia, returned to Athens and began to teach in the Lyceum, where it was his habit to walk up and down as he taught, from which circumstance his school got the name of Peripatetic; after 13 years he left the city and went to Chalcis, in Euboea, where he died. He was the oracle of the scholastic philosophers and theologians in the Middle Ages; is the author of a great number of writings which covered a vast field of speculation, of which the progress of modern science goes to establish the value; is often referred to as the incarnation of the philosophic spirit (385-322 B.C.).
Aristox`enus of Tarentum, a Greek philosopher, author of the "Elements of Harmony," the only one of his many works extant, and one of the oldest writers on music; contemporary of Aristotle.
A`rius, a presbyter of Alexandria in the 4th century, and founder of Arianism, which denied the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father in the so-called Trinity, a doctrine which hovered for a time between acceptance and rejection throughout the Catholic Church; was condemned first by a local synod which met at Alexandria in 321, and then by a General Council at Nice in 325, which the Emperor Constantine attended in person; the author was banished to Illyricum, his writings burned, and the possession of them voted to be a crime; after three years he was recalled by Constantine, who ordered him to be restored; was about to be readmitted into the Church when he died suddenly, by poison, alleged his friends—by the judgment of God, said his enemies (280-336).
Arizo`na (59), a territory of the United States N. of Mexico and W. of New Mexico, nearly four times as large as Scotland, rich in mines of gold, silver, and copper, fertile in the lowlands; much of the surface a barren plateau 11,000 ft. high, through which the cañon of the Colorado passes. See Cañon.
Ark of the Covenant, a chest of acacia wood overlaid with gold, 2½ cubits long and 1½ in breadth; contained the two tables of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments, the gold pot with the manna, and Aaron's rod; the lid supported the mercy-seat, with a cherub at each end, and the shekinah radiance between.
Arkans`as (1,128), one of the Southern States of America, N. of Louisiana and W. of the Mississippi, a little larger than England; rich in metals, grows cotton and corn.
Arkwright, Sir Richard, born at Preston, Lancashire; bred to the trade of a barber; took interest in the machinery of cotton-spinning; with the help of a clockmaker, invented the spinning frame; was mobbed for threatening thereby to shorten labour and curtail wages, and had to flee; fell in with Mr. Strutt of Derby, who entered into partnership with him; prospered in business and died worth half a million. "French Revolutions were a-brewing; to resist the same in any way, Imperial Cæsars were impotent without the cotton and cloth of England; and it was this man," says Carlyle, "that had to give to England the power of cotton" (1732-1792).
Arlberg, a mountain mass between the Austrian provinces of Vorarlberg and Tyrol, pierced by a tunnel, one of the three that penetrate the Alps, and nearly four miles in length.
Arles (14), a city, one of the oldest in France, on the Rhône, 46 m. N. of Marseilles, where Constantine built a palace, with ruins of an amphitheatre and other Roman works; the seat of several Church Councils.
Ar`lincourt, Viscount d', a French romancer, born near Versailles (1789-1856).
Ar`lington, Henry Bennet, Earl of, served under Charles I., and accompanied Charles II. in his exile; a prominent member of the famous Cabal; being impeached when in office, lost favour and retired into private life (1618-1685).
Ar`lon (8), a prosperous town in Belgium, capital of Luxemburg.
Arma`da, named the Invincible, an armament fitted out in 1588 by Philip II. of Spain against England, consisting of 130 war-vessels, mounted with 2430 cannon, and manned by 20,000 soldiers; was defeated in the Channel on July 20 by Admiral Howard, seconded by Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher; completely dispersed and shattered by a storm in retreat on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, the English losing only one ship; of the whole fleet only 53 ships found their way back to Spain, and these nearly all hors de combat.
Armageddon, a name given in Apocalypse to the final battlefield between the powers of good and evil, or Christ and Antichrist.
Armagh (143), a county in Ulster, Ireland, 32 m. long by 20 m. broad; and a town (18) in it, 33 m. SW. of Belfast, from the 5th to the 9th century the capital of Ireland, as it is the ecclesiastical still; the chief manufacture linen-weaving.
Armagnac, a district, part of Gascony, in France, now in dep. of Gers, celebrated for its wine and brandy.
Armagnacs, a faction in France in time of Charles VI. at mortal feud with the Bourguignons.
Armato`les, warlike marauding tribes in the mountainous districts of Northern Greece, played a prominent part in the War of Independence in 1820.
Armed soldier of Democracy, Napoleon Bonaparte.
Arme`nia, a country in Western Asia, W. of the Caspian Sea and N. of Kurdistan Mts., anciently independent, now divided between Turkey, Russia, and Persia, occupying a plateau interspersed with fertile valleys, which culminates in Mt. Ararat, in which the Euphrates and Tigris have their sources.
Armenians, a people of the Aryan race occupying Armenia, early converted to Christianity of the Eutychian type; from early times have emigrated into adjoining, and even remote, countries, and are, like the Jews, mainly engaged in commercial pursuits, the wealthier of them especially in banking.
Armentières (27), a manufacturing and trading town in France, 12 m. N. of Lille.
Armi`da, a beautiful enchantress in Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered," who bewitched Rinaldo, one of the Crusaders, by her charms, as Circe did Ulysses, and who in turn, when the spell was broken, overpowered her by his love and persuaded her to become a Christian. The Almida Palace, in which she enchanted Rinaldo, has become a synonym for any merely visionary but enchanting palace of pleasure.
Arminianism. See Arminius.
Armin`ius, or Hermann, the Deliverer of Germany from the Romans by the defeat of Varus, the Roman general, in 9 A.D., near Detmold (where a colossal statue has been erected to his memory); killed in some family quarrel in his 37th year.
Arminius, Jacobus, a learned Dutch theologian and founder of Arminianism, an assertion of the free-will of man in the matter of salvation against the necessitarianism of Calvin (1560-1609).
Armor`ica, a district of Gaul from the Loire to the Seine.
Armstrong, John, a Scotch doctor and poet, born in Roxburghshire, practised medicine in London; friend of poet Thomson, as well as of Wilkes and Smollett, and author of "The Art of Preserving Health" (1709-1779).
Armstrong, William George, Lord, born at Newcastle, produced the hydraulic accumulator and the hydraulic crane, established the Elswick engine works in the suburbs of his native city, devoted his attention to the improvement of heavy ordnance, invented the Armstrong gun, which he got the Government to adopt, knighted in 1858, and in 1887 raised to the peerage; b. 1810.
Ar`naud, Henri, a pastor of the Vaudois, turned soldier to rescue, and did rescue, his co-religionists from their dispersion under the persecution of the Count of Savoy; but when the Vaudois were exiled a second time, he accompanied them in their exile to Schomberg, and acted pastor to them till his death (1641-1721).
Arnauld, Antoine, the "great Arnauld," a French theologian, doctor of the Sorbonne, an inveterate enemy of the Jesuits, defended Jansenism against the Bull of the Pope, became religious director of the nuns of Port Royal des Champs, associated here with a circle of kindred spirits, among others Pascal; expelled from the Sorbonne and banished the country, died at Brussels (1612-1694).
Arnauld, Marie Ange`lique, La Mère Angelique as she was called, sister of the preceding and abbess of the Port Royal, a victim of the persecutions of the Jesuits to very death (1624-1684).
Arndt, Ernst Moritz, a German poet and patriot, whose memory is much revered by the whole German people, one of the first to rouse his countrymen to shake off the tyranny of Napoleon; his songs and eloquent appeals went straight to the heart of the nation and contributed powerfully to its liberation; his "Geist der Zeit" made him flee the country after the battle of Jena, and his "Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland?" strikes a chord in the breast of every German all the world over (1710-1860).
Arndt, John, a Lutheran theologian, the author of "True Christianity," a work which, in Germany and elsewhere, has contributed to infuse a new spirit of life into the profession of the Christian religion, which seemed withering away under the influence of a lifeless dogmatism (1553-1621).
Arne, Thomas Augustine, a musical composer of versatile genius, produced, during over 40 years, a succession of pieces in every style from songs to sonatas and oratorios, among others the world-famous chorus "Rule Britannia"; Mrs. Cibber was his sister (1719-1778).
Arn`heim (51), the capital of Guelderland, is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, and has a large transit trade.
Arnim, Bettine von, sister of Clemens Brentano, wife of Ludwig Arnim, a native of Frankfort; at 22 conceived a passionate love for Goethe, then in his 60th year, visited him at Weimar, and corresponded with him afterwards, part of which correspondence appeared subsequently under the title of "Goethe's Correspondence with a Child" (1785-1859).
Arnim, Count, ambassador of Germany, first at Rome and then at Paris; accused in the latter capacity of purloining State documents, and sentenced to imprisonment; died in exile at Nice (1824-1881).
Arnim, Ludwig Achim von, a German poet and novelist (1781-1831).
Arno, a river of Italy, rises in the Apennines, flows westward past Florence and Pisa into the Mediterranean, subject to destructive inundations.
Arnobius, an African rhetorician who, in the beginning of the 4th century, embraced Christianity, and wrote a book in its defence, still extant, and of great value, entitled "Disputations against the Heathen."
Arnold, Benedict, an American military general, entered the ranks of the colonists under Washington during the War of Independence, distinguished himself in several engagements, promoted to the rank of general, negotiated with the English general Clinton to surrender an important post entrusted to him, escaped to the English ranks on the discovery of the plot, and served in them against his country; d. in England in 1801.
Arnold, Matthew, poet and critic, eldest son of Thomas Arnold of Rugby; professor of Poetry in Oxford from 1857 to 1867; inspector of schools for 35 years from 1851; commissioned twice over to visit France, Germany, and Holland, to inquire into educational matters there; wrote two separate reports thereon of great value; author of "Poems," of a highly finished order and showing a rich poetic gift, "Essays on Criticism," "Culture and Anarchy," "St. Paul and Protestantism," "Literature and Dogma," &c.; a man of culture, and especially literary culture, of which he is reckoned the apostle; died suddenly at Liverpool. He was more eminent as a poet than a critic, influential as he was in that regard. "It is," says Swinburne, "by his verse and not his prose he must be judged," and is being now judged (1822-1888).
Arnold, Sir Edwin, poet and journalist, familiar with Indian literature; author of the "Light of Asia," "Light of the World," and other works in prose and verse; b. 1832, at Gravesend.
Arnold, Thomas, head-master of Rugby, and professor of Modern History at Oxford; by his moral character and governing faculty effected immense reforms in Rugby School; was liberal in his principles and of a philanthropic spirit; he wrote a "History of Rome" based on Niebuhr, and edited Thucydides; his "Life and Correspondence" was edited by Dean Stanley (1795-1842).
Arnold of Brescia, an Italian monk, and disciple of Abelard; declaimed against the temporal power of the Pope, the corruptions of the Church, and the avarice of the clergy; headed an insurrection against the Pope in Rome, which collapsed under the Pope's interdict; at last was burned alive in 1156, and his ashes thrown into the Tiber.
Arnold of Winkelried, the Decius of Switzerland, a peasant of the canton of Unterwald, who, by the voluntary sacrifice of his life, broke the lines of the Austrians at Sempach in 1386 and decided the fate of the battle.
Arnott, Dr. Neil, a native of Arbroath, author of the "Elements of Physics" and of several hygienic inventions (1788-1874).
Arou`et, the family name of Voltaire; his name formed by an ingenious transposition he made of the letters of his name, Arouet l. j. (jeune).
Ar`pad, the national hero of Hungary; established for the Magyars a firm footing in the country; was founder of the Arpad dynasty, which became extinct in 1301; d. 907.
Arpi`no (Arpinium), an ancient town in Latium, S. of Rome, birthplace of Cicero and Marius.
Arqua, a village 12 m. SW. of Padua, where Petrarch died and was buried.
Arrack, a spirituous liquor, especially that distilled from the juice of the cocoa-nut tree and from fermented rice.
Ar`rah, a town in Bengal, 36 m. from Patna; famous for its defence by a handful of English and Sikhs against thousands during the Mutiny.
Arran (4), largest island in the Firth of Clyde, in Buteshire; a mountainous island, highest summit Goatfell, 2866 ft, with a margin of lowland round the coast; nearly all the property of the Duke of Hamilton, whose seat is Brodick Castle.
Arras (20), a French town in the dep. of Pas-de-Calais, long celebrated for its tapestry; the birthplace of Damiens and Robespierre.
Ar`ria, a Roman matron, who, to encourage her husband in meeting death, to which he had been sentenced, thrust a poniard into her own breast, and then handed it to him, saying, "It is not painful," whereupon he followed her example.
Ar`rian, Flavius, a Bithynian, a friend of Epictetus the Stoic, edited his "Enchiridion"; wrote a "History of Alexander the Great," and "Periplus," an account of voyages round the Euxine and round the Red Sea; b. 100, and died at an advanced age.
Arrow-headed characters, the same as the Cuneiform (q. v.).
Arru Islands (15), a group of 80 coralline islands, belonging to Holland, W. of New Guinea; export mother-of-pearl, pearls, tortoise-shell, &c.
Ar`saces I., the founder of the dynasty of the Arsacidæ, by a revolt which proved successful against the Seleucidæ, 250 B.C.
Arsacidæ, a dynasty of 31 Parthian kings, who wrested the throne from Antiochus II., the last of the Seleucidæ, 250 B.C.
Arsin`oë, the name of several Egyptian princesses of antiquity; also a prude in Molière's "Misanthrope."
Arta, Gulf of, gulf forming the NW. frontier of Greece.
Arts, The. There are three classes of these, the Liberal, the Fine, and the Mechanical: the Liberal, implying scholarship, graduation in which is granted by universities, entitling the holder to append M.A. to his name; the Mechanical, implying skill; and the Fine, implying the possession of a soul, discriminated from the mechanical by the word spiritual, as holding of the entire, undivided man, heart as well as brain.
Artaxer`xes, the name of several Persian monarchs: A. I., called the "Long-handed," from his right hand being longer than his left; son of Xerxes I.; concluded a peace with Greece after a war of 52 years; entertained Themistocles at his court; king from 465 to 424 B.C. A. II., Mnemon, vanquished and killed his brother Cyrus at Cunaxa in 401, who had revolted against him; imposed in 387 on the Spartans the shameful treaty of Antalcidas (q. v.); king from 405 to 359 B.C. A. III., Ochus, son of the preceding, slew all his kindred on ascending the throne; in Egypt slew the sacred bull Apis and gave the flesh to his soldiers, for which his eunuch Bagsas poisoned him; king from 359 to 338 B.C. A. IV., grandson of Sassan, founder of the dynasty Sassanidæ; restored the old religion of the Magi, amended the laws, and promoted education; king from A.D. 223 to 232.
Arte`di, a Swedish naturalist, assisted Linnæus in his "Systema Naturæ"; his own great work, "Ichthyologia," published by Linnæus after his death (1703-1735).
Ar`tegal, the impersonation and champion of Justice in Spenser's "Faërie Queene."
Ar`temis, in the Greek mythology the daughter of Zeus and Leto, twin sister of Apollo, born in the Isle of Delos, and one of the great divinities of the Greeks; a virgin goddess, represented as a huntress armed with bow and arrows; presided over the birth of animals, was guardian of flocks, the moon the type of her and the laurel her sacred tree, was the Diana of the Romans, and got mixed up with deities in other mythologies.
Artemi`sia, queen of Halicarnassus, joined Xerxes in his invasion of Greece, and fought with valour at Salamis, 440 B.C. A. II., also queen, raised a tomb over the grave of her husband Mausolus, regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world, 355 B.C.
Artemi`sium, a promontory N. of Euboea, near which Xerxes lost part of his fleet, 480 B.C.
Artemus Ward. See C. F. Browne.
Artesian wells, wells made by boring for water where it is lower than its source, so as to obtain a constant supply of it.
Ar`tevelde, Jacob van, a wealthy brewer of Ghent, chosen chief in a revolt against Count Louis of Flanders, expelled him, made a treaty with Edward III. as lord-superior of Flanders, was massacred in a popular tumult (1300-1345).
Artevelde, Philip van, son of the preceding, defeated Louis II. and became king; but with the help of France Louis retaliated and defeated the Flemings, and slew him in 1382.
Artful Dodger, a young thief, an expert in the profession in Dickens' "Oliver Twist."
Ar`thur, a British prince of wide-spread fame, who is supposed to have lived at the time of the Saxon invasion in the 6th century, whose exploits and those of his court have given birth to the tradition of the Round Table, to the rendering of which Tennyson devoted so much of his genius.
Arthur, Chester Alan, twenty-first president of the United States, a lawyer by profession, and a prominent member of the Republican party (1830-1886).
Arthur, Prince, Duke of Brittany, heir to the throne of England by the death of his uncle Richard I.; supplanted by King John.
Arthur Seat, a lion-shaped hill 822 ft., close to Edinburgh on the E., from the top of which the prospect is unrivalled; "the blue, majestic, everlasting ocean, with the Fife hills swelling gradually into the Grampians behind it on the N.; rough crags and rude precipices at our feet ('where not a hillock rears its head unsung'), with Edinburgh at their base, clustering proudly over her rugged foundations, and covering with a vapoury mantle the jagged, black, venerable masses of stone-work, that stretch far and wide, and show like a city of fairyland"—such the view Carlyle had in a clear atmosphere of 1826, whatever it may be now.
Articles, The Thirty-Nine, originally Forty-Two, a creed framed in 1562, which every clergyman of the Church of England is bound by law to subscribe to at his ordination, as the accepted faith of the Church.
Artist, according to a definition of Ruskin, which he prints in small caps., "a person who has submitted to a law which it was painful to obey, that he may bestow a delight which it is gracious to bestow."
Artists, Prince of, Albert Dürer, so called by his countrymen.
Ar`tois, an ancient province of France, comprising the dep. of Pas-de-Calais, and parts of the Somme and the Nord; united to the crown in 1659.
Artois, Monseigneur d', famed, as described in Carlyle's "French Revolution," for "breeches of a new kind in this world"; brother of Louis XVI., and afterwards Charles X. (q. v.).
Ar`undel (2), a municipal town in Sussex, on the Arun, 9 m. E. of Chichester, with a castle of great magnificence, the seat of the Earls of Arundel.
Arundel, Thomas, successively bishop of Ely, Lord Chancellor, archbishop of York, and archbishop of Canterbury; a persecutor of the Wickliffites, but a munificent benefactor of the Church (1353-1414).
Arundel marbles, ancient Grecian marbles collected at Smyrna and elsewhere by the Earl of Arundel in 1624, now in the possession of the University of Oxford, the most important of which is one from Paros inscribed with a chronology of events in Grecian history from 1582 to 264 B.C.; the date of the marbles themselves is 263 B.C.
Aruns, son of Tarquinus Superbus, who fell in single combat with Brutus.
Aruwi`mi, an affluent of the Congo on the right bank below the Stanley Falls.
Arva`tes, Fratres, a college of twelve priests in ancient Rome whose duty it was to make annual offerings to the Lares for the increase of the fruits of the field.
Arve, a river that flows through the valley of Chamouni and falls into the Rhône below Geneva.
Arveyron, an affluent of the Arve from the Mer de Glace.
Ar`yans, or Indo-Europeans, a race that is presumed to have had its primitive seat in Central Asia, E. of the Caspian Sea and N. of the Hindu-Kush, and to have branched off at different periods north-westward and westward into Europe, and southward into Persia and the valley of the Ganges, from which sprung the Greeks, Latins, Celts, Teutons, Slavs, on the one hand, and the Persians and Hindus on the other, a community of origin that is attested by the comparative study of their respective languages.
Ar`zew, a seaport in Algeria, 22 m. from Oran, with Roman remains; exports grain and salt.
Asafoe`tida, a fetid inspissated sap from an Indian umbelliferous tree, used in medicine.
Asaph, a musician of the temple at Jerusalem.
Asaph, St., a town in Flintshire, 20 m. from Chester; seat of a bishopric.
Asbes`tos, an incombustible mineral of a flax-like fibrous texture, which has been manufactured into cloth, paper, lamp-wick, steam-pipes, gas-stoves, &c.
Asbjörn`sen, a Dane, distinguished as a naturalist, and particularly as a collector of folk-lore, as well as an author of children's stories (1812-1885).
As`bury, Francis, a zealous, assiduous Methodist preacher and missionary, sent to America, was consecrated the first bishop of the newly organised Methodist Church there (1745-1816).
As`calon, one of the five cities of the Philistines, much contested for during the Crusades.
Asca`nius, the son of Æneas, who trotted non passibus æquis ("with unequal steps") by the side of his father as he escaped from burning Troy; was founder of Alba Longa.
As`capart, a giant conquered by Bevis of Southampton, though so huge as to carry Bevis, his wife, and horse under his arm.
Ascension, a bare volcanic island in the Atlantic, rising to nearly 3000 ft., belonging to Britain, 500 m. NW. of St. Helena, and 900 m. from the coast of Africa; a coaling and victualling station for the navy.
Aschaf`fenburg (14), an ancient town of Bavaria, on the Main, 20 m. from Frankfort, with an old castle and cathedral.
Ascham, Roger, a Yorkshireman, Fellow of Cambridge, a good classical, and particularly Greek, scholar; wrote a book on archery, deemed a classic, entitled "Toxophilus," for which Henry VIII. settled a pension on him; was tutor and Latin secretary to Queen Elizabeth, and much esteemed by her; his chief work, the "Schoolmaster," an admirable treatise on education, held in high regard by Dr. Johnson, the sum of which is docendo discas, "learn by teaching" (1515-1560).
Aschersle`ben (22), a manufacturing town in the Magdeburg district of Prussia.
Asclepi`ades, a Bithynian who practised medicine with repute at Rome in Cicero's time, and was great in hygiene.
As`cot, a racecourse in Berks, 6 m. SW. of Windsor, the races at which, instituted by Queen Anne, take place a fortnight after the Derby.
As`gard, the garden or heaven of the Asen or gods in the Norse mythology, in which each had a separate dwelling, and who held intercourse with the other spheres of existence by the bridge Bifröst, i. e. the rainbow.
Asgill, John, an eccentric Englishman, wrote a book to prove that death was due to want of faith, and to express his belief that he would be translated, and translated he was, to spend 30 years, apparently quite happily, writing pamphlets, and end his days in the debtors' prison.
Ash, John, a dissenting divine, author of an English dictionary, valuable for the number of obsolete and provincial words contained in it (1724-1779).
Ash`anti, or Ashantee, a negro inland kingdom in the Upper Soudan, N. of Gold Coast territory, wooded, well watered, and well cultivated; natives intelligent, warlike, and skilful; twice over provoked a war with Great Britain, and finally the despatch of a military expedition, which led to the submission of the king and the appointment of a British Resident.
Ashburnham, John, a member of the Long Parliament, a faithful adherent and attendant of Charles I., and assistant to him in his troubles (1603-1671).
Ashburnham, 5th Earl of, collected a number of valuable MSS. and rare books known as the Ashburnham Collection; d. 1878.
Ashburton, Alexander Baring, Lord, second son of Sir Francis Baring, a Liberal politician, turned Conservative, member of Peel's administration in 1834-35, sent special ambassador to the United States in 1842; concluded the boundary treaty of Washington, known as the Ashburton Treaty; in his retirement "a really good, solid, most cheery, sagacious, simple-hearted old man" (1774-1848).
Ashburton, William Bingham Baring, son of the preceding, "a very worthy man," an admirer, and his wife, Lady Harriet, still more, of Thomas Carlyle (1797-1844).
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, a small market-town 17 m. W. of Leicester, figures in "Ivanhoe," with the ruins of a castle in which Queen Mary was immured.
Ashdod, a maritime Philistine city 20 m. S. of Jaffa, seat of the Dagon worship.
Ashe`ra, an image of Astarte (q. v.), and associated with the worship of that goddess.
Ash`mole, Elias, a celebrated antiquary and authority on heraldry; presented to the University of Oxford a collection of rarities bequeathed to him, which laid the foundation of the Ashmolean Collection there (1617-1692).
Ashmun, Jehudi, an American philanthropist, founder of the Negro Republic of Liberia, on the W. coast of Africa (1794-1828).
Ash`taroth. See Astarte.
Ash`ton-under-Lyne (47), a cotton-manufacturing town near Manchester.
Asia, the largest of the four quarters of the globe, and as good as in touch with the other three; contains one-third of all the land, which, from a centre of high elevations, extensive plains, and deep depressions, stretches southward into three large peninsulas separated by three immense arms of the sea, and eastward into three bulging masses and three pronounced peninsulas forming seas, protected by groups of islands; with rivers the largest in the whole world, of which four flow N., two SE., and eight S.; with a large continental basin, also the largest in the world, and with lakes which though they do not match those of America and Africa, strikingly stand at a higher level as we go E.; with every variety of climate, with a richly varied flora and fauna, with a population of 840,000,000, being the half of that of the globe, of chiefly three races, Caucasian, Mongolian, and Malay, at different stages of civilisation, and as regards religion, by far the majority professing the faith of Brahma, Buddha, Mahomet, or Christ.
Asia Minor, called also Anatole`, a peninsular extension westward of the Armenian and Kurdistan highlands in Asia, bounded on the N. by the Black Sea, on the W. by the Archipelago, and on the S. by the Levant; indented all round, mainland as well as adjoining islands, with bays and harbours, all more or less busy centres of trade; is as large as France, and consists of a plateau with slopes all round to the coasts; has a population of over 28,000,000.
Askew, Anne, a lady of good birth, a victim of persecution in the time of Henry VIII. for denying transubstantiation, tortured on the rack and burnt at the stake, 1546.
Askew, Antony, a physician and classical scholar, a collector of rare and curious books (1722-1774).
Asmode`us, a mischievous demon or goblin of the Jewish demonology, who gloats on the vices and follies of mankind, and figures in Le Sage's "Le Diable Boiteux," or the "Devil on Two Sticks," as lifting off the roofs of the houses of Madrid and exposing their inmost interiors and the secret doings of the inhabitants.
Asmonæ`ans, a name given to the Maccabees, from Asmon, the place of their origin.
Aso`ka, a king of Behar, in India; after his accession in 264 B.C. became an ardent disciple of Buddha; organised Buddhism, as Constantine did Christianity, into a State religion; convened the third great council of the Church of that creed at Patna; made a proclamation of this faith as far as his influence extended, evidence of which is still extant in pillars and rocks inscribed with his edicts in wide districts of Northern India; d. 223 B.C.
Asp, a poisonous Egyptian viper of uncertain species.
Aspa`sia, a woman remarkable for her wit, beauty, and culture, a native of Miletus; being attracted to Athens, came and settled in it; became the wife of Pericles, and her home the rendezvous of all the intellectual and wise people of the city, Socrates included; her character was often both justly and unjustly assailed.
As`pern, a village in Austria, on the Danube, 4 m. NE. of Vienna, where a charge of the Austrians under the Archduke Charles was defeated by Napoleon, May 21, 1809, and Marshal Lannes killed.
Asphalt, a mineral pitch of a black or brownish-black colour, consisting chiefly of carbon; also a limestone impregnated with bitumen, and more or less in every quarter of the globe.
Asphaltic Lake, the Dead Sea (q. v.), so called from the asphalt on its surface and banks.
As`phodel, a lily plant appraised by the Greeks for its almost perennial flowering, and with which they, in their imagination, covered the Elysian fields, called hence the Asphodel Meadow.
Asphyx`ia, suspended respiration in the physical life; a term frequently employed by Carlyle to denote a much more recondite, but a no less real, corresponding phenomenon in the spiritual life.
Aspinwall, a town founded by an American of the name in 1800, at the Atlantic extremity of the Panama railway; named Colon, since the Empress Eugenie presented it with a statue of Columbus.
Aspromon`te, a mountain close by Reggio, overlooking the Strait of Messina, near which Garibaldi was defeated and captured in 1862.
Asquini, Count, a rural economist who did much to promote silk culture in Italy (1726-1818).
Assab Bay, a coaling-station belonging to Italy, on the W. coast of the Red Sea.
Assam` (5,500), a province E. of Bengal, ceded to Britain after the Burmese war in 1826; being an alluvial plain, with ranges of hills along the Brahmapootra, 450 m. long and 50 broad; the low lands extremely fertile and productive, and the hills covered with tea plantations, yielding at one time, if not still, three-fourths of the tea raised in India.
Assarotti, an Italian philanthropist, born at Genoa; the first to open a school for deaf-mutes in Italy, and devoted zealously his fortune and time to the task (1753-1821).
As`sas, Nicolas, captain of the French regiment of Auvergne, whose celebrity depends on a single act of defiance: having entered a wood to reconnoitre it the night before the battle of Kloster Kampen, was suddenly surrounded by the enemy's (the English) soldiers, and defied with bayonets at his breast to utter a cry of alarm; "Ho, Auvergne!" he exclaimed, and fell dead on the instant, pierced with bayonets, to the saving of his countrymen.
Assassins, a fanatical Moslem sect organised in the 11th century, at the time of the Crusades, under a chief called the Old Man of the Mountain, whose stronghold was a rock fortress at Alamut, in Persia, devoted to the assassination of all enemies of the Moslem faith, and so called because they braced their nerves for their deeds of blood by draughts of an intoxicating liquor distilled from hashish (the hemp-plant). A Tartar force burst upon the horde in their stronghold in 1256, and put them wholesale to the sword.
Assaye`, a small town 46 m. NE. of Aurungabad, where Sir Arthur Wellesley gained a victory over the Mahrattas in 1803.
Assegai, a spear or javelin of wood tipped with iron, used by certain S. African tribes with deadly effect in war.
Assembly, General, the chief court of the Presbyterian Church, a representative body, half clergymen and half laymen, which sits in Edinburgh for ten days in May, disposes of the general business of the Church, and determines appeals.
Assembly, National, the Commons section of the States-General of France which met on May 5, 1789, constituted itself into a legislative assembly, and gave a new constitution to the country.
Assembly, Westminster, a body composed of 140 members, of which 117 were clergymen, convened at Westminster to determine questions of doctrine, worship, and discipline in the National Church, and which held its sittings, over 1100 of them, from July 1, 1643, to Feb. 22, 1649, with the result that the members of it were unanimous in regard to doctrine, but were divided in the matter of government.
Assemani, Giuseppe, a learned Syrian Maronite, librarian of the Vatican, wrote an account of Syrian writers (1687-1768); Stephano, nephew, held the same office, wrote "Acta Sanctorum Martyrum" (1707-1782).
Asser, John, monk of St. David's, in Wales, tutor, friend, and biographer of Alfred the Great; is said to have suggested the founding of Oxford University; d. 909.
Assien`to, a treaty with Spain to supply negroes for her colonies, concluded in succession with the Flemings, the Genoese, a French company, the English, and finally the South Sea Company, who relinquished their rights in 1750 on compensation by Spain.
As`signats, bills or notes, to the number of 45 thousand million, issued as currency by the revolutionary government of France in 1790, and based on the security of Church and other lands appropriated by it, and which in course of time sunk in value, to the ruin of millions.
Assiniboi`a, a province in Canada between Saskatchewan and the United States.
Assiniboines, certain aborigines of Canada; the few of whom that remain do farming on the banks of the Saskatchewan.
Assi`si (3), a town in Central Italy, 12 m. SE. of Perugia, the birthplace and burial-place of St. Francis, and the birthplace of Metastasio; it was a celebrated place of resort of pilgrims, who sometimes came in great numbers.
Association of ideas, a connection in the mind between two ideas, such that the consciousness of one tends to recall the other, a fact employed to explain certain recondite psychological phenomena.
Assouan`, the ancient Syene, the southernmost city of Egypt, on the right bank of the Nile, near the last cataract.
Assoucy, D', a French burlesque poet ridiculed by Boileau (1604-1679).
Assumption, Feast of the, festival in honour of the translation of the Virgin Mary to heaven, celebrated on the 15th of August, the alleged day of the event.
Assur, mythical name of the founder of Assyria.
Assyr`ia, an ancient kingdom, the origin and early history of which is uncertain, between the Niphates Mountains of Armenia on the N. and Babylonia on the S., 280 m. long and 150 broad, with a fertile soil and a population at a high stage of civilisation; became a province of Media, which lay to the E., in 606 B.C., and afterwards a satrapy of the Persian empire, and has been under the Turks since 1638, in whose hands it is now a desert.
Assyriology, the study of the monuments of Assyria, chiefly in a Biblical interest.
Astar`te, or Ashtoreth, or Ist`ar, the female divinity of the Phoenicians, as Baal was the male, these two being representative respectively of the conceptive and generative powers of nature, and symbolised, the latter, like Apollo, by the sun, and the former, like Artemis or Diana, by the moon; sometimes identified with Urania and sometimes with Venus; the rites connected with her worship were of a lascivious nature.
Aster, of Amphipolis, an archer who offered his services to Philip of Macedon, boasting of his skill in bringing down birds on the wing, and to whom Philip had replied he would accept them when he made war on the birds. Aster, to be revenged, sped an arrow from the wall of a town Philip was besieging, inscribed, "To the right eye of Philip," which took effect; whereupon Philip sped back another with the words, "When Philip takes the town, Aster will hang for it," and he was true to his word.
As`teroids, or Planetoids, small planets in orbits between those of Mars and Jupiter, surmised in 1596, all discovered in the present century, the first on Jan. 1, 1801, and named Ceres; gradually found to number more than 200.
As`ti (33), an ancient city in Piedmont, on the Tanaro, 26 m. SE. from Turin, with a Gothic cathedral; is noted for its wine; birthplace of Alfieri.
Astley, Philip, a famous equestrian and circus manager, along with Franconi established the Cirque Olympique in Paris (1742-1814).
Astolfo, a knight-errant in mediæval legend who generous-heartedly is always to do greater feats than he can perform; in "Orlando Furioso" he brings back Orlando's lost wits in a phial from the moon, and possesses a horn that with a blast can discomfit armies.
Aston, Luise, German authoress, championed the rights of women, and went about in male attire; b. 1820.
Aston Manor (54), a suburb of Birmingham.
Astor, John Jacob, a millionaire, son of a German peasant, who made a fortune of four millions in America by trading in furs (1763-1848). His son doubled his fortune; known as the "landlord of New York" (1792-1875).
Astor, William Waldorf, son of the preceding, devoted to politics; came to London, 1891; became proprietor of the Pall Mall Gazette and Budget in 1893; b. 1848.
Asto`ria, in Oregon, a fur-trading station, with numerous salmon-tinning establishments.
Astræ`a, the daughter of Zeus and Themis, the goddess of justice; dwelt among men during the Golden Age, but left the earth on its decline, and her sister Pudicitia along with her, the withdrawal explained to mean the vanishing of the ideal from the life of man on the earth; now placed among the stars under the name of Virgo.
Astræa Redux, the name given to an era which piques itself on the return of the reign of justice to the earth.
As`trakhan (43), a Russian trading town on the Volga, 40 m. from its mouth in the Caspian Sea, of which it is the chief port.
Astral body, an ethereal body believed by the theosophists to invest the animal, to correspond to it, and to be capable of Bilocation (q. v.)
Astral spirits, spirits believed to animate or to people the heavenly bodies, to whom worship was paid, and to hover unembodied through space exercising demonic influence on embodied spirits.
Astrology, a science founded on a presumed connection between the heavenly bodies and human destiny as more or less affected by them, a science at one time believed in by men of such intelligence as Tacitus and Kepler, and few great families at one time but had an astrologer attached to them to read the horoscope of any new member of the house.
Astruc, Jean, a French physician and professor of medicine in Paris, now noted as having discovered that the book of Genesis consists of Elohistic and Jehovistic portions, and who by this discovery founded the modern school called of the Higher Criticism (1681-1766).
Astu`rias (579), an ancient province in the N. of Spain, gives title to the heir to the crown, rich in minerals, and with good fisheries; now named Oviedo, from the principal town.
Asty`ages, last king of the Medes; dethroned by Cyrus, 549 B.C.
Asty`anax, the son of Hector and Andromache; was cast down by the Greeks from the ramparts after the fall of Troy, lest he should live and restore the city.
Asun`cion, or Assumption (18), the capital of Paraguay, on the left bank of the Paraguay, so called from having been founded by the Spaniards on the Feast of the Assumption in 1535.
Asuras, The, in the Hindu mythology the demons of the darkness of night, in overcoming whom the gods asserted their sovereignty in the universe.
Asymptote, a line always approaching some curve but never meeting it.
Ataca`ma, an all but rainless desert in the N. of Chile, abounding in silver and copper mines, as well as gold in considerable quantities.
Atahualpa, the last of the Incas of Peru, who fell into Pizarro's hands through perfidy, and was strangled by his orders in 1533, that is, little short of a year after the Spaniards landed in Peru.
Atalan`ta, a beautiful Grecian princess celebrated for her agility, the prize of any suitor who could outstrip her on the racecourse, failure being death; at last one suitor, Hippomenes his name, accepted the risk and started along with her, but as he neared the goal, kept dropping first one golden apple, then another, provided him by Venus, stooping to lift which lost her the race, whereupon Hippomenes claimed the prize.
At`avism, name given to the reappearance in progeny of the features, and even diseases, of ancestors dead generations before.
Atba`ra, or Black River, from the Highlands of Abyssinia, the lowest tributary of the Nile, which it joins near Berber.
Ate`, in the Greek mythology the goddess of strife and mischief, also of vengeance; was banished by her father Zeus, for the annoyance she gave him, from heaven to earth, where she has not been idle since.
Athaba`sca, a province, a river, and a lake in British N. America.
Athalia, the queen of Judah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, celebrated for her crimes and impiety, for which she was in the end massacred by her subjects, 9th century B.C.
Athanasian Creed, a statement, in the form of a confession, of the orthodox creed of the Church as against the Arians, and damnatory of every article of the heresy severally; ascribed to Athanasius at one time, but now believed to be of later date, though embracing his theology in affirmation of the absolute co-equal divinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost in the Trinity.
Athanasius, Christian theologian, a native of Alexandria, and a deacon of the Church; took a prominent part against Arius in the Council at Nice, and was his most uncompromising antagonist; was chosen bishop of Alexandria; driven forth again and again from his bishopric under persecution of the Arians; retired into the Thebaïd for a time; spent the last 10 years of his life as bishop at Alexandria, where he died; his works consist of treatises and orations bearing on the Arian controversy, and in vindication of the doctrine of the Trinity viewed in the most absolute sense (296-373).
Atheism, disbelief in the existence of God, which may be either theoretical, in the intellect, or practical, in the life, the latter the more common and the more fatal form of it.
Atheism, Modern, ascribed by Ruskin to "the unfortunate persistence of the clergy in teaching children what they cannot understand, and in employing young consecrate persons to assert in pulpits what they do not know."
Athelney, Isle of, an island in a marsh near the confluence of the Tone and Parret, Somerset; Alfred's place of refuge from the Danes.
Athe`na, the Greek virgin goddess of wisdom, particularly in the arts, of war as of peace, happily called by Ruskin the "'Queen of the Air,' in the heavens, in the earth, and in the heart"; is said to have been the conception of Metis, to have issued full-armed from the brain of Zeus, and in this way the child of both wisdom and power; wears a helmet, and bears on her left arm the ægis with the Medusa's head; the olive among trees, and the owl among animals, were sacred to her.
Athenæum, a school of learning established in Rome about 133 by Hadrian.
Athenæus, a Greek writer of the 3rd century, wrote a curious miscellany of a book entitled "Deipnosophistæ, or the Suppers of the Learned," extant only in an imperfect state.
Athenag`oras, an able Christian apologist of the 2nd century, was Athenian and a pagan by birth, but being converted to Christianity, wrote an apology in its defence, and a treatise on the resurrection of the dead.
Ath`ens, the capital of Attica, and the chief city of ancient Greece, at once the brain and the heart of it; the resort in ancient times of all the able and wise men, particularly in the domain of literature and art, from all parts of the country and lands beyond; while the monuments of temple and statue that still adorn it give evidence of a culture among the citizens such as the inhabitants of no other city of the world have had the genius to surpass, though the name Athens has been adopted by or applied to several cities, Edinburgh in particular, that have been considered to rival it in this respect, and is the name of over twenty places in the United States. The two chief monuments of the architecture of ancient Athens, both erected on the Acropolis, are the Parthenon (q. v.), dedicated to Athena, the finest building on the finest site in the world, and the Erechtheum, a temple dedicated to Poseidon close by; is the capital (100) of modern Greece, the seat of the government, and the residence of the king.
Athlone (7), a market-town on the Shannon, which divides it, and a chief military station.
Athole, a district in the N. of Perthshire, which gives name to a branch of the Murray family.
Athole-brose, oatmeal, honey, and whisky mixed.
Athole, Sir John James Hugh Stewart-Murray, 7th Duke of, honourably distinguished for having devoted years of his life to editing the records of the family and the related history; b. 1840
A`thos, Mount, or Monte Santo (6), a mountain 6780 ft. high at the southern extremity of the most northerly peninsula of Salonica, in Turkey, covered with monasteries, inhabited exclusively by monks of the Greek Church, and rich in curious manuscripts; the monks devote themselves to gardening, bee-culture, and other rural occupations, the more devout among them at one time celebrated for the edification they derived from the study of their own navels.
Atlanta (65), the largest city in Georgia, U.S.; a large manufacturing and railway centre.
Atlantes, figures of men used in architecture instead of pillars.
Atlantic, The, the most important, best known, most traversed and best provided for traffic of all the oceans on the globe, connecting, rather than separating, the Old World and the New; covers nearly one-fifth of the surface of the earth; length 9000 m., its average breadth 2700 m.; its average depth 15,000 ft., or from 3 to 5 m., with waves in consequence of greater height and volume than those of any other sea.
Atlan`tis, an island alleged by tradition to have existed in the ocean W. of the Pillars of Hercules; Plato has given a beautiful picture of this island, and an account of its fabulous history. The New, a Utopia figured as existing somewhere in the Atlantic, which Lord Bacon began to outline but never finished.
At`las, a Titan who, for his audacity in attempting to dethrone Zeus, was doomed to bear the heavens on his shoulders; although another account makes him a king of Mauritania whom Perseus, for his want of hospitality, changed into a mountain by exposing to view the head of the Medusa.
Atlas Mountains, a range in N. Africa, the highest 11,000 feet, the Greater in Morocco, the Lesser extending besides through Algeria and Tunis, and the whole system extending from Cape Nun, in Morocco, to Cape Bon, in Tunis.
Atman, The, in the Hindu philosophy, the divine spirit in man, conceived of as a small being having its seat in the heart, where it may be felt stirring, travelling whence along the arteries it peers out as a small image in the eye, the pupil; it is centred in the heart of the universe, and appears with dazzling effect in the sun, the heart and eye of the world, and is the same there as in the heart of man.
At`oll, the name, a Polynesian one, given to a coral island consisting of a ring of coral enclosing a lagoon.
Atomic theory, the theory that all compound bodies are made up of elementary in fixed proportions.
Atomic weight, the weight of an atom of any body compared with that of hydrogen, the unit.
Atra`to, a river in Colombia which flows N. into the Gulf of Darien; is navigable for 200 m., proposed, since the failure of the Panama scheme, to be converted, along with San Juan River, into a canal to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific.
A`treus, a son of Pelops and king of Mycenæ, who, to avenge a wrong done him by his brother Thyestes, killed his two sons, and served them up in a banquet to him, for which act, as tradition shows, his descendants had to pay heavy penalties.
Atri`des, descendants of Atreus, particularly Agamemnon and Menelaus, a family frequently referred to as capable of and doomed to perpetrating the most atrocious crimes.
At`ropos, one of the three Fates, the one who cut asunder the thread of life; one of her sisters, Clotho, appointed to spin the thread, and the other, Lachesis, to direct it.
At`talus, the name of three kings of Pergamos: A. I., founded the library of Pergamos and joined the Romans against Philip and the Achæans (241-197 B.C.); A. II., kept up the league with Rome (157-137); A. III., bequeathed his wealth to the Roman people (137-132).
Atterbury, Francis, an English prelate, in succession dean of Christ Church, bishop of Rochester, and dean of Westminster; a zealous Churchman and Jacobite, which last brought him into trouble on the accession of the House of Hanover and led to his banishment; died in Paris. He was a scholarly man, an eloquent preacher, and wrote an eloquent style (1662-1731).
Attic Bee, Sophocles, from the sweetness and beauty of his productions.
Attic faith, inviolable faith, opposed to Punic.
Attic Muse, Xenophon, from the simplicity and elegance of his style.
Attic salt, pointed and delicate wit.
Attic style, a pure, classical, and elegant style.
At`tica, a country in ancient Greece, on the NE. of the Peloponnesus, within an area not larger than that of Lanarkshire, which has nevertheless had a history of world-wide fame and importance.
Atticism, a pure and refined style of expression in any language, originally the purest and most refined style of the ancient literature of Greece.
Atticus, Titus P., a wealthy Roman and a great friend of Cicero's, devoted to study and the society of friends, took no part in politics, died of voluntary starvation rather than endure the torture of a painful and incurable disease (110-33 B.C.).
At`tila, or Etzel, the king of the Huns, surnamed "the Scourge of God," from the terror he everywhere inspired; overran the Roman Empire at the time of its decline, vanquished the emperors of both East and West, extorting heavy tribute; led his forces into Germany and Gaul, was defeated in a great battle near Châlons-sur-Marne by the combined armies of the Romans under Aëtius and the Goths under Theodoric, retreated across the Alps and ravaged the N. of Italy; died of hemorrhage, it is alleged, on the day of his marriage, and was buried in a gold coffin containing immense treasures in 453, the slaves who dug the grave having, it is said, been killed, lest they should reveal the spot.
At`tock (4), a town and fortress in the Punjab, on the Indus where the Kabul joins it—a river beyond which no Hindu must pass; it was built by Akbar in 1581.
Attorney-General, the name given the first law officer and legal adviser of the Crown in England and Ireland.
Attwood, George, a mathematician, invented a machine for illustrating the law of uniformly accelerated motion, as in falling bodies (1745-1807).
Attwood, Thomas, an eminent English musician and composer, wrote a few anthems (1767-1836).
A`tys, a beautiful Phrygian youth, beloved by Cybele, who turned him into a pine, after she had, by her apparition at his marriage to forbid the banns, driven him mad.
Aube (255), a dep. in France, formed of Champagne and a small part of Burgundy, with Troyes for capital.
Au`ber, a popular French composer of operas, born at Caen; his operas included "La Muette de Portici," "Le Domino Noir," "Fra Diavolo," &c. (1782-1871).
Au`bert, The Abbé, a French fabulist, born at Paris (1731-1814).
Aub`rey, John, an eminent antiquary, a friend of Anthony Wood's; inherited estates in Wilts, Hereford, and Wales, all of which he lost by lawsuits and bad management; was intimate with all the literary men of the day; left a vast number of MSS.; published one work, "Miscellanies," being a collection of popular superstitions; preserved a good deal of the gossip of the period (1624-1697).
Aub`riot, a French statesman, born at Dijon, provost of Paris under Charles V.: built the famous Bastille; was imprisoned in it for heresy, but released by a mob; died at Dijon, 1382.
Aubry de Montdidier, French knight murdered by Robert Macaire (q. v.), the sole witness of the crime and the avenger of it being his dog.
Aubusson, a French town on the Creuse, manufactures carpets and tapestry.
Aubusson, Pierre d', grand-master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, of French descent, who in 1480 gallantly defended Rhodes when besieged by Mahomet II., and drove the assailants back, amounting to no fewer than 100,000 men (1423-1503).
Auch (12), capital of the dep. of Gers, France, 14 m. W. of Toulouse, with a splendid cathedral perched on a hill, and accessible only by a flight of 200 steps; has a trade in wine and brandy.
Auchinleck, a village 15 m. E. of Ayr, with the mansion of the Boswell family.
Auchterar`der, a village in Perthshire, where the forcing of a presentee by a patron on an unwilling congregation awoke a large section in the Established Church to a sense of the wrong, and the assertion of the rights of the people and led to the disruption of the community, and the creation of the Free Church in 1843.
Auck`land (60), the largest town in New Zealand, in the N. island, with an excellent harbour in the Gulf of Hauraki, and the capital of a district of the name, 400 m. long, and 200 m. broad, with a fertile soil and a fine climate, rich in natural products of all kinds; was the capital of New Zealand till the seat of government was transferred to Wellington.
Auckland, Bishop (11), a town on the Wear, 10 m. SW. of Durham and in the county of Durham, with the palace of the bishop.
Auckland, George Eden, Lord, son of the following, a Whig in politics, First Lord of the Admiralty, Governor-General of India; gave name to Auckland; returned afterwards to his post in the Admiralty (1784-1849).
Auckland, William Eden, Lord, diplomatist, and an authority on criminal law (1744-1814).
Auckland Islands, a group of small islands 180 m. S. of New Zealand, with some good harbours, and rich in vegetation.
Aude (317), a maritime dep. in the S. of France, being a portion of Languedoc; yields cereals, wine, &c., and is rich in minerals.
Audebert, Jean Baptiste, a French artist and naturalist; devoted himself to the illustration in coloured plates of objects of natural history, such especially as monkeys and humming-birds, all exquisitely done (1759-1800).
Audhumbla, the cow, in the Norse mythology, that nourished Hymir, and lived herself by licking the hoar-frost off the rocks.
Audley, Sir Thomas, Lord, born in Essex, son of a yeoman; became Speaker of the House of Commons and Lord Chancellor of England; the selfish, unscrupulous tool of Henry VIII. (1488-1554).
Au`douin, Jean Victor, an eminent French entomologist; was employed by the French Government to inquire into and report on the diseases of the silkworm, and the insects that destroy the vines (1797-1841).
Audran, Gerard, an engraver, the most eminent of a family of artists, born at Lyons; engraved the works of Lebrun, Mignard, and Poussin; he did some fine illustrations of the battles of Alexander the Great (1640-1703).
Au`dubon, John James, a celebrated American ornithologist of French Huguenot origin; author of two great works, the "Birds of America" and the "Quadrupeds of America," drawn and illustrated by himself, the former characterised by Cuvier as "the most magnificent monument that Art up to that time had raised to Nature" (1780-1851).
Au`enbrugger, an Austrian physician, discoverer of the method of investigating diseases of the chest by percussion (1722-1809).
Au`erbach, Bertholo, a German poet and novelist of Jewish birth, born in the Black Forest; his novels, which have been widely translated, are in the main of a somewhat philosophical bent, he having been early led to the study of Spinoza, and having begun his literary career as editor of his works; his "Village Tales of the Black Forest" were widely popular (1812-1882).
Au`ersperg, Count von, an Austrian lyrical and satirical poet, of liberal politics, and a pronounced enemy of the absolutist party headed by Metternich (1806-1876).
Auf`recht, Theodor, eminent Sanskrit scholar, born in Silesia; was professor of Sanskrit in Edinburgh University; returning to Germany, became professor at Bonn; b. 1822.
Aufklärung, The, or Illuminationism, a movement, conspicuously of the present time, the members of which pique themselves on ability to disperse the darkness of the world, if they could only persuade men to forego reason, and accept sense, common-sense, as the only test of truth, and who profess to settle all questions of reason, that is, of faith, by appeal to private judgment and majorities, or as Dr. Stirling defines it, "that stripping of us naked of all things in heaven and upon earth, at the hands of the modern party of unbelief, and under the guidance of so-called rationalism."
Auge`as, a legendary king of Elis, in Greece, and one of the Argonauts; had a stable with 3000 oxen, that had not been cleaned out for 30 years, but was cleansed by Hercules turning the rivers Peneus and Alpheus through it; the act a symbol of the worthless lumber a reformer must sweep away before his work can begin, the work of reformation proper.
Auger, a French littérateur, born at Paris, renowned as a critic (1772-1829).
Au`gereau, Pierre François Charles, marshal of France and duke of Castiglione, born at Paris; distinguished in the campaigns of the Republic and Napoleon; executed the coup d'état of the 4th Sept. 1797; his services were rejected by Napoleon on his return from Elba, on account of his having supported the Bourbons during his absence. He was simply a soldier, rude and rough-mannered, and with no great brains for anything else but military discipline (1757-1816).
Au`gier, Émile, able French dramatist, produced brilliant comedies for the French stage through a period of 40 years, all distinctly on the side of virtue. His only rivals were Dumas fils and M. Sardou (1820-1889).
Augs`burg (75), a busy manufacturing and trading town on the Lech, in Bavaria, once a city of great importance, where in 1531 the Protestants presented their Confession to Charles V., and where the peace of Augsburg was signed in 1555, ensuring religious freedom.
Augsburg Confession, a document drawn up by Melanchthon in name of the Lutheran reformers, headed by the Elector of Saxony in statement of their own doctrines, and of the doctrines of the Church of Rome, against which they protested.
Augurs, a college of priests in Rome appointed to forecast the future by the behaviour or flight of birds kept for the purpose, and which were sometimes carried about in a coop to consult on emergencies.
August, originally called Sextilis, as the sixth month of the Roman year, which began in March, and named August in honour of Augustus, as being the month identified with remarkable events in his career.
Augusta (33), a prosperous town in Georgia, U.S., on the Savannah, 231 m. from its mouth; also a town (10) the capital of Maine, U.S.
Augustan Age, the time in the history of a nation when its literature is at its best.
Augusti, a German rationalist theologian of note, born near Gotha (1771-1841).
Augustin, or Austin, St., the apostle of England, sent thither with a few monks by Pope Gregory in 596 to convert the country to Christianity; began his labours in Kent; founded the see, or rather archbishopric, of Canterbury; d. 605.
Au`gustine, St., the bishop of Hippo and the greatest of the Latin Fathers of the Church; a native of Tagaste, in Numidia; son of a pagan father and a Christian mother, St. Monica; after a youth of dissipation, was converted to Christ by a text of St. Paul (Rom. xiii. 13, 14), which his eyes first lit upon, as on suggestion of a friend he took up the epistle to read it in answer to an appeal he had made to him to explain a voice that was ever whispering in his ears, "Take and read"; became bishop in 396, devoted himself to pastoral duties, and took an active part in the Church controversies of his age, opposing especially the Manichæans, the Donatists, and the Pelagians; his principal works are his "Confessions," his "City of God," and his treatises on Grace and Free-Will. It is safe to say, no Churchman has ever exercised such influence as he has done in moulding the creed as well as directing the destiny of the Christian Church. He was especially imbued with the theology of St. Paul (354-430).
Augustinians, (a) Canons, called also Black Cenobites, under a less severe discipline than monks, had 200 houses in England and Wales at the Reformation; (b) Friars, mendicant, a portion of them barefooted; (c) Nuns, nurses of the sick.
Augustus, called at first Caius Octavius, ultimately Caius Julius Cæsar Octavianus, the first of the Roman Emperors or Cæsars, grand-nephew of Julius Cæsar, and his heir; joined the Republican party at Cæsar's death, became consul, formed one of a triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus; along with Antony overthrew the Republican party under Brutus and Cassius at Philippi; defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium, and became master of the Roman world; was voted the title of "Augustus" by the Senate in 27 B.C.; proved a wise and beneficent ruler, and patronised the arts and letters, his reign forming a distinguished epoch in the history of the ancient literature of Rome (63 B.C.-A.D. 14).
Augustus, the name of several princes of Saxony and Poland in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Augustus I., Elector of Saxony, a Lutheran prince, whose reign was peaceful comparatively, and he was himself both a good man and a good ruler, a monarch surnamed the "pious" and the "Justinian of Saxony" (1526-1586).
Augustus II., Elector of Saxony and King of Poland; forced himself on Poland; had twice to retire, but was reinstated; is known to history as "The Strong"; "attained the maximum," says Carlyle, "in several things,—of physical strength, could break horse-shoes, nay, half-crowns with finger and thumb; of sumptuosity, no man of his means so regardless of expense; and of bastards, three hundred and fifty-four of them (Marshal Saxe one of the lot); baked the biggest bannock on record, a cake with 5000 eggs and a tun of butter." He was, like many a monarch of the like loose character, a patron of the fine arts, and founded the Dresden Picture Gallery (1670-1733).
Augustus III., son of the preceding; beat Stanislaus Leszcynski in the struggle for the crown of Poland; proved an incompetent king (1696-1763).
Aulic Council, supreme council in the old German Empire, from which there was no appeal, of date from 1495 to 1654; it had no constitution, dealt with judicial matters, and lived and died with the emperor.
Aulis, a port in Boeotia, where the fleet of the Greeks assembled before taking sail for Troy, and where Iphigeneia, to procure a favourable wind, was sacrificed by her father Agamemnon, an event commemorated in the "Iphigeneia in Aulis" of Euripides.
Aumale, Duc d', one of the chiefs of the League, became governor of Paris, which he held against Henry IV., leagued with the Spaniards, was convicted of treason, and having escaped, was burned in effigy; died an exile at Brussels (1556-1631).
Aumale, Duc d', fourth son of Louis Philippe, distinguished himself in Algiers, and was governor of Algeria, which he resigned when his father abdicated; lived in England for twenty years after, acknowledged the Republic, and left his estate and valuables to the French nation (1822-1897).
Aungerville, Richard, or Richard de Bury, tutor to Edward III., bishop of Durham, sent on embassies to various courts, was a lover and collector of books, and left a curious work called "Philobiblon" (1281-1345).
Aunoy, Comtesse d', a French authoress, known and appreciated for her fairy tales (1650-1705).
Aurelia`nus, Lucius Domitius, powerful in physique, and an able Roman emperor; son of a peasant of Pannonia; distinguished as a skilful and successful general; was elected emperor, 270; drove the barbarians out of Italy; vanquished Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, carrying her captive to Rome; subdued a usurper in Gaul, and while on his way to crush a rebellion in Persia was assassinated by his troops (212-275).
Aure`lius, Marcus. See Antoni`nus.
Aure`lius, Victor Sextus, a Roman consul and a Latin historian of the 4th century.
Aureola, a wreath of light represented as encircling the brows of the saints and martyrs.
Aurillac (14), capital of the dep. of Cantal, on the Jourdanne, affluent of the Dordogne, built round the famous abbey of St. Geraud, now in ruins.
Au`rochs, a German wild ox, now extinct.
Auro`ra, the Roman goddess of the dawn, charged with opening for the sun the gates of the East; had a star on her forehead, and rode in a rosy chariot drawn by four white horses. See Eos.
Aurora (19), a city in Illinois, U.S., 35 m. SW. of Chicago, said to have been the first town to light the streets with electricity.
Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, understood to be an electric discharge through the atmosphere connected with magnetic disturbance.
Aurun`gabad` (50), a city in Hyderabad, in the Nizam's dominions; once the capital, now much decayed, with the ruins of a palace of Aurungzebe.
Au`rungzebe, Mogul emperor of Hindustan, third son of Shah Jehan; ascended the throne by the deposition of his father, the murder of two brothers and of the son of one of these; he governed with skill and courage; extended his empire by subduing Golconda, the Carnatic, and Bengal, and though fanatical and intolerant, was a patron of letters; his rule was far-shining, but the empire was rotten at the core, and when he died it crumbled to pieces in the hands of his sons, among whom he beforehand divided it (1615-1707).
Auscultation, discerning by the sound whether there is or is not disease in the interior organs of the body.
Auscultator, name in "Sartor Resartus," the hero as a man qualified for a profession, but as yet only expectant of employment in it.
Ausonia, an ancient name of Italy.
Ausonius, Decimus Magnus, a Roman poet, a native of Gaul, born in Bordeaux; tutor to the Emperor Gratian, who, on coming to the throne, made him prefect of Latium and of Gaul, and consul of Rome. He was a good versifier and stylist, but no poet (300-394).
Austen, Jane, a gifted English novelist, daughter of a clergyman in N. Hampshire; member of a quiet family circle, occupied herself in writing without eye to publication, and only in mature womanhood thought of writing for the press. Her first novel, "Sense and Sensibility," was published in 1811, and was followed by "Pride and Prejudice," her masterpiece, "Persuasion," and others, her interest being throughout in ordinary quiet cultured life, and the delineation of it, which she achieved in an inimitably charming manner. "She showed once for all," says Professor Saintsbury, "the capabilities of the very commonest and most ordinary life, if sufficiently observed and selected, and combined with due art, to furnish forth prose fiction not merely that would pass, but that should be of the absolutely first quality as literature. She is the mother of the English 19th-century novel, as Scott is the father of it" (1775-1816).
Aus`terlitz (3), a town in Moravia, near Brünn, where Napoleon defeated the emperors of Russia and of Austria, at "the battle of the three emperors," Dec. 2, 1805; one of Napoleon's most brilliant victories, and thought so by himself.
Austin (14), the capital of Texas, on the Colorado River, named after Stephen Austin, who was chiefly instrumental in annexing Texas to the States.
Austin, Alfred, poet-laureate in succession to Tennyson, born near Leeds, bred for the bar, but devoted to literature as journalist, writer, and poet; has written "The Golden Age, a Satire," "Savonarola," "English Lyrics," and several works in prose; b. 1835.
Austin, John, a distinguished English jurist, professor of Jurisprudence in London University; mastered the science of law by the study of it in Germany, but being too profound in his philosophy, was unsuccessful as professor; his great work, "The Province of Jurisprudence Determined," and his Lectures, were published by his widow after his death (1790-1859).
Austin, Mrs. J., (née Sarah Taylor), wife of the preceding, executed translations from the German, "Falk's Characteristics of Goethe" for one; was, like her husband, of the utilitarian school; was introduced to Carlyle when he first went up to London; he wrote to his wife of her, "If I 'swear eternal friendship' with any woman here, it will be with her" (1793-1867)
Austin Friars. See Augustinians.
Australasia (i. e. Southern Asia), a name given to Australia, New Zealand, and the islands adjoining.
Australia, a continent entirely within the Southern Hemisphere, about one-fourth smaller than Europe, its utmost length from E. to W. being 2400 m., and breadth 1971; the coast has singularly few inlets, though many and spacious harbours, only one great gulf, Carpentaria, on the N., and one bight, the Great Australian Bight, on the S.; the interior consists of a low desert plateau, depressed in the centre, bordered with ranges of various elevation, between which and the sea is a varying breadth of coast-land; the chief mountain range is in the E., and extends more or less parallel all the way with the E. coast; the rivers are few, and either in flood or dried up, for the climate is very parching, only one river, the Murray, 2345 m. long, of any consequence, while the lakes, which are numerous, are shallow and nearly all salt; the flora is peculiar, the eucalyptus and the acacia the most characteristic, grains, fruits, and edible roots being all imported; the fauna is no less peculiar, including, in the absence of many animals of other countries, the kangaroo, the dingo, and the duck-bill, the useful animals being likewise all imported; of birds, the cassowary and the emu, and smaller ones of great beauty, but songless; minerals abound, both the precious and the useful; the natives are disappearing, the colonists in 1904 numbering close upon 4,000,000; and the territory divided into Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, S. Australia, and W. Australia, which with Tasmania federated in 1900 and became the Commonwealth.
Austrasia, or the East Kingdom, a kingdom on the E. of the possessions of the Franks in Gaul, that existed from 511 to 843, capital of which was Metz; it was celebrated for its rivalry with the kingdom of Neustria, or the Western Kingdom.
Austria, or Austro-Hungary, is a country of every variety of surface and scenery; is inhabited by peoples of different races and nationalities, speaking different languages, as many as 20, and composed of 50 different states, 5 of them kingdoms; occupies the centre of Europe, yet has free communication with the seas on all sides of it; is the third country for size in it; is divided by the Leitha, a tributary of the Danube, into Cis-Leithan on the W. and Trans-Leithan on the E.; has next to no coast-line; its chief seaport, Trieste; is watered by rivers, the Danube in chief, all of which have their mouths in other countries; has three zones of climate with corresponding zones of vegetation; is rich in minerals; is largely pastoral and agricultural, manufacturing chiefly in the W.; the capital Vienna, and the population over 40,000,000.
Austrian lip, a thick under-lip characteristic of the House of Hapsburg.
Auteuil, a village in the dep. of the Seine, now included in Paris.
Authorised Version of the Bible was executed between the years 1604 and 1610 at the instance of James I., so that it is not undeservedly called King James's Bible, and was the work of 47 men selected with marked fairness and discretion, divided into three groups of two sections each, who held their sittings for three years severally at Westminster, Cambridge, and Oxford, the whole being thereafter revised by a committee of six, who met for nine months in Stationers' Hall, London, and received thirty pounds each, the rest being done for nothing. The result was a translation that at length superseded every other, and that has since woven itself into the affectionate regard of the whole English-speaking people. The men who executed it evidently felt something of the inspiration that breathes in the original, and they have produced a version that will remain to all time a monument of the simplicity, dignity, grace, and melody of the English language; its very style has had a nobly educative effect on the national literature, and has contributed more than anything else to prevent it from degenerating into the merely frivolous and formal.
Autochthons, Greek for aborigines.
Auto-da-fé, or Act of Faith, a ceremony held by the court of the Inquisition in Spain, preliminary to the execution of a heretic, in which the condemned, dressed in a hideously fantastic robe, called the San Benito, and a pointed cap, walked in a procession of monks, followed by carts containing coffins with malefactors' bones, to hear a sermon on the true faith, prior to being burned alive; the most famous auto-da-fé took place in Madrid in 1680.
Autol`ycus, in the Greek mythology a son of Hermes (q. v.), and maternal grandfather of Ulysses by his daughter Anticlea; famed for his cunning and robberies; synonym for thief.
Autom`edon, the charioteer of Achilles.
Autonomy (i. e. Self-law), in the Kantian metaphysics denotes the sovereign right of the pure reason to be a law to itself.
Autran`, Joseph, a French poet and dramatist, born at Marseilles; he was of the school of Lamartine, and attained distinction by the production of the tragedy "La Fille d'Eschyle" (1813-1877).
Autun` (15), an ancient city in the dep. of Saône-et-Loire, on the Arroux, 28 m. NW. from Châlons, where Talleyrand was bishop, with a fine cathedral and rich in antiquities; manufactures serges, carpets, velvet, &c.
Auvergne`, an ancient province of France, united to the crown under Louis XIII. in 1610, embracing the deps. of Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal, and part of Haute-Loire, the highlands of which separate the basin of the Loire from that of the Garonne, and contain a hardy and industrious race of people descended from the original inhabitants of Gaul; they speak a strange dialect, and supply all the water-carriers and street-sweepers of Paris.
Auxerre` (15), an ancient city, capital of the dep. of Yonne, 90 m. SE. of Paris; has a fine cathedral in the Flamboyant style; drives a large trade in wine.
Ava, capital of the Burmese empire from 1364 to 1740 and from 1822 to 1835; now in ruins from an earthquake in 1839.
Av`alon, in the Celtic mythology an island of faërie in the region where the sun sinks to rest at eventide, and the final home of the heroes of chivalry when their day's work was ended on earth.
Avars, a tribe of Huns who, driven from their home in the Altai Mts. by the Chinese, invaded the E. of Europe about 553, and committed ravages in it for about three centuries, till they were subdued by Charlemagne, and all but exterminated in 827.
Avatar`, or Descent, the incarnation and incarnated manifestation of a Hindu deity, a theory both characteristic of Vishnuism and marking a new epoch in the religious development of India.
Ave Maria, an invocation to the Virgin, so called as forming the first two words of the salutation of the angel in Luke i. 28.
Avebury, or Abery, a village in Wiltshire, 6 m. W. of Marlborough, in the middle of a so-called Druidical structure consisting of 100 monoliths, surmised to have been erected and arranged in memory of some great victory.
Avelli`no (26), chief town in a province of the name in Campania, 59 m. E. of Naples, famous for its trade in hazel-nuts and chestnuts; manufactures woollens, paper, macaroni, &c.; has been subject to earthquakes.
Aventine Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome, the mount to which the plebs sullenly retired on their refusal to submit to the patrician oligarchy, and from which they were enticed back by Menenius Agrippa by the well-known fable of the members of the body and the stomach.
Aventi`nus, a Bavarian historian, author of the "Chronicon Bavariæ" (Annals of Bavaria), a valuable record of the early history of Germany (1477-1534).
Avenzo`ar, an Arabian physician, the teacher of Averroës (1073-1103).
Avernus, a deep lake in Italy, near Naples, 1½ m. in circumference, occupying the crater of an extinct volcano, at one time surrounded by a dark wood, and conceived, from its gloomy appearance, as well as from the mephitic vapours it exhaled, to be the entrance to the infernal world, and identified with it.
Aver`roës, an Arabian physician and philosopher, a Moor by birth and a native of Cordova; devoted himself to the study and the exposition of Aristotle, earning for himself the title of the "Commentator," though he appears to have coupled with the philosophy of Aristotle the Oriental pantheistic doctrine of emanations (1126-1198).
Aversa (24), an Italian town 8 m. from Naples, amid vineyards and orange groves; much resorted to by the Neapolitans.
Aveyron`, a mountainous dep. in the S. of France, with excellent pastures, where the Roquefort cheese is produced.
Avicen`na, an illustrious Arabian physician, surnamed the prince of physicians, a man of immense learning and extensive practice in his art; of authority in philosophy as well as in medicine, his philosophy being of the school of Aristotle with a mixture of Neoplatonism, his "Canon of Medicine," being the supreme in medical science for centuries (980-1037).
Avie`nus, Rufus Festus, a geographer and Latin poet, or versifier rather, of the 4th century.
Avign`on (37), capital of the dep. of Vaucluse, France; an ancient city beautifully situated on the left bank of the Rhône, near the confluence of the Durance, of various fortune from its foundation by the Phocæans in 539 B.C.; was the seat of the Papacy from 1305 to 1377, purchased by Pope Clement VI. at that period, and belonged to the Papacy from that time till 1797, when it was appropriated to France; it contains a number of interesting buildings, and carries on a large trade in wine, oil, and fruits; grows and manufactures silk in large quantities.
A`vila (10), a town in Spain, in a province of the name, in S. of Old Castile, 3000 ft. above the sea-level, with a Gothic cathedral and a Moorish castle; birthplace of St. Theresa.
Avila, Juan d', a Spanish priest, surnamed the Apostle of Andalusia, for his zeal in planting the Gospel in its mountains; d. 1569.
Avila y Zinuga, a soldier, diplomatist, and historian under Charles V.
Avlo`na (6), or Valona, a port of Albania, on an inlet of the Adriatic.
Av`ola (12), a seaport on the E. coast of Sicily, ruined by an earthquake in 1693, rebuilt since; place of export of the Hybla honey.
A`von, the name of several English rivers, such as Shakespeare's in Warwickshire, of Salisbury in Wiltshire, and of Bristol, rising in Wiltshire.
Avranches` (7), a town in dep. of Manche, Normandy; the place, the spot marked by a stone, where Henry II. received absolution for the murder of Thomas à Becket; lace-making the staple industry, and trade in agricultural products.
Awe, Loch, in the centre of Argyllshire, overshadowed by mountains, 25 m. in length, the second in size of Scottish lakes, studded with islands, one with the ruin of a castle; the scenery gloomily picturesque; its surface is 100 ft. above the sea-level.
Axel, archbishop of Lund; born in Zealand; a Danish patriot with Norse blood; subdued tribes of Wends, and compelled them to adopt Christianity.
Axholme, Isle of, a tract of land in NW. Lincolnshire, 17 m. long and 5 m. broad; once a forest, then a marsh; drained in 1632, and now fertile, producing hemp, flax, rape, &c.
Axim, a trading settlement on the Gold Coast, Africa, belonging to Britain; belonged to Holland till 1871.
Ax`olotl, a batrachian, numerous in Mexico and the Western States, believed to be in its preliminary or tadpole state of existence.
Ax`um, capital of an Ethiopian kingdom in Abyssinia, now in ruins, where Christianity was introduced in the 4th century, and which as the outpost of Christendom fell early before the Mohammedan power.
Ayacu`cho, a thriving town in Peru, founded by Pizarro in 1539, where the Peruvians and Colombians achieved their independence of Spain in 1824, and ended the rule of Spain in the S. American continent.
Aya`la, Pedro Lopez d', a Spanish soldier, statesman, and diplomatist, born in Murcia; wrote a "History of the Kings of Castile," which was more than a chronicle of wars, being also a review of them; and a book of poems entitled the "Rhymes of the Court" (1332-1407).
Aye-aye, a lemur found in the woods of Madagascar.
Ayesha, the daughter of Abubekr, and favourite wife of Mahomet, whom he married soon after the death of Kadijah; as much devoted to Mahomet as he was to her, for he died in her arms. "A woman who distinguished herself by all manner of qualities among the Moslems," who is styled by them the "Mother of the Faithful" (see Kadijah). She was, it is said, the only wife of Mahomet that remained a virgin. On Mahomet's death she opposed the accession of Ali, who defeated her and took her prisoner, but released her on condition that she should not again interfere in State matters (610-677).
Ayles`bury (9), a borough and market-town in Buckinghamshire, 40 m. NW. of London, in an agricultural district; supplies the London market with ducks.
Aylmer, John, tutor to Lady Jane Grey, bishop of London, a highly arbitrary man, and a friend to neither Papist nor Puritan; he is satirised by Spenser in the "Shepherd's Calendar" (1521-1594).
Ayloffe, Sir Joseph, English antiquary, born in Sussex (1708-1781).
Ayma`ras, the chief native race of Peru and Bolivia, from which it would appear sprang the Quinchuas, the dominant people of Peru at the time of the Spanish conquest; attained a high degree of civilisation, and number to-day 500,000.
Aymon, the Count of Dordogne, the father of four sons, Renaud, Guiscard, Alard, and Richard, renowned in the legends of chivalry, and particularly as paladins of Charlemagne.
Ay`mar-Ver`nay, a peasant of Dauphiné, who in the 17th century professed to discover springs and treasures hid in the earth by means of a divining rod.
Ayr (23), the county town of Ayrshire, at the mouth of a river of the same name, a clean, ancient town, its charter, granted by William the Lion, dating from 1200; well built, with elegant villas in the suburbs, a good harbour and docks for shipping; famous in early Scottish history, and doubly so among Scottish towns as the birthplace near it of Robert Burns.
Ayr`er, Jacob, a German dramatist in the 16th century, of the style of Hans Sachs (q. v.).
Ayrshire (226), a large and wealthy county in the W. of Scotland, bordered on the W. by the Firth of Clyde, agricultural and pastoral, with a large coal-field and thriving manufactures; its divisions, Carrick, to the S. of the Doon; Kyle, between the Doon and the Irvine, and Cunningham, on the N.; concerning which there is an old rhyme: "Kyle for a man, Carrick for a coo, Cunningham for butter and cheese, Galloway for 'oo."
Ayton, Sir Robert, a poet of considerable merit, a native of Fife, born at Kinaldie, who made his fortune by a Latin panegyric to King James I. on his accession; was on friendly terms with the eminent literary men of his time, Ben Jonson in particular; his poems are written in pure and even elegant English, some in Latin, and have only recently been collected together (1571-1638).
Aytoun, William Edmondstoune, poet and critic, a native of Edinburgh, professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in Edinburgh University, author of the "Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers"; he was also editor, along with Sir Theodore Martin, of the "Gaultier Ballads," an admirable collection of light verse (1813-1865).
Azeglio, Marchese d', an Italian patriot and statesman, native of Turin; wounded at Vicenza in 1848, fighting for Italian independence; entered the Piedmontese Parliament, was Victor Emanuel's right-hand man, retired in favour of Cavour; he was not altogether engrossed with politics, being an amateur in art (1798-1866).
Azerbijan (2,000), prov. of Armenian Persia, S. of the river Aras, with fertile plains, cattle-breeding, and rich in minerals.
Azores, i. e. Hawk Islands (250), a group of nine volcanic islands in the Atlantic, 800 m. W. of Portugal, and forming a province of it; are in general mountainous; covered with orange groves, of which the chief are St. Michael's and Fayal; and 900 m. W. of it, in the latitude of Lisbon; the climate is mild, and good for pulmonary complaints; they were known to the Carthaginian mariners, but fell out of the map of Europe till rediscovered in 1431.
Azov, Sea of, an opening from the Black Sea, very shallow, and gradually silting up with mud from the Don.
Az`rael, the angel of death according to Rabbinical tradition.
Az`tecs, a civilised race of small stature, of reddish-brown skin, lean, and broad featured, which occupied the Mexican plateau for some centuries before the Spaniards visited it, and were overthrown by the Spaniards in 1520.
Azuni, Dominico Alberto, an Italian jurist, born in Sardinia; president of the Court of Appeal at Genoa; made a special study of maritime law; author of "Droit Maritime de l'Europe" (1729-1827).
Azymites, the name given to a party in the Church who insisted that only unleavened bread should be used in the Eucharist, and the controversy hinged on the question whether the Lord's Supper was instituted before the Passover season was finished, or after, as in the former case the bread must have been unleavened, and in the latter leavened.
Baader, Franz Xavier von, a German philosopher, born at Münich; was patronised by the king of Bavaria, and became professor in Münich, who, revolting alike from the materialism of Hume, which he studied in England, and the transcendentalism of Kant, with its self-sufficiency of the reason, fell back upon the mysticism of Jacob Boehme, and taught in 16 vols. what might rather be called a theosophy than a philosophy, which regarded God in Himself, and God even in life, as incomprehensible realities. He, however, identified himself with the liberal movement in politics, and offended the king (1765-1841).
Ba`al (meaning Lord), pl. Baalim, the principal male divinity of the Canaanites and Phoenicians, identified with the sun as the great quickening and life-sustaining power in nature, the god who presided over the labours of the husbandman and granted the increase; his crowning attribute, strength; worshipped on hill-tops with sacrifices, incense, and dancing. Baal-worship, being that of the Canaanites, was for a time mixed up with the worship of Jehovah in Israel, and at one time threatened to swamp it, but under the zealous preaching of the prophets it was eventually stamped out.
Baal`bek (i. e. City of Baal, or the Sun), an ancient city of Syria, 35 m. NW. of Damascus; called by the Greeks, Heliopolis; once a place of great size, wealth, and splendour; now in ruins, the most conspicuous of which is the Great Temple to Baal, one of the most magnificent ruins of the East, covering an area of four acres.
Baalism, the name given to the worship of natural causes, tending to the obscuration and denial of the worship of God as Spirit.
Baba, Ali, the character in the "Arabian Nights" who discovers and enters the den of the Forty Thieves by the magic password "Sesamë" (q. v.), a word which he accidentally overheard.
Baba, Cape, in Asia Minor, the most western point in Asia, in Anatolia, with a town of the name.
Babbage, Charles, a mathematician, born in Devonshire; studied at Cambridge, and professor there; spent much time and money over the invention of a calculating machine; wrote on "The Economy of Manufactures and Machinery," and an autobiography entitled "Passages from the Life of a Philosopher"; in his later years was famous for his hostility to street organ-grinders (1791-1871).
Babbington, Antony, an English Catholic gentleman; conspired against Elizabeth on behalf of Mary, Queen of Scots, confessed his guilt, and was executed at Tyburn in 1586.
Bab-el-Mandeb (i. e. the Gate of Tears), a strait between Asia and Africa forming the entrance to the Red Sea, so called from the strong currents which rush through it, and often cause wreckage to vessels attempting to pass it.
Baber, the founder of the Mogul empire in Hindustan, a descendant of Tamerlane; thrice invaded India, and became at length master of it in 1526; left memoirs; his dynasty lasted for three centuries.
Babes in the Wood, Irish banditti who infested the Wicklow Mountains in the 18th century, and were guilty of the greatest atrocities. See Children.
Bâbis, a modern Persian sect founded in 1843, their doctrines a mixture of pantheistic with Gnostic and Buddhist beliefs; adverse to polygamy, concubinage, and divorce; insisted on the emancipation of women; have suffered from persecution, but are increasing in numbers.
Baboeuf, François Noel, a violent revolutionary in France, self-styled Gracchus; headed an insurrection against the Directory, "which died in the birth, stifled by the soldiery"; convicted of conspiracy, was guillotined, after attempting to commit suicide (1764-1797).
Baboo, or Babu, name applied to a native Hindu gentleman who has some knowledge of English.
Baboon, Lewis, the name Arbuthnot gives to Louis XIV. in his "History of John Bull."
Ba`brius, or Gabrius, a Greek poet of uncertain date; turned the fables of Æsop and of others into verse, with alterations.
Baby-farming, a system of nursing new-born infants whose parents may wish them out of sight.
Babylon, the capital city of Babylonia, one of the richest and most magnificent cities of the East, the gigantic walls and hanging gardens of which were classed among the seven wonders of the world; was taken, according to tradition, by Cyrus in 538 B.C., by diverting out of their channel the waters of the Euphrates, which flowed through it and by Darius in 519 B.C., through the self-sacrifice of Zophyrus. The name was often metaphorically applied to Rome by the early Christians, and is to-day to great centres of population, such as London, where the overcrowding, the accumulation of material wealth, and the so-called refinements of civilisation, are conceived to have a corrupting effect on the religion and morals of the inhabitants.
Babylo`nia, the name given by the Greeks to that country called in the Old Testament, Shinar, Babel, and "the land of the Chaldees"; it occupied the rich, fertile plain through which the lower waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris flow, now the Turkish province of Irak-Arabi or Bagdad. From very early times it was the seat of a highly developed civilisation introduced by the Sumero-Accadians, who descended on the plain from the mountains in the NW. Semitic tribes subsequently settled among the Accadians and impressed their characteristics on the language and institutions of the country. The 8th century B.C. was marked by a fierce struggle with the northern empire of Assyria, in which Babylonia eventually succumbed and became an Assyrian province. But Nabopolassar in 625 B.C. asserted his independence, and under his son Nebuchadnezzar, Babylonia rose to the zenith of its power. Judah was captive in the country from 599 to 538 B.C. In that year Cyrus conquered it for Persia, and its history became merged in that of Persia.
Babylonish Captivity, the name given to the deportation of Jews from Judea to Babylon after the capture of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon, and which continued for 70 years, till they were allowed to return to their own land by Cyrus, who had conquered Babylon; those who returned were solely of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi.
Bacchanalia, a festival, originally of a loose and riotous character, in honour of Bacchus.
Bacchantes, those who took part in the festival of Bacchus, confined originally to women, and were called by a number of names, such as Mænads, Thyads, &c.; they wore their hair dishevelled and thrown back, and had loose flowing garments.
Bac`chus, son of Zeus and Semele, the god of the vine, and promoter of its culture as well as the civilisation which accompanied it; represented as riding in a car drawn by tame tigers, and carrying a Thyrsus (q. v.); he rendered signal service to Zeus in the war of the gods with the Giants (q. v.). See Dionysus.
Bacchyl`ides, a Greek lyric poet, 5th century B.C., nephew of Simonides and uncle of Eschylus, a rival of Pindar; only a few fragments of his poems extant.
Baccio della Porto. See Bartolomeo, Fra.
Baccio`chi, a Corsican officer, who married Maria Bonaparte, and was created by Napoleon Prince of Lucca (1762-1841).
Bach, Johann Sebastian, one of the greatest of musical composers, born in Eisenach, of a family of Hungarian origin, noted—sixty of them—for musical genius; was in succession a chorister, an organist, a director of concerts, and finally director of music at the School of St. Thomas, Leipzig; his works, from their originality and scientific rigour, difficult of execution (1685-1750).
Bache, A. Dallas, an American physicist, born at Philadelphia, superintended the coast survey (1806-1867).
Bachelor, a name given to one who has achieved the first grade in any discipline.
Bacil`lus (lit. a little rod), a bacterium, distinguished as being twice as long as it is broad, others being more or less rounded. See Bacteria.
Back, Sir George, a devoted Arctic explorer, born at Stockport, entered the navy, was a French captive for five years, associated with Franklin in three polar expeditions, went in search of Sir John Ross, discovered instead and traced the Great Fish River in 1839, was knighted in 1837, and in 1857 made admiral (1796-1878).
Backhuy`sen, Ludolph, a Dutch painter, famous for his sea-pieces and skill in depicting sea-waves; was an etcher as well as painter (1631-1708).
Bacon, Delia, an American authoress, who first broached, though she did not originate, the theory of the Baconian authorship of Shakespeare's works, a theory in favour of which she has received small support (1811-1859).
Bacon, Francis, Lord Verulam, the father of the inductive method of scientific inquiry; born in the Strand, London; son of Sir Nicholas Bacon; educated at Cambridge; called to the bar when 21, after study at Gray's Inn; represented successively Taunton, Liverpool, and Ipswich in Parliament; was a favourite with the queen; attached himself to Essex, but witnessed against him at his trial, which served him little; became at last in succession Attorney-General, Privy Councillor, Lord Keeper, and Lord Chancellor; was convicted of venality as a judge, deposed, fined and imprisoned, but pardoned and released; spent his retirement in his favourite studies; his great works were his "Advancement of Learning," "Novum Organum," and "De Augmentis Scientiarum," but is seen to best advantage by the generality in his "Essays," which are full of practical wisdom and keen observation of life; indeed, these show such shrewdness of wit as to embolden some (see supra) to maintain that the plays named of Shakespeare were written by him (1561-1626).
Bacon, Roger, a Franciscan monk, born at Ilchester, Somerset; a fearless truth-seeker of great scientific attainments; accused of magic, convicted and condemned to imprisonment, from which he was released only to die; suggested several scientific inventions, such as the telescope, the air-pump, the diving-bell, the camera obscura, and gunpowder, and wrote some eighty treatises (1214-1294).
Bacon, Sir Nicholas, the father of Francis, Lord Bacon, Privy Councillor and Keeper of the Great Seal under Queen Elizabeth; a prudent and honourable man and minister, and much honoured and trusted by the queen (1510-1579).
Bacsanyi, Janos, a Hungarian poet; he suffered from his liberal political opinions, like many of his countrymen (1763-1845).
Bacte`ria, exceedingly minute organisms of the simplest structure, being merely cells of varied forms, in the shape of spheres, rods, or intermediate shapes, which develop in infusions of organic matter, and multiply by fission with great rapidity, fraught, as happens, with life or death to the higher forms of being; conspicuous by the part they play in the process of fermentation and in the origin and progress of disease, and to the knowledge of which, and the purpose they serve in nature, so much has been contributed by the labours of M. Pasteur.
Bac`tria, a province of ancient Persia, now Balkh (q. v.), the presumed fatherland of the Aryans and the birthplace of the Zoroastrian religion.
Bactrian Sage, a name given to Zoroaster as a native of Bactria.
Bacup (23), a manufacturing town in Lancashire, about 20 m. NE. of Manchester.
Badajoz` (28), capital of a Spanish province of the name, on the Guadiana, near the frontier of Portugal; a place of great strength; surrendered to Soult in 1811, and taken after a violent and bloody struggle by Wellington in 1812; the scene of fearful outrages after its capture.
Badakans, a Dravidian people of small stature, living on the Nilghiri Mountains, in S. India.
Badakhshan` (100), a Mohammedan territory NE. of Afghanistan, a picturesque hill country, rich in minerals; it is 200 m. from E. to W. and 150 from N. to S.; it has been often visited by travellers, from Marco Polo onwards; the inhabitants, called Badakhshans, are of the Aryan family and speak Persian.
Badalo`na (15), a seaport 5 m. NE. of Barcelona.
Ba`den (4), a town in the canton of Aargau, Switzerland, 14 m. NW. of Zurich, long a fashionable resort for its mineral springs; also a town near Vienna.
Bad`en, The Grand-Duchy of (1,725), a German duchy, extends along the left bank of the Rhine from Constance to Mannheim; consists of valley, mountain, and plain; includes the Black Forest; is rich in timber, minerals, and mineral springs; cotton fabrics, wood-carving, and jewellery employ a great proportion of the inhabitants; there are two university seats, Heidelberg and Freiburg.
Baden-Baden (13), a town in the duchy of Baden, 18 m. from Carlsruhe and 22 from Strassburg, noted for its hot mineral springs, which were known to the Romans, and is a popular summer resort.
Bad`enoch, a forest-covered district of the Highlands of Scotland, 45 m. long by 19 broad, traversed by the Spey, in the SE. of Inverness-shire; belonged originally to the Comyns, but was forfeited by them, was bestowed by Bruce on his nephew; became finally the property of the Earl of Huntly.
Badi`a-y-Lablich, a Spaniard, born at Barcelona; travelled in the East; having acquired a knowledge of Arabic and Arab customs, disguised himself as a Mohammedan under the name of Ali-Bei; his disguise was so complete that he passed for a Mussulman, even in Mecca itself; is believed to be the first Christian admitted to the shrine of Mecca; after a time settled in Paris, and wrote an account of his travels (1766-1818).
Badrinath, a shrine of Vishnu, in N.W. India, 10,000 ft. high; much frequented by pilgrims for the sacred waters near it, which are believed to be potent to cleanse from all pollution.
Baedeker, Karl, a German printer in Coblenz, famed for the guide-books to almost every country of Europe that he published (1801-1859).
Baer, Karl Ernst von, a native of Esthonia; professor of zoology, first in Königsberg and then in St. Petersburg; the greatest of modern embryologists, styled the "father of comparative embryology"; the discoverer of the law, known by his name, that the embryo when developing resembles those of successively higher types (1792-1876).
Baffin, William, an early English Arctic explorer, who, when acting as pilot to an expedition in quest of the N.W. Passage, discovered Baffin Bay (1584-1622).
Baffin Bay, a strait stretching northward between N. America and Greenland, open four months in summer to whale and seal fishing; discovered in 1615 by William Baffin.
Bagdad (185), on the Tigris, 500 m. from its mouth, and connected with the Euphrates by canal; is the capital of a province, and one of the most flourishing cities of Asiatic Turkey; dates, wool, grain, and horses are exported; red and yellow leather, cotton, and silk are manufactured; and the transit trade, though less than formerly, is still considerable. It is a station on the Anglo-Indian telegraph route, and is served by a British-owned fleet of river steamers plying to Basra. Formerly a centre of Arabic culture, it has belonged to Turkey since 1638. An imposing city to look at, it suffers from visitations of cholera and famine.
Bagehot, Walter, an English political economist, born in Somerset, a banker by profession, and an authority on banking and finance; a disciple of Ricardo; wrote, besides other publications, an important work, "The English Constitution"; was editor of the Economist; wrote in a vigorous style (1826-1877).
Bagge`sen, Jens Emmanuel, a Danish poet, travelled a good deal, wrote mostly in German, in which he was quite at home; his chief works, a pastoral epic, "Parthenais oder die Alpenreise," and a mock epic, "Adam and Eve"; his minor pieces are numerous and popular, though from his egotism and irritability he was personally unpopular (1764-1826).
Baghelkand, name of five native states in Central India, Rewah the most prosperous.
Baghe`ria, a town in Sicily, 8 m. from Palermo, where citizens of the latter have more or less stylish villas.
Bagir`mi, a Mohammedan kingdom in Central Africa, SE. of Lake Tehad, 240 m. from N. to S. and 150 m. from E. to W.
Baglio`ni, an Italian fresco-painter of note (1573-1641).
Bagli`vi, Giorgio, an illustrious Italian physician, wrote "De Fibra Motrice" in defence of the "solidist" theory, as it is called, which traced all diseases to alterations in the solid parts of the body (1667-1706).
Bagnères, two French towns on the Pyrenees, well-known watering-places.
Bagnes, name given to convict prisons in France since the abolition of the galleys.
Bagra`tion, Prince, Russian general, distinguished in many engagements; commanded the vanguard at Austerlitz, Eylau, and Friedland, and in 1812, against Napoleon; achieved a brilliant success at Smolensk; fell at Borodino (1765-1812).
Bagstock, Joe, a "self-absorbed" talking character in "Dombey & Son."
Baha`mas, The (47), a group of over 500 low, flat coral islands in the W. Indies, and thousands of rocks, belonging to Britain, of which 20 are inhabited, and on one of which Columbus landed when he discovered America; yield tropical fruits, sponges, turtle, &c.; Nassau the capital.
Bahar (263), a town on the Ganges, 34 m. SE. of Patna; after falling into decay, is again rising in importance.
Bahawalpur (650), a feudatory state in the NW. of India, with a capital of the name; is connected administratively with the Punjab.
Bahi`a, or San Salvador (200), a fine city, one of the chief seaports of Brazil, in the Bay of All Saints, and originally the capital in a province of the name stretching along the middle of the coast.
Bahr, an Arabic word meaning "river," prefixed to the name of many places occupied by Arabs.
Bähr, Felix, classical scholar, burn at Darmstadt; wrote a "History of Roman Literature," in high repute (1798-1872).
Bahrein` Islands (70), a group of islands in the Persian Gulf, under the protection of Britain, belonging to Muscat, the largest 27 m. long and 10 broad, cap. Manamah (20); long famous for their pearl-fisheries, the richest in the world.
Bahr-el-Ghazal, an old Egyptian prov. including the district watered by the tributaries of the Bahr-el-Arab and the Bahr-el-Ghazal; it was wrested from Egypt by the Mahdi, 1884; a district of French Congo lies W. of it, and it was through it Marchand made his way to Fashoda.
Baiæ, a small town near Naples, now in ruins and nearly all submerged; famous as a resort of the old Roman nobility, for its climate and its baths.
Baïf, a French poet one of a group of seven known in French literature as the "Pléiade," whose aim was to accommodate the French language and literature to the models of Greek and Latin.
Baikal, a clear fresh-water lake, in S. of Siberia, 397 m. long and from 13 to 54 wide, in some parts 4500 ft. deep, and at its surface 1560 ft. above the sea-level, the third largest in Asia; on which sledges ply for six or eight months in winter, and steamboats in summer; it abounds in fish, especially sturgeon and salmon; it contains several islands, the largest Olkhin, 32 m. by 10 m.
Baikie, W. Balfour, an Orcadian, born at Kirkwall, surgeon in the Royal Navy; was attached to the Niger Expedition in 1854, and ultimately commanded it, opening the region up and letting light in upon it at the sacrifice of his life; died at Sierra Leone (1825-1864).
Bailey, Nathan, an early English lexicographer, whose dictionary, very popular in its day, was the basis of Johnson's; d. 1742.
Bailey, Philip James, English poet, born in Nottingham; author of "Festus," a work that on its appearance in 1839 was received with enthusiasm, passed through 11 editions in England and 30 in America, was succeeded by "The Angel World," "The Mystic," "The Universal Hymn," and "The Age"; he has been rated by some extravagantly high; b. 1816.
Bailey, Samuel, an English author, born in Sheffield, a liberal-minded man, a utilitarian in philosophy, who wrote on psychology, ethics, and political economy, and left a fortune, acquired in business, to his native town (1787-1870).
Baillie, Joanna, a poetess, born at Bothwell, child of the Presbyterian manse there; joined a brother in London, stayed afterwards with a sister at Hampstead; produced a series of dramas entitled "Plays of the Passions," besides many others, both comedies and tragedies, one of which, the "Family Legend," was acted in the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, under the auspices of Sir Walter Scott; she does not stand high either as a dramatist or a writer (1762-1851).
Baillie, Lady Grizel, an heroic Scotch lady, famous for her songs, "And werena my heart licht I wad dee" is well known (1665-1740).
Baillie, Matthew, physician, brother of Joanna, wrote on Morbid Anatomy (1761-1823).
Baillie, Robert, a Scotch Presbyterian divine, born in Glasgow; resisted Laud's attempt to thrust Episcopacy on the Scotch nation, and became a zealous advocate of the national cause, which he was delegated to represent twice over in London; he was a royalist all the same, and was made principal of Glasgow University; "His Letters and Journals" were published by the Bannatyne Club, and are commended by Carlyle as "veracious," forming, as they do, the subject of one of his critical essays (1599-1662).
Baillie, Robert, a zealous Scotch Presbyterian, tried for complicity in the Rye House Plot, and unfairly condemned to death, and barbarously executed the same day (in 1683) for fear he should die afterwards and cheat the gallows of its victim.
Bailly, Jean Sylvain, an astronomer, born at Paris; wrote the "History of Astronomy, Ancient and Modern," in five volumes; was distracted from further study of the science by the occurrence of the Revolution; elected president of the National Assembly; installed mayor of Paris; lost favour with the people; was imprisoned as an enemy of the popular cause and cruelly guillotined. Exposed beforehand "for hours long, amid curses and bitter frost-rain, 'Bailly, thou tremblest,' said one; 'Mon ami,' said he meekly, 'it is for cold.' Crueller end," says Carlyle, "had no mortal."
Baily, E. H., a sculptor, born in Bristol, studied under Flaxman; his most popular works were, "Eve Listening to the Voice," "The Sleeping Girl," and the "Graces Seated" (1788-1867).
Bain, Alexander, born at Aberdeen, professor of Logic in the university, and twice Lord Rector, where he was much esteemed by and exercised a great influence over his pupils; his chief works, "The Senses and the Intellect," "The Emotions and the Will," and "Mental and Moral Science"; has written on composition in a very uninteresting style; his psychology, which he connected with physiology, was based on empiricism and the inductive method, to the utter exclusion of all a priori or transcendental speculation, such as hails from Kant and his school; he is of the school of John Stuart Mill, who endorsed his philosophy; b. 1818.
Bairam, a Mohammedan festival of three days at the conclusion of the Ramadan, followed by another of four days, seventy days later, called the Second Bairam, in commemoration of the offering up of Isaac, and accompanied with sacrifices.
Baird, James, ironmaster, founder of the Baird Lectureship, in vindication of Scotch orthodoxy; bequeathed £500,000 to support churches (1802-1876).
Baird, Sir David, a distinguished English general of Scotch descent, born at Newbyth, Aberdeenshire; entered the army at 15; served in India, Egypt, and at the Cape; was present at the taking of Seringapatam, and the siege of Pondicherry; in command when the Cape of Good Hope was wrested from the Dutch, and on the fall of Sir John Moore at Corunna, wounded; he afterwards retired (1757-1829).
Baird, S. Fullerton, an American naturalist, wrote, along with others, on the birds and mammals of N. America, as well as contributed to fish-culture and fisheries (1823-1887).
Bai`reuth (24), the capital of Upper Franconia, in Bavaria, with a large theatre erected by the king for the performance of Wagner's musical compositions, and with a monument, simple but massive, as was fit, to the memory of Jean Paul, who died there.
Baireuth, Wilhelmina, Margravine of, sister of Frederick the Great, left "Memoirs" of her time (1709-1758).
Bajazet` I., sultan of the Ottoman Turks, surnamed Ilderim, i. e. Lightning, from the energy and rapidity of his movements; aimed at Constantinople, pushed everything before him in his advance on Europe, but was met and defeated on the plain of Angora by Tamerlane, who is said to have shut him in a cage and carried him about with him in his train till the day of his death (1347-1403).
Ba`jus, Michael, deputy from the University of Louvain to the Council of Trent, where he incurred much obloquy at the hands of the Jesuits by his insistence of the doctrines of Augustine, as the Jansenists did after him (1513-1580).
Baker, Mount, a volcano in the Cascade range, 11,000 ft.; still subject to eruptions.
Baker, Sir Richard, a country gentleman, born in Kent, often referred to by Sir Roger de Coverley; author of "The Chronicle of the Kings of England," which he wrote in the Fleet prison, where he died (1603-1645).
Baker, Sir Samuel White, a man of enterprise and travel, born in London; discovered the Albert Nyanza; commanded an expedition under the Khedive into the Soudan; wrote an account of it in a book, "Ismailia"; visited Cyprus and travelled over India; left a record of his travels in five volumes with different titles (1821-1893).
Bakshish, a word used all over the East to denote a small fee for some small service rendered.
Baku (107), a Russian port on the Caspian Sea, in a district so impregnated and saturated in parts with petroleum that by digging in the soil wells are formed, in some cases so gushing as to overflow in streams, which wells, reckoned by hundreds, are connected by pipes with refineries in the town; a district which, from the spontaneous ignition of the petroleum, was long ago a centre of attraction to the Parsees or fire-worshippers of the East, and resorted to by them as holy ground.
Baku`nin, Michael, an extreme and violent anarchist, and a leader of the movement; native of Moscow; was banished to Siberia, but escaped; joined the International, but was expelled (1814-1876).
Bala, the county town of Merioneth, in Wales. Bala Lake, the largest lake in Wales, 4 m. long, and with a depth of 100 ft.
Ba`laam, a Midianitish soothsayer; for the account of him see Num. xxii.-xxiv., and Carlyle's , essay on the "Corn-Law Rhymes" for its application to modern State councillors of the same time-serving type, and their probable fate.
Balacla`va, a small port 6 m. SE. of Sebastopol, with a large land-locked basin; the head-quarters of the British during the Crimean war, and famous in the war, among other events, for the "Charge of the Six Hundred."
Balance of power, preservation of the equilibrium existing among the States of Europe as a security of peace, for long an important consideration with European statesmen.
Balance of trade, the difference in value between the exports and the imports of a country, and said to be in favour of the country whose exports exceed in value the imports in that respect.
Balanoglos`sus, a worm-like marine animal, regarded by the zoologist as a possible connecting link between invertebrates and vertebrates.
Balata, a vegetable gum used as a substitute for gutta-percha, being at once ductile and elastic; goes under the name of bully.
Bal`aton, Lake, the largest lake in Hungary, 48 m. long, and 10 m. broad, 56 m. SW. of Pesth; slightly saline, and abounds in fish.
Balbi, Adriano, a geographer of Italian descent, born at Venice, who composed in French a number of works bearing on geography (1782-1848).
Balbo, Cæsare, an Italian statesmen and publicist, born at Turin; devoted his later years to literature; wrote a life of Dante; works in advocacy of Italian independence (1789-1853).
Balbo`a. Vasco Nuñez de, a Castilian noble, established a settlement at Darien; discovered the Pacific; took possession of territory in the name of Spain; put to death by a new governor, from jealousy of the glory he had acquired and the consequent influence in the State (1475-1517).
Baldachino, a tent-like covering or canopy over portals, altars, or thrones, either supported on columns, suspended from the roof, or projecting from the wall.
Bald`er, the sun-god of the Norse mythology, "the beautiful, the wise, the benignant," who is fated to die, and dies, in spite of, and to the grief of, all the gods of the pantheon, a pathetic symbol conceived in the Norse imagination of how all things in heaven, as on earth, are subject in the long-run to mortality.
Balderstone, Caleb, the faithful old domestic in Scott's "Bride of Lammermoor," the family he serves his pride.
Baldrick, an ornamental belt worn hanging over the shoulder, across the body diagonally, with a sword, dagger, or horn suspended from it.
Baldung, Hans, or Hans Grün, a German artist, born in Suabia; a friend of Dürer's; his greatest work, a masterpiece, a painting of the "Crucifixion," now in Freiburg Cathedral (1300-1347).
Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury; crowned Richard Coeur de Lion; accompanied him on the crusade; died at Acre in 1191.
Baldwin, the name of several counts of Flanders, eight in all.
Baldwin I., king of Jerusalem; succeeded his brother Godfrey de Bouillon; assuming said title, made himself master of most of the towns on the coast of Syria; contracted a disease in Egypt; returned to Jerusalem, and was buried on Mount Calvary; there were five of this name and title, the last of whom, a child of some eight years old, died in 1186 (1058-1118).
Baldwin I., the first Latin emperor of Constantinople; by birth, count of Hainault and Flanders; joined the fourth crusade, led the van in the capture of Constantinople, and was made emperor; was defeated and taken prisoner by the Bulgarians (1171-1206). B. II., nephew of Baldwin I., last king of the Latin dynasty, which lasted only 57 years (1217-1273).
Bale, John, bishop of Ossory, in Ireland; born in Suffolk; a convert from Popery, and supported by Cromwell; was made bishop by Edward VI.; persecuted out of the country as an apostate from Popery; author of a valuable account of early British writers (1495-1563).
Balearic Isles (312), a group of five islands off the coast of Valencia, in Spain, Majorca the largest; inhabitants in ancient times famous as expert slingers, having been one and all systematically trained to the use of the sling from early childhood; cap. Palma (58).
Balfe, Michael William, a musical composer, of Irish birth, born near Wexford; author of "The Bohemian Girl," his masterpiece, and world-famous (1808-1870).
Balfour, A. J., of Whittinghame, East Lothian; educated at Eton and Cambridge; nephew of Lord Salisbury, and First Lord of the Treasury and leader of the House of Commons in Lord Salisbury's ministry; author of a "Defence of Philosophic Doubt" and a volume of "Essays and Addresses"; b. 1848.
Balfour, Francis Maitland, brother of the preceding; a promising biologist; career was cut short by death in attempting to ascend the Wetterhorn (1851-1882).
Balfour, Sir James, Lord President of the Court of Session; native of Fife; an unprincipled man, sided now with this party, now with the opposite, to his own advantage, and that at the most critical period in Scottish history; d. 1583.
Balfour of Burley, leader of the Covenanters in Scott's "Old Mortality."
Bali, one of the Samoa Islands, 75 m. long by 40 m. broad; produces cotton, coffee, and tobacco.
Baliol, Edward, son of the following, invaded Scotland; was crowned king at Scone, supported by Edward III.; was driven from the kingdom, and obliged to renounce all claim to the crown, on receipt of a pension; died at Doncaster, 1369.
Baliol, John de, son of the following; laid claim to the Scottish crown on the death of the Maid of Norway in 1290; was supported by Edward I., and did homage to him for his kingdom, but rebelled, and was forced publicly to resign the crown; died in 1314 in Normandy, after spending some three years in the Tower; satirised by the Scotch, in their stinging humorous style, as King Toom Tabard, i. e. Empty King Cloak.
Baliol, Sir John de, of Norman descent; a guardian to the heir to the Scottish crown on the death of Alexander III.; founder of Baliol College, Oxford; d. 1269.
Balize, or Belize, the capital of British Honduras, in Central America; trade in mahogany, rosewood, &c.
Balkan Peninsula, the territory between the Adriatic and the Ægean Sea, bounded on the N. by the Save and the Lower Danube, and on the S. by Greece.
Balkans, The, a mountain range extending from the Adriatic to the Black Sea; properly the range dividing Bulgaria from Roumania; mean height, 6500 ft.
Balkash, Lake, a lake in Siberia, 780 ft. above sea-level, the waters clear, but intensely salt, 150 m. long and 73 m. broad.
Balkh, anciently called Bactria, a district of Afghan Turkestan lying between the Oxus and the Hindu-Kush, 250 m. long and 120 m. broad, with a capital of the same name, reduced now to a village; birthplace of Zoroaster.
Ball, John, a priest who had been excommunicated for denouncing the abuses of the Church; a ringleader in the Wat Tyler rebellion; captured and executed.
Ball, Sir R. S., mathematician and astronomer, born in Dublin; Astronomer-Royal for Ireland; author of works on astronomy and mechanics, the best known of a popular kind on the former science being "The Story of the Heavens"; b. 1840.
Ballad, a story in verse, composed with spirit, generally of patriotic interest, and sung originally to the harp.
Ballanche, Pierre Simon, a mystic writer, born at Lyons, his chief work "la Palingénésie Sociale," his aim being the regeneration of society (1814-1847).
Ballantine, James, glass-stainer and poet, born in Edinburgh (1808-1877).
Ballantine, Serjeant, distinguished counsel in celebrated criminal cases (1812-1887).
Ball`antyne, James, a native of Kelso, became a printer in Edinburgh, printed all Sir Walter Scott's works; failed in business, a failure in which Scott was seriously implicated (1772-1833).
Ballantyne, John, brother of preceding, a confidant of Sir Walter's in the matter of the anonymity of the Waverley Novels; an inimitable story-teller and mimic, very much to the delight of Sir Walter (1774-1821).
Ballarat` (40), a town in Victoria, and since 1851 the second city in the province, about 100 m. NW. of Melbourne; the centre of the chief gold-fields in the colony, the precious metal being at first washed out of the soil, and now crushed out of the quartz rocks and dug out of deep mines; it is the seat of both a Roman Catholic and a Church of England bishopric.
Ball`ater, a clean Aberdeenshire village on the Dee, a favourite summer resort, stands 668 ft. above sea-level.
Balmat, Jacques, of Chamounix, a celebrated Alpine guide (1796-1834).
Balmawhapple, a prejudiced Scotch clergyman in "Waverley."
Bal`mez, an able Spanish Journalist, author of "Protestantism and Catholicism compared in their Effects on the Civilisation of Europe" (1810-1848).
Balmor`al, a castle on the upper valley of the Dee, at the foot of Braemar, 52½ m. from Aberdeen, 9 m. from Ballater; the Highland residence of Queen Victoria, on a site which took the fancy of both the Queen and the Prince Consort on their first visit to the Highlands.
Balmung, the sharp-cutting sword of Siegfried, so sharp that a smith cut in two by it did not know he was so cut till he began to move, when he fell in pieces.
Balnaves, Henry, coadjutor of John Knox in the Scottish Reformation, and a fellow-sufferer with him in imprisonment and exile; afterwards contributed towards formulating the creed of the Scotch Church; born at Kirkcaldy, and educated in Germany; d. 1579.
Balsall, a thriving suburb of Birmingham, engaged in hardware manufacture.
Baltic Provinces, Russian provinces bordering on the Baltic.
Baltic Sea, an inland sea in the N. of Europe, 900 m. long and from 100 to 200 m. broad, about the size of England and Wales; comparatively shallow; has no tides; waters fresher than those of the ocean, owing to the number of rivers that flow into it and the slight evaporation that goes on at the latitude; the navigation of it is practically closed from the middle of December to April, owing to the inlets being blocked with ice.
Baltimore (550), the metropolis of Maryland, on an arm of Chesapeake Bay, 250 m. from the Atlantic; is picturesquely situated; not quite so regular in design as most American cities, but noted for its fine architecture and its public monuments. It is the seat of the John Hopkins University. The industries are varied and extensive, including textiles, flour, tobacco, iron, and steel. The staple trade is in bread-stuffs; the exports, grain, flour, and tobacco.
Balue, Cardinal, minister of Louis XI.; imprisoned, for having conspired with Charles the Rash, by Louis in an iron cage for eleven years (1421-1491).
Baluchistan, a country lying to the S. of Afghanistan and extending to the Persian Gulf. See Beluchistan.
Balzac, Honoré de, native of Tours, in France; one of the most brilliant as well as prolific novelwriters of modern times; his productions remarkable for their sense of reality; they show power of observation, warmth and fertility of imagination, and subtle and profound delineation of human passion, his design in producing them being to make them form part of one great work, the "Comédie Humaine," the whole being a minute dissection of the different classes of society (1799-1850).
Balzac, Jean Louis Guez de, born at Angoulême, a French littérateur and gentleman of rank, who devoted his life to the refinement of the French language, and contributed by his "Letters" to the classic form it assumed under Louis XIV.; "he deliberately wrote," says Prof. Saintsbury, "for the sake of writing, and not because he had anything particular to say," but in this way did much to improve the language; d. 1685.
Bambar`ra (2,000), a Soudan state on the banks of the Upper Niger, opened up to trade; the soil fertile; yields grain, dates, cotton, and palm-oil; the natives are negroes of the Mohammedan faith, and are good husbandmen.
Bamberg (35), a manufacturing town in Upper Franconia, Bavaria; once the centre of an independent bishopric; with a cathedral, a magnificent edifice, containing the tomb of its founder, the Emperor Henry II.
Bambino, a figure of the infant Christ wrapped in swaddling bands, the infant in pictures surrounded by a halo and angels.
Bamborough Castle, an ancient fortress E. of Belford, on the coast of Northumberland, now an alms-house.
Bambouk (800), a fertile but unhealthy negro territory, with mineral wealth and deposits of gold, W. of Bambarra.
Bamian`, a high-lying valley in Afghanistan, 8500 ft. above sea-level; out of the rocks on its N. side, full of caves, are hewn huge figures of Buddha, one of them 173 ft. high, all of ancient date.
Bampton Lectures, annual lectures on Christian subjects, eight in number, for the endowment of which John Bampton, canon of Salisbury, left property which yields a revenue worth £200 a year.
Banbury, a market-town in Oxfordshire, celebrated for its cross and its cakes.
Banca (80), an island in the Eastern Archipelago, belonging to the Dutch, with an unhealthy climate; rich in tin, worked by Chinese.
Bancroft, George, an American statesman, diplomatist, and historian, born in Massachusetts; his chief work "The History of the United States," issued finally in six vols., and a faithful account (1800-1891).
Bancroft, Hubert, an American historian, author of a "History of the Pacific States of N. America"; b. 1832.
Bancroft, Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, a zealous Churchman and an enemy of the Puritans; represented the Church at the Hampton Court Conference, and was chief overseer of the Authorised Version of the Bible (1554-1610).
Bancroft, Sir Squire, English actor, born in London, made his first appearance in Birmingham in 1861; married Mrs. Wilton, an actress; opened with her the Haymarket Theatre in 1880; retired in 1885, at which time both retired, and have appeared since only occasionally.
Banda Isles, a group of the Moluccas, some twelve in number, belonging to Holland; yield nutmegs and mace; are subject to earthquakes.
Banda Oriental, See Uruguay.
Bandello, an Italian Dominican monk, a writer of tales, some of which furnished themes and incidents for Shakespeare, Massinger, and other dramatists of their time (1480-1562).
Bandie`ra, brothers, born in Venice; martyrs, in 1844, to the cause of Italian independence.
Bandinelli, a Florentine sculptor, tried hard to rival Michael Angelo and Cellini; his work "Hercules and Cacus" is the most ambitious of his productions; did a "Descent from the Cross" in bas-relief, in Milan Cathedral (1487-1559).
Banff (7), county town of Banffshire, on the Moray Firth, at the mouth of the Deveron; the county itself (64) stretches level along the coast, though mountainous on the S. and SE.; fishing and agriculture the great industries.
Banffy, Baron, Premier of Hungary, born at Klausenburg; became in 1874 provincial prefect of Transylvania; was elected a peer on the formation of the Upper Hungarian Chamber, and was made Premier in 1893; he is a strong Liberal; b. 1841.
Banga, the Hindu name for the Delta of the Ganges.
Ban`galore (180), the largest town in Mysore, and the capital; stands high; is manufacturing and trading.
Banghis, a low-caste people in the Ganges valley.
Bangk`ok (500), the capital of Siam, on the Menam; a very striking city; styled, from the canals which intersect it, the "Venice of the East"; 20 m. from the sea; the centre of the foreign trade, carried on by Europeans and Chinese; with the royal palace standing on an island, in the courtyard of which several white elephants are kept.
Bangor (9), an episcopal city in Carnarvon, N. Wales, with large slate quarries; a place of summer resort, from the beauty of its surroundings.
Bangorian Controversy, a controversy in the Church of England provoked by a sermon which Hoadley, bishop of Bangor, preached before George I. in 1717, which offended the sticklers for ecclesiastical authority.
Bangweo`lo, a lake in Equatorial Africa, discovered by Livingstone, and on the shore of which he died; 150 m. long, and half as wide; 3690 ft. above sea-level.
Banian days, days when no meat is served out to ships' crews.
Banjari, a non-Aryan race in Central India, the carriers and caravan-conductors of the region.
Banim, John, Irish author, a native of Kilkenny, novelist of Irish peasant life on its dark side, who, along with his brother Michael, wrote 24 vols. of Irish stories, &c.; his health giving way, he fell into poverty, but was rescued by a public subscription and a pension; Michael survived him 32 years (1798-1842).
Banks, Sir Joseph, a zealous naturalist, particularly in botany; a collector, in lands far and wide, of specimens in natural history; left his collection and a valuable library and herbarium to the British Museum; president of the Royal Society for 41 years (1744-1820).
Banks, Thomas, an eminent English sculptor, born at Lambeth; first appreciated by the Empress Catharine; his finest works, "Psyche" and "Achilles Enraged," now in the entrance-hall of Burlington House; he excelled in imaginative art (1735-1805).
Bannatyne Club, a club founded by Sir Walter Scott to print rare works of Scottish interest, whether in history, poetry, or general literature, of which it printed 116, all deemed of value, a complete set having been sold for £235; dissolved in 1861.
Ban`nockburn (2), a manufacturing village 3 m. SE. of Stirling, the scene of the victory, on June 24, 1314, of Robert the Bruce over Edward II., which reasserted and secured Scottish independence; it manufactures carpets and tartans.
Ban`shee, among the Irish, and in some parts of the Highlands and Brittany, a fairy, believed to be attached to a family, who gave warnings by wailings of an approaching death in it, and kept guard over it.
Bantam, a chief town in Java, abandoned as unhealthy by the Dutch; whence the Bantam fowl is thought to have come.
Banting System, a dietary for keeping down fat, recommended by a Mr. Banting, a London merchant, in a "Letter on Corpulence" in 1863; he recommended lean meat, and the avoidance of sugar and starchy foods.
Bantry Bay, a deep inlet on the SW. coast of Ireland; a place of shelter for ships.
Bantu, the name of most of the races, with their languages, that occupy Africa from 6° N. lat. to 20° S.; are negroid rather than negro, being in several respects superior; the name, however, suggests rather a linguistic than an ethnological distinction, the language differing radically from all other known forms of speech—the inflection, for one thing, chiefly initial, not final.
Banville, Theodore de, a French poet, born at Moulins; well characterised as "Roi des Rimes," for with him form was everything, and the matter comparatively insignificant, though, there are touches here and there of both fine feeling and sharp wit (1823-1891).
Banyan, the Indian fig; a tree whose branches, bending to the ground, take root and form new stocks, till they cover a large area and become a forest.
Ba`obab, a large African tropical tree, remarkable for the girth of its trunk, the thickness of its branches, and their expansion; its leaves and seeds are used in medicine.
Baphomet, a mysterious image, presumed represent Mahomet, which the Templars were accused of worshipping, but which they may rather be surmised to have invoked to curse them if they failed in their vow; Carlyle refers to this cult in "Sartor," end of Bk. II. chapter vii., where he speaks of the "Baphometic fire-baptism" of his hero, under which all the spectres that haunted him withered up.
Baptism, the Christian rite of initiation into the membership of the Church, identified by St. Paul (Rom. vi. 4) with that No to the world which precedes or rather accompanies Yea to God, but a misunderstanding of the nature of which has led to endless diversity, debate, and alienation all over the Churches of Christendom.
Baptiste, Jean, a name given to the French Canadians.
Baptistry, a circular building, sometimes detached from a church, in which the rite of baptism is administered; the most remarkable, that of Pisa.
Baptists, a denomination of Christians, sometimes called Anabaptists to distinguish them from Pædobaptists, who, however they may and do differ on other matters, insist that the rite of initiation is duly administered only by immersion, and to those who are of age to make an intelligent profession of faith; they are a numerous body, particularly in America, and more so in England than in Scotland, and have included in their membership a number of eminent men.
Baptismal Regeneration, the High Church doctrine that the power of spiritual life, forfeited by the Fall, is bestowed on the soul in the sacrament of baptism duly administered.
Baraguay d'Hilliers`, Achille, a French marshal who fought under Napoleon at Quatre-Bras; distinguished himself under Louis Philippe in Algeria, as well as under Louis Napoleon; presided at the trial of Marshal Bazaine (1795-1878).
Barataria, the imaginary island of which Sancho Panza was formally installed governor, and where in most comical situations he learned how imaginary is the authority of a king, how, instead of governing his subjects, his subjects govern him.
Barbacan, or Barbican, a fortification to a castle outside the walls, generally at the end of the drawbridge in front of the gate.
Barba`does (182), one of the Windward Islands, rather larger than the Isle of Wight; almost encircled by coral reefs; is the most densely peopled of the Windward Islands; subject to hurricanes; healthy and well cultivated; it yields sugar, arrowroot, ginger, and aloes.
Barbara, St., a Christian martyr of the 3rd century; beheaded by her own father, a fanatical heathen, who was immediately after the act struck dead by lightning; she is the patron saint of those who might otherwise die impenitent, and of Mantua; her attributes are a tower, a sword, and a crown. Festival, Dec. 4.
Barbarians, originally those who could not speak Greek, and ultimately synonymous with the uncivilised and people without culture, particularly literary; this is the sense in which Matthew Arnold uses it.
Barbarossa, the surname of Frederick I., emperor of Germany, of whom there is this tradition, that "he is not yet dead; but only sleeping, till the bad world reach its worst, when he will reappear. He sits within a cavern near Saltzburg, at a marble table, leaning on his elbow; winking, only half-asleep, as a peasant once tumbling into the interior saw him; beard had grown through the table, and streamed out on the floor. He looked at the peasant one moment, asked something about the time it was; then drooped his eyelids again: 'Not yet time, but will be soon.'"
Barbarossa (i. e. Red-beard), Horuk, a native of Mitylene; turned corsair; became sovereign of Algiers by the murder of Selim the emir, who had adopted him as an ally against Spain; was defeated twice by the Spanish general Gomarez and slain (1473-1518).
Barbarossa, Khair-Eddin, brother and successor of the preceding; became viceroy of the Porte, made admiral under the sultan, opposed Andrea Doria, ravaged the coast of Italy, and joined the French against Spain; died at Constantinople in 1546.
Barbaroux, Charles, advocate, born at Marseilles, of which he became town-clerk; came to Paris "a young Spartan," and became chief of the Girondins in the French Revolution; represented Marseilles in the Constituent Assembly and the Convention; joined the Rolands; sent "fire-eyed" message to Marseilles for six hundred men "who knew how to die"; held out against Marat and Robespierre; declared an enemy of the people, had to flee; mistook a company approaching for Jacobins, drew his pistol and shot himself, but the shot miscarried; was captured and guillotined (1767-1794).
Barbary ape, a tailless monkey of gregarious habits, native of the mountainous parts of Barbary, and of which there is a colony on the Rock of Gibraltar, the only one in Europe.
Barbary States, the four states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli, so called from the Berbers who inhabit the region.
Barbauld, Anna Lætitia, née Aiken, an English popular and accomplished authoress, wrote "Hymns in Prose for Children," "Evenings at Home," in which she was assisted by a brother, &c. (1743-1825).
Barbazan, a French general under Charles VI. and VII., who deservedly earned for himself the name of the Irreproachable Knight; d. 1432.
Bar`becue, a feast in the open air on a large scale, at which the animals are roasted and dressed whole, formerly common in the SW. States of N. America.
Barberi`ni, an illustrious and influential Florentine family, several of the members of which were cardinals, and one made pope in 1623 under the name Urban VIII.
Barberton, a mining town and important centre in the Transvaal, 180 m. E. of Pretoria.
Barbès, Armand, a French politician, surnamed the Bayard of Democracy; imprisoned in 1848, liberated in 1854; expatriated himself voluntarily; died at the Hague (1809-1870).
Barbier, Antoine Alex., a French bibliographer, author of a "Dictionary of Anonymous and Pseudonymous Works" (1765-1825).
Barbier, Ed. Fr., jurisconsult of the parliament, born in Paris; author of a journal, historical and anecdotical, of the time of Louis XV. (1689-1771).
Barbier, Henry, a French satirical poet, born in Paris; wrote vigorous political verses; author of "Iambics" (1805-1882).
Barbour, John, a Scotch poet and chronicler, archdeacon of Aberdeen, a man of learning and sagacity; his only extant work a poem entitled "The Bruce," being a long history in rhyme of the life and achievements of Robert the Bruce, a work consisting of 13,000 octosyllabic lines, and possessing both historical and literary merit; "represents," says Stopford Brooke, "the whole of the eager struggle for Scottish freedom against the English, which closed at Bannockburn, and the national spirit in it full grown into life;" d. 1195.
Barca (500), a Turkish province in the N. of Africa, between Tripoli and Egypt; produces maize, figs, dates, and olives.
Barca, name of a Carthaginian family to which Hamilcar, Hasdrubal, and Hannibal belonged, and determinedly opposed to the ascendency of Rome; known as the Barcine faction.
Barcelo`na (280), the largest town in Spain next to Madrid, on the Mediterranean, and its chief port, with a naval arsenal, and its largest manufacturing town, called the "Spanish Manchester," the staple manufacture being cotton; is the seat of a bishopric and a university; has numerous churches, convents, and theatres.
Barclay, Alex., a poet and prose-writer, of Scotch birth; bred a monk in England, which he ceased to be on the dissolution of the monasteries; wrote "The Ship of Fools," partly a translation and partly an imitation of the German "Narrerschiff" of Brandt. "It has no value," says Stopford Brooke; "but it was popular because it attacked the follies and questions of the time; and its sole interest to us is in its pictures of familiar manners and popular customs" (1475-1552).
Barclay, John, born in France, educated by the Jesuits, a stanch Catholic; wrote the "Argenis," a Latin romance, much thought of by Cowper, translated more than once into English (1582-1621).
Barclay, John, leader of the sect of the Bereans (1734-1798).
Barclay, Robert, the celebrated apologist of Quakerism, born in Morayshire; tempted hard to become a Catholic; joined the Society of Friends, as his father had done before him; his greatest work, written in Latin as well as in English, and dedicated to Charles II., "An Apology for the True Christian Divinity, as the same is held forth and preached by the People called in scorn Quakers," a great work, the leading thesis of which is that Divine Truth is not matter of reasoning, but intuition, and patent to the understanding of every truth-loving soul (1645-1690).
Barclay, William, father of John (1), an eminent citizen and professor of Law at Angers; d. 1605. All these Barclays were of Scottish descent.
Barclay de Tolly, a Russian general and field-marshal, of Scottish descent, and of the same family as Robert Barclay the Quaker; distinguished in successive Russian wars; his promotion rapid, in spite of his unpopularity as German born; on Napoleon's invasion of Russia his tactic was to retreat till forced to fight at Smolensk; he was defeated, and superseded in command by Kutusow; on the latter's death was made commander-in-chief; commanded the Russians at Dresden and Leipzig, and led them into France in 1815; he was afterwards Minister of War at St. Petersburg, and elevated to the rank of prince (1761-1818).
Bard of Avon, Shakespeare; of Ayrshire, Burns; of Hope, Campbell; of Imagination, Akenside; of Memory, Rogers; of Olney, Cowper; of Rydal Mount, Wordsworth; of Twickenham, Pope.
Bardell`, Mrs., a widow in the "Pickwick Papers," who sues Pickwick for breach of promise.
Bardolph, a drunken, swaggering, worthless follower of Falstaff's.
Bardon Hill, a hill in Leicestershire, from which one can see right across England.
Bar-Durani, the collective name of a number of Afghan tribes between the Hindu-Kush and the Soliman Mountains.
Barebone's Parliament, Cromwell's Little Parliament, met 4th July 1653; derisively called Barebone's Parliament, from one Praise-God Barebone, a member of it. "If not the remarkablest Assembly, yet the Assembly for the remarkablest purpose," says Carlyle, "that ever met in the modern world; the business being no less than introducing of the Christian religion into real practice in the social affairs of this nation.... In this it failed, could not but fail, with what we call the Devil and all his angels against it, and the Little Parliament had to go its ways again," 12th December in the same year.
Barèges, a village on the Hautes-Pyrénées, at 4000 ft. above the sea-level, resorted to for its mineral waters.
Bareilly (121), a city in NW. India, the chief town in Rohilkhand, 153 m. E. of Delhi, notable as the place where the Mutiny of 1858 first broke out.
Barentz, an Arctic explorer, born in Friesland; discovered Spitzbergen, and doubled the NE. extremity of Nova Zembla, in 1596, and died the same year.
Barère, French revolutionary, a member of the States-General, the National Assembly of France, and the Convention; voted in the Convention for the execution of the king, uttering the oft-quoted words, "The tree of Liberty thrives only when watered by the blood of tyrants;" escaped the fate of his associates; became a spy under Napoleon; was called by Burke, from his flowery oratory, the Anacreon of the Guillotine, and by Mercier, "the greatest liar in France;" he was inventor of the famous fable "his masterpiece," of the "Sinking of the Vengeur," "the largest, most inspiring piece of blaque manufactured, for some centuries, by any man or nation;" died in beggary (1755-1841). See Vengeur.
Baretti, Giuseppe, an Italian lexicographer, born in Turin; taught Italian in London, patronised by Johnson, became secretary of the Royal Academy (1719-1789).
Barfleur, a seaport 15 m. E. of Cherbourg, where William the Conqueror set out with his fleet to invade England.
Bârfrüsh (603), a town S. of the Caspian, famous for its bazaar.
Bar`guest, a goblin long an object of terror in the N. of England.
Bari, The, a small negro nation on the banks of the White Nile.
Baring, Sir Francis, founder of the great banking firm of Baring Brothers & Co.; amassed property, value of it said to have been nearly seven millions (1740-1810).
Baring-Gould, Sabine, rector of Lew-Trenchard, Devonshire, celebrated in various departments of literature, history, theology, and romance, especially the latter; a voluminous writer on all manner of subjects, and a man of wide reading; b. 1834.
Barham, Richard Harris, his literary name Thomas Ingoldsby, born at Canterbury, minor canon of St. Paul's; friend of Sidney Smith; author of "Ingoldsby Legends," published originally as a series of papers in Bentley's Miscellany (1788-1879).
Barkis, a carrier-lad in "David Copperfield," in love with Peggotty. "Barkis is willin'."
Barker, E. Henry, a classical scholar, born in Yorkshire; edited Stephens' "Thesaurus Linguæ Græcæ," an arduous work; died in poverty (1788-1839).
Barking, a market-town in Essex, 7 m. NE. of London, with the remains of an ancient Benedictine convent.
Barlaam and Josaphat, a mediæval legend, being a Christianised version of an earlier legend relating to Buddha, in which Josaphat, a prince like Buddha, is converted by Barlaam to a like ascetic life.
Barleycorn, John, the exhilarating spirit distilled from barley personified.
Barlow, Joel, an American poet and diplomatist; for his Republican zeal, was in 1792 accorded the rights of citizenship in France; wrote a poem "The Vision of Columbus" (1755-1812).
Barlowe, a French watchmaker, inventor of the repeating watch; d. 1690.
Barmacide Feast, an imaginary feast, so called from a story in the "Arabian Nights" of a hungry beggar invited by a Barmacide prince to a banquet, which proved a long succession of merely empty dishes, and which he enjoyed with such seeming gusto and such good-humour as to earn for himself a sumptuous real one.
Bar`macides, a Persian family celebrated for their magnificence, and that in the end met with the cruellest fate. Yâhyá, one of them, eminent for ability and virtue, was chosen by the world-famous Haroun-Al-Raschid on his accession to the caliphate to be his vizier; and his four sons rose along with him to such influence in the government, as to excite the jealousy of the caliph so much, that he had the whole family invited to a banquet, and every man, woman, and child of them massacred at midnight in cold blood. The caliph, it is gratifying to learn, never forgave himself for this cruelty, and was visited with a gnawing remorse to the end of his days; and it had fatal issues to his kingdom as well as himself.
Bar`men (116), a long town, consisting of a series of hamlets, 6 m. in extent, in Rhenish Prussia; the population consists chiefly of Protestants; the staple industry, the manufacture of ribbons, and it is the centre of that industry on the Continent.
Barnabas, St., a member of the first Christian brotherhood, a companion of St. Paul's, and characterised in the Acts as "a good man"; stoned to death at Cyprus, where he was born; an epistle extant bears his name, but is not believed to be his work; the Epistle to the Hebrews has by some been ascribed to him; he is usually represented in art as a venerable man of majestic mien, with the Gospel of St. Matthew in his hand. Festival, June 11.
Barnabites, a proselytising order of monks founded at Milan, where Barnabas was reported to have been bishop, in 1530; bound, as the rest are, by the three monastic vows, and by a vow in addition, not to sue for preferment in the Church.
Barnaby Rudge, one of Dickens' novels, published in 1841.
Barnard, Henry, American educationist, born in Connecticut, 1811.
Barnard, Lady Anne, daughter of Lindsay, the 5th Earl of Balcarres, born in Fife; authoress of "Auld Robin Gray," named after a Balcarres herd; lived several years at the Cape, where her husband held an appointment, and after his death, in London (1750-1825).
Barnard Castle, an old tower W. of Darlington, in Durham; birthplace of John Baliol, and the scene of Scott's "Rokeby."
Bar`nardine, a reckless character in "Measure for Measure."
Barnave, Joseph Marie, French lawyer, born at Grenoble; president of the French Constitutional Assembly in 1780; one of the trio in the Assembly of whom it was said, "Whatsoever those three have on hand, Dupont thinks it, Barnave speaks it, Lameth does it;" a defender of the monarchy from the day he gained the favour of the queen by his gallant conduct to her on her way back to Paris from her flight with the king to Varennes; convicted by documentary evidence of conspiring with the court against the nation; was guillotined (1761-1793).
Barn-burners, name formerly given to an extreme radical party in the United States, as imitating the Dutchman who, to get rid of the rats, burned his barns.
Barnes, Thomas, editor of the Times, under whom the paper first rose to the pre-eminent place it came to occupy among the journals of the day (1786-1841).
Barnes, William, a local philologist, native of Dorsetshire; author of "Poems of Rural Life in Dorset," in three vols.; wrote on subjects of philological interest (1830-1886).
Barnet (5), a town in Hertfordshire, almost a suburb of London; a favourite resort of Londoners; has a large annual horse and cattle fair; scene of a battle in 1471, at which Warwick, the king-maker, was slain.
Barnett, John, composer, born at Bedford; author of operas and a number of fugitive pieces (1802-1891).
Barneveldt, Johann van Olden, Grand Pensionary of Holland, of a distinguished family; studied law at the Hague, and practised as an advocate there; fought for the independence of his country against Spain; concluded a truce with Spain, in spite of the Stadtholder Maurice, whose ambition for supreme power he courageously opposed; being an Arminian, took sides against the Gomarist or Calvinist party, to which Maurice belonged; was arrested, tried, and condemned to death as a traitor and heretic, and died on the scaffold at 71 years of age, with sanction, too, of the Synod of Dort, in 1619.
Barnsley (35), a manufacturing town in W. Yorkshire, 18 m. N. of Sheffield; manufactures textile fabrics and glass.
Barnum, an American showman; began with the exhibition of George Washington's reputed nurse in 1834; picked up Tom Thumb in 1844; engaged Jenny Lind for 100 concerts in 1849, and realised a fortune, which he lost; started in 1871 with his huge travelling show, and realised another fortune, dying worth five million dollars (1810-1891).
Barocci, a celebrated Italian painter, imitator of the style of Correggio (1528-1612).
Baroche, Pierre-Jules, a French statesman, minister of Napoleon III. (1802-1870).
Baro`da (2,415), a native state of Gujerat, in the prov. of Bombay, with a capital (101) of the same name, the sovereign of which is called the Guicowar; the third city in the presidency, with Hindu temples and a considerable trade.
Baro`nius, Cæsar, a great Catholic ecclesiastic, born near Naples, priest of the Congregation of the Oratory under its founder, and ultimately Superior; cardinal and librarian of the Vatican; his great work, "Annales Ecclesiastici," being a history of the first 12 centuries of the Church, written to prove that the Church of Rome was identical with the Church of the 1st century, a work of immense research that occupied him 30 years; failed of the popehood from the intrigues of the Spaniards, whose political schemes he had frustrated (1538-1607).
Barons' War, a war in England of the barons against Henry III., headed by Simon de Montfort, and which lasted from 1258 to 1265.
Baroque, ornamentation of a florid and incongruous character, more lavish and showy rather than true and tasteful; much in vogue from the 16th to the 18th centuries.
Barra, a small island, one of the Hebrides, 5 m. SW. of S. Uist, the inhabitants of which are engaged in fisheries.
Bar`rackpur (18), a town on the Hooghly, 15 m. above Calcutta, where the lieutenant-governor of Bengal has a residence; a healthy resort of the Europeans.
Barrack-Room Ballads, ballads by Rudyard Kipling, with a fine martial strain.
Barras, Paul François, a member of the Jacobin Club, born in Provence; "a man of heat and haste,... tall, and handsome to the eye;" voted in the National Convention for the execution of the king; took part in the siege of Toulon; put an end to the career of Robespierre and the Reign of Terror; named general-in-chief to oppose the reactionaries; employed Bonaparte to command the artillery, "he the commandant's cloak, this artillery officer the commandant;" was a member of the Directory till Bonaparte swept it away (1755-1829).
Bar`ratry, the offence of inciting and stirring up riots and quarrels among the Queen's subjects, also a fraud by a ship captain on the owners of a ship.
Barré, Isaac, soldier and statesman, born in Dublin, served under Wolfe in Canada, entered Parliament, supported Pitt, charged with authorship of "Junius' Letters"; d. 1802.
Barrel Mirabeau, Viscount de Mirabeau, brother of the great tribune of the name, so called from his bulk and the liquor he held.
Barrett, Wilson, English actor, born in Essex; made his début at Halifax; lessee of the Grand Theatre, Leeds, and of the Court and the Princess's Theatres, London; produced his Hamlet in 1884; b. 1846.
Barrie, James Matthew, a writer with a rich vein of humour and pathos, born at Kirriemuir ("Thrums"), in Forfarshire; began his literary career as a contributor to journals; produced, among other works, "Auld Licht Idylls" in 1888, and "A Window in Thrums," in 1889, and recently "Margaret Ogilvie," deemed by some likely to prove the most enduring thing he has yet written; b. 1860.
Barrier Reef, The Great, a slightly interrupted succession of coral reefs off the coast of Queensland, of 1200 m. extent, and 100 m. wide at the S., and growing narrower as they go N.; are from 70 to 20 m. off the coast, and protect the intermediate channel from the storms of the Pacific.
Barrière, Jean François, French historian of the Revolution (1786-1868).
Barrière, Pierre, would-be assassin of Henry IV. of France; broken on the wheel in 1593.
Barriers, Battle of the, a battle fought within the walls of Paris in 1814 between Napoleon and the Allies, which ended in the capitulation of the city and the abdication of Napoleon.
Barrington, John Shute, 1st Viscount, gained the favour of the Nonconformists by his "Rights of Dissenters," and an Irish peerage from George I. for his "Dissuasive from Jacobitism"; left six sons, all more or less distinguished, particularly Daines, the fourth, distinguished in law (1727-1800), and Samuel, the fifth, 1st Lord of the name, distinguished in the naval service, assisted under Lord Howe at the relief of Gibraltar, and became an admiral in 1787 (1678-1764).
Barros, João de, a distinguished Portuguese historian; his great work. "Asia Portugueza," relates, in a pure and simple style, the discoveries and conquests of the Portuguese in the Indies; he did not live to complete it (1493-1570).
Barrot, Odilon, famous as an advocate, born at Villefort; contributed to the Revolutions of both 1830 and 1848; accepted office under Louis Napoleon; retired after the coup d'état, to return to office in 1872 (1791-1873).
Barrow, a river in Ireland rising in the Slievebloom Mts.; falls into Waterford harbour, after a course of 114 m.
Barrow, Isaac, English scholar, mathematician, and divine, born in London; a graduate of Cambridge, and fellow of Trinity College; appointed professor of Greek at Cambridge, and soon after Gresham professor of Geometry; subsequently Lucasian professor of Mathematics (in which he had Newton for successor), and master of Trinity, and founder of the library; a man of great intellectual ability and force of character; besides mathematical works, left a "Treatise on the Pope's Supremacy," and a body of sermons remarkable for their vigour of thought and nervousness of expression (1630-1677).
Barrow, Sir John, secretary to the Admiralty for 40 years, and much esteemed in that department, distinguished also as a man of letters; wrote the Lives of Macartney, Anson, Howe, and Peter the Great (1764-1848).
Barrow-in-Furness (51), a town and seaport in N. Lancashire, of recent rapid growth, owing to the discovery of extensive deposits of iron in the neighbourhood, which has led to the establishment of smelting works and the largest manufacture of steel in the kingdom; the principal landowners in the district being the Dukes of Devonshire and Buccleuch.
Barry, James, painter, born in Cork; painted the "Death of General Wolfe"; became professor of Painting at the Royal Academy, but was deposed; died in poverty; his masterpiece is the "Victors at Olympia" (1741-1806).
Barry, Sir Charles, architect, born at Westminster; architect of the new Palace of Westminster, besides other public buildings (1795-1860).
Barry Cornwall. See Procter.
Bart, or Barth, Jean, a distinguished French seaman, born at Dunkirk, son of a fisherman, served under De Ruyter, entered the French service at 20, purchased a ship of two guns, was subsidised as a privateer, made numerous prizes; having had other ships placed under his command, was captured by the English, but escaped; defeated the Dutch admiral, De Vries; captured his squadron laden with corn, for which he was ennobled by Louis XIV.; he was one of the bravest of men and the most independent, unhampered by red-tapism of every kind (1651-1702).
Barth, Heinrich, a great African explorer, born at Hamburg; author of "Travels in the East and Discoveries in Central Africa," in five volumes (1821-1865).
Barthélemy, Auguste-Marseille, a poet and politician, born at Marseilles; author of "Nemesis," and the best French translation of the "Æneid," in verse; an enemy of the Bourbons, an ardent Imperialist, and warm supporter of Louis Napoleon (1796-1867).
Barthélemy, The Abbé, Jean Jacques, a French historian and antiquary, born at Cassis, in Provence; educated by the Jesuits; had great skill in numismatics; wrote several archæological works, in chief, "Voyage du Jeune Anacharsis en Grèce;" long treated as an authority in the history, manners, and customs of Greece (1716-1795).
Barthélemy Saint-Hilaire, Jules, a French baron and politician, born at Paris; an associate of Odilon Barrot in the Revolutions of 1830 and 1848, and subsequently a zealous supporter of M. Thiers; for a time professor of Greek and Roman Philosophy in the College of France; an Oriental as well as Greek scholar; translated the works of Aristotle, his greatest achievement, and the "Iliad" into verse, as well as wrote on the Vedas, Buddhism, and Mahomet; b. 1805.
Barthez, Paul Joseph, a celebrated physician, physiologist, and Encyclopædist, born at Montpellier, where he founded a medical school; suffered greatly during the Revolution; was much esteemed and honoured by Napoleon; is celebrated among physiologists as the advocate of what he called the Vital Principle as a physiological force in the functions of the human organism; his work "Nouveaux Eléments de la Science de l'Homme" has been translated into all the languages of Europe (1734-1806).
Bartholdi, a French sculptor, born at Colmar; his principal works, "Lion le Belfort," and "Liberté éclairant le Monde," the largest bronze statue in the world, being 150 ft. high, erected at the entrance of New York harbour; b. 1834.
Bartholomew, St., an apostle of Christ, and martyr; represented in art with a knife in one hand and his skin in the other; sometimes been painted as being flayed alive, also as headless. Festival, Aug. 24.
Bartholomew Fair, an annual market held at Smithfield, London, and instituted in 1133 by Henry I., to be kept on the saint's day, but abolished in 1853, when it ceased to be a market and became an occasion for mere dissipation and riot.
Bartholomew Hospital, an hospital in Smithfield, London, founded in 1123; has a medical school attached to it, with which the names of a number of eminent physicians are associated.
Bartholomew's Day, St., 24th August, day in 1572 memorable for the wholesale massacre of the Protestants in France at the instance of Catharine de Medici, then regent of the kingdom for her son, Charles IX., an event, cruelly gloried in by the Pope and the Spanish Court, which kindled a fire in the nation that was not quenched, although it extinguished Protestantism proper in France, till Charles was coerced to grant liberty of conscience throughout the realm.
Bartizan, an overhanging wall-mounted turret projecting from the walls of ancient fortifications.
Bartlett, John H., an American ethnologist and philologist, born at Rhode Island, U.S.; author of "Dictionary of Americanisms," among other works particularly on ethnology (1805-1886).
Bartoli, Daniele, a learned Italian Jesuit, born at Ferrara (1635-1685).
Bartoli, Pietro, Italian engraver, engraved a great number of ancient works of art (1635-1700).
Bartolini, Lorenzo, a Florentine sculptor, patronised by Napoleon; produced a great number of busts (1777-1850).
Bartolomme`o, Fra, a celebrated Florentine painter of sacred subjects, born at Florence; an adherent of Savonarola, friend of Raphael; "St. Mark" and "St. Sebastian" among his best productions (1469-1517).
Bartoloz`zi, Francesco, an eminent engraver, born at Florence; wrought at his art both in England and in Portugal, where he died; his chief works, "Clytie," after Annibale Caracci, the "Prometheus," after Michael Angelo, and "Virgin and Child," after Carlo Dolci; he was the father of Madame Vestris (1725-1815).
Barton, Bernard, the "Quaker poet," born in London; a clerk nearly all his days in a bank; his poems, mostly on homely subjects, but instinct with poetic feeling and fancy, gained him the friendship of Southey and Charles Lamb, as well as more substantial patronage in the shape of a government pension (1784-1849).
Barton, Elizabeth, "the Maid of Kent," a poor country servant-girl, born in Kent, subject from nervous debility to trances, in which she gave utterances ascribed by Archbishop Warham to divine inspiration, till her communications were taken advantage of by designing people, and she was led by them to pronounce sentence against the divorce of Catharine of Aragon, which involved her and her abettors in a charge of treason, for which they were all executed at Tyburn (1506-1534).
Baruch, (1) the friend of the prophet Jeremiah, and his scribe, who was cast with him into prison, and accompanied him into Egypt; (2) a book in the Apocrypha, instinct with the spirit of Hebrew prophecy, ascribed to him; (3) also a book entitled the Apocalypse of Baruch, affecting to predict the fall of Jerusalem, but obviously written after the event.
Barye, a French sculptor, distinguished for his groups of statues of wild animals (1795-1875).
Basaiti, a Venetian painter of the 15th and 16th centuries, a rival of Bellini; his best works, "Christ in the Garden" and the "Calling of St. Peter and St. Andrew."
Basedow, Johann Bernard, a zealous educational reformer, born at Hamburg; his method modelled according to the principles of Rousseau; established a normal school on this method at Dessau, which, however, failed from his irritability of temper, which led to a rupture with his colleagues (1723-1790).
Basel (74), in the NW. of Switzerland, on the Rhine, just before it enters Germany; has a cathedral, university, library, and museum; was a centre of influence in Reformation times, and the home for several years of Erasmus; it is now a great money market, and has manufactures of silks and chemicals; the people are Protestant and German-speaking.
Basel, Council of, met in 1431, and laboured for 12 years to effect the reformation of the Church from within. It effected some compromise with the Hussites, but was hampered at every step by the opposition of Pope Eugenius IV. Asserting the authority of a general council over the Pope himself, it cited him on two occasions to appear at its bar, on his refusal declared him contumacious, and ultimately endeavoured to suspend him. Failing to effect its purpose, owing to the secession of his supporters, it elected a rival pope, Felix V., who was, however, but scantily recognised. The Emperor Frederick III. supported Eugenius, and the council gradually melted away. At length, in 1449, the pope died, Felix resigned, and Nicholas V. was recognised by the whole Church. The decrees of the council were directed against the immorality of the clergy, the indecorousness of certain festivals, the papal prerogatives and exactions, and dealt with the election of popes and the procedure of the College of Cardinals. They were all confirmed by Nicholas V., but are not recognised by modern Roman canonists.
Ba`shan, a fertile and pastoral district in NE. Palestine of considerable extent, and at one time densely peopled; the men of it were remarkable for their stature.
Bashahr, a native hill state in the Punjab, traversed by the Sutlej; tributary to the British Government.
Bashi-Bazouks`, irregular, undisciplined troops in the pay of the Sultan; rendered themselves odious by their brutality in the Bulgarian atrocities of 1876, as well as, more or less, in the time of the Crimean war.
Bashkirs, originally a Finnish nomad race (and still so to some extent) of E. Russia, professing Mohammedanism; they number some 500,000.
Bashkirtseff, Marie, a precocious Russian young lady of good family, but of delicate constitution, who travelled a good deal with her mother, noted her impressions, and left a journal of her life, which created, when published after her death, an immense sensation from the confessions it contains (1860-1884).
Basil, St., The Great, bishop of Cæsarea, in Cappadocia, his birthplace; studied at Athens; had Julian the Apostate for a fellow-student; the lifelong friend of Gregory Nazianzen; founded a monastic body, whose rules are followed by different monastic communities; a conspicuous opponent of the Arian heresy, and defender of the Nicene Creed; tried in vain to unite the Churches of the East and West; is represented in Christian art in Greek pontificals, bareheaded, and with an emaciated appearance (326-380). There were several Basils of eminence in the history of the Church: Basil, bishop of Ancyra, who flourished in the 4th century; Basil, the mystic, and Basil, the friend of St. Ambrose.
Basil I., the Macedonian, emperor of the East; though he had raised himself to the throne by a succession of crimes, governed wisely; compiled, along with his son Leo, surnamed the Philosopher, a code of laws that were in force till the fall of the empire; fought successfully against the Saracens; d. 886.
Basilica, the code of laws, in 60 books, compiled by Basil I., and Leo, his son and successor, first published in 887, and named after the former.
Basilica, a spacious hall, twice as long as broad, for public business and the administration of justice, originally open to the sky, but eventually covered in, and with the judge's bench at the end opposite the entrance, in a circular apse added to it. They were first erected by the Romans, 180 B.C.; afterwards, on the adoption of Christianity, they were converted into churches, the altar being in the apse.
Basilicon Doron (i. e. Royal Gift), a work written by James I. in 1599, before the union of the crowns, for the instruction of his son, Prince Henry, containing a defence of the royal prerogative.
Basili`des, a Gnostic of Alexandria, flourished at the commencement of the 2nd century; appears to have taught the Oriental theory of emanations, to have construed the universe as made up of a series of worlds, some 365 it is alleged, each a degree lower than the preceding, till we come to our own world, the lowest and farthest off from the parent source of the series, of which the God of the Jews was the ruler, and to have regarded Jesus as sent into it direct from the parent source to redeem it from the materialism to which the God of the Jews, as Creator and Lord of the material universe, had subjected it; which teaching a sect called after his name accepted and propagated in both the East and the West for more than two centuries afterwards.
Bas`ilisk, an animal fabled to have been hatched by a toad from the egg of an old cock, before whose breath every living thing withered and died, and the glance of whose eye so bewitched one to his ruin that the bravest could confront and overcome it only by looking at the reflection of it in a mirror, as Perseus (q. v.) was advised to do, and did, when he cut off the head of the Medusa; seeing itself in a mirror, it burst, it as said, at the sight.
Baskerville, John, a printer and typefounder, originally a writing-master in Birmingham; native of Sion Hill, Worcestershire; produced editions of classical works prized for their pre-eminent beauty by connoisseurs in the art of the printer, and all the more for their rarity (1706-1756).
Basnages, Jacques, a celebrated Protestant divine, born at Rouen; distinguished as a linguist and man of affairs; wrote a "History of the Reformed Churches" and on "Jewish Antiquities" (1653-1723).
Basoche, a corporation of lawyers' clerks in Paris. See Bazoche.
Basque Provinces, a fertile and mineral district in N. of Spain, embracing the three provinces of Biscaya, Guipuzcoa, and Alava, of which the chief towns are respectively Bilbao, St. Sebastian, and Vittoria; the natives differ considerably from the rest of the Spaniards in race, language, and customs. See Basques.
Basque Roads, an anchorage between the Isle of Oléron and the mainland; famous for a naval victory gained in 1809 over a French fleet under Vice-Admiral Allemand.
Basques, a people of the Western Pyrenees, partly in France and partly in Spain; distinguished from their neighbours only by their speech, which is non-Aryan; a superstitious people, conservative, irascible, ardent, proud, serious in their religious convictions, and pure in their moral conduct.
Bas-relief (i. e. low relief) a term applied to figures very slightly projected from the ground.
Bass Rock, a steep basaltic rock at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, 350 ft. high, tenanted by solan geese; once used as a prison, specially in Covenanting times.
Bass Strait, strait between Australia and Tasmania, about 150 m. broad.
Bassanio, the lover of Portia in the "Merchant of Venice."
Bassano, a town in Italy, on the Brenta, 30 m. NW. of Padua; printing the chief industry.
Bassano, Duc de, an intriguing French diplomatist in the interest of Bonaparte, and his steadfast auxiliary to the last (1763-1839).
Bassano, Jacopo da Ponte, an eminent Italian painter, chiefly of country scenes, though the "Nativity" at his native town, Bassano, shows his ability in the treatment of higher themes (1510-1592).
Bassompierre, François de, a marshal of France, born in Lorraine; entered military life under Henry IV., was a gallant soldier, and one of the most brilliant wits of his time; took part in the siege of Rochelle; incurred the displeasure of Richelieu; was imprisoned by his order twelve years in the Bastille; wrote his Memoirs there; was liberated on the death of Richelieu; his Memoirs contain a lively description of his contemporaries, the manners of the time, his own intrigues, no less than those of his friends and enemies (1579-1646).
Bassorah (40), a port in Asiatic Turkey, on the Shatt-el-Arab; a place of great commercial importance when Bagdad was the seat of the caliphate; for a time sank into insignificance, but has of late revived.
Basti`a (22), a town in NE. Corsica, the most commercial in the island, and once the capital; was founded by the Genoese in 1383, and taken by the French in 1553; exports wine, oil, fruits, &c.
Bastian, Adolf, an eminent ethnologist, born at Bremen; travelled over and surveyed, in the interest of his science, all quarters of the globe, and recorded the fruits of his survey in his numerous works, no fewer than thirty in number, beginning with "Der Mensch in der Geschichte," in three vols.; conducts, along with Virchow and R. Hartman, the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie; b. 1826.
Bastian, Dr. H. C., a physiologist, born at Truro; a materialist in his theory of life; a zealous advocate of the doctrine of spontaneous generation; b. 1837.
Bastiat, Frédéric, an eminent political economist, born at Bayonne; a disciple of Cobden's; a great advocate of Free Trade; wrote on behalf of it and against Protection, "Sophismes Economiques"; a zealous Anti-Socialist, and wrote against Socialism (1801-1850).
Bastide, Jules, French Radical writer, born in Paris; took part in the Revolution of 1848, and became Minister of Foreign Affairs (1800-1879).
Bastille (lit. the Building), a State prison in Paris, built originally as a fortress of defence to the city, by order of Charles V., between 1369 and 1382, but used as a place of imprisonment from the first; a square structure, with towers and dungeons for the incarceration of the prisoners, the whole surrounded by a moat, and accessible only by drawbridges; "tyranny's stronghold"; attacked by a mob on 14th July 1789; taken chiefly by noise; overturned, as "the city of Jericho, by miraculous sound"; demolished, and the key of it sent to Washington; the taking of it was the first event in the Revolution. See Carlyle's "French Revolution" for the description of the fall of it.
Basutoland (250), a fertile, healthy, grain-growing territory in S. Africa, SE. of the Orange Free State, under protection of the British crown, of the size of Belgium; yields large quantities of maize; the natives keep large herds of cattle.
Basutos, a S. African race of the same stock as the Kaffirs, but superior to them in intelligence and industry.
Batangas, a port in the island of Luzon, one of the Philippine Islands, which has a considerable trade.
Batavia (105), the capital of Java, on the N. coast, and of the Dutch possessions in the Eastern Archipelago; the emporium, with a large trade, of the Far East; with a very mixed population. Also the ancient name of Holland; insula Batavorum it was called—that is, island of the Batavi, the name of the native tribes inhabiting it.
Bates, Henry Walter, a naturalist and traveller, born at Leicester; friend of, and a fellow-labourer with, Alfred R. Wallace; author of "The Naturalist on the Amazons"; an advocate of the Darwinian theory, and author of contributions in defence of it (1825-1892).
Bath (54), the largest town in Somerset, on the Avon; a cathedral city; a place of fashionable resort from the time of the Romans, on account of its hot baths and mineral waters, of which there are six springs; it was from 1704 to 1750 the scene of Beau Nash's triumphs; has a number of educational and other institutions, and a fine public park.
Bath, Major, a gentleman in Fielding's "Amelia," who stoops from his dignity to the most menial duties when affection prompts him.
Bath, Order of the, an English order of knighthood, traceable to the reign of Henry IV., consisting of three classes: the first, Knights Grand Cross; the second, Knights Commanders, and the third, Knights Companions, abbreviated respectively into G.C.B., K.C.B., and C.B.; initiation into the order originally preceded by immersion in a bath, whence the name, in token of the purity required of the members by the laws of chivalry. It was originally a military order, and it is only since 1847 that civil Knights, Knights Commanders, and Companions have been admitted as Knights. The first class, exclusive of royal personages and foreigners, is limited to 102 military and 28 civil; the second, to 102 military and 50 civil; and the third, to 525 military and 200 civil. The motto of the order is Tria juncta in uno (Three united in one); and Henry VI.'s chapel at Westminster is the chapel of the order, with the plates of the Knights on their stalls, and their banners suspended over them.
Bathgate (5), largest town in Linlithgowshire; a mining centre; the birthplace of Sir J. Simpson, who was the son of a baker in the place.
Bathilda, St., queen of France, wife of Clovis II., who governed France during the minority of her sons, Clovis III., Childéric II., and Thierry; died 680, in the monastery of Chelles.
Bath`ori, Elizabeth, a Polish princess, a woman of infamous memory, caused some 650 young girls to be put to death, in order, by bathing in their blood, to renew her beauty; immersed in a fortress for life on the discovery of the crime, while her accomplices were burnt alive; d. 1614.
Bathos, an anti-climax, being a sudden descent from the sublime to the commonplace.
Bath`urst (8), the capital of British Gambia, at the mouth of the river Gambia, in Western Africa; inhabited chiefly by negroes; exports palm-oil, ivory, gold dust, &c.
Bathurst (10), the principal town on the western slopes of New South Wales, second to Sydney, with gold mines in the neighbourhood, and in a fertile wheat-growing district.
Bathurst, a district in Upper Canada, on the Ottawa, a thriving place and an agricultural centre.
Bathyb`ius, (i. e. living matter in the deep), substance of a slimy nature found at great sea depth, over-hastily presumed to be organic, proved by recent investigation to be inorganic, and of no avail to the evolutionist.
Batley (28), a manufacturing town in the W. Riding of Yorkshire, 8 m. SW. of Leeds; a busy place.
Batn-el-Hajar, a stony tract in the Nubian Desert, near the third cataract of the Nile.
Baton-Rouge (10), a city on the E. bank of the Mississippi, 130 m. above New Orleans, and capital of the state of Louisiana; originally a French settlement.
Baton-sinister, a bend-sinister like a marshal's baton, an indication of illegitimacy.
Batoum` (10), a town in Transcaucasia, on the E. of the Black Sea; a place of some antiquity; recently ceded by Turkey to Russia, but only as a mere trading port; has an excellent harbour, and has improved under Russian rule.
Batrachomyomachia, a mock-heroic poem, "The Battle of the Frogs and Mice," falsely ascribed to Homer.
Battas, a Malay race, native to Sumatra, now much reduced in numbers, and driven into the interior.
Battersea, a suburb of London, on the Surrey side of the Thames, opposite Chelsea, and connected with it by a bridge; with a park 185 acres in extent; of plain and recent growth; till lately a quite rural spot.
Batthya`ni, Count, an Hungarian patriot, who fought hard to see his country reinstated in its ancient administrative independence, but failed in his efforts; was arrested, tried for high treason by court-martial, and sentenced to be shot, to the horror, at the time, of the civilised world (1809-1849).
Battle, a market-town in Sussex, near Hastings, so called from the battle of Senlac, in which William the Conqueror defeated Harold in 1066.
Battle of the Spurs, (a) an engagement at Courtrai in 1302 where the burghers of the town beat the knighthood of France, and the spurs of 4000 knights were collected after the battle; (b) an engagement at Guinegate, 1513, in which Henry VIII. made the French forces take to their spurs; of the Barriers (see Barriers); of the Books, a satire by Swift on a literary controversy of the time; of the Standard, a battle in 1138, in which the English, with a high-mounted crucifix for a standard, beat the Scots at Northallerton.
Battue, method of killing game after crowding them by cries and beating them towards the sportsmen.
Baudelaire, Charles, French poet of the romantic school, born in Paris; distinguished among his contemporaries for his originality, and his influence on others of his class; was a charming writer of prose as well as verse, as his "Petits Poèmes" in prose bear witness. Victor Hugo once congratulated him on having "created a new shudder"; and as has been said, "this side of his genius attracted most popular attention, which, however, is but one side, and not really the most remarkable, of a singular combination of morbid but delicate analysis and reproduction of the remotest phases and moods of human thought and passion" (1821-1867).
Baudricourt, a French courtier whom Joan of Arc pressed to conduct her into the presence of Charles VII.
Baudry, Paul, French painter, decorated the foyer of the Grand Opera in Paris; is best known as the author of the "Punishment of a Vestal Virgin" and the "Assassination of Marat" (1828-1886).
Bauer, Bruno, a daring Biblical critic, and violent polemic on political as well as theological subjects; born at Saxe-Altenburg; regarded the Christian religion as overlaid and obscured by accretions foreign to it; denied the historical truth of the Gospels, and, like a true disciple of Hegel, ascribed the troubles of the 19th century to the overmastering influence of the "Enlightenment" or the "Aufklärung" (q. v.) that characterised the 18th. His last work was entitled "Disraeli's Romantic and Bismarck's Socialistic Imperialism" (1809-1882).
Baumgarten, Alexander Gottlieb, professor of Philosophy at Frankfort-on-the-Oder; disciple of Wolf; born at Berlin; the founder of Æsthetics as a department of philosophy, and inventor of the name (1714-1762).
Baumgarten-Crusius, a German theologian of the school of Schleiermacher; professor of Theology at Jena; born at Merseburg; an authority on the history of dogma, on which he wrote (1788-1843).
Baur, Ferdinand Christian, head of the Tübingen school of rationalist divines, born near Stuttgart; distinguished by his scholarship and his labours in Biblical criticism and dogmatic theology; his dogmatic treatises were on the Christian Gnosis, the Atonement, the Trinity, and the Incarnation, while his Biblical were on certain epistles of Paul and the canonical Gospels, which he regarded as the product of the 2nd century; regarded Christianity of the Church as Judaic in its origin, and Paul as distinctively the first apostle of pure Christianity (1792-1861).
Bausset, cardinal, born at Pondicherry, who wrote the Lives of Bossuet and Fénélon (1748-1824).
Bautzen, a town of Saxony, an old town on the Spree, where Napoleon defeated the Prussians and Russians in 1813; manufactures cotton, linen, wool, tobacco, paper, etc.
Bavaria (5,590), next to Prussia the largest of the German States, about the size of Scotland; is separated by mountain ranges from Bohemia on the E. and the Tyrol on the S.; Würtemburg lies on the W., Prussia, Meiningen, and Saxony on the N. The country is a tableland crossed by mountains and lies chiefly in the basin of the Danube. It is a busy agricultural state: half the soil is tilled; the other half is under grass, planted with vineyards and forests. Salt, coal, and iron are widely distributed and wrought. The chief manufactures are of beer, coarse linen, and woollen fabrics. There are universities at Münich, Würzburg, and Erlangen. Münich, on the Isar, is the capital; Nüremberg, where watches were invented, and Angsburg, a banking centre, the other chief towns. Formerly a dukedom, the palatinate, on the banks of the Rhine, was added to it in 1216. Napoleon I. raised the duke to the title of king in 1805. Bavaria fought on the side of Austria in 1866, but joined Prussia in 1870-71.
Bavie`ca, the famous steed of the Cid, held sacred after the hero's death.
Bavou, St., a soldier monk, the patron saint of Ghent.
Baxter, Richard, an eminent Nonconformist divine, native of Shropshire, at first a conformist, and parish minister of Kidderminster for 19 years; sympathised with the Puritans, yet stopped short of going the full length with them; acted as chaplain to one of their regiments, and returned to Kidderminster; became, at the Restoration one of the king's chaplains; driven out of the Church by the Act of Uniformity, was thrown into prison at 70, let out, spent the rest of his days in peace; his popular works, "The Saint's Everlasting Rest," and his "Call to the Unconverted" (1615-1691).
Bay City (27), place of trade, and of importance as a great railway centre in Michigan, U.S.; the third city in it.
Bayadere, a dancing-girl in India, dressed in loose Eastern costume.
Bayard, a horse of remarkable swiftness belonging to the four sons of Aymon, and which they sometimes rode all at once; also a horse of Amadis de Gaul.
Bayard, Chevalier de, an illustrious French knight, born in the Château Bayard, near Grenoble; covered himself with glory in the wars of Charles VIII., Louis XII., and Francis I.; his bravery and generosity commanded the admiration of his enemies, and procured for him the thrice-honourable cognomen of "The Knight sans peur et sans reproche"; one of his most brilliant feats was his defence, single-handed, of the bridge over the Garigliano, in the face of a large body of Spaniards; was mortally wounded defending a pass at Abblategrasso; fell with his face to the foe, who carried off his body, but restored it straightway afterwards for due burial by his friends (1476-1524).
Bayeux (7), an ancient Norman city in the dep. of Calvados, France; manufactures lace, hosiery, &c.; is a bishop's seat; has a very old Gothic cathedral.
Bayeux Tapestry, representations in tapestry of events connected with the Norman invasion of England, commencing with Harold's visit to the Norman court, and ending with his death at the battle of Hastings; still preserved in the public library of Bayeux; is so called because originally found there; it is 214 ft. long by 20 in. wide, divided into 72 scenes, and contains a variety of figures. It is a question whose work it was.
Bayle, Pierre, a native of Languedoc; first Protestant (as the son of a Calvinist minister), then Catholic, then sceptic; Professor of Philosophy at Padua, then at Rotterdam, and finally retired to the Boompjes in the latter city; known chiefly as the author of the famous Dictionnaire Historique et Critique, to the composition of which he consecrated his energies with a zeal worthy of a religious devotee, and which became the fountain-head of the sceptical philosophy that flooded France on the eve of the Revolution; pronounced by a competent judge in these matters, a mere "imbroglio of historical, philosophical, and anti-theological marine stores" (1647-1700).
Baylen, a town in the province of Jaen, Spain, where General Castaños defeated Dupont, and compelled him to sign a capitulation, in 1808.
Bayley, Sir John, a learned English judge; author of a standard work "On the Law of Bills of Exchange"; d. 1841.
Bayonne (24), a fortified French town, trading and manufacturing, in the dep. of Basses-Pyrénées, at the confluence of the Adour and Nive, 4 m. from the Bay of Biscay; noted for its strong citadel, constructed by Vauban, and one of his chef-d'oeuvres, and its 12th-century cathedral church; it belonged to the English from 1152 to 1451.
Bazaine, François Achille, a marshal of France, born at Versailles; distinguished himself in Algiers, the Crimea, and Mexico; did good service, as commander of the army of the Rhine, in the Franco-German war, but after the surrender at Sedan was shut up in Metz, surrounded by the Germans, and obliged to surrender, with all his generals, officers, and men; was tried by court-martial, and condemned to death, but was imprisoned instead; made good his escape one evening to Madrid, where he lived to write a justification of his conduct, the sale of the book being prohibited in France (1811-1888).
Bazard, Saint-Amand, a French socialist, founder of the Charbonnerie Française; a zealous but unsuccessful propagator of St. Simonianism, in association with Enfantin (q. v.), from whom he at last separated (1791-1832).
Bazoche, a guild of clerks of the parliament of Paris, under a mock king, with the privilege of performing religious plays, which they abused.
Beaches, Raised, elevated lands, formerly sea beaches, the result of upheaval, or left high by the recession of the sea, evidenced to be such by the shells found in them and the nature of the débris.
Beachy Head, a chalk cliff in Sussex, 575 ft. high, projecting into the English Channel; famous for a naval engagement between the allied English and Dutch fleets and those of France, in which the latter were successful.
Beaconsfield, capital of the gold-mining district in Tasmania; also a town in Buckinghamshire, 10 m. N. of Windsor, from which Benjamin Disraeli took his title on his elevation to the peerage.
Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of, English novelist and politician, born in London; son of Isaac D'Israeli, littérateur, and thus of Jewish parentage; was baptized at the age of 12; educated under a Unitarian minister; studied law, but did not qualify for practice. His first novel, "Vivian Grey," appeared in 1826, and thereafter, whenever the business of politics left him leisure, he devoted it to fiction. "Contarini Fleming," "Coningsby," "Tancred," "Lothair," and "Endymion" are the most important of a brilliant and witty series, in which many prominent personages are represented and satirised under thin disguises. His endeavours to enter Parliament as a Radical failed twice in 1832; in 1835 he was unsuccessful again as a Tory. His first seat was for Maidstone in 1837; thereafter he represented Shrewsbury and Buckinghamshire. For 9 years he was a free-lance in the House, hating the Whigs, and after 1842 leading the Young England party; his onslaught on the Corn Law repeal policy of 1846 made him leader of the Tory Protectionists. He was for a short time Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Derby in 1852, and coolly abandoned Protection. Returning to power with his chief six years later, he introduced a Franchise Bill, the defeat of which threw out the Government. In office a third time in 1866, he carried a democratic Reform Bill, giving household suffrage in boroughs and extending the county franchise. Succeeding Lord Derby in 1868, he was forced to resign soon afterwards. In 1874 he entered his second premiership. Two years were devoted to home measures, among which were Plimsoll's Shipping Act and the abolition of Scottish Church patronage. Then followed a showy foreign policy. The securing of the half of the Suez Canal shares for Britain; the proclamation of the Queen as Empress of India; the support of Constantinople against Russia, afterwards stultified by the Berlin Congress, which he himself attended; the annexation of Cyprus; the Afghan and Zulu wars, were its salient features. Defeated at the polls in 1880 he resigned, and died next year. A master of epigram and a brilliant debater, he really led his party. He was the opposite in all respects of his protagonist, Mr. Gladstone. Lacking in zeal, he was yet loyal to England, and a warm personal friend of the Queen (1804-1881).
Bear, name given in the Stock Exchange to one who contracts to deliver stock at a fixed price on a certain day, in contradistinction from the bull, or he who contracts to take it, the interest of the former being that, in the intervening time, the stocks should fall, and that of the latter that they should rise.
Bear, Great. See Ursa Major.
Beam, an ancient prov. of France, fell to the crown with the accession of Henry IV. in 1589; formed a great part of the dep. of Basses-Pyrénées, capital Pau.
Beatification, religious honour allowed by the pope to certain who are not so eminent in sainthood as to entitle them to canonisation.
Beaton, or Bethune, David, cardinal, archbishop of St. Andrews, and primate of the kingdom, born in Fife; an adviser of James V., twice over ambassador to France; on the death of James secured to himself the chief power in Church and State as Lord High Chancellor and Papal Legate; opposed alliance with England; persecuted the Reformers; condemned George Wishart to the stake, witnessed his sufferings from a window of his castle in St. Andrews, and was assassinated within its walls shortly after; with his death ecclesiastical tyranny of that type came to an end in Scotland (1494-1546).
Beaton, James, archbishop of Glasgow and St. Andrews, uncle of the preceding, a prominent figure in the reign of James V.; was partial to affiliation with France, and a persecutor of the Reformers; d. 1539.
Beattie, James, a poet and essayist, born at Laurencekirk; became professor of Logic and Moral Philosophy at Marischal College, Aberdeen; wrote an "Essay on Truth" against Hume; his most admired poem, "The Minstrel," a didactic piece, traces the progress of poetic genius, admitted him to the Johnsonian circle in London, obtained for him the degree of LL.D. from Oxford, and brought him a pension of £200 per annum from the king; died at Aberdeen (1735-1803).
Beatrice, a beautiful Florentine maiden, Portinari, her family name, for whom Dante conceived an undying affection, and whose image abode with him to the end of his days. She is his guide through Paradise.
Beau Nash, a swell notability at Bath; died in beggary (1674-1761).
Beau Tibbs, a character in Goldsmith's "Citizen of the World," noted for his finery, vanity, and poverty.
Beaucaire (8), a French town near Avignon, on the Rhône, which it spans with a magnificent bridge; once a great centre of trade, and famous, as it still is, for its annual fair, frequented by merchants from all parts of Europe.
Beauchamp, Alphonse de, a historian, born at Monaco; wrote the "Conquest of Peru," "History of Brazil," &c. (1769-1832).
Beauclerk, Henry I. of England, so called from his superior learning.
Beauclerk, Topham, a young English nobleman, the only son of Lord Sydney Beauclerk, a special favourite of Johnson's, who, when he died, lamented over him, as one whose like the world might seldom see again (1759-1780).
Beaufort, Duke of, grandson of Henry IV. of France; one of the chiefs of the Fronde; was surnamed Roi des Halles (King of the Market-folk); appointed admiral of France; did good execution against the pirates; passed into the service of Venice; was killed at the siege of Candia in 1669.
Beaufort, Henry, cardinal, bishop of Winchester, son of John of Gaunt, learned in canon law, was several times chancellor; took a prominent part in all the political movements of the time, exerted an influence for good on the nation, lent immense sums to Henry V. and Henry VI., also left bequests for charitable uses, and founded the hospital of St. Cross at Winchester (1377-1447).
Beauhar`nais, Alexandre, Vicomte de, born at Martinique, where he married a lady who, afterwards as wife of Napoleon, became the Empress Joséphine; accepted and took part in the Revolution; was secretary of the National Assembly; coolly remarked, on the news of the flight of the king, "The king's gone off; let us pass to the next business of the House"; was convicted of treachery to the cause of the Revolution and put to death; as the father of Hortense, who married Louis, Napoleon's brother, he became grandfather of Napoleon III. (1760-1794).
Beauharnais, Eugene de, son of the preceding and of Joséphine, born at Paris, step-son of Napoleon, therefore was made viceroy of Italy; took an active part in the wars of the empire; died at Münich, whither he retired after the fall of Napoleon (1781-1824).
Beauharnais, Hortense Eugenie, sister of the preceding, ex-queen of Holland; wife of Louis Bonaparte, an ill-starred union; mother of Napoleon III., the youngest of three sons (1783-1837).
Beaumar`chais, Pierre Augustin Caron de, a dramatist and pleader of the most versatile, brilliant gifts, and French to the core, born in Paris, son of a watchmaker at Caen; ranks as a comic dramatist next to Molière; author of "Le Barbier de Seville" (1775), and "Le Mariage de Figaro" (1784), his masterpiece; astonished the world by his conduct of a lawsuit he had, for which "he fought against reporters, parliaments, and principalities, with light banter, clear logic, adroitly, with an inexhaustible toughness of resource, like the skilfullest fencer." He was a zealous supporter of the Revolution, and made sacrifices on its behalf, but narrowly escaped the guillotine; died in distress and poverty. Of the two plays he wrote, Saintsbury says, "The wit is indisputable, but his chansons contain as much wit as the Figaro plays." He made a fortune by speculations in the American war, and lost by others, one of them being the preparation of a sumptuous edition of Voltaire. For the culmination and decline, as well as appreciation, of him, see the "French Revolution," by Carlyle (1732-1799).
Bauma`ris, principal town in Anglesea, Wales, on the Menai Strait, near Bangor, a favourite watering-place, with remains of a castle erected by Edward I.
Beaumont, Christophe de, archbishop of Paris, born at Périgord, "spent his life in persecuting hysterical Jansenists and incredulous non-confessors"; but scrupled to grant, though he fain would have granted, absolution on his deathbed to the dissolute monarch of France, Louis XV.; issued a charge condemnatory of Rousseau's "Émile," which provoked a celebrated letter from Rousseau in reply (1703-1781).
Beaumont, Francis, dramatic poet, born in Leicestershire, of a family of good standing; bred for the bar, but devoted to literature; was a friend of Ben Jonson; in conjunction with his friend Fletcher, the composer of a number of plays, about the separate authorship of which there has been much discussion, the dramatic power of which comes far short of that so conspicuous in the plays of their great contemporary Shakespeare, though it is said contemporary criticism gave them the preference (1585-1615).
Beaumont, Jean Baptiste Élie de, French geologist, born in Calvados; became secretary to the Academy of Sciences; was joint-editor of a geological map of France. He had a theory of his own of the formation of the crust of the earth (1798-1874).
Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant, American Confederate general, born at New Orleans; adopted the cause of the South, and fought in its behalf (1818-1893).
Beaurepaire, a French officer, noted for his noble defence of Verdun against the Prussians; preferred death by suicide to the dishonour of surrender (1748-1792).
Beausobre, Isaac, a Huguenot divine, born at Poitou; fled to Holland on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, settled in Berlin, and became a notability in high quarters there; attracted the notice of the young Frederick, the Great that was to be, who sought introduction to him, and the young Frederick "got good conversation out of him"; author of a "History of Manichæism," praised by Gibbon, and of other books famous in their day, a translation of the New Testament for one (1659-1738).
Beautiful Parricide, Beatrice Cenci (q. v.).
Beauty and the Beast, the hero and heroine of a famous fairy tale. Beauty falls in love with a being like a monster, who has, however, the heart of a man, and she marries him, upon which he is instantly transformed into a prince of handsome presence and noble mien.
Beauvais (19), capital of the dep. of Oise, in France, 34 in. SW. of Amiens, an ancient town, noted for its cathedral, its tapestry weaving, and the feat of Jeanne-Hachette and her female following when the town was besieged by Charles the Bold.
Beauvais, a French prelate, born at Cherbourg, Bishop of Senez, celebrated as a pulpit orator (1731-1790).
Beauvillier, a statesman, patron of letters, to whom Louis XIV. committed the governorship of his sons; died of a broken heart due to the shock the death of the dauphin gave him (1607-1687).
Bebek Bay, a fashionable resort on the Bosphorus, near Constantinople, and with a palace of the sultan.
Beccafumi, Domenico, one of the best painters of the Sienese school, distinguished also as a sculptor and a worker in mosaic (1486-1550).
Becca`ria, Cæsare Bonesana, Marquis of, an Italian publicist, author of a celebrated "Treatise on Crimes and Punishments," which has been widely translated, and contributed much to lessen the severity of sentences in criminal cases. He was a utilitarian in philosophy and a disciple of Rousseau in politics.
Beche-de-mer, a slug, called also the trepang, procured on the coral reefs of the Pacific, which is dried and eaten as a dainty by the Chinese.
Becher, Johann Joachim, chemist, born at Spires; distinguished as a pioneer in the scientific study of chemistry (1635-1682).
Bechstein, a German naturalist, wrote "Natural History of Cage Birds" (1757-1822).
Bechuana-land, an inland tract in S. Africa, extends from the Orange River to the Zambesi; has German territory on the W., the Transvaal and Matabele-land on the E. The whole country is under British protection; that part which is S. of the river Molopo was made a crown colony in 1885. On a plateau 4000 ft. above sea-level, the climate is suited for British emigrants. The soil is fertile; extensive tracts are suitable for corn; sheep and cattle thrive; rains fall in summer; in winter there are frosts, sometimes snow. The Kalahari Desert in the W. will be habitable when sufficient wells are dug. Gold is found near Sitlagoli, and diamonds at Vryburg. The Bechuanas are the most advanced of the black races of S. Africa.
Bechua`nas, a wide-spread S. African race, totemists, rearers of cattle, and growers of maize; are among the most intelligent of the Bantu peoples, and show considerable capacity for self-government.
Becker, Karl, German philologist; bred to medicine; author of a German grammar (1775-1842).
Becker, Nicolaus, author of the "Wacht am Rhein," was an obscure lawyer's clerk, and unnoted for anything else (1810-1845).
Becker, William Adolphe, an archæologist, born at Dresden; was professor at Leipzig; wrote books in reproductive representation of ancient Greek and Roman life; author of "Manual of Roman Antiquities" (1796-1846).
Becket, Thomas a, archbishop of Canterbury, born in London, of Norman parentage; studied at Oxford and Bologna; entered the Church; was made Lord Chancellor; had a large and splendid retinue, but on becoming archbishop, cast all pomp aside and became an ascetic, and devoted himself to the vigorous discharge of the duties of his high office; declared for the independence of the Church, and refused to sign the Constitutions of Clarendon (q. v.); King Henry II. grew restive under his assumption of authority, and got rid of him by the hands of four knights who, to please the king, shed his blood on the steps of the altar of Canterbury Cathedral, for which outrage the king did penance four years afterwards at his tomb. The struggle was one affecting the relative rights of Church and king, and the chief combatants in the fray were both high-minded men, each inflexible in the assertion of his claims (1119-1170).
Beckford, William, author of "Vathek," son of a rich alderman of London, who bequeathed him property to the value of £100,000 per annum; kept spending his fortune on extravagancies and vagaries; wrote "Vathek," an Arabian tale, when a youth of twenty-two, at a sitting of three days and two nights, a work which established his reputation as one of the first of the imaginative writers of his country. He wrote two volumes of travels in Italy, but his fame rests on his "Vathek" alone (1759-1844).
Beckmann, a professor at Göttingen; wrote "History of Discoveries and Inventions" (1738-1811).
Beckx, Peter John, general of the Jesuits, born in Belgium (1790-1887).
Becquerel, Antoine Cæsar, a French physicist; served as engineer in the French army in 1808-14, but retired in 1815, devoting himself to science, and obtained high distinction in electro-chemistry, working with Ampère, Biot, and other eminent scientists (1788-1878).
Bed of Justice, a formal session of the Parlement of Paris, under the presidency of the king, for the compulsory registration of the royal edicts, the last session being in 1787, under Louis XVI., at Versailles, whither the whole body, now "refractory, rolled out, in wheeled vehicles, to receive the order of the king."
Bedchamber, Lords or Ladies of, officers or ladies of the royal household whose duty it is to wait upon the sovereign—the chief of the former called Groom of the Stole, and of the latter, Mistress of the Robes.
Beddoes, Thomas Lovell, born at Clifton, son of Thomas Beddoes; an enthusiastic student of science; a dramatic poet, author of "Bride's Tragedy"; got into trouble for his Radical opinions; his principal work, "Death's Jest-Book, or the Fool's Tragedy," highly esteemed by Barry Cornwall (1803-1849).
Bede, or Beda, surnamed "The Venerable," an English monk and ecclesiastical historian, born at Monkwearmouth, in the abbey of which, together with that of Jarrow, he spent his life, devoted to quiet study and learning; his writings numerous, in the shape of commentaries, biographies, and philosophical treatises; his most important work, the "Ecclesiastical History" of England, written in Latin, and translated by Alfred the Great; completed a translation of John's Gospel the day he died. An old monk, it is said, wrote this epitaph over his grave, Hac sunt in fossâ Bedæ ... ossa, "In this pit are the bones ... of Beda," and then fell asleep; but when he awoke he found some invisible hand had inserted venerabilis in the blank which he had failed to fill up, whence Bede's epinomen it is alleged.
Bedell, bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh, born in Essex; studied at Cambridge; superintended the translation of the Old Testament into Irish; though his virtues saved him and his family for a time from outrage by the rebels in 1641, he was imprisoned at the age of 70, and though released, died soon after (1571-1642).
Bedford (160), a midland agricultural county of England, generally level, with some flat fen-land; also the county town (28), on the Great Ouse, clean and well paved, with excellent educational institutions, famous in connection with the life of John Bunyan, where relics of him are preserved, and where a bronze statue of him by Boehm has been erected to his memory by the Duke of Bedford in 1871; manufactures agricultural implements, lace, and straw plaiting; Elstow, Bunyan's birthplace, is not far off.
Bedford, John, Duke of, brother of Henry V., protector of the kingdom and regent of France during the minority of Henry VI., whom, on the death of the French king, he proclaimed King of France, taking up arms thereafter and fighting for a time victoriously on his behalf, till the enthusiasm created by Joan of Arc turned the tide against him and hastened his death, previous to which, however, though he prevailed over the dauphin, and burnt Joan at the stake, his power had gone (1389-1435).
Bedford Level, a flat marshy district, comprising part of six counties, to the S. and W. of the Wash, about 40 m. in extent each way, caused originally by incursions of the sea and the overflowing of rivers; received its name from the Earl of Bedford, who, in the 17th century, undertook to drain it.
Bedlam, originally a lunatic asylum in London, so named from the priory "Bethlehem" in Bishopsgate, first appropriated to the purpose, Bedlam being a corruption of the name Bethlehem.
Bedmar, Marquis de, cardinal and bishop of Oviedo, and a Spanish diplomatist, notorious for a part he played in a daring conspiracy in 1618 aimed at the destruction of Venice, but which, being betrayed, was defeated, for concern in which several people were executed, though the arch-delinquent got off; he is the subject of Otway's "Venice Preserved"; it was after this he was made cardinal, and governor of the Netherlands, where he was detested and obliged to retire (1572-1655).
Bedouins, Arabs who lead a nomadic life in the desert and subsist by the pasture of cattle and the rearing of horses, the one element that binds them into a unity being community of language, the Arabic namely, which they all speak with great purity and without variation of dialect; they are generally of small stature, of wiry constitution, and dark complexion, and are divided into tribes, each under an independent chief.
Bee, The, a periodical started by Goldsmith, in which some of his best essays appeared, and his "Citizen of the World."
Beecher, Henry Ward, a celebrated American preacher, born at Litchfield, Connecticut; pastor of a large Congregational church, Brooklyn; a vigorous thinker and eloquent orator, a liberal man both in theology and politics; wrote "Life Thoughts"; denied the eternity of punishment, considered a great heresy by some then, and which led to his secession from the Congregational body (1813-1887).
Beecher-Stowe, Harriet Elizabeth, sister of the above, authoress of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," of which probably over a million copies have been sold. Born at Litchfield, Connecticut, U.S.A., in 1812; d. 1896.
Beechy, Rear-Admiral, born in London, son of the following; accompanied Franklin in 1818 and Parry in 1819 to the Arctic regions; commanded the Blossom in the third expedition of 1825-1828 to the same regions; published "Voyage of Discovery towards the North Pole" (1796-1856).
Beechy, Sir William, portrait-painter, born in Oxfordshire; among his portraits were those of Lord Nelson, John Kemble, and Mrs. Siddons (1753-1839).
Beef-eaters, yeomen of the royal guard, whose institution dates from the reign of Henry VII., and whose office it is to wait upon royalty on high occasions; the name is also given to the warders of the Tower, though they are a separate body and of more recent origin; the name simply means (royal) dependant, a corruption of the French word buffetier, one who attends the sideboard.
Beehive houses, small stone structures, of ancient date, remains of which are found (sometimes in clusters) in Ireland and the W. of Scotland, with a conical roof formed of stones overlapping one another, undressed and without mortar; some of them appear to have been monks' cells.
Beel`zebub, the god of flies, protector against them, worshipped by the Phoenicians; as being a heathen deity, transformed by the Jews into a chief of the devils; sometimes identified with Satan, and sometimes his aide-de-camp.
Beerbohm Tree, Herbert, actor, born in London, son of a grain merchant; his first appearance was as the timid curate in the "Private Secretary," and then as the spy Macari in "Called Back"; is lessee of the Haymarket Theatre, London, and has had many notable successes; he is accompanied by his wife, who is a refined actress; b. 1852.
Beer`sheba, a village in the S. of Canaan, and the most southerly, 27 m. from Hebron; associated with Dan, in the N., to denote the limit of the land and what lies between; lies in a pastoral country abounding in wells, and is frequently mentioned in patriarchal history; means "the Well of the Oath."
Beeswing, a gauze-like film which forms on the sides of a bottle of good port.
Beethoven, Ludwig von, one of the greatest musical composers, born in Bonn, of Dutch extraction; the author of symphonies and sonatas that are known over all the world; showed early a most precocious genius for music, commenced his education at five as a musician; trained at first by a companion named Pfeiffer, to whom he confessed he owed more than all his teachers; trained at length under the tuition of the most illustrious of his predecessors, Bach and Händel; revealed the most wonderful musical talent; quitted Bonn and settled in Vienna; attracted the attention of Mozart; at the age of 40 was attacked with deafness that became total and lasted for life; continued to compose all the same, to the admiration of thousands; during his last days was a prey to melancholy; during a thunderstorm he died. Goethe pronounced him at his best "an utterly untamed character, not indeed wrong in finding the world detestable, though his finding it so did not," he added, "make it more enjoyable to himself or to others" (1770-1827).
Beets, Nicolas, a Dutch theologian and poet, born at Haarlem; came, as a poet, under the influence of Byronism; b. 1814.
Befa`na, an Italian female Santa Claus, who on Twelfth Night fills the stockings of good children with good things, and those of bad with ashes.
Begg, James, Scotch ecclesiastic, born at New Monkland, Lanark; was a stalwart champion of old Scottish orthodoxy, and the last (1808-1883).
Beghards, a religious order that arose in Belgium in the 13th century, connected with the Beguins, a mystic and socialistic sect.
Beguins, a sisterhood confined now to France and Germany, who, without taking any monastic vow, devote themselves to works of piety and benevolence.
Begum, name given in the E. Indies to a princess, mother, sister, or wife of a native ruler.
Behaim, Martin, a geographer and chartographer, born in Nüremberg; accompanied Diego Cam on a voyage of discovery along W. coast of Africa; constructed and left behind him a famous terrestrial globe; some would make him out to be the discoverer of America (1459-1507).
Behar (24,393), a province of Bengal, in the valley of the Ganges, which divides it into two; densely peopled; cradle of Buddhism.
Behe`moth, a large animal mentioned in Job, understood to be the hippopotamus.
Behis`tun, a mountain in Irak-Ajemi, a prov. of Persia, on which there are rocks covered with inscriptions, the principal relating to Darius Hystaspes, of date about 515 B.C., bearing on his genealogy, domains, and victories.
Behm, Ernst, a German geographer, born in Gotha (1830-1884).
Behn, Afra, a licentious writer, born in Kent, for whom, for her free and easy ways, Charles II. took a liking; sent by him as a spy to Holland, and through her discovered the intention of the Dutch to burn the shipping in the Thames. She wrote plays and novels (1640-1689).
Behring Strait, a strait about 50 m. wide between Asia and N. America, which connects the Arctic Ocean with the Pacific; discovered by the Danish navigator Vitus Behring in 1728, sent out on a voyage of discovery by Peter the Great.
Beira (1,377), a central province of Portugal, mountainous and pastoral; gives title to the heir-apparent to the Portuguese throne.
Beke, Dr., traveller, born in London; travelled in Abyssinia and Palestine; author of "Origines Biblicæ," or researches into primeval history as shown not to be in keeping with the orthodox belief.
Bekker, Immanuel, philologist, born in Berlin, and professor in Halle; classical textual critic; issued recensions of the Greek and Latin classics (1780-1871).
Bel and the Dragon, History of, one of the books of the Apocrypha, a spurious addition to the book of Daniel, relates how Daniel persuaded Cyrus of the vanity of idol-worship, and is intended to show its absurdity.
Bela I., king of Hungary from 1061 to 1063; an able ruler; introduced a great many measures for the permanent benefit of the country, affecting both religion and social organisation.
Bela IV., king of Hungary, son of Andreas II., who had in 1222 been compelled to sign the Golden Bull, the Magna Charta of Hungarian liberty; faithfully respected the provisions of this charter, and incurred the enmity of the nobles by his strenuous efforts to subdue them to the royal power.
Belch, Sir Toby, a reckless, jolly, swaggering character in "Twelfth Night."
Belcher, Sir Edward, admiral, was engaged in several exploring and surveying expeditions; sailed round the world, and took part in the operations in China (1812-1877).
Belfast (256), county town of Antrim, and largest and most flourishing city in the N. of Ireland; stands on the Lagan, at the head of Belfast Lough, 100 m. N. of Dublin; is a bright and pleasant city, with some fine streets and handsome buildings, Presbyterian, Catholic, and Methodist colleges. It is the centre of the Irish linen and cotton manufactures, the most important shipbuilding centre, and has also rope-making, whisky, and aerated-water industries. Its foreign trade is larger than even Dublin's. It is the capital of Ulster, and head-quarters of Presbyterianism in Ireland.
Belfort (83), a fortified town in dep. of Haut-Rhin, and is its capital, 35 m. W. by N. of Basel; capitulated to the Germans in 1870; restored to France; its fortifications now greatly strengthened. The citadel was by Vauban.
Belgæ, Cæsar's name for the tribes of the Celtic family in Gaul N. of the Seine and Marne; mistakenly rated as Germans by Cæsar.
Belgium (6,136), a small European State bordering on the North Sea, with Holland to the N., France to the S., and Rhenish Prussia and Luxemburg on the E.; is less than a third the size of Ireland, but it is the most densely populated country on the Continent. The people are of mixed stock, comprising Flemings, of Teutonic origin; Walloons, of Celtic origin; Germans, Dutch, and French. Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion. Education is excellent; there are universities at Ghent, Liège, Brussels, and Louvain. French is the language of educated circles and of the State; but the prevalence of dialects hinders the growth of a national literature. The land is low and level and fertile in the N. and W., undulating in the middle, rocky and hilly in the S. and E. The Meuse and Scheldt are the chief rivers, the basin of the latter embracing most of the country. Climate is similar to the English, with greater extremes. Rye, wheat, oats, beet, and flax are the principal crops. Agriculture is the most painstaking and productive of the world. The hilly country is rich in coal, iron, zinc, and lead. After mining, the chief industries are textile manufactures and making of machinery: the former at Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels, and Liège; the latter at Liège, Mons, and Charleroi. The trade is enormous; France, Germany, and Britain are the best customers. Exports are coal to France; farm products, eggs, &c., to England; and raw material imported from across seas, to France and the basin of the Rhine. It is a small country of large cities. The capital is Brussels (480), in the centre of the kingdom, but communicating with the ocean by a ship canal. The railways, canals, and river navigation are very highly developed. The government is a limited monarchy; the king, senate, and house of representatives form the constitution. There is a conscript army of 50,000 men, but no navy. Transferred from Spain to Austria in 1713. Belgium was under French sway from 1794 till 1814, when it was united with Holland, but established its independence in 1830.
Belgrade (54), the capital of Servia, on the confluence of the Save and Danube; a fortified city in an important strategical position, and the centre of many conflicts; a commercial centre; once Turkish in appearance, now European more and more.
Belgra`via, a fashionable quarter in the southern part of the West End of London.
Belial, properly a good-for-nothing, a child of worthlessness; an incarnation of iniquity and son of perdition, and the name in the Bible for the children of such.
Belief, a word of various application, but properly definable as that which lies at the heart of a man or a nation's convictions, or is the heart and soul of all their thoughts and actions, "the thing a man does practically lay to heart, and know for certain concerning his vital relations to this mysterious universe, and his duty and destiny there."
Belinda, Arabella Fermor, the heroine in Pope's "Rape of the Lock."
Belisa`rius, a general under the Emperor Justinian, born in Illyria; defeated the Persians, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths; was falsely accused of conspiracy, but acquitted, and restored to his dignities by the emperor; though another tradition, now discredited, alleges that for the crimes charged against him he had his eyes put out, and was reduced to beggary (505-565).
Belize, British Honduras, a fertile district, and its capital (6); exports mahogany, rosewood, sugar, india-rubber, &c.
Bell, Acton. See Brontë.
Bell, Andrew, LL.D., educationist, born at St. Andrews; founder of the Monitorial system of education, which he had adopted, for want of qualified assistants, when in India as superintendent of an orphanage in Madras, so that his system was called "the Madras system"; returned from India with a large fortune, added to it by lucrative preferments, and bequeathed a large portion of it, some £120,000, for the endowment of education in Scotland, and the establishment of schools, such as the Madras College in his native city (1753-1832).
Bell, Bessy, and Mary Gray, the "twa bonnie lassies" of a Scotch ballad, daughters of two Perthshire gentlemen, who in 1666 built themselves a bower in a spot retired from a plague then raging; supplied with food by a lad in love with both of them, who caught the plague and gave it to them, of which they all sickened and died.
Bell, Book, and Candle, a ceremony at one time attending the greater excommunication in the Romish Church, when after sentence was read from the "book," a "bell" was rung, and the "candle" extinguished.
Bell, Currer. See Brontë.
Bell, Ellis. See Brontë.
Bell, George Joseph, a brother of Sir Charles, distinguished in law; author of "Principles of the Law of Scotland" (1770-1843).
Bell, Henry, bred a millwright, born in Linlithgowshire; the first who applied steam to navigation in Europe, applying it in a small steamboat called the Comet, driven by a three horse-power engine (1767-1830).
Bell, Henry Glassford, born in Glasgow, a lawyer and literary man, sheriff of Lanarkshire; wrote a vindication of Mary, Queen of Scots, and some volumes of poetry (1803-1874).
Bell, John, of Antermony, a physician, born at Campsie; accompanied Russian embassies to Persia and China; wrote "Travels in Asia," which were much appreciated for their excellency of style (1690-1780).
Bell, Peter, Wordsworth's simple rustic, to whom the primrose was but a yellow flower and nothing more.
Bell, Robert, journalist and miscellaneous writer, born at Cork; edited "British Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper," his best-known work, which he annotated, and accompanied with careful memoirs of each (1800-1867).
Bell, Sir Charles, an eminent surgeon and anatomist, born in Edinburgh, where he became professor of Surgery; distinguished chiefly for his discoveries in connection with the nervous system, which he published in his "Anatomy of the Brain" and his "Nervous System," and which gained him European fame; edited, along with Lord Brougham, Paley's "Evidences of Natural Religion" (1774-1842).
Bell, Thomas, a naturalist, born at Poole; professor of Zoology in King's College, London; author of "British Quadrupeds" and "British Reptiles," "British Stalk-eyed Crustacea," and editor of "White's Natural History of Selborne" (1792-1880).
Bell Rock, or Inchcape Rock, a dangerous reef of sandstone rocks in the German Ocean, 12 m. SE. of Arbroath, on which a lighthouse 120 ft. high was erected in 1807-10; so called from a bell rung by the sway of the waves, which the abbot of Arbroath erected on it at one time as a warning to seamen.
Bell-the-Cat, Archibald Douglas, Earl of Arran, so called from his offer to dispose by main force of an obnoxious favourite of the king, James III.
Bella, Stephano della, a Florentine engraver of great merit, engraved over 1000 plates; was patronised by Richelieu in France, and the Medici in Florence (1610-1664).
Bell`amy, Jacob, a Dutch poet, born at Flushing; his poems highly esteemed by his countrymen (1752-1821).
Bellange, a celebrated painter of battle-pieces, born at Paris (1800-1866).
Bellar`mine, Robert, cardinal, born in Tuscany; a learned Jesuit, controversial theologian, and in his writings, which are numerous, a valiant defender at all points of Roman Catholic dogma; the greatest champion of the Church in his time, and regarded as such by the Protestant theologians; he was at once a learned man and a doughty polemic (1542-1621).
Bellay, Joachim du, French poet; author of sonnets entitled "Regrets," full of vigour and poetry; wrote the "Antiquités de Rome"; was called the Apollo of the Pléiade, the best poet and the best prose-writer among them (1524-1560).
Belle France, (i. e. Beautiful France), a name of endearment applied to France, like that of "Merry" applied to England.
Belle-Isle (60), a fortified island on the W. coast of France, near which Sir Edward Hawke gained a brilliant naval victory over the French, under M. de Conflans, in 1759.
Belleisle, Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, Count of, marshal of France; distinguished in the war of the Spanish Succession; an ambitious man, mainly to blame for the Austrian Succession war; had grand schemes in his head, no less than the supremacy in Europe and the world of France, warranting the risk; expounded them to Frederick the Great; concluded a fast and loose treaty with him, which could bind no one; found himself blocked up in Prague with his forces; had to force his way out and retreat, but it was a retreat the French boast comparable only to the retreat of the Ten Thousand; was made War Minister after, and wrought important reforms in the army (1684-1761). See Carlyle's "Frederick" for a graphic account of him and his schemes, specially in Bk. xii. chap. ix.
Bellenden, John, of Moray, a Scottish writer in the 16th century; translated, at the request of James V., Hector Boece's "History of Scotland," and the first five books of Livy, which remain the earliest extant specimens of Scottish prose, and remarkable specimens they are, for the execution of which he was well rewarded, being made archdeacon of Moray for one thing, though he died in exile; d. 1550.
Bellenden, William, a Scottish writer, distinguished for diplomatic services to Queen Mary, and for the purity of his Latin composition; a professor of belles-lettres in Paris University (1550-1613).
Beller`ophon, a mythical hero, son of Glaucus and grandson of Sisyphus; having unwittingly caused the death of his brother, withdrew from his country and sought retreat with Proetus, king of Argos, who, becoming jealous of his guest, but not willing to violate the laws of hospitality, had him sent to Iobates, his son-in-law, king of Lycia, with instructions to put him to death. Iobates, in consequence, imposed upon him the task of slaying the Chimæra, persuaded that this monster would be the death of him. Bellerophon, mounted on Pegasus, the winged horse given him by Pallas, slew the monster, and on his return received the daughter of Iobates to wife.
Bellerophon, Letters of, name given to letters fraught with mischief to the bearer. See supra.
Belles-lettres, that department of literature which implies literary culture and belongs to the domain of art, whatever the subject may be or the special form; it includes poetry, the drama, fiction, and criticism.
Belleville, a low suburb of Paris, included in it since 1860; the scene of one of the outrages of the Communists.
Belliard, Comte de, a French general and diplomatist; fought in most of the Napoleonic wars, but served under the Bourbons on Napoleon's abdication; was serviceable to Louis Philippe in Belgium by his diplomacy (1769-1832).
Belli`ni, the name of an illustrious family of Venetian painters.
Bellini, Gentile, the son of Jacopo Bellini, was distinguished as a portrait-painter; decorated along with his brother the council-chamber of the ducal palace; his finest picture the "Preaching of St. Mark" (1421-1508).
Bellini, Giovanni, brother of the preceding, produced a great many works; the subjects religious, all nobly treated; had Giorgione and Titian for pupils; among his best works, the "Circumcision," "Feast of the Gods," "Blood of the Redeemer"; did much to promote painting in oil (1426-1516).
Bellini, Jacopo, a painter from Florence who settled in Venice, the father and founder of the family; d. 1470.
Bellini, Vincenzo, a musical composer, born at Catania, Sicily; his works operas, more distinguished for their melody than their dramatic power; the best are "Il Pirati," "La Somnambula," "Norma," and "Il Puritani" (1802-1835).
Bellmann, the poet of Sweden, a man of true genius, called the "Anacreon of Sweden," patronised by Gustavus Adolphus (1741-1795).
Bello`na, the goddess of fury in war among the Romans, related by the poets to Mars as sister, wife, or daughter; inspirer of the war-spirit, and represented as armed with a bloody scourge in one hand and a torch in the other.
Bellot, Joseph René, a naval officer, born in Paris, distinguished in the expedition of 1845 to Madagascar, and one of those who went in quest of Sir John Franklin; drowned while crossing the ice (1826-1853).
Belloy, a French poet, born at St. Flour; author of "Le Siège du Calais" and numerous other dramatic works (1727-1775).
Belon, Pierre, a French naturalist, one of the founders of natural history, and one of the precursors of Cuvier; wrote in different departments of natural history, the chief, "Natural History of Birds"; murdered by robbers while gathering plants in the Bois de Boulogne (1518-1564).
Bel`phegor, a Moabite divinity.
Belphoebe (i. e. Beautiful Diana), a huntress in the "Faërie Queene," the impersonation of Queen Elizabeth, conceived of, however, as a pure, high-spirited maiden, rather than a queen.
Belsham, Thomas, a Unitarian divine, originally Calvinist, born at Bedford; successor to the celebrated Priestley at Hackney, London; wrote an elementary work on psychology (1750-1829).
Belshazzar, the last Chaldean king of Babylon, slain, according to the Scripture account, at the capture of the city by Cyrus in 538 B.C.
Belt, Great and Little, gateways of the Baltic: the Great between Zealand and Fünen, 15 m. broad; the Little, between Fünen and Jutland, half as broad; both 70 m. long, the former of great depth.
Belt of Calms, the region in the Atlantic and Pacific, 4° or 5° latitude broad, where the trade-winds meet and neutralise each other, in which, however, torrents of rain and thunder-storms occur almost daily.
Beltane, or Beltein, an ancient Celtic festival connected with the sun-worship, observed about the 1st of May and the 1st of November, during which fires were kindled on the tops of hills, and various ceremonies gone through.
Belted Will, name given to Lord William Howard, warden in the 16th and 17th centuries of the Western Marches of England.
Belu`chistan (200 to 400), a desert plateau lying between Persia and India, Afghanistan and the Arabian Sea; is crossed by many mountain ranges, the Suliman, in the N., rising to 12,000 ft. Rivers in the NE. are subject to great floods. The centre and W. is a sandy desert exposed to bitter winds in winter and sand-storms in summer. Fierce extremes of temperature prevail. There are few cattle, but sheep are numerous; the camel is the draught animal. Where there is water the soil is fertile, and crops of rice, cotton, indigo, sugar, and tobacco are raised; in the higher parts, wheat, maize, and pulse. Both precious and useful metals are found; petroleum wells were discovered in the N. in 1887. The population comprises Beluchis, robber nomads of Aryan stock, in the E. and W., and Mongolian Brahuis in the centre. All are Mohammedan. Kelat is the capital; its position commands all the caravan routes. Quetta, in the N., is a British stronghold and health resort. The Khan of Kelat is the ruler of the country and a vassal of the Queen.
Be`lus, another name for Baal (q. v.), or the legendary god of Assyria and Chaldea.
Bel`vedere, name given a gallery of the Vatican at Rome, especially that containing the famous statue of Apollo, and applied to picture-galleries elsewhere.
Belzo`ni, Giovanni Battista, a famous traveller and explorer in Egypt, born at Padua, of poor parents; a man of great stature; figured as an athlete in Astley's Circus, London, and elsewhere, first of all in London streets; applied himself to the study of mechanics; visited Egypt as a mechanician and engineer at the instance of Mehemet Ali; commenced explorations among its antiquities, sent to the British Museum trophies of his achievements; published a narrative of his operations; opened an exhibition of his collection of antiquities in London and Paris; undertook a journey to Timbuctoo, was attacked with dysentery, and died at Gato (1778-1823).
Bem, Joseph, a Polish general, born in Galicia; served in the French army against Russia in 1812; took part in the insurrection of 1830; joined the Hungarians in 1848; gained several successes against Austria and Russia, but was defeated at Temesvar; turned Mussulman, and was made pasha; died at Aleppo, where he had gone to suppress an Arab insurrection; he was a good soldier and a brave man (1791-1850).
Bemba, a lake in Africa, the highest feeder of the Congo, of an oval shape, 150 m. long and over 70 m. broad, 3000 ft. above the sea-level.
Bembo, Pietro, cardinal, an erudite man of letters and patron of literature and the arts, born at Venice; secretary to Pope Leo X.; historiographer of Venice, and librarian of St. Mark's; made cardinal by Paul III., and bishop of Bergamo; a fastidious stylist and a stickler for purity in language (1470-1547).
Ben Lawers, a mountain in Perthshire, 3984 ft. high, on the W. of Loch Tay.
Ben Ledi, a mountain in Perthshire, 2873 ft. high, 4½ m. NW. of Callander.
Ben Lomond, a mountain in Stirlingshire, 3192 ft. high, on the E. of Loch Lomond.
Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Great Britain, in SW. Inverness-shire, 4406 ft. high, and a sheer precipice on the NE. 1500 ft. high, and with an observatory on the summit supported by the Scottish Meteorological Society.
Ben Rhydding, a village in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 15 m. NW. of Leeds, with a thoroughly equipped hydropathic establishment, much resorted to.
Benares (219), the most sacred city of the Hindus, and an important town in the NW. Provinces; is on the Ganges, 420 m. by rail NW. of Calcutta. It presents an amazing array of 1700 temples and mosques with towers and domes and minarets innumerable. The bank of the river is laid with continuous flights of steps whence the pilgrims bathe; but the city itself is narrow, crocked, crowded, and dirty. Many thousand pilgrims visit it annually. It is a seat of Hindu learning; there is also a government college. The river is spanned here by a magnificent railway bridge. There is a large trade in country produce, English goods, jewellery, and gems; while its brass-work, "Benares ware," is famous.
Benbow, John, admiral, born at Shrewsbury; distinguished himself in an action with a Barbary pirate; rose rapidly to the highest post in the navy; distinguished himself well in an engagement with a French fleet in the W. Indies; he lost a leg, and at this crisis some of his captains proved refractory, so that the enemy escaped, were tried by court-martial, and two of them shot; the wound he received and his vexation caused his death. He was a British tar to the backbone, and of a class extinct now (1653-1702).
Bencoolen, a town and a Dutch residency in SW. of Sumatra; exports pepper and camphor.
Bender, a town in Bessarabia, remarkable for the siege which Charles XII. of Sweden sustained there after his defeat at Pultowa.
Benedek, Ludwig von, an Austrian general, born in Hungary; distinguished himself in the campaigns of 1848-1849; was defeated by the Prussians at Sadowa; superseded and tried, but got off; retired to Grätz, where he died (1804-1871).
Benedetti, Count Vincent, French diplomatist, born at Bastia, in Corsica; is remembered for his draft of a treaty between France and Prussia, published in 1870, and for his repudiation of all responsibility for the Franco-German war; b. 1817.
Benedict, the name of fourteen popes: B. I., from 574 to 575; B. II., from 684 to 685; B. III., from 855 to 858; B. IV., from 900 to 907; B. V., from 964 to 965; B. VI., from 972 to 974; B. VII., from 975 to 984; B. VIII., from 1012 to 1024; extended the territory of the Church by conquest, and effected certain clerical reforms; B. IX., from 1033 to 1048, a licentious man, and deposed; B. X., from 1058 to 1059; B. XI., from 1303 to 1304; B. XII., from 1334 to 1342; B. XIII., from 1724 to 1730; B. XIV., from 1740 to 1758. Of all the popes of this name it would seem there is only one worthy of special mention.
Benedict XIV., a native of Bologna, a man of marked scholarship and ability; a patron of science and literature, who did much to purify the morals and elevate the character of the clergy, and reform abuses in the Church.
Benedict, Biscop, an Anglo-Saxon monk, born in Northumbria; made two pilgrimages to Rome; assumed the tonsure as a Benedictine monk in Provence; returned to England and founded two monasteries on the Tyne, one at Wearmouth and another at Jarrow, making them seats of learning; b. 628.
Benedict, St., the founder of Western monachism, born near Spoleto; left home at 14; passed three years as a hermit, in a cavern near Subiaco, to prepare himself for God's service; attracted many to his retreat; appointed to an abbey, but left it; founded 12 monasteries of his own; though possessed of no scholarship, composed his "Regula Monachorum," which formed the rule of his order; represented in art as accompanied by a raven with sometimes a loaf in his bill, or surrounded by thorns or by howling demons (480-543). See Benedictines.
Benedict, Sir Julius, musician and composer, native of Stuttgart; removed to London in 1835; author of, among other pieces, the "Gipsy's Warning," the "Brides of Venice," and the "Crusaders"; conducted the performance of "Elijah" in which Jenny Lind made her first appearance before a London audience, and accompanied her as pianist to America in 1850 (1806-1885).
Benedictines, the order of monks founded by St. Benedict and following his rule, the cradle of which was the celebrated monastery of Monte Casino, near Naples, an institution which reckoned among its members a large body of eminent men, who in their day rendered immense service to both literature and science, and were, in fact, the only learned class of the Middle Ages; spent their time in diligently transcribing manuscripts, and thus preserving for posterity the classic literature of Greece and Rome.
Benedictus, part of the musical service at Mass in the Roman Catholic Church; has been introduced into the morning service of the English Church.
Benefit of Clergy, exemption of the persons of clergymen from criminal process before a secular judge.
Be`neke, Friedrich Eduard, a German philosopher and professor in Berlin of the so-called empirical school, that is, the Baconian; an opponent of the methods and systems of Kant and Hegel; confined his studies to psychology and the phenomena of consciousness; was more a British thinker than a German (1798-1854).
Benenge`li, an imaginary Moorish author, whom Cervantes credits with the story of "Don Quixote."
Bénetier, the vessel for holding the holy water in Roman Catholic churches.
Benevento (20), a town 33 m. NE. of Naples, built out of and amid the ruins of an ancient one; also the province, of which Talleyrand was made prince by Napoleon.
Benevolence, the name of a forced tax exacted from the people by certain kings of England, and which, under Charles I., became so obnoxious as to occasion the demand of the Petition of Rights (q. v.), that no tax should be levied without consent of Parliament; first enforced in 1473, declared illegal in 1689.
Benfey, Theodor, Orientalist, born near Göttingen, of Jewish birth; a great Sanskrit scholar, and professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology at his native place; author of "Lexicon of Greek Roots," "Sanskrit Grammar," &c. (1809-1881).
Bengal (76,643), one of the three Indian presidencies, but more particularly a province lying in the plain of the Lower Ganges and the delta of the Ganges-Brahmaputra, with the Himalayas on the N. At the base of the mountains are great forests; along the seaboard dense jungles. The climate is hot and humid, drier at Behar, and passing through every gradation up to the snow-line. The people are engaged in agriculture, raising indigo, jute, opium, rice, tea, cotton, sugar, &c. Coal, iron, and copper mines are worked in Burdwân. The manufactures are of cotton and jute. The population is mixed in blood and speech, but Hindus speaking Bengali predominate. Education is further advanced than elsewhere; there are fine colleges affiliated to Calcutta University, and many other scholastic institutions. The capital, Calcutta, is the capital of India; the next town in size is Patna (165).
Benga`zi (7), the capital of Barca, on the Gulf of Sidra, in N. Africa, and has a considerable trade.
Bengel, Johann Albrecht, a distinguished Biblical scholar and critic, born at Würtemberg; best known by his "Gnomon Novi Testamenti," being an invaluable body of short notes on the New Testament; devoted himself to the critical study of the text of the Greek Testament (1687-1752).
Bengue`la, a fertile Portuguese territory in W. Africa, S. of Angola, with considerable mineral wealth; has sunk in importance since the suppression of the slave-trade.
Benicia, the former capital of California, 30 m. NE. of San Francisco; has a commodious harbour and a U.S. arsenal.
Beni-Hassan, a village in Middle Egypt, on the right bank of the Nile, above Minieh, with remarkable catacombs that have been excavated.
Beni-Israel (i. e. Sons of Israel), a remarkable people, few in number, of Jewish type and customs, in the Bombay Presidency, and that have existed there quite isolatedly for at least 1000 years, with a language of their own, and even some literature; they do not mingle with the Jews, but they practise similar religious observances.
Benin`, a densely populated and fertile country in W. Africa, between the Niger and Dahomey, with a city and river of the name; forms part of what was once a powerful kingdom; yields palm-oil, rice, maize, sugar, cotton, and tobacco.
Beni-souef`, a town in Middle Egypt, on the right bank of the Nile, 70 m. above Cairo; a centre of trade, with cotton-mills and quarries of alabaster.
Benjamin, Jacob's youngest son, by Rachel, the head of one of the twelve tribes, who were settled in a small fertile territory between Ephraim and Judah; the tribe to which St. Paul belonged.
Bennett, James Gordon, an American journalist, born at Keith, Scotland; trained for the Catholic priesthood; emigrated, a poor lad of 19, to America, got employment in a printing-office in Boston as proof-reader; started the New York Herald in 1835 at a low price as both proprietor and editor, an enterprise which brought him great wealth and the success he aimed at (1795-1872).
Bennett, James Gordon, son of preceding, conductor of the Herald; sent Stanley out to Africa, and supplied the funds.
Bennett, Sir Sterndale, an English musical composer and pianist, born at Sheffield, whose musical genius recommended him to Mendelssohn and Schumann; became professor of Music in Cambridge, and conductor of the Philharmonic Concerts; was president of the Royal Academy of Music (1816-1873).
Bennett, Wm., a High-Churchman, celebrated for having provoked the decision that the doctrine of the Real Presence is a dogma not inconsistent with the creed of the Church of England (1804-1886).
Ben`ningsen, Count, a Russian general, born at Brunswick; entered the Russian service under Catherine II.; was commander-in-chief at Eylau, fought at Borodino, and victoriously at Leipzig; he died at Hanover, whither he had retired on failure of his health (1745-1826).
Bentham, George, botanist, born near Plymouth, nephew of Jeremy and editor of his works, besides a writer on botany (1800-1884).
Bentham, Jeremy, a writer on jurisprudence and ethics, born in London; bred to the legal profession, but never practised it; spent his life in the study of the theory of law and government, his leading principle on both these subjects being utilitarianism, or what is called the greatest happiness principle, as the advocate of which he is chiefly remembered; a principle against which Carlyle never ceased to protest as a philosophy of man's life, but which he hailed as a sign that the crisis which must precede the regeneration of the world was come; a lower estimate, he thought, man could not form of his soul than as "a dead balance for weighing hay and thistles, pains and pleasures, &c.," an estimate of man's soul which he thinks mankind will, when it wakes up again to a sense of itself, be sure to resent and repudiate (1748-1832).
Bentinck, Lord George, statesman and sportsman, a member of the Portland family; entered Parliament as a Whig, turned Conservative on the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832; served under Sir Robert Peel; assumed the leadership of the party as a Protectionist when Sir Robert Peel became a Free-trader, towards whom he conceived a strong personal animosity; died suddenly; the memory of him owes something to the memoir of his life by Lord Beaconsfield (1802-1848).
Bentinck, Lord William Henry Cavendish, Indian statesman, governor of Madras in 1806, but recalled for an error which led to the mutiny at Vellore; but was in 1827 appointed governor-general of India, which he governed wisely, abolishing many evils, such as Thuggism and Suttee, and effecting many beneficent reforms. Macaulay held office under him. He returned to England in 1835, became member for Glasgow in 1837, and died before he made any mark on home politics (1774-1839).
Bentinck, William, a distinguished statesman, first Earl of Portland, born in Holland; a favourite, friend, and adviser of William III., whom he accompanied to England, and who bestowed on him for his services great honours and large domains, which provoked ill-will against him; retired to Holland, after the king died in his arms, but returned afterwards (1648-1709).
Bentivoglio, an Italian family of princely rank, long supreme in Bologna; B., Guido, cardinal, though a disciple of Galileo, was one of the Inquisitors-General who signed his condemnation (1579-1641).
Bentley, Richard, scholar and philologist, born in Yorkshire; from the first devoted to ancient, especially classical, learning; rose to eminence as an authority on literary criticism, his "Dissertation upon the Epistles of Phalaris," which he proved to be a forgery, commending him to the regard and esteem of all the scholars of Europe, a work which may be said to have inaugurated a new era in literary historical criticism (1662-1742).
Benuë, an affluent of the Niger, 300 m. long, falling into it 230 m. up, described by Dr. Barth and explored by Dr. Baikic, and offers great facilities for the prosecution of commerce.
Benvolio, a cantankerous, disputatious gentleman in "Romeo and Juliet."
Benyow`sky, Count, a Hungarian, fought with the Poles against Russia; taken prisoner; was exiled to Kamchatka; escaped with the governor's daughter; came to France; sent out to Madagascar; was elected king by the natives over them; fell in battle against the French (1741-1786).
Benzene, a substance compounded of carbon and hydrogen, obtained by destructive distillation from coal-tar and other organic bodies, used as a substitute for turpentine and for dissolving grease.
Benzoin, a fragrant concrete resinous juice flowing from a styrax-tree of Sumatra, used as a cosmetic, and burned as incense.
Beowulf, a very old Anglo-Saxon romance consisting of 6356 short alliterative lines, and the oldest extant in the language, recording the exploits of a mythical hero of the name, who wrestled Hercules-wise, at the cost of his life, with first a formidable monster, and then a dragon that had to be exterminated or tamed into submission before the race he belonged to could live with safety on the soil.
Béranger, Pierre Jean de, a celebrated French song-writer, born at Paris, of the lower section of the middle class, and the first of his countrymen who in that department rose to the high level of a true lyric poet; his first struggles with fortune were a failure, but Lucien Bonaparte took him up, and under his patronage a career was opened up for him; in 1815 appeared as an author, and the sensation created was immense, for the songs were not mere personal effusions, but in stirring accord with, and contributed to influence, the great passion of the nation at the time; was, as a Republican—which brought him into trouble with the Bourbons—a great admirer of Napoleon as an incarnation of the national spirit, and contributed not a little to the elevation of his nephew to the throne, though he declined all patronage at his hands, refusing all honours and appointments; has been compared to Burns, but he lacked both the fire and the humour of the Scottish poet. "His poetical works," says Professor Saintsbury, "consist entirely of chansons political, amatory, bacchanalian, satirical, philosophical after a fashion, and of almost every other complexion that the song can possibly take" (1780-1859).
Berar` (896), one of the central provinces of India, E. of Bombay; it occupies a fertile, well-watered valley, and yields large quantities of grain, and especially cotton.
Berat, Frédéric, a French poet and composer, author of a great number of popular songs (1800-1853).
Berber, native language spoken in the mountainous parts of Barbary.
Berber (8), a town in Nubia, on the Nile, occupied by the English; starting-point of caravans for the Red Sea; railway was begun to Suakim, but abandoned.
Ber`berah, the seaport of Somaliland, under Britain, with an annual fair that brings together at times as many as 30,000 people.
Berbers (3,000), a race aboriginal to Barbary and N. Africa, of a proud and unruly temper; though different from the Arab race, are of the same religion.
Berbice, the eastern division of British Guiana; produces sugar, cocoa, and timber.
Berbrugger, a French archæologist and philologist; wrote on Algiers, its history and monuments (1801-1869).
Berchta, a German Hulda, but of severer type. See Bertha.
Bercy, a commune on the right bank of the Seine, outside Paris, included in it since 1860; is the great mart for wines and brandies.
Bere`ans, a sect formed by John Barclay in 1778, who regard the Bible as the one exclusive revelation of God.
Berenger, or Berenga`rius, of Tours, a distinguished theologian, born at Tours; held an ecclesiastical office there, and was made afterwards archdeacon of Angers; ventured to deny the doctrine of transubstantiation, a denial for which he was condemned by successive councils of the Church, and which he was compelled more than once publicly to retract, though he so often and openly recalled his retractation that the pope, notwithstanding the opposition of the orthodox, deemed it prudent at length to let him alone. After this he ceased to trouble the Church, and retired to an island on the Loire, where he gave himself up to quiet meditation and prayer (998-1088).
Berenger I., king of Italy, grandson of Louis the Débonnaire, an able general; provoked the jealousy of the nobles, who dreaded the abridgment of their rights, which led to his assassination at their hands in 934. B. II., king of Italy, grandson of the preceding, was dethroned twice by the Emperor Otho, who sent him a prisoner to Bamberg, where he died, 966.
Berenger, Thomas, a French criminalist and magistrate (1785-1866).
Bereni`ce, a Jewish widow, daughter of Herod Agrippa, with whom Titus was fascinated, and whom he would have taken to wife, had not the Roman populace protested, from their Anti-Jewish prejudice, against it. The name was a common one among Egyptian as well as Jewish princesses.
Beresford, William Carr, Viscount, an English general, natural son of the first Marquis of Waterford; distinguished himself in many a military enterprise, and particularly in the Peninsular war, for which he was made a peer; he was a member of the Wellington administration, and master-general of the ordnance (1770-1854).
Beresi`na, a Russian river, affluent of the Dnieper, into which it falls after a course of 350 m.; it is serviceable as a water conveyance for large rafts of timber to the open sea, and is memorable for the disastrous passage of the French in their retreat from Moscow in 1812.
Berezov`, a town in Siberia, in the government of Tobolsk; a place of banishment.
Berg, Duchy of, on right bank of the Rhine, between Düsseldorf and Cologne, now part of Prussia; Murat was grand-duke of it by Napoleon's appointment.
Ber`gamo (42), a Lombard town, in a province of the same name, and 34 m. NE. of Milan, with a large annual fair in August, the largest in Italy; has grindstone quarries in the neighbourhood.
Bergasse, French jurisconsult, born at Lyons; celebrated for his quarrel with Beaumarchais; author of an "Essay on Property" (1750-1832).
Bergen (52), the old capital of Norway, on a fjord of the name, open to the Gulf Stream, and never frozen; the town, consisting of wooden houses, is built on a slope on which the streets reach down to the sea, and has a picturesque appearance; the trade, which is considerable, is in fish and fish products; manufactures gloves, porcelain, leather, etc.; the seat of a bishop, and has a cathedral.
Bergen-op-Zoom (11), a town in N. Brabant, once a strong place, and much coveted and frequently contested for by reason of its commanding situation; has a large trade in anchovies.
Ber`genroth, Gustav Adolph, historian, born in Prussia; held a State office, but was dismissed and exiled because of his sympathy with the revolutionary movement of 1848; came to England to collect materials for a history of the Tudors; examined in Simancas, in Spain, under great privations, papers on the period in the public archives; made of these a collection and published it in 1862-68, under the title of "Calendar of Letters, Despatches, &c., relating to Negotiations between England and Spain" (1813-1869).
Bergerac (11), a manufacturing town in France, 60 m. E. of Bordeaux, celebrated for its wines; it was a Huguenot centre, and suffered greatly in consequence.
Bergerac, Savinien Cyrano de, an eccentric man with comic power, a Gascon by birth; wrote a tragedy and a comedy; his best work a fiction entitled "Histoire Comique des États et Empires de la Lune et du Soleil"; fought no end of duels in vindication, it is said, of his preposterously large nose (1619-1655).
Berghaus, Heinrich, a geographer of note, born at Clèves; served in both the French and Prussian armies as an engineer, and was professor of mathematics at Berlin; his "Physical Atlas" is well known (1797-1884).
Berghem, a celebrated landscape-painter of the Dutch school, born at Haarlem (1624-1683).
Bergman, Torbern Olof, a Swedish chemist, studied under Linnæus, and became professor of Chemistry at Upsala; discovered oxalic acid; was the first to arrange and classify minerals on a chemical basis (1735-1784).
Beri, a town in the Punjab, 40 m. NW. of Delhi, in a trading centre.
Berkeley, a town in Gloucestershire, famous for its cattle.
Berkeley, George, bishop of Cloyne, born in Kilkenny; a philanthropic man, who conducted in a self-sacrificing spirit practical schemes for the good of humanity, which failed, but the interest in whom has for long centred, and still centres, in his philosophic teaching, his own interest in which was that it contributed to clear up our idea of God and consolidate our faith in Him, and it is known in philosophy as Idealism; only it must be understood, his idealism is not, as it was absurdly conceived to be, a denial of the existence of matter, but is an assertion of the doctrine that the universe, with every particular in it, as man sees it and knows it, is not the creation of matter but the creation of mind, and a reflex of the Eternal Reason that creates and dwells in both it and him; for as Dr. Stirling says, "the object can only be known in the subject, and therefore is subjective, and if subjective, ideal." The outer, as regards our knowledge of it, is within; such is Berkeley's fundamental philosophical principle, and it is a principle radical to the whole recent philosophy of Europe (1684-1753).
Berkshire (238), a midland county of England, with a fertile, well-cultivated soil on a chalk bottom, in the upper valley of the Thames, one of the smallest but most beautiful counties in the country. In the E. part of it is Windsor Forest, and in the SE. Bagshot Heath. It is famous for its breed of pigs.
Berlichingen, Goetz von, surnamed "The Iron Hand," a brave but turbulent noble of Germany, of the 15th and 16th centuries, the story of whose life was dramatised by Goethe, "to save," as he said, "the memory of a brave man from darkness," and which was translated from the German by Sir Walter Scott.
Berlin` (1,579), capital of Prussia and of the German empire; stands on the Spree, in a flat sandy plain, 177 m. by rail SE. of Hamburg. The royal and imperial palaces, the great library, the university, national gallery and museums, and the arsenal are all near the centre of the city. There are schools of science, art, agriculture, and mining; technical and military academies; a cathedral and some old churches; zoological and botanical gardens. Its position between the Baltic and North Seas, the Spree, the numerous canals and railways which converge on it, render it a most important commercial centre; its staple trade is in grain, cattle, spirits, and wool. Manufactures are extensive and very varied; the chief are woollens, machinery, bronze ware, drapery goods, and beer.
Berlin Decree, a decree of Napoleon of Nov. 21, 1806, declaring Britain in a state of blockade, and vessels trading with it liable to capture.
Berlioz, Hector, a celebrated musical composer and critic, born near Grenoble, in the dep. of Isère, France; sent to study medicine in Paris; abandoned it for music, to which he devoted his life. His best known works are the "Symphonie Fantastique," "Romeo and Juliet," and the "Damnation of Faust"; with the "Symphonie," which he produced while he was yet but a student at the Conservatoire in Paris, Paganini was so struck that he presented him with 20,000 francs (1803-1869).
Ber`mondsey, a busy SE. suburb of London, on the S. bank of the Thames.
Bermoo`thes, the Bermudas.
Bermu`das (15), a group of 400 coral islands (five inhabited) in mid-Atlantic, 677 m. SE. of New York; have a delightful, temperate climate, and are a popular health resort for Americans. They produce a fine arrowroot, and export onions. They are held by Britain as a valuable naval station, and are provided with docks and fortifications.
Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Jules, a marshal of France, born at Pau; rose from the ranks; distinguished himself in the wars of the Revolution and the Empire, though between him and Napoleon there was constant distrust; adopted by Charles XIII., king of Sweden; joined the Allies as a naturalised Swede in the war against France in alliance with Russia; became king of Sweden himself under the title of Charles XIV., to the material welfare, as it proved, of his adopted country (1764-1844).
Bernard, Claude, a distinguished French physiologist, born at St. Julien; he studied at Paris; was Majendie's assistant and successor in the College of France; discovered that the function of the pancreas is the digestion of ingested fats, that of the liver the transformation into sugar of certain elements in the blood, and that there are nervous centres in the body which act independently of the great cerebro-spinal centre (1813-1878).
Bernard, St., abbot of Clairvaux, born at Fontaines, in Burgundy; pronounced one of the grandest figures in the church militant; studied in Paris, entered the monastery of Citeaux, founded in 1115 a monastery at Clairvaux, in Champagne; drew around him disciples who rose to eminence as soldiers of the cross; prepared the statutes for the Knights-Templar; defeated Abelard in public debate, and procured his condemnation; founded 160 monasteries; awoke Europe to a second crusade; dealt death-blows all round to no end of heretics, and declined all honours to himself, content if he could only awake some divine passion in other men; represented in art as accompanied by a white dog, or as contemplating an apparition of the Virgin and the Child, or as bearing the implements of Christ's passion (1091-1174). Festival, Aug. 20.
Bernard, Simon, a French engineer, born at Dôle; distinguished as such in the service of Napoleon, and for vast engineering works executed in the United States, in the construction of canals and forts (1779-1839).
Bernard of Menthon, an ecclesiastic, founder of the monasteries of the Great and the Little St. Bernard, in the passage of the Alps (923-1008). Festival, June 15.
Bernard of Morlaix, a monk of Cluny, of the 11th century; wrote a poem entitled "De Contemptu Mundi," translated by Dr. Neale, including "Jerusalem the Golden."
Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, commonly called Saint-Pierre simply, a celebrated French writer, born at Havre; author of "Paul and Virginia," written on the eve of the Revolution, called by Carlyle "the swan-song of old dying France," (1739-1814).
Bernardine, St., of Siena, born at Massa Carrara, in Italy, of noble family; founder of the Observantines, a branch, and restoration on strict lines, of the Franciscan order; established 300 monasteries of the said branch; his works, written in a mystical vein, fill five folio vols. (1380-1444).
Bernauer, Agnes, wife of Duke Albrecht of Bavaria, whom his father, displeased at the marriage, had convicted of sorcery and drowned in the Danube.
Berne (47), a fine Swiss town on the Aar, which almost surrounds it, in a populous canton of the same name; since 1848 the capital of the Swiss Confederation; commands a magnificent view of the Bernese Alps; a busy trading and manufacturing city.
Berners, John Bouchier, Lord, writer or translator of romance; was Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1516, and governor of Calais from 1520; translated Froissart's "Huon of Bordeaux," &c.
Berners, Juliana, writer on hunting and hawking; lived in the 14th century; said to have been prioress of a nunnery.
Bernese Alps, a chain in the Middle Alps, of which the eastern half is called the Bernese Oberland; form the watershed between the Aar and the Rhône.
Bernhard, Duke of Weimar, a great German general; distinguished himself on the Protestant side in the Thirty Years' war; fought under the standard of Gustavus Adolphus; held command of the left wing at the battle of Lützen, and completed the victory after the fall of Gustavus; died at Neuburg, as alleged, without sufficient proof, by poison (1604-1639).
Bernhardt, Sarah, a dramatic artiste, born in Paris; of Jewish descent, but baptized as a Christian; distinguished specially as a tragédienne; of abilities qualifying her to shine in other departments of the profession and of art, of which she has given proof; b. 1844.
Berni, Francesco, an Italian poet, born in Tuscany, who excelled in the burlesque, to whom the Italian as a literary language owes much; remodelled Boiardo's "Orlando Innamorato" in a style surpassing that of the original.
Bernier, a French physician and traveller, born at Angers; physician for 12 years to Aurungzebe, the Great Mogul; published "Travels," a work full of interest, and a model of exactitude (1625-1688).
Bernier, The Abbé, born in Mayenne, France; one of the principal authors of the Concordat; promoted afterwards to be Bishop of Orleans (1762-1806).
Berni`na, a mountain in the Swiss canton of Grisons, 13,290 ft. high, remarkable for its extensive glaciers.
Bernini, Giovanni Lorenzo, an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect, born at Naples; produced his "Apollo and Daphne" at eighteen, his masterpiece; was architect to the Pope, and designed the colonnade of St. Peter's; he died wealthy (1598-1680).
Bernouil`li, name of a Swiss family of mathematicians, born at Basel, though of Dutch origin—James, John, and Daniel, of whom John is the most celebrated; was professor first at St. Petersburg and then at Basel; discovered the exponential calculus and the method of integrating rational fractions, as well as the line of swiftest descent (1667-1748).
Bernstorff, Count, a celebrated statesman, diplomatist, and philanthropist of Denmark; called the Danish Oracle by Frederick the Great; founded an Agricultural Society and an hospital at Copenhagen, and obtained the emancipation of the serfs (1711-1772).
Bernstorff, Count, a nephew of the preceding; also statesman and diplomatist (1712-1772).
Bernstorff, Pierre, Danish minister, son of the preceding, a guardian of civil and political liberty (1735-1797).
Bero`sus, a priest of the temple of Belus in Babylon, who, 3rd century B.C., translated into Greek certain records of Babylonish history, valuable fragments of which are preserved by Josephus and Eusebius; these have been collected and published by W. Richter, in Germany.
Berri, an ancient province of France, forms dep. of Indre and Cher, which became crown property in 1100 under Philippe I., and a duchy in 1630, giving title to a succession of French princes.
Berri, Duc de, second son of Charles X. and father of Count de Chambord, a benevolent man; assassinated by a fanatic, Louvel, as he was leaving the Opera House (1778-1820).
Berri, Duchesse de, dowager of preceding, distinguished herself by her futile efforts to restore the Bourbon dynasty in the reign of Louis Philippe (1798-1890).
Berryer, Pierre Antoine, an eminent French barrister, born at Paris; a red-hot Legitimist, which brought him into trouble; was member of the National Assembly of 1848; inimical to the Second Empire, and openly protested against the coup d'état (1790-1868).
Ber`serker, a Norse warrior who went into battle unharnessed, whence his name (which means bare of sark or shirt of mail), and is said to have been inspired with such fury as to render him invulnerable and irresistible.
Bert, Paul, a French physiologist and statesman, born at Auxerre; was professor of Physiology at Paris; took to politics after the fall of the Empire; Minister of Public Instruction under Gambetta; sent governor to Tonquin; died of fever soon after; wrote a science primer for children entitled "La Première Année d'Enseignement Scientifique" (1833-1886).
Bertha, goddess in the S. German mythology, of the spinning-wheel principally, and of the household as dependent on it, in behalf of which and its economical management she is often harsh to idle spinners; at her festival thrift is the rule.
Bertha, St., a British princess, wife of Ethelbert, king of Kent; converted him to Christianity.
Berthe "au Grand Pied" (i. e. Long Foot), wife of Pepin the Short, and mother of Charlemagne, so called from her club foot.
Berthelier, a Swiss patriot, an uncompromising enemy of the Duke of Savoy in his ambition to lord it over Geneva.
Berthelot, Pierre Eugène, a French chemist, born at Paris; professor in the College of France; distinguished for his researches in organic chemistry, and his attempt to produce organic compounds; the dyeing trade owes much to his discoveries in the extraction of dyes from coal-tar; he laid the foundation of thermo-chemistry; b. 1827.
Berthier, Alexandre, prince of Wagram and marshal of France, born at Versailles; served with Lafayette in the American war, and rose to distinction in the Revolution; became head of Napoleon's staff, and his companion in all his expeditions; swore fealty to the Bourbons at the restoration of 1814; on Napoleon's return retired with his family to Bamberg; threw himself from a window, maddened at the sight of Russian troops marching past to the French frontier (1753-1815).
Berthollet, Count, a famous chemist, native of Savoy, to whom we owe the discovery of the bleaching properties of chlorine, the employment of carbon in purifying water, &c., and many improvements in the manufactures; became a senator and officer of the Legion of Honour under Napoleon; attached himself to the Bourbons on their return, and was created a peer (1744-1822).
Berthoud, a celebrated clockmaker, native of Switzerland; settled in Paris; invented the marine chronometer to determine the longitude at sea (1727-1807).
Bertin "l'Ainé," or the Elder, a French journalist, born at Paris; founder and editor of the Journal des Débats, which he started in 1799; friend of Châteaubriand (1766-1841).
Bertin, Pierre, introduced stenography into France, invented by Taylor in England (1751-1819).
Bertin, Rose, milliner to Marie Antoinette, famed for her devotion to her.
Bertinazzi, a celebrated actor, born at Turin, long a favourite in Paris (1710-1788).
Bertrand and Raton, two personages in La Fontaine's fable of the Monkey and the Cat, of whom R. cracks the nut and B. eats it.
Ber`trand, Henri Gratien, Comte, a French general, and faithful adherent of Napoleon, accompanied him in all his campaigns, to and from Elba, as well as in his exile at St. Helena; conducted his remains back to France in 1840 (1770-1844).
Bertrand de Molleville, Minister of Marine under Louis XVI.; a fiery partisan of royalty, surnamed the enfant terrible of the monarchy (1744-1818).
Berton, Pierre, French composer of operas (1726-1780). Henri, his son, composed operas; wrote a treatise on harmony (1761-1844).
Bérulle, Cardinal, born at Troyes; founder of the order of Carmelites, and of the Congregation of the Oratory (1576-1629).
Berwick, James Fitz-James, Duke of, a natural son of James II., a naturalised Frenchman; defended the rights of his father; was present with him at the battle of the Boyne; distinguished himself in Spain, where he gained the victory of Almanza; was made marshal of France; fell at the siege of Philippsburg; left "Memoirs" (1670-1734).
Berwick, North, a place on the S. shore of the Forth, in Haddingtonshire; a summer resort, specially for the golfing links.
Berwick-on-Tweed (13), a town on the Scotch side of the Tweed, at its mouth, reckoned since 1835 in Northumberland, though at one time treated as a separate county; of interest from its connection with the Border wars, during which it frequently changed hands, till in 1482 the English became masters of it.
Berwickshire (32), a fertile Scottish county between the Lammermoors, inclusive, and the Tweed; is divided into the Merse, a richly fertile plain in the S., the Lammermoors, hilly and pastoral, dividing the Merse from Mid and East Lothian, and Lauderdale, of hill and dale, along the banks of the Leader; Greenlaw the county town.
Berze`lius, Johan Jakob, Baron, a celebrated Swedish chemist, one of the creators of modern chemistry; instituted the chemical notation by symbols based on the notion of equivalents; determined the equivalents of a great number of simple bodies, such as cerium and silenium; discovered silenium, and shared with Davy the honour of propounding the electro-chemical theory; he ranks next to Linnæus as a man of science in Sweden (1779-1848).
Besançon (57), capital of the dep. of Doubs, in France; a very strong place; fortified by Vauban; abounds in relics of Roman and mediæval times; watchmaking a staple industry, employing some 15,000 of the inhabitants; manufactures also porcelain and carpets.
Besant, Mrs. Annie, née Wood, born in London; of Irish descent; married to an English clergyman, from whom she was legally separated; took a keen interest in social questions and secularism; drifted into theosophy, of which she is now an active propagandist; is an interesting woman, and has an interesting address as a lecturer; b. 1847.
Besant, Sir Walter, a man of letters, born at Portsmouth; eminent chiefly as a novelist of a healthily realistic type; wrote a number of novels jointly with James Rice, and is the author of "French Humourists," as well as short stories; champion of the cause of Authors versus Publishers, and is chairman of the committee; b. 1838.
Besenval, Baron, a Swiss, commandant of Paris under Louis XVI.; a royalist stunned into a state of helpless dismay at the first outbreak of the Revolution in Paris; could do nothing in the face of it but run for his life (1722-1791).
Besika Bay, a bay on the Asiatic coast, near the mouth of the Dardanelles.
Besme, a Bohemian in the pay of the Duke of Guise; assassinated Coligny, and was himself killed by Berteauville, a Protestant gentleman, in 1571.
Bess, Good Queen, a familiar name of Queen Elizabeth.
Bessara`bia (1,688), a government in the SW. of Russia, between the Dniester and the Pruth; a cattle-breeding province; exports cattle, wool, and tallow.
Bessar`ion, John, cardinal, native of Trebizond; contributed by his zeal in Greek literature to the fall of scholasticism and the revival of letters; tried hard to unite the Churches of the East and the West; joined the latter, and was made cardinal; too much of a Grecian to recommend himself to the popehood, to which he was twice over nearly elevated (1395-1472).
Bessel, Friedrich Wilhelm, a Prussian astronomer of prominent ability, born at Minden; professor of Mathematics at Königsberg, and director of the Observatory; discovered—what was a great achievement—the parallax of the fixed star 61 Cygne; his greatest work, "Fundamenta Astronomiæ," on which he spent 10 years, a marvel, like all he did, of patient toil and painstaking accuracy (1784-1846).
Bessemer, Sir Henry, civil engineer and inventor, born at Charlton, Herts; of his many inventions the chief is the process, named after him, of converting pig-iron into steel at once by blowing a blast of air through the iron while in fusion till everything extraneous is expelled, and only a definite quantity of carbon is left in combination, a process which has revolutionised the iron and steel trade all over the world, leading, as has been calculated, to the production of thirty times as much steel as before and at one-fifth of the cost per ton (1813-1898).
Bessemer process. See Bessemer.
Bessières, Jean Baptiste, Duke of Istria, marshal of France, born at Languedoc, of humble parentage; rose from the ranks; a friend and one of the ablest officers of Napoleon, and much esteemed by him; distinguished himself in the Italian campaign, in Egypt, and at Marengo; was shot at Lützen the day before the battle (1768-1813).
Bessus, a satrap of Bactria under Darius, who assassinated his master after the battle of Arbela, but was delivered over by Alexander to Darius's brother, by whom he was put to death, 328 B.C.
Bestiary, a name given to a class of books treating of animals, viewed allegorically.
Bethany, village on E. of the Mount of Olives, abode of Lazarus and his sisters.
Bethel (i. e. house of God), a place 11 m. N. of Jerusalem, scene of Jacob's dream, and famous in the history of the patriarchs.
Bethencourt, a Norman baron, in 1425 discovered and conquered the Canaries, and held them as a fief of the crown of Castile.
Bethlehem (3), a village 6 m. S. of Jerusalem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ and King David, with a convent containing the Church of the Nativity; near it is the grotto where St. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin.
Bethlen-Gabor, prince of Transylvania, assumed the title of king of Hungary; assisted Bohemia in the Thirty Years' war (1580-1629).
Bethnal Green (129), an eastern suburb of London, a parliamentary borough, a poor district, and scene of benevolent enterprises.
Betterton, Thomas, born at Westminster, a tragic actor, and as such an interpreter of Shakespeare on, it is believed, the traditional lines.
Bettina, the Countess of Arnim, a passionate admirer of Goethe.
Betty, W. Henry, a boy actor, known as the Infant Roscius; amassed a fortune; lived afterwards retired (1791-1874).
Beule, a French statesman and archæologist; superintended excavations on the Acropolis of Athens; held office under Macmahon (1826-1874).
Beust, Count von, a German statesman, born at Dresden; Minister for Foreign Affairs in Saxony; of strong conservative leanings, friendly to Austria; became Chancellor of the Austro-Hungarian empire; adopted a liberal policy; sympathised with France in the Franco-German war; resigned office in 1871; left "Memoirs" (1809-1886).
Beuthen (36), a manufacturing town in Prussian Silesia, in the centre of a mining district.
Beverley (12), a Yorkshire manufacturing town, 8 m. NW. of Hull, with a Gothic minster, which contains the tombs of the Percys.
Beverley, John, a learned man, tutor to the Venerable Bede, archbishop of York, and founder of a college for secular priests at Beverley; was one of the most learned men of his time; d. 721.
Bevis of Southampto, or Hampton, Sir, a famous knight of English mediæval romance, a man of gigantic stature, whose marvellous feats are recorded in Drayton's "Polyolbion."
Bewick, Thomas, a distinguished wood-engraver, born in Northumberland, apprenticed to the trade in Newcastle; showed his art first in woodcuts for his "History of Quadrupeds," the success of which led to the publication of his "History of British Birds," in which he established his reputation both as a naturalist, in the truest sense, and an artist (1753-1828).
Bewick, William, a great wood-engraver; did a cartoon from the Elgin Marbles for Goethe (1795-1866).
Beyle, Marie Henri, French critic and novelist, usually known by his pseudonym "De Stendal," born at Grenoble; wrote in criticism "De l'Amour," and in fiction "La Chartreuse de Parme" and "Le Rouge et le Noir"; an ambitious writer and a cynical (1788-1842).
Beypur, a port in the Madras presidency, a railway terminus, with coal and iron in the neighbourhood.
Beyrout (200), the most nourishing commercial city on the coast of Syria, and the port of Damascus, from which it is distant 55 m.; a very ancient place.
Beza, Theodore, a French Protestant theologian, born in Burgundy, of good birth; professor of Greek at Lausanne; deputed from Germany to intercede for the Huguenots in France, persuaded the king of Navarre to favour the Protestants; settled in Geneva, became the friend and successor of Calvin; wrote a book, "De Hereticis a Civili Magistratu Puniendis," in which he justified the burning of Servetus, and a "History of the Reformed Churches" in France; died at 86 (1519-1605).
Bezants, Byzantine gold coins of varying weight and value, introduced by the Crusaders into England, where they were current till the time of Edward III.
Béziers (42), a manufacturing town in the dep. of Hérault, 49 m. SW. of Montpellier; manufactures silk fabrics and confectionary.
Bhagalpur` (69), a town in Bengal, on the right bank of the Ganges, 265 m. NW. of Calcutta.
Bhagavad Gîtâ, (i. e. Song of Krishna), a poem introduced into the Mahâbhârata, divided into three sections, and each section into six chapters, called Upanishads; being a series of mystical lectures addressed by Krishna to his royal pupil Arjuna on the eve of a battle, from which he shrunk, as it was with his own kindred; the whole conceived from the point of view or belief, calculated to allay the scruples of Arjuna, which regards the extinction of existence as absorption in the Deity.
Bhamo` (6), a town in Burmah, the chief centre of trade with China, conducted mainly by Chinese, and a military station, only 40 m. from the Chinese frontier.
Bhartpur` (68), a town in Rajputana, in a native state of the name; yielding wheat, maize, cotton, sugar, with quarries of building stone; 30 m. W. of Agra; carries on an industry in the manufacture of chowries.
Bhartrihari, Indian author of apothegms, who appears to have lived in the 11th century B.C., and to have been of royal rank.
Bhils, a rude pro-Aryan race of Central India, still untrained to settled life; number 750,000.
Bhod-pa, name given to the aborigines of Thibet, and applied by the Hindus to all the Thibetan peoples.
Bhopal` (952), a well-governed native state in Central India, under British protection, with a capital city (70) of the same name; under a government that has been always friendly to Britain.
Bhutan (20), an independent state in the Eastern Himalayas, with magnificent scenery; subsidised by Britain; has a government like that of Thibet; religion the same, though the people are at a low stage of civilisation; the country exports horses, musk, and salt.
Biaf`ra, Bight of, a large bay in the Gulf of Guinea, in W. Africa; includes several islands, and receives into it the waters of the Calabar rivers.
Biard, Auguste François, French genre painter, born at Lyons; journeyed round the world, sketching by the way; was successful in rendering burlesque groups (1800-1882).
Biarritz, a bathing-place on the Bay of Biscay, 6 m. SW. of Bayonne; became a place of fashionable resort by the visits of the Empress Eugenie.
Bias, one of the seven wise men of Greece, born at Priene, in Ionia; lived in the 6th century B.C.; many wise sayings are ascribed to him; was distinguished for his indifference to possessions, which moth and rust can corrupt, and thieves break through and steal.
Bible, The (i. e. the Book par excellence, and not so much a book as a library of books), a collection of sacred writings divided into two parts, the Old Testament and the New; the Old, written in Hebrew, comprehending three groups of books, the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa, bearing on the religion, the history, the institutions, and the manners of the Jews; and the New, written in Greek, comprehending the Four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles. The Old Testament was translated into Greek at Alexandria by 72 Jews, 280 B.C., and is known as the Septuagint; and the whole book, Old and New, was translated into Latin in a grotto near Bethlehem by St. Jerome, A.D. 385-404, and is known as the Vulgate, after which the two came to be regarded by the Church as of equal divine authority and as sections of one book. It may be permitted to note that the Bible is written throughout, not in a speculative or a scientific, but a spiritual interest, and that its final aim is to guide men in the way of life. The spirit in which it is composed is the spirit of conviction; its essence, both in the root of it and the fruit of it, is faith, and that primarily in a moral power above, and ultimately a moral principle within, both equally divine. The one principle of the book is that loyalty to the divine commands is the one foundation of all well-being, individual and social.
Biblia Pauperum (i. e. Bible of the Poor), a book consisting of some 50 leaves, with pictures of scenes in the Life of Christ, and explanatory inscriptions, printed, from wooden blocks, in the 15th century, and before the invention of printing by movable types.
Bibulus, a colleague of Julius Cæsar; a mere cipher, a fainéant.
Bicêtre, a hospital, originally a Carthusian monastery, in the S. side of Paris, with a commanding view of the Seine and the city; since used for old soldiers, and now for confirmed lunatics.
Bichât, Marie François Xavier, an eminent French anatomist and physiologist; physician to the Hôtel-Dieu, Paris; one of the first to resolve the structure of the human body into, as "Sartor" has it, "cellular, vascular, and muscular tissues;" his great work "Anatomie Générale appliquée à la Physiologie et à la Medecine"; died at 31 (1771-1802).
Bickerstaff, Isaac, an Irish dramatist of 18th century, whose name was adopted as a nom de plume by Swift and Steele.
Bickersteth, Edward, English clergyman; author of several evangelical works, and one of the founders of the Evangelical Alliance (1786-1850).
Bickerton, Sir Richard, vice-admiral, served in several naval engagements, and died commander-in-chief at Plymouth in 1792.
Biddery ware, ware of tin, copper, lead, and zinc, made at Bidar, in India.
Bidding Prayer, an exhortation to prayer in some special reference, followed by the Lord's Prayer, in which the congregation joins.
Biddle, John, a Socinian writer in the time of Charles I. and the Commonwealth; much persecuted for his belief, and was imprisoned, but released by Cromwell; regarded as the founder of English Unitarianism; author of a "Confession of Faith concerning the Holy Trinity" (1615-1662).
Bidpaï, or Pilpaï, the presumed author of a collection of Hindu fables of ancient date, in extensive circulation over the East, and widely translated.
Biela's Comet, a comet discovered by Biela, an Austrian officer, in 1826; appears, sometimes unobserved, every six years.
Bielefeld (39), a manufacturing town in Westphalia, with a large trade in linen, and the centre of the trade.
Bielu`ka, with its twin peaks, highest of the Altai Mountains, 11,100 ft.
Bienne, Lake of, in the Swiss canton of Berne; the Aar is led into it when in flood, so as to prevent inundation below; on the shores of it are remains of lake-dwellings, and an island in it, St. Pierre, the retreat of Rousseau in 1765.
Bifröst, a bridge in the Norse mythology stretching from heaven to earth, of firm solidity and exquisite workmanship, represented in the rainbow, of which the colours are the reflections of the precious stones.
Bigelow, Erastus Brigham, American inventor of weaving machines, born in Massachusetts (1814-1879).
Big-endians, a name given to the Catholics, as Little-endians is the name given to the Protestants, in the imaginary kingdom of Lilliput, of which the former are regarded as heretics by the latter because they break their eggs at the big end.
Biggar, a town in Lanarkshire, birthplace of Dr. John Brown and of the Gladstone ancestry.
Biglow, imaginary author of poems in the Yankee dialect, written by James Russell Lowell.
Bijapur`, city in the presidency of Bombay, once the capital of an extensive kingdom, now deserted, but with remains of its former greatness.
Bilba`o (50), capital of the Basque prov. of Biscay, in Spain; a commercial city of ancient date, famous at one time for its steel, specially in Queen Elizabeth's time, when a rapier was called a "bilbo."
Bilderdijk, Willem, Dutch poet, born at Amsterdam (1756-1831).
Bile, a fluid secreted from the blood by the liver to aid in digestion, the secretion of which is most active after food.
Billaud-Varennes, Jean Nicolas, "a grim, resolute, unrepentant" member of the Jacobin Club; egged on the mob during the September massacres in the name of liberty; was president of the Convention; assisted at the fall of Robespierre, but could not avert his own; was deported to Surinam, and content to die there rather than return to France, which Bonaparte made him free to do; died at Port-au-Prince (1756-1819).
Billaut, Adam, the carpenter poet, called "Maître Adam," born at Nevers, and designated "Virgile au Rabot" (a carpenter's plane); d. 1662.
Billings, Robert William, architect, born in London; delineator of old historical buildings; his great work "Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland," richly illustrated; was engaged in the restoration of old buildings, as well as delineating them (1813-1874).
Billingsgate, a fish-market in London, below London Bridge; also a name given to low, coarse language indulged in there.
Billington, Elizabeth, née Weichsel, a celebrated singer, born in London, of German descent; kept up her celebrity to the last; died at Venice in 1817.
Bilney, Thomas, martyr, born in Norfolk, a priest who adopted the reformed doctrine; was twice arraigned, and released on promise not to preach, but could not refrain, and was at last burned as a heretic in 1531.
Bilocation, the power or state, ascribed to certain of the saints, of appearing in two places at the same time.
Bimetallism, the employment of two metals (gold and silver) in the currency of a country as legal tender at a fixed relative value, the ratio usually proposed being 1 to 15½.
Bimini, a fabulous island with a fountain possessed of the virtue of restoring youth.
Binet, a French littérateur, translator of Horace and Virgil (1732-1812).
Bingen, a manufacturing and trading town on the left bank of the Rhine, in Grand-Duchy of Hesse Darmstadt, opposite which is the tower associated with the myth of Bishop Hatto.
Bingham, Joseph, an English divine, born at Wakefield; author of "Origines Ecclesiasticæ," a laborious and learned work; lost his all in the South-Sea Scheme and died (1668-1723).
Biogenesis, name of the theory that derives life from life, and opposed to Abiogenesis (q. v.).
Biology, the science of animal life in a purely physical reference, or of life in organised bodies generally, including that of plants, in its varied forms and through its successive stages.
Bion, a Greek pastoral poet of 3rd century B.C., born at Smyrna; a contemporary of Theocritus; settled in Sicily; was poisoned, it is said, by a rival; little of his poetry survives.
Biot, Jean Baptiste, an eminent French mathematician, astronomer, and physicist, born at Paris; professor of Physics in the College of France; took part in measuring an arc of the meridian along with Arago; made observations on the polarisation of light, and contributed numerous memoirs to scientific journals; wrote works on astronomy (1774-1862).
Birague, René de, cardinal and chancellor of France, born at Milan; charged, especially by contemporary historians, as the chief instigator of the St. Bartholomew Massacre (1507-1583).
Birch, Samuel, archæologist and Egyptologist, born in London; keeper of Oriental antiquities in the British Museum; had an extensive knowledge of Egyptology, wrote largely, and contributed articles on that and kindred archæological subjects (1813-1885).
Birch, Thomas, antiquary, born in London; wrote a history of the Royal Society (1705-1765).
Birch-Pfeiffer, Charlotte, actress, born in Stuttgart; acted in Berlin; wrote dramas (1800-1868).
Bird, Edward, an English genre painter, born in Wolverhampton, settled in Bristol; among his works are the "Choristers Rehearsing," the "Field of Chevy Chase," and the "Day after the Battle," pronounced his masterpiece (1772-1819).
Bird, Golding, M.D., a great authority in kidney disease, of which he himself died (1815-1854).
Bird, William, a musician in the time of Elizabeth, composed madrigals; "Non Nobis, Domine," is ascribed to him (1563-1623).
Bird's nest, the nest of a species of swift, formed from a marine plant that has been first digested by a bird, and esteemed a great luxury by the Chinese.
Biren, Duke of Courland, son of a peasant, favourite of the Russian Empress Anne; held the reins of government even after her death; ruled with great cruelty; was banished to Siberia, but recalled, and had his honours restored to him, which in six years after he relinquished in favour of his eldest son (1687-1772).
Birkbeck, George, M.D., a Yorkshireman, a zealous promoter all over the country of mechanics' institutes, was founder of the London Institute, in consociation with Brougham and others interested in the diffusion of useful knowledge (1776-1841).
Birkenhead (100), in Cheshire, on the Mersey, opposite Liverpool and a suburb of it; a town of rapid growth, due to the vicinity of Liverpool; has large shipbuilding-yards and docks.
Birkenhead, Sir John, a political writer, several times imprisoned during the Commonwealth for his obtrusive royalism (1615-1679).
Birmingham (478), in the NW. of Warwickshire, 112 m. NW. of London by rail; is the chief town of the Midlands, and celebrated all over the world for its metal ware. All kinds of engines and machinery, fine gold, silver, copper, and brass ware, cutlery and ammunition are made here; steel pens, buttons, nails, and screws are specialties. It is a picturesque town with many fine buildings, libraries, art gallery and museums, educational institutions, a cathedral, and a great town-hall, where the triennial musical festival is held. Of this town Burne-Jones was a native, and Priestley, George Dawson, and Dale were dissenting ministers.
Birnam, a hill near Dunkeld, in Perthshire; contains part of a forest mentioned in "Macbeth."
Biron, a madcap lord in "Love's Labour's Lost."
Biron, Baron de, marshal of France, born at Périgord; served bravely under Henry IV.; though a Catholic, favoured the Huguenots; narrowly escaped at the Massacre of St. Bartholomew; was killed at the siege of Épernay; carried a note-book with him everywhere, and so observant was he that it passed into proverb, "You will find it in Biron's note-book" (1524-1592).
Biron, Duc de, son of the preceding; served also bravely under Henry IV.; but being a man of no principle and discontented with the reward he got for his services, intrigued with the Duke of Savoy and with Spain against Henry; was arrested and sent to the Bastille, where, after trial, he was beheaded (1562-1602).
Biscay, Bay of, a bay in the Atlantic, extending from Cape Ortegal, in Spain, to Cape Finisterre, in France, and 400 m. broad, of depth varying from 20 to 200 fathoms, and, under SW. winds particularly, one of the stormiest of seas.
Bischof, Karl Gustav, chemist, born at Nüremberg, professor at Bonn; experimented on the inflammable power of gas (1792-1870).
Bischoff, Theodor Ludwig Wilhelm, distinguished biologist, born at Hanover; made a special study of embryology; was professor of Anatomy at Heidelberg, of Physiology at Giessen, and of both at Münich (1807-1882).
Bishop, originally an overseer of souls, eventually an overseer of churches, especially of a district, and conceived of by High-Churchmen as representing the apostles and deriving his powers by transmission from them.
Bishop, Sir Henry Rowley, an English composer, born in London, composer and director of music in Covent Garden Theatre for 14 years; produced 60 pieces, of which "Guy Mannering," "The Miller and his Men," are still in favour; was for a brief space professor of Music in Edinburgh University, and eventually held a similar chair in Oxford (1786-1855).
Bishop of Hippo, St. Augustine, as once in office there.
Bishop-Auckland (10), a market-town 9 m. SW. of Durham, where the bishop of Durham has his residence, a palatial structure; it has coal-mines close by; manufactures machinery and cotton goods.
Bismarck Archipelago (188), an archipelago formerly called New Britain, NE. of New Guinea; under the protectorate of Germany.
Bismarck-Schönhausen, Eduard Leopold, Prince von, born at Schönhausen; woke up into civil life by the events of 1848; took a bold stand against revolutionary ideas and measures; conceived the idea of freeing the several States of Germany from foreign control, and welding them into one under the crown of Prussia. Summoned in 1862 by King William to be his political adviser, his influence was at first distrusted, but the annexation of Sleswig-Holstein by force of arms in 1863 raised him into general favour. His next feat, the humiliation of Austria at Königgrätz in 1866, and the consequent erection of a German Confederation, with Prussia at its head, made him the idol of the nation. His treatment of Napoleon III. provoked the latter into a declaration of war, and to an advance on the part of the French against Berlin. To the surprise of nearly all Europe, the Germans proved to be a nation of soldiers, marshalled as army never was before, and beat the French ignominiously back from the Rhine. Count Bismarck had the satisfaction of seeing the power of France, that still threatened, as well as that of Austria, helpless at his feet, the German empire restored under a Hohenzollern king, and himself installed as chancellor of the monarch he had served so well. Nothing he did after this—though he reformed the coinage, codified the law, established protection, increased the army, and repressed Socialism—equalled this great feat, and for this a grateful nation must ever honour his name. If he ceased to be chancellor of Germany on the accession of William II., it was because the young king felt he would have a freer hand with a minister more likely to be under his control (1815-1898).
Bissa`gos, a group of some 20 volcanic islands off the coast of Senegambia, with a large negro population; yield tropical products, and belong now to Portugal.
Bissen, a Danish sculptor, born in Sleswig; a pupil of Thorwaldsen; intrusted by him to finish a statue he left unfinished at his death; he produced some fine works, but his best known are his "Cupid Sharpening his Arrow" and "Atalanta Hunting" (1798-1868).
Bithur, a town on the right bank of the Ganges, 12 m. above Cawnpore, where Nana Sahib lived, and concocted the conspiracy which developed into the mutiny of 1857.
Bithynia, a country in the NW. of Asia Minor, anciently so called; the people of it were of Thracian origin.
Bitlis (25), a high-lying town in Asiatic Turkey, 62 m. W. of Van; stands in a valley 8470 ft. above, the sea-level, with a population of Mohammedans and Armenians.
Bitumen, an inflammable mineral substance, presumably of vegetable origin, called Naphtha when liquid and light-coloured, Petroleum when less fluid and darker, Maltha when viscid, and Asphalt when solid.
Bitzius, a Swiss author, composed stories of Swiss life under the nom de plume of Jeremias Gotthelf, fascinating from their charming simplicity and truth; he is much admired by Ruskin; was by profession a Protestant pastor, the duties of which he continued to discharge till his death (1797-1854).
Bizerta (10), a seaport of Tunis, northernmost town in Africa, 38 m. NW. of the capital, with an excellent harbour.
Bizet, Georges, an operatic composer, born at Paris; his greatest work "Carmen"; died of heart-disease shortly after its appearance (1838-1875).
Björnsen, a Norwegian author, born at Kvikne; composed tales, dramas, and lyrics, all of distinguished merit and imbued with a patriotic spirit; his best play "Sigurd the Bastard"; an active and zealous promoter of liberalism, sometimes extreme, both in religion and politics; his writings are numerous, and they rank high; his songs being highly appreciated by his countrymen; b. 1832.
Black, Joseph, a celebrated chemist, born at Bordeaux, of Scotch parents; the discoverer of what has been called latent heat, but what is really transformed energy; professor of Chemistry, first in Glasgow, then in Edinburgh, where his lectures were very popular; his discoveries in chemistry were fruitful in results (1728-1799).
Black, William, novelist, born in Glasgow; started life as a journalist in connection with the Morning Star; has written several novels, over 30 in number, about the West Highlands of Scotland, rich in picturesque description; the best known and most admired, "A Daughter of Heth," the "Madcap Violet," "Macleod of Dare," "The Strange Adventures of a Phæton," and "A Princess of Thule." "But when are you going to write a book, Mr. Black?" said Carlyle to him one day (1841-1898).
Black Art, name given to the presumed power of evoking evil spirits.
Black Assize, a plague at Oxford in 1557, which carried off 300 victims; caught at the assize from the prisoners under trial.
Black Death, a name given to a succession of fatal epidemics that devastated the world from China to Ireland in the 14th century, believed to be the same as the Oriental plague, though attended with peculiar symptoms; the most serious was that of 1348, which, as is reckoned, stripped England alone of one-third of its inhabitants.
Black Forest (488), a wooded mountain chain 4000 ft. high (so called from the black pines that cover it), which runs parallel with the Rhine, and E. of it, through Würtemberg and Baden, from the Swiss frontier to Carlsruhe; is remarkable for its picturesque scenery and its mineral wealth; it possesses many health resorts, as Baden-Baden and Wildbad, where are mineral springs; silver, copper, cobalt, lead, and iron are wrought in many places; the women and children of the region make articles of woodwork, such as wooden clocks, &c.
Black Friars, monks of the Dominican order; name of a district in London where they had a monastery.
Black Hole of Calcutta, a confined apartment 13 ft. square, into which 146 English prisoners were crammed by the orders of Surajah Dowia on the 19th June 1756; their sufferings were excruciating, and only 23 survived till morning.
Black Lands, lands in the heart of Russia, extending between the Carpathians and the Urals, constituting one-third of the soil, and consisting of a layer of black earth or vegetable mould, of from 3 to 20 ft. in thickness, and a chief source, from its exhaustless fertility, of the wealth of the country.
Black Monday, Easter Monday in 1351, remarkable for the extreme darkness that prevailed, and an intense cold, under which many died.
Black Prince, Prince of Wales, son of Edward III., so called, it is said, from the colour of his armour; distinguished himself at Crécy, gained the battle of Poitiers, but involved his country in further hostilities with France; returned to England, broken in health, to die (1330-1376).
Black Rod, Gentleman Usher of, an official of the House of Lords, whose badge of office is a black rod surmounted by a gold lion; summons the Commons to the House, guards the privileges of the House, &c.
Black Saturday, name given in Scotland to Saturday, 4th August 1621; a stormy day of great darkness, regarded as a judgment of Heaven against Acts then passed in the Scottish Parliament tending to establish Episcopacy.
Black Sea, or Euxine, an inland sea, lying between Europe and Asia, twice the size of Britain, being 700 m. in greatest length and 400 m. in greatest breadth; communicates in the N. with the Sea of Azov, and in the SW., through the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmora, and the Dardanelles, with the Mediterranean. It washes the shores of Turkey, Rumelia, Bulgaria, Russia, and Asia Minor; receives the waters of the Danube, Dneister, Bug, and Don, from Europe, and the Kizil-Irmak and Sakaria from Asia—three times as much as is received by the Mediterranean. It has but one island, Adassi, off the mouths of the Danube; no reefs or shoals; hence in summer navigation is very safe. In winter it is harassed by severe storms. Among the chief ports are Odessa, Kherson, Batoum, Trebizond, and Sinope; the first two are ice-bound in January and February. For three centuries the Turks excluded all other nations from its waters; but the Russians (1774), Austrians (1784), French and English (1802) secured trading rights. Russia and Turkey keep fleets in it, but other warships are excluded. Its waters are fresher than those of the ocean, and it has no noticeable tides.
Black Watch, two Highland regiments, the 42nd and 73rd, so called from the dark colour of the tartan; raised originally for the preservation of the peace in the Highlands.
Blackburn (120), a manufacturing town in Lancashire, 21 m. NW. of Manchester, a centre of the cotton industry, and the greatest in the world; is the birthplace of Hargreaves, the inventor of the spinning-jenny.
Blackheath, a common 7 m. SE. of London, once a favourite haunt of highwaymen, now a place of holiday resort for Londoners; for long provided the only golfing-course in England.
Blackie, John Stuart, a man of versatile gifts and warm human sympathies, born in Glasgow; bred to the bar, but devoted to literary pursuits; studied German; executed a metrical translation of Goethe's "Faust," Part I.; filled the chair of Humanity in Aberdeen, and afterwards that of Greek in Edinburgh; was a zealous educational reformer; took an active interest in everything affecting the welfare and honour of Scotland; founded a Celtic Chair in Edinburgh University; spoke much and wrote much in his day on manifold subjects; Æschylus, and Homer's "Iliad" in verse; among his works, which are numerous, "Self-Culture" is the most likely to survive him longest (1809-1895).
Blacklock, Thomas, a clergyman, born in Annan, blind from early infancy; after occupying a charge for two years, set up as a teacher in Edinburgh; was influential in inducing Burns to abandon his intention to emigrate, and may be credited, therefore, with saving for his country and humanity at large one of the most gifted of his country's sons (1721-1791).
Blackmore, Richard Doddridge, novelist, born in Berks; bred to the bar; has written several novels, the best known "Lorna Doone," which, though coldly received at first, became highly popular; he is pronounced unrivalled in his day as a writer of rustic comedy; b. 1825.
Blackmore, Sir Richard, physician, born in Wilts; the most voluminous of poetasters, published four long worthless poems, besides essays and psalms, &c., and made himself the butt of all the wits of the period; d. 1729.
Blackpool (23), a watering-place on the coast of Lancashire, 18 m. NW. of Preston, sometimes called the "Brighton of the North."
Blackstone, Sir William, an eminent jurist and judge, born in London, the son of a silk-mercer; was fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, and in 1746 called to the bar; became first Vinerian professor of Law at Oxford; had Jeremy Bentham for one of his pupils; author of the well-known "Commentaries on the Laws of England," an authority on the subject and a work that has appeared in many editions (1723-1780).
Blackwell, Alexander, adventurer, born in Aberdeen; studied medicine; took to printing; thrown into prison for debt; was supported by his wife; on his release went to Sweden, was patronised by the king; convicted of conspiracy, and beheaded in 1747.
Blackwell, Elizabeth, a lady doctor, born in Bristol, and the first to hold a medical diploma in the United States; graduated in 1849; was admitted into the Maternity Hospital in Paris, and to St. Bartholomew's in London, and has since distinguished herself as a social reformer; b. 1821.
Blackwood, Sir Henry, British admiral, much trusted by Nelson; distinguished at Aboukir Bay and Trafalgar; was present at Nelson's death; held subsequently high naval positions (1770-1832).
Blackwood, William, born in Edinburgh, originator of Blackwood's Magazine; originally a bookseller; started Maga, as it was called, in 1817, his principal literary advisers being Professor Wilson and Lockhart; conducted it as editor till his death (1776-1834). John, his third son, his successor, no less distinguished in the cause of literature (1818-1879).
Blaeu, Willem Janzsoon, Dutch cartographer, born at Alkmaar; his terrestrial and celestial globes have been admired for their excellence and accuracy (1571-1638). His son Jan edited a valuable atlas called "Atlas Major," in 11 volumes; d. 1673.
Blainville, Henri Marie, a French naturalist; devoted himself to medicine; became assistant to Cuvier; succeeded him as professor of Comparative Anatomy; wrote largely on natural science, and particularly on subjects connected with his appointment as a professor (1777-1850).
Blair, Hugh, clergyman, born in Edinburgh; held in succession several charges in Scotland, and became professor of Rhetoric in Edinburgh University; author of "Lectures on Rhetoric" and "Sermons," which latter are of the nature of moral essays rather than sermons, were much esteemed at one time for their polished style, and procured him a pension of £200 from the king; he was a man of great critical acumen, and the celebrated Schleiermacher did not think it beneath him to translate some of them into German (1718-1800).
Blair, Robert, author of "The Grave," a thoughtful and cultured man, born in Edinburgh; minister of Athelstaneford, where he was succeeded by Home, the author of "Douglas." His poem has the merit of having been illustrated by William Blake (1699-1743).
Blake, Robert, the great English admiral and "Sea King," born at Bridgewater; successful as a soldier under the Commonwealth, before he tried seamanship; took first to sea in pursuit of Prince Rupert and the royalist fleet, which he destroyed; beat the Dutch under Van Tromp de Ruyter and De Witt; sailed under the great guns of Tunis into the harbour, where he fired a fleet of Turkish pirates; and finally, his greatest feat, annihilated a Spanish fleet in Santa Cruz Bay under the shadow of the Peak of Teneriffe, "one of the fiercest actions ever fought on land or water" (1598-1657).
Blake, William, poet, painter, and engraver, born in London, where, with rare intervals, he spent his life a mystic from his very boyhood; apprenticed to an engraver, whom he assisted with his drawings; started on original lines of his own as illustrator of books and a painter; devoted his leisure to poetry; wrote "Songs of Innocence," "Marriage of Heaven and Hell," "Gates of Paradise," and "Songs of Experience"; was an intensely religious man of deep spiritual insight, most vivid feeling and imagination; illustrated Young's "Night Thoughts," Blair's "Grave," and the "Book of Job." He was a man of stainless character but eccentric habits, and had for wife an angel, Catherine Boucher (1757-1828).
Blanc, Charles, a French art critic, brother of Louis Blanc (1813-1882).
Blanc, Jean Joseph Louis, a French Socialist, born at Madrid; started as a journalist, founded the Revue du Progrès, and published separately in 1840 "Organisation of Labour," which had already appeared in the Revue, a work which gained the favour of the working-classes; was member of the Provisional Government of 1848, and eventually of the National Assembly; threatened with impeachment, fled to England; returned to France on the fall of the Empire, and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1871; wrote an "elaborate and well-written" "History of the French Revolution"; died at Cannes (1811-1882).
Blanc, Mont, the highest mountain in Europe, 15,780 ft., almost entirely within France; sends numerous glaciers down its slopes, the Mer de Glace the chief.
Blanchard, François, a celebrated French aëronaut, inventor of the parachute; he fell from his balloon and was killed at the Hague (1738-1809).
Blanchard, Laman, a prolific periodical and play writer, born at Yarmouth; a man of a singularly buoyant spirit, crushed by calamities; died by suicide (1803-1845).
Blanche of Castile, wife of Louis VIII. of France and mother of St. Louis; regent of France during the minority of her son and during his absence in crusade; governed with great discretion and firmness; died of grief over the long absence of her son and his rumoured intention to stay in the Holy Land (1186-1252).
Blanchet, The Abbé, French littérateur; author of "Apologues and Tales," much esteemed (1707-1784).
Blandrata, Giorgio, Piedmontese physician, who for his religious opinions was compelled to take refuge, first in Poland, then in Transylvania, where he sowed the seeds of Unitarianism (1515-1590).
Blanqui, Adolphe, a celebrated French publicist and economist, born at Nice; a disciple of J. B. Say, and a free-trader; his principal work, "History of Political Economy in Europe" (1798-1854).
Blanqui, Louis Auguste, a brother of the preceding, a French republican of extreme views and violent procedure; would appear to have posed as a martyr; spent nearly half his life in prison (1805-1881).
Blarney-stone, a stone in Castle Blarney, Cork, of difficult access, which is said to endow whoso kisses it with a fair-spoken tongue, hence the application of the word.
Blasius, St., bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia; the patron of wool-combers; suffered martyrdom in 316.
Blasphemy, defined by Ruskin as the opposite of euphemy, and as wishing ill to anything, culminating in wishing ill to God, as the height of "ill-manners."
Blatant Beast, Spenser's name for the ignorant, slanderous, clamour of the mob.
Blavatsky, Mme., a theosophist, born in Russia; a great authority on theosophy, the doctrines of which she professed she derived from the fountain-head in Thibet (1813-1891).
Bleek, Friedrich, eminent German Biblical exegete and critic of the Schleiermacher school, born in Holstein; professor at Bonn; his chief work, "Commentary on the Hebrews," a great work; others are Introductions to the Old and to the New Testaments (1793-1859).
Bleek, Wm., son of preceding, a philologist; accompanied Colenso to Natal; author of "Comparative Grammar of the S. African Languages" (1827-1875).
Blefuscu, an island separated from Lilliput by a strait 800 yards wide, inhabited by pigmies; understood to represent France.
Blenheim, a village in Bavaria, near Augsburg; famous for Marlborough's victory in 1704, and giving name to it.
Blenheim Park, near Woodstock, Oxford, the gift, with the Woodstock estate, of the country to the Duke of Marlborough, for his military services in the Spanish Succession war.
Blessington, Countess of, an Irish lady celebrated for her beauty and wit; figured much in intellectual circles in London; had her salon at Kensington; was on intimate terms with Byron, and published "Conversations with Byron," and wrote several novels; being extravagant, fell into debt, and had to flee the country (1789-1849).
Blicher, Steen Steensen, Danish poet of rural life (1782-1848).
Bligh, Wm., a naval officer; served under Captain Cook; commanded the Bounty at Tahiti, when his crew mutinied under his harsh treatment, and set him adrift, with 18 others, in an open boat, in which, after incredible privations, he arrived in England; was afterwards governor of N.S. Wales, but dismissed for his rigorous and arbitrary conduct (1753-1817).
Blimber, Mrs. Cornelia, a prim school-matron in "Dombey & Son."
Blind, Karl, revolutionist and journalist, born at Mannheim; took part in the risings of 1848, and sentenced to prison in consequence of a pamphlet he wrote entitled "German Hunger and German Princes," but rescued by the mob; found refuge in England, where he interested himself in democratic movements, and cultivated his literary as well as his political proclivities by contributing to magazines, and otherwise; b. 1826.
Blind Harry, a wandering Scottish minstrel of the 15th century; composed in verse "The Life of that Noble Champion of Scotland, Sir William Wallace."
Blinkert Dune, a dune near Haarlem, 197 ft. above the sea-level.
Bloch, Marcus Elieser, a naturalist, born at Anspach, of Jewish descent; his "Ichthyology" is a magnificent national work, produced at the expense of the wealthiest princes of Germany (1723-1799).
Bloemært, a family of Flemish painters and engravers in 16th and 17th centuries.
Blois, capital of the deps. of Loire and Cher, France, on the Loire, 35 m. S. of Orleans; a favourite residence of Francis I. and Charles IX., and the scene of events of interest in the history of France.
Blomefleld, Francis, a clergyman, born at Norfolk; author of "Topographical History of the County of Norfolk" (1705-1751).
Blomfield, bishop of London, born at Bury St. Edmunds; Greek scholar; active in the Church extension of his diocese (1785-1857).
Blondel, a troubadour of the 12th century; a favourite of Richard Coeur de Lion, who, it is said, discovered the place of Richard's imprisonment in Austria by singing the first part of a love-song which Richard and he had composed together, and by the voice of Richard in responding to the strain.
Blondin, Charles, an acrobat and rope-dancer, born at St. Omer, France; celebrated for his feats in crossing Niagara Falls on the tight-rope; b. 1824.
Blood, Thomas, Colonel, an Irish desperado, noted for his daring attempts against the life of the Duke of Ormonde, and for carrying off the regalia in the Tower; unaccountably pardoned by Charles II., and received afterwards into royal favour with a pension of £500 per annum. He was afterwards charged with conspiracy, and committed to the King's Bench, and released.
Bloody Assizes, the judicial massacres and cruel injustices perpetrated by Judge Jeffreys during Circuit in 1685.
Bloody Bones, a hobgoblin feared by children.
Bloody Statute, statute of Henry VIII. making it a crime involving the heaviest penalties to question any of the fundamental doctrines of the Romish Church.
Bloomfleld, Robert, an English poet, born in Suffolk, by trade a shoemaker; author of the "Farmer's Boy," a highly popular production, translated into French and Italian; spent his last days in ill-health struggling with poverty, which brought on dejection of mind (1766-1823).
Blount, Charles, a deist, born in London; assailant of revealed religion; was involved in all the controversies of the time; died by his own hand (1654-1693).
Blowpipe, a contrivance by which a current of air is driven through a flame, and the flame directed upon some fusible substance to fuse or vitrify it.
Blücher, Prussian field-marshal, familiarly named "Marshal Forwards," born at Rostock; served first in the Swedish army, then in the Prussian; distinguished as a leader of cavalry, and met with varying fortune; at the age of 70 commanded the centre of the Allied Army in 1813; distinguished himself at Lützen and Leipzig; pursued the French across the Rhine; pressed forward to Paris at the time of Napoleon's abdication; defeated by Napoleon at Ligny, 16th June 1815; arrived on the field of Waterloo just as the French were preparing to make their last charge, and contributed to decide the fate of the day (1742-1819).
Blue Mountains, a range of thickly wooded mountains traversing Jamaica from E. to W., from 5000 to 7000 ft. in height; also a chain of mountains in New South Wales of two parallel ranges, with a deep chasm between, and full of gloomy ravines and beetling precipices, the highest 4100 ft.
Blue Nose, a nickname given to an inhabitant of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick.
Bluebeard, a wealthy seigneur, the owner of a castle; marries a beautiful woman, and leaves her in charge of the keys of the apartments in his absence, with injunctions not to unlock any of the doors, an injunction which she fails to respect, and finds to her horror the remains of his former wives locked up in one of them; her disobedience is discovered, and she is to prepare for death, but is rescued, as she lies with her head on the block, by the timely arrival of her brothers, who at once despatch the husband to his merited doom.
Blue-books, Parliamentary documents bound in blue paper, as the corresponding documents in France are in yellow; they have been published regularly since the beginning of the 18th century, those of a single session now forming a collection of some 60 folio volumes.
Blue-coat School, a name given to Christ's Hospital, London, founded in the reign of Edward VI., from the blue coats worn by the boys.
Blue-gown, in Scotland a beggar, a bedesman of the king, who wore a blue gown, the gift of the king, and had his license to beg.
Blue-stocking, a female pedant or femme savante, a name derived from a learned coterie, formed in the 15th century, at Venice, who wore blue stockings as a badge.
Bluff Hal, or Harry, Henry VIII. of England.
Blum, a German politician, born at Cologne; tried by court-martial and shot for abetting a political movement in Vienna in 1848, a proceeding which created a wide-spread sensation at the time all over Europe; b. 1807.
Blumenbach, Johann Friedrich, a distinguished German naturalist and ethnologist, born at Gotha; studied at Jena; became professor at Göttingen, an office he filled for 60 years; his works gave a great impulse to scientific research in all directions; the chief were "Institutiones Physiologicæ," "Manual of Natural History," "Manual of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology"; he made craniology a special study; was a great advocate for religious liberty (1752-1840).
Blumenthal, Leonard von, field-marshal in the Prussian army; distinguished in the wars with Denmark, Austria, and France; an eminent strategist; b. 1810.
Blumi`ne, the siren that Calypsowise in "Sartor" seduced Teufelsdröckh at the commencement of his career, but who opened his eyes to see that it is not in sentiment, however fine, that the soul's cravings can find satisfaction.
Blunt, John Henry, D.D., born at Chelsea; wrote largely on theological and ecclesiastical subjects (1823-1884).
Bluntschli, Johann Kaspar, a distinguished jurist, born at Zurich; an authority in international law; a liberal conservative both in Church and State; founder and president of the Protestant Union called the Protestantenverein (1808-1881).
Boabdil, or Abu-Abdallah, surnamed "The Unfortunate," the last Moorish king of Granada, from 1481 to 1492; expelled from his throne by Ferdinand of Castile and Aragon; as he rode off he halted on a hill called "The Last Sigh of the Moor," and wept as he looked back on the Alhambra, while his mother added to his bitterness with the cutting sarcasm, "Weep as a woman for a throne you have not been able to defend as a man"; died shortly after in Africa, recklessly throwing away his life on a field of battle.
Boadice`a, a British heroine, queen of the Iceni, who occupied Norfolk and Suffolk; roused by indignity done to her and her people by the Romans, gathered round her an army, who, with a murderous onslaught, attacked their settlements and destroyed them; but being attacked and defeated in turn by Suetonius Paulinus, the Roman governor, she put, in her despair, an end to her life by poison, A.D. 61. Cowper made her the theme of one of his poems.
Boanerges (i. e. Sons of Thunder), applied by Christ to the sons of Zebedee for the vehemence of their zeal.
Boaz and Jachin, two pillars of brass at the entrance of Solomon's Temple, signifying respectively strength and stability.
Bob`adil, Captain, a braggadocio in Ben Jonson's "Every Man in his Humour."
Bobèche, a French theatrical clown, under the Empire and the Restoration, son of an upholsterer of the St. Antoine faubourg, the type of the merry-andrew at country fairs.
Boccaccio, Giovanni, the celebrated Italian raconteur, born near Florence; showed early a passion for literature; sent by his father to Naples to pursue a mercantile career; gave himself up to story-telling in prose and verse; fell in love with Maria, a beautiful woman, daughter of the king, styled by him Fiammetta, for whom he wrote several of his works, and his great work, the "Decameron"; early formed a lifelong friendship with Petrarch, along with whom he contributed to the revival and study of classic literature; lectured on Dante in Florence; Petrarch's death deeply affected him, and he died the year after (1313-1375).
Boccherini, Luigi, a celebrated Italian musical composer, born at Lucca; was associated with Manfredi, the violinist; his works were numerous; appears to have lived in poverty and obscurity (1740-1805).
Bochart, Samuel, a Protestant divine, born at Rouen; pastor at Caen; a geographer and an Orientalist; wrote a treatise on sacred geography; celebrated for a nine-days' discussion with the Jesuit Verin (1599-1667).
Bode, Johann Elert, an astronomer, born at Hamburg; was professor of Astronomy and director of Observatory at Berlin; produced a number of astronomical works, one of his best, "An Introduction to the Knowledge of the Starry Heavens;" gave name to the law of the planetary distances, called Bode's Law, although it was observed by Kepler long before his day (1747-1826).
Bodel, a celebrated troubadour of the 13th century, born at Arras.
Bodensee, another name for the Lake of Constance, well called the filter of the Rhine.
Bodin, Jean, a publicist and diplomatist, born at Angers; author of "The Republic," in six books, published at first in French and then in Latin, which summed up all the political philosophy of his time, and contributed to prepare the way for subsequent speculations; was the precursor of Hobbes and Montesquieu (1530-1596).
Bodleian Library, the university library of Oxford, founded, or rather restored, by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1593; enlarged from time to time by bequests, often munificent. It possesses 400,000 printed volumes and 30,000 MSS.
Bodley, Sir Thomas, born at Exeter; employed on embassies by Elizabeth on the Continent, where he collected a number of valuable books; bequeathed them and his fortune to the university library of Oxford, named after him (1545-1613).
Bodmer, Johann Jacob, a distinguished Swiss critic, born near Zurich; the first, by study of the masters in literature of Greece and Rome, France, England, and Italy, to wake up Germany to a sense of its poverty in that line, and who aided, along with others, in the inauguration of a new era, which he did more by his republication of the Minnesingers and part of the "Nibelungen Lied" than by his advocacy (1698-1783).
Bodmin (5), the county town of Cornwall, supersedes Truro as capital; an important agricultural centre; has large annual fairs for cattle, horses, and sheep.
Bodoni, an Italian printer; settled at Parma, where his press was set up in the ducal palace, whence issued magnificent editions of the classics, Horace, Virgil, Tacitus, Tasso, and, last of all, Homer. He was often tempted to Rome, but he refused to quit Parma and the patronage of the ducal house there (1740-1813).
Bödtcher, Ludwig, a Danish lyric poet, born at Copenhagen; lived chiefly in Italy (1793-1874).
Boece, Hector, a humanist and Scottish historian, born at Dundee; professor of Philosophy at Paris; friend of Erasmus; was principal of university at Aberdeen; wrote "History of Bishops of Mortlach and Aberdeen," and "History of Scotland" in excellent Latin (1465-1536).
Boeckh, Philip August, classical antiquary, born at Carlsruhe; professor of Ancient Literature in Berlin; a classic of the first rank, and a contributor on a large scale to all departments of Greek classical learning; was an eminently learned man, and an authority in different departments of learning (1785-1867).
Boehm, Sir Joseph Edgar, sculptor, born in Vienna, of Hungarian parentage; settled in England; executed a colossal statue of the Queen at Windsor, a seated statue of Carlyle on the Thames Embankment, a statue of Bunyan at Bedford, &c.; patronised by the Queen and royal family; buried in St. Paul's by the Queen's desire (1785-1869).
Boehme, Jacob, a celebrated German mystic, born at Görlitz; of an imaginatively meditative turn from boyhood as a neat-herd, and afterwards in his stall as a shoemaker; spent his whole life in meditation on divine things; saw in the Bible a revelation of these as in no other book; seemed to have eyes given him to see visions of these things himself, for which he felt he had no organ to express, and which he conveyed to others in mystical, apocalyptical speech; a thinker very fascinating to all minds of the seer class. He was subject to persecution, as all of his stamp are, by the men of the letter, and bore up with the meekness which all men of his elevation of character ever do—"quiet, gentle, and modest," as they all are to the very core, in his way of thinking; and his philosophy would seem to have anticipated the secret of Hegel, who acknowledges him as one of the fathers of German philosophy. He left writings which embody a scheme of mystical theology, setting forth the trinity in unity of the Hegelian system, that is, viewing the divine as it is in itself, as it comes out in nature, and as it returns to itself in the human soul (1575-1624).
Boehmer, a German historian, born at Frankfort; author of works on the Carlovingian period of history (1795-1863).
Boeo`tia, a country of ancient Greece, N. of the Gulf of Corinth; the natives, though brave, were mere tillers of the soil under a heavy atmosphere, innocent of culture, and regarded as boors and dullards by the educated classes of Greece, and particularly of Athens, and yet Hesiod, Pindar, and Plutarch were natives of Boeotia.
Boerhaave, a great physician, born near Leyden, and son of a pastor; ultimately professor of Medicine and Botany there, as well as of Chemistry; chairs of which he filled and adorned with the greatest distinction; his reputation spread over Europe, and even as far as China—a letter from which bore the simple address, "To M. Boerhaave, Europe," and found him; his system was adopted by the profession, and patients from far and wide came to consult him—among others, Pope Benedict VIII. and Peter the Great; his character was as noble as his abilities were great; his principal works were "Institutiones Medicæ," "Aphorismi de Cognoscendis et Curandis Morbis," "Libellus de Materia Medica," and "Institutiones Chemicæ" (1668-1738).
Boers (i. e. peasants engaged in tillage), Dutch colonists of an independent republican temper, who in the 17th century squatted in S. Africa; gave themselves to agriculture and cattle-rearing; settled at length in the Transvaal in a self-governed community by themselves.
Boëthius, Anicius Manlius Severinus, a Roman statesman, born at Rome, of Consular rank, a profoundly learned man, held the highest offices, Consul among others, under Theodoric the Goth; his integrity and opposition to injustice procured him enemies, who accused him of treason; he was cast into prison, and finally put to death; wrote in prison his "De Consolatione Philosophiæ," in five parts, employing verse and prose alternately, which King Alfred translated into Anglo-Saxon; he was canonised as a martyr, and his influence was great during the Middle Ages (470-524).
Boeuf, Front de, a character in "Ivanhoe."
Bogatzky, Karl Heinrich von, religious writer; wrote hymns and an autobiography; is best known as the author of the "Golden Treasury" (1690-1744).
Bogdanovitch, a Russian poet, called by his countrymen the "Russian Anacreon"; his best-known poem "Psyche" (1743-1803).
Bogermann, Johann, Dutch divine, translated the Bible into Dutch, and was President of the Synod of Dort (1576-1633).
Bogota` (100), capital of the United State of Colombia, situated on a remarkable, almost mountain-encircled, plateau, on the river Bogotá, 65 m. SE. of its port, Honda, the highest navigable point of the Magdalena, is 8600 ft. above sea-level, and has a spring-like climate. It is regularly built, with innumerable churches, a mint, university, library, and observatory, and several schools. Though the country is fertile and the mountains rich in coal, iron, salt, and precious metals, its situation and the want of a railway hinder trade.
Bog-trotter, a name given to the Scottish moss-troopers, now to certain Irish for their agility in escaping over bogs.
Bogue, David, born in Berwickshire, a Congregational minister; one of the founders of the London Foreign Missionary, the Foreign Bible, and the Religious Tract Societies (1750-1825).
Bohemia (5,843), the most northerly province in Austria, two-thirds the size of Scotland; is encircled by mountains, and drained by the upper Elbe and its tributaries. The Erzgebirge separate it from Saxony; the Riesengebirge, from Prussia; the Böhmerwald, from Bavaria; and the Moravian Mountains, from Moravia. The mineral wealth is varied and great, including coal, the most useful metals, silver, sulphur, and porcelain clay. The climate is mild in the valleys, the soil fertile; flax and hops the chief products; forests are extensive. Dyeing, calico-printing, linen and woollen manufactures, are the chief industries. The glassware is widely celebrated; there are iron-works and sugar-refineries. The transit trade is very valuable. The people are mostly Czechs, of the Slavonic race, Roman Catholics in religion; there is a large and influential German minority of about two millions, with whom the Czechs, who are twice as numerous, do not amalgamate; the former being riled at the official use of the Czech language, and the latter agitating for the elevation of the province to the same status as that of Hungary. Education is better than elsewhere in Austria; there is a university at Prague, the capital. In the 16th century the crown was united with the Austrian, but in 1608 religious questions led to the election of the Protestant Frederick V. This was followed by the Thirty Years' War, the extermination of the Protestants, and the restoration of the Austrian House.
Bohemian, name given to one who lives by his wits and shuns conventionality.
Bohemian Brethren, a fraternity of an extreme sect of the Hussites, organised as United Brethren in 1455; broken up in the Thirty Years' War, met in secret, and were invited, under the name of Moravians or Herrnhuters, by Count Zinzendorf to settle on his estate.
Bohemond, first prince of Antioch, son of Robert Guiscard; set out on the first crusade; besieged and took Antioch; was besieged in turn by the Saracens, and imprisoned for two years; liberated, he collected troops and recaptured the city (1056-1111).
Bohlen, von, a German Orientalist, professor at Königsberg (1796-1840).
Bonn, Henry George, an enterprising publisher, a German, born in London; issued a series of works identified with his name (1796-1884).
Böhtlingk, Otto, Sanskrit scholar, a German, born in St. Petersburg; author, among other works, of a Sanskrit dictionary in 7 vols.; b.1815.
Boiardo, Matteo Maria, Count of Scandiano, surnamed the "Flower of Chivalry"; an Italian poet, courtier, diplomatist, and statesman; author of "Orlando Innamorato" (1456), the model of Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso," which eclipsed it (1434-1494).
Boieldieu, Adrien François, a distinguished French musical composer of operas; author of the "Calife de Bagdad," "Télémaque," and "La Dame Blanche," reckoned his masterpiece; called the French Mozart (1775-1834).
Boigne, Count de, a French soldier of fortune, born at Chambéry; served under France, Russia, East India Company, and the prince of the Mahrattas, to whom he rendered signal service; amassed wealth, which he dealt out generously and for the benefit of his country (1751-1830).
Boii, an ancient people of Gaul, occupying territory between the Allier and the Loire.
Boileau, Nicolas (surnamed Despréaux, to distinguish him from his brother), poet and critic, born in Paris; brought up to the law, but devoted to letters, associating himself with La Fontaine, Racine, and Molière; author of "Satires" and "Epistles," "L'Art Poétique," "Le Lutrin," &c., in which he attached and employed his wit against the bad taste of his time; did much to reform French poetry, as Pascal did to reform the prose, and was for long the law-giver of Parnassus; was an imitator of Pope, but especially of Horace (1636-1711).
Boisard, a French fabulist of remarkable fecundity (1743-1831).
Bois-Guillebert, a French economist, cousin of Vauban; advocate of free trade; d. 1714.
Bois-le-Duc (27), capital of North Brabant, 45 m. SE. of Amsterdam, and with a fine cathedral; seat of an archbishop.
Boismont, The Abbé, one of the best French pulpit orators of the 18th century (1715-1786).
Boisrobert, The Abbé, a French poet, one of the first members of the French Academy; patronised by Richelieu (1592-1662).
Boissonade, Jean François, a French Greek scholar; for a time carried away by the revolutionary movement, but abandoned politics for letters (1774-1857).
Boissiere, a French lexicographer (1806-1885).
Boissy d'Anglas, Count, a member and president of the Convention in Paris, noted for his firmness and coolness during the frenzy of the Revolution: one day the Parisian mob burst in upon the Convention, shot dead a young deputy, Féraud, "sweeping the members of it before them to the upper-bench ... covered, the president sat unyielding, like a rock in the beating of seas; they menaced him, levelled muskets at him, he yielded not; they held up Féraud's bloody head to him; with grave, stern air he bowed to it, and yielded not"; became a senator and commander of the Legion of Honour under Napoleon; was made a peer by Louis XVIII. (1756-1826).
Boiste, a French lexicographer (1765-1824).
Bokha`ra (1,800), a Mohammedan State in Central Asia, N. of Afghanistan, nominally independent; but the Khan is a vassal of the Czar. The surface is arid, and cultivation possible only near the rivers-the Oxus, Zarafshan, and Karshi. In the sands of the Oxus, gold and salt are found. Rice, cotton, and cereals are grown; silk, cotton-thread, jewellery, cutlery, and firearms are manufactured. The people are of Turk and Persian origin. The capital, Bokhara (70), is on the plain of the Zarafshan, a walled, mud-built city, 8 or 9 m. in circumference, with numerous colleges and mosques, the centre of learning and religious life in Central Asia. It has important trade and large slave markets.
Bolan` Pass, a high-lying, deep, narrow gorge, extending between Quetta (Beluchistan) and Kandahar (Afghanistan), sloping upwards at an inclination of 90 ft. a mile; is traversed by a torrent.
Boleslaus, the name of several dukes of Poland, of whom the most famous is Boleslaus I. the Great, who ruled from 992 to 1025.
Boleyn, Anne, or Bullen, second wife of Henry VIII. and mother of Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thoman Bullen (afterwards Earl of Wiltshire); after a three years' residence at the French Court became maid of honour to Queen Katherine; attracted the admiration of Henry; was married to him, and became queen; charged with adultery and conspiracy, was found guilty and beheaded; was of the Reformed faith; her marriage with Henry had important bearings on the English Reformation (1507-1536).
Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, Viscount, English statesman, orator, and political writer, born at Battersea; Prime Minister of Queen Anne in the Tory interest, after her dismissal of the Whigs; on the accession of George I. fled to France and joined the Pretender; was impeached and attainted; returned in 1723 to his estates, but denied a seat in the House of Lords, an indignity which he resented by working the overthrow of Walpole; was the friend of Pope and Swift, and the author of "Letters" bearing upon politics and literature. "Bolingbroke," says Prof. Saintsbury, "is a rhetorician pure and simple, but the subjects of his rhetoric were not the great and perennial subjects, but puny ephemeral forms of them—the partisan and personal politics of his day, the singularly shallow form of infidelity called Deism and the like; and his time deprived him of many, if not most, of the rhetorician's most telling weapons. The 'Letter to Windham,' a sort of apologia, and the 'Ideal of a Patriot King,' exhibit him at his best." It was he who suggested to Pope his "Essay on Man" (1678-1751).
Bolivar, Simon, surnamed the Liberator, general and statesman, born at Caracas; a man of good birth and liberal education; seized with the passion for freedom during a visit to Madrid and Paris, devoted himself to the cause of S. American independence; freed from the yoke of Spain Venezuela and New Grenada, which, in 1819, he erected into a republic under the name of Colombia; achieved in 1824 the same for Upper Peru, henceforth called Bolivia, after his name; accused of aspiring to the Dictatorship, he abdicated, and was preparing to leave the country when he died of fever, with the sage reflection on his lips, "The presence of a soldier, however disinterested he may be, is always dangerous in a State that is new to freedom"; he has been called the Washington of S. America (1783-1830).
Bolivia (1,500), an inland republic of S. America, occupying lofty tablelands E. of the Andes, and surrounded by Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Chili. The S. is chiefly desert; in the N. are Lake Titicaca and many well-watered valleys. The very varied heights afford all kinds of vegetation, from wheat and maize to tropical fruits. In the lower plains coffee, tobacco, cotton, and cinchona are cultivated. The most important industry is mining: gold, silver, copper, and tin. Trade is hampered by want of navigable rivers, but helped by railways from Chili, Peru, and Argentina. Silver is the chief export; manufactured goods are imported. The country has been independent since 1825; it lost its sea provinces in the war with Chili, 1879-83. The capital is Sucre (12), but La Pay (45) and Cochabamba (14) are larger towns.
Bolland, John, a Jesuit of Antwerp, born in Belgium; compiled five vols. of the Lives of the Saints called "Acta Sanctorum," which was continued by others, called after him "Bollandists."
Bollandists, a succession of Jesuits who produced the Lives of the Saints, now extended to sixty vols.
Bologna (147), an ancient walled city of Italy, on a fertile plain, at the foot of the Lower Apennines, 83 m. N. of Florence; has many fine buildings, a university, one of the oldest in Europe, schools of music and art, libraries, and art collections. There are some silk and other industries, and considerable trade.
Bologna, John Of, one of the most celebrated sculptors of art in his time, born at Douai, settled at Florence (1524-1608).
Bolor-Tagh, a high tableland in Central Asia, stretching from the Hindu Kush mountains northwards to the Tian Shan.
Bolse`na, a small town in Italy, on the E. shore of Lake Bolsena.
Bolsena, a lake with clear water in a hollow crater of a volcano, and abounding with fish, but with an unwholesome atmosphere.
Bolton (115), manufacturing town of Lancashire.
Bolton Abbey, an old abbey in Yorkshire, 6 m. E. of Skipton; was founded by the Augustinian canons.
Boma, a station on the Lower Congo, in the Congo Independent State; once a great slave mart.
Bomarsund, a fortress of the island of Aland occupied by Russia, destroyed by the Anglo-French fleet in 1854; the Russians bound not to restore it.
Bomba, nickname of Ferdinand II., late king of the Two Sicilies, given him, it is alleged, from his calling upon his soldiers to bombard his people during an insurrection.
Bombastes Furioso, an opera by Thomas Rhodes in ridicule of the bombastic style of certain tragedies in vogue.
Bombay (26,960), the western Presidency of India, embraces 26 British districts and 19 feudatory states. N. of the Nerbudda River the country is flat and fertile; S. of it are mountain ranges and tablelands. In the fertile N. cotton, opium, and wheat are the staple products. In the S., salt, iron, and gold are mined; but coal is wanting. The climate is hot and moist on the coast and in the plains, but pleasant on the plateaux. Cotton manufacture has developed extensively and cotton cloths, with sugar, tea, wool, and drugs are exported. Machinery, oil, coal, and liquors are imported. Bombay (822), the chief city, stands on an island, connected with the coast by a causeway, and has a magnificent harbour and noble docks. It is rapidly surpassing Calcutta in trade, and is one of the greatest of seaports; its position promises to make it the most important commercial centre in the East, as it already is in the cotton trade of the world. It swarms with people of every clime, and its merchandise is mainly in the hands of the Parsees, the descendants of the ancient fire-worshippers. It is the most English town in India. It came to England from Portugal as dowry with Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II., who leased it to the East India Company for £10 a year. Its prosperity began when the Civil War in America afforded it an opening for its cotton.
Bon Gaultier, nom de plume assumed by Professor Aytoun and Sir Theodore Martin.
Bona (30), a seaport in Algeria, in the province of Constantine, on a bay of the Mediterranean, with an excellent harbour and a growing trade; is much improved since its occupation by the French in 1832. Near it are the ruins of Hippo, the episcopal city of Augustine.
Bona, an ascetic writer, surnamed the Fénélon of Italy, one of feuillant order of monks (1609-1674).
Bona Dea (the good goddess), a Roman goddess of fertility, worshipped by women; her priests vestals and her worship by rites from which men were excluded. Her symbol was a serpent, but the name under which she was worshipped is not known.
Bonald, Vicomte de, a French publicist, a violent royalist and ultramontanist; looked upon the Catholic religion and the royal authority as fundamental to the stability of the social fabric, and was opposed to the law of divorce, which led to its alteration. He denied that language was innate, but revealed, and that causation was inherent in matter (1758-1840).
Bonaparte, name of a celebrated family of Italian origin settled in Corsica; the principal members of it were: Charles Marie, born at Ajaccio, 1744; died at Montpellier, 1785; married, 1767. Marie-Lætitia Ramolino, born at Ajaccio, 1750; died at Rome, 1836; of this union were born eight children: Joseph, became king of Naples, 1806; king of Spain from 1808 to 1813; retired to United States after Waterloo; returned to Europe, and died at Florence, 1844. Napoleon I. (q. v.). Lucien, b. 1775; became president of the Council of the Five Hundred, and prince of Canino; died in Viterbo, 1840. Marie-Anne-Eliza, b. 1777; married Felix Bacciochi, who became prince of Lucca; died at Trieste, 1826. Louis, b. 1778; married Hortense de Beauharnais; father of Napoleon III.; king of Holland (from 1806 to 1810); died at Leghorn, 1846. Marie Pauline, b. 1780; married General Leclerc, 1801; afterwards, in 1803, Prince Camille Borghese; became Duchess of Guastalla; died at Florence, 1825. Caroline-Marie, b. 1782; married Marat in 1800; became Grand-duchess of Berg and Clèves, then queen of Naples; died at Florence, 1839. Jerome, b. 1784, king of Westphalia (from 1807 to 1813); marshal of France in 1850; married, by second marriage, Princess Catherine of Würtemburg; died in 1860; his daughter, the Princess Mathilde, b. 1820, and his son, Prince Napoleon, called Jerome, b. 1822, married Princess Clothilde, daughter of Victor Emmanuel, of which marriage was born Prince Victor Napoleon in 1862.
Bonar, Horatius, a clergyman of the Free Church of Scotland, and a celebrated hymn writer, born at Edinburgh (1808-1889).
Bonaventura, St., cardinal, surnamed the Seraphic Doctor, his real name John Fidenza, born in Tuscany; entered the Franciscan Order; was chosen general of the Order and papal legate at the Council of Lyons in 1274, during the session of which he died; was a mystic in theology; ascribed knowledge of the truth to union with God, such as existed between man and his Maker prior to the Fall, a state which could be recovered only by a life of purity and prayer; his writings were admired by Luther (1221-1274).
Bonchamp, Charles, Marquis de, French general, born in Anjou, served in the American war; became one of the chiefs of the Vendéan army; fell at the battle of Cholet, and when dying, relented over the blood already shed; ordered the release of 5000 prisoners which his party, in their revenge, was about to massacre; d. 1793.
Bond, William, a distinguished American astronomer (1789-1815), who with his son, George Phillips, discovered a satellite of Neptune and an eighth satellite of Saturn (1826-1865).
Bondu (30), a country of Senegambia, a dependency of France; yields maize, cotton, fruits.
Bone, Henry, a celebrated enamel painter, especially in miniature on ivory; born at Truro (1755-1834).
Boner, Ulrich, a German fabulist and Dominican monk of the 14th century, author of "Der Edelstein" (The Jewel), a book of fables.
Bonheur, Rosa, a celebrated French animal painter, born at Bordeaux; brought up in poverty from ill-fortune; taught by her father; exhibited when she was 19; her best-known works are the "Horse Fair" and the "Hay Harvest in Auvergne," "Ploughing with Oxen," considered her masterpiece; through the Empress Eugenie she received the Cross of the Legion of Honour; during the siege of Paris her studio was spared by order of the Crown Prince; b. 1822.
Bonhomme, Jacques, a name of contempt given by the nobility of France to the peasants in the 14th century.
Boniface, the name of nine Popes. B. I., pope from 418 to 422, assumed the title of First Bishop of Christendom; B. II., pope from 530 to 532; B. III., pope for 10 months, from 607 to 608; B. IV., pope from 608 to 614; B. V., pope from 617 to 625; B. VI., pope in 896; B. VII., pope from 974 to 985; B. VIII., pope from 1294 to 1303, a strenuous assertor of the papal supremacy over all princes, and a cause of much turmoil in Europe, provoked a war with Philip the Fair of France, who arrested him at Anagni, and though liberated by the citizens died on his way to Rome; B. IX., pope from 1389 to 1405, the first pope to wear the Triple Crown.
Boniface, St., the Apostle of Germany, born in Devonshire, his real name Winfried; consecrated Pepin le Bref; was made Primate of Germany; was, with 53 companions, massacred by the barbarians of Friesland, whom he sought to convert (680-755).
Bonin`, a group of rocky islands SE. of Japan, and since 1878 subject to it.
Bonington, Richard, an eminent English landscape painter of exceptional precocity, born near Nottingham; painted the "Ducal Palace" and "Grand Canal" at Venice, his masterpieces (1801-1828).
Bonivard, François de, a Genevese patriot and historian, twice imprisoned by Charles III., a Duke of Savoy, for his sympathy with the struggles of the Genevese against his tyranny, the second time for six years in the Castle of Chillon; immortalised by Lord Byron in his "Prisoner of Chillon"; he was released at the Reformation, and adopted Protestantism (1496-1571).
Bonn (38), a Prussian town on the Rhine, SE. of Cologne, an old Roman station, with a famous university; the birthplace of Beethoven, with a monument to his memory; it is a stronghold of the old Catholics.
Bonnat, Joseph Leon, a French painter, born at Bayonne; imitated for a time the religious paintings of the old masters, but since 1862 has followed a style of his own; "Christ at the Cross" in the Palais de Justice, Paris, is his work; b. 1833.
Bonner, Edmund, bishop of London, born at Worcester; was chaplain to Wolsey; sided with Henry VIII. against the Pope; fell into disgrace under Edward VI.; was restored by Mary, whom he served in her Anti-Protestant zeal; affected to welcome Elizabeth to the throne; was again deposed and imprisoned for refusing to take the oath of supremacy under Elizabeth; died in the Marshalsea Prison: he does not deserve all the odium that has been heaped on his memory; he was faithful as a bishop, consistent in his conduct, and bore the indignities done him with manly fortitude (1495-1569).
Bonnet, Charles de, Swiss naturalist and philosopher, born at Geneva; his studies as a naturalist gave a materialistic cast to his philosophy; though he did not deny the existence of mind, still less that of its sovereign Author, he gave to material impressions a dominant influence in determining its manifestations (1720-1793).
Bonnet-piece, a gold coin of James V. of Scotland, so called from the king being represented on it as wearing a bonnet instead of a crown.
Bonneval, Claude-Alexandre, Comte de. See Achmed Pasha.
Bonnie Dundee, Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee.
Bonpland, Aimé, a French botanist and traveller, born at Rochelle; companion of Alexander von Humboldt in his S. American scientific explorations; brought home a large collection of plants, thousands of species of them new to Europe; went out again to America, arrested by Dr. Francia in Paraguay as a spy, kept prisoner there for about nine years; released, settled in the prov. of Corrientes, where he died; wrote several works bearing on plants (1773-1858).
Bonstetten, Charles Victor de, a Swiss publicist and judge, born at Berne; wrote on anthropology, psychology, &c. (1745-1832).
Bontemps, Roger, a French personification of a state of leisure and freedom from care.
Bonze, a Buddhist priest in China, Japan, Burmah, &c.
Boole, English mathematician, born at Lincoln; mathematical professor at Cork; author of "Laws of Thought," an original work, and "Differential Equations" (1815-1864).
Boomerang, a missile of hard curved wood used by the Australian aborigines of 2½ ft. long; a deadly weapon, so constructed that, though thrown forward, it takes a whirling course upwards till it stops, when it returns with a swoop and falls in the rear of the thrower.
Boone, Daniel, a famous American backwoodsman; d. 1822, aged 84.
Boötes (the ox-driver or waggoner), a son of Ceres; inventor of the plough in the Greek mythology; translated along with his ox to become a constellation in the northern sky, the brightest star in which is Arcturus.
Booth, Barton, English actor, acted Shakespearean, characters and Hamlet's ghost (1681-1733).
Booth, John Wilkes, son of an actor, assassinated Lincoln, and was shot by his captors (1839-1865).
Booth, William, founder and general of the Salvation Army, born in Nottingham; published "In Darkest England"; a man of singular self-devotion to the religious and social welfare of the race; b. 1839.
Boothia, a peninsula of British N. America, W. of the Gulf of Boothia, and in which the N. magnetic pole of the earth is situated; discovered by Sir John Boss in 1830.
Booton, an island in the Malay Archipelago, SE. of Celebes; subject to the Dutch.
Bopp, Franz, a celebrated German philologist and Sanskrit scholar, born at Mayence; was professor of Oriental Literature and General Philology at Berlin; his greatest work, "A Comparative Grammar of Sanskrit, Zend, Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, Old Slave, Gothic, and German"; translated portions of the "Mahâbhârata," q. v. (1791-1867).
Bora, Katharina, the wife of Luther, born in Meissen, originally a nun, who, with eight others, was at Luther's instance released from her convent; proved "a pious and faithful wife" to Luther, as he says of her, and became the mother to him of six children, three sons and three daughters (1499-1552).
Borda, a French mathematician and physicist, born at Dax, in the dep. of Landes, served in both army and navy; one of those employed in measuring an arc of the meridian to establish the metric system in France (1733-1799).
Bordeaux (256), a great industrial and commercial city, and chief seat of the wine trade in France and the third seaport on the Garonne; cap. of the dep. of Gironde; the birthplace of Rosa Bonheur and Richard II., his father, the Black Prince, having had his seat here as governor of Aquitaine. There are sugar-refineries, potteries, foundries, glass and chemical works. The cod-fishing industry has its base here. A cathedral dates from the 11th century. There are schools of science, art, theology, medicine, and navigation, a library, museum, and rich picture-gallery.
Border Minstrel, Sir Walter Scott.
Borders, the, the shifting boundary between Scotland and England before the Union, a centre of endless fighting and marauding on the opposite sides for centuries.
Bordone, an Italian painter, born at Treviso, a pupil of Titian and Giorgione; his most celebrated picture, "The Gondolier presenting the Ring of St. Mark to the Doge" (1500-1570).
Bore, a watery ridge rushing violently up an estuary, due to a strong tidal wave travelling up a gradually narrowing channel. Bores are common in the estuary of the Ganges and other Asiatic rivers, in those of Brazil, and at the mouth of the Severn, in England.
Boreas, the god of the north wind, and son of the Titan Astræus and of Aurora.
Borghese, name of a family of high position and great wealth in Rome: Camillo, having become Pope in 1605 under the title of Paul V.; and Prince Borghese having married Pauline Bonaparte, sister of Napoleon, who separated himself from her on the fall of her brother (1775-1832); the palace of the family one of the finest in Rome, and has a rich collection of paintings.
Borghesi, Count, an Italian savant skilled in numismatics (1781-1860).
Borgia, Cæsar, fourth son of Pope Alexander VI.; was made cardinal at the age of 17, an honour he relinquished to become a soldier, in which capacity it is alleged he gave himself up to deeds of inhumanity, which have made his name a synonym for every action that is most crafty, revolting, and cruel; a portrait of him by Raphael, in the Borghese gallery, is a masterpiece. Notwithstanding the execration in which his memory is held, he is reputed to have been just as a ruler in his own domain, and a patron of art and literature; d. 1507.
Borgia, Franceso, third general of the Order of the Jesuits, a post he filled with great zeal as well as prudent management; was beatified by Urban VIII., and canonised by Clement IX., 1671 (1510-1572).
Borgia, Lucretia, sister of Cæsar Borgia, born at Rome; her father annulled her first marriage, and gave her to a nephew of the king of Naples, who was murdered by her brother's assassins, when she married the Duke of Ferrara; was celebrated for her beauty and her patronage of letters, though she has been accused of enormities as well as her brother (1480-1523).
Borgu, fertile and densely-peopled state in Africa, traversed by the Niger, subject to the Royal Niger Company, in one of the chief towns of which Mungo Park lost his life.
Borlase, William, antiquary and naturalist, born in St. Just, Cornwall; author of "Observations on the Antiquities of Cornwall" and "Natural History of Cornwall"; was vicar in his native parish (1696-1772).
Born, Bertrand, one of the most celebrated troubadours of the 12th century, born in Périgord; aggravated the quarrel between Henry II. of England and his sons; is placed by Dante in the "Inferno."
Borne, Ludwig, a political writer, born at Frankfort, of Jewish parentage; disgusted with the state of things in Germany, went to Paris after the Revolution there of 1830; was disappointed with the result, and turned Radical; he and Heine were at deadly feud (1787-1837).
Borneo (1,800), an island in the Malay Archipelago, the third largest in the globe, Australia and New Guinea being larger; its length 800 m., and its breadth 700, covered with mountains in the interior, Kinabalu the highest (13,000 ft.); has no volcanoes; bordered all round with wide plains and low marshy ground; rich in vegetation and in minerals, in gold and precious stones; its forests abound with valuable timber, teak, ebony, &c.; all tropical crops and spices are cultivated; the population is Dyak, Malay, and Chinese; possessed in great part by the Dutch, and in the north part by the British.
Bornholm (35), an island belonging to Denmark, in the Baltic; has no good harbour; agriculture, cattle-breeding, and fishing the occupation of the inhabitants.
Bornu (5,000), a Mohammedan State in the Central Soudan, W. and S. of Lake Tehad; famed for a breed of horses; population mostly negroes; the ruling race of Arab descent, called Shuwas; climate hot and unhealthy in the low ground, but temperate in the high.
Boro Budor, the ruin of a magnificent Buddhist temple in Java, ornamented with figures of Buddha and scenes in his life, with representations of battles, processions, chariot races, &c.
Borodino, a village 70 m. W. of Moscow; the scene of a bloody battle between Napoleon and the Russians, Sept. 7, 1812.
Bororo, a large Brazilian nation between Cuyaba and Goyaz.
Borough, in Scotland Burgh, is in its modern sense primarily a town that sends a representative to Parliament; but it is further an area of local government, exercising police, sanitary, and sometimes educational, supervision, and deriving its income from rates levied on property within its bounds, and in Scotland sometimes from "common good" and petty customs. Its charter may be held from the Crown or granted by Parliament.
Borough English, descent of lands to a youngest son.
Borowlaski, Count, a Polish dwarf, of perfect symmetry, though only three feet in height; attained the age of 98.
Borrome`an Islands, four islands in Lago Maggiore, of which three were converted into gardens by Count Borromeo in 1671, on one of which stands a palace of the Borromeos, enriched with fine paintings and other works of art.
Borrome`o, St. Carlo, cardinal and archbishop of Milan, a prominent member of the Council of Trent, and contributed to the Tridentine Catechism; conspicuous by his self-sacrificing offices during a plague in the city of which he was the archbishop (1538-1584).
Borromeo, Frederigo, nephew and successor of the preceding, of equal status in the Church, and similar character (1584-1631).
Borrow, George Henry, traveller and philologist, born in Norfolk; showed early a passion for adventure and a facility in languages; was appointed agent for the Bible Society in Russia and Spain; in his fondness for open-air life, associated much with the gipsies; wrote an account of those in Spain, and a famous book, entitled "The Bible In Spain"; wrote "Lavengro," his masterpiece (a gipsy designation applied to him, meaning "word-master," which he was), which is chiefly autobiography (1803-1831).
Borrowdale, a valley in the Lake District, W. Cumberland, celebrated for its beautiful scenery.
Borthwick Castle, a ruined peel tower, 13 m. SE. of Edinburgh, where Queen Mary and Bothwell spent four days together in June 1567.
Bory de Saint-Vincent, Jean Baptiste, a French traveller and naturalist (1780-1846).
Boscawen, Edward, a British admiral, known from his fearlessness as "Old Dreadnought"; distinguished himself in engagements at Puerto Bello, Cathagena, Cape Finisterre, and the Bay of Lagos, where, after a "sea hunt" of 24 hours, he wrecked and ruined a fine French fleet, eager to elude his grasp (1711-1761).
Boscovich, Roger Joseph, an Italian mathematician and astronomer, born at Ragusa; entered the Order of the Jesuits; was professor in Pavia, and afterwards at Milan; discovered the equator of the sun and the period of its rotation; advocated the molecular theory of physics, with which his name is associated; died insane (1701-1787).
Bosio, Baron, a celebrated Italian sculptor; patronised in France (1769-1845).
Bosna-Serai (38), capital of Bosnia, and seat of authority.
Bosnia (1,200), a province in NW. of the Balkan Peninsula, under Austria-Hungary; the inhabitants of Servian nationality.
Bos`phorus (Ox-ford), a channel 17 m. long and from 3 to ½ m. broad, and about 30 fathoms deep, strongly defended by forts, extending from the Sea of Marmora to the Black Sea; subject to Turkey. It derives its name from the channel which, according to the Greek myth, Zeus, in the form of an ox, crossed into Europe with Europa on his back.
Bos`quet, Pierre François Joseph, a marshal of France, distinguished in Algiers and the Crimea; was wounded at the storming of the Malakoff (1810-1861).
Bos`suet, Jacques Bénigne, bishop of Meaux, born at Dijon, surnamed the "Eagle of Meaux," of the see of which he became bishop; one of the greatest of French pulpit orators, and one of the ablest defenders of the doctrines of the Catholic Church; the great aim of his life the conversion of Protestants back to the Catholic faith; took a leading part in establishing the rights of the Gallican clergy, or rather of the Crown, as against the claims of the Pope; proved himself more a time-server than a bold, outspoken champion of the truth; conceived a violent dislike to Madame Guyon, and to Fénélon for his defence of her and her Quietists; and he is not clear of the guilt of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes; wrote largely; his "Discourse on Universal History" is on approved lines, and the first attempt at a philosophy of history; his Funeral Orations are monuments of the most sublime eloquence; while his "Politique founded on Holy Scripture" is a defence of the divine right of kings. "Bossuet," says Professor Saintsbury, "was more of a speaker than a writer. His excellence lies in his wonderful survey and grasp of the subject, in the contagious enthusiasm and energy with which he attacks his point, and in his inexhaustible metaphors and comparisons.... Though he is always aiming at the sublime, he scarcely ever oversteps it, or falls into the bombastic or ridiculous.... The most unfortunate incident of his life was his controversy with Fénélon" (1627-1704).
Bossut, Charles, French mathematician, born near Lyons, confrère of the Encyclopaedists; his chief work "L'Histoire Générale des Mathématiques"; edited Pascal's works (1730-1814).
Boston (19), a Lincolnshire seaport, on the Witham, 30 m. SE. of Lincoln; exports coal, machinery, corn, and wool, and imports timber and general goods. There is a large cattle and sheep market, also canvas and sail-cloth works. Fox, the martyrologist, was a native. It has a spacious church, which is a conspicuous landmark and beacon at sea.
Boston (561), on Massachusetts Bay, is the capital of Massachusetts and the chief city of New England, one of the best-built and best-appointed cities of the Union. With an excellent harbour and eight converging railways it is an emporium of trade, and very wealthy. Sugar, wool, hides, and chemicals are imported; farm produce, cattle, cotton, and tobacco exported; boot and shoe making is one of many varied industries. The many educational institutions and its interest in literature and art have won for it the title of American Athens. Among famous natives were Franklin, Poe, and Emerson; while most American men of letters have been associated with it. The Boston riots of 1770 and 1773 were the heralds of the revolution, and the first battle was fought at Bunker Hill, not far off, now included in it.
Boston, Thomas, a Scottish divine, born at Duns, educated at Edinburgh, became minister of Ettrick; author of the "Fourfold State," a popular exposition of Calvinism, and "The Crook in the Lot," both at one time much read and studied by the pious Presbyterian burghers and peasantry of Scotland; the former an account of the state of man, first in innocence, second as fallen, third as redeemed, and fourth as in glory. He was a shrewd man and a quaint writer; exercised a great influence on the religious views of the most pious-minded of his countrymen (1676-1732).
Boston Tea-party, the insurgent American colonists who, disguised as Indians, boarded, on Dec. 16, 1773, three English ships laden with tea, and hurled several hundred chests of it into Boston harbour, "making it black with unexpected tea."
Boswell, James, the biographer of Johnson, born at Edinburgh, showed early a penchant for writing and an admiration for literary men; fell in with Johnson on a visit to London in 1763, and conceived for him the most devoted regard; made a tour with him to the Hebrides in 1773, the "Journal" of which he afterwards published; settled in London, and was called to the English bar; succeeded, in 1782, to his father's estate, Auchinleck, in Ayrshire, with an income of £1600 a year. Johnson dying in 1784, Boswell's "Life" of him appeared five years after, a work unique in biography, and such as no man could have written who was not a hero-worshipper to the backbone. He succumbed in the end to intemperate habits, aggravated by the death of his wife (1740-1795).
Boswell, Sir Alexander, son and heir of the preceding, an antiquary; mortally wounded in a duel with James Stuart of Dunearn, who had impugned his character, for which the latter was tried, but acquitted (1775-1822).
Bosworth, a town in Leicestershire, near which Richard III. lost both crown and life in 1485, an event which terminated the Wars of the Roses and led to the accession of the Tudor dynasty to the throne of England in the person of Henry VII.
Bosworth, Joseph, an Anglo-Saxon scholar, born in Derbyshire; became professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford; was the author of an Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Dictionary (1789-1876).
Botany Bay, an inlet in New South Wales, 5 m. S. of Sydney; discovered by Captain Cook in 1770; so called, by Sir Joseph Banks, from the variety and beauty of its flora; was once an English convict settlement.
Both, John and Andrew, Flemish painters of the 17th century, the former a landscape and the latter a figure painter; worked frequently on the same canvas.
Bothnia, a prov. of Sweden, divided into E. and W. by a gulf of the name.
Bothwell, a village in Lanarkshire, on the Clyde, 8 m. SE. of Glasgow; scene of a battle between Monmouth and the Covenanters in 1679.
Bothwell, James Hepburn, Earl of, one of the envoys sent in 1560 to convey Mary, Queen of Scots, from France home; was made Privy Councillor the year after; had to flee to France for an act of conspiracy; was recalled by Mary on her marriage with Darnley; was a great favourite with the queen; was believed to have murdered Darnley, though when tried, was acquitted; carried off Mary to Dunbar Castle; pardoned; was made Duke of Orkney, and married to her at Holyrood; parted with her at Carberry Hill; fled to Norway, and was kept captive there at Malmöe; after ten years of misery he died, insane, as is believed (1525-1577).
Botocudos, a wandering wild tribe in the forests of Brazil, near the coast; a very low type of men, and at a very low stage of civilisation; are demon-worshippers, and are said to have no numerals beyond one.
Bo-tree, a species of Ficus, sacred to the Buddhists as the tree under which Buddha sat when the light of life first dawned on him. See Buddha.
Botta, Carlo Giuseppe, an Italian political historian, born in Piedmont; his most important work is his "History of Italy from 1789 to 1814"; was the author of some poems (1766-1837).
Botta, Paul Émile, Assyriologist, born at Turin, son of the preceding; when consul at Mosul, in 1843, discovered the ruins of Nineveh; made further explorations, published in the "Memoire de l'Ecriture Cunéiform Assyrienne" and "Monuments de Ninive" (1802-1870).
Böttger, an alchemist who, in his experiments on porcelain, invented the celebrated Meissen porcelain (1682-1719).
Botticelli, Sandro, or Alessandro, a celebrated painter of the Florentine school; began as a goldsmith's apprentice; a pupil of Fra Lippo Lippi; the best-known examples of his art are on religious subjects, though he was no less fascinated with classical—mythological conceptions; is distinguished for his attention to details and for delicacy, particularly in the drawing of flowers; and it is a rose on the petticoat of one of his figures, the figure of Spring, which Ruskin has reproduced on the title-page of his recent books, remarking that "no one has ever yet drawn, or is likely to draw, roses as he has done;... he understood," he adds, "the thoughts of heathens and Christians equally, and could in a measure paint both Aphrodité and the Madonna" (1447-1515).
Böttiger, Karl Auguste, German archæologist, was a voluminous writer on antiquities, especially classical (1760-1835).
Bottom, a weaver in the interlude in "Midsummer-Night's Dream," whom, with his ass's head, Titania falls in love with under the influence of a love-potion.
Botzaris, one of the heroes of the war of Greek independence (1789-1823).
Bouchardon, a celebrated French sculptor (1698-1762).
Boucher, a French painter, born at Paris (1703-1770).
Boucher de Perthes, French naturalist and anthropologist, born in Ardennes (1783-1868).
Boucicault, Dion, a dramatic writer, author of popular Irish pieces, as "The Colleen Bawn" and "The Shaughraun" (1822-1890).
Boucicaut, Marshal de, one of the bravest and noblest of French soldiers, born at Tours; distinguished in several famous battles; was taken captive by the English at Agincourt; died in England (1364-1421).
Boufflers, Chevalier de, field-marshal of France, courtier and author (1737-1815).
Boufflers, Marquis de, marshal of France, distinguished for his defence of Namur (1695) and of Lille (1708), and his masterly retreat from Malplaquet (1645-1711).
Bougainville, Louis Antoine de, a French navigator, born in Paris; voyaged round the world, which occupied him two years and a half; his "Travels" had a remarkably stimulating effect on the imaginations of the "philosophies," as described by him in "Un Voyage autour du Monde" (1729-1811).
Bough, Sam, landscape painter, born at Carlisle, and settled in Edinburgh for 20 years (1822-1878).
Bouguer, Pierre, French physicist, born in Brittany; wrote on optics and the figure of the earth (1698-1758).
Bouguereau, Adolphe, a distinguished French painter, born at Rochelle in 1825; his subjects both classical and religious, as well as portraits.
Bouhour, le Père, French littérateur, born at Paris (1628-1702).
Bouillé, Marquis de, a French general, born in Auvergne, distinguished in the Seven Years' War, in the West Indies and during the Revolution; "last refuge of royalty in all straits"; favoured the flight of Louis XVI.; a "quick, choleric, sharp-discerning, stubbornly-endeavouring man, with suppressed-explosive resolution, with valour, nay, headlong audacity; muzzled and fettered by diplomatic pack-threads,... an intrepid, adamantine man"; did his utmost for royalty, failed, and quitted France; died in London, and left "Memoirs of the French Revolution" (1759-1800). See for the part he played in it, Carlyle's "French Revolution."
Bouillon, district in Belgium, originally a German duchy; belonged to Godfrey, the crusader, who pledged it to raise funds for the crusade.
Bouilly, Jean Nicolas, a French dramatist, born near Tours, nicknamed, from his sentimentality "poète lacrymal" (1763-1842).
Boulainvilliers, a French historian, author of a "History of Mahomet" (1658-1722).
Boulak (20), the port of Cairo, on the Nile.
Boulan`ger, Jean Marie, a French general, born at Rennes; of note for the political intrigues with which he was mixed up during the last years of his life, and the dangerous popular enthusiasm which he excited; accused of peculation; fled the country, and committed suicide at Brussels (1837-1891).
Boulay de la Meurthe, a French statesman, distinguished as an orator; took part in the redaction of the Civil Code; was a faithful adherent of Napoleon (1761-1840). Henri, a son, vice-president of the Republic from 1849 to 1851 (1797-1858).
Boulder, a large mass or block of rock found in localities often far removed from the place of its formation, and transported thither on the ice of the Glacial Age.
Boulevard, the rampart of a fortified city converted into a promenade flanked by rows of trees and a feature of Paris in particular, though the boulevard is not always on the line of a rampart.
Boulogne, Bois de, a promenade between Paris and St. Cloud, much frequented by people of fashion, and a favourite place of recreation; it rivals that of the Champs Elysées.
Boulogne-sur-Mer (46), a fortified seaport in France, on the English Channel, in the dep. of Pas-de-Calais, 27 m. SW. of Calais, one of the principal ports for debarkation from England; where Napoleon collected in 1803 a flotilla to invade England; is connected by steamer with Folkestone, and a favourite watering-place; the chief station of the North Sea fisheries; is the centre of an important coasting trade, and likely to become a naval station.
Boulogne-sur-Seine (32), a town on the right bank of the Seine, 5 m. SW. of Paris, from which it is separated by the Bois-de-Boulogne.
Boulton, Matthew, an eminent engineer, born at Birmingham; entered into partnership with James Watt, and established with him a manufactory of steam-engines at Soho, on a barren heath near his native place; contributed to the improvement of the coinage (1728-1809).
"Bounty," Mutiny of the, a mutiny which took place on the ship Bounty, on the 28th April 1789, bound from Otaheite to the West Indies, on the part of 25 of the crew, who returned to Otaheite after setting the captain (Bligh) adrift with others in an open boat. Bligh reached England after a time, reported the crime, to the seizure at length of certain of the offenders and the execution of others. Those who escaped founded a colony on Pitcairn Island.
Bourbaki, Charles Denis Soter, a French general, born at Pau, served in the Crimean War and in Italy, suffered disastrously in the Franco-German War, and attempted suicide; served for a time under Gambetta, afterwards retired; b. 1816.
Bourbon, a family of French origin, hailing from Bourbonnais, members of which occupied for generations the thrones of France, Naples, and Spain, and who severally ruled their territories under a more or less overweening sense of their rights as born to reign. Two branches, both of which trace back to Henry IV., held sway in France, one beginning with Louis XIV., eldest son of Louis XIII., and the other, called the Orleans, with Philip of Orleans, second son of Louis XIII., the former ending with Charles X. and his family, and the latter ending with Louis Philippe and his line. The branches of the family ruling in Spain and Naples began with Philip VI., grandson of Louis XIV., the former branch still (1899) in power, the latter ending with Francis II. in 1860.
Bourbon, Charles de, styled the Constable de Bourbon, acquired immense wealth by the death of an elder brother and by his marriage, and lived in royal state; was for his daring in the field named Constable of France by Francis I.; offended at some, perhaps imaginary, injustice Francis did him, he clandestinely entered the service of the Emperor Charles V., defeated the French at Pavia, and took Francis captive; parted from Charles, laid siege to Rome, and fell in the assault, mortally wounded, it is said, by Benvenuto Cellini (1489-1527).
Bourbonnais, ancient province in the centre of France, being the duchy of Bourbon; united to the crown in 1531; cap. Moulins.
Bourdaloue, Louis, a French Jesuit, born at Bourges, called the "king of preachers, and preacher of kings"; one of the most eloquent pulpit orators of France; did not suffer by comparison with Bossuet, his contemporary, though junior; one of the most earnest and powerful of his sermons, the one entitled "The Passion," is deemed the greatest. His sermons are ethical in their matter from a Christian standpoint, carefully reasoned, and free from ornament, but fearless and uncompromising (1632-1704).
Bourdon, Sebastian, a French painter, born at Montpellier; his chef-d'oeuvre "The Crucifixion of St. Peter," executed for the church of Notre Dame (1616-1671).
Bourdon de l'Oise, a French revolutionist, member of the Convention; banished to Guiana, where he died in 1791.
Bourgelat, a famous French veterinary surgeon, born at Lyons, and founder of veterinary colleges at Lyons in 1762; was an authority on horse management, and often consulted on the matter (1712-1779).
Bourgeois, Sir Francis, painter to George III.; left his collection to Dulwich College, and £10,000 to build a gallery for them (1756-1811).
Bourgeoisie, the name given in France to the middle class, professional people, and merchants, as distinguished from the nobles and the peasants, but applied by the Socialists to the capitalists as distinct from the workers.
Bourges (43), a French town in the dep. of Cher; birthplace of Louis XI. and Bourdaloue.
Bourget, Paul, an eminent French novelist and essayist, born at Amiens; a subtle analyst of character, with a clear and elegant style, on which he bestows great pains; his novels are what he calls "psychological," and distinct from the romantist and naturalistic; b. 1852.
Bourignon, Antoinette, a Flemish visionary and fanatic; resolved religion into emotion; brought herself into trouble by the wild fancies she promulgated, to the derangement of others as well as herself (1615-1680).
Bourmont, Louis Auguste Victor, Comte de, a French marshal; at the Revolution joined the Bourbons on the frontiers; served the royal cause in La Vendée; held high commands under Napoleon; commanded under Ney on Napoleon's return from Elba; deserted on the eve of Waterloo to Louis XVIII.; gave evidence against Ney to his execution; commanded the expedition against Algiers; refused allegiance to Louis Philippe on his accession, and was dismissed the service (1773-1846).
Bourne, Hugh, founder of the Primitive Methodists, and a zealous propagator of their principles; he was a carpenter by trade, and he appears to have wrought at his trade while prosecuting his mission, which he did extensively both in Britain and America (1772-1852).
Bournemouth (38), a town in Hants, on Poole Bay, 37 m. SW. of Southampton, with a fine sandy beach; a great health resort; is of recent, and has been of rapid, growth.
Bourrienne, Louis Antoine Fauvelet, secretary of Napoleon, and a school friend, born at Sens; held the post for five years, but dismissed for being implicated in disgraceful money transactions; joined the Bourbons at the Restoration; the Revolution of 1830 and the loss of his fortune affected his mind, and he died a lunatic at Caen; wrote "Memoirs" disparaging to Napoleon (1769-1834).
Boussa, a town in Central Africa, capital of a State of the same name, where Mungo Park lost his life as he was going up the Niger.
Boustrophe`don, an ancient mode of writing from right to left, and then from left to right, as in ploughing a field.
Bouterwek, Friedrich, a German philosopher and professor of Philosophy at Göttingen; a disciple of Kant, then of Jacobi, and expounder of their doctrines; wrote "History of Poetry and Eloquence among the Modern Races" (1766-1828).
Bowdich, Thomas Edward, an English traveller, born at Bristol; sent on a mission to Guinea, and penetrated as far as Coomassie; wrote an interesting account of it in his "Mission to Ashanti" (1791-1824).
Bowditch, Nathaniel, American mathematician, born at Salem, Massachusetts; a practical scientist; published "Practical Navigation," translated the "Mécanique Céleste" of Laplace, accompanied with an elaborate commentary (1773-1838).
Bowdler, Thomas, an English physician; edited expurgated editions of Shakespeare and Gibbon in the interest of moral purity; added in consequence a new term to the English language, Bowdlerism (1754-1825).
Bowdoin, James, an American statesman, born in Boston, of French extraction; a zealous advocate of American independence; author of "Discourse on the Constitution of the United States" (1727-1790).
Bowen, Richard, a gallant British naval commander, distinguished himself in several engagements, and by his captures of the enemy's ships; killed by grape-shot at the storming of Santa Cruz, at the moment when Nelson was wounded (1761-1797).
Bower, Walter, abbot of Inchcolm, Scottish chronicler; continued Fordun's History down to the death of James I. in 1437 from 1153 (1385-1449).
Bowles, William Lisle, a poet, born in Northamptonshire; his sonnets, by their "linking," as Professor Saintsbury has it, "of nature's aspect to human feeling," were much admired by Coleridge, and their appearance is believed to have inaugurated a new era in English poetry, as developed in the Lake School (1762-1850).
Bowling, Tom, a typical British sailor in "Roderick Random."
Bowling, Sir John, linguist and political writer, born at Exeter; friend and disciple of Bentham as well as editor of his works; first editor of Westminster Review; at the instance of the English Government visited the Continental States to report on their commercial relations; became governor of Hong-Kong; ordered the bombardment of Canton, which caused dissatisfaction at home (1792-1872).
Bowyer, William, printer and scholar, born in London; wrote on the origin of printing, and published an edition of the Greek New Testament with notes (1699-1777).
"Box and Cox," a farce by J. M. Morton, remarkable for a successful run such as is said to have brought the author £7000.
Boy Bishop, a boy chosen on 6th December, St. Nicholas' Day, generally out of the choir, to act as bishop and do all his episcopal duties, except celebrate mass. For the term of his office, which varied, he was treated as bishop, and if he died during his tenure of it was buried with episcopal honours. The term of office was limited in 1279 to 24 hours.
Boyars, the old nobility of Russia, whose undue influence in the State was broken by Peter the Great; also the landed aristocracy of Roumania.
Boyce, William, composer, chiefly of church music, born in London; published a collection of the "Cathedral Music of the Old English Masters"; composed "Hearts of Oak," a naval song sung by ships' crews at one time before going into action (1710-1779).
Boycott, Captain, an Irish landlord's agent in Connemara, with whom the population of the district in 1880 refused to have any dealings on account of disagreements with the tenantry.
Boyd, Andrew Kennedy Hutchison, a Scottish clergyman and writer; bred for the bar, but entered the Church; known to fame as A. K. H. B.; author of "Recreations of a Country Parson," which was widely read, and of Reminiscences of his life; died at Bournemouth by mischance of swallowing a lotion instead of a sleeping-draught (1825-1899).
Boyd, Zachary, a Scottish divine; regent of a Protestant college at Samur, in France; returned to Scotland in consequence of the persecution of the Huguenots; became minister of Barony Parish, Glasgow, and rector of the University; preached before Cromwell after the battle of Dunbar; author of the "Last Battell of the Soule in Death" and "Zion's Flowers," being mainly metrical versions of Scripture, called "Boyd's Bible" (1585-1653).
Boydell, John, an English engraver and print-seller, famous for his "Shakespeare Gallery," with 96 plates in illustration of Shakespeare, and the encouragement he gave to native artists; he issued also Hume's "History of England," with 196 plates in illustration (1719-1804).
Boyer, Baron, French anatomist and surgeon; attendant on Napoleon, afterwards professor in the University of Paris; wrote works on anatomy and surgical diseases, which continued for long text-books on those subjects; was a man of very conservative opinions (1757-1833).
Boyer, Jean Pierre, president of Hayti, born at Port-au-Prince of a negress and a Creole father; secured the independence of the country; held the presidency for 25 years from 1818, but suspected of consulting his own advantage more than that of the country, was driven from power by a revolution in 1843; retired to Paris, where he spent the rest of his life and died (1776-1850).
Boyle, Charles, fourth Earl of Orrery, distinguished for the connection of his name with the Bentley controversy, and for its connection with an astronomical contrivance by one Graham to illustrate the planetary system (1676-1731).
Boyle, Richard, first and great Earl of Cork, distinguished among Irish patriots and landlords for what he did to improve his estates and develop manufactures and the mechanical arts in Ireland, also for the honours conferred upon him for his patriotism; when Cromwell saw how his estates were managed he remarked, that had there been one like him in every province in Ireland rebellion would have been impossible (1566-1643).
Boyle, The Hon. Robert, a distinguished natural philosopher, born at Lismore, of the Orrery family; devoted his life and contributed greatly to science, especially chemistry, as well as pneumatics; was one of the originators of the "Royal Society"; being a student of theology, founded by his will an endowment for the "Boyle Lectures" in defence of Christianity against its opponents and rivals; refused the presidentship of the Royal Society, and declined a peerage (1626-1691).
Boyle Lectures, the lectureship founded by the Hon. Robert Boyle in 1691, and held for a tenure of three years, the endowment being £50 per annum; the lecturer must deliver eight lectures in defence of Christianity, and some of the most eminent men have held the post.
Boyle's Law, that the volume of a gas is inversely as the pressure.
Boyne, a river in Ireland, which flows through Meath into the Irish Sea; gives name to the battle in which William III. defeated the forces of James II. on 30th July 1690.
Boz, a nom de plume under which Dickens wrote at first, being his nickname when a boy for a little brother.
Bozzy, Johnson's familiar name for Boswell.
Brabant, in mediæval times was an important prov. of the Low Countries, inhabitants Dutch, cap. Breda; is now divided between Holland and Belgium. It comprises three provs., the N. or Dutch Brabant; Antwerp, a Belgian prov., inhabitants Flemings, cap. Antwerp; and S. Brabant, also Belgian, inhabitants Walloons, cap. Brussels; the whole mostly a plain.
Bracton, Henry de, an English "justice itinerant," a writer on English law of the 13th century; author of "De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliæ," a "Treatise on the Laws and Customs of England," and the first attempt of the kind; d. 1268.
Bradamante, sister to Rinaldo, and one of the heroines in "Orlando Furioso"; had a lance which unhorsed every one it touched.
Braddock, Edward, British general, born in Perthshire; entered the Coldstream Guards, and became major-general in 1754; commanded a body of troops against the French in America, fell in an attempt to invest Fort Duquesue, and lost nearly all his men (1695-1755).
Braddon, Miss (Mrs. John Maxwell), a popular novelist, born in London; authoress of "Lady Audley's Secret," "Aurora Floyd," and some 50 other novels; contributed largely to magazines; b. 1837.
Bradford (216), a Yorkshire manufacturing town, on a tributary of the Aire, 9 m. W. of Leeds; it is the chief seat of worsted spinning and weaving in England, and has an important wool market; coal and iron mines are at hand, and iron-works and machinery-making are its other industries. Also the name of a manufacturing town on the Avon, in Wilts.
Bradlaugh, Charles, a social reformer on secularist lines, born in London; had a chequered career; had for associate in the advocacy of his views Mrs. Annie Besant; elected M.P. for Northampton thrice over, but not allowed to sit till he took the oath, which he did in 1886; died respected by all parties in the House of Commons; wrote the "Impeachment of the House of Brunswick" (1833-1891).
Bradley, James, astronomer, born in Gloucestershire; professor of Astronomy at Oxford, and astronomer-royal at Greenwich; discovered the aberration of light and the nutation of the earth's axis; made 60,000 astronomical observations (1693-1762).
Bradshaw, George, an engraver of maps in Manchester; published maps illustrative of certain canal systems, and did the same service for railways, which developed into the well-known "Railway Guide" (1830-1863).
Bradshaw, John, president of the High Court of Justice for trial of Charles I., born at Stockport; bred for the bar; a friend of Milton; a thorough republican, and opposed to the Protectorate; became president of the Council on Cromwell's death; was buried in Westminster; his body was exhumed and hung in chains at the Restoration (1586-1659).
Bradwardin, Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, surnamed "Doctor Profundus" from his treatise "De Causa Dei" against Pelagianism; chaplain to Edward III.; was present at Crécy and at the taking of Calais; died of the black death shortly after his consecration (1290-1348).
Bradwardine, the name of a baron and his daughter, the heroine of "Waverley."
Braemar`, a Scottish Highland district SW. of Aberdeenshire; much frequented by tourists, and resorted to for summer country quarters.
Brag, Jack, a pretender who ingratiates himself with people above him.
Braga (23), a city, 34 m. NE. of Oporto, Portugal; the residence of the Primate; the capital of Minho.
Braganza, capital of Traz-os-Montes, in Portugal; gives name to the ruling dynasty of Portugal, called the House of Braganza, the eighth duke of Braganza having ascended the throne in 1640, on the liberation of Portugal from the yoke of Spain.
Bragi, the Norse god of poetry and eloquence, son of Odin and Frigga; represented as an old man with a long flowing beard and unwrinkled brow, with a mild expression of face; received in Valhalla the heroes who fell in battle.
Braham, John, a celebrated tenor singer, the most so in Europe of his day, and known all over Europe; was particularly effective in rendering the national songs; born in London, of Jewish parents; composed operas, which, however, were only dramas interspersed with songs. Scott described him as "a beast of an actor, but an angel of a singer" (1774-1856).
Brahé, Tycho, a Swedish astronomer, of noble birth; spent his life in the study of the stars; discovered a new star in Cassiopeia; had an observatory provided for him on an island in the Sound by the king, where he made observations for 20 years; he was, on the king's death, compelled to retire under persecution at the hand of the nobles; accepted an invitation of the Kaiser Rudolf II. to Prague, where he continued his work and had Kepler for assistant and pupil (1546-1601).
Brahma, in the Hindu religion and philosophy at one time the formless spirit of the Universe, from which all beings issue and into which they all merge, and as such is not an object of worship, but a subject of meditation; and at another the creator of all things, of which Vishnu (q. v.) is the preserver and Siva (q. v.) the destroyer, killing that he may make alive. See Trimurti.
Brahman, or Brahmin, one of the sacred caste of the Hindus that boasts of direct descent from, or immediate relationship with, Brahma, the custodians and mediators of religion, and therefore of high-priestly rank.
Brahmanas, treatises on the ceremonial system of Brahminism, with prescriptions bearing upon ritual, and abounding in legends and speculations.
Brahmaputra (i. e. son of Brahma), a river which rises in Tibet, circles round the E. of the Himalayas, and, after a course of some 1800 m., joins the Ganges, called the Sampo in Tibet, the Dihong in Assam, and the Brahmaputra in British India; it has numerous tributaries, brings down twice as much mud as the Ganges, and in the lower part of its course overflows the land, particularly Assam, like an inland sea.
Brahminism, the creed and ritual of the Brahmans, or that social, political, and religious organisation which developed among the Aryans in the valley of the Ganges under the influence of the Brahmans. According to the religious conception of this class, Brahma, or the universal spirit, takes form or incarnates himself successively as Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, which triple incarnation constitutes a trimurti or trinity. In this way Brahma, the first incarnation of the universal spirit, had four sons, from whom issued the four castes of India—Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras—all the rest being outcasts or pariahs. See Caste.
Brahmo-Somaj (i. e. church of God), a secession from traditional Hinduism, originated in 1830 by Rammohun Roy, and developed by Chunder Sen; founded on theistic, or rather monotheistic, i. e. unitarian, principles, and the rational ideas and philosophy of Europe, as well as a profession of a sense of the brotherhood of man no less than the unity of God.
Brahms, Johannes, a distinguished composer, born at Hamburg; of great promise from a boy; settled in Vienna; has no living rival; the appearance of compositions of his an event in the musical world; approaches Beethoven as no other does; distinguished as a performer as well as a composer; b. 1833.
Braidwood, James, born in Edinburgh; director of the London fire brigade; distinguished for his heroism on the occasion of great fires both in Edinburgh and London (1790-1861).
Braille, a blind Frenchman, invented printing in relief for the blind (1809-1852).
Brainerd, American missionary to the Red Indians, born in Connecticut; his Life was written by Jonathan Edwards, in whose house he died (1718-1747).
Bramah, Joseph, an engineer, born in Barnsley, Yorkshire; author of many mechanical inventions, 18 of which were patented, among others the hydraulic press, named after him (1748-1814).
Bramante, Donato, architect; laid the foundation of St. Peter's at Rome, which he did not live to complete (1444-1514).
Bramble, Matthew, a gouty humorist in "Humphrey Clinker"; of a fretful temper, yet generous and kind, who has a sister, Miss Tabitha, an ungainly maiden at forty-five, and of anything but a sweet temper.
Bramhall, John, archbishop of Armagh, born in Yorkshire, a high-handed Churchman and imitator of Laud; was foolhardy enough once to engage, nowise to his credit, in public debate with such a dialectician as Thomas Hobbes on the questions of necessity and free-will (1594-1663).
Bramwell, Sir Frederick, civil engineer, president of the British Association in 1888, and previously of Association of Engineers; b. 1818.
Bran, name given to Fingal's dog.
Brand, John, antiquary, born in Durham, wrote a "Popular Antiquities" (1744-1784).
Brandan, St., Island of, an island reported of by St. Brandan as lying W. of the Canary Islands, and that figured on charts as late as 1755, in quest of which voyages of discovery were undertaken as recently as the beginning of the 18th century, up to which time it was believed to exist.
Brande, chemist, born in London; author of "Manual of Chemistry" and other works (1788-1866).
Brandenburg (2,542), in the great northern plain of Germany, is a central Prussian province, and the nucleus of the Prussian kingdom; most of it a sandy plain, with fertile districts and woodlands here and there.
Brandenburg, the House of, an illustrious German family dating from the 10th century, from which descended the kings of Prussia.
Brandes, George, a literary critic, born at Copenhagen, of Jewish parents; his views of the present tendency of literature in Europe provoked at first much opposition in Denmark, though they were received with more favour afterwards; the opposition to his views were such that he was forced to leave Copenhagen, but, after a stay in Berlin, he returned to it in 1862, with the support of a strong party in his favour.
Brandt, a Swedish chemist; chanced on the discovery in 1669 of phosphorus while in quest of a solvent to transmute metals, such as silver, into gold; d. 1692.
Brandt, Sebastian, a satirical writer, born at Strassburg; author of the "Narrenschiff" or "Ship of Fools," of which there have been many translations and not a few imitations (1458-1521).
Brandy Nan, a nickname for Queen Anne, from her fondness for brandy.
Brandywine Creek, a small river in Delaware; scene of a victory of the British over the Americans in 1777.
Brangtons, The, a vulgar, evil-spoken family in Miss Burney's "Evelina."
Brant, Joseph, Indian chief who sided with the British in the American war; a brave and good man; d. 1807.
Brantôme, Pierre de Bourdeilles, a French chronicler, contemporary of Montaigne, born in Périgord; led the life of a knight-errant, and wrote Memoirs remarkable for the free-and-easy, faithful, and vivid delineations of the characters of the most celebrated of his contemporaries (1527-1614).
Brasidas, a Spartan general, distinguished in the Peloponnesian war; his most celebrated action, the defeat at the expense of his life, in 422 B.C., of the flower of the Athenian army at Amphipolis, with a small body of helots and mercenaries.
Brass, Sampson, a knavish attorney in "Old Curiosity Shop"; affected feeling for his clients, whom he fleeced.
Brasses, sepulchral tablets of a mixed metal, called latten, inlaid in a slab of stone, and insculpt with figures and inscriptions of a monumental character; the oldest in England is at Stoke d'Abernon, in Surrey.
Brassey, Thomas, a great railway contractor, born in Cheshire; contracted for the construction of railways in all parts of the world (1805-1870).
Braun, Auguste Emil, German archæologist, born at Gotha; works numerous, and of value (1809-1856).
Bravest of the Brave, Marshal Ney, so called from his fearlessness in battle; Napoleon had on one occasion said, "That man is a lion."
Braxy, an inflammatory disease in sheep, due to a change in food from succulent to dry; and the name given to the mutton of sheep affected with it.
Bray, a Berkshire village, famous for Simon Aleyn, its vicar from 1540 to 1588, who, to retain his living, never scrupled to change his principles; he lived in the reigns of Charles II., James II., William III., Queen Anne, and George I.
Brazen Age, in the Greek mythology the age of violence, that succeeded the weak Silver Age. See Ages.
Brazil (14,000), the largest South American State, almost equal to Europe, occupies the eastern angle of the continent, and comprises the Amazon basin, the tablelands of Matto Grosso, the upper basin of the Paraguay, and the maritime highlands, with the valleys of the Paraná and San Francisco. Great stretches of the interior are uninhabitable swamp and forest lands; forests tenanted by an endless variety of brilliant-plumed birds and insects; the coasts are often humid and unhealthy, but the upper levels have a fine climate. Almost all the country is within the tropics. The population at the seaports is mostly white; inland it is negro, mulatto, and Indian. Vegetable products are indescribably rich and varied; timber of all kinds, rubber, cotton, and fruit are exported; coffee and sugar are the chief crops. The vast mineral wealth includes diamonds, gold, mercury, and copper. Most of the trade is with Britain and America. The language is Portuguese; the religion, Roman Catholic; education is very backward, and government unsettled. Discovered in 1500, and annexed by Portugal; the Portuguese king, expelled by the French in 1808, fled to his colony, which was made a kingdom 1815, and an empire in 1822. The emperor, Pedro II., was driven out in 1889, and a republic established on the federal system, which has been harassed ever since by desultory civil war. The capital is Rio Janeiro; Bahia and Pernambuco, the other seaports.
Brazil-wood, a wood found in Brazil, of great value for dyeing red, the colouring principle being named Brasilin.
Brazza (22), an island in the Adriatic, belonging to Austria; is richly wooded; noted for its wines; yields marble.
Brazza, Pierre Savorgnan de, explorer, born in Rome; acquired land N. of the Congo for France, and obtained a governorship; b. 1852.
Breadfruit-tree, a South Sea island tree producing a fruit which, when roasted, is used as bread.
Bréal, Michel, a French philologist, born at Landau; translator into French of Bopp's "Comparative Grammar"; b. 1832.
Brèche-de-Roland, a gorge in the dep. of the Haute-Pyrénées, which, according to tradition, Charlemagne's Paladin of the name of Roland cleft with one stroke of his sword when he was beset by the Gascons.
Brechin, a town in Forfarshire, W. of Montrose, on the S. Esk, with a cathedral and an old round tower near it, 85 ft. high, the only one of the kind in Scotland besides being at Abernethy.
Breda (23), fortified town, the capital of N. Brabant; a place of historical interest; Charles II. resided here for a time during his exile, and issued hence his declaration prior to his restoration.
Breeches Bible, the Geneva Bible, so called from its rendering in Gen. iii. 7, in which "aprons" is rendered "breeches."
Breeches Review, the Westminster, so called at one time, from one Place, an authority in it, who had been a leather-breeches maker at Charing Cross.
Brégnet, a French chronometer-maker, born at Neuchâtel; a famous inventor of astronomical instruments (1747-1823).
Brehm, Alfred Edmund, German naturalist; his chief work "Illustrirtes Thierleben" (1829-1884).
Brehon Laws, a body of judge-created laws that for long formed the common law of Ireland, existed from prehistoric times till Cromwell's conquest. The origin of the code is unknown, and whether it was at first traditional; many manuscript redactions of portions exist still.
Bremen (126), the chief seaport of Germany, after Hamburg; is on the Weser, 50 m. from its mouth, and is a free city, with a territory less than Rutlandshire. Its export and import trade is very varied; half the total of emigrants sail from its docks; it is the head-quarters of the North German Lloyd Steamship Company. Textiles, tobacco, and paper industries add to its prosperity; was one of the principal cities of the Hanseatic League.
Bremer, Fredrika, a highly popular Swedish novelist, born in Finland; "The Neighbours," "The President's Daughter," and "Strife and Peace," are perhaps her best stories; has been called the Jane Austen of Sweden.
Bremer, Sir James, rear-admiral; distinguished in the Burmese and Chinese wars (1786-1850).
Bremerhaven, the port of Bremen, on the estuary of the Weser, founded for the accommodation of large vessels in 1830, with a large hospice for emigrants.
Brendan, St., an Irish saint, born at Tralee, celebrated for his voyages in quest of "a land beyond human ken" and his discovery of "a paradise amid the waves of the sea"; founded a monastery at Clonfert; died in 577, in his ninety-fourth year.
Brenner Pass, pass on the central Tyrolese Alps, 6853 ft. high, between Innsbruck and Botzen, crossed by a railway, which facilitates trade between Venice, Germany, and Austria.
Brennus, a Gallic chief, who, 300 B.C., after taking and pillaging Rome, invested the Capitol for so long that the Romans offered him a thousand pounds' weight of gold to retire; as the gold was being weighed out he threw his sword and helmet into the opposite scale, adding Væ victis, "Woe to the conquered," an insolence which so roused Camillus, that he turned his back and offered battle to him and to his army, and totally routed the whole host.
Brenta, an Italian river; rises in the Tyrol, waters Bassano, and debouches near Venice.
Brentano, Clemens, poet of the romanticist school, born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, brother of Goethe's Bettina von Arnim; was a roving genius (1778-1849).
Brentford, market-town in Middlesex, on the Brent, 10 m. W. of London, that figures in history and literature.
Brenz, Johann, the reformer of Würtemberg, and one of the authors of the Würtemberg Confession, as well as a catechism extensively used (1499-1570).
Brescia (43), a city of Lombardy, on the Mella and Garza, 50 m. E. of Milan; has two cathedrals, an art gallery and library, a Roman temple excavated in 1822, and now a classical museum; its manufactures are woollens, silks, leather, and wine.
Breslau (335), the capital of Silesia, second city in Prussia; an important commercial and manufacturing centre, and has a first-class fortress; is on the Oder, 150 m. by rail SE. of Frankfort; it stands in the centre of the Baltic, North Sea, and Danube trade, and has a large woollen industry and grain market; there are a cathedral, university, and library.
Bressay, one of the Shetland Isles, near Lerwick, with one of the best natural harbours in the world.
Brest (76), a strongly-fortified naval station in the extreme NW. of France; one of the chief naval stations in France, with a magnificent harbour, and one of the safest, first made a marine arsenal by Richelieu; has large shipbuilding yards and arsenal; its industries are chiefly related to naval equipment, with leather, waxcloth, and paper manufactures.
Bréton, Jules Adolphe, a French genre and landscape painter, born at Courrières, in Pas-de-Calais, 1827.
Breton de los Herreros, Spanish poet and dramatist; wrote comedies and satires in an easy, flowing style (1800-1873).
Breteuil, Baron de, an ex-secretary of Louis XVI. (1733-1807).
Brethren of the Common Life, a Dutch branch of the "Friends of God," founded at Deventer by Gerard Groote.
Bretschneider, Henry Gottfried von, a German satirical writer, born at Gera; led a bohemian life; served in the army; held political posts; composed, besides satirical writings, "Almanach der Heiligen auf das Jahr, 1788," "Wallers Leben und Sitten," and the comic epic, "Graf Esau" (1739-1810).
Bretschneider, Karl Gottlieb, a German rationalistic theologian; much regarded for his sound judgment in critical matters; his theological writings are of permanent value; his chief works, "Handbuch der Dogmatik," and an edition of Melanchthon's works.
Bretwalda, a title apparently of some kind of acknowledged supremacy among the Anglo-Saxon kings, and the leader in war.
Breughel, a family of Butch painters, a father and two sons, the father, Peter, called "Old" B. (1510-1570); a son, John, "Velvet" B., either from his dress or from the vivid freshness of his colours (1560-1625); and the other, Peter, "Hellish" B., from his fondness for horrible subjects (1559-1637).
Brevet`, a commission entitling an officer in the army to a nominal rank above his real rank.
Breviary, a book containing the daily services in the Roman Catholic Church and corresponding to the English Prayer-Book; differs from the "Missal," which gives the services connected with the celebration of the Eucharist, and the "Pontifical," which gives those for special occasions.
Brewer, John Sherren, historian, professor of English Literature in King's College, London; author of "Calendar of Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.'s Reign," his work the sole authority on Henry's early reign (1810-1879).
Brewer of Ghent, Jacob Arteveld.
Brewster, Sir David, an eminent Scottish natural philosopher, born at Jedburgh; edited the "Edinburgh Encyclopædia," in the pages of which Carlyle served his apprenticeship; specially distinguished for his discoveries in light, his studies in optics, and for his optical inventions, such as the kaleidoscope and the stereoscope; connected with most scientific associations of his time; wrote largely on scientific and other subjects, e. g., a Life of Newton, as well as Lives of Euler, Kepler, and others of the class; Principal of the United Colleges of St. Andrews, and afterwards of Edinburgh, being succeeded at St. Andrews by James David Forbes, who years before defeated him as candidate for the Natural Philosophy chair in Edinburgh; bred originally for the Church, and for a time a probationer (1781-1868).
Brewster, William, leader of the Pilgrim Fathers in the Mayflower, who conveyed them to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620; had been a clergyman of the Church of England.
Brian Boroihme, an Irish chief, who early in the 10th century established his rule over a great part of Ireland, and made great efforts for the civilisation of the country; died defeating the Danes at Clontarf, being, it is said, the twenty-fifth battle in which he defeated them.
Briançon, the highest town in France, 4300 ft. above sea-level, 42 m. SE. from Grenoble, with a trade in cutlery.
Briareus, a Uranid with 50 heads and 100 arms, son of Ouranos and Gaia, i. e. Heaven and Earth, whom Poseidon cast into the sea and buried under Etna, but whom Zeus delivered to aid him against the Titans; according to another account, one of the Giants (q. v.).
Brice, St., bishop of Tours in the beginning of the 5th century, and disciple of St. Martin. Festival, Nov. 19.
Brice's, St., a day in 1002 on which a desperate attempt was made to massacre all the Danes in England and stamp them wholly out, an attempt which was avenged by the Danish king, Sweyn.
Brick, Jefferson, an American politician in "Martin Chuzzlewit."
Bride of the Sea, Venice, so called from a ceremony in which her espousals were celebrated by the Doge casting a ring into the Adriatic.
Bridewell, a house of correction in Blackfriars, London, so called from St. Bridget's well, near it.
Bridge of Allan, a village on Allan water, 3 m. N. of Stirling, with a mild climate and mineral waters.
Bridge of Sighs, a covered way in Venice leading from the Ducal Palace to the State prison, and over which culprits under capital sentence were transported to their doom, whence the name.
Bridgenorth, Major Ralph, a Roundhead in "Peveril of the Peak."
Bridgeport (48), a thriving manufacturing town and seaport of Connecticut, U.S., 58 m. NE. from New York.
Bridget, Mrs., a character in "Tristram Shandy."
Bridget, St., an Irish saint, born at Dundalk; entered a monastery at 14; founded monasteries; takes rank in Ireland with St. Patrick and St. Columba. Festival, Feb. 1 (453-523). Also the name of a Swedish saint in the 14th century; founded a new Order, and 72 monasteries of the Order.
Bridgeton, a manufacturing town in New Jersey, 38 m. S. of Philadelphia.
Bridgetown (21), capital of Barbadoes, seat of the government, the bishop, a college, &c.; it has suffered frequently from hurricane and fever.
Bridgewater, Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of, celebrated for his self-sacrificing devotion to the improvement and extension of canal navigation in England, embarking in it all his wealth, in which he was aided by the skill of Brindley; he did not take part in politics, though he was a supporter of Pitt; died unmarried (1736-1803).
Bridgewater, Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of, educated for the Church, bequeathed £8000 for the best work on natural theology, which his trustees expended in the production of eight works by different eminent men, called "Bridgewater Treatises," all to be found in Bohn's Scientific Library (1758-1829).
Bridgman, Laura, a deaf, dumb, and blind child, born in New Hampshire, U.S.; noted for the surprising development of intellectual faculty notwithstanding these drawbacks; Dickens gives an account of her in his "American Notes" (1829-1889).
Bridgwater, a seaport town in Somersetshire, 29 m. SW. of Bristol.
Bridlegoose, Judge, a judge in Rabelais' "Pantagruel," who decided cases by the throw of dice.
Bridlington, a watering-place in Yorkshire, 6 m. SW. of Flamborough Head, with a chalybeate spring.
Bridport, Viscount, a British admiral, distinguished in several engagements (1797-1814).
Brieg (20), a thriving, third, commercially speaking, town in Prussian Silesia, 25 m. SE. of Breslau.
Brienne, Jean de, descendant of an old French family; elected king of Jerusalem, then emperor of Constantinople; d. 1237.
Brienz, Lake of, lake in the Swiss canton of Bern, 8 m. long, 2 m. broad, over 800 ft. above sea-level, and of great depth in certain parts, abounding in fish. Town of, a favourite resort for tourists.
Brieuc, St., (19), a seaport and an episcopal city in the dep. of Côtes-du-Nord, France.
Brigade, a body of troops under a general officer, called brigadier, consisting of a number of regiments, squadrons, or battalions.
Brigantes, a powerful British tribe that occupied the country between the Humber and the Roman Wall.
Briggs, Henry, a distinguished English mathematician; first Savilian professor at Oxford; made an important improvement on the system of logarithms, which was accepted by Napier, the inventor, and is the system now in use (1561-1631).
Brigham Young, the chief of the Mormons (1801-1877).
Bright, James Franck, historian, Master of University College, Oxford; author of "English History for the Use of Public Schools," a book of superior literary merit; b. 1832.
Bright, John, English statesman, son of a Lancashire cotton spinner, born near Rochdale; of Quaker birth and profession; engaged in manufacture; took an early interest in political reform; he joined the Anti-Corn-Law League on its formation in 1839, and soon was associated with Cobden in its great agitation; entering Parliament in 1843, he was a strong opponent of protection, the game laws, and later of the Crimean war; he advocated financial reform and the reform of Indian administration; and on the outbreak of the American Civil War supported the North, though his business interests suffered severely; he was closely associated with the 1867 Reform Act, Irish Church Disestablishment 1869, and the 1870 Irish Land Act; his Ministerial career began in 1868, but was interrupted by illness; in 1873, and again in 1881, he was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster; he seceded from Gladstone's Government on the Egyptian policy in 1882, and strenuously opposed Home Rule in 1886; in 1880 he was Lord Rector of Glasgow University; he was a man of lofty and unblemished character, an animated and eloquent orator; at his death Mr. Gladstone pronounced one of the noblest eulogiums one public man has ever paid to another (1811-1889).
Brighton (128), a much-frequented watering-place in Sussex, 50 m. S. of London, of which it is virtually a suburb; a place of fashionable resort ever since George IV. took a fancy to it; a fine parade extends along the whole length of the sea front; has many handsome edifices, a splendid aquarium, a museum, schools of science and art, public library and public gallery; the principal building is the Pavilion or Marine Palace, originally built for George IV. Also the name of a suburb of Melbourne.
Blight's Disease, a disease in the kidneys, due to several diseased conditions of the organ, so called from Dr. Richard Bright, who first investigated its nature.
Bril Brothers, Matthew and Paul, landscape painters, born at Antwerp; employed in the 16th century by successive Popes to decorate the Vatican at Rome; of whom Paul, the younger, was the greater artist; his best pictures are in Rome.
Brillat-Savarin, a French gastronomist, author of "Physiologie du Goût," a book full of wit and learning, published posthumously; was professionally a lawyer and some time a judge (1755-1825).
Brin`disi (15), a seaport of Southern Italy, on the Adriatic coast; has risen in importance since the opening of the Overland Route as a point of departure for the East; it is 60 hours by rail from London, and three days by steam from Alexandria; it was the port of embarkation for Greece in ancient times, and for Palestine in mediæval.
Brindley, James, a mechanician and engineer, born in Derbyshire; bred a millwright; devoted his skill and genius to the construction of canals, under the patronage of the Duke of Bridgewater, as the greatest service he could render to his country; regarded rivers as mere "feeders to canals" (1716-1772).
Brink, Jan Ten, a Dutch writer, distinguished as a critic in the department of belles-lettres; b. 1834.
Brinvilliers, Marquise de, notorious for her gallantries and for poisoning her father, brother, and two sisters for the sake of their property; was tortured and beheaded; the poison she used appears to have been the Tofana poison, an art which one of her paramours taught her (1630-1676). See Aqua Tofana.
Brisbane (49), capital of Queensland, on the Brisbane River, 25 m. from the sea, 500 m. N. of Sydney, is the chief trading centre and seaport of the Colony; it has steam communication with Australian ports and London, and railway communication with Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide; prosperity began when the colony was opened to free settlement in 1842; it was dissociated from New South Wales and the city incorporated in 1859.
Brisbane, Admiral Sir Charles, a naval officer of distinction under Lords Hood and Nelson; captured in 1796 Dutch warships, three ships of the line among them, in Saldanha Bay, and in 1807 the island of Curaçoa; was made governor of St. Vincent (1769-1829).
Brisbane, Sir James, naval officer, brother of the preceding, served under Lord Howe and under Nelson at Copenhagen (1774-1829).
Brisbane, Sir Thomas Macdougall, British general, a man of science and an astronomer, born near Largs, Ayrshire; saw service as a soldier; was appointed governor of New South Wales to the profit of the colony; gave name to the capital of Queensland; catalogued over 7000 stars; succeeded Scott as president of the Royal Society (1773-1860).
Brise`is, a young virgin priestess, who fell to the lot of Achilles among the spoil of a victory, but whom Agamemnon carried off from him, whereupon he retired to his tent and sullenly refused to take any further part in the war, to its prolongation, in consequence, as Homer relates, for ten long years; the theme of the "Iliad" being the "wrath of Achilles" on this account, and what it led to.
Brissac, the name of a noble family which supplied several marshals to France.
Brisson, Henri, French publicist and journalist; after holding presidentships in the Chamber became premier in 1885, but resigned after a few months; formed a Radical administration in 1898, which was short-lived; b. 1835.
Brissot de Warville, Jean Pierre, a French revolutionary, born at Chartres, son of a pastry-cook; bred to the bar, took to letters; became an outspoken disciple of Rousseau; spent some time in the Bastille; liberated, he went to America; returned on the outbreak of the Revolution, sat in the National Assembly, joined the Girondists; became one of the leaders, or rather of a party of his own, named after him Brissotins, midway between the Jacobins and them; fell under suspicion like the rest of the party, was arrested, tried and guillotined (1754-1793).
Bristol (286), on the Avon, 6 m. from its mouth, and 118 m. W. of London, is the largest town in Gloucestershire, the seventh in England, and a great seaport, with Irish, W. Indian, and S. American trade; it manufactures tobacco, boots and shoes; it has a cathedral, two colleges, a library and many educational institutions; by a charter of Edward III. it forms a county in itself.
Bristol Channel, an inlet in SW. of England, between S. Wales and Devon and Cornwall, 8 m. in length, from 5 to 43 in breadth, and with a depth of from 5 to 40 fathoms; is subject to very high tides, and as such dangerous to shipping; numerous rivers flow into it.
Britannia, a name for Britain as old as the days of Cæsar, and inhabited by Celts, as Gaul also was.
Britannia Tubular Bridge, a railway bridge spanning the Menai Strait, designed by Robert Stephenson, and completed in 1850; consists of hollow tubes of wrought-iron plates riveted together, and took five years in erecting.
Britannicus, the son of Claudius and Messalina, poisoned by Nero.
British Aristides, name applied to Andrew Marvell from his corresponding incorruptible integrity in life and poverty at death.
British Association, an association, of Sir David Brewster's suggestion, of men of all departments of science for the encouragement of scientific research and the diffusion of scientific knowledge, which holds its meetings annually under the presidency of some distinguished scientist, now in this, now in that selected central city of the country; it is divided into eight sections—mathematical, chemical, geological, biological, geographical, economic, mechanical, and anthropological.
British Columbia (98), a western fertile prov. of British America, extending between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific, and from the United States on the S. to Alaska on the N., being 800 m. long and four times the size of Great Britain; rich in timber and minerals; rain is abundant, and cereals do well.
British Lion, the name given to John Bull when roused by opposition.
British Museum, a national institution in London for the collection of MSS., books, prints and drawings, antiquities, and objects of natural history, ethnology, &c.; founded as far back as 1700, though not opened, in Montagu House as it happened, for the public benefit till 1759.
Britomart, is a lady knight in the "Faërie Queene," representing chastity with a resistless magic spear.
Brittany (3,162), an old French prov., land of the Bretons, comprising the peninsula opposite Devon and Cornwall, stretching westward between the Bays of Cancale and Biscay, was in former times a duchy; a third of its inhabitants still retain their Breton language.
Britton, John, topographer and antiquary, born in Wiltshire in humble position; author of "Beauties of Wiltshire," instalment of a work embracing all the counties of England and Wales; his principal works, and works of value, are "Antiquities of Great Britain" and "Cathedral Antiquities of England"; his chief work is 14 volumes; the "Antiquities in Normandy" did much to create an interest in antiquarian subjects (1771-1857).
Brixton, a southern suburb of London, on the Surrey side, a district of the city that has of late years extended immensely.
Broad Arrow, a stamp like an arrow-head to indicate government property.
Broad Bottom Ministry, a coalition of great weight under Mr. Pelham, from Nov. 1744 to Mar. 1755, so called from the powerful parties represented in it.
Broad Church, that section of the Church which inclines to liberal opinions in theology, and is opposed to the narrowing of either spirit or form, perhaps to an undue degree and to the elimination of elements distinctive of the Christian system.
Broads, The Norfolk, are a series of inland lakes in the E. of Norfolkshire, which look like expansions of the rivers; they are favourite holiday resorts on account of the expanse of strange scenery, abundant vegetation, keen air, fishing and boating attractions.
Brob`dingnag, an imaginary country in "Gulliver's Travels," inhabited by giants, each as tall "as an ordinary spire-steeple"; properly a native of the country, in comparison with whom Gulliver was a pigmy "not half so big as a round little worm plucked from the lazy finger of a maid."
Broca, Paul, an eminent French surgeon, anthropologist, and one of the chief French evolutionists; held a succession of important appointments, and was the author of a number of medical works (1824-1880).
Brochant de Villiers, a mineralogist and geologist, born in Paris; director of the St. Gobin manufactory (1773-1810).
Brochs, dry-stone circular towers, called also Picts' towers and Duns, with thick Cyclopean walls, a single doorway, and open to the sky, found on the edge of straths or lochs in the N. and W. of Scotland.
Brocken, or Blocksberg, the highest peak (3740 ft.) of the Harz Mts., cultivated to the summit; famous for a "Spectre" so called, long an object of superstition, but which is only the beholder's shadow projected through, and magnified by, the mists.
Brockhaus, Friedrich Arnold, a German publisher, born at Dortmund; a man of scholarly parts; began business in Amsterdam, but settled in Leipzig; publisher of the famous "Conversations Lexikon," and a great many other important works (1772-1823).
Brocoliando, a forest in Brittany famous in Arthurian legend.
Brodie, Sir Benjamin, surgeon, born in Wiltshire; professor of surgery; for 30 years surgeon in St. George's Hospital; was medical adviser to three sovereigns; president of the Royal Society (1783-1862).
Brodie, William, a Scottish sculptor, born in Banff; did numerous busts and statues (1815-1881).
Broglie, Albert, son of the following, a Conservative politician and littérateur, author of "The Church and the Roman Empire in the 4th century"; b. 1821
Broglie, Charles Victor, Duc de, a French statesman, born at Paris; a Liberal politician; was of the party of Guizot and Royer-Collard; held office under Louis Philippe; negotiated a treaty with England for the abolition of slavery; was an Orleanist, and an enemy of the Second Empire; retired after the coup d'état (1785-1870).
Broglie, Victor François, Duc de, marshal of France, distinguished in the Seven Years' War, being "a firm disciplinarian"; was summoned by royalty to the rescue as "war god" at the outbreak of the Revolution; could not persuade his troops to fire on the rioters; had to "mount and ride"; took command of the Emigrants in 1792, and died at Münster (1718-1804).
Broke, Sir Philip Bowes Vere, rear-admiral, born at Ipswich, celebrated for the action between his ship Shannon, 38 guns, and the American ship Chesapeake, 49 guns, in June 1813, in which he boarded the latter and ran up the British flag; one of the most brilliant naval actions on record, and likely to be long remembered in the naval annals of the country (1776-1841).
Bromberg (41), a busy town on the Brahe, in Prussian Posen; being a frontier town, it suffered much in times of war.
Brome, Alexander, a cavalier, writer of songs and lampoons instinct with wit, whim, and spirit; and of his songs some are amatory, some festive, and some political (1626-1666).
Brome, Richard, an English comic playwright, contemporary with Ben Jonson, and a rival; originally his servant; his plays are numerous, and were characterised by his enemies as the sweepings of Jonson's study; d. 1652.
Bromine, an elementary fluid of a dark colour and a disagreeable smell, extracted from bittern, a liquid which remains after the separation of salt.
Bromley (21), a market-town in Kent, 10 m. SE. of London, where the bishops of Rochester had their palace, and where there is a home called Warner's College for clergymen's widows.
Brompton, SW. district of London, in Kensington, now called S. Kensington; once a rustic locality, now a fashionable district, with several public buildings and the Oratory.
Bröndsted, Peter Olaf, a Danish archæologist; author of "Travels and Researches in Greece," where by excavations he made important discoveries; his great work "Travels and Archæological Researches in Greece" (1780-1842).
Brongniart, Adolphe, French botanist, son of the succeeding, the first to discover and explain the function of the pollen in plants (1801-1876).
Brongniart, Alexandre, a French chemist and zoologist, collaborateur with Cuvier, born at Paris; director of the porcelain works at Sèvres; revived painting on glass; introduced a new classification of reptiles; author of treatises on mineralogy and the ceramic arts (1770-1847).
Bronte (16), a town in Sicily, on the western slope of Etna, which gave title of duke to Nelson.
Brontë, the name of three ladies, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, daughters of a Yorkshire clergyman of Irish extraction: Charlotte, born at Thornton, Yorkshire; removed with her father, at the age of four, to Haworth, a moorland parish, in the same county, where she lived most of her days; spent two years at Brussels as a pupil-teacher; on her return, in conjunction with her sisters, prepared and published a volume of poems under the pseudonyms respectively of "Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell," which proved a failure. Nothing daunted, she set to novel writing, and her success was instant; first, "Jane Eyre," then "Shirley," and then "Villette," appeared, and her fame was established. In 1854 she married her father's curate, Mr. Nicholls, but her constitution gave way, and she died (1816-1855). Emily (Ellis), two years younger, poet rather than novelist; wrote "Wuthering Heights," a remarkable production, showing still greater genius, which she did not live to develop. Anne (Acton), four years younger, also wrote two novels, but very ephemeral productions.
Bronze Age, the age in the history of a race intermediate between the Stone Age and the Iron, and in some cases overlapping these two, when weapons and tools were made of bronze.
Bronzi`no, a Florentine painter, painted both in oil and fresco; a great admirer of Michael Angelo; his famous picture, "Descent of Christ into Hell" (1502-1572).
Brook Farm, an abortive literary community organised on Fourier's principles, 8 m. from Boston, U.S., by George Ripley in 1840; Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the community, and wrote an account of it.
Brooke, Henry, Irish dramatist and novelist, born in co. Cavan; author of the "Fool of Quality," a book commended by John Wesley and much lauded by Charles Kingsley, and the only one of his works that survives; wrote, among other things, a poem called "Universal Beauty," and a play called "Gustavus Vasa" (1703-1783).
Brooke, Sir James, rajah of Sarawak, born at Benares, educated in England; entered the Indian army; was wounded in the Burmese war, returned in consequence to England; conceived the idea of suppressing piracy and establishing civilisation in the Indian Archipelago; sailed in a well-manned and well-equipped yacht from the Thames with that object; arrived at Sarawak, in Borneo; assisted the governor in suppressing an insurrection, and was made rajah, the former rajah being deposed in his favour; brought the province under good laws, swept the seas of pirates, for which he was rewarded by the English government; was appointed governor of Labuan; finally returned to England and died, being succeeded in Sarawak by a nephew (1803-1868).
Brooke, Stopford, preacher and writer, born in Donegal; after other clerical appointments became incumbent of Bedford Chapel, Bloomsbury, and Queen's chaplain; from conscientious motives seceded from the Church, but continued to preach in Bloomsbury; wrote the "Life of Robertson of Brighton," a "Primer of English Literature," "History of English Poetry," "Theology in the English Poets," and "Life of Milton," all works in evidence of critical ability of a high order; b. 1832.
Brooklyn (806), a suburb of New York, on Long Island, though ranking as a city, and the fourth in the Union; separated from New York by the East River, a mile broad, and connected with it by a magnificent suspension bridge, the largest in the world, as well as by some 12 lines of ferry boats plied by steam; it is now incorporated in Greater New York; has 10 m. of water front, extensive docks and warehouses, and does an enormous shipping trade; manufactures include glass, clothing, chemicals, metallic wares, and tobacco; there is a naval yard, dock, and storehouse; the city is really a part of New York; has many fine buildings, parks, and pleasure grounds.
Brooks, Charles William Shirley, novelist and journalist, born in London; was on the staff of the Morning Chronicle; sent to Russia to inquire into and report on the condition of the peasantry and labouring classes there, as well as in Syria and Egypt; his report published in his "Russians of the South"; formed a connection with Punch in 1851, writing the "Essence of Parliament," and succeeded Mark Lemon as editor in 1870; he was the author of several works (1816-1874).
Brosses, Charles de, a French archæologist, born at Dijon; wrote among other subjects on the manners and customs of primitive and prehistoric man (1709-1777).
Brossette, a French littérateur, born at Lyons; friend of Boileau, and his editor and commentator (1671-1743).
Brothers, Richard, a fanatic, born in Newfoundland, who believed and persuaded others to believe that the English people were the ten lost tribes of Israel (1757-1824).
Brougham, Henry, Lord Brougham and Vaux, born in Edinburgh, and educated at the High School and University of that city; was admitted to the Scotch bar in 1800; excluded from promotion in Scotland by his liberal principles, he joined the English bar in 1808, speedily acquired a reputation as a lawyer for the defence in Crown libel actions, and, by his eloquence in the cause of Queen Caroline, 1820, won universal popular favour; entering Parliament in 1810, he associated with the Whig opposition, threw himself into the agitation for the abolition of slavery, the cause of education, and law reform; became Lord Chancellor in 1830, but four years afterwards his political career closed; he was a supporter of many popular institutions; a man of versatile ability and untiring energy; along with Horner, Jeffrey, and Sidney Smith, one of the founders of the Edinburgh Review, also of London University, and the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; a writer on scientific, historical, political, and philosophical themes, but his violence and eccentricity hurt his influence; spent his last days at Cannes, where he died (1778-1868).
Broughton, Lord. See Hobhouse.
Broughton, Rhoda, novelist, her best work "Not Wisely but Too Well"; wrote also "Cometh Up as a Flower," "Red as a Rose is She," &c.; b. 1840.
Broughton, William Robert, an English seaman, companion of Vancouver; discovered a portion of Oceania (1763-1822).
Broughty Ferry (9), a watering-place, with villas, near Dundee, and a favourite place of residence of Dundee merchants.
Broussa (37), a city in the extreme NW. of Asiatic Turkey, at the foot of Mt. Olympus, 12 m. from the Sea of Marmora; the capital of the Turkish empire till the taking of Constantinople in 1453; abounds in mosques, and is celebrated for its baths.
Broussais, Joseph Victor, a French materialist, founder of the "physiological school" of medicine; resolved life into excitation, and disease into too much or too little (1772-1838).
Broussel, a member of the Parlement of Paris, whose arrest, in 1648, was the cause of, or pretext for, the organisation of the Fronde.
Brousson, a French Huguenot who returned to France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and was broken on the wheel, 1698.
Brouwer, a Dutch painter, mostly of low, vulgar life, which, as familiar with it, he depicted with great spirit (1605-1638).
Brown, Amy, the first wife of the Duc de Berri, born in England, died in France; the Pope, in 1816, annulled her marriage, but declared her two daughters legitimate (1783-1876).
Brown, Charles Brockden, an American novelist, born in Philadelphia, of Quaker connection; his best-known fictions are "Wieland," "Edgar Huntly," &c. (1771-1810).
Brown, Ford Madox, an English painter, born at Calais; his subjects nearly all of a historical character, one of which is "Chaucer reciting his Poetry at the Court of Edward III."; anticipated Pre-Raphaelitism (1821-1893).
Brown, Sir George, British general, born near Elgin, distinguished both in the Peninsular and in the Crimean war, was severely wounded at Inkerman, when in command of the Light Division (1790-1863).
Brown, Henry Kirke, an American sculptor, did a number of statues, a colossal one of Washington among them (1814-1886).
Brown, John, American slavery abolitionist; settled in Kansas, and resolutely opposed the project of making it a slave state; in the interest of emancipation, with six others, seized on the State armoury at Harper's Ferry in hope of a rising, entrenched himself armed in it, was surrounded, seized, tried, and hanged (1800-1859).
Brown, John, of Haddington, a self-educated Scotch divine, born at Carpow, near Abernethy, Perthshire, son of a poor weaver, left an orphan at 11, became a minister of a Dissenting church in Haddington; a man of considerable learning, and deep piety; author of "Dictionary of the Bible," and "Self-interpreting Bible" (1722-1787).
Brown, John, M.D., great-grandson of the preceding, born at Biggar, educated in Edinburgh High School and at Edinburgh University, was a pupil of James Syme, the eminent surgeon, and commenced quiet practice in Edinburgh; author of "Horæ Subsecivæ," "Rab and his Friends," "Pet Marjorie," "John Leech," and other works; was a fine and finely-cultured man, much beloved by all who knew him, and by none more than by John Ruskin, who says of him, he was "the best and truest friend of all my life.... Nothing can tell the loss to me in his death, nor the grief to how many greater souls than mine that had been possessed in patience through his love" (1810-1882).
Brown, John, M.D., founder of the Brunonian system of medicine, born at Bunkle, Berwickshire; reduced diseases into two classes, those resulting from redundancy of excitation, and those due to deficiency of excitation; author of "Elements of Medicine" and "Observations on the Old and New Systems of Physic" (1735-1788). See Broussais.
Brown, Jones, and Robinson, three middle-class Englishmen on their travels abroad, as figured in the pages of Punch, and drawn by Richard Doyle.
Brown, Mount (16,000 ft.), the highest of the Rocky Mts., in N. America.
Brown, Oliver Madox, son of Ford Madox, a youth of great promise both as an artist and poet; died of blood-poisoning (1855-1874).
Brown, Rawdon, historical scholar, spent his life at Venice in the study of Italian history, especially in its relation to English history, which he prosecuted with unwearied industry; his great work, work of 20 years' hard labour, "Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts relating to English Affairs existing in the Archives of Venice and Northern Italy," left unfinished at his death; died at Venice, where he spent a great part of his life, where Ruskin found him and conceived a warm friendship for him (1803-1883).
Brown, Robert, a distinguished botanist, born at Montrose, son of an Episcopal clergyman; accompanied an expedition to survey the coast of Australia in 1801, returned after four years' exploration, with 4000 plants mostly new to science, which he classified and described in his "Prodromus Floræ Novæ Hollandiæ"; became librarian to, and finally president of, the Linnean Society; styled by Humboldt botanicorum facile princeps; he was a man of most minute and accurate observation, and of a wide range of knowledge, much of which died along with him, out of the fear of committing himself to mistakes (1773-1858).
Brown, Samuel, M.D., chemist, born in Haddington, grandson of John Brown of Haddington, whose life was devoted, with the zeal of a mediæval alchemist, to a reconstruction of the science of atomics, which he did not live to see realised: a man of genius, a brilliant conversationist and an associate of the most intellectual men of his time, among the number De Quincey, Carlyle, and Emerson; wrote "Lay Sermons on the Theory of Christianity," "Lectures on the Atomic Theory," and two volumes of "Essays, Scientific and Literary" (1817-1856).
Brown, Thomas, Scottish psychologist, born in Kirkcudbrightshire, bred to medicine; professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, colleague and successor to Dugald Stewart; his lectures, all improvised on the spur of the moment, were published posthumously; "Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind" established a sixth sense, which he called the "muscular." He was a man of precocious talent, and a devoted student, to the injury of his health and the shortening of his life; he was obliged from ill-health to resign his professorship after 10 years (1778-1820).
Brown Willy, the highest peak (1368 ft.) in Cornwall.
Browne, Charles Farrar, a humorist and satirist, known by the pseudonym of "Artemus Ward," born in Maine, U.S.; his first literary effort was as "showman" to an imaginary travelling menagerie; travelled over America lecturing, carrying with him a whimsical panorama as affording texts for his numerous jokes, which he brought with him to London, and exhibited with the same accompaniment with unbounded success; he spent some time among the Mormons, and defined their religion as singular, but their wives plural (1834-1867).
Browne, Hablot Knight, artist, born in London; illustrated Dickens's works, "Pickwick" to begin with, under the pseudonym of "Phiz," as well as the works of Lever, Ainsworth, Fielding, and Smollett, and the Abbotsford edition of Scott; he was skilful as an etcher and an architectural draughtsman (1815-1882).
Browne, Robert, founder of the Brownists, born in Rutland; the first seceder from the Church of England, and the first to found a Church of his own on Congregational principles, which he did at Norwich, though his project of secession proved a failure, and he returned to the English Church; died in jail at Northampton, where he was imprisoned for assaulting a constable; he may be accounted the father of the Congregational body in England (1540-1630).
Browne, Sir Thomas, physician and religious thinker, born in London; resided at Norwich for nearly half a century, and died there; was knighted by Charles II.; "was," Professor Saintsbury says, "the greatest prose writer perhaps, when all things are taken together, in the whole range of English"; his principal works are "Religio Medici," "Inquiries into Vulgar Errors," and "Hydriotaphia, or Urn-Burial, a Discourse of the Sepulchral Urns found in Norfolk"; "all of the very first importance in English literature,..." adds the professor, "the 'Religio Medici' the greatest favourite, and a sort of key to the others;" "a man," says Coleridge, "rich in various knowledge, exuberant in conceptions and conceits, contemplative, imaginative, often truly great, and magnificent in his style and diction.... He is a quiet and sublime enthusiast, with a strong tinge of the fantastic. He meditated much on death and the hereafter, and on the former in its relation to, or leading on to, the latter" (1605-1682).
Browne William, English pastoral poet, born at Tavistock; author of "Britannia's Pastorals" and "The Shepherd's Pipe," a collection of eclogues and "The Inner Temple and Masque," on the story of Ulysses and Circe, with some opening exquisitely beautiful verses, "Steer hither, steer," among them; was an imitator of Spenser, and a parallel has been instituted between him and Keats (1590-1645).
Brownie, a good-natured household elf, believed in Scotland to render obliging services to good housewives, and his presence an evidence that the internal economies were approved of, as he favoured good husbandry, and was partial to houses where it was observed.
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, née Barrett, poetess, born at Carlton Hall, Durham; a woman of great natural abilities, which developed early; suffered from injury to her spine; went to Torquay for her health; witnessed the death by drowning of a brother, that gave her a shock the effect of which never left her; published in 1838 "The Seraphim," and in 1844 "The Cry of the Children"; fell in with and married Robert Browning in 1846, who immediately took her abroad, settling in Florence; wrote in 1850 "Sonnets from the Portuguese," in 1851 "Casa Guidi Windows," and in 1856 "Aurora Leigh," "a novel in verse," and in 1860 "Poems before Congress"; ranks high, if not highest, among the poetesses of England; she took an interest all through life in public affairs; her work is marked by musical diction, sensibility, knowledge, and imagination, which no poetess has rivalled (1806-1861).
Browning, Robert, poet, one of the two greatest in the Victorian era, born in Camberwell; early given to write verses; prepared himself for his literary career by reading through Johnson's Dictionary; his first poem "Pauline" (q. v.) published in 1833, which was followed by "Paracelsus" in 1835, "Sordello" in 1840; after a time, in which he was not idle, appeared, with some of his "Dramatic Romances and Lyrics," in 1855 his "Men and Women," and in 1868 "The Ring and the Book" (q. v.), his longest poem, and more analytic than poetic; this was succeeded by a succession of others, finishing up with "Asolando," which appeared the day he died at Venice; was a poet of great subtlety, deep insight, creative power, and strong faith, of a genius and learning which there are few able to compass the length and breadth of; lies buried in Westminster Abbey; of Browning it has been said by Professor Saintsbury, "Timor mortis non conturbabat, 'the fear of death did not trouble him.' In the browner shades of age as well as in the spring of youth he sang, not like most poets, Love and Death, but Love and Life.... 'James Lee,' 'Rabbi Ben Ezra,' and 'Prospice' are among the greatest poems of the century." His creed was an optimism of the brightest, and his restful faith "it is all right with the world" (1812-1889).
Brown-Séquard, physiologist, born in Mauritius, of American parentage; studied in Paris; practised in New York, and became a professor in the Collège de France; made a special study of the nervous system and nervous diseases, and published works on the subject; b. 1818.
Bruant, a French architect, born in Paris; architect of the Invalides and the Salpétrière; d. 1697.
Bruat, a French admiral, commanded the French fleet at the Crimea (1796-1885).
Bruce, a family illustrious in Scottish history, descended from a Norman knight, Robert de Bruis, who came over with the Conqueror, and who acquired lands first in Northumberland and then in Annandale.
Bruce, James, traveller, called the "Abyssinian," born at Kinnaird House, Stirlingshire, set out from Cairo in 1768 in quest of the source of the Nile: believed he had discovered it; stayed two years in Abyssinia, and returned home by way of France, elated with his success; felt hurt that no honor was conferred on him, and for relief from the chagrin wrote an account of his travels in five quarto vols., the general accuracy of which, as far as it goes, has been attested by subsequent explorers (1730-1794).
Bruce, Michael, a Scotch poet, born near Loch Leven, in poor circumstances, in the parish of Portmoak; studied for the Church; died of consumption; his poems singularly plaintive and pathetic; his title to the authorship of the "Ode to the Cuckoo" has been matter of contention (1746-1767).
Bruce, Robert, rival with John Baliol for the crown of Scotland on the death of Margaret, the Maiden of Norway, against whose claim Edward I. decided in favour of Baliol (1210-1295).
Bruce, Robert, son of the preceding, earl of Carrick, through Marjory his wife; served under Edward at the battle of Dunbar for one instance; sued for the Scottish crown in vain (1269-1304).
Bruce, Robert, king of Scotland, son of the preceding, did homage for a time to Edward, but joined the national party and became one of a regency of four, with Comyn for rival; stabbed Comyn in a quarrel at Dumfries, 1306, and was that same year crowned king at Scone; was defeated by an army sent against him, and obliged to flee to Rathlin, Ireland; returned and landed in Carrick; cleared the English out of all the fortresses except Stirling, and on 24th June 1314 defeated the English under Edward II. at Bannockburn, after which, in 1328, the independence of Scotland was acknowledged as well as Bruce's right to the crown; suffering from leprosy, spent his last two years at Cardross Castle, on the Clyde, where he died in the thirty-third year of his reign (1274-1329).
Brucin, an alkaloid, allied in action to strychnine, though much weaker, being only a twenty-fifth of the strength.
Brückenau, small town in Bavaria, 17 m. NW. of Kissingen, with mineral springs good for nervous and skin diseases.
Brucker, historian of philosophy, born at Augsburg, and a pastor there; author of "Historia Critica Philosophiæ" (1696-1770).
Brueys, David Augustin de, French dramatist, born at Aix, an abbé converted by Bossuet, and actively engaged in propagating the faith; managed to be joint editor with Palaprat in the production of plays (1650-1725).
Bruges (49), cap. of W. Flanders, in Belgium, intersected by canals crossed by some 50 bridges, whence its name "Bridges"; one of these canals, of considerable depth, connecting it with Ostend; though many of them are now, as well as some of the streets, little disturbed by traffic, in a decayed and a decaying place, having once had a population of 200,000; has a number of fine churches, one specially noteworthy, the church of Notre Dame; it has several manufactures, textile and chemical, as well as distilleries, sugar-refineries, and shipbuilding yards.
Brugsch, Heinrich Karl, a German Egyptologist, born at Berlin; was associated with Mariette in his excavations at Memphis; became director of the School of Egyptology at Cairo; his works on the subject are numerous, and of great value; b. 1827.
Brühl, Heinrich, Count von, minister of Augustus III., king of Poland, an unprincipled man, who encouraged his master, and indulged himself, in silly foppery and wasteful extravagance, so that when the Seven Years' War broke out he and his master had to flee from Dresden and seek refuge in Warsaw (1700-1763).
Bruin, the bear personified in the German epic of "Reynard the Fox."
Brumaire, the 18th (i. e. the 9th November 1799, the foggy month), the day when Napoleon, on his return from Egypt, overthrew the Directory and established himself in power.
Brummell, Beau, born in London, in his day the prince of dandies; patronised by the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV.; quarrelled with the prince; fled from his creditors to Calais, where, reduced to destitution, he lived some years in the same reckless fashion; settled at length in Caen, where he died insane (1778-1805).
Brunck, an able French Hellenist, classical scholar, and critic, born at Strassburg; edited several classical works, played a perilous part in the French Revolution; was imprisoned, and, on his release, had to sell his library in order to live (1729-1803).
Brune, G. Marie, French marshal, saw service in the Vendéan war and in Italy, distinguished himself under Napoleon in Italy and Holland; submitted to Bourbons in 1814; joined Napoleon on his return from Elba; was appointed to a post of command in the S. of France, but had to surrender after Waterloo, and was attacked by a mob of Royalists at Avignon as he was setting out for Paris, and brutally murdered and his body thrown into the Rhône (1763-1815).
Brunel, Sir Isambard, engineer, born in Rouen, entered the French navy, emigrated to the United States; was chief engineer of New York; settled in England, became block-maker to the Royal Navy; constructed the Thames tunnel, begun in 1825 and finished in 1843 (1759-1849).
Brunel, Isambard Kingdom, son of the preceding, assisted his father in his engineering operations, in particular the Thames tunnel; was engineer of the Great Western Railway; designed the Great Western steamship, the first to cross the Atlantic; was the first to apply the screw propeller to steam navigation; designed and constructed the Great Eastern; constructed bridges and naval docks (1806-1859).
Brunelleschi, Italian architect, born in Florence, bred a goldsmith, studied at Rome; returned to his native city, built the Duomo of the Cathedral, the Pitti Palace, and the churches of San Lorenzo and Spirito Santo (1377-1444).
Brunetière, French critic, connected with the Revue des Deux Mondes and now editor; a very sound and sensible critic; his chief work, begun in the form of lectures in 1890, entitled "L'Évolution des Genres de l'Histoire de la Littérature Française"; according to Prof. Saintsbury, promises to be one of the chief monuments that the really "higher" criticism has yet furnished; b. 1849.
Brunetto-Latini, an Italian writer, who played an important part among the Guelfs, and was obliged to flee to Paris, where he had Dante for a pupil (1220-1294).
Brunhilda, a masculine queen in the "Nibelungen Lied" who offered to marry the man that could beat her in feats of strength, was deceived by Siegfried into marrying Gunther, and meditated the death of Siegfried, who had married her rival Chriemhilda, which she accomplished by the hand of Hagen. Also a queen of Austrasia, who, about the 7th century, had a lifelong quarrel with Fredegunde, queen of Neustria, the other division of the Frankish world, which at her death she seized possession of for a time, but was overthrown by Clothaire II., Fredegunde's son, and dragged to death at the heels of an infuriated wild horse.
Bruni, Leonardo, Italian humanist, born at Arezzo, hence called Aretino; was papal secretary; settled in Florence, and wrote a history of it; did much by his translations of Greek authors to promote the study of Greek (1369-1444).
Brünn (95), Austrian city, capital of Moravia, beautifully situated, 93 m. N. of Vienna, with large manufactures; woollens the staple of the country; about one-half of the population Czechs.
Brunnow, Count von, a Russian diplomatist, born at Dresden; represented Russia in several conferences, and was twice ambassador at the English Court (1797-1875).
Bruno, Giordano, a bold and fervid original thinker, born at Nola, in Italy; a Dominican monk, quitted his monastery, in fact, was for heterodoxy obliged to flee from it; attached himself to Calvin for a time, went for more freedom to Paris, attacked the scholastic philosophy, had to leave France as well; spent two years in England in friendship with Sir Philip Sidney, propagated his views in Germany and Italy, was arrested by the Inquisition, and after seven years spent in prison was burned as a heretic; he was a pantheist, and regarded God as the living omnipresent soul of the universe, and Nature as the living garment of God, as the Earth-Spirit does in Goethe's "Faust"—a definition of Nature in relation to God which finds favour in the pages of "Sartor Resartus"; d. 1600.
Bruno, St., born at Cologne, retired to a lonely spot near Grenoble with six others, where each lived in cells apart, and they met only on Sundays; founder of the Carthusian Order of Monks, the first house of which was established in the desert of Chartreuse (1030-1101). Festival, Oct. 6.
Bruno the Great, third son of Henry the Fowler; archbishop of Cologne, chancellor of the Empire, a great lover of learning, and promoter of it among the clergy, who he thought should, before all, represent and encourage it (928-965).
Brunonian System, a system which regards and treats diseases as due to defective or excessive excitation, as sthenic or asthenic. See Brown, John.
Brunswick (404), a N. German duchy, made up of eight detached parts, mostly in the upper basin of the Weser; is mountainous, and contains part of the Harz Mts.; climate and crops are those of N. Germany generally. Brunswick (101), the capital, a busy commercial town, once a member of the Hanseatic League, and fell into comparative decay after the decay of the League, on the Oker, 140 m. SW. of Berlin; an irregularly built city, it has a cathedral, and manufactures textiles, leather, and sewing-machines.
Brunswick, Charles William, Duke of, Prussian general, commanded the Prussian and Austrian forces levied to put down the French Revolution; emitted a violent, blustering manifesto, but a Revolutionary army under Dumouriez and Kellermann met him at Valmy, and compelled him to retreat in 1792; was beaten by Davout at Auerstädt, and mortally wounded (1735-1806).
Brunswick, Frederick William, Duke of, brother of Queen Caroline; raised troops against France, which, being embarked for England, took part in the Peninsular war; fell fighting at Ligny, two days before the battle of Waterloo (1771-1815).
Brussels (477), on the Senne, 27 m. S. of Antwerp, is the capital of Belgium, in the heart of the country. The old town is narrow and crooked, but picturesque; the town-hall a magnificent building. The new town is well built, and one of the finest in Europe. There are many parks, boulevards, and squares; a cathedral, art-gallery, museum and library, university and art schools. It is Paris in miniature. The manufactures include linen, ribbons, and paper; a ship-canal and numerous railways foster commerce.
Brutus, Lucius Junius, the founder of Republican Rome, in the 6th century B.C.; affected idiocy (whence his name, meaning stupid); it saved his life when Tarquin the Proud put his brother to death; but when Tarquin's son committed an outrage on Lucretia, he threw off his disguise, headed a revolt, and expelled the tyrant; was elected one of the two first Consuls of Rome; sentenced his two sons to death for conspiring to restore the monarchy; fell repelling an attempt to restore the Tarquins in a hand-to-hand combat with Aruns, one of the sons of the banished king.
Brutus, Marcus Junius, a descendant of the preceding, and son of Cato Uticensis's sister; much beloved by Cæsar and Cæsar's friend, but persuaded by Cassius and others to believe that Cæsar aimed at the overthrow of the republic; joined the conspirators, and was recognised by Cæsar among the conspirators as party to his death; forced to flee from Rome after the event, was defeated at Philippi by Antony and Augustus, but escaped capture by falling on a sword held out to him by one of his friends, exclaiming as he did so, "O Virtue, thou art but a name!" (85-42 B.C.).
Bruyère, a French writer, author of "Charactères de Théophraste," a satire on various characters and manners of his time (1644-1696).
Bryan, William Jennings, American statesman, born in Salem, Illinois; bred to the bar and practised at it; entered Congress in 1890 as an extreme Free Silver man; lost his seat from his uncompromising views on that question; was twice nominated for the Presidency in opposition to Mr McKinley, but defeated; b. 1860.
Bryant, William Cullen, American poet; his poems were popular in America, the chief, "The Age," published in 1821; was 50 years editor of the New York Evening Post; wrote short poems all through his life, some of the later his best (1794-1878).
Bryce, James, historian and politician, born at Belfast; Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford; bred to the bar; for a time professor of Civil Law at Oxford; entered Parliament in 1880; was member of Mr. Gladstone's last cabinet; his chief literary work, "The Holy Roman Empire," a work of high literary merit; b. 1838.
Brydges, Sir Samuel Egerton, English antiquary, born at Wootton House, in Kent; called to the bar, but devoted to literature; was M.P. for Maidstone for six years; lived afterwards and died at Geneva; wrote novels and poems, and edited old English writings of interest (1762-1837).
Bubastis, an Egyptian goddess, the Egyptian Diana, the wife of Ptah; and a city in Lower Egypt, on the eastern branch of the Nile.
Buccaneers, an association, chiefly English and French, of piratical adventurers in the 16th and 17th centuries, with their head-quarters in the Caribbean Sea, organised to plunder the ships of the Spaniards in resentment of the exclusive right they claimed to the wealth of the S. American continent, which they were carrying home across the sea.
Buccleuch, a glen 18 m. SW. of Selkirk, with a stronghold of the Scott family, giving the head the title of earl or duke.
Bucen`taur, the state galley, worked by oars and manned by 168 rowers, in which the Doge of Venice used to sail on the occasion of the annual ceremony of wedding anew the Adriatic Sea by sinking a ring in it.
Buceph`alus (i. e. ox-head), the horse which Alexander the Great, while yet a youth, broke in when no one else could, and on which he rode through all his campaigns; it died in India from a wound. The town, Bucephala, on the Hydaspes, was built near its grave.
Bucer Martin, a German Reformer, born at Strassburg; originally a Dominican, adopted the Reformed faith, ministered as pastor and professor in his native place, differed in certain matters from both Luther and Zwingli, while he tried to reconcile them; invited by Cranmer to England, he accepted the invitation, and became professor of Divinity at Cambridge, where he died, but his bones were exhumed and burned a few years later (1491-1551).
Buch, Leopold von, a German geologist, a pupil of Werner and fellow-student of Alexander von Humboldt, who esteemed him highly; adopted the volcanic theory of the earth; wrote no end of scientific memoirs (1774-1853).
Buchan, a district in the NE. of Aberdeenshire, between the rivers Deveron and Ythan; abounds in magnificent rock scenery. The Comyns were earls of it till they forfeited the title in 1309.
Buchanan, Claudius, born at Cambuslang, near Glasgow, chaplain in Barrackpur under the East India Company, vice-provost of the College at Fort William, Calcutta; one of the first to awaken an interest in India as a missionary field; wrote "Christian Researches in Asia" (1756-1815).
Buchanan, George, a most distinguished scholar and humanist, born at Killearn, Stirlingshire; educated at St. Andrews and Paris; professor for three years in the College at St. Barbe; returned to Scotland, became tutor to James V.'s illegitimate sons; imprisoned by Cardinal Beaton for satires against the monks, escaped to France; driven from one place to another, imprisoned in a monastery in Portugal at the instance of the Inquisition, where he commenced his celebrated Latin version of the Psalms; came back to Scotland, was appointed in 1562 tutor to Queen Mary, in 1566 principal of St. Leonard's College, in St. Andrews, in 1567 moderator of the General Assembly in 1570 tutor to James VI., and had several offices of State conferred on him; wrote a "History of Scotland," and his book "De Jure Regni," against the tyranny of peoples by kings; died in Edinburgh without enough to bury him; was buried at the public expense in Greyfriars' churchyard; when dying, it is said he asked his housekeeper to examine his money-box and see if there was enough to bury him, and when he found there was not, he ordered her to distribute what there was among his poor neighbours and left it to the city to bury him or not as they saw good (1506-1582).
Buchanan, James, statesman of the United States, was ambassador in London in 1853, made President in 1856, the fifteenth in order, at the time when the troubles between the North and South came to a head, favoured the South, retired after his Presidentship into private life (1791-1868).
Buchanan, Robert, a writer in prose and verse, born in Warwickshire, educated at Glasgow University; his first work, "Undertones," a volume of verse published by him in 1863, and he has since written a goodly number of poems, some of them of very high merit, the last "The Wandering Jew," which attacks the Christian religion; besides novels, has written magazine articles, and one in particular, which involved him in some trouble; b.1841.
Buchanites, a fanatical sect who appeared in the W. of Scotland in 1783, named after a Mrs. Buchan, who claimed to be the woman mentioned in Rev. xii.
Bucharest (220), capital of Roumania, picturesquely situated on the Dambovitza, a tributary of the Danube, in a fertile plain, 180 m. from the Black Sea; is a meanly built but well-fortified town, with the reputation of the most dissolute capital in Europe; there is a Catholic cathedral and a university; it is the emporium of trade between the Balkan and Austria; textiles, grain, hides, metal, and coal are the chief articles in its markets.
Buchez, Joseph, a French historian, politician, and Socialist; joined the St. Simonian Society, became a Christian Socialist, and a collaborateur in an important historical work, the "Parliamentary History of the French Revolution"; figured in political life after the Revolution of 1848, but retired to private life after the establishment of the Empire (1796-1865).
Büchner, Ludwig, physician and materialist, born at Darmstadt; lectured at Tübingen University; wrote a book entitled "Kraft und Stoff," i. e. Force and Matter, and had to retire into private practice as a physician on account of its materialistic philosophy, which he insisted on teaching (1824-1899).
Buchon, a learned Frenchman; wrote chronologies of French history (1791-1846).
Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, favourite of James I. and Charles I., born in Leicestershire; rose under favour of the former to the highest offices and dignities of the State; provoked by his conduct wars with Spain and France; fell into disfavour with the people; was assassinated at Portsmouth by Lieutenant Felton, on the eve of his embarking for Rochelle (1592-1628).
Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, son of the preceding; served under Charles I. in the Civil War, was at the battle of Worcester; became minister of Charles II.; a profligate courtier and an unprincipled man (1627-1688).
Buckingham, James Silk, traveller and journalist, born in Falmouth; conducted a journal in Calcutta, and gave offence to the East India Company by his outspokenness; had to return to England, where his cause was warmly taken up; by his writings and speeches paved the way for the abolition of the Company's charter (1784-1855).
Buckinghamshire (185), English S. midland county, lying E. of Oxford, W. of Bedford and Hertford, is full of beautiful and varied scenery; hill, dale, wood, and water. The Thames forms the southern boundary, the Ouse flows through the N., and the Thame through the centre. The Chiltern Hills cross the county. Agriculture is the prevailing industry; dairy produce, cattle and poultry feeding, and sheep rearing the sources of wealth. The county town is Buckingham (3), on the Ouse, 60 m. NW. of London.
Buckland, Francis (Frank), naturalist, son of the succeeding, bred to medicine; devoted to the study of animal life; was inspector of salmon fisheries; wrote "Curiosities of Natural History," "Familiar History of British Fishes," &c.; contributed largely to the journals, such as the Field, and edited Land and Water, which he started in 1866 (1826-1880).
Buckland, William, a distinguished geologist, born at Tiverton; had a predilection from boyhood for natural science; awoke in Oxford University an interest in it by his lectures on mineralogy and geology; his pen was unceasingly occupied with geological subjects; exerted himself to reconcile the teachings of science with the accounts in Genesis; was made Dean of Westminster by Sir Robert Peel; his intellect gave way in 1850, and he remained in mental weakness till his death (1784-1856).
Buckle, George Earle, editor of the Times, born near Bath; studied at Oxford, where he distinguished himself; is a Fellow of All Souls' College; became editor in 1884, having previously belonged to the editorial staff; b. 1854.
Buckle, Henry Thomas, an advanced thinker, born in Lee, in Kent; in delicate health from his infancy, too ambitious for his powers, thought himself equal to write the "History of Civilisation in England," in connection with that of Europe, tried it, but failed; visited the East for his health, and died at Damascus; his theory as regards the development of civilisation is, that national character depends on material environment, and that progress depends upon the emancipation of rationality, an extremely imperfect reading and rendering of the elements at work, and indeed a total omission of nearly all the more vital ones; he was distinguished as a chess-player (1822-1862).
Buckstone, John Baldwin, an able comic actor and popular dramatist, born in London; for a long period the lessee of the Haymarket Theatre, London (1802-1870).
Buda-Pesth (506), a twin city, the capital of Hungary, on the Danube; Buda (Ger. Ofen) on the right bank and Pesth on the left, the two cities being connected by a suspension bridge, the former on a rocky elevation and the latter on level ground; a great commercial centre.
Budastis, an ancient town in Lower Egypt, where festivals in honour of Bacchus used to be held every year.
Buddha, Gautama, or Sakya-muni, the founder of Buddhism about the 5th century B.C., born a Hindu, of an intensely contemplative nature, the son of a king, who did everything in his power to tempt him from a religious life, from which, however, in his contemplation of the vanity of existence, nothing could detain him; retired into solitude at the age of 30, as Sakyamuni, i. e. solitary of the Sakyas, his tribe; consulted religious books, could get no good out of them, till, by-and-by, he abstracted himself more and more from everything external, when at the end of ten years, as he sat brooding under the Bo-tree alone with the universe, soul with soul, the light of truth rose full-orbed upon him, and he called himself henceforth and gave himself out as Buddha, i. e. the Enlightened; now he said to himself, "I know it all," as Mahomet in his way did after him, and became a preacher to others of what had proved salvation to himself, which he continued to do for 40 years, leaving behind him disciples, who went forth without sword, like Christ's, to preach what they, like Christ's, believed was a gospel to every creature.
Buddhism, the religion of Buddha, a religion which, eschewing all speculation about God and the universe, set itself solely to the work of salvation, the end of which was the merging of the individual in the unity of being, and the "way" to which was the mortification of all private passion and desire which mortification, when finished, was the Buddhist Nirvâna. This is the primary doctrine of the Buddhist faith, which erelong became a formality, as all faiths of the kind, or of this high order, ever tend to do. Buddha is not answerable for this, but his followers, who in three successive councils resolved it into a system of formulæ, which Buddha, knowing belike how the letter killeth and only the spirit giveth life, never attempted to do. Buddha wrote none himself, but in some 300 years after his death his teachings assumed a canonical form, under the name of Tripitaka, or triple basket, as it is called. Buddhism from the first was a proselytising religion; it at one time overran the whole of India, and though it is now in small favour there, it is, in such form as it has assumed, often a highly beggarly one, understood to be the religion of 340 millions of the human race.
Bude-light, a very brilliant light produced by introducing oxygen into the centre of an Argand burner, so called from the place of the inventor's abode.
Budweis (28), a Bohemian trading town on the Moldau, 133 m. NW. of Vienna.
Buenos Ayres (543), capital of the Argentine Republic, stands on the right bank of the broad but shallow river Plate, 150 m. from the Atlantic; it is a progressing city, improving in appearance, with a cathedral, several Protestant churches, a university and military school, libraries and hospitals; printing, cigar-making, cloth and boot manufacture are the leading industries; it is the principal Argentine port, and the centre of export and import trade; the climate does not correspond with the name it bears; a great deal of the foreign trade is conducted through Monte Video, but it monopolises all the inland trade.
Buffalo (256), a city of New York State, at the E. end of Lake Erie, 300 m. due NW. of New York; is a well-built, handsome, and healthy city; the railways and the Erie Canal are channels of extensive commerce in grain, cattle, and coal; while immense iron-works, tanneries, breweries, and flour-mills represent the industries; electric power for lighting, traction, &c., is supplied from Niagara.
Buffon, George Louis Leclerc, Comte de, a great French naturalist, born at Montbard, in Burgundy; his father one of the noblesse de robe; studied law at Dijon; spent some time in England, studying the English language; devoted from early years to science, though more to the display of it, and to natural science for life on being appointed intendant of the Jardin du Roi; assisted, and more than assisted, by Daubenton and others, produced 15 vols. of his world-famous "Histoire Naturelle" between the years 1749 and 1767. The saying "Style is the man" is ascribed to him, and he has been measured by some according to his own standard. Neither his style nor his science is rated of any high value now: "Buffon was as pompous and inflated as his style" (1707-1780).
Bugeaud, Thomas, marshal of France, born at Limoges; served under Napoleon; retired from service till 1830; served under Louis Philippe; contributed to the conquest of Algiers; was made governor, and created duke for his victory over the forces of the emperor of Morocco at the battle of Isly in 1844; his motto was Ense et aratro, "By sword and plough" (1784-1849).
Bugenhagen, Johann, a German Reformer, a convert of Luther's and coadjutor; helpful to the cause as an organiser of churches and schools (1485-1558).
Bugge, Norwegian philologist, professor at Christiania; b. 1833.
Buhl, ornamental work for furniture, which takes its name from the inventor (see infra), consisted in piercing or inlaying metal with tortoise-shell or enamel, or with metals of another colour; much in fashion in Louis XIV.'s reign.
Buhl, Charles André, an Italian cabinet-maker, inventor of the work which bears his name (1642-1732).
Bukowina (640), a small prov. and duchy in the E. of Austria-Hungary; rich in minerals, breeds cattle and horses.
Bulgaria, with Eastern Roumelia (3,154), constitutes a Balkan principality larger than Ireland, with hills and fertile plains in the N., mountains and forests in the S.; Turkey is the southern boundary, Servia the western, the Danube the northern, while the Black Sea washes the eastern shores. The climate is mild, the people industrious; the chief export is cereals; manufactures of woollens, attar of roses, wine and tobacco, are staple industries; the chief import is live stock. Sofia (50), the capital, is the seat of a university. Varna (28), on the Black Sea, is the principal port. Bulgaria was cut out of Turkey and made independent in 1878, and Eastern Roumelia incorporated with it in 1885.
Bull, an edict of the Pope, so called from a leaden seal attached to it.
Bull, George, bishop of St. Davids, born at Wells; a stanch Churchman; wrote "Harmonia Apostolica" in reconciliation of the teachings of Paul and James on the matter of justification, and "Defensio Fidei Nicenæ," in vindication of the Trinity as enunciated in the Athanasian Creed (q. v.), and denied or modified by Arians, Socinians, and Sabellians (1634-1709).
Bull, John, a humorous impersonation of the collective English people, conceived of as well-fed, good-natured, honest-hearted, justice-loving, and plain-spoken; the designation is derived from Arbuthnot's satire, "The History of John Bull," in which the Church of England figures as his mother.
Bull, Ole Bornemann, a celebrated violinist, born in Bergen, Norway, pupil of Paganini; was a wise man at making money, but a fool in spending it (1810-1880).
Bull Run, a stream in Virginia, U.S., 25 m. from Washington, where the Union army was twice defeated by the Confederate, July 1861 and August 1862.
Bullant, a French architect and sculptor; built the tombs of Montmorency, Henry II., and Catherine de Medicis, as well as wrought at the Tuileries and the Louvre (1510-1578).
Buller, Charles, a politician, born in Calcutta, pupil of Thomas Carlyle; entered Parliament at 24, a Liberal in politics; held distinguished State appointments; died in his prime, universally beloved and respected (1806-1848).
Buller, General Sir Redvers Henry, served in China, Ashanti, South Africa, Egypt, and the Soudan, with marked distinction in the 60th King's Royal Rifles; has held staff appointments, and was for a short time Under-Secretary for Ireland; b. 1839.
Bullinger, Heinrich, a Swiss Reformer, born in Aargau; friend and successor of Zwingli; assisted in drawing up the Helvetic Confession; was a correspondent of Lady Jane Grey (1504-1575).
Bulls and Bears, in the Stock Exchange, the bull being one who buys in the hope that the value may rise, and the bear one who sells in the hope that it may fall. See Bear.
Bülow, Bernard von, Foreign Secretary of the German empire; early entered the Foreign Office, and has done important diplomatic work in connection with it, having been secretary to several embassies and chargé d'affaires to Greece during the Russo-Turkish war; b. 1850.
Bülow, Friedrich Wilhelm, Baron von, a Prussian general; served his country in the war with Revolutionary France; defeated the French under the Empire in several engagements, and contributed to the victory at Waterloo, heading the column that first came to Wellington's aid at the decisive moment (1755-1816).
Bülow, Guido von, a famous pianist, pupil of Liszt (1830-1894).
Buloz, a French littérateur, born near Geneva; originator of the Revue des Deux Mondes (1803-1877).
Bulwer, Henry Lytton, an experienced and successful diplomatist, served the Liberal interest; was party to the conclusion of several important treaties; wrote several works, "An Autumn in Greece," a "Life of Byron," &c. (1801-1872).
Bumble, Mr., a beadle in "Oliver Twist."
Bunau, a German historian, author of a "History of the Seven Years' War" (1697-1762).
Buncombe, a district in N. Carolina, for the ears of the constituency of which a dull speech was some years ago delivered in the U.S. Congress, whence the phrase to "talk Buncombe," i. e. to please one's constituency.
Bundelkhand (2,000), a territory in NW. Provinces, India, between the Chambal and the Jumna; has been extensively irrigated at great labour and expense.
Bunker Hill, an eminence 112 ft., now included in Boston, the scene on 19th June 1775 of the first great battle in the American War of Independence.
Bunsby, Jack, commander of a ship in "Dombey & Son," regarded as an oracle by Captain Cuttle.
Bunsen, Baron von, a diplomatist and man of letters, born at Korbach; in Waldeck; studied at Marburg and Göttingen; became acquainted with Niebuhr at Berlin; studied Oriental languages under Silvestre de Sacy at Paris; became secretary, under Niebuhr, to the Prussian embassy at Rome; recommended himself to the king, and succeeded Niebuhr; became ambassador in Switzerland and then in England; was partial to English institutions, and much esteemed in England; wrote the "Church of the Future," "Hippolytus and his Age," &c. (1791-1860).
Bunsen, Robert William, a distinguished German chemist, born at Göttingen, settled as professor of Chemistry at Heidelberg; invented the charcoal pile, the magnesian light, and the burner called after him; discovered the antidote to arsenic, with hydrate of iron and the Spectrum Analysis (q. v.); b. 1811.
Bunsen Burner, a small gas-jet above which is screwed a brass tube with holes at the bottom of it to let in air, which burns with the gas, and causes at the top a non-luminous flame; largely used in chemical operations.
Bunyan, John, author of the "Pilgrim's Progress," born in Elstow, near Bedford, the son of a tinker, and bred himself to that humble craft; he was early visited with religious convictions, and brought, after a time of resistance to them, to an earnest faith in the gospel of Christ, his witness for which to his poor neighbours led to his imprisonment, an imprisonment which extended first and last over twelve and a half years, and it was towards the close of it, and in the precincts of Bedford jail, in the spring of 1676, that he dreamed his world-famous dream; here two-thirds of it were written, the whole finished the year after, and published at the end of it; extended, it came out eventually in two parts, but it is the first part that is the Pilgrim's Progress, and ensures it the place it holds in the religious literature of the world; encouraged by the success of it—for it leapt into popularity at a bound—Bunyan wrote some sixty other books, but except this, his masterpiece, not more than two of these, "Grace Abounding" and the "Holy War," continue to be read (1628-1688).
Buontalenti, an Italian artist, born at Florence, one of the greatest, being, like Michael Angelo, at once architect, painter, and sculptor (1536-1608).
Burbage, Richard, English tragedian, born in London, associate of Shakespeare, took the chief rôle in "Hamlet," "King Lear," "Richard III.," &c. (1562-1618).
Burchell, Mr., a character in the "Vicar of Wakefield," noted for his habit of applying "fudge" to everything his neighbours affected to believe.
Burckhardt, Swiss historian and archæologist, born at Bâle, author of "Civilisation in Italy during the Renaissance"; b. 1818.
Burckhardt, John Ludvig, traveller, born at Lausanne, sent out from England by the African Association to explore Africa; travelled by way of Syria; acquired a proficiency in Arabic, and assumed Arabic customs; pushed on to Mecca as a Mussulman pilgrim—the first Christian to risk such a venture; returned to Egypt, and died at Cairo just as he was preparing for his African exploration; his travels were published after his death, and are distinguished for the veracious reports of things they contain (1784-1817).
Burder, George, Congregational minister, became secretary to the London Missionary Society, author of "Village Sermons," which were once widely popular (1752-1832).
Burdett, Sir Francis, a popular member of Parliament, married Sophia, the youngest daughter of Thomas Coutts, a wealthy London banker, and acquired through her a large fortune; becoming M.P., he resolutely opposed the government measures of the day, and got himself into serious trouble; advocated radical measures of reform, many of which have since been adopted; was prosecuted for a libel; fined £1000 for condemning the Peterloo massacre, and imprisoned three months; joined the Conservative party in 1835, and died a member of it (1770-1844).
Burdett-Coutts, The Right Honourable Angela Georgina, Baroness, daughter of Sir Francis, inherited the wealth of Thomas Coutts, her grandfather, which she has devoted to all manner of philanthropic as well as patriotic objects; was made a peeress in 1871; received the freedom of the city of London in 1874, and in 1881 married Mr. William Lehman Ashmead-Bartlett, an American, who obtained the royal license to assume the name of Burdett-Coutts; b. 1804.
Bureau, a name given to a department of public administration, hence bureaucracy, a name for government by bureaux.
Bürger, Gottfried August, a German lyric poet, author of the ballads "Lenore," which was translated by Sir Walter Scott, and "The Wild Huntsman," as well as songs; led a wild life in youth, and a very unhappy one in later years; died in poverty (1747-1794).
Burgkmair, Hans, painter and engraver, born at Augsburg; celebrated for his woodcuts, amounting to nearly 700 (1473-1531).
Burgos (34), ancient cap. of Old Castile, on the Arlanzon, 225 m. N. of Madrid by rail; boasts a magnificent cathedral of the Early Pointed period, and an old castle; was the birthplace of the Cid, and once a university seat; it has linen and woollen industries.
Burgoyne, John, English general, and distinguished as the last sent out to subdue the revolt in the American colonies, and, after a victory or two, being obliged to capitulate to General Gates at Saratoga, fell into disfavour; defended his conduct with ability and successfully afterwards; devoted his leisure to poetry and the drama, the "Heiress" in the latter his best (1723-1792).
Burgoyne, Sir John, field-marshal, joined the Royal Engineers, served under Abercromby in Egypt, and under Sir John Moore and Wellington in Spain; was present at the battles of Alma, Balaclava, and Inkerman in the Crimea; was governor of the Tower (1782-1871).
Burgundy was, prior to the 16th century, a Teutonic duchy of varying extent in the SE. and E. of France; annexed to France as a province in the 6th century; the country is still noted for its wines.
Burhanpur (32), a town in the Central Provinces of India, in the Nimar district, 280 m. NE. of Bombay; was at one time a centre of the Mogul power in the Deccan, and a place of great extent; is now in comparative decay, but still famous, as formerly, for its muslins, silks, and brocades.
Buridan, Jean, a scholastic doctor of the 14th century, born in Artois, and famous as the reputed author, though there is no evidence of it in his works, of the puzzle of the hungry and thirsty ass, called after him Buridan's Ass, between a bottle of hay and a pail of water, a favourite illustration of his in discussing the freedom of the will.
Burke, Edmund, orator and philosophic writer, born at Dublin, and educated at Dublin University; entered Parliament in 1765; distinguished himself by his eloquence on the Liberal side, in particular by his speeches on the American war, Catholic emancipation, and economical reform; his greatest oratorical efforts were his orations in support of the impeachment of Warren Hastings; he was a resolute enemy of the French Revolution, and eloquently denounced it in his "Reflections," a weighty appeal; wrote in early life two small but notable treatises, "A Vindication of Natural Society," and another on our ideas of the "Sublime and Beautiful," which brought him into contact with the philosophic intellects of the time, and sometime after planned the "Annual Register," to which he was to the last chief contributor. "He was," says Professor Saintsbury, "a rhetorician (i. e. an expert in applying the art of prose literature to the purpose of suasion), and probably the greatest that modern times has ever produced" (1730-1797).
Burke, Sir John Bernard, genealogist, born in London, of Irish descent, author of the "Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom"; produced, besides editing successive editions of it, a number of works on aristocratic genealogies (1815-1892).
Burke, Robert O'Hara, Australian explorer, born in Galway; conducted an expedition across Australia, but on the way back both he and his companion Wells perished, after terrible sufferings from privation and drought (1820-1861).
Burke, William, a notorious murderer, native of Ireland; executed in 1828 for wholesale murders of people in Edinburgh by suffocation, after intoxicating them with drink, whose bodies he sold for dissection to an Edinburgh anatomist of the name of Knox, whom the citizens mobbed; he had an accomplice as bad as himself, who, becoming informer, got off.
Burkitt, William, Biblical expositor, born in Suffolk; author of "Expository Notes on the New Testament," once held in high esteem (1650-1703).
Burleigh, William Cecil, Lord, a great statesman, born in Lincolnshire; bred to the legal profession, and patronised and promoted by the Protector Somerset; managed to escape the Marian persecution; Queen Elizabeth recognised his statesman-like qualities, and appointed him chief-secretary of state, an office which, to the glory of the queen and the good of the country, he held for forty years, till his death. His administration was conducted in the interest of the commonweal without respect of persons, and nearly all his subordinates were men of honour as well as himself (1520-1598).
Burlingame, Anson, American diplomatist; sent ambassador to China, and returned as Chinese envoy to the American and European courts; concluded treaties between them and China (1820-1870).
Burma (9,606), a vast province of British India, lying E. of the Bay of Bengal, and bounded landward by Bengal, Tibet, China, and Siam; the country is mountainous, drained by the Irawadi, Salween, and Sittang Rivers, whose deltas are flat fertile plains; the heights on the Chinese frontier reach 15,000 ft; the climate varies with the elevation, but is mostly hot and trying; rice is the chief crop; the forests yield teak, gum, and bamboo; the mines, iron, copper, lead, silver, and rubies. Lower Burma is the coast-land from Bengal to Siam, cap. Rangoon, and was seized by Britain in 1826 and 1854. Upper Burma, cap. Mandalay, an empire nearly as large as Spain, was annexed in 1886.
Burn, Richard, English vicar, born in Westmoreland; compiled several law digests, the best known his "Justice of the Peace" and "Ecclesiastical Law" (1709-1785).
Burnaby, Colonel, a traveller of daring adventure, born at Bedford, a tall, powerful man; Colonel of the Horse Guards Blue; travelled in South and Central America, and with Gordon in the Soudan; was chiefly distinguished for his ride to Khiva in 1875 across the steppes of Tartary, of which he published a spirited account, and for his travels next year in Asia Minor and Persia, and his account of them in "On Horseback through Asia Minor"; killed, pierced by an Arab spear, at Abu Klea as he was rallying a broken column to the charge; he was a daring aëronaut, having in 1882 crossed the Channel to Normandy in a balloon (1842-1885).
Burnand, Francis Cowley, editor of Punch; studied for the Church, and became a Roman Catholic; an expert at the burlesque, and author of a series of papers, entitled "Happy Thoughts," which give evidence of a most keen, observant wit: b. 1836.
Burne-Jones, Sir Edward, artist, born at Birmingham, of Welsh descent; came early under the influence of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, and all along produced works imbued with the spirit of it, which is at once mystical in conception and realistic in execution; he was one of the foremost, if not the foremost, of the artists of his day; imbued with ideas that were specially capable of art-treatment; William Morris and he were bosom friends from early college days at Oxford, and used to spend their Sunday mornings together (1831-1898).
Burnes, Sir Alexander, born at Montrose, his father a cousin of Robert Burns; was an officer in the Indian army; distinguished for the services he rendered to the Indian Government through his knowledge of the native languages; appointed Resident at Cabul; was murdered, along with his brother and others, by an Afghan mob during an Insurrection (1805-1841).
Burnet, Gilbert, bishop of Salisbury, born at Edinburgh, of an old Aberdeen family; professor of Divinity in Glasgow; afterwards preacher at the Rolls Chapel, London; took an active part in supporting the claims of the Prince of Orange to the English throne; was rewarded with a bishopric, that of Salisbury; wrote the "History of the Reformation," an "Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles," the "History of His Own Times"; he was a Whig in politics, a broad Churchman in creed, and a man of strict moral principle as well as Christian charity; the most famous of his works is his "History of His Own Times," a work which Pope, Swift, and others made the butt of their satire (1643-1715).
Burnet, John, engraver and author, born at Fisherrow; engraved Wilkie's works, and wrote on art (1784-1868).
Burnet, Thomas, master of the Charterhouse, born in Yorkshire, author of the "Sacred Theory of the Earth," eloquent in descriptive parts, but written wholly in ignorance of the facts (1635-1715).
Burnett, Frances Hodgson, novelist, born in Manchester, resident for a time in America; wrote "That Lass o' Lowrie's," and other stories of Lancashire manufacturing life, characterised by shrewd observation, pathos, and descriptive power; b. 1849.
Burney, Charles, musical composer and organist, born at Shrewsbury; a friend of Johnson's; author of "The History of Music," and the father of Madame d'Arblay; settled in London as a teacher of music (1726-1814).
Burney, Charles, son of preceding, a great classical scholar; left a fine library, purchased by the British Museum for £13,500 (1757-1817).
Burney, James, brother of preceding, rear-admiral, accompanied Cook in his last two voyages; wrote "History of Voyages of Discovery" (1750-1821).
Burnley (87), a manufacturing town in Lancashire, 27 m. N. of Manchester; with cotton mills, foundries, breweries, &c.
Burnouf, Eugene, an illustrious Orientalist, born in Paris; professor of Sanskrit in the College of France; an authority on Zend or Zoroastrian literature; edited the text of and translated the "Bhâgavata Purána," a book embodying Hindu mythology; made a special study of Buddhism; wrote an introduction to the history of the system (1801-1852).
Burns, John, politician and Socialist, born at Vauxhall, of humble parentage; bred to be an engineer; imbibed socialistic ideas from a fellow-workman, a Frenchman, a refugee of the Commune from Paris; became a platform orator in the interest of Socialism, and popular among the working class; got into trouble in consequence; was four times elected member of the London County Council for Battersea; and has been twice over chosen to represent that constituency in Parliament; b. 1858.
Burns, Robert, celebrated Scottish poet, born at Alloway, near Ayr, in 1759, son of an honest, intelligent peasant, who tried farming in a small way, but did not prosper; tried farming himself on his father's decease in 1784, but took to rhyming by preference; driven desperate in his circumstances, meditated emigrating to Jamaica, and published a few poems he had composed to raise money for that end; realised a few pounds thereby, and was about to set sail, when friends and admirers rallied round him and persuaded him to stay; he was invited to Edinburgh; his poems were reprinted, and money came in; soon after he married, and took a farm, but failing, accepted the post of exciseman in Dumfries; fell into bad health, and died in 1796, aged 37. "His sun shone as through a tropical tornado, and the pale shadow of death eclipsed it at noon.... To the ill-starred Burns was given the power of making man's life more venerable, but that of wisely guiding his own life was not given.... And that spirit, which might have soared could it but have walked, soon sank to the dust, its glorious faculties trodden under foot in the blossom; and died, we may almost say, without ever having lived." See Carlyle's "Miscellanies" for by far the justest and wisest estimate of both the man and the poet that has yet by any one been said or sung. He is at his best in his "Songs," he says, which he thinks "by far the best that Britain has yet produced.... In them," he adds, "he has found a tune and words for every mood of man's heart; in hut and hall, as the heart unfolds itself in many-coloured joy and woe of existence, the name, the voice of that joy and that woe, is the name and voice which Burns has given them."
Burra-Burra, a copper-mine in S. Australia, about 103 m. NE. of Adelaide.
Burrard Inlet, an inlet of river Fraser, in British Columbia, forming one of the best harbours on the Pacific coast.
Burritt, Elihu, a blacksmith, born in Connecticut; devoted to the study of languages, of which he knew many, both ancient and modern; best known as the unwearied Advocate of Peace all over America and a great part of Europe, on behalf of which he ruined his voice (1810-1879).
Burroughs, John, popular author, born in New York; a farmer, a cultured man, with a great liking for country life and natural objects, on which he has written largely and con amore; b. 1837.
Burrus, a Roman general, who with Seneca had the conduct of Nero's education, and opposed his tyrannical acts, till Nero, weary of his expostulations, got rid of him by poison.
Burschenschaft, an association of students in the interest of German liberation and unity; formed in 1813, and broken up by the Government in 1819.
Burslem (31), a pottery-manufacturing town in Staffordshire, and the "mother of the potteries"; manufactures porcelain and glass.
Burton, John Hill, historian and miscellaneous writer, born at Aberdeen; an able man, bred for the bar; wrote articles for the leading reviews and journals, "Life of Hume," "History of Scotland," "The Book-Hunter," "The Scot Abroad," &c.; characterised by Lord Rosebery as a "dispassionate historian"; was Historiographer-Royal for Scotland (1809-1881).
Burton, Sir Richard Francis, traveller, born in Hertfordshire; served first as a soldier in Scind under Sir C. Napier; visited Mecca and Medina as an Afghan pilgrim; wrote an account of his visit in his "Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage, &c."; penetrated Central Africa along with Captain Speke, and discovered Lake Tanganyika; visited Utah, and wrote "The City of the Saints"; travelled in Brazil, Palestine, and Western Africa, accompanied through many a hardship by his devoted wife; translated the "Arabian Nights"; his works on his travels numerous, and show him to have been of daring adventure (1821-1890).
Burton, Robert, an English clergyman, born in Leicestershire; Scholar of Christ Church, Oxford; lived chiefly in Oxford, spending his time in it for some 50 years in study; author of "The Anatomy of Melancholy," which he wrote to alleviate his own depression of mind, a book which is a perfect mosaic of quotations on every conceivable topic, familiar and unfamiliar, from every manner of source (1576-1640). See Anatomy of Melancholy.
Burton-on-Trent (46), a town in Staffordshire; brews and exports large quantities of ale, the water of the place being peculiarly suitable for brewing purposes.
Bury (56), a manufacturing town in Lancashire, 10 m. NW. of Manchester; originally but a small place engaged in woollen manufacture, but cotton is now the staple manufacture in addition to paper-works, dye-works, &c.
Bury St. Edmunds, or St. Edmundsbury (16), a market-town in Suffolk, 26 m. NW. of Ipswich, named from Edmund, king of East Anglia, martyred by the Danes in 870, in whose honour it was built; famous for its abbey, of the interior life of which in the 12th century there is a matchlessly graphic account in Carlyle's "Past and Present."
Busa`co, a mountain ridge in the prov. of Beira, Portugal, where Wellington with 40,000 troops beat Masséna with 65,000.
Busby, Richard, distinguished English schoolmaster, born at Lutton, Lincolnshire; was head-master of Winchester School; had a number of eminent men for his pupils, among others Dryden, Locke, and South (1606-1695).
Büsching, Anton Friedrich, a celebrated German geographer; his "Erdbeschreibung," the first geographical work of any scientific merit; gives only the geography of Europe (1724-1793).
Bushire (27), the chief port of Persia on the Persian Gulf, and a great trading centre.
Bushmen, or Bosjesmans, aborigines of South-west Africa; a rude, nomadic race, at one time numerous, but now fast becoming extinct.
Bushrangers, in Australia a gang made up of convicts who escaped to the "bush," and there associated with other desperadoes; at one time caused a great deal of trouble in the colony by their maraudings.
Busiris, a king of Egypt who used to offer human beings in sacrifice; seized Hercules and bound him to the altar, but Hercules snapped the bonds he was bound with, and sacrificed him.
Busk, Hans, one of the originators of the Volunteer movement, born in Wales; author of "The Rifle, and How to Use it" (1815-1882).
Buskin, a kind of half-boot worn after the custom of hunters as part of the costume of actors in tragedy on the ancient Roman stage, and a synonym for tragedy.
Bute, an island in the Firth of Clyde, about 16 m. long and from 3 to 5 broad, N. of Arran, nearly all the Marquis of Bute's property, with his seat at Mount Stuart, and separated from the mainland on the N. by a winding romantic arm of the sea called the "Kyles of Bute."
Bute, John Stuart, third Earl of, statesman, born of an old Scotch family; Secretary of State, and from May 1762 to April 1763 Prime Minister under George III., over whom he had a great influence; was very unpopular as a statesman, his leading idea being the supremacy of the king; spent the last 24 years of his life in retirement, devoting himself to literature and science (1712-1792).
Bute, Marquis of, son of the second marquis, born in Bute; admitted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1868; devoted to archæological studies, and interested in university education; b. 1849.
Butler, Alban, hagiographer, born in Northampton; head of the college at St. Omer; wrote "Lives of the Saints" (1710-1773).
Butler, Charles, an English barrister, born in London; wrote "Historical Account of the Laws against the Catholics" (1750-1832).
Butler, Joseph, an eminent English divine, born at Wantage, in Berks; born a Dissenter; conformed to the Church of England; became preacher at the Rolls, where he delivered his celebrated "Sermons," the first three of which contributed so much to the stability of moral science; was raised, in virtue of his merits alone, to the see of Bristol; made dean of St. Paul's, and finally bishop of Durham; his great work, "The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature," the aim of which is twofold—first, to show that the objections to revealed religion are equally valid against the constitution of nature; and second, to establish a conformity between the divine order in revelation and the order of nature; his style is far from interesting, and is often obscure (1692-1752).
Butler, Samuel, a master of burlesque, born at Strensham, in Worcestershire, the son of a small farmer; the author of "Hudibras," a poem of about 10,000 octosyllabic lines, in which he subjects to ridicule the ideas and manners of the English Puritans of the Civil War and the Commonwealth; it appeared in three parts, the first in 1663, the second soon after, and the third in 1678; it is sparkling with wit, yet is hard reading, and few who take it up read it through; was an especial favourite with Charles II., who was never weary of quoting from it. "It represents," says Stopford Brooke, "the fierce reaction that (at the Restoration) had set in against Puritanism. It is justly famed," he adds, "for wit, learning, good sense, and ingenious drollery, and, in accordance with the new criticism, is absolutely without obscurity. It is often as terse as Pope's best work; but it is too long; its wit wearies us at last, and it undoes the force of its attacks on the Puritans by its exaggeration" (1612-1680).
Butler, William Archer, a philosophical writer, born near Clonmel, Ireland; professor of Moral Philosophy at Dublin; author of "Lectures on the History of Ancient Philosophy" (1814-1848).
Butt, Clara, operatic singer, born in Sussex; made her début in London at the Albert Hall in the "Golden Legend," and in "Orfeo" at the Lyceum, ever since which appearances she has been much in demand as a singer; b. 1872.
Butt, Isaac, Irish patriot, distinguished for his scholarship at Dublin University; became editor of the Dublin University Magazine; entered Parliament, and at length took the lead of the "Home Rule" party, but could not control it, and retired (1813-1879).
Buttmann, Philipp, a German philologist, born at Frankfort-on-the-Main; professor of Philology in Berlin; best known by his "Greek Grammar" (1764-1829).
Buxton, a high-lying town in Derbyshire, noted for its calcareous and chalybeate springs, and a resort for invalids; is also famous for its rock crystals, stalactite cavern, and fine scenery.
Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell, a philanthropist, born in Essex, a tall man of energetic character; entered life as a brewer, and made his fortune; was conspicuous for his interest in benevolent movements, such as the amelioration of criminal law and the abolition of slavery; represented Weymouth in Parliament from 1818 to 1837; was made a baronet in 1840; he was Wilberforce's successor (1786-1845).
Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell, once governor of S. Australia, grandson of the preceding; educated at Harrow and Cambridge; a Liberal in politics, and member for King's Lynn from 1865 to 1868; a philanthropist and Evangelical Churchman; b. 1837.
Buxtorf, a celebrated Hebraist, born in Westphalia, member of a family of Orientalists; professor of Hebrew for 39 years at Basle; was known by the title, "Master of the Rabbis" (1564-1629).
Byblis, in the Greek mythology a daughter of Miletus, in love with her brother Caunus, whom she pursued into far lands, till, worn out with sorrow, she was changed into a fountain.
Byng, George, Viscount Torrington, admiral, favoured the Prince of Orange, and won the navy over to his interest; commanded the squadron that took Gibraltar in 1704: conquered the Spaniards off Cape Passaro; was made First Lord of the Admiralty in 1727, an office he held till his death (1663-1733).
Byng, John, admiral, fourth son of the preceding; having failed to compel the French to raise the blockade of Minorca, was recalled, in deference to popular clamour, and being tried and condemned as guilty of treason, was shot at Portsmouth, a fate it is now believed he did not deserve, and which he bore like a man and a Christian (1704-1757).
Byrom, John, poet and stenographer, born near Manchester; invented a system of shorthand, now superseded, and which he had the sole right of teaching for 21 years; contributed as "John Shadow" to the Spectator; author of the pastoral, "My Time, O ye Muses, was Happily Spent"; his poetry satirical and genial (1692-1763).
Byron, George Gordon, sixth Lord, an English poet, born in London, son of Captain Byron of the Guards, and Catherine Gordon of Gight, Aberdeenshire; spent his boyhood at Aberdeen under his mother, now a widow, and was educated at Harrow and Cambridge, spending, when at the latter, his vacations in London, where his mother had taken a house; wrote "Hours of Idleness," a poor first attempt, which called forth a severe criticism in the Edinburgh Review, and which he satirised in "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," and soon afterwards left England and spent two years in foreign travel; wrote first part of "Childe Harold," "awoke one morning and found himself famous"; produced the "Giaour," "Bride of Abydos," "Hebrew Melodies," and other work. In his school days he had fallen in love with Mary Chaworth, but she had not returned his affection, and in 1815 he married Miss Millbank, an heiress, who in a year left him never to return, when a storm raised against him on account of his private life drove him from England, and he never came back; on the Continent, moved from place to place, finished "Childe Harold," completed several short poems, and wrote "Don Juan"; threw himself into revolutionary movements in Italy and Greece, risked his all in the emancipation of the latter, and embarking in it, died at Missolonghi in a fit, at the age of 36. His poems, from the character of the passion that breathed in them, made a great impression on his age, but the like interest in them is happily now passing away, if not already past; the earth is looking green again once more, under the breath, it is believed, of a new spring-time, or anyhow, the promise of such. See "Organic Filaments" in "Sartor Resartus" (1788-1824).
Byron, Henry James, dramatist, born in Manchester, wrote "Our Boys" (1834-1884).
Byron, John, naval officer, grandfather of the poet, nicknamed from his misfortunes "Foul-weather Jack"; accompanied Anson in his voyage round the world, but was wrecked in his ship the Wager; suffered almost unexampled hardships, of which he wrote a classical account on his safe return home; he rose to the rank of admiral, and commanded the squadron in the West Indies during the American war; died in England (1723-1786).
Byrsa, a celebrated citadel of Carthage.
Byzantine Art, a decorative style of art patronised by the Romans after the seat of empire was removed to the East; it has been described by Mr. Fairholt as "an engraftment of Oriental elaboration of detail upon classic forms, ending in their debasement."
Byzantine Empire, called also the Eastern, the Lower, or the Greek Empire; dates from 395 A.D., when, by the death of Theodosius, the Roman empire was divided between his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius, the Eastern section falling to the share of the former, who established the seat of his government at Byzantium; the empire included Syria, Asia Minor, Pontus, Egypt in Africa, and Ancient Greece, and it lasted with varied fortune for ten centuries after the accession of Arcadius, till Constantinople was taken by the Turks in 1453.
Byzantium, the ancient name of Constantinople; founded by Greek colonists in 667 B.C.
Caaba, an ancient Arab temple, a small square structure in the grand mosque of Mecca, with a mysterious black stone, probably an aerolite, built in it, on which all pilgrims who visit the shrine imprint a kiss; "the Keblah of all Moslem, the eyes of innumerable praying men being turned towards it from all the quarters of the compass five times a day."
Cabal`, a secret intriguing faction in a State, a name applied to a junto of five ministers of Charles II. in power from 1668 to 1673, the initials of whose names go to make up the word; their names were Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington, and Lauderdale; derived from Cabala (q. v.).
Cab`ala, a secret science alleged to have been divinely imparted to Moses and preserved by tradition, by means of which the Rabbis affected to interpret the pretended mystic sense of the words, letters, and very accents of the Hebrew Scriptures, a science which really owes its existence to a dissatisfaction in the rabbinical mind with the traditional literal interpretation, and a sense that there is more in Scripture than meets the ear. The name comes from a Hebrew word suggesting "to receive," and denotes "that which is received" or tradition.
Caballero, Fernan, the nom de plume of Cecilia Boehl, a popular Spanish authoress, born in Switzerland, of German descent; a collector of folk tales; wrote charmingly; told stories of Spanish, particularly Andalusian, peasant life (1797-1877).
Cabanel, Alexandre, a French painter, born at Montpellier (1828-1889).
Cabanis, Pierre Jean George, a celebrated French medical man, born in Cosnac, in the dep. of Charente Inférieure, a pronounced materialist in philosophy, and friend of Mirabeau; attended him in his last illness, and published an account of it; his materialism was of the grossest; treated the soul as a nonentity; and held that the brain secretes thought just as the liver secretes bile (1757-1808).
Cabel, a celebrated painter of the Dutch school, born at Ryswick (1631-1698).
Cabet, Étienne, a French communist, born in Dijon; a leader of the Carbonari; provoked prosecution, and fled to England; wrote a history of the First Revolution, in which he defended the Jacobins; author of the "Voyage en Icarie," in description of a communistic Utopia, which became the text-book of a communistic sect called "Icarians," a body of whom he headed to carry out his schemes in America, first in Texas and then at Nauvoo, but failed; died at St. Louis broken-hearted (1788-1856).
Cabi`ri, certain mysterious demonic beings to whom mystic honours were paid in Lemnos and elsewhere in Greece, in connection with nature-worship, and especially with that of Demeter and Dionysus (q. v.).
Cable, George Washington, a journalist, born at New Orleans, has written interestingly on, and created an interest in, Creole life in America; b. 1844.
Cabot, Giovanni, a Venetian pilot, born at Genoa, settled in Bristol, entered the service of Henry VII., and discovered part of the mainland of N. America, at Labrador, about 1497: d. 1498.
Cabot, Sebastian, son of the preceding, born either in Venice or Bristol; accompanied his father to N. America; sought service as a navigator, first in Spain then in England, but failed; returned to Spain; attempted under Charles V. to plant colonies in Brazil with no success, for which he was imprisoned and banished; was the first to notice the variation of the magnetic needle, and to open up to England trade with Russia (1474-1557).
Cabral, Pedro Alvarez, a Portuguese navigator, sailing for the Indies, drifted on the coast of Brazil, on which he planted the Portuguese flag, 1500, and of which he is accounted by some the discoverer, continued his course, and established a factory at Calicut in 1501 (1460-1526).
Cabre`ra, one of the Balearic Isles, used as a penal settlement by Spain, produces wild olives.
Cabrera, a Spanish general, born at Tortosa, Catalonia, a zealous supporter of the claims of Don Carlos, took up arms in his behalf; died in England; he was an unscrupulous adversary (1810-1877).
Cabul`, or Kabul (50), cap. of a province of the name in Afghanistan, in a mild climate, on an elevated plateau of great fertility, 6000 ft. in height, on the high route between Central Asia and the Punjab, a great highway of trade, and a depôt for European goods.
Caccia, Italian fresco-painter, did altar-pieces; his best work, "Deposition from the Cross," at Novara; d. 1625.
Caceras (350), a Spanish province in the N. of Estremadura; the name also of its capital (14), famous for its bacon and sausages, as the province is for cattle-rearing.
Cachar (313), a great tea-growing district in Assam.
Cache, name given in Canada to a hole in the ground for hiding provisions when they prove cumbersome to carry.
Cachet, Lettre de, a warrant issued in France before the Revolution, under the royal seal, for the arrest and imprisonment of a person, often obtained to gratify private ends; abolished in 1790.
Ca`cus, a mythological brigand of gigantic stature who occupied a cave in Mount Aventine, represented by Virgil as breathing smoke and flames of fire; stole the oxen of Hercules as he was asleep, dragging them to his cave tail foremost to deceive the owner; strangled by Hercules in his rage at the deception quite as much as the theft.
Cadastre, a register of the landed proprietors of a district, and the extent of their estates, with maps illustrative called Cadastral Maps.
Cade, Jack, an Irish adventurer, headed an insurrection in Kent, in 1450, in the reign of Henry VI.; encamped with his following on Blackheath; demanded of the king redress of grievances; was answered by an armed force, which he defeated; entered the city, could not prevent his followers from plundering; the citizens retaliating, he had to flee, but was overtaken and slain.
Cademosto, a Venetian in the service of Portugal, discovered the Cape de Verde Islands in 1457; wrote the first book giving an account of modern voyages, published posthumously (1432-1480).
Cadiz (62), one of the chief commercial ports in Spain, in Andalusia; founded by the Phoenicians about 1100 B.C.; called Gades by the Romans; at the NW. extremity of the Isle of Leon, and separated from the rest of the island by a channel crossed by bridges; it is 7 m. from Xeres and 50 m. from Gibraltar, and carries on a large export trade.
Cad`mus, a semi-mythological personage, founder of Thebes, in Boeotia, to whom is ascribed the introduction of the Greek alphabet from Phoenicia and the invention of writing; in the quest of his sister Europa, was told by the oracle at Delphi to follow a cow and build a city where she lay down; arrived at the spot where the cow lay down, he sent, with a view to its sacrifice, his companions to a well guarded by a dragon, which devoured them; slew the dragon; sowed its teeth, which sprang up into a body of armed men, who speared each other to death, all but five, who, the story goes, became the forefathers of Thebes.
Cadoudal, Georges, a brave man, chief of the Chouans (q. v.), born in Brittany, the son of a farmer; tried hard and took up arms to restore the Bourbons in the teeth of the Republic, but was defeated; refused to serve under Bonaparte, who would fain have enlisted him, having seen in him "a mind cast in the true mould"; came over from London, whither he had retired, on a secret mission from Charles X.; was suspected of evil designs against the person of Bonaparte; arrested, and, after a short trial, condemned and executed, having confessed his intention to overthrow the Republic and establish Louis XVIII. on the throne (1769-1804).
Caduceus, the winged rod of Hermes, entwined with two serpents; originally a simple olive branch; was in the hands of the god possessed of magical virtues; it was the symbol of peace.
Cædmon, an English poet of the 7th century, the fragment of a hymn by whom, preserved by Bede, is the oldest specimen extant of English poetry; wrote a poem on the beginning of things at the call of a voice from heaven, saying as he slept, "Cædmon, come sing me some song"; and thereupon he began to sing, as Stopford Brooke reports, the story of Genesis and Exodus, many other tales in the sacred Scriptures, and the story of Christ and the Apostles, and of heaven and hell to come.
Caen (45), a fine old Norman town, capital of Calvados, about 80 m. SE. of Cherbourg; lace the chief manufacture; the burial-place of William the Conqueror, and the native place of Charlotte Corday; it is a well-built town, and has fine old public buildings, a large library, and a noble collection of pictures.
Caer`leon, a small old town in Monmouthshire, on the Usk, 2½ m. NE. of Newport; celebrated by Tennyson in connection with Arthurian legend; it is a very ancient place, and contains relics of Roman times.
Cæsalpinus, Italian natural philosopher, born at Arezzo; was professor of botany at Pisa; was forerunner of Harvey and Linnæus; discovered sex in plants, and gave hints on their classification (1519-1603).
Cæsar, name of an old Roman family claiming descent from the Trojan Æneas, which the emperors of Rome from Augustus to Nero of right inherited, though the title was applied to succeeding emperors and to the heirs-apparent of the Western and the Eastern Empires; it survives in the titles of the Kaiser of Germany and the Czar of Russia.
Cæsar, Caius Julius, pronounced the greatest man of antiquity, by birth and marriage connected with the democratic party; early provoked the jealousy of Sulla, then dictator, and was by an edict of proscription against him obliged to quit the city; on the death of Sulla returned to Rome; was elected to one civic office after another, and finally to the consulship. United with Pompey and Crassus in the First Triumvirate (60 B.C.); was appointed to the government of Gaul, which he subdued after nine years to the dominion of Rome; his successes awoke the jealousy of Pompey, who had gone over to the aristocratic side, and he was recalled; this roused Cæsar, and crossing the Rubicon with his victorious troops, he soon saw all Italy lying at his feet (49 B.C.); pursued Pompey, who had fled to Greece, and defeated him at Pharsalia (48 B.C.); was thereupon elected dictator and consul for five years, distinguishing himself in Egypt and elsewhere; returned to Rome (47 B.C.); conceived and executed vast schemes for the benefit of the city, and became the idol of its citizens; when he was assassinated on the Ides (the 15th) of March, 44 B.C., in the fifty-sixth year of his age; b.100 B.C.
Cæsarea, a Syrian seaport, 30 m. N. of Joppa, built in honour of Augustus Cæsar by Herod the Great, now in ruins, though a place of note in the days of the Crusades. Also C. Philippi, at the source of the Jordan, whence Christ, on assuring Himself that His disciples were persuaded of His divine sonship, turned to go up to Jerusalem, and so by His sacrifice perfect their faith in Him.
Cagliari (44), the cap of Sardinia, and the chief port, on the S. coast, was a colony of Jews from the time of Tiberius till 1492, whence they were expelled by the Spaniards; lies on the slopes of a hill, the summit of which is 300 ft. high, and is on the site of an ancient Carthaginian town.
Cagliari, Paolo, proper name of Paul Veronese (q. v.).
Cagliostro, Count Alessandro di, assumed name of an arch-impostor, his real name being Giuseppe Balsamo, born in Palermo, of poor parents; early acquired a smattering of chemistry and medicine, by means of which he perpetrated the most audacious frauds, which, when detected in one place were repeated with even more brazen effrontery in another; married a pretty woman named Lorenza Feliciani, who became an accomplice; professed supernatural powers, and wrung large sums from his dupes wherever they went, after which they absconded to Paris and lived in extravagance; here he was thrown into the Bastille for complicity in the Diamond Necklace affair (q. v.); on his wife turning informer, he was consigned to the tender mercies of the Inquisition, and committed to the fortress of San Leone, where he died at 52, his wife having retired into a convent (1743-1795). See Carlyle's "Miscellanies" for an account of his character and career.
Cagnola, Luigi, Marquis of, Italian architect, born at Milan; his greatest work, the "Arco della Pace," of white marble, in his native city, the execution of which occupied him over 30 years (1762-1833).
Cagots, a race in the SW. of France of uncertain origin; treated as outcasts in the Middle Ages, owing, it has been supposed, to some taint of leprosy, from which, it is argued, they were by their manner of life in course of time freed.
Cahors (13), a town in the dep. of Lot, in the S. of France, 71 m. N. of Toulouse, with interesting Roman and other relics of antiquity.
Caiaphas, the High-Priest of the Jews who condemned Christ to death as a violator of the law of Moses.
Caiapos, a wild savage race in the woods of Brazil, hard to persuade to reconcile themselves to a settled life.
Caicos, a group of small islands connected with the Bahamas, but annexed to Jamaica since 1874.
Caille, Louis de la, astronomer, studied at the Cape of Good Hope, registered stars of the Southern Hemisphere, numbering 9000, before unknown; calculated the table of eclipses for 1800 years (1713-1762).
Caillet, a chief of the Jacquerie, a peasant insurrection in France in 1358, taken prisoner and tortured to death.
Cailliaud, French mineralogist, born in Nantes, travelled in Egypt, Nubia, and Ethiopia, collecting minerals and making observations (1787-1869).
Caillié, René, French traveller in Africa, born in Poitou, the first European to penetrate as far as Timbuctoo, in Central Africa, which he did in 1828; the temptation was a prize of 10,000 marks offered by the Geographical Society of Paris, which he received with a pension of 1000 besides (1799-1839).
Cain, according to Genesis, the first-born of Adam and Eve, and therefore of the race, and the murderer of his brother Abel.
Cain, Thomas Henry Hall, eminent novelist, born in Cheshire, of Manx blood; began life as architect and took to journalism; author of a number of novels bearing on Manx life, such as the "Deemster" and the "Manxman"; his most recent novel, the "Christian," his greatest but most ambiguous work, and much challenged in England, though less so in America; it has been translated into most of the languages of Europe, where the verdict is divided; b. 1853.
Ça ira, "It will go on," a popular song in France during the Revolution, said to have been a phrase of Benjamin Franklin's, which he was in the habit of using in answering inquirers about the progress of the American revolution by his friends in France.
Caird, Edward, brother of the following, interpreter of Kant and Hegel; succeeded Jowett as master of Balliol; has written on the "Evolution of Religion," and edited the lectures and sermons of his brother; b. 1825.
Caird, John, an eloquent Scotch preacher, born at Greenock, Principal of Glasgow University, famous for a sermon entitled "The Religion of Common Life" preached before the Queen at Crathie in 1855; made a special study of the philosophy of religion, and wrote eloquently on it, more especially the Christian version of it (1820-1898).
Cairn, a heap of stones often, though not always, loosely thrown together, generally by way of a sepulchral monument, and it would seem sometimes in execration of some foul deed.
Cairnes, John Elliot, a political economist of the school of John Stuart Mill with modifications, born in co. Louth, Ireland; professor successively in Dublin, Galway, and London; author of works on political economy (1823-1875).
Cairngorm, a yellowish-brown variety of rock-crystal, so called from being found, among other places, on one of the Scottish Grampians, in Aberdeenshire, so named.
Cairns, Hugh MacCalmont, Earl, lawyer and politician, born in co. Down, Ireland; called to the English bar; entered Parliament, representing Belfast; became Lord Chancellor under Disraeli's government in 1868, and again in 1874; took an active interest in philanthropic movements (1819-1885).
Cairo (400), cap. of Egypt, and largest city in Africa, on the right bank of the Nile, just above the Delta, 120 m. SE. of Alexandria, covers an extensive area on a broad sandy plain, and presents a strange agglomeration of ancient and modern elements. The modern city is the fourth founded in succession on the same site, and remains of the former cities are included in it, old walls, gateways, narrow streets, and latticed houses, palaces, and 400 mosques. These, though much spoiled by time and tourists, still represent the brightest period of Saracenic art. The most modern part of the city consists of broad boulevards, with European-built villas, hotels, &c., and has all the advantages of modern civic appliances. There is a rich museum, and university with 2000 students. Extensive railway communication and the Nile waterway induce a large transport trade, but there is little industry. The population is mixed; the townsfolk are half Arab, half Egyptian, while Copts, Turks, Jews, Italians, and Greeks are numerous; it is a centre of Mohammedan learning, and since 1882 the centre of British influence in Egypt.
Caithness (37), a level, except in the W. and S., bare, and somewhat barren, county in the NE. of Scotland, 43 m. by 28 m., with a bold and rocky coast; has flagstone quarries; fishing the chief industry, of which Wick is the chief seat; the inhabitants are to a great extent of Scandinavian origin, and English, not Gaelic, is the language spoken.
Cajetan, Cardinal, general of the Dominicans, born in Gaeta; represented the Pope at the Diet of Augsburg, and tried in vain to persuade Luther to recant; wrote a Commentary on the Bible, and on the "Summa Theologiæ" of Aquinas.
Calabar`, a district under British protection on the coast of Upper Guinea, the country flat and the climate unhealthy.
Calabar Bean, seed of an African bean, employed in medicine, known as the Ordeal Bean, as, being poisonous, having been used to test the innocence of people charged with witchcraft.
Calabria (1,500), a fertile prov. embraced in the SW. peninsula of Italy, and traversed by the Apennines, with tunny and anchovy fisheries; yields grains and fruits, and a variety of minerals; is inhabited by a race of somewhat fiery temper; is much subject to earthquakes.
Calais (56), a fortified seaport in France, on the Strait of Dover, where it is 21 m. across; was in possession of the English from 1347 to 1558, and the last town held by them on French soil; is the chief landing-place for travellers from England to the Continent, and has considerable export trade, as well as cotton and tulle manufactures.
Calamy, Edmund, a Presbyterian divine, born in London; favourable to Royalty, but zealously opposed to Episcopacy, against which he vigorously protested with his pen; opposed the execution of Charles I. and the protectorate of Cromwell; made chaplain to Charles II. after the Restoration; refused a bishopric, which he could not, on conscientious grounds, accept (1600-1666).
Calamy, Edmund, a grandson of the preceding, an eminent Nonconformist minister in London, on whom, for the high esteem in which he was held, honorary degrees were conferred by the Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen universities (1671-1732).
Calas, Jean, a tradesman of Toulouse, whose son committed suicide, and who was charged with murdering him to prevent his going over to the Catholic Church; was tried, convicted, and sentenced to torture and death on the wheel (1762); after which his property was confiscated, and his children compelled to embrace the Catholic faith, while the widow escaped into Switzerland. Voltaire, to his immortal honour, took up her case, proved to the satisfaction of the legal authorities in France the innocence of the victims, got the process revised, and Louis XV. to grant a sum of money out of the royal bounty for the benefit of the family.
Calave`ras, an inland county of California, E. of San Francisco, rich in minerals, with copper and gold mines.
Calchas, the soothsayer who accompanied Agamemnon to the siege of Troy; enjoined the sacrifice of Iphigenia to propitiate the gods, foretold the length or the war, and advised the construction of the wooden horses, a device by means of which Troy was surprised and taken.
Calculus, Differential and Integral, in mathematics, is the method by which we discuss the properties of continuously varying quantities. The nature of the method and the necessity for it may be indicated by a simple example; e. g. the motion of a train in a track, or the motion of a planet in its orbit. If we know the successive positions of the moving body at successive short intervals of time, the rules of the differential calculus enable us to calculate the speed, the change of speed, the change of direction of motion (i. e. the curvature of the path), and the effective force acting on the body. Conversely, given the force at every point, and the initial position and velocity, the rules of the integral calculus assist us in calculating the position and velocity of the body at any future time. Expressed somewhat crudely, the differential calculus has to do with the differentials (increments or decrements) of varying quantities; while the integral calculus is a process of summation or integration of these differentials.
Calcutta (900), on the left bank of the Hooghly, the largest and westernmost branch of the Ganges delta, about 80 m. from the sea; is the capital of Bengal and the Indian Empire, and the residence of the Governor-General; the Government buildings, Bishop's College (now an engineering school) High Court, town hall, bank, museum, university, St. Paul's cathedral, and many other English Buildings have earned for it the name "city of palaces"; but the native quarters, though being improved, are still squalid, the houses of mud or bamboo; an esplanade, numerous quays, an excellent water-supply, gas, and tramway services, add to the amenities; there are extensive dockyards, warehouses, iron-works, timber yards, and jute mills; extensive railway and steamboat communications make it the chief emporium of commerce in Asia; ships of 5000 tons enter the docks; founded in 1686, Calcutta was captured by Surajah Dowlah, and the "Black Hole" massacre perpetrated in 1756; became the capital of India in 1772, and has suffered frequently from cyclones; the population are two-thirds Hindus, less than a third Mohammedan, and 4½ per cent. Christian.
Caldecott, Randolph, artist, born in Chester; exercised his art chiefly in book illustrations, which were full of life, and instinct with a kindly, graceful humour; though professionally untrained, his abilities as an artist were promptly and generously recognised by the Academy; he suffered from ill-health, and died in Florida, whither he had gone to recruit (1846-1886).
Calder, Sir Robert, British naval officer; served bravely in several naval engagements; was tried by court-martial, and reprimanded for not following up a victory which he had gained, a sentence which was afterwards found to be unjust; attained afterwards the rank of admiral (1745-1818).
Calderon de la Barca, the great Spanish dramatist, born at Madrid; entered the army, and served in Italy and Flanders, producing the while dramas which were received with great enthusiasm; took holy orders, and became a canon of Toledo, but to the last continued to write poems and plays; he was a dramatist of the first order, and has been ranked by the more competent critics among the foremost of the class in both ancient and modern times (1600-1681).
Calderwood, David, a Scotch ecclesiastic, born at Dalkeith; became minister of Crailing; first imprisoned, and then banished for resisting the attempts of James VI. to establish Episcopacy in Scotland; wrote a book, "Altare Damascenum," in Holland, whither he had retired, being a searching criticism of the claims of the Episcopacy; returned on the death of the king, and wrote a "History of the Kirk" (1575-1650).
Caledonia, the Roman name for Scotland N. of the Wall of Antoninus, since applied poetically to the whole of Scotland.
Caledonian Canal, a canal across the NW. of Scotland, executed by Telford, for the passage of ships between the Atlantic and the North Sea, 60 m. long, 40 m. of which consist of natural lakes; begun 1803, finished 1823; cost £1,300,000; has 28 locks; was constructed for the benefit of coasting vessels to save the risks they encountered in the Pentland Firth.
Calends, the first day of the Roman month, so called as the day on which the feast days and unlucky days of the month were announced.
Cal`gary, the capital of Alberta, in NW. territory of Canada.
Calhoun, John Caldwell, an American statesman, born in S. Carolina, of Irish descent; all through his public life in high civic position; leader of "the States rights" movement, in vindication of the doctrine that the Union was a mere compact, and any State had a right to withdraw from its conditions; and champion of the slave-holding States, regarding slavery as an institution fraught with blessing to all concerned. His chief work is a treatise on the "Nature of Government" (1789-1850).
Caliban, a slave in Shakespeare's "Tempest," of the grossest animality of nature.
Calicut (66), chief town on the Malabar coast, in the Madras Presidency of India, the first port at which Vasco da Gama landed in 1498, whence the cotton cloth first imported from the place got the name "calico."
California (1,208), the most south-westerly State in the American Union; occupies the Pacific seaboard between Oregon and Mexico, and is bounded landward by Nevada and Arizona. It is the second largest State, larger by a quarter than the United Kingdom. In the N. the rainfall is excessive, and winters severe; in the S. there is little rain, and a delightful climate. Wheat is the most important product; the grape and all manner of fruits grow luxuriantly. Mineral wealth is great: it is the foremost State for gold and quicksilver; lead, silver, copper, iron, sulphur, coal, and many other minerals abound. The industries include brandy and sugar manufactures, silk-growing, shipbuilding, and fishing. All products are exported, eastward by the great Central, Union, and Southern Pacific railroads; and seaward, the chief port being San Francisco, the largest city, as Sacramento is the capital of the State. The Yosemite Valley, in the Sierra Nevada, through which falls the Merced River, is the most wonderful gorge in the world. Captured from Mexico in 1847, the discovery of gold next year raised great excitement, and brought thousands of adventurers from all over the world. Constituted a State in 1850, the original lawlessness gradually gave way to regular administration, and progress has since been steady and rapid.
California, Lower (30), an extensive, mountainous, dry, and scarcely habitable peninsula, stretching southward from the State, in Mexican territory; agriculture is carried on in some of the valleys, and pearl and whale fisheries support some coast towns.
Caligula, Roman emperor from A.D. 37 to 41, youngest son of Germanicus and Agrippina, born at Antium; having ingratiated himself with Tiberius, was named his successor; ruled with wisdom and magnanimity at first, while he lived in the unbridled indulgence of every lust, but after an illness due to his dissipation, gave way to the most atrocious acts of cruelty and impiety; would entertain people at a banquet and then throw them into the sea; wished Rome had only one head, that he might shear it off at a blow; had his horse installed as consul in mockery of the office; declared himself a god, and had divine honours paid to him, till a conspiracy was formed against him on his return from an expedition into Gaul, when he was assassinated (12-41).
Caliph, the title adopted by the successors of Mahomet, as supreme in both civil and religious matters. The principal caliphates are: (1) the Caliphate of the East, established by Abubekr at Mecca, transferred to Bagdad by the Abassides (632-1258); (2) the Caliphate of Cordova, established at Cordova by Abderrahman (756-1031); (3) the Caliphate of Egypt, established by the Fatimites (909-1171). It was at Bagdad that Moslem civilisation achieved its final development.
Calisto, daughter of Lycaon, king of Arcadia; changed by Juno into a she-bear, and placed by Jupiter among the stars.
Calixtus, the name of three Popes: C. I., Pope from 218 to 222; C. II., Pope from 1119 to 1124; C. III., Pope from 1455 to 1458.
Calixtus, George, a Lutheran theologian of an eminently tolerant type, born at Sleswick; travelled for four years in Germany, Belgium, England, and France; accused of heresy, or rather apostasy, for the liberal spirit in which he had learned in consequence to treat both Catholics and Calvinists, and for considering the Apostles' Creed a broad enough basis for Christian union and communion, which might embrace both; his friends, however, stood by him, and he retained the position he held in the Lutheran Church (1586-1656).
Calla`o (32), a port in Peru, 7 m. from Lima, with a fine harbour the safest on the coast, if not in the world; its prosperity depends on trade, which is less than it was before the annexation of the nitrate fields to Chile.
Callcott, John Wall, an eminent musical composer, born at Kensington; was a pupil of Händel's, and is celebrated for his glee compositions (1766-1821). Sir Augustus Wall, landscape painter, brother; was knighted for his eminent skill as an artist (1779-1841). Lady Maria, wife of Sir Augustus, author of "Little Arthur's History of England" (1779-1842).
Callernish, a district in the W. of the island of Lewis, 10 m. from Stornoway; noted for its circles of standing stones, from 10 to 17 ft. in height, the whole in cruciform arrangement.
Callic`rates, along with Ictinos, architect of the Parthenon in Athens.
Callim`achus, Greek architect, inventor of the Corinthian order, 4th century B.C.
Callimachus, Greek poet, born in Cyrena; taught grammar and belles-lettres at Alexandria; was keeper of the library there; of his writings, which are said to have been on a variety of subjects and very numerous, only a few epigrams and hymns remain; was admired by Catullus, Ovid, and Propertius, and flourished in the 3rd century B.C.
Calli`ope, the muse of epic poetry and eloquence, is represented with a tablet and stylus, and sometimes with a paper roll. See Muses.
Callis`thenes, a disciple of Aristotle, who accompanied Alexander the Great to India, and was put to death by his order for remonstrating with him on his adoption of the manners and style of the potentates of the East, but professedly on a charge of treason.
Callis`tratus, an Athenian orator, who kindled in Demosthenes a passion for his art; his Spartan sympathies brought him to grief, and led to his execution as a traitor.
Callot, Jacques, engraver and etcher, born at Nancy; his etchings, executed many of them at the instance of the Grand-duke of Tuscany and Louis XIII. of France, amounted to 1600 pieces, such as those of the sieges of Breda and Rochelle, which are much admired, as also those of the gipsies with whom he associated in his youth (1593-1633).
Calmet, Augustine, a learned Benedictine and biblical scholar, born in Lorraine, but known in England by his "Historical, Critical, and Chronological Dictionary of the Bible," the first published book of its kind of any note, and much referred to at one time as an authority; he wrote also a "Commentary on the Bible" in 23 vols., and a "Universal History" in 17 vols. (1672-1757).
Calms, The, tracts of calm in the ocean, on the confines of the trade winds, and which lasts for weeks at a time.
Calomar`de, Duke, a Spanish statesman; minister of Ferdinand VII.; a violent enemy of liberal principles and measures, and a reactionary; obnoxious to the people; arrested for treachery, escaped into France by bribing his captors (1773-1842).
Calonne, Charles Alexandre de, French financier under Louis XVI., born at Douay; a man of "fiscal genius; genius for persuading, before all things for borrowing"; succeeded Necker in 1783 as comptroller-general of the finances in France; after four years of desperate attempts at financial adjustment, could do nothing but convoke the Notables in 1787; could give no account of his administration that would satisfy them; was dismissed, and had to quit Paris and France; "his task to raise the wind and the winds," says Carlyle, "and he did it," referring to the Revolution he provoked; was permitted by Napoleon to return to France, where he died in embarrassed circumstances (1734-1802).
Caloric, the name given by physicists to the presumed subtle element which causes heat.
Calorius, Abraham, a fiery Lutheran polemic, a bitter enemy of George Calixtus (1612-1686).
Calotype, a process of photography invented by Fox Talbot in 1840, by means of the action of light on nitrate of silver.
Calpë, Gibraltar, one of the Pillars of Hercules (q. v.).
Calpurnia, the last wife of Julius Cæsar, daughter of the consul Piso, who, alive to the danger of conspiracy, urged Cæsar to stay at home the day he was assassinated.
Caltagirone (28), a city 38 m. SW. of Catania; the staple industry is pottery and terra-cotta ware.
Cal`umet, among the American Indians a pipe for smoking, which if accepted when offered, was an emblem of peace, and if rejected, a declaration of war.
Calvados (428), a maritime dep. in N. of France, skirted by dangerous rocks of the same name, with a fertile soil and a moist climate.
Calvaert, Denis, a painter, born at Antwerp; settled at Bologna, where he founded a school, from whence issued many eminent artists, among others Guidi Reni, Domenichino, and Albani; his masterpiece, "St. Michael" in St. Peter's, Bologna (1555-1619).
Calvary, the place of the crucifixion, identified with a hill on the N. of Jerusalem, looked down upon from the city, with a cliff on which criminals were cast down prior to being stoned; also name given to effigies of the crucifixion in Catholic countries, erected for devotion.
Calverley, Charles Stuart, a clever English parodist, Fellow of Christ's Church, Oxford; wrote "Fly-Leaves" and "Verses and Translations"; his parodies among the most amusing of the century, flavoured by the author's scholarship (1831-1884).
Calvert, George and Cecil, father and son, Lords Baltimore; founders, under charter from James I., of Maryland, U.S.
Calvin, John, or Cauvin, the great Reformer, born at Noyon, in Picardy; devoted for a time to the law, was sent to study at the university of Orleans, after having mastered Latin as a boy at Paris; became acquainted with the Scriptures, and acquired a permanently theological bent; professed the Protestant faith; proceeded to Paris; became the centre of a dangerous religious excitement; had to flee for his life from France; retired to Basel, where he studied Hebrew and wrote his great epoch-making book, the "Institutes of the Christian Religion"; making after this for Strassburg, he chanced to pass through Geneva, was arrested as by the hand of God to stay and help on God's work in the place, but proceeded with such rigour that he was expelled, though recalled after three years; on his return he proposed and established his system of Church government, which allowed of no license in faith any more than conduct, as witness the burning of Servetus for denying the doctrine of the Trinity; for twenty years he held sway in Geneva, and for so long he was regarded as the head of the Reformed Churches in Scotland, Switzerland, Holland, and France. Besides his "Institutes," he found time to write Commentaries on nearly all the books of the Bible; was a man of masculine intellect and single-hearted devotion to duty, as ever in the "Great Taskmaster's" eye. His greatest work was his "Institutes," published in Basel in 1535-36. It was written in Latin, and four years after translated by himself into French. "In the translated form," says Prof. Saintsbury, "it is beyond all question the first serious work of great literary merit not historical in the history of French prose.... Considering that the whole of it was written before the author of it was seven-and-twenty, it is perhaps the most remarkable work of its particular kind to be anywhere found; the merits of it being those of full maturity and elaborate preparation rather than of youthful exuberance" (1509-1564).
Calvinism, the theological system of Calvin, the chief characteristic of which is that it assigns all in salvation to the sovereign action and persistent operation of Divine grace.
Calvo, Charles, an Argentine publicist, born at Buenos Ayres in 1824; author of "International Law, Theoretical and Practical."
Calypso, in the Greek mythology a nymph, daughter of Atlas, queen of the island of Ogygia, who by her fascinating charms detained Ulysses beside her for 7 of the 10 years of his wanderings home from Troy; she died of grief on his departure.
Camarilla, a name of recent origin in Spain for a clique of private counsellors at court, who interpose between the legitimate ministers and the crown.
Cambacérès, Jean Jacques Régis de, Duke of Parma, born at Montpellier; bred to the legal profession, took a prominent part as a lawyer in the national Convention; after the Revolution of the 18th Brumaire, was chosen second consul; was sincerely attached to Napoleon; was made by him High Chancellor of the Empire as well as Duke of Parma; his "Projet de Code" formed the basis of the Code Napoléon (1753-1824).
Cambay (31), a town and seaport N. of Bombay, on a gulf of the same name, which is fast silting up, in consequence of which the place, once a flourishing port, has fallen into decay.
Cambo`dia (1,500), a small kingdom in Indo-China, occupying an area as large as Scotland in the plains of the Lower Mekong. The coast-line is washed by the Gulf of Siam; the landward boundaries touch Siam, Annam, and French Cochin-China; in the N. are stretches of forest and hills in which iron and copper are wrought; a branch of the Mekong flows backward and forms the Great Lake; most of the country is inundated in the rainy season, and rice, tobacco, cotton, and maize are grown in the tracts thus irrigated; spices, gutta-percha, and timber are also produced; there are iron-works at Kompong Soai; foreign trade is done through the port Kampot. The capital is Pnom-Penh (35), on the Mekong. The kingdom was formerly much more extensive; remarkable ruins of ancient grandeur are numerous; it has been under French protection since 1863.
Cambrai (17), a city in the dep. of Nord, in France, on the Scheldt; famous for its fine linen fabrics, hence called cambrics. Fénélon was archbishop here, in the cathedral of which is a monument to his memory.
Cambria, the ancient name of Wales, country of the Kymry, a Celtic race, to which the Welsh belong.
Cambridge (44), county town of Cambridgeshire, stands in flat country, on the Cam, 28 m. NE. of London; an ancient city, with interesting archæological remains; there are some fine buildings, the oldest round church in England, Holy Sepulchre, and a Roman Catholic church. The glory of the city is the University, founded in the 12th century, with its colleges housed in stately buildings, chapels, libraries, museums, &c., which shares with Oxford the academic prestige of England. It lays emphasis on mathematical, as Oxford on classical, culture. Among its eminent men have been Bacon, Newton, Cromwell, Pitt, Thackeray, Spenser, Milton, Dryden, Wordsworth, and Tennyson.
Cambridge (70), a suburb of Boston, U.S., one of the oldest towns in New England; seat of Harvard University; the centre of the book-making trade; here Longfellow resided for many years.
Cambridge, first Duke of, seventh and youngest son of George III.; served as volunteer under the Duke of York, and carried a marshal's baton; was made viceroy of Hanover, which he continued to be till, in 1837, the crown fell to the Duke of Cumberland (1774-1850).
Cambridge, second Duke of, son of the preceding and cousin to the Queen, born in Hanover; served in the army; became commander-in-chief in 1856 on the resignation of Viscount Hardinge; retired in 1895, and was succeeded by Lord Wolseley; b. 1819.
Cambridge University contains 17 colleges: Peterhouse, founded 1257; Clare College, 1326; Pembroke, 1347; Gonville and Caius, 1348; Trinity Hall, 1350; Corpus Christi, 1352; King's, 1441; Queens', 1448; St. Catherine's, 1473; Jesus, 1496; Christ's, 1505; St John's, 1511; Magdalene, 1519; Trinity, 1546; Emmanuel, 1584; Sidney Sussex, 1598; and Downing, 1800. Each college is a corporation by itself, governed by statutes sanctioned by the crown, and capable of holding landed or other property.
Cambridgeshire (188), an inland agricultural county, nine-tenths of its surface under cultivation; famed for its butter and cheese; very flat, marshy in the N., with a range of chalk-hills, the Gog-Magog in the S.; is rich in Roman remains.
Cambronne, French general, born at Nantes; served under the Republic and the Empire; accompanied Napoleon to Elba in 1814; commanded a division of the Old Guard at Waterloo; fought to the last; though surrounded by the enemy and summoned to surrender, refused, and was taken prisoner; is credited with the saying, La Garde meurt, et ne se rend pas, "The Guard dies, but does not surrender" (1770-1842).
Cambus`can, king of Tartary, identified with Genghis Khan, who had a wonderful steed of brass, magically obedient to the wish of the rider, together with a magical mirror, sword, and ring.
Camby`ses, king of Persia, succeeded his father, the great Cyrus; invaded and subdued Egypt, but afterwards suffered serious reverses, and in the end gave himself up to dissipation and vindictive acts of cruelty, from which not only his subjects suffered, but the members of his own family; d. 54 B.C.
Cambyses, King, a ranting character in a play called "The Lamentable Tragedy"; referred to by Falstaff in I Henry IV., Act ii. sc. 4.
Camden (58), a busy town in New Jersey, U.S., on the left bank of the Delaware, opposite Philadelphia; the terminus of six railways.
Camden, Charles Pratt, first Earl of, a distinguished British lawyer and statesman, chief-justice of the King's Bench in George I.'s reign, and ultimately Lord Chancellor of England; opposed, as judge in the case, the prosecution of Wilkes as illegal, and as a statesman the policy and action of the government towards the American colonies; he was created earl in 1786 (1713-1794).
Camden, William, a learned English antiquary, the first and most famous born in London; second master, and eventually head-master in Westminster School, during which time he gave proof of his antiquarian knowledge, which led to his appointment as Clarencieux king-at-arms; author of "Britannia," a historical and topographical account of the British Isles, his most widely known work, and "Annals of Elizabeth's Reign," both, as all the rest of his works, written in Latin; he has been surnamed the Strabo and the Pausanias of England (1551-1623).
Camelot, a place in Somerset, where, it is presumed, King Arthur held his court, and where entrenchments of an old town are still to be seen.
Camenæ, in the Roman mythology a set of nymphs endowed with semi-prophetic powers, and sometimes identified with the Muses.
Cameo, a precious stone cut in relief; consists generally of two or three different colours, the upper cut in relief and the under forming the ground.
Camera Lucida, an optical instrument or contrivance, by means of which the image of an object may be made to appear on a light or white surface.
Camera Obscura, an optical contrivance, by means of which the images of external objects are exhibited distinctly on a surface in the focus of the lens.
Camerarius, a distinguished scholar, born at Bamberg; active as a German Reformer; played a prominent part in the religious struggles of his time; friend and biographer of Melanchthon; collaborated with him in drawing up the Augsburg Confession (1500-1574).
Cameron, John, a learned divine, born in Glasgow, who held several professorial appointments on the Continent; was for a time Principal of Glasgow University; his knowledge was so extensive that he was styled a "walking library," but he fell in disfavour with the people for his doctrine of passive obedience, and he died of a wound inflicted by an opponent of his views (1579-1625).
Cameron, Richard, a Scotch Covenanter of the 17th century, born in Falkland, Fife; a ringleader of the persecuted Presbyterians, took to arms along with sixty others in defence of his rights; was surprised by a body of dragoons at Airds Moss (q. v.), and after a brave fight slain, his head and hands cut off, and fixed on the Netherbow Port, at the head of the Canongate, Edinburgh, in 1680.
Cameron, Verney Lovett, African explorer, born near Weymouth; traversed Africa all the way from east to west (1873-75); he was on the track of important discoveries, but his explorations were cut short by the natives; wrote "Across Africa" (1844-1894).
Cameronians (1), a Presbyterian body in Scotland who derived their name from Richard Cameron, contended like him for the faith to which the nation by covenant had bound itself, and even declined to take the oath of allegiance to sovereigns such as William III. and his successors, who did not explicitly concede to the nation this right. (2) Also a British regiment, originally raised in defence of Scottish religious rights; for long the 26th Regiment of the British line, now the Scottish Rifles.
Cameroon, (1) a river in W. Africa, falling by a wide estuary into the Bight of Biafra, known as the oil river, from the quantities of palm-oil exported; (2) a mountain range, a volcanic group, the highest peak nearly 14,000 ft., NW. of the estuary; (3) also a German colony, extending 199 m. along the coast.
Camilla, (1) a virgin queen of the Volsci, one of the heroines in the "Æneid," noted for her preternatural fleetness on the racecourse, and her grace; (2) also a sister of the Horatii (q. v.), killed by her brother because she wept at the death of her affiancé, one of the Curiatii (q. v.), whom the Horatii slew.
Camillus, Marcus Furius, a famous patrician of early Rome; took Veii, a rival town, after a ten years' siege; retired into voluntary exile at Ardea on account of the envy of his enemies in Rome; recalled from exile, saved Rome from destruction by the Gauls under Brennus, was five times elected dictator, and gained a succession of victories over rival Italian tribes; died at eighty of the plague, in 365 B.C., lamented by the whole nation, and remembered for generations after as one of the noblest heroic figures in Roman history.
Camisards, Huguenots of the Cévennes, who took up arms by thousands in serious revolt against Louis XIV., in which others joined, under Jean Cavalier their chief, after, and in consequence of, the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685); so called because they wore a camiso (Fr. a chemise), a blouse over their armour; were partly persuaded and partly compelled into submission by Marshal Villars in 1704.
Camoëns, the poet of Portugal, born at Lisbon, studied at Coimbra; fell in passionate love with a lady of high rank in Lisbon, as she with him, but whom he was not allowed to marry; left Lisbon, joined the army, and fought against the Moors; volunteered service in India, arrived at Goa, and got into trouble with the Portuguese authorities; was banished to Macao, and consoled himself by writing his "Lusiad"; coming home he lost everything but his poem; died neglected and in poverty; the title of the poem is properly "The Lusiads," or the Lusitanians, i. e. the Portuguese, and is their national epic, called, not inaptly, the "Epos of Commerce"; it has been translated into most European languages, and into English alone no fewer than six times (1524-1580).
Camorra, a secret society in Naples with wide ramifications, which at one time had by sheer terrorism considerable political influence in the country; when steps were taken by Francis II. to suppress it, the members of it joined the revolutionary party, and had their revenge in the expulsion eventually of the Bourbons from Italy.
Campagna, (1) an unhealthy flat district round Rome, co-extensive with ancient Latium, infested with malaria; (2) a town in Italy, in Salerno, with a cathedral, and a trade in wine, oil, and fruit.
Campaign, The, poem by Addison in celebration of Marlborough's victory at Blenheim.
Campan, Mme. de, born at Paris, faithful friend and confidante of Marie Antoinette; after the Revolution opened a boarding-school at St. Germain; became under Napoleon matron of an institution for daughters of officers of the Legion of Honour; wrote the "Private Life of Marie Antoinette" (1752-1822).
Campanella, Tommaso, an Italian philosopher of the transition period, originally a Dominican monk, born in Calabria; contemporary of Bacon; aimed, like him, at the reform of philosophy; opposed scholasticism, fell back upon the ancient systems, and devoted himself to the study of nature; was persecuted all along by the Church, and spent 27 years of his life in a Neapolitan dungeon; released, he retired to France, and enjoyed the protection of Richelieu; he was the author of sonnets as well as philosophical works (1568-1639).
Campania, an ancient prov. in the W. of Italy, of great fertility, and yields corn, wine, and oil in great abundance; Capua was the capital, the chief towns of which now are Naples, Salerno, and Gaeta; it was a favourite resort of the wealthy families of ancient Rome.
Campanile, a tower for bells constructed beside a church, but not attached to it; very common in Italian cities, the leaning tower of Pisa being one, and that of Florence one of the most famous.
Campbell, a celebrated Scottish Highland clan, the members of which have played an important role in English and Scottish history.
Campbell, Alexander, an Anti-Calvinistic Baptist, born in Antrim; emigrated to America in 1807, and founded a sect called the "Disciples of Christ"; disowned creeds, and owned no authority in religion but the Bible; the sect has upwards of 5000 meeting-houses in America, and over half a million members. Campbell executed a translation of the New Testament, in which he employed the words "immercer" and "immersion" for "baptist" and "baptism" (1788-1866).
Campbell, Sir Colin, Lord Clyde, born in Glasgow, son of a carpenter named Macliver; entered the army, and rose rapidly; served in China and the Punjab; commanded the Highland Brigade in the Crimea; won the day at Alma and Balaclava; commanded in India during the Mutiny; relieved Lucknow, and quelled the rebellion; was made field-marshal, with a pension of £2000, and created Lord Clyde; he was one of the bravest soldiers of England (1792-1863).
Campbell, George, a Scotch divine, Principal of Aberdeen University; wrote "Philosophy of Rhetoric," and an able reply to Hume's argument against miracles, entitled "Dissertation on Miracles" (1709-1796).
Campbell, John, Lord Chancellor of England, born at Cupar-Fife; a son of the manse; destined for the Church, but took the study of law; was called to the bar; did journalistic work and law reports; was a Whig in politics; held a succession of offices both on the Bench and in the Cabinet; wrote the "Lives of the Chancellors" and the "Lives of the Chief Justices" (1779-1861).
Campbell, John Francis, born at Islay, author of, among other works, "Popular Tales of the West Highlands, orally collected," a collection all his own, and a remarkable one for the enthusiasm and the patriotic devotion it displays (1822-1885).
Campbell, John Macleod, a Scotch clergyman, born in Argyll; deposed from the ministry of the Scotch Church in 1831 for his liberal theological sentiments; a saintly man, whose character alone should have protected him from such an indignity; his favourite theme was the self-evidencing character of revelation, while the doctrine for which he was deposed, the Fatherhood of God, is being now adopted as the central principle of Scotch theology; he continued afterwards to ply his vocation as a minister of Christ in a quiet way to some quiet people like himself, and before his death a testimonial and address in recognition of his worth was presented to him by representatives of nearly every religious community in Scotland (1801-1872).
Campbell, Thomas, poet, born in Glasgow; studied with distinction at the University; when a student of law in Edinburgh wrote "The Pleasures of Hope"; the success of the work, which was great, enabled him to travel on the Continent, where he wrote the well-known lines, "Ye Mariners of England," "Hohenlinden," and "The Exile of Erin"; married, and settled in London, where he did writing, lecturing, and some more poetry, in particular "The Last Man"; after settling in London a pension of £200 was awarded him through the influence of Fox; he wrote in prose as well as verse; he was elected Rector of Glasgow University in 1827, and again in the following year: buried in Westminster (1777-1844).
Campbeltown, a town in Kintyre, Argyllshire, with a fine harbour; is a great fishing centre; and has over 20 whisky distilleries.
Campe, Joachim Heinrich, German educationist; disciple of Basedow, and author of educational works (1746-1818).
Campeachy (12), a Mexican seaport on a bay of the same name; manufactures cigars.
Campeggio, Lorenzo, cardinal; twice visited England as legate, the last time in connection with the divorce between Henry VIII. and Catherine, with the effect of mortally offending the former and being of no real benefit to the latter, whom he would fain have befriended; his mission served only to embitter the relations of Henry with the see of Rome (1474-1539).
Camper, Peter, a Dutch anatomist, born at Leyden; held sundry professorships; made a special study of the facial angle in connection with intelligence; he was an artist as well as a scientist, and a patron of art (1722-1789).
Camperdown, a tract of sandy hills on the coast of N. Holland, near which Admiral Duncan defeated the Dutch fleet under Van Winter in 1797.
Camphuysen, a Dutch landscape painter of the 17th century, famous for his moonlight pieces.
Campi, a family of painters, distinguished in the annals of Italian art at Cremona in the 16th century.
Campine, a vast moor of swamp and peat to the E. of Antwerp, being now rendered fertile by irrigation.
Campion, Edmund, a Jesuit, born in London; a renegade from the Church of England; became a keen Catholic propagandist in England; was arrested for sedition, of which he was innocent, and executed; was in 1886 beatified by Pope Leo XIII. (1540-1581).
Campo-Formio, a village near Udine, in Venetia, where a treaty was concluded between France and Austria in 1797, by which the Belgian provinces and part of Lombardy were ceded to France, and certain Venetian States to Austria in return.
Campo Santo (Holy Ground), Italian and Spanish name for a burial-place.
Campos (13), a trading city of Brazil, in the prov. of Rio Janeiro.
Campvere, now called Vere, on the NE. of the island of Walcheren; had a Scotch factory under Scotch law, civil and ecclesiastical.
Camus, bishop of Belley, born at Paris; a violent enemy of the mendicant monks (1582-1663).
Camus, a learned French jurisconsult, member of the National Convention; a determined enemy of the Court party in France; voted for the execution of the king as a traitor and conspirator; was conservator of the national records, and did good service in preserving them (1740-1804).
Canaan, originally the coast land, but eventually the whole, of Palestine W. of the Jordan.
Canaanites, a civilised race with towns for defence; dependent on agriculture; worshippers of the fertilising powers of nature; and the original inhabitants of Palestine, from which they were never wholly rooted out.
Canada (5,000), which with Newfoundland forms British North America, occupies the northern third of the continent, stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the United States to Alaska and the Arctic Ocean; nearly as large as Europe, it comprises a lofty and a lower tableland W. and E. of the Rocky Mountains, the peninsulas of Labrador and Nova Scotia, and between these a vast extent of prairie and undulating land, with rivers and lakes innumerable, many of them of enormous size and navigable, constituting the finest system of inland waterways in the world; the Rocky Mountains rise to 16,000 ft., but there are several gorges, through one of which the Canadian Pacific railroad runs; the chief rivers are the Fraser, Mackenzie, Saskatchewan, and St. Lawrence; Great Slave, Great Bear, Athabasca, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario are the largest lakes; the climate is varied, very cold in the north, very wet west of the Rockies, elsewhere drier than in Europe, with hot summers, long, cold, but bracing and exhilarating winters; the corn-growing land is practically inexhaustible; the finest wheat is grown without manure, year after year, in the rich soil of Manitoba, Athabasca, and the western prairie; the forests yield maple, oak, elm, pine, ash, and poplar in immense quantities, and steps are taken to prevent the wealth of timber ever being exhausted; gold, coal, iron, and copper are widely distributed, but as yet not much wrought; fisheries, both on the coasts and inland, are of great value; agriculture and forestry are the most important industries; the chief trade is done with England and the United States; the twelve provinces, Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia, Manitoba, Keewatin, Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Athabasca, each with its own Parliament, are united under the Dominion Government; the Governor-General is the Viceroy of the Queen; the Dominion Parliament meets at Ottawa, the federal capital; nearly every province has its university, that of Toronto being the most important; the largest town is Montreal; Toronto, Quebec, Hamilton, and Halifax are all larger than the capital; taken possession of by France in 1534, settlement began at Quebec in 1608; by the treaty of Utrecht, 1703, Hudson Bay, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland passed to England; the rest of French territory was ceded to England in 1763; constituted at different times, the various provinces, except Newfoundland, were finally confederated in 1871.
Canaletto, Antonio, a Venetian painter, famous for his pictures of Venice and handling of light and shade (1697-1768).
Canaletto, Bernardo Bellotto, nephew and pupil of preceding; distinguished for his perspective and light and shade (1720-1780).
Canaris, Constantine, a Greek statesman, did much to free and consolidate Greece, more than any other statesman (1790-1877).
Canary Islands (288), a group of mountainous islands in the Atlantic, off the NW. African coast, belonging to Spain, with rocky coasts, and wild, picturesque scenery; on the lower levels the climate is delightful, and sugar, bananas, and dates grow; farther up there are zones where wheat and cereals are cultivated; the rainfall is low, and water often scarce; sugar, wine, and tobacco are exported; the islands are a health resort of growing favour.
Cancan, the name of an ungraceful and indecent dance practised in the Paris dancing saloons.
Candia (12), the ancient name of Crete, now the name of the capital, in the centre of the N. coast.
Candide, a philosophic romance by Voltaire, and written in ridicule of the famous maxim of Leibnitz, "All for the best in the best of all possible worlds"; it is a sweeping satire, and "religion, political government, national manners, human weakness, ambition, love, loyalty, all come in for a sneer."
Candlemas, a festival in commemoration of the purification of the Virgin, held on February 2, celebrated with lighted candles; an old Roman custom in honour of the goddess Februa.
Candlish, Robert Smith, a Scottish ecclesiastic, born in Edinburgh; distinguished, next to Chalmers, for his services in organising the Free Church of Scotland; was an able debater and an eloquent preacher (1806-1873).
Candolle. See De Candolle.
Candour, Mrs., a slanderess in Sheridan's "Rivals."
Canea (12), chief commercial town in Crete, on NW. coast; trades in wax, oil, fruit, wool, and silk.
Canina, Luigi, Italian architect; wrote on the antiquities of Rome, Etruria, &c. (1795-1856).
Cannæ, ancient town in Apulia, near the mouth of the Aufidus, where Hannibal, in a great battle, defeated the Romans in 216 B.C., but failing to follow up his success by a march on Rome, was twitted by Maherbal, one of his officers, who addressing him said, "You know how to conquer, Hannibal, but not how to profit by your victory."
Cannes (15), a French watering-place and health resort on the Mediterranean, in the SE. of France, where Napoleon landed on his return from Elba.
Canning, Charles John, Earl, grandson of the succeeding; after service in cabinet offices, was made Governor-General of India, 1856, in succession to Lord Dalhousie; held this post at the time of the Mutiny in 1857; distinguished himself during this trying crisis by his discretion, firmness, and moderation; became viceroy on the transfer of the government to the crown in 1858; died in London without issue, and the title became extinct (1812-1862).
Canning, George, a distinguished British statesman and orator, born in London; studied for the bar; entered Parliament as a protégé of Pitt, whom he strenuously supported; was rewarded by an under-secretaryship; married a lady of high rank, with a fortune; satirised the Whigs by his pen in his "Anti-Jacobin"; on the death of Pitt became minister of Foreign Affairs; under Portland distinguished himself by defeating the schemes of Napoleon; became a member of the Liverpool ministry, and once more minister of Foreign Affairs; on the death of Liverpool was made Prime Minister, and after a period of unpopularity became popular by adopting, to the disgust of his old colleagues, a liberal policy; was not equal to the opposition he provoked, and died at the age of 57 (1770-1827).
Cano, Alonzo, a celebrated artist, born at Granada; surnamed the Michael Angelo of Spain, having been painter, sculptor, and architect (1601-1667).
Cano, Sebastian del, a Spanish navigator, the first to sail round the world; perished on his second voyage to India (1460-1526).
Canon, the name given to the body of Scripture accepted by the Church as of divine authority.
Cañon of Colorado, a gorge in Arizona through which the Colorado River flows, the largest and deepest in the world, being 300 m. long, with a wall from 3000 to 6000 ft. in perpendicular height.
Canonisation, in the Romish Church, is the solemn declaration by the Pope that a servant of God, renowned for his virtue and for miracles he has wrought, is to be publicly venerated by the whole Church, termed Saint, and honoured by a special festival. A preparatory stage is beatification, and the beatification and canonisation of a saint are promoted by a long, tedious, and costly process, much resembling a suit at law.
Canopus, the blue vault of heaven with its stars, revered and worshipped by the son of the sandy desert as a friend and guide to him, as he wanders over the waste at night alone.
Canosa (18), a town in Apulia, abounding in Roman remains, on the site of ancient Canusium.
Canossa, a town NW. of Bologna, in the courtyard of the castle of which the Emperor Henry IV. stood three days in the cold, in January 1077, bareheaded and barefooted, waiting for Pope Gregory VII. to remove from him the sentence of excommunication.
Canova, Antonio, a great Italian sculptor, born in Venetia; gave early proof of his genius; his first great work, and which established his fame, was the group of "Theseus and the Minotaur," which was by-and-by succeeded by his "Cupid and Psyche," distinguished by a tenderness and grace quite peculiar to him, and erelong by "Perseus with the Head of Medusa," perhaps the triumph of his art; his works were numerous, and brought him a large fortune, which he made a generous use of (1757-1822).
Canrobert, François, marshal of France; served for some 20 years in Algeria; was a supporter of Napoleon III., and a tool; commanded in the Crimea, first under, and then in succession to St. Arnaud; fought in Italy against Austria; was shut up in Metz with Bazaine, and made prisoner; became a member of the senate under the Republic (1809-1895).
Cant, affectation of thinking, believing, and feeling what one in his heart and reality does not, of which there are two degrees, insincere and sincere; insincere when one cants knowing it, and sincere when one cants without knowing it, the latter being of the darker and deeper dye.
Cant, Andrew, a Scotch Presbyterian minister, who had an equal zeal for the Scotch covenant and the cause of Charles Stuart (1610-1664). A son of his was Principal of Edinburgh University from 1675 to 1685.
Cantabri, the original inhabitants of the N. of Spain; presumed to be the ancestors of the Basques.
Cantacuze`nus, John, emperor of the East; an able statesman, who acting as regent for the heir, had himself crowned king, but was driven to resign at length; retired to a monastery on Mount Athos, where he wrote a history of his time; died in 1411, 100 years old.
Cantarini, Simone, an Italian painter, born at Pesaro; a pupil of Guido and a rival, but only an imitator from afar (1612-1648).
Canterbury (23), in E. Kent, on the Stour, by rail 62 m. SE. of London; is the ecclesiastical capital of England; the cathedral was founded A.D. 597 by St. Augustin; the present building belongs to various epochs, dating as far back as the 11th century; it contains many interesting monuments, statues, and tombs, among the latter that of Thomas à Becket, murdered in the north transept, 1170; the cloisters, chapter-house, and other buildings occupy the site of the old monastic houses; the city is rich in old churches and ecclesiastical monuments; there is an art gallery; trade is chiefly in hops and grain. Kit Marlowe was a native.
Canterbury (128), a district in New Zealand, in the centre of the South Island, on the east side of which are the Canterbury Plains or Downs, a great pasture-land for sheep of over three million acres.
Canterbury Tales, a body of tales by Chaucer, conceived of as related by a small company of pilgrims from London to the shrine of Thomas à Becket at Canterbury. They started from the Tabard Inn at Southwark, and agreed to tell each a tale going and each another coming back, the author of the best tale to be treated with a supper. None of the tales on the homeward journey are given.
Canticles, a book in the Bible erroneously ascribed to Solomon, and called in Hebrew the Song of Songs, about the canonicity and interpretation of which there has been much debate, though, as regards the latter, recent criticism inclines, if there is any unity in it at all, to the conclusion that it represents a young maiden seduced into the harem of Solomon, who cannot be persuaded to transfer to the king the affection she has for a shepherd in the northern hills of Galilee, her sole beloved; the aim of the author presumed by some to present a contrast between the morals of the south and those of the north, in justification possibly of the secession. It was for long, and is by some still, believed to be an allegory in which the Bridegroom represents Christ and the Bride His Church.
Canton (1,800), chief commercial city and port of Southern China; stands on a river almost on the seaboard, 90 m. NW. of Hong-Kong, and is a healthy town, but with a heavy rainfall; it is surrounded by walls, has narrow crooked streets, 125 temples, mostly Buddhist, and two pagodas, 10 and 13 centuries old respectively; great part of the population live in boats on the river; the fancy goods, silk, porcelain, ivory, and metal work are famous; its river communication with the interior has fostered an extensive commerce; exports, tea, silk, sugar, cassia, &c.
Canton, John, an ingenious experimentalist in physics, and particularly in electricity, born at Stroud; discovered the means of making artificial magnets and the compressibility of water (1718-1772).
Cantù, Cæsare, an Italian historian, born in Lombardy; imprisoned by the Austrian government for his bold advocacy of liberal views, but at length liberated; wrote, among a number of other works, literary as well as historical, a "Universal History" in 35 vols. (1807-1895).
Canute, or Cnut, the Dane, called the Great, son of Sweyn, king of Denmark; invaded England, and after a success or two was elected king by his fleet; the claim was repudiated by the Saxons, and he had to flee; returned in 1015, and next year, though London held out for a time, carried all before him; on the death of his sole rival became undisputed king of England, and ruled it as an Englishman born, wisely, equitably, and well, though the care of governing Denmark and Norway lay on his shoulders as well; died in England, and was buried in Winchester Minster; every one is familiar with the story of the rebuke he administered to the courtiers by showing how regardless the waves of the sea were of the authority of a king (994-1035).
Cape Breton (92), the insular portion of the prov. of Nova Scotia at its eastern extremity, 100 m. long and 85 broad; is covered with forests of pine, oak, &c., and exports timber and fish.
Cape Coast Castle (11), capital of the Gold Coast colony.
Cape Colony (1,527), comprises the extremity of the African continent south of the Orange River and Natal, and is nearly twice the size of the United Kingdom; the Nieuwveld Berge, running E. and W., divides the country into two slopes, the northern slope long and gradual to the Orange River, the southern shorter and terraced to the sea; two-thirds of the country is arid plain, which, however, only requires irrigation to render it very fertile; the climate is dry and healthy, but hot in summer; the prevalent vegetation is heath and bulbous plants. Sheep and ostrich farming are the chief industries; wool, goats' hair, ostrich feathers, hides, diamonds from Kimberley and copper from Namaqualand are the chief exports; two-thirds of the people are of African race, chiefly Kaffirs, who flourish under British rule; the remainder are of Dutch, English, French, and German origin; Cape Town is the capital, Kimberley and Port Elizabeth the only other large towns, but there are many small towns; roads are good; railway and telegraph communication is rapidly developing. The government is in the hands of a governor, appointed by the crown, assisted by an executive council of five and a parliament of two houses; local government is in vogue all over the country; education is well cared for; the university of the Cape of Good Hope was founded in 1873. Discovered by the Portuguese Diaz in 1486, the Cape was taken possession of by the Dutch in 1652, from whom it was captured by Great Britain in 1805. Various steps towards self-government culminated in 1872. In recent years great tracts to the N. have been formally taken under British protection, and the policy of extending British sway from the Cape to Cairo is explicitly avowed.
Cape Horn, a black, steep, frowning rock at the SE. extremity of the Fuegean Islands; much dreaded at one time by sailors.
Cape of Good Hope, a cape in South Africa, discovered by Diaz in 1486; called at first "Cape of Storms," from the experience of the first navigators; altered in consideration of the promised land reached beyond.
Cape Town (84), capital of Cape Colony, situated at the head of Table Bay, on the SW. coast, with Table Mountain rising behind it; is a regularly built, flat-roofed, imposing town, with handsome buildings and extensive Government gardens; well drained, paved, and lit, and with a good water supply. The Government buildings and law courts, museum and art gallery, bank and exchange, are its chief architectural features. It has docks, and a graving dock, and is a port of call for vessels of all nations, with a thriving commerce.
Cape Verde Islands (110), a group of mountainous, volcanic islands, belonging to Portugal, 350 m. from Cape Verde, on the W. of Africa, of which 10 are inhabited, the largest and most productive Santiago and St. Vincent, with an excellent harbour, oftenest visited. These islands are unhealthy, and cattle-breeding is the chief industry.
Capell, Edward, an inspector of plays, born at Bury St. Edmunds; spent 20 years in editing the text of Shakespeare, in three vols., with notes and various readings (1713-1781).
Capella, a reddish star of the first magnitude in the northern constellation of Auriga.
Capella, an encyclopædist, born in North Africa in the 5th century; author of a work called the "Satiricon," a strange medley of curious learning.
Capercailzie, the wood-grouse, a large game-bird found in fir woods in mountainous districts, and highly esteemed for table.
Capernaum, a town on the N. side of the Sea of Galilee, the centre of Christ's labours, the exact site of which is uncertain.
Capet, the surname of Hugh, the founder, in 987, of the third dynasty of French kings, which continued to rule France till 1328, though the name is applied both to the Valois dynasty, which ruled till 1589, and the Bourbon, which ruled till 1848, Louis XVI. having been officially designated as a Capet at his trial, and under that name sentenced to the guillotine.
Capgrave, John, Augustine friar, wrote "Chronicle of England," and voluminously both in French and English (1393-1464).
Capistrano, Giovanni da, an Italian Franciscan, a rabid adversary of the Hussites, aided John Hunniades in 1456 in defending Belgrade against the Turks (1385-1456).
Capitol, a temple and citadel erected by Tarquin on the Capitoline Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome, and where victors who were voted a triumph were crowned; terminated at its southern extremity by Tarpeian Rock, from which criminals guilty of treason were precipitated; hence the saying, "The Tarpeian Rock is near the Capitol," to denote the close connection between glory and disgrace.
Capitularies, collections of royal edicts issued by the Frankish kings of the Carlovingian dynasty, with sanction of the nobles, for the whole Frankish empire, as distinct from the laws for the separate peoples comprising it, the most famous being those issued or begun by Charlemagne and St. Louis.
Capo d'Istria, Count of, born in Corfu; entered the Russian diplomatic service; played a prominent part in the insurrection of the Greeks against Turkey; made President of the Greek Republic; assassinated at Nauplia from distrust of his fidelity (1776-1831).
Capo d'Istria, a port of a small island in the government of Trieste, connected with the mainland by a causeway half a mile in length.
Cappadocia, an ancient country in the heart of Asia Minor, of varied political fortune; a plateau with pastures for immense flocks.
Caprara, Cardinal, born at Bologna, legate of Pius VII. in France, concluded the "Concordat" of 1801 (1733-1810).
Capre`ra, a small, barren island off the N. coast of Sardinia, the home of Garibaldi, where he died, and his burial-place.
Capri, a small island at the entrance from the S. of the bay of Naples, with a capital of the same name on the eastern side; a favourite retreat of the Emperors Augustus and Tiberius, and noted for its fine air and picturesque scenery.
Caprivi, Count, born in Berlin, entered the army in 1849; held chief posts in the Austrian and Franco-German wars; in 1890 succeeded Bismarck as Imperial Chancellor; resigned in 1894 (1831-1899).
Capua (11), a fortified city in Campania, on the Volturno, 27 m. N. of Naples, where, or rather near which, in a place of the same name, Hannibal, at the invitation of the citizens, retired with his army to spend the winter after the battle of Cannæ, 216 B.C., and where, from the luxurious life they led, his soldiers were enervated, after which it was taken by the Romans, destroyed by the Saracens in 840, and the modern city built in its stead.
Capuchins, monks of the Franciscan Order, founded in 1526, so called from a cowl they wear; they were a mendicant order, and were twice over suppressed by the Pope, though they exist still in Austria and Switzerland.
Capulets, a celebrated Ghibelline family of Verona at mortal feud with that of the Montagues, familiar to us through Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," Romeo being of the latter and Juliet of the former.
Capyba`ra, the water-hog, the largest rodent extant, in appearance like a small pig.
Caracalla, a Roman emperor, son of Septimius Severus, born at Lyons; his reign (211-217) was a series of crimes, follies, and extravagances; he put to death 20,000 persons, among others the jurist Papinianus, and was assassinated himself by one of his guards.
Caracas or Carracas (72), the cap. of Venezuela, stands at an altitude 3000 ft. above the level of the sea; subject to earthquakes, in one of which (1812) 12,000 perished, and great part of the city was destroyed; it contains the tomb of Bolivar.
Caracci or Carracci, a family of painters, born at Bologna: Ludovico, the founder of a new school of painting, the principle of which was eclecticism, in consequence of which it is known as the Eclectic School, or imitation of the styles of the best masters (1555-1619); Annibale, cousin and pupil, did "St. Roche distributing Alms," and his chief, "Three Marys weeping over Christ"; went to Rome and painted the celebrated Farnese gallery, a work which occupied him four years (1560-1609); Agostino, brother of above, assisted him in the frescoes of the gallery, the "Communion of St. Jerome" his greatest work (1557-1602).
Caractacus, a British chief, king of the Silures, maintained a gallant struggle against the Romans for nine years, but was overthrown by Ostorius, 50 A.D., taken captive, and led in triumphal procession through Rome, when the Emperor Claudius was so struck with his dignified demeanour, that he set him and all his companions at liberty.
Caradoc, a knight of the Round Table, famous for his valour and the chastity and constancy of his wife.
Caraffa, a distinguished Neapolitan family, which gave birth to a number of distinguished ecclesiastics, Paul IV. one of them.
Caraglio, an eminent Italian engraver, born at Verona, engraved on gems and medals as well as copper-plate, after the works of the great masters (1500-1570).
Caravaggio, an Italian painter, disdained the ideal and the ideal style of art, and kept generally to crass reality, often in its grossest forms; a man of a violent temper, which hastened his end; a painting by him of "Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus" is in the National Gallery, London (1569-1609).
Caravanserai, a large unfurnished inn, with a court in the middle for the accommodation of caravans and other travellers at night in the East.
Carbohydrates, a class of substances such as the sugars, starch, &c., consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, the latter in the proportion in which they exist in water.
Carbonari (lit. charcoal burners), a secret society that, in the beginning of the 19th century, originated in Italy and extended itself into France, numbering hundreds of thousands, included Lord Byron, Silvio Pellico, and Mazzini among them, the object of which was the overthrow of despotic governments; they were broken up by Austria, and absorbed by the Young Italy party.
Cardan, Jerome, Italian physician and mathematician, born at Pavia; was far-famed as a physician; studied and wrote on all manner of known subjects, made discoveries in algebra, believed in astrology, left a candid account of himself entitled "De Vita Propria"; was the author of "Cardan's Formula" a formula for the solution of cubic equations; he is said to have starved himself to death so as to fulfil a prophecy he had made as to the term of his life (1501-1576).
Cardiff (129), county town of Glamorganshire, S. Wales, on the river Taff, the sea outlet for the mineral wealth and products of the district, a town that has risen more rapidly than any other in the kingdom, having had at the beginning of the century only 2000 inhabitants; it has a university, a number of churches, few of them belonging to the Church of England, and has also three daily papers.
Cardigan, Earl of, a British officer; commanded the Light Cavalry Brigade in the Crimean war, and distinguished himself in the famous charge of the Six Hundred, which he led; his favourite regiment, the 11th Hussars, on the equipment of which he lavished large sums of money (1797-1868).
Cardiganshire (62), a county in S. Wales, low-lying on the coast, level towards the coast, and mountainous in the interior, but with fertile valleys.
Cardinal virtues, these have been "arranged by the wisest men of all time, under four general heads," and are defined by Ruskin as "Prudence or Discretion (the spirit which discerns and adopts rightly), Justice (the spirit which rules and divides rightly), Fortitude (the spirit that persists and endures rightly), and Temperance (the spirit which stops and refuses rightly). These cardinal and sentinel virtues," he adds, "are not only the means of protecting and prolonging life itself, but are the chief guards or sources of the material means of life, and the governing powers and princes of economy."
Cardinalists, name given to the partisans in France of Richelieu and Mazarin.
Carducci, Florentine artists, brothers, of the 17th century; did their chief work in Spain.
Carducci, Giosue, an Italian poet and critic; author of "Hymn to Satan," "Odi Barbari," "Commentaries on Petrarch," &c.; b. 1837.
Carew, Thomas, English courtier poet; his poems, chiefly masks and lyrics (1589-1639).
Carey, Henry, English poet and musician, excelled in ballads; composed "Sally in Our Alley"; d. 1743.
Carey, Sir Robert, warden of the Border Marches under Elizabeth; present at her deathbed rode off post-haste on the occurrence of the death with the news to Edinburgh to announce it to King James (1560-1639).
Carey, William, celebrated Baptist missionary, born in Northamptonshire; founder of the Baptist Missionary Society, and its first missionary; founded the mission at Serampore and directed its operations, distributing Bibles and tracts by thousands in native languages, as well as preparing grammars and dictionaries; was 29 years Oriental professor in the College of Fort William. Calcutta (1761-1834).
Cargill, Donald, a Scotch Covenanter, born in Perthshire; was minister of the Barony Parish, Glasgow; fought at Bothwell Brig; suffered at the Cross of Edinburgh for daring to excommunicate the king; died with the faith and courage of a martyr (1619-1681).
Caria, a SW. country in Asia Minor, bordering on the Archipelago, of which the Mæander is the chief river.
Caribbean Sea, an inland sea of the Atlantic, lying between the Great Antilles and South America, subject to hurricanes; it corresponds to the Mediterranean in Europe, and is the turning-point of the Gulf Stream.
Caribs, a race of American Indians, originally inhabiting the West Indies, now confined to the southern shores of the Caribbean Sea, as far as the mouth of the Amazon; they are a fine race, tall, and of ruddy-brown complexion, but have lost their distinctive physique by amalgamation with other tribes; they give name to the Caribbean Sea.
Carinthia (361), since 1849 crownland of Austria, near Italy; is a mountainous and a mineral country; rears cattle and horses; manufactures hardware and textile fabrics; the principal river is the Drave; capital, Klagenfurt.
Carisbrooke, a village in the Isle of Wight, in the castle of which, now in ruins, Charles I. was imprisoned 13 months before his trial; it was at one time a Roman station.
Carlén, Emilia, Swedish novelist; her novels, some 30 in number, treat of the everyday life of the lower and middle classes (1807-1883).
Carleton, William, Irish novelist; his first work, and the foundation of his reputation, "Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry," followed by others of a like class (1794-1860).
Carli, Italian archæologist, numismatist, and economist, born at Capo d'Istria; wrote as his chief work on political economy; president of the Council of Commerce at Milan (1720-1795).
Carlile, Richard, English Radical and Freethinker, born in Devonshire; a disciple of Tom Paine's, and propagandist of his views with a zeal which no prosecution could subdue, although he time after time suffered imprisonment for it, as well as those who associated themselves with him, his wife included; his principal organ was "The Republican," the first twelve volumes of which are dated from his prison; he was a martyr for the freedom of the press, and in that interest did not suffer in vain (1790-1843).
Carlisle (39), county town of Cumberland, on the Eden; a great railway centre; with an old castle of historical interest, and a cathedral founded by William Rufus and dedicated to Henry I.
Carlisle, George Frederick William Howard, Earl Of, a Whig in politics; supported the successive Whig administrations of his time, and became eventually Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland under Palmerston (1802-1864).
Carlists, a name given in France to the partisans of Charles X. (1830), and especially in Spain to those of Don Carlos (1833), and those of his grandson (1873-1874).
Carloman, son of Charles Martel, and brother of Pepin le Bref, king of Austrasia from 741 to 747; abdicated, and retired into a monastery, where he died.
Carloman, son of Pepin le Bref, and brother of Charlemagne, king of Austrasia, Burgundy, and Provence in 768; d. 771.
Carloman, king of France conjointly with his brother Louis III.; d. 884.
Carlos, Don, son of Philip II. of Spain, born at Valladolid, and heir to the throne, but from incapacity, or worse, excluded by his father from all share in the government; confessed to a priest a design to assassinate some one, believed to be his father; was seized, tried, and convicted, though sentence against him was never pronounced; died shortly after; the story of Don Carlos has formed the subject of tragedies, especially one by Schiller, the German poet (1545-1568).
Carlos, Don, the brother of Ferdinand VII. of Spain, on whose death he laid claim to the crown as heir, against Isabella, Ferdinand's daughter who by the Salic law, though set aside in her favour by her father, had, he urged, no right to the throne; his cause was taken up by a large party, and the struggle kept up for years; defeated at length he retired from the contest, and abdicated in favour of his son (1785-1855).
Carlos, Don, grandson of the preceding, and heir to his rights; revived the struggle in 1870, but fared no better than his grandfather; took refuge in London; b. 1848.
Carlovingians, or Karlings, the name of the second dynasty of Frankish kings, in succession to the Merovingian, which had become fainéant; bore sway from 762 to 987, Pepin le Bref the first, and Louis V. the last; Charlemagne was the greatest of the race, and gave name to the dynasty.
Callow (40), an inland county in Leinster, Ireland; also the county town.
Carlowitz, a town on the Danube, 30 m. NW. of Belgrade, where a treaty was concluded in 1699 between Turkey and other European powers, very much to the curtailment of the territories of the former.
Carlsbad (10), a celebrated watering-place in Bohemia, of aristocratic resort, the springs being the hottest in Europe, the water varying from 117° to 165°; population nearly trebled in the season; the inhabitants are engaged in industries which minister to the tastes of the visitors and their own profit.
Carlscrona (21), a Swedish town, strongly fortified, on the Baltic, with a spacious harbour, naval station, and arsenal; it is built on five rocky islands united by dykes and bridges.
Carlsruhe (73), the capital of the Grand-Duchy of Baden, a great railway centre; built in the form of a fan, its streets, 32 in number, radiating so from the duke's palace in the centre.
Carlstadt, a German Reformer, associated for a time with Luther, but parted from him both on practical and dogmatical grounds; succeeded Zwingli as professor at Basel (1483-1541).
Carlton Club, the Conservative club in London, so called, as erected on the site of Carlton House, demolished in 1828, and occupied by George IV. when he was Prince of Wales.
Carlyle, Alexander, surnamed Jupiter Carlyle, from his noble head and imposing person, born in Dumfriesshire; minister of Inveresk, Musselburgh, from 1747 to his death; friend of David Hume, Adam Smith, and Home, the author of "Douglas"; a leader of the Moderate party in the Church of Scotland; left an "Autobiography," which was not published till 1860, which shows its author to have been a man who took things as he found them, and enjoyed them to the full as any easy-going, cultured pagan (1722-1805).
Carlyle, Thomas, born in the village of Ecclefechan, Annandale, Dumfriesshire; son of James Carlyle, a stone-mason, and afterwards a small farmer, a man of great force, penetration, and integrity of character, and of Margaret Aitken, a woman of deep piety and warm affection; educated at the parish school and Annan Academy; entered the University of Edinburgh at the age of 14, in the Arts classes; distinguished himself early in mathematics; enrolled as a student in the theological department; became a teacher first in Annan Academy, then at Kirkcaldy; formed there an intimate friendship with Edward Irving; threw up both school-mastering and the church; removed to Edinburgh, and took to tutoring and working for an encyclopedia, and by-and-by to translating from the German and writing criticisms for the Reviews, the latter of which collected afterwards in the "Miscellanies," proved "epoch-making" in British literature, wrote a "Life of Schiller"; married Jane Welsh, a descendant of John Knox; removed to Craigenputtock, in Dumfriesshire, "the loneliest nook in Britain," where his original work began with "Sartor Resartus," written in 1831, a radically spiritual book, and a symbolical, though all too exclusively treated as a speculative, and an autobiographical; removed to London in 1834, where he wrote his "French Revolution" (1837), a book instinct with the all-consuming fire of the event which it pictures, and revealing "a new moral force" in the literary life of the country and century; delivered three courses of lectures to the élite of London Society (1837-1840), the last of them "Heroes and Hero-Worship," afterwards printed in 1840; in 1840 appeared "Chartism," in 1843 "Past and Present," and in 1850 "Latter-Day Pamphlets"; all on what he called the "Condition-of-England-Question," which to the last he regarded, as a subject of the realm, the most serious question of the time, seeing, as he all along taught and felt, the social life affects the individual life to the very core; in 1845 he dug up a hero literally from the grave in his "Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell," and after writing in 1851 a brief biography of his misrepresented friend, John Sterling, concluded (1858-1865) his life's task, prosecuted from first to last, in "sore travail" of body and soul, with "The History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, called Frederick the Great," "the last and grandest of his works," says Froude; "a book," says Emerson, "that is a Judgment Day, for its moral verdict on men and nations, and the manners of modern times"; lies buried beside his own kindred in the place where he was born, as he had left instructions to be. "The man," according to Ruskin, his greatest disciple, and at present, as would seem, the last, "who alone of all our masters of literature, has written, without thought of himself, what he knew to be needful for the people of his time to hear, if the will to hear had been in them ... the solitary Teacher who has asked them to be (before all) brave for the help of Man, and just for the love of God" (1795-1881).
Carmagnole, a Red-republican song and dance.
Carmarthenshire (30), a county in S. Wales, and the largest in the Principality; contains part of the coal-fields in the district; capital Carmarthen, on the right bank of the Towy, a river which traverses the county.
Carmel, a NW. extension of the limestone ridge that bounds on the S. the Plain of Esdraëlon, in Palestine, and terminates in a rocky promontory 500 ft. high; forms the southern boundary of the Bay of Acre; its highest point is 1742 ft. above the sea-level.
Carmelites, a monastic order, originally an association of hermits on Mount Carmel, at length mendicant, called the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, i. e. the Virgin, in consecration to whom it was founded by a pilgrim of the name Berthold, a Calabrian, in 1156. The Order is said to have existed from the days of Elijah.
Carmen Sylva, the nom-de-plume of Elizabeth, queen of Roumania; lost an only child, and took to literature for consolation; has taken an active interest in the elevation and welfare of her sex; b. 1843.
Carmontel, a French dramatist; author of little pieces under the name of "Proverbes" (1717-1806).
Carnac, a seaside fishing-village in the Bay of Quibéron, in the dep. of Morbihan, France, with interesting historical records, particularly Celtic, many of them undecipherable by the antiquary.
Carnarvon, a maritime county in N. Wales, with the highest mountains and grandest scenery in the Principality, and a capital of the same name on the Menai Strait, with the noble ruins of a castle, in which Edward II., the first Prince of Wales, was born.
Carnarvon, Henry Howard, Earl of, Conservative statesman; held office under Lord Derby and Disraeli; was a good classical scholar; wrote the "Druses of Mount Lebanon" (1831-1890).
Carnatic, an old prov. in the Madras Presidency of India that extended along the Coromandel coast from Cape Comorin, 600 m. N.
Carneades, a Greek philosopher, born at Cyrene; his whole philosophy a polemic against the dogmatism of the Stoics, on the alleged ground of the absence of any criterion of certainty in matters of either science or morality; conceded that truth and virtue were admirable qualities, but he denied the reality of them; sent once on an embassy to Rome, he propounded this doctrine in the ears of the Conscript Fathers, upon which Cato moved he should be expelled from the senate-house and sent back to Athens, where he came from (213-129 B.C.).
Carnegie, Andrew, ironmaster, born in Dunfermline, the son of a weaver; made a large fortune by his iron and steel works at Pittsburg, U.S., out of which he has liberally endowed institutions and libraries, both in America and his native country; b. 1835.
Carniola (500), a crownland of the Austrian empire, SW. of Austria, on the Adriatic, S. of Carinthia; contains quicksilver mines, second only to those of Almaden, in Spain; the surface is mountainous, and the soil is not grain productive, though in some parts it yields wine and fine fruit.
Carnival, in Roman Catholic countries the name given to a season of feasting and revelry immediately preceding Lent, akin to the Saturnalia of the Romans.
Carnot, Leonard Sadi, son of Nicolas, founder of thermo-dynamics; in his "Reflexions sur la Puissance du Feu" enunciates the principle of Reversibility, considered the most important contribution to physical science since the time of Newton (1796-1832). See Dr. Knott's "Physics."
Carnot, Marie François, civil engineer and statesman, born at Limoges, nephew of the preceding; Finance Minister in 1879 and 1887; became President in 1887; was assassinated at Lyons by an anarchist in 1894.
Carnot, Nicolas, French mathematician and engineer, born at Nolay, in Burgundy; a member of the National Convention; voted for the death of the king; became member of the Committee of Public Safety, and organiser of the armies of the Republic, whence his name, the "organiser of victory"; Minister of War under Napoleon; defender of Antwerp in 1814; and afterwards Minister of the Interior (1753-1823).
Caro, Annibale, an Italian author and poet, notable for his classic style (1507-1566).
Caro, Marie, a French philosopher, born at Poitiers; a popular lecturer on philosophy, surnamed le philosophe des dames; wrote on mysticism, materialism, and pessimism (1826-1887).
Carolina, North, one of the original 13 States of N. America, on the Atlantic, about the size of England, S. of Virginia, 480 m. from E. to W. and 180 m. from N. to S.; has a fertile, well-watered subsoil in the high lands; is rich in minerals and natural products; the mountains are covered with forests, and the manufactures are numerous.
Carolina, South, S. of N. Carolina, is alluvial with swamps, 100 m. inland from the coast, is well watered; produces rice and cotton in large quantities and of a fine quality.
Caroline Islands (36), a stretch of lagoon islands, 2000 m. from E. to W., belonging to Spain, N. of New Guinea and E. of the Philippine Islands; once divided into eastern, western, and central; the soil of the western is fertile, and there is plenty of fish and turtle in the lagoons.
Caroline of Brunswick, queen of George IV. and daughter of the Duke of Brunswick; married George, then Prince of Wales, in 1795; gave birth to the Princess Charlotte the year following, but almost immediately after her husband abandoned her; she retired to a mansion at Blackheath; was allowed to go abroad after a time; on the accession of her husband she was offered a pension of £50,000 if she stayed out of the country, but rejected it and claimed her rights as queen; was charged with adultery, but after a long trial acquitted; on the day of the coronation sought admission to Westminster Abbey, but the door was shut against her; she died a fortnight after (1768-1821).
Caron, Lieutenant-Colonel, under the first Empire; head of the Belford conspiracy in 1820 under the Restoration; executed 1822.
Carpaccio, Vittore, a Venetian painter of great celebrity, particularly in his early pieces, for his truth of delineation, his fertile imagination, and his rich colouring; his works are numerous, and have nearly all of them sacred subjects; an Italian critic says of him, "He had truth in his heart" (1450-1522).
Carpathians, a range of wooded mountains in Central Europe, 880 m. long, which, in two great masses, extend from Presburg to Orsova, both on the Danube, in a semicircle round the greater part of Hungary, particularly the whole of the N. and E., the highest of them Negoi, 8517 ft., they are rich in minerals, and their sides clothed with forests, principally of beech and pine.
Carpeaux, Jean Baptiste, sculptor, born at Valenciennes; adorned by his art, reckoned highly imaginative, several of the public monuments of Paris, and the façade of the Opera House (1827-1875).
Carpentaria, Gulf of, a broad, deep gulf in the N. of Australia; contains several islands, and receives several rivers.
Carpenter, Mary, a philanthropist, born at Exeter, daughter of Dr. Lant Carpenter, Unitarian minister; took an active part in the establishment of reformatory and ragged schools, and a chief promoter of the Industrial Schools Act; her philanthropic efforts extended to India, which, in her zeal, she visited four times, and she was the founder of the National Indian Association (1807-1877).
Carpenter, William Benjamin, biologist, brother of the preceding; author, among other numerous works, of the "Principles of General and Comparative Physiology" (1838); contributed to mental physiology; held several high professional appointments in London; inaugurated deep-sea soundings, and advocated the theory of a vertical circulation in the ocean (1813-1877).
Carpi, Girolamo da, Italian painter and architect, born at Ferrara; successful imitator of Correggio (1501-1556).
Carpi, Ugo da, Italian painter and wood engraver; is said to have invented engraving in chiaroscuro (1486-1530).
Carpini, a Franciscan monk, born in Umbria; headed an embassy from Pope Innocent IV. to the Emperor of the Mogul Tartars to persuade him out of Europe, which he threatened; was a corpulent man of 60; travelled from Lyons to beyond Lake Baikal and back; wrote a report of his journey in Latin, which had a quieting effect on the panic in Europe (1182-1252).
Carpio, a legendary hero of the Moors of Spain; is said to have slain Roland at Roncesvalles.
Carpoc`rates, a Gnostic of Alexandria of the 2nd century, who believed in the transmigration of the soul and its final emancipation from all external bonds and obligations, by means of concentrated meditation on the divine unity, and a life in conformity therewith; was the founder of a sect called after his name.
Carrara (11), a town in N. Italy, 30 m. NW. of Leghorn; famous for its quarries of white statuary marble, the working of which is its staple industry; these quarries have been worked for 2000 years, are 400 in number, and employ as quarrymen alone regularly over 3000 men.
Carrel, Armand, French publicist, born at Rouen; a man of high character, and highly esteemed; editor of the National, which he conducted with great ability, and courage; died of a wound in a duel with Émile de Girardin (1800-1836).
Carrick, the southern division of Ayrshire. See Ayrshire.
Carrickfergus (9), a town and seaport N. of Belfast Lough, 9½ m. from Belfast, with a picturesque castle.
Carrier, Jean Baptiste, one of the most blood-thirsty of the French Revolutionists, born near Aurillac; an attorney by profession; sent on a mission to La Vendée; caused thousands of victims to be drowned, beheaded, or shot; was guillotined himself after trial by a Revolutionary tribunal (1756-1794). See Noyades.
Carrière, Moritz, a German philosopher and man of letters, born in Hesse, author of works on æsthetics and art in its relation to culture and the ideal; advocated the compatibility of the pantheistic with the deistic view of the world (1817-1893).
Carrol, Lewis, pseudonym of C. L. Dodgson (q. v.), the author of "Alice in Wonderland," with its sequel, "Through the Looking-Glass."
Carse, the name given in Scotland to alluvial lands bordering on a river.
Carson, Kit, American trapper, born in Kentucky; was of service to the States in expeditions in Indian territories from his knowledge of the habits of the Indians (1809-1878).
Carstairs, William, a Scotch ecclesiastic, born at Cathcart, near Glasgow; sent to Utrecht to study theology; recommended himself to the regard of the Prince of Orange, and became his political adviser; accompanied him to England as chaplain in 1688, and had no small share in bringing about the Revolution; controlled Church affairs in Scotland; was made Principal of Edinburgh University; was chief promoter of the Treaty of Union; was held in high esteem by his countrymen for his personal character as well as his public services; was a most sagacious man (1649-1715).
Carstens, Asmus Jakob, Danish artist, born in Sleswig; on the appearance of his great picture, "The Fall of the Angels," rose at once into fame; was admitted to the Berlin Academy; afterwards studied the masters at Rome; brought back to Germany a taste for art; was the means of reviving it; treated classical subjects; quarrelled the Academy; died in poverty at Rome (1754-1798).
Cartagena (86), a naval port of Spain, on the Mediterranean, with a capacious harbour; one of the oldest towns in it, founded by the Carthaginians; was once the largest naval arsenal in Europe. Also capital (12) of the Bolivar State in Colombia.
Carte, Thomas, historian, a devoted Jacobite, born near Rugby; wrote a "History of England," which has proved a rich quarry of facts for subsequent historians (1686-1754).
Carte-blanche, a blank paper with a signature to be filled up with such terms of an agreement as the holder is authorised to accept in name of the person whose signature it bears.
Carter, Elizabeth, an accomplished lady, born at Deal, friend of Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and others; a great Greek and Italian scholar; translated Epictetus and Algarotti's exposition of Newton's philosophy; some of her papers appear in the Rambler (1717-1806).
Carteret, John, Earl Granville, eminent British statesman, orator, and diplomatist, entered Parliament in the Whig interest; his first speech was in favour of the Protestant succession; after service as diplomatist abroad, was made Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, in which capacity he was brought into contact with Swift, first as an enemy but at length as a friend, and proved a successful viceroy; in Parliament was head of the party opposed to Sir Robert Walpole and of the subsequent administration; his foreign policy has been in general approved of; had the satisfaction of seeing, which he was instrumental in securing, the elder Pitt installed in office before he retired; was a "fiery, emphatic man" (1690-1763).
Carteret, Philip, English sailor and explorer, explored in the Southern Seas, and discovered several islands, Pitcairn's Island among the number; d. 1796.
Carthage, an ancient maritime city, on a peninsula in the N. of Africa, near the site of Tunis, and founded by Phoenicians in 850 B.C.; originally the centre of a colony, it became the capital of a wide-spread trading community, which even ventured to compete with, and at one time threatened, under Hannibal, to overthrow, the power of Rome, in a series of protracted struggles known as the Punic Wars, in the last of which it was taken and destroyed by Publius Cornelius Scipio in 146 B.C., after a siege of two years, though it rose again as a Roman city under the Cæsars, and became a place of great importance till burned in A.D. 698 by Hassan, the Arab; the struggle during the early part of its history was virtually a struggle for the ascendency of the Semitic people over the Aryan race in Europe.
Carthusians, a monastic order of a very severe type, founded by St. Bruno in 1086, each member of which had originally a single cell, eventually one consisting of two or three rooms with a garden, all of them opening into one corridor; they amassed considerable wealth, but were given to deeds of benefaction, and spent their time in study and contemplation, in consequence of which they figure not so much in the outside world as many other orders do.
Cartier, a French navigator, born at St. Malo, made three voyages to N. America in quest of a North-West passage, at the instance of Francis I.; took possession of Canada in the name of France, by planting the French flag on the soil (1494-1554).
Cartoons, drawings or designs made on stiff paper for a fresco or other paintings, transferred by tracing or pouncing to the surface to be painted, the most famous of which are those of Raphael.
Cartouche, a notorious captain of a band of thieves, born in Paris, who was broken on the wheel alive in the Place de Grève (1698-1721).
Cartwright, Edmund, inventor of the powerloom and the carding machine, born in Nottinghamshire; bred for the Church; his invention, at first violently opposed, to his ruin for the time being, is now universally adopted; a grant of £10,000 was made him by Parliament in consideration of his services and in compensation for his losses; he had a turn for versifying as well as mechanical invention (1743-1823).
Cartwright, John, brother of the preceding; served in the navy and the militia, but left both services for political reasons; took to the study of agriculture, and the advocacy of radical political reform much in advance of his time (1740-1824).
Carus, Karl Gustav, a celebrated German physiologist, born at Leipzig; a many-sided man; advocate of the theory that health of body and mind depends on the equipoise of antagonistic principles (1789-1869).
Cary, Henry Francis, translator of Dante, born at Gibraltar; his translation is admired for its fidelity as well as for its force and felicity (1772-1844).
Caryatides, draped female figures surmounting columns and supporting entablatures; the corresponding male figures are called Atlantes.
Casa, Italian statesman, Secretary of State under Pope Paul IV.; wrote "Galateo; or, the Art of Living in the World" (1503-1556).
Casabianca, Louis, a French naval officer, born in Corsica, who, at the battle of Aboukir, after securing the safety of his crew, blew up his ship and perished along with his son, who would not leave him (1755-1798).
Casa`le (17), a town on the Po; manufactures silk twist.
Casanova, painter, born in London, of Venetian origin; painted landscapes and battle-pieces (1727-1806).
Casanova de Seingalt, a clever Venetian adventurer and scandalous impostor, of the Cagliostro type, who insinuated himself into the good graces for a time of all the distinguished people of the period, including even Frederick the Great, Voltaire, and others; died in Bohemia after endless roamings and wrigglings, leaving, as Carlyle would say, "the smell of brimstone behind him"; wrote a long detailed, brazen-faced account of his career of scoundrelism (1725-1798).
Casas, Bartolomeo de Las, a Spanish prelate, distinguished for his exertions in behalf of the Christianisation and civilisation of the Indians of S. America (1474-1566).
Casaubon, Isaac, an eminent classical scholar and commentator, born in Geneva; professor of Greek at Geneva and Montpellier, and afterwards of belles-lettres at Paris, invited thither by Henry IV., who pensioned him; being a Protestant he removed to London on Henry's death, where James I. gave him two prebends; has been ranked with Lepsius and Scaliger as a scholar (1559-1614).
Casaubon, Meric, son of preceding; accompanied his father to England; held a church living under the Charleses; became professor of Theology at Oxford, and edited his father's works (1599-1671).
Cascade Mountains, a range in Columbia that slopes down toward the Pacific from the Western Plateau, of which the Rocky Mountains form the eastern boundary; they are nearly parallel with the coast, and above 100 m. inland.
Caserta (35), a town in Italy, 20 m. from Naples, noted for a magnificent palace, built after plans supplied by Vanvitelli, one of the architects of St. Peter's at Rome.
Cashel, a town in Tipperary, Ireland, 49 m. NE. of Cork; a bishop's see, with a "Rock" 300 ft. high, occupied by interesting ruins; it was formerly the seat of the kings of Munster.
Cashmere or Kashmir (2,543), a native Indian State, bordering upon Tibet, 120 m. long and 80 m. wide, with beautiful scenery and a delicious climate, in a valley of the Himalayas, forming the basin of the Upper Indus, hemmed in by deep-gorged woods and snow-peaked mountains, and watered by the Jhelum, which spreads out here and there near it into lovely lakes; shawl weaving and lacquer-work are the chief occupations of the inhabitants.
Casimir, the name of five kings of Poland; the most eminent, Casimir III., called the Great, after distinguishing himself in wars against the Teutonic Knights, was elected king in 1333; recovered Silesia from Bohemia in two victories; defeated the Tartars on the Vistula, and annexed part of Lithuania; formed a code of laws, limiting both the royal authority and that of the nobles (1309-1370).
Casimir-Perier, president of the French Republic, born in Paris; a man of moderate views and firm character; was premier in 1893; succeeded Carnot in 1894; resigned 1895, because, owing to misrepresentation, the office had become irksome to him; b. 1847.
Casino, a club-house or public building in Continental towns provided with rooms for social gatherings, music, dancing, billiards, &c.
Casiri, a Syro-Maronite religious, and a learned Orientalist (1710-1791).
Caspari, Karl Paul, German theologian, born at Dessau; professor at Christiania (1814-1892).
Caspian Sea, an inland sea, partly in Europe and partly in Asia, the largest in the world, being 600 m. from N. to S. and from 270 to 130 m. in breadth, with the Caucasus Mts. on the W. and the Elburz on the S., is the fragment of a larger sea which extended to the Arctic Ocean; shallow in the N., deep in the S.; the waters, which are not so salt as the ocean, abound in fish, especially salmon and sturgeon.
Cass, Lewis, an eminent American statesman, a member of the Democratic party, and openly hostile to Great Britain; though in favour of slave-holding, a friend of Union; wrote a "History of the U.S. Indians" (1782-1867).
Cassagnac, Granier de, a French journalist; at first an Orleanist, became a supporter of the Empire; started several journals, which all died a natural death; edited Le Pays, a semi-official organ; embroiled himself in duels and lawsuits without number (1806-1880).
Cassagnac, Paul, son of preceding; editor of Le Pays and the journal L'Autorité; an obstinate Imperialist; b. 1843.
Cassander, king of Macedonia, passed over in the succession by his father Antipater; allied himself with the Greek cities; invaded Macedonia and ascended the throne; married Thessalonica, the sister of Alexander the Great, but put Alexander's mother to death, thus securing himself against all rival claimants; left his son Philip as successor (354-297 B.C.).
Cassandra, a beautiful Trojan princess, daughter of Priam and Hecuba, whom Apollo endowed with the gift of prophecy, but, as she had rejected his suit, doomed to utter prophecies which no one would believe, as happened with her warnings of the fate and the fall of Troy, which were treated by her countrymen as the ravings of a lunatic; her name is applied to any one who entertains gloomy forebodings.
Cassano, a town in the S. of Italy; also a town near Milan, scene of a French victory under Vendôme in 1705, and a French defeat under Moreau in 1799.
Cassation, Court of, a court of highest and last appeal in France, appointed in the case of appeal to revise the forms of a procedure in an inferior court; it consists of a president and vice-president, 49 judges, a public prosecutor called the procureur-général, and six advocates-general; it consists of three sections: first, one to determine if the appeal should be received; second, one to decide in civil cases; and third, one to decide in criminal cases.
Cassel (72), capital of Hesse-Cassel, an interesting town, 120 m. from Frankfort-on-Main; it is the birthplace of Bunsen.
Cassell, John, the publisher, born in Manchester; a self-made man, who knew the value of knowledge and did much to extend it (1817-1865).
Cassianus, Joannus, an Eastern ascetic; came to Constantinople, and became a pupil of Chrysostom, who ordained him; founded two monasteries in Marseilles; opposed the extreme views of Augustine in regard to grace and free-will, and human depravity; and not being able to go the length of Pelaganism, adopted semi-Pelagianism, q. v. (360-448).
Cassini, name of a family of astronomers of the 17th and 18th centuries, of Italian origin; distinguished for their observations and discoveries affecting the comets, the planets, and the moon; they settled, father and son and grandson, in Paris, and became in succession directors of the observatory of Paris, the last of whom died in 1864, after completing in 1793 a great topographical map of France begun by his father.
Cassiodo`rus, a Latin statesman and historian, born in Calabria; prime minister of Theodoric the Great and his successor; retired into a monastery about 70, and lived there nearly 30 years; wrote a history of the Goths, and left letters of great historical value (468-568).
Cassiope`ia, queen of Ethiopia, mother of Andromeda, placed after death among the constellations; a constellation well north in the northern sky of five stars in the figure of a W.
Cassiquia`ri, a remarkable river in Venezuela, which, like a canal, connects the Rio Negro, an affluent of the Amazon, with the Orinoco.
Cassiter`ides, islands in the Atlantic, which the Phoenician sailors visited to procure tin; presumed to have been the Scilly Islands or Cornwall, which they adjoin.
Cassius, Caius, chief conspirator against Cæsar; won over Brutus to join in the foul plot; soon after the deed was done fled to Syria, made himself master of it; joined his forces with those of Brutus at Philippi; repulsed on the right, thought all was lost; withdrew into his tent, and called his freedmen to kill him; Brutus, in his lamentation over him, called him the "last of the Romans"; d. 42 B.C.
Cassius, Spurius, a Roman, thrice chosen consul, first time 502 B.C.; subdued the Sabines, made a league with the Latins, promoted an agrarian law, the first passed, which conceded to the plebs a share in the public lands.
Cassivellaunus, a British warlike chief, who unsuccessfully opposed Cæsar on his second invasion of Britain, 52 B.C.; surrendered after defeat, and became tributary to Rome.
Castalia, a fountain at the foot of Parnassus sacred to the Muses; named after a nymph, who drowned herself in it to escape Apollo.
Castanet, bishop of Albi; procured the canonisation of St. Louis (1256-1317).
Castaños, a Spanish general; distinguished for his victory over the French under Dupont, whom he compelled to surrender and sign the capitulation of Baylen, in 1808; after this he served under Wellington in several engagements, and was commander of the Spanish army, ready, if required, to invade France in 1815 (1758-1852).
Caste, rank in society of an exclusive nature due to birth or origin, such as prevails among the Hindus especially. Among them there are originally two great classes, the twice-born and the once-born, i. e. those who have passed through a second birth, and those who have not; of the former there are three grades, Brahmans, or the priestly caste, from the mouth of Brahma; Kshatriyas, or the soldier caste, from the hands of Brahma; and Vaisyas, or the agricultural caste, from the feet of Brahma; while the latter are of one rank and are menial to the other, called Sudras, earth-born all; notwithstanding which distinction often members of the highest class sink socially to the lowest level, and members of the lowest rise socially to the highest.
Castel, René-Richard, French poet and naturalist (1758-1832).
Castelar, Emilio, a Spanish republican, born in Cadiz; an eloquent man and a literary; appointed dictator of Spain in 1873, but not being equal to the exigency in the affairs of the State, resigned, and made way for the return of monarchy, though under protest; wrote a history of the "Republican Movement in Europe" among other works of political interest; b. 1832.
Castellamare (15), a port on the coast of Italy, 115 m. SE. of Naples, the scene of Pliny's death from the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. It takes its name from a castle built on it by the Emperor Frederick II.; has a cathedral, arsenal, and manufactures.
Castellio, Protestant theologian, a protégé of Calvin's for a time, till he gave expression to some heretical views, which led to a rupture; he ventured to pronounce the Song of Solomon a mere erotic poem (1515-1563).
Castiglione, a town of Sicily, on N. slope of Etna, 35 m. SW. of Messina; famed for hazel nuts.
Castiglione, Count, an accomplished Italian, born in Mantua; author of "II Cortegiano," a manual for courtiers, called by the Italians in admiration of it "The Golden Book"; had spent much of his time in courts in England and Spain, as well as Rome, and was a courtly man (1478-1529).
Castile, a central district of Spain, divided by the mountains of Castile into Old Castile (1,800) in the N., and New Castile (3,500) in the S.: the former consisting of a high bare plateau, bounded by mountains on the N. and on the S., with a variable climate, yields wheat and good pasturage, and is rich in minerals; the latter, also tableland, has a richer soil, and yields richer produce, breeds horses and cattle, and contains besides the quicksilver mines of Almaden. Both were at one time occupied by the Moors, and were created into a kingdom in the 11th century, and united to the crown of Spain in 1469 by the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella.
Castle Garden, the immigration depôt of New York where immigrants land, report themselves, and are advised where to settle or find work.
Castle of Indolence, a poem of Thomson's, a place in which the dwellers live amid luxurious delights, to the enervation of soul and body.
Castleford (14), a town 10 m. SE. of Leeds, with extensive glass-works, especially bottles.
Castlereagh, Lord, entered political life as a member of the Irish Parliament, co-operated with Pitt in securing the Union, after which he entered the Imperial Parliament, became War Minister (1805), till the ill-fated Walcheren expedition and a duel with Canning obliged him to resign; became Foreign Secretary in 1812, and the soul of the coalition against Napoleon; represented the country in a congress after Napoleon's fall; succeeded his father as Marquis of Londonderry in 1821, and committed suicide the year following; his name has been unduly defamed, and his services to the country as a diplomatist have been entirely overlooked (1769-1822).
Castles in Spain, visionary projects.
Castletown, a seaport in the Isle of Man, 11 m. SW. of Douglas, and the former capital.
Castlewood, the heroine in Thackeray's "Esmond."
Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri, the twin sons of Zeus by Leda; great, the former in horsemanship, and the latter in boxing; famed for their mutual affection, so that when the former was slain the latter begged to be allowed to die with him, whereupon it was agreed they should spend a day in Hades time about; were raised eventually to become stars in the sky, the Gemini, twin signs in the zodiac, rising and setting together; this name is also given to the electric phenomenon called St. Elmo's Fire (q. v.).
Castren, Mathias Alexander, an eminent philologist, born in Finland, professor of the Finnish Language and Literature in Helsingfors; travelled all over Northern Europe and Asia, and left accounts of the races he visited and their languages; translated the "Kalevala" (q. v.) the epic of the Finns; died prematurely, worn out with his labours (1813-1852).
Castres (22), a town in the dep. of Tarn, 46 m. E. of Toulouse; was a Roman station, and one of the first places in France to embrace Calvinism.
Castro, Guillen de, a Spanish dramatist, author of the play of "The Cid," which gained him European fame; he began life as a soldier, got acquainted with Lope de Vega, and took to dramatic composition (1569-1631).
Castro, Inez de, a royal heiress of the Spanish throne in the 14th century, the beloved wife of Don Pedro, heir of the Portuguese throne; put to death out of jealousy of Spain by the latter's father, but on his accession dug out of her grave, arrayed in her royal robes, and crowned along with him, after which she was entombed again, and a magnificent monument erected over her remains.
Castro, Juan de, a Portuguese soldier, born at Lisbon, distinguished for his exploits in behalf of Portugal; made viceroy of the Portuguese Indies, but died soon after in the arms of Francis Xavier (1500-1548).
Castro, Vaca de, a Spaniard, sent out by Charles V. as governor of Peru, but addressing himself to the welfare of the natives rather than the enrichment of Spain, was recalled, to pine and die in prison in 1558.
Castrogiovanni (18), a town in a strong position in the heart of Sicily, 3270 ft. above the sea-level; at one time a centre of the worship of Ceres, and with a temple to her.
Castruccio-Castracani, Duke of Lucca, and chief of the Ghibelline party in that town, the greatest war-captain in Europe in his day; lord of hundreds of strongholds; wore on a high occasion across his breast a scroll, inscribed, "He is what God made him," and across his back another, inscribed, "He shall be what God will make"; d. 1328, "crushed before the moth."
Catacombs, originally underground quarries, afterwards used as burial-places for the dead, found beneath Paris and in the neighbourhood of Rome, as well as elsewhere; those around Rome, some 40 in number, are the most famous, as having been used by the early Christians, not merely for burial but for purposes of worship, and are rich In monuments of art and memorials of history.
Catalani, Angelica, a celebrated Italian singer and prima donna, born near Ancona; began her career in Rome with such success that it led to engagements over all the chief cities of Europe, the enthusiasm which followed her reaching its climax when she came to England, where, on her first visit, she stayed eight years; by the failure of an enterprise in Paris she lost her fortune, but soon repaired it by revisiting the capitals of Europe; died of cholera in Paris (1779-1840).
Catalonia (1,900), old prov. of Spain, on the NE.; has a most fertile soil, which yields a luxuriant vegetation; chief seat of manufacture in the country, called hence the "Lancashire of Spain"; the people are specially distinguished from other Spaniards for their intelligence and energy.
Catamar`ca (ISO), NW. prov. of the Argentine Republic; rich in minerals, especially copper.
Cata`nia (123), an ancient city at the foot of Etna, to the S., on a plain called the Granary of Sicily; has been several times devastated by the eruptions of Etna, particularly in 1169, 1669, and 1693; manufactures silk, linen, and articles of amber, &c., and exports sulphur, grain, and fruits.
Catanza`ro (20), a city in Calabria, 6 m. from the Gulf of Squillace, with an old castle of Robert Guiscard.
Categorical imperative, Kant's name for the self-derived moral law, "universal and binding on every rational will, a commandment of the autonomous, one and universal reason."
Categories are either classes under which all our Notions of things may be grouped, or classes under which all our Thoughts of things may be grouped; the former called Logical, we owe to Aristotle, and the latter called Metaphysical, we owe to Kant. The Logical, so derived, that group our notions, are ten in number: Substance or Being, Quantity, Quality, Relation, Place, Time, Position, Possession, Action, Passion. The Metaphysical, so derived, that group our thoughts, are twelve in number: (1) as regards quantity, Totality, Plurality, Unity; (2) as regards quality, Reality, Negation, Limitation; (3) as regards relation, Substance, Accident, Cause and Effect, Action and Reaction; (4) as regards modality, Possibility and Impossibility, Existence and Nonexistence, Necessity and Contingency. John Stuart Mill resolves the categories into five, Existence, Co-existence, Succession, Causation, and Resemblance.
Catesby, Mark, an English naturalist and traveller, wrote a natural history of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahamas (1680-1750).
Catesby, Robert, born in Northamptonshire, a Catholic of good birth; concerned in the famous Gunpowder Plot; shot dead three days after its discovery by officers sent to arrest him (1573-1605).
Cath`ari, or Catharists, i. e. purists or puritans, a sect of presumably Gnostic derivation, scattered here and there under different names over the S. and W. of Europe during the Middle Ages, who held the Manichæan doctrine of the radically sinful nature of the flesh, and the necessity of mortifying all its desires and affections to attain purity of soul.
Catharine, St., of Alexandria, a virgin who, in 307, suffered martyrdom after torture on the wheel, which has since borne her name; is represented in art as in a vision presented to Christ by His Mother as her sole husband, who gives her a ring. Festival, Nov. 25.
Catharine I., wife of Peter the Great and empress of Russia, daughter of a Livonian peasant; "a little stumpy body, very brown,... strangely chased about from the bottom to the top of the world,... had once been a kitchen wench"; married first to a Swedish dragoon, became afterwards the mistress of Prince Menschikoff, and then of Peter the Great, who eventually married her; succeeded him as empress, with Menschikoff as minister; for a time ruled well, but in the end gave herself up to dissipation, and died (1682-1727).
Catharine II. the Great, empress of Russia, born at Stettin, daughter of Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst; "a most-clever, clear-eyed, stout-hearted woman"; became the wife of Peter III., a scandalous mortal, who was dethroned and then murdered, leaving her empress; ruled well for the country, and though her character was immoral and her reign despotic and often cruel, her efforts at reform, the patronage she accorded to literature, science, and philosophy, and her diplomatic successes, entitle her to a high rank among the sovereigns of Russia; she reigned from 1763 to 1796, and it was during the course of her reign, and under the sanction of it, that Europe witnessed the three partitions of Poland (1729-1796).
Catharine de' Medici, daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici, wife of Henry II. of France, and mother of his three successors; on the accession of her second son, Charles IX.—for the reign of her first, Francis II., was very brief—acted as regent during his minority; joined heart and soul with the Catholics in persecuting the Huguenots, and persuaded her son to issue the order which resulted in the massacre of St. Bartholomew; on his death, which occurred soon after, she acted as regent during the minority of her third son, Henry III., and lived to see both herself and him detested by the whole French people, and this although she was during her ascendency the patroness of the arts and of literature (1519-1589).
Catharine of Aragon, fourth daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, and wife of Henry VIII., her brother-in-law as widow of Arthur, from whom, and at whose instance, after 18 years of married life, and after giving birth to five children, she was divorced on the plea that, as she had been his brother's wife before, it was not lawful for him to have her; after her divorce she remained in the country, led an austere religious life, and died broken-hearted. The refusal of the Pope to sanction this divorce led to the final rupture of the English Church from the Church of Rome, and the emancipation of the nation from priestly tyranny (1483-1536).
Catharine of Braganza, the wife of Charles II. of England, of the royal house of Portugal; was unpopular in the country as a Catholic and neglected by her husband, on whose death, however, she returned to Portugal, and did the duties ably of regent for her brother Don Pedro (1638-1705).
Catharine of Sienna, born at Sienna, a sister of the Order of St. Dominic, and patron saint of the Order; celebrated for her ecstasies and visions, and the marks which by favour of Christ she bore on her body of His sufferings on the Cross (1347-1380). Festival, April 30. Besides her, are other saints of the same name.
Catharine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI. of France, and wife of Henry V. of England, who, on his marriage to her, was declared heir to the throne of France, with the result that their son was afterwards, while but an infant, crowned king of both countries; becoming a widow, she married Owen Tudor, a Welsh gentleman, whereby a grandson of his succeeded to the English throne as Henry VII., and the first of the Tudors (1401-1438).
Catharine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII. and the daughter of a Westmoreland knight; was of the Protestant faith and obnoxious to the Catholic faction, who trumped up a charge against her of heresy and treason, from which, however, she cleared herself to the satisfaction of the king, over whom she retained her ascendency till his death; d. 1548.
Catharine Theot, a religious fanatic, born in Avranches; gave herself out as the Mother of God; appeared in Paris in 1794, and declared Robespierre a second John the Baptist and forerunner of the Word; the Committee of Public Safety had her arrested and guillotined.
Cathay, the name given to China by mediæval writers, which it still bears in Central Asia.
Cathcart, Earl, a British general and diplomatist, born in Renfrewshire; saw service in America and Flanders; distinguished himself at the bombardment of Copenhagen; represented England at the court of Russia and the Congress of Vienna (1755-1843).
Cathcart, Sir George, a lieutenant-general, son of the preceding; enlisted in the army; served in the later Napoleonic wars; was present at Quatre-Bras and Waterloo; was governor of the Cape; brought the Kaffir war to a successful conclusion; served in the Crimea, and fell at Inkerman (1794-1854).
Cathedral, the principal church in a diocese, and which contains the throne of the bishop as his seat of authority; is of a rank corresponding to the dignity of the bishop; the governing body consists of the dean and chapter.
Cathelineau, Jacques, a famous leader of the Vendéans in their revolt against the French Republic on account of a conscription in its behalf; a peasant by birth; mortally wounded in attacking Nantes; he is remembered by the peasants of La Vendée as the "Saint of Anjou" (1759-1793).
Catholic Emancipation, the name given to the emancipation in 1829 of the Roman Catholics of the United Kingdom from disabilities which precluded their election to office in the State, so that they are eligible now to any save the Lord Chancellorship of England and offices representative of royalty.
Catholic Epistles, the name, equivalent to encyclical, given to certain epistles in the New Testament not addressed to any community in particular, but to several, and given eventually to all not written by St. Paul.
Catholic Majesty, a title given by the Pope to several Spanish monarchs for their zeal in the defence of the Catholic faith.
Catiline, or Lucius Sergius Catilina, a Roman patrician, an able man, but unscrupulously ambitious; frustrated in his ambitious designs, he formed a conspiracy against the State, which was discovered and exposed by Cicero, a discovery which obliged him to leave the city; he tried to stir up hostility outside; this too being discovered by Cicero, an army was sent against him, when an engagement ensued, in which, fighting desperately, he was slain, 62 B.C.
Catinat, Nicolas, a marshal of France, born in Paris; one of the greatest military captains under Louis XIV.; defeated the Duke of Savoy twice over, though defeated by Prince Eugene and compelled to retreat; was an able diplomatist as well as military strategist (1637-1712).
Catlin, George, a traveller among the North American Indians, and author of an illustrated work on their life and manners; spent eight years among them (1796-1872).
Cato Dionysius, name of a book of maxims in verse, held in high favour during the Middle Ages; of unknown authorship.
Cato, Marcus Portius, or Cato Major, surnamed Censor, Priscus, and Sapiens, born at Tusculum, of a good old family, and trained to rustic, frugal life; after serving occasionally in the army, removed to Rome; became in succession censor, ædile, prætor, and consul; served in the second Punic war, towards the end of it, and subjugated Spain; was a Roman of the old school; disliked and denounced all innovations, as censor dealt sharply with them; sent on an embassy to Africa, was so struck with the increasing power and the threateningly evil ascendency of Carthage, that on his return he urged its demolition, and in every speech which he delivered afterwards he ended with the words, Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam, "But, be that as it may, my opinion is Carthage must be destroyed" (234-149 B.C.).
Cato, Marcus Portius, or Cato the Younger, or Uticensis, great-grandson of the former, and a somewhat pedantic second edition of him; fortified himself by study of the Stoic philosophy; conceived a distrust of the public men of the day, Cæsar among the number; preferred Pompey to him, and sided with him; after Pompey's defeat retired to Utica, whence his surname, and stabbed himself to death rather than fall into the hands of Cæsar (95-46 B.C.).
Cato-Street Conspiracy, an insignificant, abortive plot, headed by one Thistlewood, to assassinate Castlereagh and other ministers of the crown in 1820; so called from their place of meeting off the Edgeware Road, London.
Catrail, an old Roman earthwork, 50 m. long, passing S. from near Galashiels, through Selkirk and Roxburgh, or from the Cheviots; it is known by the name of the "Devil's Dyke."
Cats, Jacob, a Dutch poet and statesman, venerated in Holland as "Father Cats"; his works are written in a simple, natural style, and abound in wise maxims; he did service as a statesman; twice visited England as an envoy, and was knighted by Charles I. (1577-1660).
Catskill Mountains, a group of mountains, of steep ascent, and with rocky summits, in New York State, W. of the Hudson, none of them exceeding 4000 feet; celebrated as the scene of Rip Van Winkle's long slumber; belong to the Appalachians.
Cattegat, an arm of the sea, 150 m. in length and 84 of greatest width, between Sweden and Jutland; a highway into the Baltic, all but blocked up with islands; is dangerous to shipping on account of the storms that infest it at times.
Cattermole, George, artist, born in Norfolk; illustrated Britton's "English Cathedrals," "Waverley Novels," and the "Historical Annual" by his brother; painted mostly in water-colour; his subjects chiefly from English history (1800-1868).
Cattle Plague, or Rinderpest, a disease which affects ruminants, but especially bovine cattle; indigenous to the East, Russia, Persia, India, and China, and imported into Britain only by contagion of some kind; the most serious outbreaks were in 1865 and 1872.
Catullus, Caius Valerius, the great Latin lyric poet, born at Verona, a man of wealth and good standing, being, it would seem, of the equestrian order; associated with the best wits in Rome; fell in love with Clodia, a patrician lady, who was the inspiration, both in peace and war, of many of his effusions, and whom he addresses as Lesbia; the death of a brother affected him deeply, and was the occasion of the production of one of the most pathetic elegies ever penned; in the civic strife of the time he sided with the senate, and opposed Cæsar to the length of directing against him a coarse lampoon (84-54 B.C.).
Cauca, a river in Colombia, S. America, which falls into the Magdalena after a northward course of 600 m.
Caucasia, a prov. of Russia, geographically divided into Cis-Caucasia on the European side, and Trans-Caucasia on the Asiatic side of the Caucasus, with an area about four times as large as England.
Caucasian race, a name adopted by Blumenbach to denote the Indo-European race, from the fine type of a skull of one of the race found in Georgia.
Caucasus, an enormous mountain range, 750 m. in length, extending from the Black Sea ESE. to the Caspian, in two parallel chains, with tablelands between, bounded on the S. by the valley of the Kur, which separates it from the tableland of Armenia; snow-line higher than that of the Alps; has fewer and smaller glaciers; has no active volcanoes, though abundant evidence of volcanic action.
Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais, infamous for the iniquitous part he played in the trial and condemnation of Joan of Arc; d. 1443.
Cauchy, Augustin Louis, mathematician, born in Paris; wrote largely on physical subjects; his "Memoir" on the theory of the waves suggested the undulatory theory of light; professor of Astronomy at Paris; declined to take the oath of allegiance to Napoleon III., and retired (1789-1857).
Caucus, a preliminary private meeting to arrange and agree on some measure or course to propose at a general meeting of a political party.
Caudine Forks, a narrow mountain gorge in Samnium, in which, during the second Samnite war, a Roman army was entrapped and caught by the Samnites, who obliged them to pass under the yoke in token of subjugation, 321 B.C.
Caudle, Mrs., an imaginary dame, a conception of Douglas Jerrold, famous for her "Curtain Lectures" all through the night for 30 years to her husband Mr. Job Caudle.
Caul, a membrane covering the head of some children at birth, to which a magical virtue was at one time ascribed, and which, on that account, was rated high and sold often at a high price.
Caulaincourt, Armand de, a French general and statesman of the Empire, a faithful supporter of Napoleon, who conferred on him a peerage, with the title of Duke of Vicenza, of which he was deprived at the Restoration; represented Napoleon at the Congress of Châtillon (1772-1827).
Caus, Salomon de, a French engineer, born at Dieppe; discovered the properties of steam as a motive force towards 1638; claimed by Arago as the inventor of the steam-engine in consequence.
Causality, the philosophic name for the nature of the relation between cause and effect, in regard to which there has been much diversity of opinion among philosophers.
Cauterets, a fashionable watering-place in the dep. of the Hautes-Pyrénées, 3250 ft. above the sea, with sulphurous springs of very ancient repute, 25 in number, and of varying temperature.
Cavaignac, Louis Eugène, a distinguished French general, born in Paris; appointed governor of Algeria in 1849, but recalled to be head of the executive power in Paris same year; appointed dictator, suppressed the insurrection in June, after the most obstinate and bloody struggle the streets of Paris had witnessed since the first Revolution; stood candidate for the Presidency, to which Louis Napoleon was elected; was arrested after the coup d'état, but soon released; never gave in his adherence to the Empire (1802-1857).
Cavalcaselle, Giovanni Battista, Italian writer on art; joint-author with J. A. Crowe of works on the "Early Flemish Painters" and the "History of Painting in Italy"; chief of the art department under the Minister of Public Instruction in Rome; b. 1820.
Cavalier, Jean, leader of the Camisards (q. v.), born at Ribaute, in the dep. of Gard; bred a baker; held his own against Montreval and Villars; in 1704 concluded peace with the latter on honourable terms; haughtily received by Louis XIV., passed over to England; served against France, and died governor of Jersey (1679-1740).
Cavaliers, the royalist partisans of Charles I. in England in opposition to the parliamentary party, or the Roundheads, as they were called.
Cavallo, a distinguished Italian physicist, born at Naples (1749-1809).
Cavan (111), inland county S. of Ulster, Ireland, with a poor soil; has minerals and mineral springs.
Cave, Edward, a London bookseller, born in Warwickshire; projected the Gentleman's Magazine, to which Dr. Johnson contributed; was the first to give Johnson literary work, employing him as parliamentary reporter, and Johnson was much attached to him; he died with his hand in Johnson's (1691-1754).
Cave, William, an English divine; author of works on the Fathers of the Church and on primitive Christianity, of high repute at one time (1637-1713).
Cavendish, the surname of the Devonshire ducal family, traceable back to the 14th century.
Cavendish, George, the biographer of Wolsey; never left him while he lived, and never forgot him or the lesson of his life after he was dead; this appears from the vivid picture he gives of him, though written 30 years after his death (1500-1561).
Cavendish, Lord Frederick, brother of the ninth Duke of Devonshire, educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and a Liberal; was made Chief-Secretary for Ireland in 1882, but chancing to walk home one evening through the Phoenix Park, he fell a victim, stabbed to the heart, of a conspiracy that was aimed at Mr. Burke, an unpopular subordinate, who was walking along with him, and came to the same fate. Eight months after, 20 men were arrested as concerned in the murder, when one of the 20 informed; five of them were hanged; the informer Carey was afterwards murdered, and his murderer, O'Donnel, hanged (1836-1882).
Cavendish, Henry, natural philosopher and chemist, born at Nice, of the Devonshire family; devoted his entire life to scientific investigations; the first to analyse the air of the atmosphere, determine the mean density of the earth, discover the composition of water, and ascertain the properties of hydrogen; was an extremely shy, retiring man; born rich and died rich, leaving over a million sterling (1731-1810).
Cavendish, Spencer Compton, ninth Duke of Devonshire, for long known in public life as Marquis of Hartington; also educated at Trinity College, and a leader of the Liberal party; served under Gladstone till he adopted Home Rule for Ireland, but joined Lord Salisbury in the interest of Union, and one of the leaders of what is called the Liberal-Unionist party; b. 1833.
Cavendish, Thomas, an English navigator, fitted out three vessels to cruise against the Spaniards; extended his cruise into the Pacific; succeeded in taking valuable prizes, with which he landed in England, after circumnavigating the globe; he set out on a second cruise, which ended in disaster, and he died in the island of Ascension broken-hearted (1555-1592).
Cavendish, William, English courtier and cavalier in the reigns of James I. and Charles I.; joined Charles II. in exile; returned at the Restoration; was made Duke of Newcastle; wrote on horsemanship (1592-1676).
Cavendish, William, first Duke of Devonshire; friend and protector of Lord William Russell; became a great favourite at court, and was raised to the dukedom (1640-1707).
Caviare, the roe (the immature ovaries) of the common sturgeon and other kindred fishes, caught chiefly in the Black and Caspian Seas, and prepared and salted; deemed a great luxury by those who have acquired the taste for it; largely imported from Astrakhan.
Cavour, Count Camillo Benso de, one of the greatest of modern statesmen, born the younger son of a Piedmontese family at Turin; entered the army, but was precluded from a military career by his liberal opinions; retired, and for 16 years laboured as a private gentleman to improve the social and economic condition of Piedmont; in 1847 he threw himself into the great movement which resulted in the independence and unification of Italy; for the next 14 years, as editor of Il Risorgimento, member of the chamber of deputies, holder of various portfolios in the government, and ultimately as prime minister of the kingdom of Sardinia, he obtained a constitution and representative government for his country, improved its fiscal and financial condition, and raised it to a place of influence in Europe; he co-operated with the allies in the Crimean war; negotiated with Napoleon III. for the expulsion of the Austrians from Italy, and so precipitated the successful war of 1859; he encouraged Garibaldi in the expedition of 1860, which liberated Sicily and Southern Italy, and saw the parliament of 1861 summoned, and Victor Emmanuel declared king of Italy; but the strain of his labours broke his health, and he died a few months later (1810-1861).
Cawnpore (188), a city on the right bank of the Ganges, in the North-Western Provinces of India, 40 m. SW. of Lucknow, and 628 NW. of Calcutta; the scene of one of the most fearful atrocities, perpetrated by Nana Sahib, in the Indian Mutiny in 1857.
Caxton, William, the first English printer, born in Kent, bred a mercer, settled for a time in Bruges, learned the art of printing there, where he printed a translation of the "Recuyell of the Historyes of Troyes," and "The Game and Playe of Chesse"; returning to England, set up a press in Westminster Abbey, and in 1477 issued "Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers," the first book printed in England, which was soon followed by many others; he was a good linguist, as well as a devoted workman (1422-1491).
Cayenne (10), cap. and port of French Guiana, a swampy, unhealthy place, rank with tropical vegetation; a French penal settlement since 1852.
Cayla, Countess Of, friend and confidante of Louis XVIII. (1784-1850).
Cayley, Arthur, an eminent English mathematician, professor at Cambridge, and president of the British Association in 1883 (1821-1895).
Cayley, Charles Bagot, a linguist, translated Dante into the metre of the original, with annotations, besides metrical versions of the "Iliad," the "Prometheus" of Æschylus, the "Canzoniere" of Petrarch, &c. (1823-1883).
Caylus, Count, a distinguished archæologist, born in Paris; author of a "Collection of Antiquities of Egypt, Etruria," &c., with excellent engravings (1692-1765).
Caylus, Marquise de, born in Poitou, related to Mme. de Maintenon; left piquant souvenirs of the court of Louis XIV. and the house of St. Cyr (1672-1729).
Cazalès, a member of French Constituent Assembly, a dragoon captain, a fervid, eloquent orator of royalism, who "earned thereby," says Carlyle, "the shadow of a name" (1758-1805).
Cazotte, author of the "Diable Amoureux"; victim as an enemy of the French Revolution; spared for his daughter's sake for a time, but guillotined at last; left her a "lock of his old grey hair" (1720-1792).
Cean-Bermudez, a Spanish writer on art; author of a biographical dictionary of the principal artists of Spain (1749-1834).
Ceara (35), cap. of the prov. (900) of the name, in N. of Brazil.
Ce`bes, a Greek philosopher, disciple and friend of Socrates, reputed author of the "Pinax" or Tablet, a once popular book on the secret of life, being an allegorical representation of the temptations that beset it.
Cecil, Robert, Earl of Salisbury, succeeded his father, Lord Burleigh, as first Minister under Elizabeth, and continued in office under James I., whose friendship he sedulously cultivated before his accession, and who created him earl (1565-1612). See Burleigh, Lord.
Cecilia, St., a Roman virgin and martyr, A.D. 230, patron saint of music, especially church music, and reputed inventor of the organ; sometimes represented as holding a small organ, with her head turned heavenwards as if listening to the music of the spheres, and sometimes as playing on an organ and with a heavenly expression of face. Festival, Nov. 22.
Cecrops, the mythical first king and civiliser of Attica and founder of Athens with its citadel, dedicated by him to Athena, whence the name of the city.
Cedar Rapids (25), a manufacturing town in Iowa, U.S.; a great railway centre.
Celadon, poetical name for a languid swain, all sighs and longings.
Celæno, name of one of the Harpies (q. v.).
Celebes (1,000), an island in the centre of the Eastern Archipelago, third in size, in the shape of a body with four long limbs, traversed by mountain chains, and the greater part of it a Dutch possession, though it contains a number of small native states; it yields among its mineral products gold, copper, tin, &c.; and among its vegetable, tea, coffee, rice, sugar, pepper, &c.; capital. Macassar.
Céleste, Mme., a dancer, born in Paris; made her début in New York; in great repute in England, and particularly in the States, where she in her second visit realised £40,000 (1814-1882).
Celestial Empire, China, as ruled over by a dynasty appointed by Heaven.
Celestine, the name of five Popes: C. I., Pope from 422 to 432; C. II., Pope from 1143 to 1144; C. III., Pope from 1191 to 1198; C. IV., Pope for 18 days in 1241; C. V., Pope in 1294, a hermit for 60 years; nearly 80 when elected against his wish; abdicated in five months; imprisoned by order of Boniface VIII.; d. 1296; canonised 1313.
Celestines, an order of monks founded by Celestine V. before he was elected Pope in 1354; they followed the rule of the Benedictine Order, and led a contemplative life.
Cellini, Benvenuto, a celebrated engraver, sculptor, and goldsmith, a most versatile and erratic genius, born at Florence; had to leave Florence for a bloody fray he was involved in, and went to Rome; wrought as a goldsmith there for 20 years, patronised by the nobles; killed the Constable de Bourbon at the sack of the city, and for this received plenary indulgence from the Pope; Francis I. attracted him to his court and kept him in his service five years, after which he returned to Florence and executed his famous bronze "Perseus with the Head of Medusa," which occupied him four years; was a man of a quarrelsome temper, which involved him in no end of scrapes with sword as well as tongue; left an autobiography, from its self-dissection of the deepest interest to all students of human nature (1500-1571).
Celsius, a distinguished Swedish astronomer, born at Upsala, and professor of Astronomy there; inventor of the Centigrade thermometer (1701-1744).
Celsus, a celebrated Roman physician of the age of Augustus, and perhaps later; famed as the author of "De Medicina," a work often referred to, and valuable as one of the sources of our knowledge of the medicine of the ancients.
Celsus, a philosopher of the 2nd century, and notable as the first assailant on philosophic grounds of the Christian religion, particularly as regards the power it claims to deliver from the evil that is inherent in human nature, inseparable from it, and implanted in it not by God, but some inferior being remote from Him; the book in which he attacked Christianity is no longer extant, only quotations from it scattered over the pages of the defence of Origen in reply.
Celtibe`ri, an ancient Spanish race occupying the centre of the peninsula, sprung from a blending of the aborigines and the Celts, who invaded the country; a brave race, divided into four tribes; distinguished in war both as cavalry and infantry, and whom the Romans had much trouble in subduing.
Celts. The W. of Europe was in prehistoric times subjected to two invasions of Aryan tribes, all of whom are now referred to as Celts. The earlier invaders were Goidels or Gaels; they conquered the Ivernian and Iberian peoples of ancient Gaul, Britain, and Ireland; their successors, the Brythons or Britons pouring from the E., drove them to the westernmost borders of these countries, and there compelled them to make common cause with the surviving Iberians in resistance; in the eastern parts of the conquered territories they formed the bulk of the population, in the W. they were in a dominant minority; study of languages in the British Isles leads to the conclusion that the Irish, Manx, and Scottish Celts belonged chiefly to the earlier immigration, while the Welsh and Cornish represent the latter; the true Celtic type is tall, red or fair, and blue-eyed, while the short, swarthy type, so long considered Celtic, is now held to represent the original Iberian races.
Cenci, The, a Roman family celebrated for their crimes and misfortunes as well as their wealth. Francesco Cenci was twice married, had had twelve children by his first wife, whom he treated cruelly; after his second marriage cruelly treated the children of his first wife, but conceived a criminal passion for the youngest of them, a beautiful girl named Beatrice, whom he outraged, upon which, being unable to bring him to justice, she, along with her stepmother and a brother, hired two assassins to murder him; the crime was found out, and all three were beheaded (1599); this is the story on which Shelley founded his tragedy, but it is now discredited.
Cenis, Mont, one of the Cottian Alps, over which Napoleon constructed a pass 6884 ft. high in 1802-10, through which a tunnel 7½ m. long passes from Modane to Bardonnêche, connecting France with Italy; the construction of this tunnel cost £3,000,000, and Napoleon's pass a tenth of the sum.
Censors, two magistrates of ancient Rome, who held office at first for five years and then eighteen months, whose duty it was to keep a register of the citizens, guard the public morals, collect the public revenue, and superintend the public property.
Cen`taurs, a savage race living between Pelion and Ossa, in Thessaly, and conceived of at length by Pindar as half men and half horses, treated as embodying the relation between the spiritual and the animal in man and nature, in all of whom the animal prevails over the spiritual except in Chiron, who therefore figures as the trainer of the heroes of Greece; in the mythology they figure as the progeny of Centaurus, son of Ixion (q. v.) and the cloud, their mothers being mares.
Central America (3,000), territory of fertile tableland sloping gradually to both oceans, occupied chiefly by a number of small republics, lying between Tehuantepec and Panama in N. America; it includes the republics of Guatemala, Honduras, St. Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, and a few adjoining fractions of territory.
Central India (10,000), includes a group of feudatory States lying between Rajputana in the N. and Central Provinces in the S.
Central Provinces (12,944), States partly British and partly native, occupying the N. of the Deccan, and lying between the Nerbudda and the Godavary.
Ceos, one of the Cyclades, a small island 13 m. by 8 m., yields fruits; was the birthplace of Simonides and Bacchylides.
Cephalonia (80), the largest of the Ionian Islands, 30 m. long, the ancient Samos; yields grapes and olive oil.
Cephalus, king of Thessaly, who having involuntarily killed his wife Procris, in despair put himself to death with the same weapon.
Ceram` (195), the largest of S. Moluccas; yields sago, which is chiefly cultivated and largely exported.
Cerberus, the three-headed or three-throated monster that guarded the entrance to the nether world of Pluto, could be soothed by music, and tempted by honey, only Hercules overcame him by sheer strength, dragging him by neck and crop to the upper world.
Ceres, the Latin name for Demeter (q. v.); also the name of one of the asteroids, the first discovered, by Piazzi, in 1801.
Ceri`go (14), an Ionian island, the southernmost, the ancient Cythera; yields wine and fruits.
Cerinthus, a heresiarch of the first century, whom, according to tradition, St. John held in special detestation, presumably as denying the Father and the Son.
Cerro de Pasco, a town in Peru, 14,200 ft. above the sea-level, with the richest silver mine in S. America.
Cerutti, a Jesuit, born at Turin; became a Revolutionary in France; pronounced the funeral oration at the grave of Mirabeau in 1789.
Cervantes-Saavedra, Miguel de, the author of "Don Quixote," born at Alcalá de Henares; was distinguished in arms before he became distinguished in letters; fought in the battle of Lepanto like a very hero, and bore away with him as a "maimed soldier" marks of his share in the struggle; sent on a risky embassy, was captured by pirates and remained in their hands five years; was ransomed by his family at a cost which beggared them, and it was only when his career as a soldier closed that he took himself to literature; began as a dramatist before he devoted himself to prose romance; wrote no fewer than 30 dramas; the first part of the work which has immortalised his name appeared in 1605, and the second in 1615; it took the world by storm, was translated into all the languages of Europe, but the fortune which was extended to his book did not extend to himself, for he died poor, some ten days before his great contemporary, William Shakespeare; though carelessly written, "Don Quixote" is one of the few books of all time, and is as fresh to-day as when it was first written (1547-1616).
Cervin, Mont, the French name for the Matterhorn, 705 ft., the summit of the Pennine Alps, between Valais and Piedmont.
Cesarewitch, the eldest son and heir of the Czar of Russia.
Ce`sari, Giuseppe, sometimes called Arpino, an eminent Italian painter; painted a series of frescoes in the Conservatorio of the Capitol, illustrative of events in the history of Rome (1568-1640).
Cesarotti, an Italian poet, translator of the "Iliad" and "Ossian" into Italian (1730-1808).
Cestus, a girdle worn by Greek and Roman women, specially the girdle of Aphrodité, so emblazoned with symbols of the joys of love that no susceptible soul could resist the power of it; it was borrowed by Hera to captivate Zeus.
Cetinje, the capital of Montenegro, in a valley 2000 ft. high; smallest of capital cities, with a population under 2000.
Cette (36), a seaport, trading, and manufacturing town, on a tongue of land between the lagoon of Thau and the Mediterranean, 23 m. SW. of Montpellier, with a large safe harbourage.
Ce`uta (12), a port opposite Gibraltar belonging to Spain, on the coast of Morocco, guarded by a fort on one of the Pillars of Hercules, overlooking it; of importance as a military and convict station.
Cévennes, a range of low mountains on the eastern edge of the central plateau of France, separating the basin of the Rhône from those of the Loire and Garonne; average height from 3000 to 4000 ft.; the chief scene of the dragonnades against the Huguenots under Louis XIV.
Ceylon (3,008), a pear-shaped island about the size of Scotland, separated from India, to which it geographically belongs, and SE. of which it lies, by Palk Strait, 32 m. broad; comprises a lofty, central tableland with numerous peaks, the highest Tallagalla, 8000 ft., and a broad border of well-watered plains. It was an ancient centre of civilisation; the soil is everywhere fertile; the climate is hot, but more equitable than on the mainland; the chief products are tea, cinnamon, and tobacco; the forests yield satin-wood, ebony, &c.; the cocoa-nut palm abounds; there are extensive deposits of iron, anthracite, and plumbago; precious stones, sapphires, rubies, amethysts, &c., are in considerable quantities; the pearl fisheries are a valuable government monopoly. The chief exports are tea, rice, cotton goods, and coals. Two-thirds of the people are Singhalese and Buddhists, there are 6000 Europeans. The island is a crown colony, the largest in the British Empire, administered by a governor with executive and legislative councils; the capital and chief port is Colombo (127).
Chabas, François, a French Egyptologist, born in Briançon; his works have contributed much to elucidate the history of the invasion and repulsion of the Hyksos in Egypt (1817-1882).
Chabot, a member of the National Convention of France, a "disfrocked Capuchin," adjured "Heaven," amid enthusiasm, "that at least they may have done with kings"; guillotined (1759-1794).
Chacktaw Indians. See Chocktaw.
Chad, Lake, a shallow lake in the Sahara, of varied extent, according as the season is dry or rainy, at its largest covering an area as large as England, and abounding in hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, &c., as well as waterfowl and fish.
Chadband, Rev. Mr., a character in "Bleak House."
Chadwick, Sir Edwin, an English social reformer, born in Manchester, associated with measures bearing upon sanitation and the improvement of the poor-laws, and connected with the administration of them (1801-1890).
Chæronea, a town in Boeotia, where Philip of Macedon defeated the Athenians, and extinguished the liberties of Greece.
Chalais, Count de, a favourite of Louis XIII., accused of conspiracy against Richelieu, arrested at Nantes, and beheaded (1599-1626).
Chalaza, one of the two filaments attached to the ends of the yoke of an egg to steady it in the albumen.
Chalcedon, a city of Bithynia, at the entrance of the Thracian Bosphorus, where the fourth Council of the Church was held in 451, which defined the orthodox conception of Christ as God-man.
Chalcidicé, the 3-fingered peninsula of the Balkan territory stretching into the Ægean Sea.
Chalcis, the ancient capital of Euboea or Negropont.
Chaldea, ancient name for Babylonia.
Chalier, a Piedmontese, head of the party of the Mountain at Lyons; his execution the signal for an insurrection at Lyons against the Convention (1747-1793).
Challenger Expedition, a scientific expedition sent out by the British Government in the Challenger in 1872 in the interest of science, and under the management of scientific experts, to various stations over the globe, to explore the ocean, and ascertain all manner of facts regarding it open to observation, an expedition which concluded its operations in 1876, of which as many as 50 volumes of reports have been compiled.
Challis, James, an astronomer, born in Essex, noted the position of the planet Neptune before its actual discovery (1803-1882).
Challoner, Richard, a Roman Catholic bishop, born at Lewes; a zealous Catholic, author of "Garden of the Soul," a popular devotional book, as well as several controversial books (1691-1781).
Chalmers, Alexander, a miscellaneous writer, born at Aberdeen; settled in London; edited the "British Essayists" in 45 vols., and author of "A General Biographical Dictionary."
Chalmers, George, an English publicist, born at Fochabers, author of "An Account, Historical and Topographical, of North Britain" (1742-1825).
Chalmers, Thomas, a celebrated Scotch ecclesiastic and pulpit orator, born at Anstruther, Fife; studied for the Church, and entered the ministry; after he did so was for some years more engrossed with physical studies and material interests than spiritual, but he by-and-by woke up to see and feel that the spiritual interest was the sovereign one, and to the promotion of that he henceforth devoted himself body and soul; it was for the sake of the spiritual he took the interest he did in the ecclesiastical affairs of the nation, and that the Church might have scope and freedom to discharge its spiritual functions was one chief ruling passion of his life, and it is no wonder he bent all his energies on a movement in the Church to secure this object; he was not much of a scholar or even a theologian, but a great man, and a great force in the religious life of his country; though the first pulpit-orator of his day, and though he wrote largely, as well as eloquently, he left no writings worthy of him except the "Astronomical Discourses" perhaps, to perpetuate his memory; he was distinguished for his practical sagacity, and was an expert at organisation; in his old age he was a most benignant, venerable-looking man: "It is a long time," wrote Carlyle to his mother, just after a visit he had paid him a few days before he died—"it is a long time since I have spoken to so good and really pious-hearted and beautiful old man" (1780-1847).
Châlons-sur-Marne (25), capital of the French dep. of Marne, 100 m. E. of Paris, where Attila was defeated by the Romans and Goths in 451; Napoleon III. formed a camp near it for the training of troops.
Châlons-sur-Saône (24), a trading centre some 80 m. N. of Lyons; manufactures machinery, glass, paper, and chemicals.
Chains, chief town of the French dep. of Haute Vienne, where Richard Coeur de Lion was mortally wounded in 1199 by a shot with an arrow.
Cham, the pseudonym of the French caricaturist Amédee de Noé, famous for his humorous delineations of Parisian life (1819-1884).
Chamber of Commerce, an association of merchants to promote and protect the interests of trade, particularly of the town or the district to which they belong.
Chamber of Deputies, a French legislative assembly, elected now by universal suffrage.
Chamberlain, Right Hon. Joseph, born in London, connected as a business man with Birmingham; after serving the latter city in a municipal capacity, was elected the parliamentary representative in 1876; became President of the Board of Trade under Mr. Gladstone in 1880, and chief promoter of the Bankruptcy Bill; broke with Mr. Gladstone on his Home Rule measure for Ireland, and joined the Liberal-Unionists; distinguished himself under Lord Salisbury as Colonial Secretary; b. 1836.
Chambers, Ephraim, an English writer, born in Kendal, author of a cyclopædia which bears his name, and which formed the basis of subsequent ones, as Johnson confessed it did of his Dictionary (1680-1750).
Chambers, George, an English marine painter, born at Whitby; d. 1840.
Chambers, Robert, brother of the succeeding and in the same line of life, but of superior accomplishments, especially literary and scientific, which served him well in editing the publications issued by the firm; was the author of a great many works of a historical, biographical, and scientific, as well as literary interest; wrote the "Vestiges of Creation," a book on evolutionary lines, which made no small stir at the time of publication, 1844, and for a time afterwards, the authorship of which he was slow to own (1802-1871).
Chambers, Sir William, born at Peebles; apprenticed to a bookseller in Edinburgh, and commenced business on his own account in a small way; edited with his brother the "Gazetteer of Scotland"; started, in 1832, Chambers's Edinburgh Journal to meet a demand of the time for popular instruction in company with his brother founded a great printing and publishing establishment, from which there has issued a number of valuable works in the interest especially of the propagation of useful knowledge of all kinds; was a distinguished Edinburgh citizen, and did much for the expansion and improvement of the city (1800-1883)
Chambers, Sir William, architect, born at Stockholm, of Scotch origin; architect of Somerset House; was of the Johnson circle of wits (1726-1796)
Chambéry (19), chief town of dep. of Savoy, in a beautiful district; is the ancient capital, and contains the castle, of the dukes of Savoy; manufactures cloth, wines, soap, and textile fabrics; is also a summer resort.
Chambeze, a head-stream of the Congo, N. of lake Nyassa.
Chambord, spacious château in the dep. of Loire-et-Cher, France, built by Francis I.; after being long a residence for royalty and people of distinction, was presented in 1821 to the Duc de Bordeaux, the Comte de Chambord.
Chambord, Comte de, Duc de Bordeaux, son of the Duc de Berri and grandson of Charles X., born at Paris; exiled in 1830, he retired to the château of Frohsdorf, in Austria, where he died without issue; his father and grandfather being dead, the monarchical party resolved to attempt a restoration in his behalf in 1872, but he refused to adopt the tricolor flag of the Revolution, and the scheme was abandoned, a like opportunity offering itself twice before being let slip (1820-1883).
Chambre Ardente, a name given to certain courts of justice established to try certain cases that required to be sharply dealt with; they were held at night, and even when held in the daytime with lighted torches; a court of the kind was instituted for trial of the Huguenots in 1530, and again in 1680 and 1716.
Chamfort, a French wit and littérateur, born in Auvergne; took to the Revolution, but offended the leaders, and being threatened with arrest committed suicide, "cutting and slashing with frantic, uncertain hand, gaining, not without difficulty, the refuge of death"; he was a born cynic, and was famous for his keen insight into human nature and his sharp criticisms of it, summed up in a collection of maxims he left, as well as for his anecdotes in incisive portraiture of character. "He was a man," says Professor Saintsbury, "soured by his want of birth, health, and position, and spoilt by hanging on to the great persons of his time. But for a kind of tragi-comic satire, a soeva indignatio, taking the form of contempt for all that is exalted and noble, he has no equal in literature except Swift" (1741-1794).
Chamillard, Minister of Finance and of War under Louis XIV.; "distinguished himself by his incapacity" (1651-1721).
Chamisso, Adalbert von, a German naturalist and littérateur born in France, but educated in Berlin; is famous for his poetical productions, but especially as the author of "Peter Schlemihl," the man who lost his shadow, which has been translated into nearly every European language; he wrote several works on natural history (1781-1838).
Chamouni, or Chamonix, a village in the dep. of Haute-Savoie, 33 m. SE. of Geneva, in a valley forming the upper basin of the Arve, famous for its beauty and for its glaciers; it is from this point that the ascent of Mont Blanc is usually made.
Chamousset, a French philanthropist, born in Paris; the originator of mutual benefit societies (1717-1773).
Champagne, an ancient province of France, 180 m. long by 150 broad, annexed to the Crown 1286, and including the deps. of Aube, Haute-Marne, Marne, and Ardennes; the province where the wine of the name is principally manufactured.
Champ-de-Mars, a large space, of ground in Paris, between the front of the École Militaire and the left bank of the Seine; the site of recent Expositions, and the scene of the Federation Féte, 14th July 1790.
Champlain`, a beautiful lake between the States of New York and Vermont; it is 100 m. in length, and from 1 m. at its S. end to 14 m. at its N. end broad.
Champlain, Samuel de, a French navigator, born at Brouage, in Saintonge, was founder of Quebec, and French Governor of Canada; wrote an account of his voyages (1570-1635).
Champollion, Jean François, a celebrated French Egyptologist, born in Figeac, dep. of Lot; early gave himself to the study of Coptic and Egyptian antiquities; was the first to decipher the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt, a great discovery; conducted a scientific expedition to Egypt in 1828, and returned in 1830 with the fruits of his researches; a chair of Egyptology was in consequence instituted in the College of France, and he was installed as the first professor; his writings on the science, of which he laid the foundation, are numerous (1790-1832).
Champs-Elysées, a Parisian promenade between the Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe.
Chancellor, Richard, an English seaman, voyaging in northern parts, arrived in the White Sea, and travelled to Moscow, where he concluded a commercial treaty with Russia on behalf of an English company; wrote an interesting account of his visit; after a second visit, in which he visited Moscow, was wrecked on the coast of Aberdeenshire in 1556.
Chandernagore (25), a small town and territory on the Hooghly, 22 m. N. of Calcutta, belonging to France.
Chandler, Richard, a learned Hellenistic archæologist, born in Hants; travelled in Asia Minor and Greece, along with two artists, to examine and describe the antiquities; the materials collected were published in his "Ionian Antiquities," "Travels in Asia Minor," &c. (1738-1810).
Chandos, an English title inherited by the Grenville family, of Norman origin.
Chandos, John, a celebrated English general in the 14th century; was present at Crécy, governor of English provinces in France ceded by treaty of Bretigny; defeated and took prisoner Du Guesclin of Auray; served under the Black Prince, and was killed near Poitiers, 1369.
Changarnier, Nicolas, French general, born at Autun; distinguished himself in Algeria, was exiled after the coup-d'état, returned in 1870, served in the Franco-German war; surrendered at Metz, at the close of the war came back, and assisted in reorganising the army (1793-1877).
Channel, The English, an arm of the Atlantic between France and England, 280 m. long and 100 m. wide at the mouth; the French call it La Manche (the sleeve) from its shape.
Channel Islands (92), a group of small islands off the NW. coast of France, of which the largest are Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark; formerly part of the Duchy of Normandy, and now all that remains to Britain of her French dominions, being subject to it since 1066; have a delightful climate mild and bright, and varied and beautiful scenery; the soil is fertile; flowers and fruit are grown for export to Britain, also early potatoes for the London market; Guernsey pears and Jersey cows are famous; valuable quarries of granite are wrought; the language is Norman-French.
Channing, William Ellery, a Unitarian preacher and miscellaneous writer, born at Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.; a man of the most liberal sentiments, who shrank from being classed with any sect; ranked high in point of moral character; was a vigorous thinker, and eloquent with the pen; "a man of faithful, long-continued striving towards what is Best" (1780-1842).
Chanson De Gestes (i. e. Songs of Deeds), poems of a narrative kind much in favour in the Middle Ages, relating in a legendary style the history and exploits of some famous hero, such as the "Chanson de Roland," ascribed to Théroulde, a trouvère of the 9th century.
Chantrey, Sir Francis, an English sculptor, born in Derbyshire; was apprenticed to a carver and gilder in Sheffield; displayed a talent for drawing and modelling; received a commission to execute a marble bust for the parish, church, which was so successful as to procure him further and further commissions; executed four colossal busts of admirals for Greenwich Hospital; being expert at portraiture, his busts were likenesses; executed busts of many of the most illustrious men of the time, among them of Sir Walter Scott, Wordsworth, Southey, and Wellington, as well as of royal heads; made a large fortune, and left it for the encouragement of art (1781-1841).
Chanzy, a French general, born at Nouart, Ardennes; served in Algeria; commanded the army of the Loire in 1870-71; distinguished himself by his brilliant retreat from Mans to Laval; was afterwards Governor-General in Algeria; died suddenly, to the regret of his country (1823-1883).
Chaos, a name in the ancient cosmogomy for the formless void out of which everything at first sprang into existence, or the wide-spread confusion that prevailed before it shaped itself into order under the breath of the spirit of life.
Chapelain, a French poet, protégé of Richelieu, born at Paris; composed a pretentious poem on Joan of Arc, entitled "Pucelle," which was laughed out of existence on the appearance of the first half, consisting of only 12 of the 24 books promised, the rest having never passed beyond the MS. stage (1595-1674).
Chapman, George, English dramatic poet, born at Hitchin, Hertfordshire; wrote numerous plays, both in tragedy and comedy, as well as poems, of unequal merit, but his great achievement, and the one on which his fame rests, is his translation into verse of the works of Homer, which, though not always true to the letter, is instinct with somewhat of the freshness and fire of the original; his translation is reckoned the best yet done into English verse, and the best rendering into verse of any classic, ancient or modern (1559-1634).
Chappell, musical amateur, collector and editor of old English airs, and contributor to the history of English national music; was one of the founders of the Musical Hungarian Society, and the Percy Society (1809-1888).
Chaptal, a distinguished French chemist and statesman, born at Nogaret, Lozère; author of inventions in connection with the manufacture of alum and saltpetre, the bleaching and the dyeing of cotton; held office under Napoleon, and rendered great service to the arts and manufactures of his country (1756-1832).
Charcot, Jean Martin, a French pathologist; made a special study of nervous diseases, including hypnotism, and was eminent for his works in connection therewith (1823-1893).
Chardin, Sir John, traveller, born in Paris; author of "Travels in India and Persia," valuable for their accuracy (1643-1713).
Charente (360), a dep. of France, W. of the Gironde, capital Angoulême; with vast chestnut forests; produces wines, mostly distilled into brandy.
Charente-Inférieure (456), a maritime dep. of France, W. of the former; includes the islands of Rhé, Oléron, Aix, and Madame; capital, La Rochelle.
Chariva`ri, a satirical journal, such as the English Punch; originally a discordant mock serenade.
Charlemagne i. e. Charles or Karl the Great, the first Carlovingian king of the Franks, son and successor of Pepin le Bref (the Short); became sole ruler on the death of his brother Carloman in 771; he subjugated by his arms the southern Gauls, the Lombards, the Saxons, and the Avares, and conducted a successful expedition against the Moors in Spain, with the result that his kingdom extended from the Ebro to the Elbe; having passed over into Italy in support of the Pope, he was on Christmas Day 800 crowned Emperor of the West, after which he devoted himself to the welfare of his subjects, and proved himself as great in legislation as in arms; enacted laws for the empire called capitularies, reformed the judicial administration, patronised letters, and established schools; kept himself in touch and au courant with everything over his vast domain; he died and was buried at Aix-la-Chapelle (742-814).
Charleroi (21), a manufacturing town in Hainault, Belgium, 35 m. SE. of Brussels.
Charles II., surnamed The Bald, son of Louis "le Débonnaire"; after conquering his brother Lothaire at Fontenoy in 841, became by the treaty of Verdun king of France, 843; was unable to defend his kingdom against the Normans; went to Italy, and had himself crowned emperor at Rome: d. 877.
Charles III., surnamed The Simple, became king of France in 893; his reign one long struggle against the Normans, which ended by conceding Normandy to Rollo; was conquered by Hugh Capet, a rival for the crown, at Soissons, and dethroned in 922; died in captivity, 929.
Charles IV., The Fair, third son of Philip the Fair, king of France from 1322 to 1328; lost to France Guienne, which was taken from him by the English; was the last of the Capetians; d. 1328.
Charles V., The Wise, son of John II., king of France from 1361 to 1380; recovered from the English almost all the provinces they had conquered, successes due to his own prudent policy, and especially the heroism of Du Guesclin, De Clisson, and De Boucicaut; France owed to him important financial reforms, the extension of privileges to the universities, and the establishment of the first national library, into which were gathered together thousands of MSS.; the Bastille was founded in his reign.
Charles VI., The Well-Beloved, king of France from 1380 to 1422, was son and successor of Charles V.; began his reign under the guardianship of his uncles, who rifled the public treasury and provoked rebellion by their exactions; gained a victory at Rossbach over the Flemings, then in revolt, and a little after dismissed his uncles and installed in their stead the wise councillors of his father, whose sage, upright, and beneficent administration procured for him the title of "Well-Beloved," a state of things, however, which did not last long, for the harassments he had been subjected to drove him insane, and his kingdom, torn in pieces by rival factions, was given over to anarchy, and fell by treaty of Troyes almost entirely into the hands of the English conquerors at Agincourt (1368-1422).
Charles VII., The Victorious, son of Charles VI., became king of France in 1422; at his accession the English held possession of almost the whole country, and he indolently made no attempt to expel them, but gave himself up to effeminate indulgences; was about to lose his whole patrimony when the patriotism of the nation woke up at the enthusiastic summons of Joan of Arc; her triumphs and those of her associates weakened the English domination, and even after her death the impulse she gave continued to work, till at the end of 20 years the English were driven out of France, and lost all they held in it except the town of Calais, along with Havre, and Guines Castle (1403-1461).
Charles VIII., king of France, son and successor of Louis XI.; during his minority the kingdom suffered from the turbulence and revolts of the nobles; married Anne of Brittany, heiress of the rich duchy of that name, by which it was added to the crown of France; sacrificed the interests of his kingdom by war with Italy to support the claims of French princes to the throne of Naples, which, though successful in a military point of view, proved politically unfruitful (1470-1498).
Charles IX., second son of Henry II. and Catharine de' Medici, became king of France in 1560; the civil wars of the Huguenots and Catholics fill up this reign; the first war concluded by the peace of Amboise, during which Francis of Guise was assassinated; the second concluded by the peace of Longjumeau, during which Montmorency fell; the third concluded by the peace of St. Germain, in which Condé and Moncontour fell, which peace was broken by the massacre of St. Bartholomew, into the perpetration of which Charles was inveigled by his mother and the Guises; incensed at this outrage the Huguenots commenced a fourth war, and were undertaking a fifth when Charles died, haunted by remorse and in dread of the infinite terror (1550-1574).
Charles X., brother of Louis XVI. and Louis XVIII., the latter of whom he succeeded on the throne of France in 1824; was unpopular in France as Duc d'Artois in the time of the Revolution, and had to flee the country at the outbreak of it, and stayed for some time as an exile in Holyrood, Edinburgh; on his accession he became no less unpopular from his adherence to the old régime; at an evil hour in 1830 he issued ordinances in defiance of all freedom, and after an insurrection of three days in the July of that year had again to flee; abdicating in favour of his son, found refuge for a time again in Holyrood, and died at Görtz in his eightieth year (1757-1837).
Charles V., (I. of Spain), emperor of Germany, son of Philip, Archduke of Austria, born at Ghent; became king of Spain in 1516, on the death of his maternal grandfather Ferdinand, and emperor of Germany in 1519 on the death of his paternal grandfather Maximilian I., being crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1520; reigned during one of the most important periods in the history of Europe; the events of the reign are too numerous to detail; enough to mention his rivalry with Francis I. of France, his contention as a Catholic with the Protestants of Germany, the inroads of the Turks, revolts in Spain, and expeditions against the pirates of the Mediterranean; the ambition of his life was the suppression of the Protestant Reformation and the succession of his son Philip to the Imperial crown; he failed in both; resigned in favour of his son, and retired into the monastery of St. Yuste, in Estremadura, near which he built a magnificent retreat, where, it is understood, notwithstanding his apparent retirement, he continued to take interest in political affairs, and to advise in the management of them (1500-1558).
Charles VI., emperor of Germany from 1711 to 1740, as well as king of Spain from 1703, was son of the Emperor Leopold I., and father of Maria Theresa.
Charles XII., king of Sweden, son of Charles XI., a warlike prince; ascended the throne at the age of 15; had to cope with Denmark, Russia, and Poland combined against him; foiled the Danes at Copenhagen, the Russians at Narva, and Augustus II. of Poland at Riga; trapped in Russia, and cooped up to spend a winter there, he was, in spring 1709, attacked by Peter the Great at Pultowa and defeated, so that he had to take refuge with the Turks at Bender; here he was attacked, captured, and conveyed to Demotica, but escaping, he found his way miraculously back to Sweden, and making peace with the Czar, commenced an attack on Norway, but was killed by a musket-shot at the siege of Friedrickshall; "the last of the Swedish kings"; "his appearance, among the luxurious kings and knights of the North" at the time, Carlyle compares to "the bursting of a cataract of bombshells in a dull ballroom" (1697-1718).
Charles I., king of England, third son of James I., born at Dunfermline; failing in his suit for the Infanta of Spain, married Henrietta Maria, a French princess, a devoted Catholic, who had great influence over him, but not for good; had for public advisers Strafford and Laud, who cherished in him ideas of absolute power adverse to the liberty of the subject; acting on these ideas brought him into collision with the Parliament, and provoked a civil war; himself the first to throw down the gauntlet by raising the royal standard at Nottingham; in the end of which he surrendered himself to the Scots army at Newark, who delivered him to the Parliament; was tried as a traitor to his country, condemned to death, and beheaded, 30th January, at Whitehall (1600-1649).
Charles II., king of England, son of Charles I., horn at St. James's Palace, London; was at The Hague, in Holland, when his father was beheaded; assumed the royal title; was proclaimed King by the Scots; landed in Scotland, and was crowned at Scone; marching into England, was defeated by Cromwell at Worcester, 3rd September 1651; fled to France; by the policy of General Monk, after Cromwell's death, was restored to his crown and kingdom in 1660, an event known as the Restoration; he was an easy-going man, and is known in history as the "Merry Monarch"; his reign was an inglorious one for England, though it is distinguished by the passing of the Habeas Corpus Act, one of the great bulwarks of English liberty next to the Magna Charta (1630-1685).
Charles, a French physicist, born at Beaugency; was the first to apply hydrogen to the inflation of balloons (1746-1823).
Charles, Archduke, of Austria, son of the Emperor Leopold II. and younger brother of Francis II., one of the ablest generals of Austria in the wars against the French Republic and the Empire; lost the battle of Wagram, after which, being wounded, he retired into private life (1771-1847).
Charles Albert, king of Sardinia, succeeded Charles Felix in 1831; conceived a design to emancipate and unite Italy; in the pursuit of this object he declared war against Austria; though at first successful, was defeated at Novara, and to save his kingdom was compelled to resign in favour of his son Victor Emmanuel; retired to Oporto, and died of a broken heart (1798-1849).
Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, grandson of James II. of England, born at Rome, landed in Scotland (1745); issued a manifesto in assertion of his father's claims; had his father proclaimed king at Edinburgh; attacked and defeated General Cope at Prestonpans; marched at the head of his adherents into England as far as Derby; returned, and defeated the king's force at Falkirk, but retired before the Duke of Cumberland, who dispersed his army at Culloden; wandered about thereafter in disguise; escaped to France, and died at Florence (1721-1789).
Charles Martel (i. e. "Charles the Hammer"), son of Pépin d'Héristal and grandfather of Charlemagne; became mayor of the Palace, and as such ruler of the Franks; notable chiefly for his signal victory over the Saracens at Poitiers in 732, whereby the tide of Mussulman invasion was once for all rolled back and the Christianisation of Europe assured; no greater service was ever rendered to Europe by any other fighting man (689-741).
Charles of Anjou, brother of St. Louis, king of Naples; lost Sicily after the Sicilian Vespers (1220-1285).
Charles of Valois, third son of Philip the Bold, one of the greatest captains of his age (1270-1324).
Charles the Rash, last Duke of Burgundy, son of Philip the Good, born at Dijon; enemy of Louis XI. of France, his feudal superior; was ambitious to free the duchy from dependence on France, and to restore it as a kingdom, and by daring enterprises tried hard to achieve this; on the failure of the last effort was found lying dead on the field (1433-1477).
Charles's Wain, the constellation of Ursa Major, a wagon without a wagoner.
Charleston (56), the largest city in S. Carolina, and the chief commercial city; also a town in Western Virginia, U.S., with a spacious land-locked harbour; is the chief outlet for the cotton and rice of the district, and has a large coasting trade.
Charlet, Nicolas Toussaint, a designer and painter, born in Paris; famous for his sketches of military subjects and country life, in which he displayed not a little humour (1792-1845).
Charleville (17), a manufacturing and trading town in the dep. of Ardennes, France; exports iron, coal, wines, and manufactures hardware and beer.
Charlevoix, a Jesuit and traveller, born at St. Quentin, explored the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi (1682-1761).
Charlotte, Princess, daughter and only child of George IV. of England, married to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, afterwards king of Belgium; died after giving birth to a still-born boy, to the great grief of the whole nation (1796-1817).
Charlotte Elizabeth of Bavaria, second wife of the Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIV., called the Princess Palatine (1652-1722).
Charlottenburg (76), a town on the Spree, 3 m. W. of Berlin, with a palace, the favourite residence of Sophie Charlotte, the grandmother of Frederick the Great, and so named by her husband Frederick I. after her death; contains the burial-place of William I., emperor of Germany.
Charlottetown (13), the capital of Prince Edward Island.
Charmettes, a picturesque hamlet near Chambéry, a favourite retreat of Rousseau's.
Charnay, a French traveller; a writer on the ancient civilisation of Mexico, which he has made a special study; b. 1828.
Charon, in the Greek mythology the ferryman of the ghosts of the dead over the Styx into Hades, a grim old figure with a mean dress and a dirty beard, peremptory in exacting from the ghosts he ferried over the obolus allowed him for passage-money.
Charondas, a Sicilian law-giver, disciple of Pythagoras; is said to have killed himself when he found he had involuntarily broken one of his own laws (600 B.C.).
Charron, Pierre, a French moralist and theologian, as well as pulpit orator, born in Paris; author of "Les Trois Vérités," the unity of God, Christianity the sole religion, and Catholicism the only Christianity; and of a sceptical treatise "De la Sagesse"; a friend and disciple of Montaigne, but bolder as more dogmatic, with less bonhommie and originality, and much of a cynic withal (1541-1603).
Charterhouse, a large London school, originally a Carthusian monastery, and for a time a residence of the dukes of Norfolk.
Chartier, Alain, an early scholarly French poet and prose writer of note, born at Bayeux; secretary to Charleses V., VI., and VII. of France, whom Margaret, daughter of James I. of Scotland and wife of Louis XI., herself a poetess, once kissed as he lay asleep for the pleasure his poems gave her; was a patriot, and wrote as one (1390-1458).
Chartism, a movement of the working-classes of Great Britain for greater political power than was conceded to them by the Reform Bill of 1832, and which found expression in a document called the "People's Charter," drawn up in 1838, embracing six "points," as they were called, viz., Manhood Suffrage, Equal Electoral Districts, Vote by Ballot, Annual Parliaments, Abolition of a Property Qualification in the Parliamentary Representation, and Payment of Members of Parliament, all which took the form of a petition presented to the House of Commons in 1839, and signed by 1,380,000 persons. The refusal of the petition gave rise to great agitation over the country, which gradually died out in 1848.
Chartres (23), the capital of the French dep. of Eure-et-Lois, 55 m. SW. of Paris; gave title of Duke to the eldest of the Orleanist Bourbons.
Chartreuse, La Grande, a monastery founded by St. Bruno in 1084 in the dep. of Isère, 14 m. NE. of Grenoble; famous as the original place of the manufacture of the Chartreuse liqueur, held in much repute; it was honoured by a visit of Queen Victoria in 1887; Ruskin was disappointed with both monks and monastery.
Chase, Salmon Portland, Chief-Justice of the United States; a great anti-slavery advocate and leader of the Free-Soil party; aimed at the Presidency, but failed (1773-1808).
Chasi`dim, a party among the Jews identified with the Pharisees, their supreme concern the observance of their religion in its purity.
Chasles, Michel, an eminent French mathematician, and held one of the first in the century; on the faith of certain autographs, which were afterwards proved to be forgeries, he in 1867 astonished the world by ascribing to Pascal the great discoveries of Newton, but had to admit he was deceived (1793-1880).
Chasles, Philarète, a French littérateur, born near Chartres, a disciple of Rousseau; lived several years in England, and wrote extensively on English subjects, Shakespeare, Mary Stuart, Charles I., and Cromwell among the chief (1799-1873).
Chassé, David Hendrik, Baron, a Dutch soldier; served France under Napoleon, who called him "General Baïonnette," from his zealous use of the bayonet; fought at Waterloo on the opposite side; as governor of Antwerp, gallantly defended its citadel in 1832 against a French and Belgian force twelve times larger than his own (1765-1849).
Chassepot, a French breech-loading rifle named from the inventor.
Chasseurs, picked bodies of light cavalry and infantry in the French service, called respectively Chasseurs-à-cheval and Chasseurs-à-pied.
Chastelard, Pierre de Boscosel de, grandson of Bayard; conceived an insane passion for Queen Mary, whom he accompanied to Scotland; was surprised in her bedchamber, under her bed, and condemned to death, it being his second offence (1540-1562).
Chat Moss, a large bog in Lancashire, 7 m. W. of Manchester, which is partly reclaimed and partly, through the ingenuity of George Stephenson, traversed by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
Châteaubriand, François René de, eminent French littérateur, born in St. Malo, younger son of a noble family of Brittany; travelled to N. America in 1791; returned to France on the arrest of Louis XVI., and joined the Emigrants (q. v.) at Coblenz; was wounded at the siege of Thionville, and escaped to England; wrote an "Essay on Revolutions Ancient and Modern," conceived on liberal lines; was tempted back again to France in 1800; wrote "Atala," a story of life in the wilds of America, which was in 1802 followed by his most famous work, "Génie du Christianisme"; entered the service of Napoleon, but withdrew on the murder of the Duc d'Enghien; though not obliged to leave France, made a journey to the East, the fruit of which was his "Itinéraire de Paris à Jerusalem"; hailed with enthusiasm the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814; supported the Bourbon dynasty all through, though he wavered sometimes in the interest of liberty; withdrew from public life on the elevation of Louis Philippe to the throne; he was no thinker, but he was a fascinating writer, and as such exercised no small influence on the French literature of his day; he lived in a transition period, and hovered between legitimism and liberty, the revolution and reaction, and belonged to the Romantic school of literature—was perhaps the father of it in France (1766-1848).
Châteaux en Espagne, castles in Spain, visionary projects.
Châtelet, Marquise de, a learned Frenchwoman, born at Paris, with whom Voltaire kept up an intimate acquaintanceship (1706-1749).
Châtellerault (18), a town in the dep. of Vienne, 24 m. NE. of Poitiers; gave title to the Scottish regent, the Earl of Arran; manufactures cutlery and small-arms for the Government.
Chatham (59), a town in Kent, on the estuary of the Medway, a fortified naval arsenal; is connected with Rochester.
Chatham, William Pitt, Earl of, a great British statesman and orator, born in Cornwall; determined opponent of Sir Robert Walpole; succeeded in driving him from power, and at length installing himself in his place; had an eye to the greatness and glory of England, summoned the English nation to look to its laurels; saw the French, the rivals of England, beaten back in the four quarters of the globe; driven at length from power himself, he still maintained a single regard for the honour of his country, and the last time his voice was heard in the Parliament of England was to protest against her degradation by an ignoble alliance with savages in the war with America; on this occasion he fell back in a faint into the arms of his friends around, and died little more than a month after; "for four years" (of his life), says Carlyle, "king of England; never again he; never again one resembling him, nor indeed can ever be." See Smelfungus on his character and position in Carlyle's "Frederick," Book xxi. chap. i. (1708-1775).
Chatham Islands, a group of islands 360 m. E. of New Zealand, and politically connected with it; the chief industry is the rearing of cattle.
Chatsworth, the palatial seat of the Duke of Devonshire, in Derbyshire, 8 m. W. of Chesterfield, enclosed in a park, with gardens, 10 m. in circumference.
Chatterton, Thomas, a poet of great promise, had a tragic fate, born at Bristol, passed off while but a boy as copies of ancient MSS., and particularly of poems which he ascribed to one Rowley, a monk of the 17th century, what were compositions of his own, exhibiting a genius of no small literary, not to say lyric, power; having vainly endeavoured to persuade any one of their genuineness, though he had hopes of the patronage of Sir Robert Walpole, he left Bristol for London, and made vehement efforts with his pen to bespeak regard, but failed; grew desperate, and committed suicide at the early age of 18 (1752-1770).
Chaucer, Geoffrey, the great early English poet, and father of English poetry, the son of a vintner and taverner, born probably in London, where he lived almost all his days; when a lad, served as page in the royal household; won the favour and patronage of the king, Edward III. and his son, John of Gaunt, who pensioned him; served in an expedition to France; was made prisoner, but ransomed by the king; was often employed on royal embassies, in particular to Italy; held responsible posts at home; was thus a man of the world as well as a man of letters; he comes first before us as a poet in 1369; his poetic powers developed gradually, and his best and ripest work, which occupied him at intervals from 1373 to 1400, is his "Canterbury Tales" (q. v.), characterised by Stopford Brooke as "the best example of English story-telling we possess"; besides which he wrote, among other compositions, "The Life of St. Cecilia," "Troilus and Cressida," the "House of Fame," and the "Legend of Good Women"; his influence on English literature has been compared to that of Dante on Italian, and his literary life has been divided into three periods—the French, the Italian, and the English, according as the spirit of it was derived from a foreign or a native source (1340-1400).
Chaumette, Pierre Gaspard, a violent member of the extreme party in the French Revolution, could "recognise the suspect from the very face of them"; provoked the disgust of even Robespierre, and was arrested amid jeers and guillotined (1763-1794).
Chautauqua, a summer resort on a lake of the name in the W. of New York State, centre of a novel institution, which prescribes a four years' course of private readings, and grants diplomas to those who anywhere achieve it.
Chauvinism, a name among the French for what is known as Jingoism among the English, i. e. an extravagant zeal for the glory of one's country or party, from one Chauvin, who made threatening displays of his devotion to Napoleon after his fall in 1815.
Cheddar, a village in Somersetshire, on the Mendip Hills, famous for its cheese.
Cheke, Sir John, a zealous Greek scholar, born at Cambridge, and first regius professor of Greek there; did much to revive in England an interest in Greek and Greek literature; was tutor to Edward VI., who granted him landed estates; favouring the cause of Lady Jane Grey on the accession of Mary, left the country, was seized, and sent back; for fear of the stake abjured Protestantism, but never forgave himself, and died soon after; he introduced the mode of pronouncing Greek prevalent in England (1514-1557).
Chelmsford (11), the county town of Essex, on the Chelmer.
Chelsea (96), a western suburb of London, on the N. of the Thames; famous for its hospital for old and disabled soldiers, and the place of residence of sundry literary celebrities, among others Sir Thomas More, Swift, Steele, and Carlyle.
Cheltenham (49), a healthy watering-place and educational centre in Gloucestershire; first brought into repute as a place of fashionable resort by the visits of George III. to it; contains a well-equipped college, where a number of eminent men have been educated.
Chelyuskin, Cape, in Siberia, the most northerly point in the Eastern hemisphere.
Chemical Affinity, the tendency elementary bodies have to combine and remain in combination.
Chemism, in the Hegelian philosophy "the mutual attraction, interpenetration, and neutralisation of independent individuals which unite to form a whole."
Chemistry, the science that treats of elementary bodies and their combinations: inorganic, relating to physical compounds; organic, relating to vegetable and animal compounds.
Chemnitz (160), a manufacturing town in Saxony, called the "Saxon Manchester," at the foot of the Erzgebirge, in a rich mineral district; manufactures cottons, woollens, silks, machinery, &c.
Chemnitz, Martin, an eminent Lutheran theologian, born in Brandenburg, a disciple of Melanchthon; author of "Loci Theologici," a system of theology; took a leading part in procuring the adoption of the "Formula of Concord"; his chief work "Examen Concilii Tridentini" (1522-1586).
Chemosh, the national god of the Moabites, akin to Moloch, and their stay in battle, but an abomination to the children of Jehovah.
Chemulpo, a town on the W. coast of Corea; a thriving town since it became a treaty-port in 1883.
Chenab`, an affluent on the left bank of the Indus, and one of the five rivers, and the largest, which give name to the Punjab; is 750 m. long.
Chenery, Thomas, a journalist; became editor of the Times; was distinguished for his knowledge of Arabic and Hebrew, and was one of the Old Testament revisers (1826-1884).
Chénier, Marie-André, French poet, greatest in the 18th century, born at Constantinople; author of odes, idylls, and elegies, which place him high among French poets; took part in the Revolution as a lover of order as well as of liberty; offended Robespierre, and was guillotined two days before the fall of Robespierre; as a poet he was distinguished for the purity of his style and his originality (1762-1794).
Chenonceaux, a magnificent château near Amboise, in, France; built by Francis I. for the Duchesse d'Etampes, afterwards the property of the Condés, and afterwards of Madame Dupont.
Chenu, a French naturalist; author of an "Encyclopædia of Natural History" (1808-1879).
Cheophren, king of Egypt, brother and successor of Cheops; built the second great pyramid.
Cheops, king of Memphis, in Egypt, of the 4th dynasty; builder of the largest of the pyramids about 3000 B.C.
Chepstow (4), a port on the Wye, Monmouthshire, 17 m. N. of Newport; with a tubular suspension bridge, and where the tides are higher than anywhere else in Britain.
Cher, an affluent of the Loire below Tours; also the dep. in France (359) to which it gives name; an agricultural and pastoral district; capital Bourges.
Cherbourg (40), a French port and arsenal in the dep. of Manche, opposite the Isle of Wight, 70 m. distant, on the construction and fortifications of which immense sums were expended, as much as eight millions; the fortifications were begun by Vauban.
Cherbuliez, Victor, novelist, critic, and publicist, born at Geneva, of a distinguished family; professor of Greek at Geneva; holds a high place, and is widely known, as a writer of a series of works of fiction; b. 1826.
Cher`ibon (11), a seaport of Java, on the N. of the island.
Cherith, a brook E. of the Jordan, Elijah's hiding-place.
Cherokees, a tribe of American Indians, numbering some 20,000, in the NW. of the Indian Territory, U.S.; civilised, self-governing, and increasing; formerly occupied the region about the Tennessee River.
Cherone`a, a town in Boeotia, where Philip of Macedon conquered the Athenians and Thebans, 338 B.C., and Sulla defeated Mithridates, 86 B.C.; the birthplace of Plutarch, who is hence called the Cheronean Sage.
Cherra Punji (5), a village in the Khasi Hills, Assam, with the heaviest rainfall of any place on the globe.
Chersone`sus (i. e. continent island), a name which the Greeks gave to several peninsulas, viz., the Tauric C., the Crimea, the Thracian C., Gallipoli; the Cimbric C., Jutland; the Golden C., the Malay Peninsula.
Chertsey (11), a very old town of Surrey, 21 m. SW. of London, on the right bank of the Thames.
Cherubim, an order of angelic beings conceived of as accompanying the manifestations of Jehovah, supporting His throne and protecting His glory, guarding it from profane intrusion; winged effigies of them overshadowed the Mercy Seat (q. v.).
Cherubim, a character in the "Mariage de Figaro"; also the 11th Hussars, from their trousers being of a cherry colour.
Cherubini, a celebrated musical composer, born at Florence; naturalised in France; settled in Paris, the scene of his greatest triumphs; composed operas, of which the chief were "Iphigenia in Aulis," and "Les deux Journeés; or, The Water-Carrier," his masterpiece; also a number of sacred pieces and requiems, all of the highest merit; there is a portrait of him by Ingres (1842) in the Louvre, representing the Muse of his art extending her protecting hand over his head (1760-1842).
Chéruel, Adolphe, French historian, born at Rouen; author of "History of France during the Minority of Louis XIV."; published the "Memoirs of Saint-Simon" (1809-1891).
Cherusci, an ancient people of Germany, whose leader was Arminius, and under whom they defeated the Romans, commanded by Varus, in 9 A.D.
Chesapeake Bay, a northward-extending inlet on the Atlantic coast of the United States, 200 m. long and from 10 to 40 m. broad, cutting Maryland in two.
Cheselden, William, an English anatomist and surgeon, whose work, "Anatomy of the Human Body," was long used as a text-book on that science (1688-1752).
Cheshire (730), a western county of England, between the Mersey and the Dee, the chief mineral products of which are coal and rock-salt, and the agricultural, butter and cheese; has numerous manufacturing towns, with every facility for inter-communication, and the finest pasture-land in England.
Cheshunt (9), a large village in Hertfordshire, 14 m. N. of London, with rose gardens, and a college founded by the Countess of Huntingdon.
Chesil Beach, a neck of land on the Devonshire coast, 15 m. long, being a ridge of loose pebbles and shingle.
Chesney, C. Cornwallis, professor of Military History, nephew of the succeeding, author of "Waterloo Lectures" (1826-1876).
Chesney, Francis Rawdon, explorer, born in co. Down, Ireland; explored with much labour the route to India by way of the Euphrates, though his labours were rendered futile by the opposition of Russia; proved, by survey of the isthmus, the practicability of the Suez Canal (1798-1872).
Chester (41), the county town of Cheshire, on the Dee, 16 m. SE. of Liverpool; an ancient city founded by the Romans; surrounded by walls nearly 2 m. long, and from 7 to 8 ft. thick, forming a promenade with parapets; the streets are peculiar; along the roofs of the lower storeys of the houses there stretch piazzas called "Rows," at the original level of the place, 16 ft. wide for foot-passengers, approached by steps; it abounds in Roman remains, and is altogether a unique town.
Chesterfield (22), a town in Derbyshire, 21 m. N. of Derby; in a mineral district; manufactures cotton, woollen, and silk; has a canal connecting it with the Trent.
Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of, statesman, orator, and man of letters, eldest son of the third earl, born in London; sat in the House of Commons from 1716 to 1726; was an opponent of Walpole; held office under the Pelhams; in 1748 retired from deafness, or perhaps disgust, into private life; celebrated for his "Letters to his Son," models of elegance, though of questionable morality, which it appears he never intended to publish, and for the scorn with which Dr. Johnson treated him when he offered to help him, after he no longer needed any, in a letter which gave the death-blow to the patronage of literature; is credited by Carlyle with having predicted the French Revolution; it should be added, the "Letters" were printed by his son's widow (1694-1773).
Chevalier, Michel, a celebrated French economist, born at Limoges; originally a Socialist of the St. Simonian school; for defending Socialism was imprisoned, but recanted, and wrote ably against Socialism; was a free-trader and coadjutor of Cobden (1806-1879).
Chevalier, Sulpice. See Gavarni.
Chevalier d'Industrie, one who lives by his wits, specially by swindling.
Chevalier St. George, the Pretender.
Chevaux-de-Frise, a military fence composed of a beam or a bar armed with long spikes, literally Friesland horses, having been first used in Friesland.
Chevert, a French general, born at Verdun; "a bit of right soldier stuff"; distinguished himself in many engagements, and especially at the siege of Prague in 1757 (1696-1773).
Cheviot Hills, a range on the borders of England and Scotland, extending 35 m. south-westwards, the highest in Northumberland 2676 ft., the Carter Fell being 2020 ft.; famous for its breed of sheep.
Chevreul, Michel Eugène, a French chemist, born at Angers; an expert in the department of dyeing, and an authority on colours, as well as the chemistry of fats; was director in the dyeing department in the Gobelins manufactory; he lived to witness the centenary of his birth (1786-1889).
Chevreuse, Duchesse de, played an important part in the Fronde and in the plots against Richelieu and Mazarin; her Life has been written by Victor Cousin (1600-1679).
Chevron, in heraldry an ordinary of two bands forming an angle descending to the extremities of the shield; representing the two rafters of a house, meeting at the top.
Chevy Chase, the subject and title of a highly popular old English ballad, presumed to refer to an event in connection with the battle of Otterburn; there were strains in it which Sir Philip Sidney said moved his heart more than with a trumpet.
Cheyenne Indians, a warlike tribe of Red Indians, now much reduced, and partially settled in the Indian Territory, U.S.; noted for their horsemanship.
Cheyne, George, a physician and medical writer, born in Aberdeenshire, in practice in London; suffered from corpulency, being 32 stone in weight, but kept it down by vegetable and milk diet, which he recommended to others in the like case; wrote on fevers, nervous disorders, and hygiene; wrote also on fluxions (1671-1743).
Cheyne, Thomas Kelly, an eminent Biblical scholar, born in London; Oriel Professor of Scripture Exegesis, Oxford, and canon of Rochester; author of numerous works on the Old Testament, particularly on "Isaiah" and the "Psalms," in which he advocates conclusions in accord with modern critical results; b. 1841.
Chézy, De, a French Orientalist, born at Neuilly; the first to create in France an interest in the study of Sanskrit (1773-1832).
Chiabrera, Gabriello, an Italian lyric poet, born at Savona; distinguished, especially for his lyrics; surnamed the "Pindar of Italy," Pindar being a Greek poet whom it was his ambition to imitate (1552-1637).
Chia`na, a small, stagnant, pestilential affluent of the Tiber, now deepened into a healthful and serviceable stream, connecting the Tiber with the Arno.
Chiapas, Las (270), a Pacific State of Mexico, covered with forests; yields maize, sugar, cacao, and cotton.
Chiaroscuro, the reproduction in art of the effects of light and shade on nature as they mutually affect each other.
Chibchas or Muyscas, a civilised people, though on a lower stage than the Peruvians, whom the Spaniards found established in New Granada in the 16th century, now merged in the Spanish population; they worship the sun.
Chica, an orange-red colouring matter obtained from boiling the leaves of the Bignonia chica, and used as a dye.
Chicago (1,700), the metropolis of Illinois, in the NE. of the State, on the SW. shore of Lake Michigan, is the second city in the Union; its unparalleled growth, dating only from 1837—in 1832 a mere log-fort, and now covering an area of 180 sq. m., being 21 m. in length and 10 m. in breadth—is due to its matchless facilities for communication. Situated in the heart of the continent, a third of the United States railway system centres in it, and it communicates with all Canada, and with the ocean by the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River; laid out with absolute regularity, it has many magnificent buildings, enormously tall office "sky-scrapers," and an unrivalled system of parks and avenues; there are a university, medical, commercial, and theological colleges, an art institute, libraries, and observatory; it suffered severely from fire in 1871 and 1874; it is the greatest grain and pork market in the world, and its manufactures include almost every variety of production; the population is a mixture of all European peoples; native-born Americans are a small minority, outnumbered by the Germans and almost equalled by the Irish.
Chicard, the harlequin of the modern French carnival, grotesquely dressed up.
Chicheley, Henry, archbishop of Canterbury, a scholar and statesman, often employed on embassies, a moderate churchman; accompanied Henry V. to Agincourt (1362-1442).
Chichester (9), a cathedral city in the W. of Sussex, 17 m. NE. of Portsmouth, with a port on the Channel 2 m. SW. of it; chief trade in agricultural produce.
Chichevache, a monster fabled to feed on good women, and starved, from the scarcity of them, to skin and bone, in contrast with another called Bicorn, that fed on good men, who are more plentiful, and was fat and plump.
Chickasaws, N. American Indians, allied to the Chocktaws, settled in a civilised state in the Indian Territory like the Cherokees.
Chiclana (12), a watering-place 12 m. SB. of Cadiz, with mineral baths.
Chief, the upper part of an escutcheon cut off by a horizontal line.
Chiem-see, a high-lying lake in Upper Bavaria, 48 m. from Münich, adorned with three islands; famous for its fish.
Chien de Jean de Nivelle, the dog that never came when it was called. See Nivelle.
Chië`ti (22), a city in Central Italy, 78 m. NE. of Rome, with a fine Gothic cathedral.
Chigi, a distinguished Italian family, eminent in the Church.
Chigoe, an insect which infests the skin of the feet, multiplies incredibly, and is a great annoyance to the negro, who, however, is pretty expert in getting rid of it.
Chihua`hua (25), a town in Mexico; capital of a State (298), the largest in Mexico, of the same name, with famous silver and also copper mines.
Child, Francis James, an American scholar, born in Boston; professor of Anglo-Saxon and Early English Literature at Harvard; distinguished as the editor of Spenser and of "English and Scottish Ballads," "a monumental collection"; b. 1825.
Child, Lydia Maria, an American novelist and anti-slavery advocate (1802-1880).
Child, Sir Joshua, a wealthy London merchant, author of "Discourse on Trade," with an appendix against usury; advocated the compulsory transportation of paupers to the Colonies (1630-1699).
Childe, the eldest son of a nobleman who has not yet attained to knighthood, or has not yet won his spurs.
Childe Harold, a poem of Byron's, written between 1812 and 1819, representing the author himself as wandering over the world in quest of satisfaction and returning sated to disgust; it abounds in striking thoughts and vivid descriptions; in his "Dernier Chant of C. H." Lamartine takes up the hero where Byron leaves him.
Childerbert I., son of Clovis, king of Paris, reigned from 511 to 558. C. II., son of Siegbert and Brunhilda, king of Austrasia, reigned from 575 to 596. C. III., son of Thierri III., reigned over all France from 695 to 711, under the mayor of the palace, Pépin d'Héristal.
Childerbrand, a Frank warrior, who figures in old chronicles as the brother of Charles Martel, signalised himself in the expulsion of the Saracens from France.
Childéric I., the son of Merovig and father of Clovis, king of the Franks; d. 481. C. II., son of Clovis II., king of Austrasia in 660, and of all France in 670; assassinated 673. C. III., son of the preceding, last of the Merovingian kings, from 743 to 752; was deposed by Pepin le Bref; died in the monastery of St. Omer in 755.
Childermas, a festival to commemorate the massacre of the children by Herod.
Childers, Robert C., professor of Pâli and Buddhistic Literature in University College, and author of Pâli Dictionary (1809-1876).
Children of the Wood, two children, a boy and girl, left to the care of an uncle, who hired two ruffians to murder them, that he might inherit their wealth; one of the ruffians relented, killed his companion, and left the children in a wood, who were found dead in the morning, a redbreast having covered their bodies with strawberry leaves; the uncle was thereafter goaded to death by the furies.
Chile (2,867), the most advanced and stable of the S. American States, occupies a strip of country, 100 m. broad, between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, and stretching from Cape Horn northward 2200 m. to Peru, with Argentine and Bolivia on its eastern borders. The climate is naturally various. In the N. are rainless tracts of mountains rich in copper, manganese, silver, and other metals, and deserts with wonderful deposits of nitrate. In the S. are stretches of pastoral land and virgin forest, with excessive rains, and cold, raw climate. The central portion enjoys a temperate climate with moderate rainfall, and produces excellent wheat, grapes, and fruits of all kinds. The Andes tower above the snow-line, Aconcagua reaching 23,500 ft. The rivers are short and rapid, of little use for navigation. The coast-line is even in the N., but excessively rugged and broken in the S., the most southerly regions being weird and desolate. The people are descendants of Spaniards, mingled with Araucanian Indians; but there is a large European element in all the coast towns. Mining and agriculture are the chief industries; manufactures of various kinds are fostered with foreign capital. The chief trade is with Britain: exports nitre, wheat, copper, and iodine; imports, textiles, machinery, sugar, and cattle. Santiago (250) is the capital; Valparaiso (150) and Iquique the principal ports. The government is republican; Roman Catholicism the State religion; education is fairly well fostered; there is a university at Santiago. The country was first visited by Magellan in 1520. In 1540 Pedro Valdivia entered it from Peru and founded Santiago. During colonial days it was an annex of Peru. In 1810 the revolt against Spain broke out. Independence was gained in 1826. Settled government was established in 1847. Since then a revolution in 1851, successful wars with Spain 1864-66, with Bolivia and Peru 1879-81, and a revolution in 1891, have been the most stirring events in its history.
Chillianwalla, a village in the Punjab, 80 m. NW. of Lahore, the scene in 1849 of a bloody battle in the second Sikh War, in which the Sikhs were defeated by Gen. Gough; it was also the scene of a battle between Alexander the Great and Porus.
Chillingham, a village in Northumberland, 8 m. SW. of Belford, with a park attached to the castle, the seat of the Earl of Tankerville, containing a herd of native wild cattle.
Chillingworth, William, an able English controversial divine, who thought forcibly and wrote simply, born at Oxford; championed the cause of Protestantism against the claims of Popery in a long-famous work, "The Religion of Protestants the Safe Way to Salvation," summing up his conclusion in the oft-quoted words, "The Bible, the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants"; though a Protestant, he was not a Puritan or a man of narrow views, and he suffered at the hands of the Puritans as an adherent of the Royalist cause (1602-1643).
Chillon, Castle of, a castle and state prison built on a rock, 62 ft. from the shore, at the eastern end of the Lake of Geneva; surnamed the Bastille of Switzerland, in which Bonivard, the Genevese patriot, was, as celebrated by Byron, incarcerated for six years; it is now an arsenal.
Chiloë (77), a thickly wooded island off the coast, and forming a province, of Chile, 115 m. long from N. to S., and 43 m. broad; inhabited chiefly by Indians; exports timber; is said to contain vast deposits of coal.
Chiltern Hills, a range of chalk hills extending about 70 m. NE. from the Thames in Oxfordshire through Bucks, from 15 to 20 m. broad, the highest Wendover, 950 ft.
Chiltern Hundreds, a wardship of beech forests on the Chiltern Hills against robbers, that at one time infested them; now a sinecure office, the acceptance of which enables a member of Parliament to resign his seat if he wishes to retire, the office being regarded as a Government one.
Chimæra, a fire-breathing monster of the Greek mythology, with a goat's body, a lion's head, and a dragon's tail; slain by Bellerophon, and a symbol of any impossible monstrosity.
Chimbora`zo, one of the loftiest peaks of the Andes, in Ecuador, 20,700 ft.; is an extinct volcano, and covered with perpetual snow.
Chimpanzee, a large African ape, from 3 to 4 ft. in height, and more allied in several respects to man than any other ape: it is found chiefly in W. Africa.
China (300,000 to 400,000), which, with Tibet, Mongolia (from which it is separated by the Great Wall), and parts of Turkestan, forms the Chinese Empire; is a vast, compact, and densely peopled country in Eastern Asia; bounded on the N. by Mongolia; W. by Tibet and Burmah; S. by Siam, Annam, and the China Sea; and E. by the Pacific. In the W. are lofty mountain ranges running N. and S., from which parallel ranges run E. and W., rising to greatest height in the S. Two great rivers traverse the country, the Hoang-ho and the Yangtse-kiang, the latter with many large lakes in its course, and bearing on its waters an innumerable fleet of boats and barges. Between the lower courses of these rivers lies the Great Plain, one of the vastest and richest in the world, whose yellow soil produces great crops with little labour and no manure. The coast-line is long and much indented, and out of it are bitten the gulfs of Pe-che-lee, the Yellow Sea, and Hang-chou. There are many small islands off the coast; the mountainous Hainau is the only large one still Chinese. The climate in the N. has a clear frosty winter, and warm rainy summer; in the S. it is hot. The country is rich in evergreens and flowering plants. In the N. wheat, millet, and cotton are grown; in the S. rice, tea, sugar, silk, and opium. Agriculture is the chief industry, and though primitive, it is remarkably painstaking and skilful. Forests have everywhere been cleared away, and the whole country is marvellously fertile. Its mineral wealth is enormous. Iron, copper, and coal abound in vast quantities; has coal-fields that, it is said, if they were worked, "would revolutionise the trade of the world." The most important manufactures are of silk, cotton, and china. Commerce is as yet chiefly internal; its inter-provincial trade is the largest and oldest in the world. Foreign trade is growing, almost all as yet done with Britain and her Colonies. Tea and silk are exported; cotton goods and opium imported. About twenty-five ports are open to British vessels, of which the largest are Shanghai and Canton. There are no railways; communication inland is by road, river, and canals. The people are a mixed race of Mongol type, kindly, courteous, peaceful, and extremely industrious, and in their own way well educated. Buddhism is the prevailing faith of the masses, Confucianism of the upper classes. The Government is in theory a patriarchal autocracy, the Emperor being at once father and high-priest of all the people, and vicegerent of heaven. The capital is Pekin (500), in the NE. Chinese history goes back to 2300 B.C. English intercourse with the Chinese began in 1635 A.D., and diplomatic relations between London and Pekin were established this century. The Anglo-Chinese wars of 1840, 1857, and 1860 broke down the barrier of exclusion previously maintained against the outside world. The Japanese war of 1894-95 betrayed the weakness of the national organisation; and the seizure of Formosa by Japan, the Russo-Japanese protectorate over Manchuria and Corea, the French demand for Kwang-si and Kwang-tung, enforced lease of Kiao-chau to Germany, and of Wei-hai-wei to Britain (1898), seem to forebode the partition of the ancient empire among the more energetic Western nations.
China, the Great Wall of, a wall, with towers and forts at intervals, about 2000 m. long, from 20 to 30 ft. high, and 25 ft. broad, which separates China from Mongolia on the N., and traverses high hills and deep valleys in its winding course.
Chinampas, floating gardens.
Chincha Islands, islands off the coast of Peru that had beds of guano, often 100 ft. thick, due to the droppings of penguins and other sea birds, now all but, if not quite, exhausted.
Chinchilla, a rodent of S. America, hunted for its fur, which is soft and of a grey colour; found chiefly in the mountainous districts of Peru and Chile.
Chinese Gordon, General Gordon, killed at Khartoum; so called for having, in 1851, suppressed a rebellion in China which had lasted 15 years.
Chinook, a tribe of Indians in Washington Territory, noted for flattening their skulls.
Chinsura, a Dutch-built town on the right bank of the Hoogly, 20 m. N. of Calcutta, with a college; is famous for cheroots.
Chinz, a calico printed with flowers and other devices in different colours; originally of Eastern manufacture.
Chioggia (25), a seaport of Venetia, built on piles, on a lagoon island at the mouth of the Brenta, connected with the mainland by a bridge with 43 arches.
Chios, or Scio (25), a small island belonging to Turkey, in the Grecian Archipelago; subject to earthquakes; yields oranges and lemons in great quantities; claims to have been the birthplace of Homer.
Chippendale, Thomas, a cabinet-maker, born in Worcestershire; famous in the last century for the quality and style of his workmanship; his work still much in request.
Chippeways, a Red Indian tribe, some 12,000 strong, located in Michigan, U.S., and in Canada adjoining; originally occupied the N. and W. of Lake Superior.
Chiquitos, Indians of a low but lively type in Bolivia and Brazil.
Chiriqui, an archipelago and a lagoon as well as province in Costa Rica.
Chiron, a celebrated Centaur, in whose nature the animal element was subject to the human, and who was intrusted with the education of certain heroes of Greece, among others Peleus and Achilles; was endowed with the gift of prophecy, and skilled in athletics as well as music and the healing art. See Centaurs.
Chislehurst (6), a village in Kent, 10 m. SE. of London, where Napoleon III. died in exile in 1873.
Chiswick (21), a suburb of London, 7 m. SW. of St. Paul's; the Church of St. Nicholas has monuments to several people of distinction.
Chitin, a white horny substance found in the exoskeleton of several invertebrate animals.
Chitral, a State on the frontier of India, NW. of Cashmere; since 1895 occupied by the British; a place of great strategical importance.
Chittagong (24), a seaport in the Bay of Bengal, 220 m. E. of Calcutta; exports rice, gum, tobacco, and jute.
Chittim, the Bible name for Cyprus.
Chivalry, a system of knighthood, for the profession of which the qualifications required were dignity, courtesy, bravery, generosity; the aim of which was the defence of right against wrong, of the weak against the strong, and especially of the honour and the purity of women, and the spirit of which was of Christian derivation; originally a military organisation in defence of Christianity against the infidel.
Chivalry, Court of, a court established by Edward III., which took cognisance of questions of honour and heraldry, as well as military offences.
Chladni, Friedrich, a physicist, born at Wittenberg; one of the earliest investigators of the phenomena of sound; wrote also on aërolites (1756-1827).
Chlopicki, Joseph, a Polish hero, born in Galicia; fought against Russia under Napoleon; was chosen Dictator in 1830, but was forced to resign; fought afterwards in the ranks, and was severely wounded (1771-1854).
Chloral, a colourless narcotic liquid, obtained at first by the action of chlorine on alcohol; treated with water it produces chloral hydrate.
Chlorine, elementary, greenish-yellow gas obtained from common salt; powerful as a disinfectant, and a bleaching agent.
Chloris, the wife of Zephyrus, the goddess of flowers.
Chloroform, a limpid, volatile liquid, in extensive use as an anæsthetic; produced by treating alcohol with chloride of lime.
Chlorophyll, the green colouring matter in plants, especially the leaves; due to the presence and action of light.
Chlorosis, green sickness, a disease incident to young females at a critical period of life, causing a pale-greenish complexion.
Chocolate, a paste made by grinding the kernels of cocoa-nuts.
Chocktaws, or Chactaws, a tribe of American Indians, settled to civilised life in the Indian Territory, U.S.; the Chactaw Indian, with his proud array of scalps hung up in his wigwam, is, with Carlyle, the symbol of the pride of wealth acquired at the price of the lives of men in body and soul.
Choiseul, Duc de, minister of Louis XV.; served his master in various capacities; was rewarded with a peerage; effected many reforms in the army, strengthened the navy, and aided in bringing about the family compact of the Bourbons; exercised a great influence on the politics of Europe; was nicknamed by Catharine of Russia Le Cocher de l'Europe, "the Driver of Europe"; but becoming obnoxious to Mme. du Barry, "in whom he would discern nothing but a wonderfully dizened scarlet woman," was dismissed from the helm of affairs, Louis's "last substantial man" (1719-1795).
Choisy, Abbé, a French writer, born in Paris; author of a "History of the Church" (1644-1724).
Cholera Morbus, an epidemic disease characterised by violent vomiting and purging, accompanied with spasms, great pain, and debility; originated in India, and has during the present century frequently spread itself by way of Asia into populous centres of both Europe and America.
Cholet (15), a French manufacturing town, 32 m. SW. of Angers.
Cholula, an ancient city, 60 m. SE. of Mexico; the largest city of the Aztecs, with a pyramidal temple, now a Catholic church.
Chopin, a musical composer, born near Warsaw, of Polish origin; his genius for music early developed itself; distinguished himself as a pianist first at Vienna and then in Paris, where he introduced the mazurkas; became the idol of the salons; visited England twice, in 1837 and 1848, and performed to admiration in London and three of the principal cities; died of consumption in Paris; he suffered much from great depression of spirits (1809-1849).
Chorley (23), a manufacturing town in N. Lancashire, 25 m. NE. of Liverpool, with mines and quarries near it.
Chorus, in the ancient drama a group of persons introduced on the stage representing witnesses of what is being acted, and giving expression to their thoughts and feelings regarding it; originally a band of singers and dancers on festive occasions, in connection particularly with the Bacchus worship.
Chosroës I., surnamed the Great, king of Persia from 531 to 579, a wise and beneficent ruler; waged war with the Roman armies successfully for 20 years. Ch. II., his grandson, king from 590 to 625; made extensive inroads on the Byzantine empire, but was defeated and driven back by Heraclius; was eventually deposed and put to death.
Chouans, insurrectionary royalists in France, in particular Brittany, during the French Revolution, and even for a time under the Empire, when their head-quarters were in London; so named from their muster by night at the sound of the chat-huant, the screech-owl, a nocturnal bird of prey which has a weird cry.
Chrétien, or Chrestien, de Troyes, a French poet or trouvère of the last half of the 12th century; author of a number of vigorously written romances connected with chivalry and the Round Table.
Chriemhilde, a heroine in the "Niebelungen" and sister of Gunther, who on the treacherous murder of her husband is changed from a gentle woman into a relentless fury.
Chrisaor, the sword of Sir Artegal in the "Faërie Queene"; it excelled every other.
Christ Church, a college in Oxford, founded by Wolsey 1525; was Gladstone's college and John Ruskin's, as well as John Locke's.
Christabel, a fragmentary poem of Coleridge's; characterised by Stopford Brooke as, for "exquisite metrical movement and for imaginative phrasing," along with "Kubla Khan," without a rival in the language.
Christadelphians, an American sect, called also Thomasites, whose chief distinctive article of faith is conditional immortality, that is, immortality only to those who believe in Christ, and die believing in him.
Christchurch (16), capital of the province of Canterbury, New Zealand, 5 m. from the sea; Littleton the port.
Christian, the name of nine kings of Denmark, of whom the first began to reign in 1448 and the last in 1863, and the following deserve notice: Christian II., conquered Sweden, but proving a tyrant, was driven from the throne by Gustavus Vasa in 1522, upon which his own subjects deposed him, an act which he resented by force of arms, in which he was defeated in 1531, his person seized, and imprisoned for life; characterised by Carlyle as a "rash, unwise, explosive man" (1481-1559). Christian IV., king from 1588 to 1648; took part on the Protestant side in the Thirty Years' War, and was defeated by Tilly; he was a good ruler, and was much beloved by his subjects; was rather unsteady in his habits, it is said (1577-1648). Christian IX., king from 1863; son of Duke William of Sleswick-Holstein, father of the Princess of Wales, George I., king of Greece, and the dowager Empress of Russia; b. 1818.
Christian Connection, a sect in the United States which acknowledges the Bible alone as the rule of faith and manners.
Christian King, the Most, a title of the king of France conferred by two different Popes.
Christian Knowledge, Society for Promoting (S. P. C. K.), a religious association in connection with the Church of England, under the patronage of the Queen and the presidency of the Archbishop of Canterbury, established 1698, the object of which is to disseminate a knowledge of Christian doctrine both at home and abroad by means of churches, schools, and libraries, and by the circulation of Bibles and Christian literature.
Christiania (130), the capital of Norway, romantically situated at the head of Christiania Fiord; the residence of the king and the seat of government; a manufacturing and trading city, but it is blocked up against traffic for four months in the year.
Christianity, Belief (q. v.) that there is in Christ, as in no other, from first to last a living incarnation, a flesh and blood embodiment, for salvation of the ever-living spirit of the ever-living God and Father of man, and except that by eating His flesh and drinking His blood, that is, except by participating in His divine-human life, or except in His spirit, there is no assurance of life everlasting to any man; but perhaps it has never been defined all round with greater brevity and precision than it is by Ruskin in his "Præterita," under the impression that the time is come when one should say a firm word concerning it: "The total meaning of it," he says, "was, and is, that the God who made earth and its creatures, took, at a certain time upon the earth, the flesh and form of man; in that flesh sustained the pain and died the death of the creature He had made; rose again after death into glorious human life, and when the date of the human race is ended, will return in visible human form, and render to every mail according to his work. Christianity is the belief in, and love of, God thus manifested. Anything less than this," he adds, "the mere acceptance of the sayings of Christ, or assertion of any less than divine power in His Being, may be, for aught I know, enough for virtue, peace, and safety; but they do not make people Christians, or enable them to understand the heart of the simplest believer in the old doctrine."
Christiansand (12), a town and seaport in the extreme S. of Norway, with a considerable trade.
Christie, William Henry Mahoney, astronomer-royal, born at Woolwich, of Trinity College, Cambridge; author of "Manual of Elementary Astronomy"; b. 1845.
Christina, queen of Sweden, daughter and only child of Gustavus Adolphus; received a masculine education, and was trained in manly exercises; governed the country well, and filled her court with learned men, but by-and-by her royal duties becoming irksome to her, she declared her cousin as her successor, resigned the throne, and turned Catholic; her cousin dying, she claimed back her crown, but her subjects would not now have her; she stayed for a time in France, but was obliged to leave; retired to Rome, where she spent 20 years of her life engaged in scientific and artistic studies, and died (1628-1689).
Christina, Maria, daughter of Francis I. of Naples, and wife of Ferdinand VII. of Spain, on whose death she acted for four years as regent, during the infancy of her daughter Isabella (1806-1878).
Christison, Sir Robert, toxicologist, born at Edinburgh, and professor, first of Medical Jurisprudence and then of Materia Medica, in his native city; wrote a "Treatise on Poison," a standard work (1797-1882).
Christmas, the festival in celebration of the birth of Christ now celebrated all over Christendom on 25th December, as coinciding with an old heathen festival celebrated at the winter solstice, the day of the return of the sun northward, and in jubilation of the prospect of the renewal of life in the spring.
Christology, the department of theology which treats of the person of Christ.
Christophe, Henri, a negro, born in Grenada; one of the leaders of the insurgent slaves in Hayti, who, proving successful in arms against the French, became king under the title of Henry I., but ruling despotically provoked revolt, and shot himself through the heart; he was a man of powerful physique; b. 1820.
Christopher, St., (the Christ-Bearer), according to Christian legend a giant of great stature and strength, who, after serving the devil for a time, gave himself up to the service of Christ by carrying pilgrims across a bridgeless river, when one day a little child, who happened to be none else than Christ Himself, appeared to be carried over, but, strange to say, as he bore Him across, the child grew heavier and heavier, till he was nearly baffled in landing Him on the opposite shore. The giant represented the Church, and the increasing weight of the child the increasing sin and misery which the Church has from age to age to bear in carrying its Christ across the Time-river; the giant is represented in art as carrying the infant on his shoulder, and as having for staff the stem of a large tree.
Christopher North, the name assumed by John Wilson (q. v.) in Blackwood's Magazine.
Christopher's, St., (30), popularly called St. Kitts, one of the Leeward Islands, discovered by Columbus (1493), who named it after himself; belongs to England; has sugar plantations.
Christ's Hospital, the Blue-Coat School, London, was founded in 1547, a large institution, on the foundation of which there are now 2170 pupils instead of 1200 as formerly; entrance to it is gained partly by presentation and partly by competition, and attached are numerous exhibitions and prizes; among the alumni have been several noted men, such as Bishop Stillingfleet, Coleridge, Leigh Hunt, and Charles Lamb.
Chromatics, that department of optics which treats of colours, and resolves the primary colours into three—red, yellow, and blue.
Chroniclers, The Rhyming, a series of writers who flourished in England in the 13th century, and related histories of the country in rhyme, in which the fabulous occupies a conspicuous place, among which Layamon's "Brut" (1205) takes the lead.
Chronicles i and ii., two historical books of the Old Testament, the narratives of which, with additions and omissions, run parallel with those of Samuel and Kings, but written from a priestly standpoint, give the chief prominence to the history of Judah as the support in Jerusalem of the ritual of which the priests were the custodians; Ezra and Nehemiah are continuations.
Chrysëis, the daughter of Chryses, priest of Apollo, a beautiful maiden who fell among the spoils of a victory to Agamemnon, and became his slave, and whom he refused to restore to her father until a deadly plague among the Greeks, at the hands of Apollo, whose priest her father was, compelled him to give her up.
Chrysippus, a Greek philosopher, born at Soli, in Cilicia, and lived in Athens; specially skilled in dialectic; the last and greatest expounder and defender of the philosophy of the Stoa, so pre-eminent, that it was said of him, "If Chrysippus were not, the Stoa were not"; is said to have written 705 books, not one of which, however, has come down to us save a few fragments (280-208 B.C.). See Stoicism.
Chrysolo`ras, a Grecian scholar, born at Constantinople, left his native country and lived in Florence, where he, in the 14th century, became a teacher of Greek literature, and contributed thereby to the revival of letters in Italy; d. 1415.
Chrysostom, St. John, that is, Mouth of Gold, so called from his eloquence, born at Antioch; converted to Christianity from a mild paganism; became one of the Fathers of the Church, and Patriarch of Constantinople; he was zealous in suppressing heresy, as well as corruption in the Church, and was for that reason thrice over subjected to banishment; in the course of the third of which and while on the way, he died, though his remains was brought to Constantinople and there deposited with great solemnity; he left many writings behind him—sermons, homilies, commentaries, and epistles, of which his "Homilies" are most studied and prized (347-407). Festival, Jan. 27.
Chubb, Thomas, an English Deist, born near Salisbury; he regarded Christ as a divine teacher, but held reason to be sovereign in matters of religion, yet was on rational grounds a defender of Christianity; had no learning, but was well up in the religious controversies of the time, and bore his part in them creditably (1679-1746).
Chunder Sen, one of the founders of the Brahmo-Somaj (q. v.); he visited Europe in 1870, and was welcomed with open arms by the rationalist class of Churchmen and Dissenters.
Chuquisa`ca (20), (i. e. Bridge of Gold), the capital of Bolivia, in a sheltered plain 9000 ft. above the sea-level; is a cathedral city; has a mild climate; it was founded in 1538 by the Spaniards on the site of an old Peruvian town.
Church, Richard William, dean of St. Paul's, born in Lisbon; a scholarly man; distinguished himself first as such by his "Essays and Reviews," wrote thoughtful sermons, and "A Life of Anselm," also essays on eminent men of letters, such as Dante, Spenser, and Bacon (1815-1890).
Church, States of the, the Papal States, extending irregularly from the Po to Naples, of which the Pope was the temporal sovereign, now part of the kingdom of Italy.
Churchill, Charles, an English poet, born at Westminster; began life as a curate, an office which he was compelled to resign from his unseemly ways; took himself to the satire, first of the actors of the time in his "Rosciad," then of his critics in his "Apology," and then of Dr. Johnson in the "Ghost"; he wrote numerous satires, all vigorous, his happiest being deemed that against the Scotch, entitled "The Prophecy of Famine"; his life was a short one, and not wisely regulated (1731-1764).
Churchill, Lord Randolph, an English Conservative politician, third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough, who, though a man of mark, and more than once in office, could never heart and soul join any party and settle down to steady statesmanship; set out on travel, took ill on the journey, and came home in a state of collapse to die (1849-1895).
Chuzzlewit, Martin, the hero of a novel by Dickens of the name. James, a character in the same novel, a man distinguished for his mean and tyrannical character.
Chusan (30 or 40), principal island in the Chusan Archipelago, 18 m. long and 10 broad; near the estuary of the Yangtse-kiang, has been called "the Key of China."
Chyle, a fluid of a milky colour, separated from the chyme by the action of the pancreatic juice and the bile, and which, being absorbed by the lacteal vessels, is gradually assimilated into blood.
Chyme, the pulpy mass into which the food is converted in the stomach prior to the separation in the small intestines of the chyle.
Cialdini, Enrico, an Italian general and politician, born at Modena; distinguished himself in Spain against the Carlists, and both as a soldier and diplomatist in connection with the unification of Italy (1811-1892).
Cibber, Colley, actor and dramatist, of German descent; was manager and part-proprietor of Drury Lane; wrote plays, one in particular, which procured for him the post of poet-laureate, which he held till his death; was much depreciated by Pope; wrote an "Apology for his Life," the most amusing autobiography in the language (1671-1757).
Cibrario, Luigi, an Italian historian and statesman, born at Turin; he held office under Charles Albert of Sardinia (1802-1870).
Cicero, Marcus Tullius, a Roman orator, statesman, and man of letters, born near Arpinum, in Latium; trained for political life partly at Rome and partly at Athens; distinguished himself as the first orator at the Roman bar when he was 30, and afterwards rose through the successive grades of civic rank till he attained the consulship in 63 B.C.; during this period he acquired great popularity by his exposure and defeat of the conspiracy of Catiline, by which he earned the title of Father of his Country, though there were those who condemned his action and procured his banishment for a time; on his recall, which was unanimous, he took sides first with Pompey, then with Cæsar after Pharsalia, on whose death he delivered a Philippic against Antony; was proscribed by the second triumvirate, and put to death by Antony's soldiers; he was the foremost of Roman orators, the most elegant writer of the Latin language, and has left behind him orations, letters, and treatises, very models of their kind; he was not a deep thinker, and his philosophy was more eclectic than original (100-43 B.C.).
Cicero of Germany, John III., Elector of Brandenburg, "could speak 'four hours at a stretch, in elegantly flowing Latin,' with a fair share of meaning in it too" (1455-1499).
Cicognara, Count, an Italian writer, born at Ferrara; author of a "History of Sculpture" (1767-1834).
Cid Campeador, a famed Castilian warrior of the 11th century, born at Burgos; much celebrated in Spanish romance; being banished from Castile, in the interest of which he had fought valiantly, he became a free-lance, fighting now with the Christians and now with the Moors, till he made himself master of Valencia, where he set up his throne and reigned, with his faithful wife Ximena by his side, till the news of a defeat by the Moors took all spirit out of him, and he died of grief. Faithful after death, his wife had his body embalmed and carried to his native place, on the high altar of which it lay enthroned for 10 years; his real name was Don Rodrigo Diaz of Bivar, and the story of his love for Ximena is the subject of Corneille's masterpiece, "The Cid."
Cigoli, a Florentine painter, called the Florentine Correggio, whom he specially studied in the practice of his art; "The Apostle Healing the Lame," in St. Peter's, is by him, as also the "Martyrdom of St. Stephen," in Florence (1559-1613).
Cilicia, an ancient province in S. of Asia Minor.
Cilician Gates, the pass across Mount Taurus by which Alexander the Great entered Cilicia.
Cimabu`e, a Florentine painter, and founder of the Florentine school, which ranked among its members such artists as Michael Angelo, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci; was the first to leave the stiff traditional Byzantine forms of art and copy from nature and the living model, though it was only with the advent of his great disciple Giotto that art found beauty in reality, and Florence was made to see the divine significance of lowly human worth, at sight of which, says Ruskin, "all Italy threw up its cap"; his "Madonna," in the Church of Santa Maria, has been long regarded as a marvel of art, and of all the "Mater Dolorosas" of Christianity, Ruskin does not hesitate to pronounce his at Assisi the noblest; "he was the first," says Ruskin, "of the Florentines, first of European men, to see the face of her who was blessed among women, and with his following hand to make visible the Magnificat of his heart" (1240-1302).
Cimarosa, Domenico, a celebrated Italian composer; composed between 20 and 30 operas, mostly comic, his masterpiece being "II Matrimoneo Segreto"; he was imprisoned for sympathising with the principles of the French Revolution, and treated with a severity which shortened his life; said by some to have been poisoned by order of Queen Caroline of Naples (1754-1801).
Cimber, a friend of Cæsar's who turned traitor, whose act of presenting a petition to him was the signal to the conspirators to take his life.
Cimbri, a barbarian horde who, with the Teutons, invaded Gaul in the 2nd century B.C.; gave the Romans no small trouble, and were all but exterminated by Marius in 101 B.C.; believed to have been a Celtic race, who descended on Southern Europe from the N.
Cimerians, an ancient people N. of the shores of the Black Sea, fabled to inhabit a region unvisited by a single ray of the sun.
Cimon, an Athenian general, son of Miltiades; distinguished himself in the struggle of Athens against Persia in 466 B.C.; gained two victories over the Persians in one day, one by land and another by sea, was banished by the democratic party, and after four years recalled to continue his victories over his old foes, and died at Cyprus (510-449 B.C.).
Cincinnati (326), the metropolis of Ohio, stands on the Ohio River, opposite Covington and Newport, by rail 270 m. SE. of Chicago; the city stands on hilly ground, and is broken and irregular; there are many fine buildings, among them a Roman Catholic cathedral, and large parks; there is a university, the Lane Theological Seminary (Presbyterian), schools of medicine, law, music, and art, an observatory, zoological garden, and large libraries; it is a centre of culture in the arts; manufactures include clothing, tobacco, leather, moulding and machine shops; there is some boat-building and printing; but the most noted trade is in pork and grain; is the greatest pork market in the world; a third of the population is of German origin.
Cincinnatus, Lucius Quinctius, an old hero of the Roman republic, distinguished for the simplicity and austerity of his manners; was consul in 460 B.C., and on the defeat of a Roman army by the Æqui, called to the dictatorship from the plough, to which he returned on the defeat of the Æqui; he was summoned to fill the same post a second time, when he was 80, on the occasion of the conspiracy of Mælius, with the like success.
Cincinnatus, the Order of, an American order founded by officers of the revolutionary army at its dissolution in 1753; was denounced by Franklin as anti-republican in its spirit and tendency; it still survives in a feeble way; the order is hereditary.
Cincinnatus of the Americans, George Washington.
Cinderella (the little cinder-girl), the youngest member of a family who must drudge at home while her elder sisters go to balls, till one day a fairy befriends her and conveys her to a ball, where she shines as the centre of attraction, and wins the regard of a prince. On quitting the hall she leaves a slipper behind her, by means of which she is identified by the prince, who finds that hers is the only foot that the slipper will fit, and marries her. The story in one version or another is a very ancient and wide-spread one.
Cineas, the minister of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus; was the ablest orator of his time, and his master was in the habit of saying of him, that his eloquence had gained him more cities than his own arms; sent on a mission to Rome, the senate refused to hear him, lest his eloquence should prove too fascinating.
Cingalese, a native of Ceylon.
Cinna, Lucius Cornelius, a Roman patrician, a friend and supporter of Marius; drove Sulla from Rome and recalled Marius from exile; participated in the murders which followed his recall, and after the death of Marius was assassinated when organising an expedition against Sulla, 84 B.C.
Cinnabar, a sulphide of mercury from which the mercury of commerce is obtained.
Cinq-Mars, Henri, Marquis de, a French courtier, a favourite of Louis XIII.; a man of handsome figure and fascinating manners; died on the scaffold for conspiring with his friend De Thou against Richelieu (1620-1642).
Cinqué Cento (lit. five hundred), the Renaissance in literature and art in the 16th century, the expression 5 hundred standing for 15 hundred.
Cinque Ports, the five ports of Hastings, Romney, Hythe, Dover, and Sandwich, to which were added Winchelsea and Rye, which possessed certain privileges in return for supplying the royal power with a navy; the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is only an honorary dignity.
Cintra, a Portuguese town, 17 m. NW. of Lisbon, where a much reprobated convention between the French under Marshal Junot and the English under Sir Hew Dalrymple was signed in 1808, whereby the former were let off with all their arms and baggage on condition of evacuating Portugal.
Cipango, an island on the Eastern Ocean, described by Marco Polo as a sort of El Dorado, an object of search to subsequent navigators, and an attraction among the number to Columbus, it is said.
Cipriani, an Italian painter and etcher, born in Florence; settled in London; was an original member of the Royal Academy, and designed the diploma (1727-1785).
Circars, The, a territory in India along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, from 18 to 100 m. wide; ceded first to the French and in 1766 to the East India Company, now of course under the Crown, and forming part of the Madras Presidency.
Circassia, a territory on the Western Caucasus, now subject to Russia; celebrated for the sturdy spirit of the men and the beauty of the women; the nobles professing Mohammedanism and the lower classes a certain impure form of Christianity; they are of the Semite race, and resemble the Arabs in their manners.
Circe, a sorceress who figures in the "Odyssey." Ulysses having landed on her isle, she administered a potion to him and his companions, which turned them into swine, while the effect of it on himself was counteracted by the use of the herb moly, provided for him by Hermes against sorcery; she detained him with her for years, and disenchanted his companions on his departure.
Circean poison, a draught of any kind that is magically and fatally infatuating, such as the effect often of popular applause.
Circuits, districts outside of London into which England is divided for judicial purposes, for the trial of civil as well as criminal cases connected with them; are seven in number—the Midland, the Oxford, the North-Eastern, the South-Eastern, the Northern, the Western, and North Wales and South Wales; the courts are presided over by a judge sent from London, or by two, and are held twice a year, or oftener if the number of cases require it.
Circulation of the Blood, the course of the blood from the heart through the arteries to the minute vessels of the body, and from these last through the veins back to the heart again.
Circumcision, the practice of cutting away the foreskin, chiefly of males, as observed by the Jews and the Mohammedans, as well as other nations of remote antiquity; regarded by some as a mark of belonging to the tribe, and by others as a sacrifice in propitiation by blood.
Circumlocution Office, a name employed by Dickens in "Little Dorrit" to designate the wearisome routine of public business.
Cisalpine Gaul, territory occupied by Gauls on the Italian or south side of the Alps.
Cisalpine Republic, a republic so called on both sides of the Po, formed out of his conquests by Napoleon, 1797; became the Italian Republic in 1802, with Milan for capital, and ceased to exist after the fall of Napoleon.
Cisleithania, Austria proper as distinguished from Hungary, which is called Transleithania, on account of the boundary between them being formed by the river Leitha.
Cistercians, a monastic order founded by Abbot Robert in 1098 at Citeaux, near Dijon; they followed the rule of St. Benedict, who reformed the Order after it had lapsed; became an ecclesiastical republic, and were exempt from ecclesiastical control; contributed considerably to the progress of the arts, if little to the sciences.
Cithæron, a wood-covered mountain on the borders of Boeotia and Attica; famous in Greek legend.
Cities of Refuge, among the Jews; three on the E. and three on the W. of the Jordan, in which the manslayer might find refuge from the avenger of blood.
Cities of the Plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, with adjoining cities under the like doom.
Citizen King, Louis Philippe of France, so called as elected by the citizens of Paris.
City of Bells, Strasburg.
City of Churches, Brooklyn, now incorporated with New York.
City of Destruction, Bunyan's name for the world as under divine judgment.
City of God, Augustine's name for the Church as distinct from the cities of the world, and the title of a book of his defining it.
City of Palaces, Calcutta and Rome.
City of the Prophet, Medina, where Mahomet found refuge when driven out of Mecca by the Koreish and their adherents.
City of the Seven Hills, Rome, as built on seven hills—viz., the Aventine, Coelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal, and Viminal.
City of the Sun, Baalbek (q. v.); and a work by Campanella, describing an ideal republic, after the manner of Plato and Sir Thomas More.
City of the Violet Crown, Athens.
Ciudad Real (royal city) (13), a Spanish town in a province of the same name, 105 m. S. of Madrid, where Sebastian defeated the Spaniards in 1809.
Ciudad Rodrigo (8), a Spanish town near the Portuguese frontier, 50 m. SW. of Salamanca; stormed by Wellington, after a siege of 11 days, in 1812, for which brilliant achievement he earned the title of Earl in England, and Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo in Spain.
Çiva, or Siva, the third member of the Hindu Trinity, the destroyer of what Vishnu is the preserver and Brahma is the creator, is properly Brahma undoing what he has made with a view to reincarnation.
Civil Law, a system of laws for the regulation of civilised communities formed on Roman laws, digested in the pandects of Justinian.
Civil List, the yearly sum granted by the Parliament of England at the commencement of each reign for the support of the royal household, and to maintain the dignity of the Crown: it amounts now to £385,000.
Civil Service, the paid service done to the State, exclusive of that of the army and navy.
Civilis, Claudius, a Batavian chief who revolted against Vespasian, but on defeat was able to conclude an honourable peace.
Civita Vecchia (11), a fortified port on the W. coast of Italy, 40 m. NW. of Rome, with a good harbour, founded by Trajan; exports wheat, alum, cheese, &c.
Clackmannanshire (28), the smallest county in Scotland, lies between the Ochils and the Forth; rich in minerals, especially coal.
Clair, St., a lake 30 m. long by 12 broad, connecting Lake Erie with Lake Huron.
Clairaut, Alexis Claude, a French mathematician and astronomer, born at Paris, of so precocious a genius, that he was admitted to the Academy of Sciences at the age of 18; published a theory of the figure of the earth, and computed the orbit of Halley's comet (1713-1765).
Clairvaux, a village of France, on the Aube, where St. Bernard founded a Cistercian monastery in 1115, and where he lived and was buried; now used as a prison or reformatory.
Clairvoyance, the power ascribed to certain persons in a mesmeric state of seeing and describing events at a distance or otherwise invisible.
Clan, a tribe of blood relations descended from a common ancestor, ranged under a chief in direct descent from him, and having a common surname, as in the Highlands of Scotland; at bottom a military organisation for defensive and predatory purposes.
Clan-na-Gael, a Fenian organisation founded at Philadelphia in 1870, to secure by violence the complete emancipation of Ireland from British control.
Clapham, a SW. suburb of London, in the county of Surrey, 4 m. from St. Paul's, and inhabited by a well-to-do middle-class community, originally of evangelical principles, and characterised as the Clapham Set.
Clapperton, Captain Hugh, an African explorer, born at Annan; bred in the navy, joined two expeditions into Central Africa to ascertain the length and course of the Niger, but got no farther than Sokoto, where he was attacked with dysentery and died (1788-1827).
Clärchen, a female character in Goethe's "Egmont."
Clare (124), a county in Munster, Ireland; also an island at the mouth of Clew Bay, county Mayo.
Clare, John, the peasant poet of Northamptonshire, born near Peterborough; wrote "Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery," which attracted attention, and even admiration, and at length with others brought him a small annuity, which he wasted in speculation; fell into despondency, and died in a lunatic asylum (1793-1864).
Clare, St., a virgin and abbess, born at Assisi; the founder of the Order of Poor Clares (1193-1253). Festival, Aug. 12.
Claremont, a mansion in Surrey, 14 m. SW. of London, built by Lord Clive, where Princess Charlotte lived and died, as also Louis Philippe after his flight from France; is now the property of the Queen, and the residence of the Duchess of Albany.
Clarence, Duke of, brother of Edward IV.; convicted of treason, he was condemned to death, and being allowed to choose the manner of his death, is said to have elected to die by drowning in a butt of Malmsey wine (1459-1478).
Clarenceux, or Clarencieux, the provincial king-at-arms, whose jurisdiction extends from and includes all England S. of the Trent.
Clarendon, a place 2 m. SE. of Salisbury, where the magnates of England, both lay and clerical, met in 1164 under Henry II. and issued a set of ordinances, called the Constitutions of Clarendon, 16 in number, to limit the power of the Church and assert the rights of the crown in ecclesiastical affairs.
Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Earl of, sat in the Short Parliament and the Long on the popular side, but during the Civil War became a devoted Royalist; was from 1641 one of the chief advisers of the king; on the failure of the royal cause, took refuge first in Jersey, and then in Holland with the Prince of Wales; contributed to the Restoration; came back with Charles, and became Lord Chancellor; fell into disfavour, and quitted England in 1667; died at Rouen; wrote, among other works, a "History of the Great Rebellion," dignifiedly written, though often carelessly, but full of graphic touches and characterisations especially of contemporaries; it has been called an "epical composition," as showing a sense of the central story and its unfolding. "Few historians," adds Prof. Saintsbury, "can describe a given event with more vividness. Not one in all the long list of the great practitioners of the art has such skill in the personal character" (1608-1674).
Clarendon, George Villiers, Earl of, a Whig statesman; served as a cabinet minister under Lord Melbourne, Lord John Russell twice, Lord Aberdeen, Lord Palmerston, and Mr. Gladstone; held the office of Foreign Secretary under the three preceding; was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland at the time of the potato failure, and represented Britain at the Congress of Paris; died in harness, deeply lamented both at home and abroad (1800-1870).
Clarétie, Jules, a French journalist, novelist, dramatic author, and critic, born at Limoges; has published some 40 volumes of causeries, history, and fiction; appointed Director of the Theatre Français in 1893; b. 1840.
Clarissa Harlowe, the heroine of one of Richardson's novels, exhibiting a female character which, as described by him, is pronounced to be "one of the brightest triumphs in the whole range of imaginative literature," is described by Stopford Brooke "as the pure and ideal star of womanhood."
Clark, Sir Andrew, an eminent London physician, born near Cargill, in Perthshire, much beloved, and skilful in the treatment of diseases affecting the respiratory and digestive organs (1826-1893).
Clark, Sir James, physician to the Queen, born in Cullen; an authority on the influence of climate on chronic and pulmonary disease (1788-1870).
Clark, Thomas, chemist, born in Ayr; discovered the phosphate of soda, and the process of softening hard water (1801-1867).
Clarke, Adam, a Wesleyan divine, of Irish birth; a man of considerable scholarship, best known by his "Commentary" on the Bible; author also of a "Bibliographical Dictionary" (1762-1832).
Clarke, Charles Cowden, a friend of Lamb, Keats, and Leigh Hunt; celebrated for his Shakespearian learning; brought out an annotated Shakespeare, assisted by his wife; lectured on Shakespeare characters (1787-1877).
Clarke, Dr. Samuel, an English divine, scholar and disciple of Newton, born at Norwich; author, as Boyle lecturer, of a famous "Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God," as also independently of "The Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion"; as a theologian he inclined to Arianism, and his doctrine of morality was that it was congruity with the "eternal fitness of things" (1675-1729).
Clarke, Edward Daniel, a celebrated English traveller, born in Sussex; visited Scandinavia, Russia, Circassia, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Greece; brought home 100 MSS. to enrich the library of Cambridge, the colossal statue of the Eleusinian Ceres, and the sarcophagus of Alexander, now in the British Museum; his "Travels" were published in six volumes (1769-1822).
Clarke, Henri, Duc de Feltre, of Irish origin, French marshal, and minister of war under Napoleon; instituted the prevotal court, a pro re nata court without appeal (1767-1818).
Clarke, Mary Cowden, née Novello, of Italian descent, wife of Charles Cowden, assisted her husband in his Shakespeare studies, and produced amid other works "Concordance to Shakespeare," a work which occupied her 16 years (1809-1898).
Clarke, William George, English man of letters; Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; edited the "Cambridge Shakespeare," along with Mr. Aldis Wright (1821-1867).
Clarkson, Thomas, philanthropist, born in Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire; the great English anti-slavery advocate, and who lived to see in 1833 the final abolition in the British empire of the slavery he denounced, in which achievement he was assisted by the powerful advocacy in Parliament of Wilberforce (1760-1846).
Classic Races, the English horse-races at Newmarket—Derby, the Oaks, and the St. Leger.
Classics, originally, and often still, the standard authors in the literature of Greece or Rome, now authors in any literature that represent it at its best, when, as Goethe has it, it is "vigorous, fresh, joyous, and healthy," as in the "Nibelungen," no less than in the "Iliad."
Claude, Jean, a French Protestant controversial divine, a powerful antagonist of Bossuet and other Catholic writers, allowed only 24 hours to escape on the eve of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, though other Protestant ministers were allowed 15 days (1619-1687).
Claude Lorraine, a great landscape painter, born in Lorraine, of poor parents, and apprenticed to a pastry-cook; went as such to Rome; became servant and colour-grinder to Tassi, who instructed him in his art; by assiduous study of nature in all her aspects attained to fame; was eminent in his treatment of aërial perspective, and an artist whom it was Turner's ambition to rival; he was eminent as an etcher as well as a painter; Turner left one of his finest works to the English nation on condition that it should hang side by side of a masterpiece of Claude, which it now does; his pictures are found in every gallery in Europe, and a goodly number of them are to be met with in England; there are in the St. Petersburg gallery four pieces of exquisite workmanship, entitled "Morning," "Noon," "Evening," and "Twilight" (1600-1682).
Claudian, a Latin epic poet of the 4th century, born in Alexandria, panegyrist of Stilicho on his victory over Alaric; a not unworthy successor of Catullus and Propertius, though his native tongue was Greek.
Claudius, Appius, a Roman decemvir and patrician in 451 B.C.; outraged Virginia, a beautiful plebeian damsel, whom her father, on discovering of the crime, killed with a knife snatched from a butcher's stall, rousing thereby the popular rage against the decemvir, who was cast into prison, where he put an end to himself, 449 B.C.
Claudius, Appius, censor in 312-307 B.C.; wrought important changes in the Roman constitution; set on foot the construction of the Appian Way and the Appian Aqueduct, named after him.
Claudius I, Tiberius Drusus, surnamed Germanicus, brother of Tiberius, emperor of Rome from 41 to 54, born at Lyons; after spending 50 years of his life in private, occupying himself in literary study, was, on the death of Caligula, raised very much against his wish by the soldiers to the imperial throne, a post which he filled with honour to himself and benefit to the State; but he was too much controlled by his wives, of whom he had in succession four, till the last of them, Agrippina, had him poisoned to make way for her son Nero.
Claudius II., surnamed Gothicus, Roman emperor from 268 to 270; an excellent prince and a good general; distinguished himself by his ability and courage against the Goths and other hordes of barbarians.
Clausel, Bertrand, marshal of France, born at Mirepoix; served under Napoleon in Holland, Italy, Austria, and Spain; was defeated at Salamanca, executing thereafter a masterly retreat; left France for America in 1815 on the fall of Napoleon, to whom he was devoted; returned in 1830, became commander-in-chief in Algeria, and ultimately governor (1772-1842).
Clausewitz, Karl von, a Prussian general, born at Burg; distinguished himself against Napoleon in Russia in 1812; an authority on the art of war, on which he wrote a treatise in three volumes, entitled "Vom Krieg" (1780-1831).
Clausius, Rudolf, an eminent German physicist, born at Köslin, in Pomerania; professor of Natural Philosophy at Bonn; specially distinguished for his contributions to the science of thermo-dynamics, and the application of mathematical methods to the study, as also to electricity and the expansion of gases (1822-1888).
Claverhouse, John Graham of, Viscount Dundee, commenced life as a soldier in France and Holland; on his return to Scotland in 1677 was appointed by Charles II. to the command of a troop to suppress the Covenanters; was defeated at Drumclog 1679, but by the help of Monmouth had his revenge at Bothwell Brig; affected to support the Revolution, but intrigued in favour of the Stuarts; raised in Scotland a force in their behalf; was met at Killiecrankie by General Mackay, where he fell (1643-1689).
Clavière, Minister of Finance in France after Necker, born at Geneva; projector of the Moniteur; friend of Mirabeau; committed suicide in prison (1735-1793).
Clavije`ro, a Jesuit missionary, born in Vera Cruz; laboured for 40 years as missionary in Mexico; on the suppression of his Order went to Italy, and wrote a valuable work on Mexico (1718-1793).
Clavigo, a drama by Goethe in five acts, the first work to which he put his name; was received with disfavour.
Clavileño, Don Quixote's wooden horse.
Clay, Henry, an American statesman, born in Virginia; bred for the bar, and distinguished for his oratory; was for many years Speaker of the House of Representatives; was a supporter of war with Britain in 1812-15, and party to the treaty which ended it; was an advocate of protection; aspired three times unsuccessfully to the Presidency; his public career was a long one, and an honourable (1777-1852).
Clear the Causeway Riots, bickerings in the streets of Edinburgh in 1515 between the rival factions of Angus and Arran, to the utter rout of the former, or the Douglas party.
Cleanthes, a Stoic philosopher, born at Assos, in Troas, of the 3rd century B.C.; wrought as a drawer of water by night that he might earn his fee as pupil of Zeno's by day; became Zeno's successor and the head of his school; regarded "pleasure as a remission of that moral energy of the soul, which alone is happiness, as an interruption to life, and as an evil, which was not in accordance with nature, and no end of nature."
Clear, Cape, a headland S. of Clear Island, most southerly point of Ireland, and the first land sighted coming from America.
Clearchus, a Spartan general who accompanied Cyrus on his expedition against Artaxerxes; commanded the retreat of the Ten Thousand; was put to death by Tissaphernes in 401 B.C., and replaced by Xenophon.
Clearing-House, a house for interchanging the respective claims of banks and of railway companies.
Cleishbotham, Jedediah, an imaginary editor in Scott's "Tales of My Landlord."
Clelia, a Roman heroine, who swam the Tiber to escape from Porsenna, whose hostage she was; sent back by the Romans, she was set at liberty, and other hostages along with her, out of admiration on Porsenna's part of both her and her people.
Clemenceaux, Georges Benjamin, French politician, born in La Vendée; bred to medicine; political adversary of Gambetta; proprietor of La Justice, a Paris journal; an expert swordsman; b. 1841.
Clemencet, Charles, a French Benedictine, born near Autun; one of the authors of the great chronological work, "Art de Vérifier les Dates," and wrote the history of the Port Royal (1703-1778).
Clemencin, Diego, a Spanish statesman and littérateur; his most important work a commentary on "Don Quixote."
Clemens, Samuel Langhorne, an American humorist with the pseudonym of "Mark Twain," born at Florida, Missouri, U.S.; began his literary career as a newspaper reporter and a lecturer; his first book "The Jumping Frog"; visited Europe, described in the "Innocents Abroad"; married a lady of fortune; wrote largely in his peculiar humorous vein, such as the "Tramp Abroad"; produced a drama entitled the "Gilded Age," and compiled the "Memoirs of General Grant"; b. 1835.
Clemens Alexandrinus, one of the Greek Fathers of the Church, of the 2nd and 3rd centuries; had Origen for pupil; brought up in Greek philosophy; converted in manhood to Christianity from finding in his appreciation of knowledge over faith confirmations of it in his philosophy, which he still adhered to; his "Stromata" or "Miscellanies" contain facts and quotations found nowhere else.
Clement, the name of 14 Popes: C. I., Pope from 91 to 100; one of the Apostolic Fathers; wrote an Epistle to the Church of Corinth, with references to the Canonical books. C. II., Pope from 1046 to 1047. C. III., Pope from 1187 to 1191. C. IV., Pope from 1265 to 1268. C. V., Bertrand de Goth, Pope from 1305 to 1314; transferred the seat of the Papacy to Avignon, and abolished the Order of the Knights Templars. C. VI. Pope from 1342 to 1352; resided at Avignon. C. VII., Giulio de Medici, Pope from 1523 to 1534; celebrated for his quarrels with Charles V. and Henry VIII., was made prisoner in Rome by the Constable of Bourbon; refused to sanction the divorce of Henry VIII., and brought about the schism of England from the Holy See. C. VIII., Pope from 1592 to 1605; a patron of Tasso's; readmitted Henry IV. to the Church and the Jesuits to France. C. IX., Pope from 1667 to 1669. C. X., Pope from 1670 to 1676. C. XI., Pope from 1700 to 1721; as Francesco Albani opposed the Jansenists; issued the bull Unigenitus against them; supported the Pretender and the claims of the Stuarts. C. XII., Pope from 1738 to 1740. C. XIII., Pope from 1758 to 1769. C. XIV., Pope from 1769 to 1774, Ganganelli, an able, liberal-minded, kind-hearted, and upright man; abolished the Order of the Jesuits out of regard to the peace of the Church; his death occurred not without suspicions of foul-play.
Clement, French critic, born at Dijon, surnamed by Voltaire from his severity the "Inclement" (1742-1812).
Clement, a French manufacturer and savant, born near Dijon; author of a memoir on the specific heat of the gases (1779-1841).
Clement, Jacques, a Dominican monk; assassinated Henry III. of France in 1589.
Clement, St., St. Paul's coadjutor, the patron saint of tanners; his symbol an anchor.
Clementi, Muzio, a musical composer, especially of pieces for the pianoforte, born in Rome; was the father of pianoforte music; one of the foremost pianists of his day; was buried in Westminster (1752-1832).
Clementine, the Lady, a lady, accomplished and beautiful, in Richardson's novel, "Sir Charles Grandison," in love with Sir Charles, who marries another he has no partiality for.
Cleobulus, one of the seven sages of Greece; friend of Plato; wrote lyrics and riddles in verse, 530 B.C.
Cleom`brotus, a philosopher of Epirus, so fascinated with Plato's "Phædon" that he leapt into the sea in the expectation that he would thereby exchange this life for a better.
Cleome`des, a Greek astronomer of the 1st or 2nd century; author of a treatise which regards the sun as the centre of the solar system and the earth as a globe.
Cleomenes, the name of three Spartan kings.
Cleomenes, an Athenian sculptor, who, as appears from an inscription on the pedestal, executed the statue of the Venus de Medici towards 220 B.C.
Cleon, an Athenian demagogue, surnamed the Tanner, from his profession, which he forsook that he might champion the rights of the people; rose in popular esteem by his victory over the Spartans, but being sent against Brasidas, the Spartan general, was defeated and fell in the battle, 422 B.C.; is regarded by Thucydides with disfavour, and by Aristophanes with contempt, but both these writers were of the aristocracy, and possibly prejudiced, though the object of their disfavour had many of the marks of the vulgar agitator, and stands for the type of one.
Cleopa`tra, Queen of Egypt, a woman distinguished for her beauty, her charms, and her amours; first fascinated Cæsar, to whom she bore a son, and whom she accompanied to Rome, and after Cæsar's death took Mark Antony captive, on whose fall and suicide at Actium she killed herself by applying an asp to her arm, to escape the shame of being taken to Rome to grace the triumph of the victor (69-30 B.C.).
Cleopatra's Needle, an obelisk of 186 tons weight and 68½ ft. high, brought from Alexandria to London in 1878, and erected on the Thames Embankment, London.
Clerc, or Leclerc, Jean, a French theologian of the Arminian school, born at Geneva; a prolific author; wrote commentaries on all the books of the Old Testament, on lines since followed by the Rationalist school or Neologians of Germany (1657-1736).
Clerfayt, Comte de, an Austrian general, distinguished in the Seven Years' War; commanded with less success the Austrian army against the French armies of the Revolution (1733-1798).
Clerk, John, of Eldin, of the Penicuik family, an Edinburgh merchant, first suggested the naval manoeuvre of "breaking the enemy's lines," which was first successfully adopted against the French in 1782 (1728-1812).
Clerk, John, son of preceding, a Scottish judge, under the title of Lord Eldin, long remembered in Edinburgh for his wit (1757-1832).
Clerkenwell (66), a parish in Finsbury, London, originally an aristocratic quarter, now the centre of the manufacture of jewellery and watches.
Clermont, Robert, Comte de, sixth son of St. Louis, head of the house of Bourbon.
Clermont Ferrand (45), the ancient capital of Auvergne and chief town of the dep. Puy-de-Dôme; the birthplace of Pascal, Gregory of Tours, and Dessaix, and where, in 1095, Pope Urban II. convoked a council and decided on the first Crusade; it has been the scene of seven Church Councils.
Clermont-Tonnerre, Marquis, minister of France under the Restoration of the Bourbons (1779-1865).
Clery, Louis XVI.'s valet, who waited on him in his last hours, and has left an account of what he saw of his touching farewell with his family.
Cleveland, a hilly district in the North Riding of Yorkshire, rich in iron-stone.
Cleveland (381), the second city of Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie, 230 m. NE. of Cincinnati; is built on a plain considerably above the level of the lake; the winding Cuyahoga River divides it into two parts, and the industrial quarters are on the lower level of its banks; the city is noted for its wealth of trees in the streets and parks, hence called "The Forest City," and for the absence of tenement houses; it has a university, several colleges, and two libraries; it is the terminus of the Ohio Canal and of seven railways, and the iron ore of Lake Superior shores, the limestone of Lake Erie Islands, and the Ohio coal are brought together here, and every variety of iron manufacture carried on; there is a great lumber market, and an extensive general trade.
Cleveland, Grover, President of the United States, born in New Jersey, son of a Presbyterian minister; bred for the bar; became President in the Democratic interest in 1885; unseated for his free-trade leaning by Senator Harrison, 1889; became the President a second time in 1893; retired in 1897.
Cleveland, John, partisan of Charles I.; imprisoned for abetting the Royalist cause against the Parliament, but after some time set at liberty in consequence of a letter he wrote to Cromwell pleading that he was a poor man, and that in his poverty he suffered enough; he was a poet, and used his satirical faculty in a political interest, one of his satires being an onslaught on the Scots for betraying Charles I.; d. 1650.
Clèves (10), a Prussian town 46 m. NW. of Düsseldorf, once the capital of a duchy connected by a canal with the Rhine; manufactures textile fabrics and tobacco.
Clichy (30), a manufacturing suburb of Paris, on the NW. and right bank of the Seine.
Clifford, George, Earl of Cumberland, a distinguished naval commander under Queen Elizabeth, and one of her favourites (1558-1605).
Clifford, John, D.D., Baptist minister in London, author of "Is Life Worth Living?" b. 1836.
Clifford, Paul, a highwayman, the subject of a novel by Bulwer Lytton, who was subdued and reformed by the power of love.
Clifton (13), a fashionable suburb of Bristol, resorted to as a watering-place; romantically situated on the sides and crest of high cliffs, whence it name.
Climacteric, the Grand, the 63rd year of a man's life, and the average limit of it; a climacteric being every seven years of one's life, and reckoned critical.
Clinker, Humphry, the hero of Smollett's novel, a poor waif, reduced to want, who attracts the notice of Mr. Bramble, marries Mrs. Bramble's maid, and proves a natural son of Mr. Bramble.
Clinton, George, American general and statesman; was governor of New York; became Vice-President in 1804 (1739-1812).
Clinton, Sir Henry, an English general; commanded in the American war; censured for failure in the war; wrote an exculpation, which was accepted (1738-1795).
Clinton, Henry Fynes, a distinguished chronologist, author of "Fasti Hellenici" and "Fasti Romani" (1781-1852).
Clio, the muse of history and epic poetry, represented as seated with a half-opened scroll in her hand.
Clisson, Olivier de, constable of France under Charles VI.; companion in arms of Du Gueselin, and victor at Roosebeke (1326-1407).
Clisthenes, an Athenian, uncle of Pericles, procured the expulsion of Hippias the tyrant, 510 B.C., and the establishment of Ostracism (q. v.).
Clitus, a general of Alexander, and his friend, who saved his life at the battle of Granicus, but whom, at a banquet, he killed when heated with wine, to his inconsolable grief ever afterwards.
Clive, Robert, Lord Clive and Baron Plassey, the founder of the dominion of Britain in India, born in Shropshire; at 19 went out a clerk in the East India Company's service, but quitted his employment in that capacity for the army; distinguishing himself against the rajah of Tanjore, was appointed commissary; advised an attack on Arcot, in the Carnatic, in 1751; took it from and held it against the French, after which, and other brilliant successes, he returned to England, and was made lieutenant-colonel in the king's service; went out again, and marched against the nabob Surajah Dowlah, and overthrew him at the battle of Plassey, 1757; established the British power in Calcutta, and was raised to the peerage; finally returned to England possessed of great wealth, which exposed him to the accusation of having abused his power; the accusation failed; in his grief he took to opium, and committed suicide (1725-1774).
Clodius, a profligate Roman patrician; notorious as the enemy of Cicero, whose banishment he procured; was killed by the tribune Milo, 52 B.C.
Clodomir, the second son of Clovis, king of Orleans from 511 to 524; fell fighting with his rivals; his children, all but one, were put to death by their uncles, Clotaire and Childebert.
Clootz, Anacharsis, Baron Jean Baptiste de Clootz, a French Revolutionary, born at Clèves; "world-citizen"; his faith that "a world federation is possible, under all manner of customs, provided they hold men"; his pronomen Anacharsis suggested by his resemblance to an ancient Scythian prince who had like him a cosmopolitan spirit; was one of the founders of the worship of Reason, and styled himself the "orator of the human race"; distinguished himself at the great Federation, celebrated on the Champ de Mars, by entering the hall on the great Federation Day, June 19, 1790, "with the human species at his heels"; was guillotined under protest in the name of the human race (1755-1794).
Clorinda, a female Saracen knight sent against the Crusaders, whom Tancred fell in love with, but slew on an encounter at night; before expiring she received Christian baptism at his hands.
Clotaire I., son and successor of Clovis, king of the Franks from 558; cruel and sanguinary; along with Childebert murdered the sons of his brother Clodomir. C. II., son of Chilpéric and Fredigonda, king of the Franks from 613 to 628; caused Brunhilda to be torn in pieces. C. III., son of Clovis II., King of Neustria and Burgundy from 656 to 670. C. IV., king of ditto from 717 to 720.
Clothes, Carlyle's name in "Sartor Resartus" for the guises which the spirit, especially of man, weaves for itself and wears, and by which it both conceals itself in shame and reveals itself in grace.
Clotho, that one of the three Fates which spins the thread of human destiny.
Clotilda, St., the wife of Clovis I.; persuaded her husband to profess Christianity; retired into a monastery at Tours when he died (475-545). Festival, June 3.
Cloud, St., the patron saint of smiths.
Cloud, St., or Clodoald, third son of Clodomir, who escaped the fate of his brothers, and retired from the world to a spot on the left bank of the Seine, 6 m. SW. of Paris, named St. Cloud after him.
Clouds, The, the play in which Aristophanes exposes Socrates to ridicule.
Clough, Arthur Hugh, a lyric poet, born at Liverpool; son of a cotton merchant; educated at Rugby under Dr. Arnold, whom he held in the highest regard; was at Oxford, as a Fellow of Oriel, at the time of the Tractarian movement, which he arrayed himself against, and at length turned his back upon and tore himself away from by foreign travel; on his return he was appointed examiner in the Education Office; falling ill from overwork he went abroad again, and died at Florence; he was all alive to the tendencies of the time, and his lyrics show his sense of these, and how he fronted them; in the speculative scepticism of the time his only refuge and safety-anchor was duty; Matthew Arnold has written in his "Thyrsis" a tribute to his memory such as has been written over few; his best-known poem is "The Bothie of Tober-na-Vuolich" (1819-1861).
Clovis I., king of the Franks, son of Childéric I.; conquered the Romans at Soissons 486, which he made his centre; married Clotilda (q. v.) 493; beat the Germans near Cologne 496, by assistance, as he believed, of the God of Clotilda, after which he was baptized by St. Remi at Rheims; and overthrew the Visigoths under Alaric II. near Poitiers in 507, after which victories he made Paris his capital. C. II., son of Dagobert; was king of Neustria and Burgundy from 638 to 656. C. Ill, son of Thierry III., and king of ditto from 691 to 695, and had Pépin d'Héristal for mayor of the palace.
Cluny (3), a town in the dep. of Saône-et-Loire, on an affluent of the Saône; renowned in the Middle Ages for its Benedictine abbey, founded in 910, and the most celebrated in Europe, having been the mother establishment of 2000 others of the like elsewhere; in ecclesiastical importance it stood second to Rome, and its abbey church second to none prior to the erection of St. Peter's; a great normal school was established here in 1865.
Clusium, the ancient capital of Etruria and Porsenna's.
Clutha, the largest river in New Zealand, in Otago, very deep and rapid, and 200 m. long.
Clutterbuck, the imaginary author of the "Fortunes of Nigel," and the patron to whom the "Abbot" is dedicated.
Clyde, a river in the W. of Scotland which falls into a large inlet or firth, as it is called, the commerce on which extends over the world, and on the banks of which are shipbuilding yards second to none in any other country; it is deepened as far as Glasgow for ships of a heavy tonnage.
Clyde, Lord. See Campbell, Colin.
Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon, and the mother of Iphigenia, Electra, and Orestes; killed her husband, and was killed by her son, Orestes, seven years after.
Clytie, a nymph in love with Apollo, god of the sun, who did not respond to her; but, with all the passion he durst show to her, turned her into a sunflower.
Coanza, a W. African river, which rises in the Mossamba Mountains, falling into the sea after a course of 600 m.; owing to falls is navigable for only 140 m. from its mouth.
Coast Range, a range in the U.S., W. of the Sierra Nevada, parallel to it, with the Sacramento Valley between.
Cobbett, William, a political and miscellaneous writer, born at Farnham, Sussex; commenced life as a farm labourer, and then as copying clerk; enlisted, and saw seven years' service in Nova Scotia; being discharged, travelled in France and America; on his return started the Weekly Register, at first Tory, then Radical; published a libel against the Government, for which he was imprisoned; on his release issued his Register at a low price, to the immense increase of its circulation; vain attempts were made to crush him, against which he never ceased to protest; after the passing of the Reform Bill he got into Parliament, but made no mark; his writings were numerous, and include his "Grammar," his "Cottage Economy," his "Rural Rides," and his "Advice to Young Men"; his political opinions were extreme, but his English was admirable (1762-1835).
Cobbler Poet, Hans Sachs (q. v.).
Cobden, Richard, a great political economist and the Apostle of Free Trade, born near Midhurst, Sussex; became partner in a cotton-trading firm in Manchester; made a tour on the Continent and America in the interest of political economy; on the formation of the Corn-Law League in 1838, gave himself heart and soul to the abolition of the Corn Laws; became Member of Parliament for Stockport in 1841; on the conversion of Sir Robert Peel to Free-Trade principles saw these laws abolished in 1846; for his services in this cause he received the homage of his country as well as of Continental nations, but refused all civic honours, and finished his political career by negotiating a commercial treaty with France (1804-1865).
Cobentzell, Comte de, an Austrian diplomatist, born at Brussels; negotiated the treaties of Campo Formio and Lunéville; founded the Academy of Sciences at Brussels (1753-1808).
Coblenz (32), a fortified city, manufacturing and trading town, in Prussia, at the junction of the Rhine and the Moselle, so called as at the confluence of the two; opposite it is Ehrenbreitstein.
Coburg (18), capital of the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, on the Itz, the old castle on a height 500 ft. above the town; gave shelter to Luther in 1530, and was besieged by Wallenstein.
Coburg, field-marshal of Austria; vanquished Dumouriez at Neerwinden; was conquered by Moreau and Jourdan (1737-1815).
Cocaine, an alkaloid from the leaf of the coca plant, used as an anæsthetic.
Cocceius, or Koch, Johann, a Dutch divine, professor at Leyden; held that the Old Testament was a type or foreshadow of the New, and was the founder of the federal theology, or the doctrine that God entered into a threefold compact with man, first prior to the law, second under the law, and third under grace (1603-1669).
Cocceji, Henry, learned German jurist, born at Bremen; an authority on civil law; was professor of law at Frankfurt (1644-1719).
Cocceji, Samuel, son of the preceding; Minister of Justice and Chancellor of Prussia under Frederick the Great; a prince of lawyers, and "a very Hercules in cleansing law stables" as law-reformer (1679-1755).
Cochabamba (14), a high-lying city of Bolivia, capital of a department of the name; has a trade in grain and fruits.
Cochin (722), a native state in India N. of Travancore, cooped up between W. Ghâts and the Arabian Sea, with a capital of the same name, where Vasco da Gama died; the first Christian church in India was built here, and there is here a colony of black Jews.
Cochin-China (2,034), the region E. of the Mekong, or Annam proper, called High Cochin-China (capital Hué), and Low Cochin-China, a State S. of Indo-China, and S. of Cambodia and Annam; belonging to France, with an unhealthy climate; rice the chief crop; grows also teak, cotton, &c.; capital Saigon.
Cochlæus, Johann, an able and bitter antagonist of Luther's; d. 1592.
Cochrane, the name of several English naval officers of the Dundonald family; Sir Alexander Forrester Inglis (1758-1832); Sir Thomas John, his son (1798-1872); and Thomas, Lord. See Dundonald.
Cock Lane Ghost, a ghost which was reported in a lane of the name in Smithfield, London, in 1762, to the excitement of the public, due to a girl rapping on a board in bed.
Cockaigne, an imaginary land of idleness and luxury, from a satirical poem of that name (coquina, a kitchen), where the monks live in an abbey built of pasties, the rivers run with wine, and the geese fly through the air ready roasted. The name has been applied to London and Paris.
Cockatrice, a monster with the wings of a fowl, the tail of a dragon, and the head of a cock; alleged to have been hatched by a serpent from a cock's egg; its breath and its fatal look are in mediæval art the emblem of sin.
Cockburn, Sir Alexander, Lord Chief-Justice of England from 1859; called to the bar in 1829; became Liberal member for Southampton in 1847, and Solicitor-General in 1850; was prosecutor in the Palmer case, judge in the Tichborne, and an arbitrator in the Alabama (1802-1880).
Cockburn, Alison, author of "Flowers of the Forest"; in her day the leader of Edinburgh society; was acquainted with Burns, and recognised in his boyhood the genius of Scott (1713-1795).
Cockburn, Sir George, an English admiral, born in London; rose by rapid stages to be captain of a frigate; took an active part in the expedition to the Scheldt, in the defence of Cadiz, and of the coast of Spain; was second in command of the expedition against the United States; returned to England in 1815, and was selected to convey Napoleon to St. Helena (1771-1853).
Cockburn, Henry, Lord, an eminent Scotch judge, born in Edinburgh; called to the bar in 1800; one of the first contributors to the Edinburgh Review; was Solicitor-General for Scotland in 1830, and appointed a judge four years after; was a friend and colleague of Lord Jeffrey; wrote Jeffrey's Life, and left "Memorials of His Own Time" and "Journals"; he was a man of refined tastes, shrewd common-sense, quiet humour, and a great lover of his native city and its memories; described by Carlyle as "a bright, cheery-voiced, hazel-eyed man; a Scotch dialect with plenty of good logic in it, and of practical sagacity; a gentleman, and perfectly in the Scotch type, perhaps the very last of that peculiar species" (1779-1854).
Cocker, Edward, an arithmetician, and a schoolmaster by profession; wrote an arithmetic, published after his death, long the text-book on the subject, and a model of its kind; gave rise to the phrase "according to Cocker" (1631-1672).
Cockney, a word of uncertain derivation, but meaning one born and bred in London, and knowing little or nothing beyond it, and betraying his limits by his ideas, manners, and accent.
Cockney School, a literary school, so called by Lockhart, as inspired with the idea that London is the centre of civilisation, and including Leigh Hunt, Hazlitt, and others.
Cockpit of Europe, Belgium, as the scene of so many battles between the Powers of Europe.
Cockton, Henry, a novelist, born in London, author of "Valentine Vox" (1807-1853).
Cocles, Horatius, a Roman who defended a bridge against the army of Porsenna till the bridge was cut down behind him, when he leapt into the river and swam across scatheless amid the darts of the enemy.
Cocos Islands, a group of 20 small coral islands about 700 m. SW. of Sumatra.
Cocytus, a dark river which environed Tartarus with bitter and muddy waters.
Codrington, Sir Edward, a British admiral; entered the navy at 13; served under Howe at Brest, in the capacity of captain of the Orion at Trafalgar, in the Walcheren expedition, in North America, and at Navarino in 1827, when the Turkish fleet was destroyed; served also in Parliament from 1832 to 1839, when he was appointed Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth (1770-1851).
Codrington, Sir William John, a British general; served in the Crimean war, and Commander-in-Chief after the death of General Simpson (1800-1884).
Codrus, the last king of Athens; sacrificed his life to fulfil an oracle, which promised victory to the side whose king fell in an engagement between the Athenians and Dorians in 1132 B.C.
Coehoorn, Baron van, a Dutch military engineer; fortified Namur, and defended it against Vauban; was successful in besieging many towns during the war of the Spanish Succession; author of a treatise on fortification (1641-1704).
Coelebs (a bachelor), the title of a novel by Hannah More.
Coele-Syria (the Howe of Syria), or El Buka'a, a valley between the Lebanons, about 100 m. long by 10 m. broad.
Coelian, one of the seven hills of Rome, S. of the Capitoline.
Coello, the name of two Spanish painters in the 16th and 17th centuries, whose works are in the Escurial.
Coeur, Jacques, a rich merchant of Bourges, financier to Charles VII., for whom he provided the sinews of war against the English, but who banished him at the instigation of detractors; he was reinstated under Louis XI. (1400-1456).
Coeur de Lion (lion-hearted), a surname on account of their courage given to Richard I. of England (1151), Louis VIII. of France (1181), and Boselas I. of Poland (960).
Cogito, ergo sum, "I think, therefore I am." Descartes' principle of certainty, and on which, as on a stable basis, he reared his whole philosophy. See Descartes. "Alas, poor cogitator," Carlyle exclaims, "this takes us but a little way. Sure enough, I am; and lately was not; but Whence? How? Whereto?"
Cognac (17), a French town in the dep. of Charente, birthplace of Francis I.; famous for its vines and the manufacture of brandy.
Cogniet, a French painter, author of "Tintoret painting his Dead Daughter" (1794-1880).
Coila, a poetic name for Kyle, the central district of Ayrshire.
Coimbatore (46), a town of strategic importance in the Madras Presidency, 30 m. SW. of Madras, situated in a gorge of the Ghâts, 1437 ft. above the sea-level, in a district (2,004) of the same name.
Coimbra (14), a rainy town in Portugal, of historical interest, 110 m. NNE. of Lisbon, with a celebrated university, in which George Buchanan was a professor, where he was accused of heresy and thrown into prison, and where he translated the Psalms into Latin.
Coke, coal with a residue of carbon and earthy matter after the volatile constituents are driven off by heat in closed spaces.
Coke, Sir Edward, Lord Chief-Justice of England, born at Milcham, Norfolk; being a learned lawyer, rose rapidly at the bar and in offices connected therewith; became Lord Chief-Justice in 1613; was deposed in 1617 for opposing the king's wishes; sat in his first and third Parliaments, and took a leading part in drawing up the Petition of Rights; spent the last three years of his life in revising his works, his "Institutes," known as "Coke upon Littleton," and his valuable "Reports" (1549-1634).
Colbert, Jean Baptiste, a French statesman, of Scotch descent, born in Rheims, the son of a clothier; introduced to Louis XIV. by Mazarin, then first minister; he was appointed Controller-General of the Finances after the fall of Fouquet, and by degrees made his influence felt in all the departments of State affairs; he favoured, by protectionist measures—free trade not yet being heard of—French industry and commerce; was to the French marine what Louvois was to the army, and encouraged both arts and letters; from 1671 his influence began to decline; he was held responsible for increased taxation due to Louis XIV.'s wars, while the jealousy of Louvois weakened his credit at Court; he became so unpopular that on his death his body was buried at night, but a grateful posterity has recognised his services, and done homage to his memory as one of the greatest ministers France ever had (1619-1683).
Colburn, Zerah, an American youth, with an astonishing power of calculation, born in Vermont, and exhibited as such, a faculty which he lost when he grew up to manhood (1804-1840).
Colchester (35), the largest town in Essex, 51 m. from London, on the right bank of the Colne, of great antiquity, and with Roman remains; has been long famous for its oyster fishery; has silk manufactures; is the port of outlet of a large corn-growing district.
Colchester, Charles Abbot, Lord, English statesman; sometime Chief Secretary of Ireland, and Speaker of the House of Commons; raised to the peerage in response to an address of the House of Commons (1757-1829).
Colchis, a district on the E. of the Black Sea, and S. of Caucasus, where the Argonauts, according to Greek tradition, found and conquered the Golden Fleece; the natives had a reputation for witchcraft and sorcery.
Coldstream Guards, one of the three regiments of Foot Guards; was raised by General Monk in Scotland in 1660, and marched under him from Coldstream to place Charles II. on the throne; originally called Monk's regiment.
Cole, Henry an English ecclesiastical zealot, who held handsome preferments under Henry VIII. and Mary, but was stripped of them under Edward VI. and Elizabeth.
Cole, King, a legendary jovial British king, celebrated in song.
Colebrooke, Henry Thomas, a celebrated Indianist, born in London; served under the East India Company, and devoted his spare time to Indian literature; studied the Sanskrit language, wrote on the Vedas, translated the "Digest of Hindu Law" compiled by Sir William Jones, compiled a Sanskrit Dictionary, and wrote various treatises on the law and philosophy of the Hindus; he was one of the first scholars in Europe to reveal the treasures that lay hid in the literature of the East (1765-1837).
Colenso, Dr., an English clergyman and mathematician; was appointed bishop of Natal in 1845; applied himself to the study of the Zulu language, and translated parts of the Bible and Prayer-book into it; calling in question the accuracy and Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, was deposed by his metropolitan, which deposition was declared null and void by the Privy Council; besides his theological work, produced text-books on arithmetic and algebra; died at Durban, Natal; he favoured the cause of the Zulus against the Boers, and did his utmost to avert the Zulu war (1814-1883).
Coleridge, Hartley, an English man of letters, eldest son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, born at Clevedon, Somerset; lived with his father in the Lake District, and grew up in the society of Wordsworth, De Quincey, and others; gained a Fellowship at Oxford, but forfeited it through intemperance; tried school-mastering at Ambleside, but failed, and took to literature, in which he did some excellent work, both in prose and poetry, though he led all along a very irregular life; had his father's weaknesses, and not a little of his ability; his best memorials as a poet are his sonnets, of which two have been especially admired, "The Soul of Man is Larger than the Sky," and "When I Survey the Course I have Run" (1796-1849).
Coleridge, Henry Nelson, nephew of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and a great admirer; editor of many of his works, his "Table Talk" in especial (1800-1843).
Coleridge, John Duke, Lord, an English lawyer, cousin of Hartley Coleridge; after serving in inferior appointments, appointed Lord Chief-Justice of England in 1880; when at the bar he was prominent in connection with Tichborne case.
Coleridge, Sir John Taylor, an English judge, nephew of Samuel Taylor Coleridge; was editor of the Quarterly, edited "Blackstone," &c.; wrote a "Memoir of the Rev. John Keble" (1790-1876).
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, poet, philosopher, and critic, born in Devonshire; passionately devoted to classical and metaphysical studies; educated at Christ's Hospital; had Charles Lamb for schoolmate; at Cambridge devoted himself to classics; falling into debt enlisted as a soldier, and was, after four months, bought off by his friends; gave himself up to a literary life; married, and took up house near Wordsworth, in Somersetshire, where he produced the "Ancient Mariner," "Christabel," and "Remorse"; preached occasionally in Unitarian pulpits; visited Germany and other parts of the Continent; lectured in London in 1808; when there took to opium, broke off the habit in 1816, and went to stay with the Gillmans at Highgate as their guest, under whose roof, after four years' confinement to a sick-room, he died; among his works were "The Friend," his "Biographia Literaria," "Aids to Reflection," &c., published in his lifetime, and "Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit," "Literary Remains," and "Table Talk" after his death; he was a man of subtle and large intellect, and exercised a great influence on the thinkers of his time, though in no case was the influence a decisive one, as it had the most opposite effects on different minds; his philosophy was hazy, and his life was without aim, "once more the tragic story of a high endowment with an insufficient will" (1772-1834). See Carlyle's estimate of him in the "Life of Sterling."
Coleridge, Sarah, poetess, only daughter of preceding; her sole poem, "Phantasmion"; left "Letters" of interest (1803-1852).
Coles, Cowper Phipps, an English naval captain and architect; entered the navy at 11; distinguished himself at Sebastopol; designer of the turret-ship the Captain, which capsized off Finisterre, himself on board, and drowned with a crew of 500 men (1819-1870).
Colet, John, dean of St. Paul's, a patron of learning, a friend and scholar of Erasmus, a liberal and much persecuted man; far in advance of his time; founded and endowed St. Paul's School; wrote a number of works, chiefly theological, and "Letters to Erasmus"' (1466-1519).
Colet, Louise, a French literary lady, born at Aix; wrote numerous works for the young (1808-1876).
Coligny, Gaspard de, French admiral, born at Châtillon; a leader of the Huguenots; began his life and distinguished himself as a soldier; when the Guises came into power he busied himself in procuring toleration for the Huguenots, and succeeded in securing in their behalf what is known as the Pacification of Amboise, but on St. Bartholomew's Eve he fell the first victim to the conspiracy in his bed; was thrown out of the window, and exposed to every manner of indignity in the streets, though it is hard to believe that the Duke of Guise, as is said, demeaned himself to kick the still living body (1517-1572).
Colima (25), capital of a State of the same name in Mexico.
Colin Clout, the name Spenser assumes in the "Shepherd's Calendar."
Colin Tampon, the nickname of a Swiss, as John Bull of an Englishman.
Colise`um, a magnificent amphitheatre in Rome, begun under Vespasian and finished under Titus; it rose from the area by 80 tiers of seats, and could contain 80,000 spectators; it was here the gladiators fought with wild beasts, and also the early Christians.
Collatinus, the nephew of Tarquinius Priscus, the husband of Lucretia, and with Brutus, her avenger, the first consul of Rome.
Collectivism, the Socialistic doctrine that industry should be carried on by capital as the joint property of the community.
Collège de France, an institution founded at Paris by Francis I. in 1530, where instruction is given to advanced students in several departments of knowledge.
Collier, Arthur, an English metaphysician, born in Wilts; studied Descartes and Malebranche, and who, anticipating Berkeley, published a "Demonstration of the Non-Existence and the Impossibility of an External World" (1680-1732). See Berkeley.
Collier, Jeremy, an English non-juring divine, refused to take oath at the Revolution; was imprisoned for advocating the rights of the Stuarts; had to flee the country at length, and was outlawed; wrote with effect against "The Profaneness and Immorality of the Stage," as well as an "Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain," and a translation of the "Meditations of Marcus Aurelius" (1650-1726).
Collier, John Payne, a Shakespearian commentator and critic; wrote a great deal on various subjects, but got into trouble by his emendations of Shakespeare (1789-1883).
Collingwood, Cuthbert, Lord, a celebrated English admiral, entered the navy at 13; his career was intimately connected all along with that of Nelson; succeeded in command when Nelson fell at Trafalgar, and when he died himself, which happened at sea, his body was brought home and buried beside Nelson's in St. Paul's Cathedral (1740-1810).
Collins, Anthony, an English deist, an intimate friend of Locke; his principal works were "Discourse on Freethinking," "Philosophical Inquiry into Liberty and Necessity," and "Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion," which gave rise to much controversy; he was a necessitarian, and argued against revelation (1676-1729).
Collins, Mortimer, a versatile genius, born at Plymouth; wrote poems, novels, and essays; was the author of "Who was the Heir?" and "Sweet Anne Page"; was a tall, handsome man, fond of athletics, a delightful companion, and dear to his friends (1827-1876).
Collins, Wilkie, English novelist, son of the succeeding, born in London; tried business, then law, and finally settled to literature; his novel "The Woman in White" was the first to take with the public, and was preceded and succeeded by others which have ensured for him a high place among the writers of fiction (1824-1889).
Collins, William, a gifted and ill-fated English poet, born at Chichester; settled in London; fell into dissipated habits and straitened circumstances; had £2000 left him by an uncle, but both health and spirits were broken, and he died in mental imbecility; his "Odes" have not been surpassed, among which the most celebrated are the "Odes to the Passions," to "Simplicity," and to "Evening" (1720-1756).
Collins, William, R.A., a distinguished English painter, born in London; he made his reputation by his treatment of coast and cottage scenes, and though he tried his skill in other subjects, it was in the subjects he started with that he achieved his greatest triumphs; among his best-known works are "The Blackberry Gatherers," "As Happy as a King," "The Fisherman's Daughter," and "The Bird-Catchers" (1788-1847).
Collinson, Peter, an English horticulturist, to whom we are indebted for the introduction into the country of many ornamental shrubs (1694-1768).
Collot d'Herbois, Jean Marie, a violent French Revolutionary, originally a tragic actor, once hissed off the Lyons stage, "tearing a passion to rags"; had his revenge by a wholesale butchery there; marched 209 men across the Rhône to be shot; by-and-by was banished beyond seas to Cayenne, and soon died there (1750-1790).
Collyer, Joseph, an eminent stipple engraver, born in London (1768-1827).
Colman, George, an English dramatist, born at Florence; bred for and called to the bar; author of a comedy entitled "The Jealous Wife," also of "The Clandestine Marriage"; became manager of Drury Lane, then of the Haymarket (1733-1794).
Colman, George, son of the preceding, and his successor in the Haymarket; author of "The Iron Chest," "John Bull," "The Heir at Law," &c. (1762-1836).
Colmar (30), the chief town of Upper Alsace, on the Lauch, on a plain near the Vosges, 42 m. SW. of Strasburg; passed into the hands of the French by treaty of Ryswick in 1697, was ceded to Germany in 1871.
Colocetronis, a Greek patriot, born in Messina, distinguished himself in the War of Independence, which he chiefly contributed to carry through to a successful issue (1770-1843).
Cologne (282), in German Köln, capital of Rhenish Prussia, and a fortress of first rank, on the left bank of the Rhine, 175 m. SE. of Rotterdam; is a busy commercial city, and is engaged in eau-de-Cologne, sugar, tobacco, and other manufactures. It has some fine old buildings, and a picture gallery; but its glory is its great cathedral, founded in the 9th century, burnt in 1248, since which time the rebuilding was carried on at intervals, and only completed in 1880; it is one of the masterpieces of Gothic architecture.
Cologne, The Three Kings of, the three Magi who paid homage to the infant Christ, and whose bones were consigned to the archbishop in 1164; they were called Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar.
Colombia (4,000), a federal republic of nine States, occupying the isthmus of Panama and the NW. corner of S. America, between Venezuela and Ecuador. The country, nearly three times the size of France, though it has only a ninth of the population, comprises in the W. three chains of the Andes and the plateaus between them, in the E. plains well watered by tributaries of the Orinoco. The upper valleys of the Magdalena and Cauca are the centres of population, where the climate is delightful, and grain grows. Every climate is found in Colombia, from the tropical heats of the plains to the Arctic cold of the mountains. Natural productions are as various: the exports include valuable timbers and dye-woods, cinchona bark, coffee, cacao, cotton, and silver ore. Most of the trade is with Britain and the United States. Manufactures are inconsiderable. The mineral wealth is very great, but little wrought. The Panama Railway, from Colon to Panama, connects the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, and is a most important highway of commerce. The people are descendants of Spaniards and Indians; education is meagre, but compulsory; the State Church is Roman Catholic. The capital is Bogotá. Panama and Cartagena the chief ports.
Colombo (126), the capital of Ceylon, and the chief port on the W. coast; it is surrounded on three sides by the sea, and on the other by a lake and moat; is supplied with water and gas; has many fine buildings; has a very mixed population, and has belonged to Britain since 1796; communicates with Kandy by railway.
Colon, a town at the Atlantic terminus of the Panama Railway. See Aspinwall.
Colonna, an illustrious Italian family, to which belonged popes, cardinals, and generals.
Colonna, Victoria, a poetess, married to a member of the above family, who consoled herself for his early death by cultivating her poetic gift; one of her most devoted friends was Michael Angelo (1490-1547).
Colonne, Edouard, musical conductor, born at Bordeaux, conductor of what are known as "Colonne Concerts"; b. 1838.
Colonus, a demos of Attica, a mile NW. of Athens, the birthplace of Sophocles.
Colophon, an Ionian city in Asia Minor, N. of Ephesus, is supposed to give name to the device at the end of books, the cavalry of the place being famous for giving the finishing stroke to a battle.
Colora`do (412), an inland State of the American Union, traversed by the Rocky Mountains, and watered by the upper reaches of the S. Platte and Arkansas Rivers, is twice as large as England. The mountains are the highest in the States (13,000 to 14,000 ft.), are traversed by lofty passes through which the railways run, have rich spacious valleys or parks among them, and have great deposits of gold, silver, lead, and iron. There are also extensive coal-beds; hence the leading industries are mining and iron working. The eastern portion is a level, treeless plain, adapted for grazing. Agriculture, carried on with irrigation, suffers from insect plagues like the Colorado potato beetle. The climate is dry and clear, and attracts invalids. Acquired partly from France in 1804, and the rest from Mexico in 1848; the territory was organised in 1861, and admitted to the Union in 1876. The capital is Denver (107). There is a small Spanish-speaking population in the S.
Colossæ, a city in the S. of Phrygia, in Asia Minor, and the site of one of the earliest Christian churches.
Colossians, The Epistle to the, by St. Paul, directed mainly against two errors of that early date, that the fleshly nature of man is no adequate vehicle for the reception and revelation of the divine nature, and that for redemption recourse must be had to direct mortification of the flesh.
Colossus, any gigantic statue, specially one of Apollo in bronze, 120 ft. high, astride over the mouth of the harbour at Rhodes, reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world, erected in 280 B.C., destroyed by an earthquake 56 years after, and sold to a Jew centuries later for old metal; besides this are celebrated the statue of Memnon at Thebes, the Colossi of Athene in the Parthenon at Athens, and of Zeus at Olympia and at Tarentum, as well as others of modern date; for instance, Germania, 112 ft. high, in the Niederwald, and Liberty enlightening the World, 160 ft. high, in New York harbour.
Colot, the name of a family of French surgeons in the 16th and 17th century, distinguished for their skill in operating in the case of stone.
Colour-blindness, inability, still unaccounted for, to distinguish between colours, and especially between red and green, more common among men than women; a serious disqualification for several occupations, such as those connected with the study of signals.
Colour-sergeant, a sergeant whose duty is to guard the colours and those who carry them.
Colquhoun, John, a noted sportsman and writer on sport in Scotland, born in Edinburgh (1805-1885).
Colston, Edward, an English philanthropist, founded and endowed a school in Bristol for the education of 100 boys, as well as almshouses elsewhere (1636-1721).
Colt, Samuel, the inventor of the revolver, born in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.; having difficulty in raising money to carry out his invention it proved a commercial failure, but being adopted by the Government in the Mexican war it proved a success, since which time it has been everywhere in use (1814-1862).
Columba, St., the apostle of Christianity to the Scots, born in Donegal; coming to Scotland about 563, in his forty-second year, founded a monastery in Iona, and made it the centre of his evangelistic operations, in which work he was occupied incessantly till 596, when his health began to fail, and he breathed his last kneeling before the altar, June 9, 597.
Columban, St., an Irish missionary, who, with twelve companions, settled in Gaul in 585; founded two monasteries, but was banished for the offence of rebuking the king; went to Italy, founded a monastery at Bobbio, where he died 616.
Columbia, a district of 70 sq. m. in the State of Maryland, U.S., in which Washington, the capital of the Union, stands.
Columbia, British (100), the most westerly province in Canada, lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific, the United States and Alaska, and is four times the size of Great Britain. It is a mountainous country, rugged and picturesque, containing the highest peaks on the continent, Mount Hooker, 15,700 ft., and Mount Brown, 16,000 ft, with a richly indented coast-line, off which lie Queen Charlotte Islands and Vancouver. The chief river is the Frazer, which flows from the Lake region southwards through the centre and then westward to the Gulf of Georgia; the upper waters of the Columbia flow southward through the E. of the State. The climate resembles that of northern England, but is in some parts very rainy. The chief industries are lumbering—the forests are among the finest in the world, fishing—the rivers abound in salmon and sturgeon, and mining—rich deposits of gold, silver, iron, copper, mercury, antimony, and many other valuable minerals are found; there are great coal-fields in Vancouver. In Vancouver and in the river valleys of the mainland are extensive tracts of arable and grazing land; but neither agriculture nor manufactures are much developed. Made a Crown colony in 1858, it joined the Dominion as a province in 1871. The completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 joined it to the eastern provinces. The capital is Victoria (17), in the S. of Vancouver.
Columbus (125), capital of Ohio, U.S., a manufacturing town.
Columbus, Bartholomew, cosmographer, brother of Christopher Columbus; accompanied him to St. Domingo, and became governor; d. 1514.
Columbus, Christopher, discoverer of America, on Oct. 12, 1492, after two months of great peril and, in the end, mutiny of his men, born in Genoa; went to sea at 14; cherished, if he did not conceive, the idea of reaching India by sailing westward; applied in many quarters for furtherance; after seven years of waiting, was provided with three small vessels and a crew of 120 men; first touched land at the Bahamas, visited Cuba and Hayti, and returned home with spoils of the land; was hailed and honoured as King of the Sea; he made three subsequent visits, and on the third had the satisfaction of landing on the mainland, which Sebastian Cabot and Amerigo Vespucci had reached before him; he became at last the victim of jealousy, and charges were made against him, which so cut him to the heart that he never rallied from the attack, and he died at Valladolid, broken in body and in soul; Carlyle, in a famous passage, salutes him across the centuries: "Brave sea-captain, Norse sea-king, Columbus my hero, royalist sea-king of all" (1438-1506).
Columella, Junius, a Latin writer of the 1st century, born at Cadiz; author of "De Re Rustica," in 12 books, on the same theme as Virgil's "Georgics," viz., agriculture and gardening; he wrote also "De Arboribus," on trees.
Colu`thus, a Greek epic poet of 6th century, born in Egypt; wrote the "Rape of Helen."
Colvin, Sidney, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Slade Professor of Art at Cambridge, born at Norwood; contributor to the journals on art and literature; has written Lives of Keats and Landor; friend of Robert Louis Stevenson, and his literary executor; b. 1845.
Comacchio (10), a walled town, 30 m. SE. of Ferrara; famous for fish, specially eel-culture in a large lagoon adjoining, 90 in. in circumference.
Combe, Andrew, M.D., a physician and physiologist, born in Edinburgh; studied under Spurzheim in Edinburgh and Paris, but on his return to his native city was seized with pulmonary consumption, which rendered him a confirmed invalid, so that he had to spend his winters abroad; was eminent as a physician; was a believer in phrenology; produced three excellent popular works on Physiology, Digestion, and the Management of Infancy (1797-1847).
Combe, George, brother of the preceding, born in Edinburgh; trained to the legal profession; like his brother, he became, under Spurzheim, a stanch phrenologist and advocate of phrenology; but his ablest and best-known work was "The Constitution of Man," to the advocacy of the principles of which and their application, especially to education, he devoted his life; he married a daughter of the celebrated Mrs. Siddons (1788-1858).
Combe, William, born in Bristol; author of the "Three Tours of Dr. Syntax"; inherited a small fortune, which he squandered by an irregular life; wrote some 86 works (1741-1823).
Combermere, Viscount, a British field-marshal, born in Denbighshire; served in Flanders, at the Cape of Good Hope, and in India; was present at the siege of Seringapatam; was sent to Spain in 1808; distinguished himself in the Peninsula, and particularly at Talavera; received a peerage in 1827; was made commander-in-chief in India, and Constable of the Tower in succession to Wellington in 1832 (1773-1865).
Comenius, John Amos, a Moravian educational reformer, particularly as regards the acquisition of languages in their connection with the things they denote; his two most famous books are his "Janua Linguarum" and his "Orbis Sensualium Pictus"; his principle at bottom was, words must answer to and be associated with things and ideas of things, a principle still only very partially adopted in education, and that only at the most elementary stages.
Comet, a member of the solar system under control of the sun, consisting of a bright nucleus within a nebulous envelope, generally extended into a tail on the rear of its orbit, which is extremely eccentric, pursuing its course with a velocity which increases as it approaches the sun, and which diminishes as it withdraws from it; these bodies are very numerous, have their respective periods of revolution, which have been in many cases determined by observation.
Comines, a French town in the dep. of Nord, France, 15 m. SW. of Courtrai.
Comines, Philippe de, a French chronicler, born at Comines; was of Flemish origin; served under Charles the Bold, then under Louis XI. and Charles VIII.; author of "Memoires," in seven vols., of the reigns of these two monarchs, which give a clear and faithful picture of the time and the chief actors in it, but with the coolest indifference as to the moral elements at work, with him the end justifying the means, and success the measure of morality (1443-1509).
Comitia, constitutional assemblies of the Roman citizens for electing magistrates, putting some question to the vote of the people, the declaration of war, &c.
Comity of nations, the name given for the effect given in one country to the laws and institutions of another in dealing with a native of it.
Commandite, Société en, partnership in a business by a supply of funds, but without a share in the management or incurring further liability.
Commelin, Isaac, Dutch historian; wrote the "Lives of the Stadtholders William I. and Maurice" (1598-1676).
Commentaries of Julius Cæsar, his memoirs of the Gallic and Civil Wars, reckoned the most perfect model of narration that in such circumstances was ever written, and a masterpiece.
Committee of Public Safety, a committee of nine created by the French Convention, April 6, 1793, to concentrate the power of the executive, "the conscience of Marat, who could see salvation in one thing only, in the fall of 260,000 aristocrats' heads"; notable, therefore, for its excesses in that line; was not suppressed till Oct. 19, 1796, on the advent of the Directory to power.
Com`modus, Lucius Aurelius, Roman emperor, son and successor of Marcus Aurelius; carefully trained, but on his father's death threw up the reins and gave himself over to every form of licentiousness; poison administered by his mistress Marcia being slow in operating, he was strangled to death by a hired athlete in 162.
Common Law is law established by usage and confirmed by judicial decision.
Common-sense, Philosophy of, the philosophy which rests on the principle that the perceptions of the senses reflect things as they actually are irrespectively of them.
Commune, The, a revolutionary power installed in Paris after the "admonitory" insurrection of March 18, 1871, and overthrown in the end of May.
Communism, community of property in a State.
Comne`nus, name of a dynasty of six emperors of Constantinople.
Como, Lake of, one of the chief lakes of Lombardy and the third in size, at the foot of the Pennine Alps, 80 m. long and 2½ at greatest breadth; is traversed by the Adda, and is famed for the beauty and rich variety of its scenery.
Comorin, Cape, a low sandy point, the most southerly of India, from which the seaman is beckoned off by a peak 18 m. inland.
Comoro Isles (63), an archipelago of four volcanic islands at the N. of the channel of Mozambique; under the protectorate of France since 1886; the people are Mohammedans, and speak Arabic.
Comparetti, an Italian philologist; his writings are numerous; b. 1835.
Compiègne (14), a quiet old town in the dep. of Oise, 50 m. NE. of Paris; has some fine old churches, but the chief edifice is the palace, built by St. Louis and rebuilt by Louis XIV., where the marriage of Napoleon to Maria Louisa was celebrated; here Joan of Arc was made prisoner in 1430, and Louis Napoleon had hunting ground.
Compton, Henry, bishop of London, son of the Earl of Northampton; fought bravely for Charles I.; was colonel of dragoons at the Restoration; left the army for the Church; was made bishop; crowned William and Mary when the archbishop, Sancroft, refused; d. 1713.
Comrie (8), a village in Perthshire, on the Earn, 20 m. W. of Perth, in a beautiful district of country; subject to earthquakes from time to time; birthplace of George Gilfillan.
Comte, Auguste, a French philosopher, born at Montpellier, the founder of Positivism (q. v.); enough to say here, it consisted of a new arrangement of the sciences into Abstract and Concrete, and a new law of historical evolution in science from a theological through a metaphysical to a positive stage, which last is the ultimate and crowning and alone legitimate method, that is, observation of phenomena and their sequence; Comte was first a disciple of St. Simon, but he quarrelled with him; commenced a "Cours de Philosophie Positive" of his own, in six vols.; but finding it defective on the moral side, he instituted a worship of humanity, and gave himself out as the chief priest of a new religion, a very different thing from Carlyle's hero-worship (1795-1857).
Comus, the Roman deity who presided over festive revelries; the title of a poem by Milton, "the most exquisite of English or any masks."
Comyn, John (the Black Comyn), Lord of Badenoch, a Scottish noble of French descent, his ancestor, born at Comines, having come over with the Conqueror and got lands given him; was one of the competitors for the Scottish crown in 1291, and lost it.
Comyn, John (the Red Comyn), son of the preceding; as one of the three Wardens of Scotland defended it against the English, whom he defeated at Roslin; but in 1304 submitted to Edward I., and falling under suspicion of Bruce, was stabbed by him in a monastery at Dumfries in 1306.
Concepcion (24), a town in Chile, S. of Valparaiso, with its port, Talcahuano, 7 m. off, one of the safest and most commodious in the country, and ranks next to Valparaiso as a trading centre.
Conception of our Lady, an order of nuns founded in Portugal in 1484; at first followed the rule of the Cistercians, but afterwards that of St. Clare.
Conciergerie, a prison in the Palais de Justice, Paris.
Conclave, properly the room, generally in the Vatican, where the cardinals are confined under lock and key while electing a Pope.
Concord, a town in U.S., 23 m. NW. of Boston; was the residence of Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne; here the first engagement took place in the American war in 1775.
Concord (17), capital of New Hampshire, U.S., a thriving trading place.
Concordat, The, a convention of July 15, 1801, between Bonaparte and Pius V., regulative of the relations of France with the Holy See.
Concorde, Place de la, a celebrated public place, formed by Louis XV. in 1748, adorned by a statue of him; at the Revolution it was called Place de la Revolution; here Louis XVI. and his queen were guillotined.
Concordia, the Roman goddess of peace, to whom Camillus the dictator in 367 B.C. dedicated a temple on the conclusion of the strife between the patricians and plebeians.
Condé, Henry I., Prince of, fought in the ranks of the Huguenots, but escaped the massacre of St. Bartholomew by an oath of abjuration (1552-1588).
Condé, House of, a collateral branch of the house of Bourbon, the members of which played all along a conspicuous rôle in the history of France.
Condé, Louis I., Prince of, founder of the house of Condé, a brave, gallant man, though deformed; distinguished himself in the wars between Henry II. and Charles V., particularly in the defence of Metz; affronted at court, and obnoxious to the Guises, he became a Protestant, and joined his brother the king of Navarre; became the head of the party, and was treacherously killed after the battle of Jarnac; he had been party, however, to the conspiracy of Amboise, which aimed a death-blow at the Guises (1530-1569).
Condé, Louis II., Prince of, named "the Great Condé," born at Paris; was carefully educated; acquired a taste for literature, which stood him in good stead at the end of his career; made his reputation by his victory over the Spaniards at Recroi; distinguished himself at Fribourg, Nordlingen, and Lens; the settlement of the troubles of the Fronde alienated him, so that he entered the service of Spain, and served against his country, but was by-and-by reconciled; led the French army to success in Franche-Comté and Holland, and soon after retired to Chantilly, where he enjoyed the society of such men as Molière, Boileau, and La Bruyère, and when he died Bossuet pronounced a funeral oration over his grave (1621-1686).
Condé, Louis Joseph, Prince de, born at Chantilly; served in the Seven Years' War; attended in the antechamber in the palace when Louis XV. lay dying; was one of the first to emigrate on the fall of the Bastille; seized every opportunity to save the monarchy; was declared a traitor to the country, and had his estates confiscated for threatening to restore Louis XVI.; organised troops to aid in the Restoration; settled at Malmesbury, in England, during the Empire; returned to France with Louis XVIII. (1736-1818).
Condillac, Étienne Bonnot, a French philosopher, born at Grenoble, of good birth; commenced as a disciple of Locke, but went further, for whereas Locke was content to deduce empirical knowledge from sensation and reflection, he deduced reflection from sensation, and laid the foundation of a sensationalism which, in the hands of his successors, went further still, and swamped the internal in the external, and which is now approaching the stage of self-cancelling zero; he lived as a recluse, and had Rousseau and Diderot for intimate friends (1715-1780).
Conditional Immortality, the doctrine that only believers in Christ have any future existence, a dogma founded on certain isolated passages of Scripture.
Condorcet, Marquis de, a French mathematician and philosopher, born near St. Quentin; contributed to the "Encyclopédie"; was of the Encyclopedist school; took sides with the Revolutionary party in the interest of progress; voted with the Girondists usually; suspected by the extreme party; was not safe even under concealment; "skulked round Paris in thickets and stone-quarries; entered a tavern one bleared May morning, ragged, rough-bearded, hunger-stricken, and asked for breakfast; having a Latin Horace about him was suspected and haled to prison, breakfast unfinished; fainted by the way with exhaustion; was flung into a damp cell, and found next morning lying dead on the floor"; his works are voluminous, and the best known is his "Exquisse du Progrès de l'Esprit Humain"; he was not an original thinker, but a clear expositor (1743-1794).
Condottie`ri, leaders of Italian free-lances, who in the 14th and 15th centuries lived by plunder or hired themselves to others for a share in the spoils.
Confederate States, 11 Southern States of the American Union, which seceded in 1861 on the question of slavery, and which occasioned a civil war that lasted till 1865.
Confederation of the Rhine, a confederation of 16 German States, which in 1806 dissolved their connection with Germany and leagued with France, and which lasted till disaster overtook Napoleon in Russia, and then broke up; the Germanic Confederation, or union of all the States, took its place, till it too was dissolved by the defeat of Austria in 1866, and which gave ascendency to Prussia and ensured the erection of the German empire on its ruins.
Conference, a stated meeting of Wesleyan ministers for the transaction of the business of their Church.
Confessions of Faith, are statements of doctrine very similar to Creeds, but usually longer and polemical, as well as didactic; they are in the main, though not exclusively, associated with Protestantism; the 16th century produced many, including the Sixty-seven Articles of the Swiss reformers, drawn up by Zwingli in 1523; the Augsburg Confession of 1530, the work of Luther and Melanchthon, which marked the breach with Rome; the Tetrapolitan Confession of the German Reformed Church, 1530; the Gallican Confession, 1559; and the Belgic Confession of 1561. In Britain the Scots Confession, drawn up by John Knox in 1560; the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England in 1562; the Irish Articles in 1615; and the Westminster Confession of Faith in 1647; this last, the work of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, has by its force of language, logical statement, comprehensiveness, and dependence on Scripture, commended itself to the Presbyterian Churches of all English-speaking peoples, and is the most widely recognised Protestant statement of doctrine; it has as yet been modified only by the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which adopted a Declaratory Statement regarding certain of its doctrines in 1879, and by the Free Church of Scotland, which adopted a similar statement in 1890.
Confessions of Rousseau, memoirs published after his death in 1788, in which that writer makes confession of much that was good in him and much that was bad.
Confessions of St. Augustine, an account which that Father of the Church gives of the errors of his youth and his subsequent conversion.
Confucius, the Latin form of the name of the great sage of China, Kung Futsze, and the founder of a religion which is based on the worship and practice of morality as exemplified in the lives and teachings of the wise men who have gone before, and who, as he conceived, have made the world what it is, and have left it to posterity to build upon the same basis; while he lived he was held in greater and greater honour by multitudes of disciples, till on his death he became an object of worship, and even his descendants came to be regarded as a kind of sacred caste; he flourished about 550 B.C.
Congé d'élire, a warrant granted by the Crown to the dean and chapter of a cathedral to elect a particular bishop to a vacant see.
Congo, the second in length and largest in volume of the African rivers, rises NE. of the Muchinga Mountains in Rhodesia, flows SW. through Lake Bangueola, then N. to the equator; curving in a great semicircle it continues SW., passes in a series of rapids through the coast range, and enters the S. Atlantic by an estuary 6 m. broad. It brings down more water than the other African rivers put together. The largest affluents are the Kassai on the left, and the Mobangi on the right bank; 110 m. are navigable to ocean steamers, then the cataracts intervene, and 250 m. of railway promote transit; the upper river is 2 to 4 m. broad, and navigable for small craft up to Stanley Falls, 1068 m. The name most associated with its exploration is H. M. Stanley; during its course of 3000 m. it bears several names.
Congo, French (5,000), a continuous and connected territory extending westward along the right bank of the Congo from Brazzaville to the mouth of the Mobangi, and as far as 4° N. run N. behind the Cameroons, and along the E. of Shari to Lake Tchad.
Congo Free State embraces most of the basin of the Congo, touching British territory in Uganda and Rhodesia, with a very narrow outlet to the Atlantic at the river mouth. It is under the sovereignty of Leopold II. of Belgium, who, in 1890, made over his rights to Belgium with power to annex the State in 1900. It is nine times the size of Great Britain, and continual native unrest gives great trouble to its administrators. Its waters are open to all nations, and traders exchange manufactured goods for ivory, palm-oil, coffee and caoutchouc, bees-wax and fruits. The climate is tropical, on the lower levels malarial. The population is from 20 to 40 millions. The centre of administration is Boma, 80 m. from the sea.
Congregationalism, the ecclesiastical system which regards each congregation of believers in Christ a church complete in itself, and free from the control of the other Christian communities, and which extends to each member equal privileges as a member of Christ's body. It took its rise in England about 1571, and the most prominent name connected with its establishment is that of Robert Brown (q. v.), who seceded from the Church of England and formed a church in Norwich in 1580. The body was called Brownists after him, and Separatists, as well as "Independents." The several congregations are now united in what is called "The Congregational Union of England and Wales."
Congress is a diplomatic conference at which the representatives of sovereign States discuss matters of importance to their several countries, the most celebrated of which are those of Münster and Osnabrück, which issued in the treaty of Westphalia in 1648, at the end of the Thirty Years' War; of Rastadt, at the end of Spanish Succession War, in 1797; of Vienna, at the end of Napoleon's wars, in 1815; of Paris, in 1856, at the end of Russian War; and of Berlin, in 1878, at the end of Russo-Turkish war; but the name has come to be applied in federal republics to the legislative assembly which directs national as distinct from State concerns. In the United States, Congress consists of the Senate, elected by the State legislatures and the House of Representatives, elected directly by the people. It meets on the first Monday in December, and receives the President's message for the year. It imposes taxes, contracts loans, provides for national defence, declares war, looks after the general welfare, establishes postal communication, coins money, fixes weights and measures, &c. &c., but it is prohibited from preferential treatment of the several States, establishing or interfering with religion, curtailing freedom of speech, or pursuing towards any citizen, even under legal forms, a course of conduct which is unjust or even oppressive.
Congress, the Belgian Constituent Assembly, 1830-1831.
Congreve, Richard, author of political tracts, was a pupil of Dr. Arnold's, and a disciple of Comte in philosophy; b. 1818.
Congreve, William, English comic dramatist, born near Leeds; entered a student of the Middle Temple, but soon abandoned law for literature; the "Old Bachelor" first brought him into repute, and a commissionership of substantial value; the production of "Love for Love" and the "Mourning Bride," a stilted tragedy, added immensely to his popularity, but his comedy "The Way of the World" being coldly received, he gave up writing plays, and only wrote a few verses afterwards; he was held in great esteem by his contemporaries, among others Dryden, Pope, and Steele (1670-1729).
Congreve, Sir William, an English artillery officer, inventor of the rocket which bears his name (1772-1828).
Coningsby, a novel by Disraeli.
Conington, John, classical scholar and professor of Latin at Oxford, born at Boston, translator of the "Æneid" of Virgil, "Odes, Satires, and Epistles" of Horace, and 12 books of the "Iliad" into verse, as well as of other classics; his greatest work is his edition of "Virgil" (1823-1869).
Conisburgh Castle, an old round castle referred to in "Ivanhoe," 5 in. SW. of Doncaster.
Coniston Water, a lake 5 m. long and ½ m. broad, at the foot of Coniston Fells, in Lancashire, with Brantwood on the E. side of it, the residence of John Ruskin.
Conkling, Roscoe, an American politician, a leading man on the Republican side; was a member of the House of Representatives, and also of the Senate; retired from politics, and practised law at New York (1828-1888).
Connaught (724), a western province of Ireland, 105 m. long and 92 m. broad, divided into five counties; is the smallest and most barren of the provinces, but abounds in picturesque scenery; the people are pure Celts.
Connaught, Duke of, the third son of Queen Victoria, bred for the army, has held several military appointments; was promoted to the rank of general in 1893, and made commander-in-chief at Aldershot; b. 1850.
Connecticut (746), southernmost of the New England States, is washed by Long Island Sound, has New York on the W., Rhode Island on the E., and Massachusetts on the N. It is the third smallest State, rocky and uneven in surface, unfertile except in the Connecticut River valley. Streams abound, and supply motive-power for very extensive manufactures of clocks, hardware, india-rubber goods, smallwares, textiles, and firearms. There are iron-mines in the NW., stone-quarries, lead, copper, and cobalt mines. Climate is healthy, changeable, and in winter severe. Education is excellently provided for. Yale University, at New Haven, is thoroughly equipped; there are several divinity schools, Trinity College at Hartford, and the Wesleyan University at Middleton. The capital is Hartford (53); New Haven (81) is the largest town and chief port. The original colony was a democratic secession from Massachusetts in 1634. The constitution of 1639 was the first written democratic constitution on record. Its present constitution as a State dates from 1818.
Connecticut, a river in the United States which rises on the confines of Canada, and, after a course of 450 m., falls into the Atlantic at Long Island.
Connemara, a wild district with picturesque scenery in W. of co. Galway, Ireland.
Conolly, John, physician, born in Lincolnshire, studied at Edinburgh, settled in London, distinguished for having introduced and advocated a more rational and humane treatment of the insane (1794-1866).
Conrad, Cadet of the House of Hohenzollern, served under the illustrious Barbarossa; proved a capable young fellow under him; married the heiress of the Vohburgs; was appointed Burggraf of Nürnberg, 1170, and prince of the empire; "he is the lineal ancestor of Frederick the Great, twentieth in direct ascent, let him wait till nineteen generations, valiantly like Conrad, have done their part, Conrad will find he has come to this," that was realised in Frederick and his time.
Conrad, Marquis of Tyre, threw himself into Tyre when beset by Saladin, and held it till Richard Coeur de Lion and Philip Augustus arrived; was assassinated by emissaries of the Old Man of the Mountain in 1192.
Conrad I., count of Franconia, elected on the extinction of the Carlovingian line Emperor of the Germans, which he continued to be from 911 to 915; fell wounded in battle with the Huns, egged on by a rival.
Conrad II., the Salic, of the same family as the preceding; elected Emperor of Germany in 1024; reigned 15 years, extending the empire, suppressing disorders, and effecting reforms.
Conrad III., founder of the Hohenstaufen dynasty; elected Emperor of Germany in 1138; had Henry the Proud, as head of the German Guelfs, for rival; crushed him at Weinsberg; joined Louis VII. of France on a third crusade, and returning, overthrew the Guelfs again, leaving Barbarossa as his heir; d. 1152.
Conrad of Thüringia, a proud, quick, fiery-tempered magnate, seized the archbishop of Mainz once, swung him round, and threatened to cut him in two; stormed, plundered, and set fire to an imperial free town for an affront offered him; but admonished of his sins became penitent, and reconciled himself by monastic vow to the Pope and mankind about 1234.
Conradin the Boy, or Conrad V., the last representative of the Hohenstaufen dynasty of Romish Kaisers, had fallen into the Pope's clutches, who was at mortal feud with the empire, and was put to death by him on the scaffold at Naples, October 25, 1265, the "bright and brave" lad, only 16, "throwing out his glove (in symbolic protest) amid the dark mute Neapolitan multitudes" that idly looked on. See Carlyle's "Frederick the Great" for the Conrads.
Consalvi, Italian cardinal and statesman, born at Rome, secretary of Pius VII.; concluded the Concordat with Napoleon in 1801; represented the Pope at the Congress of Vienna; was a liberal patron of literature, science, and arts; continued minister of the Pope till his death (1757-1824).
Conscience, Hendrik, a brilliant Flemish novelist, born at Antwerp; rose to popularity among his countrymen by his great national romance the "Lion of Flanders," a popularity which soon extended all over Europe; his writings display great descriptive power and perfect purity of sentiment (1812-1883).
Conscript Fathers, the collective name of members of the Roman Senate, and addressed as such, fathers as seniors and conscripts as enrolled.
Conservation of Energy, the doctrine that, however it may be transformed or dissipated, no fraction of energy is ever lost, that the amount of force, as of matter, in the universe, under all mutation remains the same.
Conservatism, indisposition to change established laws and customs that have wrought beneficially in the past and contributed to the welfare of the country; in practical politics often a very different thing, and regarded by Carlyle in his time "a portentous enbodied sham; accursed of God, and doomed to destruction, as all lies are."
Considérant, Victor Prosper, a French Socialist and disciple of Fourier; founded a colony in Texas on Fourier's principles, which proved a failure; wrote much in advocacy of his principles, of which the most important is "La Destinée Sociale"; b. 1808.
Consols, the Consolidated Fund, loans to Government made at different times and at different rates of interest, consolidated for convenience into one common loan, bearing interest at 3 per cent., reduced in 1830 to 2¾, and in 1893 to 2½.
Constable, a high officer of State in the Roman empire, in France, and in England, charged at one time with military, judicial, and regulative functions.
Constable, Archibald, Edinburgh publisher, born in Carnbee, Fife; started as a bookseller near the Cross in Edinburgh; published the Scots Magazine, the Edinburgh Review, and the "Encyclopædia Britannica," and from 1802 to 1826 the works of Sir Walter Scott, when the bankruptcy connected with the publication of these so affected him that it ruined his health, though he lived after the crash came to start the "Miscellany" which bears his name (1774-1827).
Constable, Henry, English poet, author of sonnets, 28 in number, under the title of "Diana" (1560-1612).
Constable, John, an eminent landscape-painter, born in Suffolk; his works were more generously appreciated in France than in his own country, as they well might be, where they had not, as in England, to stand comparison with those of Turner; but he is now, despite the depreciation of Ruskin, becoming recognised among us as one of our foremost landscapists, and enormous prices have been given of late for his best pictures; some of his best works adorn the walls of the National Gallery; Ruskin allows his art is original, honest, free from affectation, and manly (1776-1837).
Constable de Bourbon, Charles, Duc de Bourbon, a brilliant military leader, and a powerful enemy of Francis I.; killed when leading the assault on Rome (1489-1527).
Constance (16), a city of the Grand-Duchy of Baden, on the S. bank of the Rhine, at its exit from the lake; famous for the seat of the council (1414-1418) which condemned John Huss and Jerome of Prague to death; long famous for its linen manufacture.
Constance, Lake, or Bodensee, partly in Germany and partly in Switzerland; is about 44 m. long and 9 m. broad at most; is traversed by the Rhine from W. to E., is 1306 ft. above sea-level; is surrounded by vineyards, cornfields, and wooded slopes; its waters are hardly ever frozen, and often rise and fall suddenly.
Constant, Benjamin, a highly popular French painter of the Realistic school, born at Paris; his first picture was "Hamlet and the King"; afterwards he took chiefly to Oriental subjects, which afforded the best scope for his talent; occupies a high place in the modern French school, and has been promoted to the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honour; b. 1845.
Constant de Rebecque, Henry Benjamin de, a French politician, of liberal constitutional principles, born at Lausanne, of Huguenot parents; settled in Paris at the commencement of the Revolution, where he distinguished himself by his political writings and speeches; was expelled from France in 1802, along with Mme. de Staël, for denouncing the military ascendency of Napoleon; lived for a time at Weimar in the society of Goethe and Schiller; translated Schiller's "Wallenstein"; returned to France in 1814; declared for the Bourbons, and pled in favour of constitutional liberty; he was a supporter of Louis Philippe, and a rationalist in religion, and declared himself opposed to the supernatural element in all religions (1760-1830).
Constantia, a wine district of Cape Colony under E. flank of Table Mountain.
Constantine (50), inland city of Algeria, on a rocky height; leather-working its staple industry.
Constantine, the name of 13 emperors who reigned at Rome or Byzantium between 306 and 1453.
Constantine I., called the Great, born in Moesia, son of Constantius Chlorus by Helena; on the death of his father at York, where he accompanied him, was proclaimed Emperor by the troops; this title being challenged by Maximian, his father-in-law, and Maxentius, his brother-in-law, he took up arms against first the one and then the other, and defeated them; when one day he saw a cross in the sky with the words By this Conquer in Greek, under this sign, known as the labarum, which he adopted as his standard, he accordingly marched straight to Rome, where he was acknowledged Emperor by the Senate in 312; and thereafter an edict was issued named of Milan, granting toleration to the Christians; he had still to extend his empire over the East, and having done so by the removal of Lucinius, he transferred the seat of his empire to Byzantium, which hence got the name of Constantinople, i. e. Constantine's city; had himself baptized in 337 as a Christian, after having three years before proclaimed Christianity the State religion (274-337).
Constantine Nicolaievitch, second son of the Czar Nicholas I.; was appointed grand-admiral while but a boy; had command of the Baltic fleet during the Crimean war; came under suspicion of sinister intriguing; became insane, and died in seclusion (1827-1892).
Constantine Paulovitch, Grand-duke of Russia, son of Paul I.; distinguished himself at Austerlitz; was commander-in-chief in Poland, where he ruled as despot; waived his right to the throne in favour of his brother Nicholas (1779-1831).
Constantine XIII., Palæologus, the last of the Greek emperors; had to defend Constantinople against a besieging force of 300,000 under Mahomet II., and though he defended it bravely, the city was taken by storm, and the Eastern empire ended in 1543.
Constantinople (1,000), capital of the Turkish empire, on the Bosphorus, situated on a peninsula washed by the Sea of Marmora on the S. and by the Golden Horn on the N., on the opposite side of which creek lie the quarters of Galata and Pera, one of the finest commercial sites in the world; it became the capital of the Roman empire under Constantine the Great, who gave name to it; was capital of the Eastern empire from the days of Theodosius; was taken by the crusaders in 1204, and by Mahomet II. in 1452, at which time the Greek and Latin scholars fled the city, carrying the learning of Greece and Rome with them, an event which led to the revival of learning in Europe, and the establishment of a new era—the Modern—in European history.
Constantius Chlorus, or the Pale, Roman emperor; after a struggle of three years reunited Britain with the empire, which had been torn from it by Allectus; was equally successful against the Alemanni, defeating them with great loss; died at York, on an expedition against the Picts; was succeeded by Constantine, his son (250-305).
Constituent Assembly, the legislative body which the National Assembly of France resolved itself into in 1789, a name it assumed from the task it imposed on itself, viz., of making a constitution, a task which, from the nature of it proved impossible, as a constitution is an entity which grows, and is not made, nascitur, non fit.
Consuelo, the heroine of George Sand's novel of the name, her masterpiece; the impersonation of the triumph of moral purity over manifold temptations.
Consul, (1) one of the two magistrates of Rome elected annually after the expulsion of the kings, and invested with regal power; (2) a chief magistrate of the French Republic from 1799 to 1804; (3) one commissioned to protect, especially the mercantile rights of the subjects of a State in foreign country.
Consulate, name given to the French Government from the fall of the Directory till the establishment of the Empire. At first there were three provisional consuls, Bonaparte, Siéyès, and Roger Ducos; then three consuls for ten years, Bonaparte, Cambacérès, and Lebrun, which was dissolved with the establishment of the Empire on the 20th May 1804.
Contari`ni, an illustrious Venetian family, which furnished eight Doges to the Republic, as well as an array of men eminent in the Church, statecraft, generalship, art, and letters.
Conte, Nicolas Jacques, a French painter; distinguished for his mechanical genius, which was of great avail to the French army in Egypt (1755-1805).
Conti, an illustrious French family, a younger branch of the house of Bourbon-Condé, all more or less distinguished as soldiers; François Louis especially, who was a man of supreme ability both in war and science, and had the merit to be elected king of Poland (1664-1709).
Continental System, Napoleon's scheme for interdicting all commerce between the Continent and Great Britain, carried out with various issues till the fall of Napoleon. See Berlin and Milan Decrees.
Contrat, Social, Rousseau's theory of society that it is based on mere contract, each individual member of it surrendering his will to the will of all, under protection of all concerned, a theory which led to the conclusion that the rule of kings is an usurpation of the rights of the community, and which bore fruit as an explosive in the Revolution at the end of the century.
Convention, National, a revolutionary convention in France which, on September 20, 1792, succeeded the Legislative Assembly, proclaimed the Republic, condemned the king to death, succeeded in crushing the royalists of La Vendée and the south, in defeating all Europe leagued against France, and in founding institutions of benefit to France to this day; it was dissolved on October 26, 1795, to make way for the Directory.
Conversations Lexicon, a popular German encyclopædia of 16 vols., started in 1796, and since 1808 published by Brockhaus, in Leipzig.
Conversion, "the grand epoch for a man," says Carlyle, "properly the one epoch; the turning-point, which guides upwards, or guides downwards, him and his activities for evermore."
Convocation, an assemblage of the English clergy, with little or no legislative power, summoned and prorogued by an archbishop under authority of the Crown; one under the Archbishop of Canterbury, held at Canterbury, and one under the Archbishop of York, held at York, consisting each of two bodies, an Upper of bishops, and an Under of lesser dignitaries and inferior clergy, in separate chambers, though they originally met in one.
Conway, a port in Carnarvon, on the river Conway, with a massive castle, one of those built by Edward I. to keep Wales in check; is a favourite summer resort, and is amid beautiful scenery.
Conway, Hugh, the nom de plume of Frederick Fargus, born in Bristol; bred to the auctioneer business; author of "Called Back," a highly sensational novel, and a success; gave up his business and settled in London, where he devoted himself to literature, and the production of similar works of much promise, but caught malarial fever at Monte Carlo and died (1847-1885).
Conway, Moncure, an American writer, born in Virginia; began life as a Unitarian preacher; came to England as a lecturer on war; became leader of the advanced school of thought, so called; was a great admirer of Emerson, and wrote, among other works, "Emerson at Home and Abroad"; b. 1832.
Conybeare, William Daniel, an English clergyman, devoted to the study of geology and palæontology, and a Bampton lecturer (1787-1857).
Conybeare, William John, son of the preceding; author, along with Dean Howson, of the "Life and Epistles of St. Paul," and of an "Essay on Church Parties" (1815-1857).
Cook, Dutton, novelist, dramatic author, and critic; born in London, and bred a solicitor; contributed to several periodicals, and the "Dictionary of National Biography" (1822-1883).
Cook, Edward T., journalist, born at Brighton; educated at Oxford; had been on the editorial staff of the Pall Mall Gazette and the Westminster Gazette, became, in 1893, editor of the Daily News; is an enthusiastic disciple of Ruskin; wrote "Studies on Ruskin"; b. 1857.
Cook, Eliza, a writer of tales, verses, and magazine articles; born in Southwark; daughter of a merchant; conducted, from 1849 to 1854, a journal called by her name, but gave it up from failing health; enjoyed a pension of £100 on the Civil List till her death; was the authoress of "The Old Arm-Chair" and "Home in the Heart," both of which were great favourites with the public, and did something for literature and philanthropy by her Journal (1818-1889).
Cook, James, the distinguished English navigator, born at Marton, Yorkshire; was the son of a farm labourer; began sea-faring on board a merchantman; entered the navy in 1755, and in four years became a master; spent some nine years in survey of the St. Lawrence and the coasts of Newfoundland; in 1768, in command of the Endeavour, was sent out with an expedition to observe the transit of Venus, and in 1772 as commander of two vessels on a voyage of discovery to the South Seas; on his return, receiving further promotion, he set out on a third voyage of farther exploration in the Pacific, making many discoveries as far N. as Behring Strait; lost his life, on his way home, in a dispute with the natives, at Owhyhee, in the Sandwich Islands, being savagely murdered, a fate which befell him owing to a certain quickness of temper he had displayed, otherwise he was a man of great kindness of heart, and his men were warmly attached to him (1728-1779).
Cook, Joseph, a popular lecturer, born near New York; delivered Monday Lectures at Boston in the discussion of social questions, and the alleged discrepancy between science and religion or revelation; b. 1838.
Cook, Mount, the highest point, 12,350 ft., in the Southern Alps, Canterbury Island, New Zealand.
Cook Strait, strait between the North and the South Island, New Zealand.
Cooke, Sir Antony, an eminent scholar, tutor to Edward VI.; of his daughters, one was married to Lord Burleigh and another to Sir Nicholas Bacon, who became the mother of Lord Bacon (1506-1576).
Cooke, Benjamin, composer, born in London; organist in Westminster Abbey; author of "How Sleep the Brave," "Hark! the Lark," and other glees, as well as some excellent church music (1739-1793).
Cooke, George Frederick, an actor, famous for his representation of Richard III.; stood in his day next to Kemble in spite of his intemperate habits (1756-1811).
Cooke, T. P., an actor in melodrama; began life at sea; took to the stage; his most popular representations were William in "Black-eyed Susan" and Long Tom Coffin in the "Pilot" (1786-1864).
Coolgardie, a mining district and head-quarters of rich gold-fields in W. Australia.
Coolies, labourers from India and China, who now emigrate in large numbers, especially from China, often to where they are not wanted, and where they, as in the British Colonies and the United States, are much disliked, as they bring down the wages of native labourers.
Coomassie, the capital of the negro kingdom of Ashanti, 130 m. NNW. of Cape Coast Castle; once a large populous place; was much reduced after its capture by Wolseley in 1874, though it is being rebuilt.
Cooper, Anthony Ashley. See Shaftesbury.
Cooper, Sir Astley, English surgeon, born in Norfolk; was great in anatomy and a skilful operator, stood high in the medical profession; contributed much by his writings to raise surgery to the rank of a science; was eminent as a lecturer as well as a practitioner (1768-1841).
Cooper, James Fenimore, an American novelist, born in Burlington, New Jersey; having a passion for the sea, he entered the navy as a midshipman in 1808, but in three years resigned his commission, married, and settled to literature; his novels, which are well known, achieved instant popularity, made him a great favourite with boys, in which he showed himself an expert in the narration of events, the description of scenes, as well as in the delineation of character; he came to loggerheads with the newspaper press, had recourse to actions for libel, conducted his own cases himself, and was always successful (1789-1851).
Cooper, Thomas, a self-taught man, born in Leicester; bred a shoemaker; became a schoolmaster, a Methodist preacher, and then a journalist; converted to Chartism; was charged with sedition, and committed to prison for two years; wrote here "Purgatory of Suicides"; after liberation went about lecturing on politics and preaching scepticism; returning to his first faith, he lectured on the Christian evidences, and wrote an autobiography (1805-1892).
Cooper, Thomas Sidney, a distinguished animal-painter, born in Canterbury; struggled with adversity in early life: rose to be supreme in his own department of art; he has written an account of his career; b. 1803.
Cooperage, a system of barter which has for some time gone on in the North Seas, consisting of exchange of spirits and tobacco for other goods or money, a demoralising traffic, which endeavours are now being made to suppress.
Cooper's Hill, a hill of slight elevation near Runnymede, with a Government civil engineering college, originally for the training for the service in India, now for education in other departments of the Government service, forestry especially.
Coorg (173), an inland high-lying province, about the size of Kent, on the eastern slope of the W. Ghâts, on the SW. border of Mysore, under the Indian Government; it is covered with forests, infested with wild animals; the natives, a fine race, are distinguished for their loyalty to the British.
Coote, Sir Eyre, a general, born in co. Limerick, Ireland; distinguished himself at Plassey; gained victories over the French in India; afterwards routed Hyder Ali at Porto Novo; died at Madras (1726-1783).
Cope, Charles West, a painter, born at Leeds; his pictures have for subjects historical or dramatic scenes, and were very numerous; executed the frescoes that adorn the Peers' corridor at Westminster; was professor of Painting to the Royal Academy (1811-1890).
Cope, Sir John, a British general; was in command at Prestonpans, and defeated by the Pretender there in 1745, in connection with which his name is remembered in Scotland as not having been ready when the Highlanders attacked him, by the song "Heigh! Johnnie Cowp, are ye wauken yet?" d. 1760.
Copenhagen (380), the capital of Denmark, and the only large town in it; lies low, and is built partly on the island of Seeland and partly on the island of Amager, the channel between which forms a commodious harbour; is a thriving place of manufacture and of trade, as its name "Merchants' Haven" implies; has also a university, an arsenal, and numerous public buildings.
Copernicus, Nicolas, founder of modern astronomy, born at Thorn, in Poland, and educated at Cracow and Bologna; became canon of Frauenburg, on the Frisches Haff; studied medicine; was doctor to a wealthy uncle, with whom he lived, and became his heir when he died; his chief interest lay in the heavenly bodies, and his demonstrations regarding their movements, which yet he deferred publishing till he was near his end; and indeed it was only when he was unconscious and dying that the first printed copy of the work was put into his hands; it was entitled "De Orbium Revolutionibus," and was written in proof of the great first principle of astronomy, that the sun is the centre of the solar system, and that the earth and planets circle round it; the work was dedicated to Pope Paul III., and was received with favour by the Catholic Church, though, strange to say, it was denounced by Luther and Melanchthon as contrary to the Scriptures of truth (1473-1543).
Copiapó, a river, a village, a city, and a district in Chile.
Copley, John Singleton, portrait and historical painter, born in Boston, U.S.; painted Washington's portrait at the age of eighteen; came to England in 1776, having previously sent over for exhibition sundry of his works; painted portraits of the king and the queen; began the historical works on which his fame chiefly rests, the most widely known perhaps of which is the "Death of Chatham," now in the National Gallery (1737-1815).
Coppée, François, a poet, born in Paris; has produced several volumes of poetry, excellent dramas in verse, and tales in prose; his poetry is the poetry of humble life, and "has given poetic pleasure," as Professor Saintsbury says, "to many who are not capable of receiving it otherwise, while he has never sought to give that pleasure by unworthy means"; b. 1842.
Copper Captain, a Brummagem captain; the name given to Percy in Beaumont and Fletcher's play, "Rule a Wife and Have a Wife."
Copper Nose, name given to Oliver Cromwell, from a brownish tinge on his nose.
Copperheads, secret foes in one's own camp, so called from a set of serpents which conceal their purpose to attack.
Coppermine, a river in NW. Canada which falls into the Arctic Ocean after a broken course of 250 m.
Coppet, a Swiss village in the Canton de Vaud, on the Lake of Geneva; celebrated as the abode of Mme. de Staël, her burial-place and that of Necker, her father.
Copts, the Christian descendants of the ancient Egyptians, who are Monophysites in belief, some regarding the Patriarch of Alexandria and some the Pope as their head; they adhere to the ancient ritual, are prelatic, sacramentarian, and exclusive; they speak Arabic, their original Coptic being as good as dead, though the grammar is taught in the schools.
Copyright, the sole right of an author or his heirs to publish a work for a term of years fixed by statute, a book for 42 years, or the author's lifetime and 7 years after, whichever is longer; copyright covers literary, artistic, and musical property. By the Act an author must present one copy of his work, if published, to the British Museum, and one copy, if demanded, to the Bodleian Library, Oxford; the University Library, Cambridge; the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh; and Trinity College Library, Dublin.
Coquelin, Benoit Constant, a noted French actor, born at Boulogne; played in classical pieces and others, composed for himself in the Théâtre Français from 1860 to 1886; since then in London, S. America, and the United States; without a rival in the broader aspects of comedy; b. 1841.
Coquerel, Athanase, a pastor of the French Reformed Church, born in Paris, where he preached eloquently from 1830 till his death; was elected in 1848 deputy for the Seine to the national Assembly, but retired from political life after the coup d'état; wrote a reply to Strauss (1795-1858).
Coquerel, Athanase, a Protestant pastor, son of preceding, born at Amsterdam; celebrated for his liberal and tolerant views, too much so for M. Guizot; edited Voltaire's letters on toleration; his chief work, "Jean Calas et sa Famille" (1820-1875).
Coquimbo (14), capital of a mining province of Chile (176) of the name; exports minerals and cattle.
Coraïs, a distinguished Hellenist, born in Smyrna, of the mercantile class; settled in Paris, where he devoted himself to awakening an interest in Greek literature and the cause of the Greeks (1748-1833).
Coram, Thomas, English philanthropist, the founder of the Foundling Hospital, born at Lyme Regis; a man of varied ventures by sea and land; settled in London; was touched by the sufferings of the poor, where, with warm support from Hogarth, he founded the said institution; his charity so impoverished him that he ended his days as an object of charity himself, being dependent on a small annuity raised by subscription (1667-1751).
Corato (30), a town in a fertile region in S. Italy, 25 m. W. of Bari.
Corble-steps, or Crow-steps, steps ascending the gable of a house, common in old Scotch gables as well as in the Netherlands and elsewhere in old towns.
Cor`bulo, a distinguished general under Claudius and Nero, who conquered the Parthians; Nero, being jealous of him, invited him to Corinth, where he found a death-warrant awaiting him, upon which he plunged his sword into his breast and exclaimed, "Well deserved!" in 72 A.D.
Corcy`ra, an Ionian island, now Corfu (q. v.).
Corday, Charlotte, a French heroine, born at St. Saturnin, of good birth, granddaughter of Corneille; well read in Voltaire and Plutarch; favoured the Revolution, but was shocked at the atrocities of the Jacobins; started from Caen for Paris as an avenging angel; sought out Marat, with difficulty got access to him, stabbed him to the heart as he sat "stewing in slipper-bath," and "his life with a groan gushed out, indignant, to the shades below"; when arrested, she "quietly surrendered"; when questioned as to her motive, she answered, "I killed one man to save a hundred thousand"; she was guillotined next day (1763-1793).
Cordelia, the youngest and favourite daughter of King Lear.
Cordeliers, (1) the strictest branch of the Franciscan Order of Monks, so called from wearing a girdle of knotted cord; (2) also a club during the French Revolution, founded in 1789, its prominent members, Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and Marat; was a secession from the Jacobin Club, which was thought lukewarm, and met in what had been a convent of the Cordeliers monks; it expired with Danton.
Corderius, a grammarian, born in Normandy; being a Protestant settled in Geneva and taught; author of Latin "Colloquies," once very famous (1478-1567).
Cordilleras, the name of several chains of mountains in S. America.
Cordite, a smokeless powder, invented by Sir F. A. Abel, being composed principally of gun-cotton and glycerine.
Cordon Blue, formerly the badge of the Order of the Holy Ghost, now the badge of highest excellence in a cook.
Cordouan, a lighthouse at the mouth of the Gironde.
Cor`dova (70), a city on the Paraná, in the Argentine; also a town (48) in Andalusia, Spain, on the right bank of the Guadalquivir, in a province of the name, 80 m. NE. of Seville; once a Moorish capital, and famous for its manufacture of goat leather; has a cathedral, once a magnificent mosque.
Corea (6,511), an Eastern Asiatic kingdom occupying the mountainous peninsula between the Yellow and Japan Seas, in the latitude of Italy, with Manchuria on its northern border, a country as large as Great Britain. The people, an intelligent and industrious race, are Mongols, followers of Confucius and Buddha. After being for 300 years tributary to China, it passed under Japanese influence, and by the Chinese defeat in the war with Japan, 1894-95, was left independent. The climate is healthy, but subject to extremes; rivers are ice-bound for four months. Wheat, rice, and beans are grown. There are gold, silver, iron, and coal mines, and great mineral wealth. There are extensive manufactures of paper, and some silk industry. Three ports are open to foreigners; but most of the trade is with Japan; exports hides, beans, and paper; imports cotton goods. The capital is Seoul (193).
Corelli, Arcangelo, an Italian musical composer, celebrated for his skill on the violin; his compositions mark a new musical epoch; he has been called the father of instrumental music (1653-1713).
Corelli, Marie, a novelist, a prolific authoress, and very popular; her first work "The Romance of Two Worlds," one of her latest "The Sorrows of Satan"; b. 1864.
Corfe Castle, a village in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorsetshire, round a castle now in ruins, and the scene of martyrdoms and murders not a few in its day.
Corfu (78), the most northerly of the Ionian Islands and the largest, 40 m. long, from 4 to 18 broad; was under the protection of Britain, 1815-64; has since belonged to Greece; has a capital (79) of the same name.
Corin`na, a poetess of ancient Greece, born in Boeotia; friend and rival of Pindar; only a few fragments of her poetry remain.
Corinne, the heroine and title of a novel of Mme. de Staël's, her principal novel, in which she celebrates the praises of the great men and great masterpieces of Italy; her heroine is the type of a woman inspired with poetic ideas and the most generous sentiments.
Corinth, an ancient city of Greece, and one of the most flourishing, on an isthmus of the name connecting the Peloponnesus with the mainland; a great centre of trade and of material wealth, and as a centre of luxury a centre of vice; the seat of the worship of Aphrodité, a very different goddess from Athene, to whom Athens was dedicated.
Corinthians, Epistles to the, two epistles of St. Paul to the Church he had established in Corinth, the chief object of which was to cleanse it of certain schisms and impurities that had arisen, and to protest against the disposition of many in it to depart from simple gospel which they had been taught.
Coriola`nus, a celebrated Roman general of patrician rank, who rallied his countrymen when, in besieging Corioli, they were being driven back, so that he took the city, and was in consequence called Coriolanus; having afterwards offended the plebs, he was banished from the city; took refuge among the people he had formerly defeated; joined cause with them, and threatened to destroy the city, regardless of every entreaty to spare it, till his mother, his wife, and the matrons of Rome overcame him by their tears, upon which he withdrew and led back his army to Corioli, prepared to suffer any penalty his treachery to them might expose him.
Corioli, a town of ancient Latium, capital of the Volsci.
Cork (73), a fine city, capital of a county (436) of the same name in Munster, Ireland, on the Lee, 11 m. from its mouth; with a magnificent harbour, an extensive foreign trade, and manufactures of various kinds.
Cormenin, a French statesman and jurist, born at Paris; had great influence under Louis Philippe; his pamphlets, signed Timon, made no small stir; left a work on administrative law in France (1788-1886).
Cormontaigne, a celebrated French engineer, born at Strasburg; successor of Vauban (1696-1752).
Cornaro, an illustrious patrician family in Venice, from which for centuries several Doges sprung.
Corn-Cracker, the nickname of a Kentucky man.
Corneille, Pierre, the father of French tragedy, born at Rouen, the son of a government legal official; was bred for the bar, but he neither took to the profession nor prospered in the practice of it, so gave it up for literature; threw himself at once into the drama; began by dramatising an incident in his own life, and became the creator of the dramatic art in France; his first tragedies are "The Cid," which indeed is his masterpiece, "Horace," "Cinna," "Polyeucte," "Rodogune," and "Le Menteur"; in his verses, which are instinct with vigour of conception as well as sublimity of feeling, he paints men as they should be, virtuous in character, brave in spirit, and animated by the most exalted sentiments. Goethe contrasts him with Racine: "Corneille," he says, "delineated great men; Racine, men of eminent rank." "He rarely provokes an interest," says Professor Saintsbury, "in the fortunes of his characters; it is rather in the way that they bear their fortune, and particularly in a kind of haughty disdain for fortune itself... He shows an excellent comic faculty at times, and the strokes of irony in his serious plays have more of true humour in them than appears in almost any other French dramatist" (1606-1684).
Corneille, Thomas, younger brother of the preceding, a dramatist, whose merits were superior, but outshone by those of his brother (1625-1709).
Cornelia, the daughter of Scipio Africanus and the mother of the Gracchi (q. v.), the Roman matron who, when challenged by a rival lady to outshine her in wealth of gems, proudly led forth her sons saying, "These are my jewels"; true to this sentiment, it was as the mother of the Gracchi she wished to be remembered, and is remembered, in the annals of Rome.
Cornelius, Peter von, a distinguished German painter, born at Düsseldorf; early gave proof of artistic genius, which was carefully fostered by his father; spent much time as a youth in studying and copying Raphael; before he was 20 he decorated a church at Neuss with colossal figures in chiaroscuro; in 1810 executed designs for Goethe's "Faust"; in the year after went to Rome, where, along with others, he revived the old art of fresco painting, in which he excelled his rivals; the subjects of these were drawn from Greek pagan as well as Christian sources, his "Judgment" being the largest fresco in the world; the thought which inspires his cartoons, critics say, surpasses his power of execution; it should be added, he prepared a set of designs to illustrate the "Nibelungen" (1787-1867).
Cornell University, a university in Ithaca, New York State, founded in 1868 at a cost of £152,000, named after its founder, Ezra Cornell; it supports a large staff of teachers, and gives instruction in all departments of science, literature, and philosophy; it provides education to sundry specified classes free of all fees, as well as means of earning the benefits of the institution to any who may wish to enjoy them.
Corn-Laws, laws in force in Great Britain regulating the import and export of corn for the protection of the home-producer at the expense of the home-consumer, and which after a long and bitter struggle between these two classes were abolished in 1846.
Corn-Law Rhymer, The, Ebenezer Elliott (q. v.) who, in a volume of poems, denounced the corn-laws and contributed to their abolition.
Corno, Monte, the highest peak of the Apennines, 9545 ft.
Cornwall (322), a county in the SW. extremity of England, forming a peninsula between the English and the Bristol Channels, with a rugged surface and a rocky coast, indented all round with more or less deep bays inclosed between high headlands; its wealth lies not in the soil, but under it in its mines, and in the pilchard, mackerel, and other fisheries along its stormy shores; the county town is Bodmin (5), the largest Penzance (12), and the mining centre Truro (11).
Cornwall, Barry, the nom de plume of B. W. Procter (q. v.).
Cornwallis, Lord, an English general and statesman; saw service in the Seven Years' and the American Wars; besieged in the latter at York Town, was obliged to capitulate; became Governor-General of India, and forced Tippoo Sahib to submit to humiliating terms; as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland crushed the rebellion of '98; re-appointed Governor-General of India; died there (1738-1805).
Coromandel Coast, E. coast of Hindustan, extending from the Krishna to Cape Comorin.
Coronation Chair, a chair inclosing a stone carried off by Edward I. from Scone in 1296, on which the sovereigns of England are crowned.
Corot, Jean Baptiste, a celebrated French landscape-painter, born at Paris; was 26 years of age before he began to apply himself to art, which he did by study in Italy and Rome, returning to Paris in 1827, where he began to exhibit, and continued to exhibit for nearly 50 years; it was long before his pieces revealed what was in him and the secret of his art; he appeared also as a poet as well as a painter, giving free play to his emotions and moving those of others (1796-1875).
Corps Législatif, the lower house of the French legislature, consisting of deputies.
Corpuscular Philosophy, the philosophy which accounts for physical phenomena by the position and the motions of corpuscles.
Corr, Erin, an eminent engraver, born in Brussels, of Irish descent; spent 10 years in engraving on copper-plate Rubens's "Descent from the Cross" (1793-1862).
Corrector, Alexander the, Alexander Cruden, who believed he had a divine mission to correct the manners of the world.
Correggio, Antonio Allegri da, an illustrious Italian painter, born at Correggio, in Modena; founder of the Lombard school, and distinguished among his contemporaries for the grace of his figures and the harmony of his colouring; he has been ranked next to Raphael, and it has been said of him he perfected his art by adding elegance to truth and grandeur; he is unrivalled in chiaroscuro, and he chose his subjects from pagan as well as Christian legend (1494-1534).
Corrib, Lough, an irregularly shaped lake in Galway and Mayo, 25 m. long and from 1 to 6 m. broad, with stone circles near it.
Corrientes (300), a province of the Argentine Republic, between the Paraná and the Uruguay; also its capital (18), surrounded by orange-groves; so called from the currents that prevail in the river, along which steamers ply between it and Buenos Ayres.
Corrugated Iron, in general, sheet-iron coated with zinc.
Corsair, The, a poem of Byron's, in which the author paints himself in heroic colours as an adventurer who drowns reflection in the intoxication of battle.
Corsica (288), an island belonging to France, in the Mediterranean, ceded to her by Genoa in 1768, but by position, race, and language belongs to Italy; has been subject by turns to the powers that in succession dominated that inland sea; is 116 m. long and 52 broad; it abounds in mountains, attaining 9000 ft.; covered with forests and thickets, which often serve as shelter for brigands; it affords good pasturage, and yields olive-oil and wine, as well as chesnuts, honey, and wax.
Corsica Paoli, a native of Corsica, who vainly struggled to achieve the independence of his country, and took refuge in England, where he enjoyed the society of the Johnson circle, and was much esteemed. See Paoli.
Corssen, William Paul, a learned German philologist, born at Bremen; made a special study of the Latin languages, and especially the Etruscan, which he laboured to prove was cognate with that of the Romans and of the races that spoke it (1820-1875).
Cort, an eminent Dutch engraver, went to Venice, lived with Titian; engraved some of his pictures; went to Rome and engraved Raphael's "Transfiguration"; executed over 150 plates, all displaying great accuracy and refinement (1536-1578).
Cortes, the name given in Spain and Portugal to the National Assembly, consisting of nobles and representatives of the nation.
Cortes, a Spanish soldier and conqueror of Mexico, born in Estremadura; went with Velasquez to Cuba; commanded the expedition to conquer Mexico, and by burning all his ships that conveyed his men, cut off all possibility of retreat; having conquered the tribes that he met on landing, he marched on to the capital, which, after a desperate struggle, he reduced, and laid waste and then swept the country, by all which he added to the wealth of Spain, but by his cruelty did dishonour to the chivalry of which Spain was once so proud (1485-1547).
Cortona, Pietro da, an Italian painter, born at Cortona, in Tuscany, and eminent as an architect also; decorated many of the finest buildings in Rome (1596-1669).
Coruña (34), a fortified town on NW. of Spain, with a commodious harbour, where Sir John Moore fell in 1809 while defending the embarkation of his army against Soult, and where his tomb is.
Corvée, obligation as at one time enforced in France to render certain services to Seigneurs, such as repairing of roads, abolished by the Contituent Assembly.
Coryat, Thomas, an English traveller and wit, who, in his "Crudities," quaintly describes his travels through France and Italy (1577-1617).
Corybantes, priests of Cybele (q. v.), whose religious rites were accompanied with wild dances and the clashing of cymbals.
Corydon, a shepherd in Virgil, name for a lovesick swain.
Coryphæus, originally the leader of the chorus in a Greek drama, now a leader in any dramatic company, or indeed in any art.
Cos (10), an island in the Ægean Sea, birthplace of Hippocrates and Apelles.
Cosenza (18), a town in Calabria, in a deep valley, where Alaric died.
Cosin, John, a learned English prelate, Dean of Peterborough, deposed by the Puritans for his ritualistic tendencies; exiled for 10 years in Paris; returned at the Restoration, and was made Bishop of Durham, where he proved himself a Bishop indeed, and a devoted supporter of the Church which he adorned by his piety (1594-1672).
Cosmas, St., Arabian physician and patron of surgeons, brother of St. Damian; suffered martyrdom in 303. Festival, Sept. 27.
Cosmas Indicopleustes (i. e. voyager to India), an Egyptian monk of the 6th century, born in Alexandria, singular for his theory of the system of the world, which, in opposition to the Ptolemaic system, he viewed as in shape like that of the Jewish Tabernacle, with Eden outside, and encircled by the ocean, a theory he advanced as in conformity with Scripture.
Cosmo I., Grand-duke of Tuscany, head of the Republic of Florence, of which he made himself absolute master, a post he held in defiance of all opposition, in order to secure the independence of the state he governed, as well as its internal prosperity (1519-1574).
Cosmography, any theory which attempts to trace the system of things back to its first principle or primordial element or elements.
Cosquin, Emmanuel, a French folk-lorist, and author of "Popular Tales of Lorraine," in the introduction to which he argues for the theory that the development as well as the origin of such tales is historically traceable to India; b. 1841.
Cossacks, a military people of mixed origin, chiefly Tartar and Slav, who fought on horseback, in their own interest as well as that of Russia, defending its interests in particular for centuries past in many a struggle, and forming an important division of the Russian army.
Costa Rica (262), a small republic of Central America; it is mostly tableland; contains many volcanoes; is chiefly agricultural, though rich in minerals.
Costard, a clown in "Love's Labour Lost," who apes the affected court-wits of the time in a misappropriate style.
Costello, Louisa Stuart, an English authoress; her descriptive powers were considerable, and her novels had a historical groundwork (1799-1870).
Coster, alias Laurens Janszoon, born at Haarlem, to whom his countrymen, as against the claims of Gutenberg, ascribe the invention of printing (1370-1440).
Cosway, Richard, a distinguished miniature portrait-painter, born at Tiverton; Correggio his model (1740-1821).
Côte d'Or, a range of hills in the NE. of France, connecting the Cévennes with the Vosges, which gives name to a department (376) famed for its wines.
Cotentin, a peninsula NW. of Normandy, France, jutting into the English Channel, now forms the northern part of the dep. La Manche, the fatherland of many of the Norman conquerors of England.
Cotes, Roger, an English mathematician of such promise, that Newton said of him, "If he had lived, we should have known something" (1682-1716).
Côtes du Nord (618), a dep. forming part of Brittany; the chief manufacture is linen.
Cotin, the Abbé, a French preacher, born in Paris; a butt of the sarcasm of Molière and Boileau (1604-1682)
Cotman, John Sell, an English painter, born at Norwich; made Turner's acquaintance; produced water-colour landscapes, growing in repute; has been pronounced "the most gifted of the Norwich School" (1782-1842).
Cotopaxi, a volcano of the Andes, in Ecuador, the highest and most active in the world, nearly 20,000 ft., 35 m. SE. of Quito; it rises in a perfect cone, 4400 ft. above the plateau of Quito.
Cotswold Hills, in Gloucestershire, separating the Lower Severn from the sources of the Thames; they are of limestone rock, 50 m. long, and extend N. and S.
Cotta, Caius, a distinguished Roman orator, 1st century B.C.; mentioned with honour by Cicero.
Cotta, German publisher, born at Stuttgart; established in Tübingen; published the works of Goethe, Schiller, Jean Paul, Herder, and others of note among their contemporaries (1764-1832).
Cottian Alps, the range N. of the Maritime between France and Italy.
Cottin, Sophie, a celebrated French authoress; wrote, among other romances, the well-known and extensively translated "Elizabeth; or, the Exiles of Siberia," a wildly romantic but irreproachably moral tale (1773-1807).
Cottle, Joseph, a publisher and author; started business in Bristol; published the works of Coleridge and Southey on generous terms; wrote in his "Early Recollections" an exposure of Coleridge that has been severely criticised and generally condemned (1770-1853).
Cotton, Bishop, born at Chester; eminent as a master at Rugby under Dr. Arnold, and as head-master at Marlborough College; was appointed Bishop of Calcutta, an office he fulfilled zealously; was drowned in the Ganges; he figures as "the young master" in "Tom Brown's School-days" (1813-1866).
Cotton, Charles, a poet, born in Staffordshire; his poetry was of the burlesque order, and somewhat gross; chiefly famous for his translation of "Montaigne's Essays"; was friend and admirer of Isaak Walton, and wrote a supplement to his "Angler" (1630-1687).
Cotton, Sir Robert Bruce, a distinguished antiquary, and founder of the Cottonian Library, now in the British Museum, born at Denton; was a friend of Camden, and assisted him in his great work; was a great book-collector; was exposed to persecution for his presumed share in the publication of an obnoxious book, of which the original was found in his collection; had his books, in which he prided himself, taken from him, in consequence of which he pined and died (1571-1631).
Coucy, an old noble family of Picardy, who had for device, "Roi ne suis, ne duc, ne comte aussi; je suis le sire de Coucy." Raoul, a court-poet of the family in the 12th century, lost his life at the siege of Acre in the third crusade.
Coulomb, a learned French physicist and engineer, born at Angoulême; the inventor of the torsion balance, and to whose labours many discoveries in electricity and magnetism are due; lived through the French Revolution retired from the strife (1736-1806).
Councils, Church, assemblies of bishops to decide questions of doctrine and ecclesiastical discipline. They are oecumenical, national, or provincial, according as the bishops assembled represented the whole Church, a merely national one, or a provincial section of it. Eastern: Nice, 325 (at which Arius was condemned), 787; Constantinople, 381 (at which Apollinaris was condemned), 553, 680, 869; Ephesus, 431 (at which Nestorius was condemned); Chalcedon, 451 (at which Eutyches was condemned). Western: Lateran, 1123, 1139, 1179, 1215, 1274; Synod of Vienne, 1311; Constance, 1414; Basel, 1431-1443; Trent, 1545-1563; Vatican, 1869.
Courayes, a French Roman Catholic ecclesiastic who pled on behalf of Anglican orders; was censured; fled to England, where he was welcomed, and received academic honours (1681-1777).
Courbet, a French vice-admiral, born at Abbeville; distinguished himself by his rapid movements and brilliant successes in the East (1827-1885).
Courbet, Gustave, French painter, born at Ornans; took to landscape-painting; was head of the Realistic school; joined the Commune in 1871; his property and pictures were sold to pay the damage done, and especially to restore the Vendôme Column; died an exile in Switzerland (1819-1877).
Courier, Paul Louis, a French writer, born at Paris; began life as a soldier, but being wounded at Wagram, retired from the army, and gave himself to letters; distinguished himself as the author of political pamphlets, written with a scathing irony such as has hardly been surpassed, which brought him into trouble; was assassinated on his estate by his gamekeeper (1772-1825).
Courland (637), a partly wooded and partly marshy province of Russia, S. of the Gulf of Riga; the population chiefly German, and Protestants; agriculture their chief pursuit.
Court de Gébelin, a French writer, born at Nîmes, author of a work entitled "The Primitive World analysed and compared with the Modern World" (1725-1784).
Courtney, William, archbishop of Canterbury, no match for Wickliffe in debate, but had his revenge in persecuting his followers (1341-1396).
Courtois, Jacques, a French painter of battle-pieces; became a Jesuit, died a monk (1621-1676).
Courtrais (29), a Belgian town on the Lys.
Cousin, Victor, a French philosopher, born in Paris; founder of an eclectic school, which derived its doctrines partly from the Scottish philosophy and partly from the German, and which Dr. Chalmers in his class-room one day characterised jocularly as neither Scotch nor German, but just half seas over; he was a lucid expounder, an attractive lecturer, and exerted no small influence on public opinion in France; had a considerable following; retired from public life in 1848, and died at Cannes; he left a number of philosophic works behind him, the best known among us "Discourses on the True, the Beautiful, and the Good" (1792-1867).
Cousin Michael, a disparaging designation of our German kindred, as slow, heavy, unpolished, and ungainly.
Cousin-Montauban, a French general, commanded the Chinese expedition of 1860, and, after a victory over the Chinese, took possession of Pekin (1796-1878).
Cousins, Samuel, a mezzotint engraver, born at Exeter; engraved "Bolton Abbey," "Marie Antoinette in the Temple," and a number of plates after eminent painters; left a fund to aid poor artists (1801-1880).
Couston, the name of three eminent French sculptors: Nicolas (1658-1733); Guillaume, father (1678-1746); and Guillaume, son (1716-1777).
Couthon, Georges, a violent revolutionary, one of a triumvirate with Robespierre and St. Just, who would expel every one from the Jacobin Club who could not give evidence of having done something to merit hanging, should a counter-revolution arrive; was paralysed in his limbs from having had to spend a night "sunk to the middle in a cold peat bog" to escape detection as a seducer; trapped for the guillotine; tried to make away with himself under a table, but could not (1756-1794).
Coutts, Thomas, a banker, born in Edinburgh, his father having been Lord Provost of that city; joint-founder and eventually sole manager of the London banking house, Coutts & Co.; left a fortune of £900,000 (1735-1822).
Couvade, a custom among certain races of low culture in which a father before and after childbirth takes upon himself the duties and cares of the mother.
Couza, Prince, born at Galatz, hereditary prince of Moldavia and Wallachia; reigned from 1858 to 1860; died in exile, 1873.
Covenant, Solemn League and, an engagement, with representatives from Scotland, on the part of the English Parliament to secure to the Scotch the terms of their National Covenant, and signed by honourable members in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, September 25, 1643, on the condition of assistance from the Scotch in their great struggle with the king.
Covenant, The National, a solemn engagement on the part of the Scottish nation subscribed to by all ranks of the community, the first signature being appended to it in the Greyfriars' Churchyard, Edinburgh, on February 28, 1638, to maintain the Presbyterian Church and to resist all attempts on the part of Charles I. to foist Episcopacy upon it; it was ratified by the Scottish Parliament in 1640, and subscribed by Charles II. in 1650 and 1651.
Covenanters, a body of strict Presbyterians who held out against the breach of the Solemn League and Covenant.
Covent Garden, properly Convent Garden, as originally the garden of Westminster Abbey, the great fruit, flower, and vegetable market of London; is one of the sights of London early on a summer morning.
Coventry (55), a town in Warwickshire, 18½ m. SE. of Birmingham; famous for the manufacture of ribbons and watches, and recently the chief seat of the manufacture of bicycles and tricycles; in the old streets are some quaint old houses; there are some very fine churches and a number of charitable institutions.
Coventry, Sir John, a member of the Long Parliament; when, as a member of Parliament in Charles II.'s reign, he made reflections on the profligate conduct of the king, he was set upon by bullies, who slit his nose to the bone; a deed which led to the passing of the Coventry Act, which makes cutting and maiming a capital offence (1640-1682).
Coverdale, Miles, translator of the English Bible, born in Yorkshire; his translation was the first issued under royal sanction, being dedicated to Henry VIII.; done at the instance of Thomas Cromwell, and brought out in 1535, and executed with a view to secure the favour of the authorities in Church and State, displaying a timid hesitancy unworthy of a manly faith in the truth; both he and his translation nevertheless were subjected to persecution, 2500 copies of the latter, printed in Paris, having been seized by the Inquisition and committed to the flames (1487-1568).
Coverley, Sir Roger de, member of the club under whose auspices the Spectator is professedly edited; represents an English squire of Queen Anne's reign.
Cowell, John, an English lawyer, author of "Institutes of the Laws of England" and of a law dictionary burnt by the common hangman for matter in it derogatory to the royal authority; d. 1611.
Cowen, Frederick Hymen, a popular English composer, born in Kingston, Jamaica; his works consist of symphonies, cantatas, oratories, as well as songs, duets, &c.; is conductor of the Manchester Subscription Concerts in succession to Sir Charles Hallé; b. 1852.
Cowes, a watering-place in the N. of the Isle of Wight, separated by the estuary of Medina into E. and W.; engaged in yacht-building, and the head-quarters of the Royal Yacht Club.
Cowley, Abraham, poet and essayist, born in London; a contemporary of Milton, whom he at one time outshone, but has now fallen into neglect; he was an ardent royalist, and catered to the taste of the court, which, however, brought him no preferment at the Restoration; he was a master of prose, and specially excelled in letter-writing; he does not seem to have added much to the literature of England, except as an essayist, and in this capacity has been placed at the head of those who cultivated that clear, easy, and natural style which culminated in Addison (1618-1667).
Cowley, Henry Wellesley, Earl, an eminent diplomatist, brother of the Duke of Wellington; served as a diplomatist in Vienna, Constantinople, and Switzerland, and was ambassador to France from 1852 to 1867 (1804-1884).
Cowper, William, a popular English poet, born at Great Berkhampstead, Hertford, of noble lineage; lost his mother at six, and cherished the memory of her all his days; of a timid, sensitive nature, suffered acutely from harsh usage at school; read extensively in the classics; trained for and called to the bar; was appointed at 32 a clerk to the House of Lords; qualifying for the duties of the appointment proved too much for him, and he became insane; when he recovered, he retired from the world to Huntingdon beside a brother, where he formed an intimacy with a family of the name of Unwin, a clergyman in the place; on Mr. Unwin's death he removed with the family to Olney, in Buckinghamshire, where he lived as a recluse and associated with the Rev. John Newton and Mrs. Unwin; shortly after he fell insane again, and continued so for two years; on his recovery he took to gardening and composing poems, his first the "Olney Hymns," the melancholy being charmed away by the conversation of a Lady Austin, who came to live in the neighbourhood; it was she who suggested his greatest poem, the "Task"; then followed other works, change of scene and associates, the death of Mrs. Unwin, and the gathering of a darker and darker cloud, till he passed away peacefully; it is interesting to note that it is to this period his "Lines to Mary Unwin" and his "Mother's Picture" belong (1731-1800).
Cox, David, an eminent landscape painter, rated by some next to Turner, born at Birmingham; began his art as a scene-painter; painted as a landscapist first in water-colour, then in oil; many of his best works are scenes in N. Wales; his works have risen in esteem and value; an ambition of his was to get £100 for a picture, and one he got only £20 for brought £3602 (1793-1830).
Cox, Sir George, an English mythologist, specially distinguished for resolving the several myths of Greece and the world into idealisations of solar phenomena; he has written on other subjects, all of interest, and is engaged with W. T. Brande on a "Dictionary of Science, Literature, and Art"; b. 1827.
Coxcie, Michael, a celebrated Flemish painter, born at Mechlin (1497-1592).
Coxe, Henry Octavius, librarian, became assistant-librarian of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, in 1838, and ultimately head-librarian in 1860; under his direction the catalogue, consisting of 720 folio volumes, was completed; held this post till his death; has edited several works of value; is one of Dean Burgon's "Twelve Good Men" (1811-1881).
Coxe, William, a historical writer, heavy but painstaking, born in London; wrote "History of the House of Austria" and the "Memoirs of Marlborough," and on "Sir Robert Walpole and the Pelham Administrations" (1747-1828).
Coxwell, a celebrated English aëronaut; bred a dentist; took to ballooning; made 700 ascents; reached with Glaisher an elevation of 7 m.; b. 1819.
Cozens, John Robert, a landscape painter, a natural son of Peter the Great; pronounced by Constable the greatest genius that ever touched landscape, and from him Turner confessed he had learned more than from any other landscapist; his mind gave way at last, and he died insane (1752-1801).
Crabbe, George, an English poet, born at Aldborough, in Suffolk; began life as apprentice to an apothecary with a view to the practice of medicine, but having poetic tastes, he gave up medicine for literature, and started for London with a capital of three pounds; his first productions in this line not meeting with acceptance, he was plunged in want; appealing in vain for assistance in his distress, he fell in with Burke, who liberally helped him and procured him high patronage, under which he took orders and obtained the living of Trowbridge, which he held for life, and he was now in circumstances to pursue his bent; his principal poems are "The Library," "The Village," "The Parish Register," "The Borough," and the "Tales of the Hall," all, particularly the earlier ones, instinct with interest in the lives of the poor, "the sacrifices, temptations, loves, and crimes of humble life," described with the most "unrelenting" realism; the author in Byron's esteem, "though Nature's sternest painter, yet the best" (1754-1832).
Cracow (75), a city in Galicia, the old capital of Poland; where the old Polish kings were buried, and the cathedral of which contains the graves of the most illustrious of the heroes of the country and Thorwaldsen's statue of Christ; a large proportion of the inhabitants are Jews.
Cradle Mountain, a mountain in the W. of Tasmania.
Craig, John, a Scottish Reformer, educated at St. Andrews, and originally a Dominican monk; had been converted to Protestantism by study of Calvin's "Institutes," been doomed to the stake by the Inquisition, but had escaped; the coadjutor in Edinburgh of Knox, and his successor in his work, and left a confession and catechism (1512-1580).
Craig, Sir Thomas, an eminent Scottish lawyer, author of a treatise on the "Jus Feudale," which has often been reprinted, as well as three others in Latin of less note; wrote in Latin verse a poem on Queen Mary's marriage to Darnley (1538-1608).
Craigenputtock, a craig or whinstone hill of the puttocks (small hawks), "a high moorland farm on the watershed between Dumfriesshire and Galloway, 10 m. from Dumfries," the property for generations of a family of Welshes, and eventually that of their heiress, Jane Welsh Carlyle, "the loneliest spot in all the British dominions," which the Carlyles made their dwelling-house in 1828, where they remained for seven years, and where "Sartor" was written. "It is certain," Carlyle says of it long after, "that for living and thinking in I have never since found in the world a place so favourable.... How blessed," he exclaims, "might poor mortals be in the straitest circumstances if their wisdom and fidelity to heaven and to one another were adequately great!"
Craik, George Little, an English author, born in Fife, educated at St. Andrews; settled early in London as a littérateur; was associated with Charles Knight in his popular literary undertakings; was author of the "Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties," and the "History of English Literature and Learning"; edited "Pictorial History of England," contributed to "Penny Cyclopædia," and became professor of English Literature, Queen's College, Belfast (1799-1866).
Craik, Mrs., née Mulock, born at Stoke-upon-Trent; authoress of "John Halifax, Gentleman," her chief work, which has had, and maintains, a wide popularity; married in 1865 a nephew and namesake of the preceding, a partner of the publishing house of Macmillan & Co.; wrote for the magazines, besides some 14 more novels (1826-1887).
Crail, a little old-fashioned town near the East Neuk of Fife, where James Sharp was minister; a decayed fishing-place, now a summer resort.
Cramer, Johann Baptist, a distinguished German composer and pianist (1771-1858).
Cranach, Lucas, a celebrated German painter, born at Kronach, in the bishopric of Bamberg; was patronised by Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, whom he accompanied in 1493 to the Holy Land; was engraver as well as painter, skilled in portraiture as well as in historical scenes; was intimately associated with the German reformers Luther and Melanchthon, whose portraits he painted among others; the works of his that remain are chiefly altar-pieces; his chief work is the "Crucifixion" in Weimar, where he died (1472-1553).
Crane, Ichabod, a tall, lean, lank, Yankee schoolmaster in Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
Crane, Walter, poet and painter; has published various illustrated books and poems illustrated by himself, and is an authority on decorative art; b. 1845.
Cranmer, Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, born in Nottinghamshire; educated at Jesus College, Cambridge; recommended himself to Henry VIII. by favouring his divorce, writing in defence of it, and pleading for it before the Pope, the latter in vain, as it proved; on his return was elevated to the archbishopric, in which capacity he proved a zealous promoter of the Reformation, by having the Bible translated and circulated, and by the suppression of monasteries; pronounced sentence of divorce of Catharine, and confirmed the king's marriage with Anne Boleyn; by these and other compliances he kept the favour of Henry, but on the accession of Mary he was committed to the Tower and persuaded to recant, and even signed a recantation, but on being called to recant in public, and refusing to do so, he was dragged to the stake, thrust his right hand into the flames, and exclaimed, "Oh, this unworthy hand" (1489-1566).
Crannoge, a species of lake-dwelling and stronghold, of which remains are found in Scotland and Ireland.
Crapaud, Jean, a nickname of the Frenchmen.
Crashaw, Richard, a minor poet, born in London; bred for the English Church; went to Paris, where he became a Roman Catholic; fell into pecuniary difficulties, but was befriended by Cowley and recommended to a post; was an imitator of George Herbert, and his poems were of the same class, but more fantastical; his principal poems were "Steps to the Temple" and the "Delights of the Muses"; both Milton and Pope are indebted to him (1616-1650).
Crassus, Lucius Licinius, the greatest Roman orator of his day, became consul 55 B.C.; during his consulship a law was passed requiring all but citizens to leave Rome, an edict which provoked the Social War (140-91 B.C.).
Crassus, Marcus Licinius, the triumvir with Pompey and Cæsar; was avaricious, and amassed great wealth; appointed to the province of Syria, provoked out of cupidity war with the Parthians, in which he was treacherously slain; Orodes, the king, cut off his head, and poured melted gold into his mouth, saying as he did so, "Now sate thyself with the metal of which thou wert so greedy when alive" (115-53 B.C.).
Crates, a Greek cynic philosopher, disciple of Diogenes; 4th century B.C.
Cratinus, a Greek comic poet, born at Athens; limited the actors in a piece to three, and the first to introduce into the drama attacks on public men, wrote also satires on vice (519-424 B.C.).
Cratippus, a Peripatetic philosopher of Mytilene, contemporary of Pompey and Cicero; soothed the sunken spirit of the former after the defeat at Pharsalia with the consolations of philosophy.
Cratylus, a dialogue of Plato's on the connection between language and thought.
Crawford, Marion, a novelist, born in Tuscany, of American origin, son of the succeeding; spent a good deal of his early years in India, and now lives partly in New York and partly in Italy; his works, which are numerous, are chiefly novels, his first "Mr. Isaacs" (1882), original and striking; an able writer, and a scholarly; b. 1854.
Crawford, Thomas, an American sculptor, studied at Rome under Thorwaldsen; his "Orpheus in Search of Eurydice" brought him into notice, and was followed by an array of works of eminent merit; died in London from a tumour on the brain, after being struck with blindness (1814-1857).
Crawford and Balcarres, Earl of, better known as Lord Lindsay, and as the author of "Letters from the Holy Land," "Progression by Antagonism," and "Sketches of the History of Christian Art"; died at Florence, and was entombed at Dunecht, whence his body was abstracted and found again in a wood near by after a seven months' search (1812-1880).
Crayer, Caspar de, a celebrated Flemish painter, born at Antwerp; pictures and altar-pieces by him are to be seen in Brussels and Ghent (1582-1669).
Creakle, Mr., a bullying schoolmaster in "David Copperfield."
Creasy, Sir Edward, chief-justice of Ceylon, author of "The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World," "Rise and Progress of the British Constitution," &c. (1812-1878).
Creatin, a substance found in the muscles of vertebrate animals, but never in invertebrate.
Crébillon, a French dramatist, born at Dijon, bred to the law, devoted to literature and the composition of tragedies, of which he produced several, mostly on classical subjects, such as "Atreus and Thyestes," "Electra," of unequal merit, though at times of great power; he ranked next Voltaire among the dramatists of the time (1674-1762).
Crécy, a French village, 12 m. NE. of Abbeville, where Edward III., with 30,000, defeated the French with 68,000, and destroyed the flower of the chivalry of France, Aug. 26, 1346.
Crédit Foncier, a system of credit originating in France on the security of land, whereby the loan is repayable so that principal and interest are extinguished at the same time.
Creech, William, an Edinburgh bookseller, for 40 years the chief publisher in the city; published the first Edinburgh edition of Burns's poems (1745-1815).
Creeks, a tribe of American Indians settled in Indian territory.
Creighton, Mandell, bishop of London, born at Carlisle; previously bishop of Peterborough; has written on Simon de Montfort, on Wolsey, and on the Tudors and the Reformation, but his great work is the "History of the Papacy from the Great Schism to the Sack of Rome," a work of great value; b. 1843.
Crémieux, a French advocate and politician, born at Nîmes, of Jewish birth; a member of the Provisional Government of 1848, and of the National Defence in 1870; took a deep interest in the destiny of his race (1796-1880).
Cremona, old town on the Po, in Lombardy, 46 m. SE. of Milan; interesting for its churches, with their paintings and frescoes; noted at one time for the manufacture of violins.
Cremorne (37), gardens in Chelsea; a popular place of amusement, now closed.
Creole State, Louisiana, U.S.
Crescent City, New Orleans, U.S., as originally occupying a convex bend of the Mississippi.
Crescentini, a celebrated Italian soprano (1769-1846).
Crescentius, a patrician of Rome who, in the 10th century, sought to destroy the imperial power and restore the republic; on this he was defeated by Otho III., to whom he surrendered on promise of safety, but who hanged and beheaded him; Stephano, his widow, avenged this treachery by accepting Otho as her lover, and then poisoning him.
Crespi, Giuseppe, an Italian painter; copied the works of Correggio, Caracci, and other masters (1665-1747).
Creswell, Sir Creswell, judge, born in Newcastle; represented Liverpool in Parliament; was raised to the bench by Peel, and, on the establishment of the Divorce Court, was in 1858 named first judge (1794-1863).
Creswick, Thomas, an English landscape painter, born in Sheffield; simple, pleasantly-suggestive, and faithfully-painted scenes from nature were the subjects of his art; was employed a good deal in book illustrations (1811-1869).
Crete or Candia (295), a mountainous island in the Mediterranean, 160 m. long and from 7 to 30 m. broad; in nominal subjection to Turkey after 1669, it was in perpetual revolt. The rising of 1895 led to the intervention of the great powers of Europe, and the Turkish troops having been withdrawn in 1898 under pressure from Great Britain, Russia, France, and Italy, Prince George of Greece was appointed High Commissioner, ruling on behalf of these powers. Turkey still retains the nominal suzerainty.
Cretinism, a disease prevalent in valleys as those of the Alps, characterised by mental imbecility, and associated with abnormal and arrested physical development.
Creusa, a wife of Æneas, fell behind her husband, lost her way in escaping from Troy, and perished.
Creusot, Le (18), a town in the dep. Saône-et-Loire, near Autun, which owes its importance to the large iron-works established there; is a district rich in coal and iron.
Creuzer, a learned German philologist, born at Marburg; became professor of Ancient History and Philology at Heidelberg; his chief work, and one by which he is most widely known, "Symbolik und Mythologie der Alten Völker, besonders der Griechen," "Symbolism and Mythology of Ancient Peoples, especially the Greeks"; left an autobiography (1771-1858).
Crewe (29), a town in Cheshire, 43 m. SE. of Liverpool, a great railway junction, and where the London and North-Western Railway Company have their works.
Crichton, James, surnamed The Admirable, a Scotchman of gentle, even noble birth, educated at St. Andrews, had George Buchanan for tutor; early developed the most extraordinary gifts of both body and mind; travelled to Paris, Rome, Venice, Milan, and Mantua; astonished every one by his strength and skill as an athlete, and his dexterity and agility in debate; at Mantua he became tutor to the son of the Duke, when one night he was attacked in the streets by a band of masked men, whom he overcame by his skill, recognised his pupil among them, and presented to him his sword, upon which, it is said, the young man immediately ran him through with it (1560-1585).
Crieff (5), a town in Perthshire, at the foot of the Grampians, 18 m. W. of Perth, amid exquisite scenery; has a climate favourable for invalids.
Crillon, a French military captain, born at Mars, in Provence; distinguished himself through five reigns, those of Henry II., Francis II., Charles IX., Henry III., and Henry IV., of the last of whom he became companion in arms, who designated him Le brave des braves, and who wrote to him this famous note after the victory of Arques: "Where were you, brave Crillon? we have conquered, and you were not there." (1541-1615).
Crimea (250), a peninsula in the S. of Russia, almost surrounded by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, being connected with the mainland by the narrow isthmus of Perekop; has a bold and precipitous coast 650 m. in length; is barren in the N., but fertile and fruitful in the S.; population chiefly Russians and Tartars.
Crimean War, a war carried on chiefly in the Crimea, on the part of Turkey aided by Britain and France, in which Sardinia eventually joined them, against the encroachments of Russia in the E., and which was proclaimed against Russia, March 24, 1854, and ended by the fall of Sebastopol, September 8, 1855, the treaty of peace following having been signed at Paris, March 1856.
Crinan Canal, a canal for vessels of light burden, 9 m. long, from Loch Fyne, in Argyllshire, constructed to avoid sailing round the Mull of Kintyre, thereby saving a distance of 115 m.
Crispi, Francesco, an Italian statesman, born in Sicily; co-operated with Garibaldi in the Sicilian Revolution, and since active as a member of the Government in the kingdom of Italy; b. 1819.
Crispin, the patron saint of shoemakers, of noble birth, who with his brother had to flee from persecution in Rome to Gaul, where they settled at Soissons; preached to the people and supported themselves by shoemaking; they finally suffered martyrdom in 287. Festival, Oct. 25.
Critias, a pupil of Socrates, who profited so little by his master's teaching that he became the most conspicuous for his cruelty and rapacity of all the thirty tyrants set up in Athens by the Spartans (450-402 B.C.).
Criton, a rich Athenian, friend and disciple of Socrates; supported him by his fortune, but could not persuade him to leave the prison, though he had procured the means of escape.
Croa`tia and Slavonia (2,201), a Hungarian crownland, lying between the Drave and Save, tributaries of the Danube, and stretching westward to the Adriatic. It is half as large as Ireland, wooded and mountainous, with marshy districts along the river courses. The soil is fertile, growing cereals, fibres, tobacco, and grapes; silkworms and bees are a source of wealth; horses, cattle, and swine are raised in large numbers. The province is poor in minerals, and lacks a harbour. The people are Slavs, of Roman Catholic faith; backward in education, but showing signs of progress.
Crockett, Samuel Rutherford, novelist, born near New Galloway, Kirkcudbright; bred for the Church, and for some time Free Church minister at Penicuik, Midlothian, a charge he resigned in 1895, having previously published a volume of sketches entitled "The Stickit Minister," which was so received as to induce him to devote himself to literature, as he has since done with more or less success; b. 1859.
Croesus, the last of the kings of Lydia, in the 6th century B.C.; celebrated for his wealth, so that his name became a synonym for a man overwhelmed by the favours of fortune; being visited by Solon, he asked him one day if he knew any one happier than he was, when the sage answered, "No man can be counted happy till after death." Of the truth of this Croesus had ere long experience; being condemned to death by Cyrus, who had defeated him and condemned him to be burnt, and about to be led to the burning pile, he called out thrice over the name of Solon; when Cyrus, having learned the reason, moved with pity, ordered his release, retained him among his counsellors, and commended him when dying to the care of his son.
Croker, John Wilson, a politician and man of letters, born in Galway, though of English descent; bred for the bar; wrote in advocacy of Catholic emancipation; represented Downpatrick in Parliament; was in 1809 appointed Secretary to the Admiralty, a post he held for 20 years; was one of the founders of the Quarterly Review, to which, it is said, he contributed 200 articles; edited Boswell's "Life of Johnson" with Notes; was an obstinate Tory, satirised by Disraeli and severely handled by Macaulay; founded the Athenæum Club (1780-1857).
Croker, T. Crofton, Irish folk-lorist, born in Cork; held a well-paid clerkship in the Admiralty; collected and published stories, legends, and traditions of the S. of Ireland; he wrote with a humour which was heartily Irish; his most original work being "The Adventures of Barney Mahoney"; he was a zealous antiquary; he was a brilliant conversationalist (1798-1854).
Croll, James, a geologist, born near Coupar-Angus; contributed materially to geology by his study of the connection between alterations of climate and geological changes (1821-1890).
Croly, George, a versatile author; designed for the Church; took to literature, and wrote in all kinds, poetry, biography, and romance; his best romance "Salathiel"; died rector of St. Stephen's, Walbrook (1780-1860).
Cromarty, a county in the N. of Scotland, consisting of ten fragments scattered up and down Ross-shire; the county town, the birthplace of Hugh Miller, being on the N. side of Cromarty Firth, which opens eastward into the Moray Firth, and forms a large harbour 1 m. long and 7 broad, protected at the mouth by two beetling rocks called Sutors, one on each side, 400 and 463 ft. high.
Crome, John, usually called Old Crome, a landscape-painter, born in Norwich, of poor parents; began as a house-painter and then a drawing-master; one of the founders of the Norwich Society of Artists; took his subjects from his native county, and treated them with fidelity to nature; his pictures have risen in value since his death (1768-1821).
Crompton, Samuel, inventor of the spinning-mule, born near Bolton; for five years he worked at his project, and after he got it into shape was tormented by people prying about him and trying to find out his secret; at last a sum was raised by subscription to buy it, and he got some £60 for it, by which others became wealthy, while he had to spend, and end, his days in comparative poverty, all he had to subsist on being a life annuity of £63 which some friends bought him (1753-1827).
Cromwell, Oliver, Lord-Protector of the commonwealth of England, born at Huntingdon, the son of Robert Cromwell, the younger son of Sir Henry Cromwell, and of Elizabeth Steward, descended from the royal family of Scotland, their third child and second boy; educated at Huntingdon and afterwards at Cambridge; left college at his father's death, and occupied himself in the management of his paternal property; entered Parliament in 1629, and represented Cambridge in 1640, where to oppose the king he, by commission in 1642 from Essex, raised a troop of horse, famous afterwards as his "Ironsides"; with these he distinguished himself, first at Marston Moor in 1644, and next year at Naseby; crushed the Scots at Preston in 1648, who had invaded the country in favour of the king, now in the hands of the Parliament, and took Berwick; sat at trial of the king and signed his death-warrant, 1649; sent that same year to subdue rebellion in Ireland, he sternly yet humanely stamped it out; recalled from Ireland, he set out for Scotland, which had risen up in favour of Charles II., and totally defeated the Scots at Dunbar, Sept. 3, 1650, after which Charles invaded England and the Royalists were finally beaten at Worcester, Sept. 3, 1651, upon which his attention was drawn to affairs of government; taking up his residence at Hampton Court, his first step was to dissolve the Rump, which he did by military authority in 1653; a new Parliament was summoned, which also he was obliged to dismiss, after being declared Lord-Protector; from this time he ruled mainly alone, and wherever his power was exercised, beyond seas even, it was respected; at last his cares and anxieties proved too much for him and wore him out, he fell ill and died, Sept. 3, 1658, the anniversary of his two great victories at Dunbar and Worcester; they buried him in Westminster, but his body was dug up at the Restoration, hanged at Tyburn, and buried under the gallows; such treatment his body was subjected to after he was gone, and for long after he was no less ignobly treated by several succeeding generations as a hypocrite, a fanatic, or a tyrant; but now, thanks to Carlyle, he is come to be regarded as one of the best and wisest rulers that ever sat on the English throne (1599-1658). See "Cromwell's Letters and Speeches," edited by Carlyle.
Cromwell, Richard, son of the Protector; appointed to succeed him; was unequal to the task, and compelled to abdicate, April 26, 1659; retired into private life; went after the Restoration for a time abroad; returned under a feigned name, and lived and died at Cheshunt (1626-1712).
Cromwell, Thomas, minister of Henry VIII., and malleus monachorum, the "mauler of the monks," born at Putney; the son of a blacksmith; led a life of adventure for eight or nine years on the Continent; settled in England about the beginning of Henry's reign; came under notice of Wolsey, whose confidant he became, and subordinate agent in suppressing the smaller monasteries; on his master's fall rose into favour with Henry by suggesting he should discard the supremacy of the Pope, and assume the supremacy of the Church himself; attained, in consequence, the highest rank and authority in the State, for the proposal was adopted, with the result that the Crown remains the head of ecclesiastical authority in England to this day; the authority he thus acquired he employed in so high-handed a fashion that he lost the favour of both king and people, till on a sudden he was arrested on charges of treason, was condemned to death, and beheaded on Tower Hill (1485-1540).
Cronstadt (42), the port of St. Petersburg, at the mouth of the Neva; a strongly fortified place, and the greatest naval station in the country; it is absolutely impregnable.
Crookes, William, an eminent chemist and physicist, born in London; distinguished for researches in both capacities; discovered the metal thallium, and invented the radiometer; b. 1832.
Cross, Mrs., George Eliot's married name.
Cross, Southern, a bright constellation in the southern hemisphere, consisting of four stars.
Cross, Victoria, a naval and military decoration instituted in 1854; awarded for eminent personal valour in the face of the enemy.
Cross Fell, one of the Pennine range of mountains in the N. of England, 2892 ft., on the top of which five counties meet.
Crosse, Andrew, electrician, born at Somersetshire; made several discoveries in the application of electricity; he was a zealous scientist, and apt to be over-zealous (1784-1855).
Crossraguel, an abbey, now in ruins, 2 m. SW. of Maybole, Ayrshire, where John Knox held disputation with the abbot, and of which in his "History of the Reformation" he gives a humorous account (1562).
Crotch, William, musical composer of precocious gifts, and writer in music, born in Norwich; became, in 1797, professor of Music in Oxford, and in 1822 Principal of the Royal Academy; his anthems are well known (1775-1847).
Crotona, an ancient large and flourishing Greek city, Magna Græcia, in Italy; the residence of the philosopher Pythagoras and the athlete Milo.
Crowe, Eyre Evans, historian and miscellaneous writer, born in Hants; editor of the Daily News; author of the "History of France" and "Lives of Eminent Foreign Statesmen" (1799-1868).
Crowe, Sir James Archer, writer on art and a journalist, born in London, son of the preceding; is associated with Cavalcaselle in several works on art and famous artists; b. 1825.
Crowne, John, playwright, born in Nova Scotia, a contemporary and rival of Dryden; supplied the stage with plays for nearly 30 years (1640-1705).
Crowther, Samuel Adjai, bishop of the Niger Territory; an African by birth; was captured to be sold as a slave, but released by an English cruiser; baptized a Christian in 1825; joined the first Niger Expedition in 1841; sent out as a missionary in 1843; appointed bishop in 1864, the duties of which he discharged faithfully, zealously, and well (1810-1891).
Croydon (103), the largest town in Surrey, on the Wandle, 10 m. SW. of London Bridge, and practically now a suburb of London.
Cruden, Alexander, author of a "Complete Concordance of the Holy Scriptures," with which alone his name is now associated; born in Aberdeen; intended for the Church, but from unsteadiness of intellect not qualified to enter it; was placed frequently in restraint; appears to have been a good deal employed as a press corrector; gave himself out as "Alexander the Corrector," commissioned to correct moral abuses (1701-1770).
Cruikshank, George, a richly gifted English artist, born in London, of Scotch descent; the first exhibition of his talent was in the illustration of books for children, but it was in the line of humorous satire he chiefly distinguished himself; and he first found scope for his gifts in this direction in the political squibs of William Hone, a faculty he exercised at length over a wide area; the works illustrated by him include, among hundreds of others, "Grimm's Stories," "Peter Schlemihl," Scott's "Demonology," Dickens's "Oliver Twist," and Ainsworth's "Jack Shepherd"; like Hogarth, he was a moralist as well as an artist, and as a total abstainer he consecrated his art at length to dramatise the fearful downward career of the drunkard; his greatest work, done in oil, is in the National Gallery, the "Worship of Bacchus," which is a vigorous protestation against this vice (1792-1878).
Crusades, The, military expeditions, organised from the 11th century to the 13th, under the banner of the Cross for the recovery of the Holy Land from the hands of the Saracens, to the number of eight. The First (1096-1099), preached by Peter the Hermit, and sanctioned by the Council of Clermont (1095), consisted of two divisions: one, broken into two hordes, under Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless respectively, arrived decimated in Syria, and was cut to pieces at Nicæa by the sultan; while the other, better equipped and more efficiently organised, laid siege to and captured in succession Nicæa, Antioch, and Jerusalem, where Godfrey of Bouillon was proclaimed king. The Second (1147-1149), preached by St. Bernard, consisting of two armies under Conrad III. of Germany and Louis VII. of France, laid siege in a shattered state to Damascus, and was compelled to raise the siege and return a mere remnant to Europe. The Third (1189-1193), preached by William, archbishop of Tyre, and provoked by Saladin's capture of Jerusalem, of which one division was headed by Barbarossa, who, after taking Iconium, was drowned while bathing in the Orontes, and the other, headed by Philippe Augustus and Richard Coeur de Lion, who jointly captured Acre and made peace with Saladin. The Fourth (1202-1204), under sanction of Pope Innocent III., and undertaken by Baldwin, count of Flanders, having got the length of Venice, was preparing to start for Asia, when it was called aside to Constantinople to restore the emperor to his throne, when, upon his death immediately afterwards, the Crusaders elected Baldwin in his place, pillaged the city, and left, having added it to the domain of the Pope. The Fifth (1217-1221), on the part of John of Brienne, king of Jerusalem, and Andrew II., king of Hungary, who made a raid upon Egypt against the Saracens there, but without any result. The Sixth (1228-1229), under conduct of Frederick II. of Germany, as heir through John of Brienne to the throne of Jerusalem, who made a treaty with the sultan of Egypt, whereby the holy city, with the exception of the Mosque of Omar, was made over to him as king of Jerusalem. The Seventh (1248-1254), conducted by St. Louis in the fulfilment of a vow, in which Louis was defeated and taken prisoner, and only recovered his liberty by payment of a heavy ransom. The Eighth (1270), also undertaken by St. Louis, who lay dying at Tunis as the towns of Palestine fell one after another into the hands of the Saracens. The Crusades terminated with the fall of Ptolemaïs in 1291.
Crusoe, Robinson, the hero of Defoe's fiction of the name, a shipwrecked sailor who spent years on an uninhabited island, and is credited with no end of original devices in providing for his wants. See Selkirk.
Csoma de Körös, Alexander, a Hungarian traveller and philologist, born in Körös, Transylvania; in the hope of tracing the origin of the Magyar race, set out for the East in 1820, and after much hardship by the way arrived in Thibet, where, under great privations, though aided by the English Government, he devoted himself to the study of the Thibetan language; in 1831 settled in Calcutta, where he compiled his Thibetan Grammar and Dictionary, and catalogued the Thibetan works in the library of the Asiatic Society; died at Darjeeling just as he was setting out for fresh discoveries (1784-1836).
Ctesias, Greek physician and historian of Persia; was present with Artaxerxes Mnemon at the battle of Cunaxa, 401 B.C., and stayed afterwards at the Persian court, where he got the materials for his history, of which only a few fragments are extant.
Ctesiphon, an Athenian who, having proposed that the city should confer a crown of gold on Demosthenes, was accused by Æschines of violating the law in so doing, but was acquitted after an eloquent oration by Demosthenes in his defence.
Cuba (1,500), the largest of the West India Islands, 700 m. long and from 27 m. to 290 m. in breadth; belonged to Spain, but is now under the protection of the United States; is traversed from E. to W. by a range of mountains wooded to the summit; abounds in forests—ebony, cedar, mahogany, &c.; soil very fertile; exports sugar and tobacco; principal town, Havana.
Cubbit, Sir William, an eminent English engineer, born in Norfolk; more or less employed in most of the great engineering undertakings of his time (1785-1861).
Cudworth, Ralph, an eminent English divine and philosopher, born in Somerset; his chief work, a vast and discursive one, and to which he owes his fame, "The True Intellectual System of the Universe," in which he teaches a philosophy of the Platonic type, which ascribes more to the abiding inner than the fugitive outer of things; he defends revealed religion on grounds of reason against both the atheist and the materialist; his candour and liberality exposed him to much misconstruction, and on that account was deemed a latitudinarian. "He stands high among our early philosophers for his style, which, if not exactly elegant and never splendid, is solid and clear" (1617-1688).
Cuenca, a fine old city in Spain, 83 m. E. of Madrid; also a high-lying city of Ecuador, over 100 m. S. of Quito, with a delightful climate; both in provinces of the same name.
Cujas, or Cujacius, a celebrated French jurist, born at Toulouse; devoted to the study of Roman law in its historical development, and the true founder of the Historical school in that department (1522-1590).
Culdees, fraternities of uncertain origin and character scattered up and down Ireland, and especially Scotland, hardly at all in England, from the 9th or 10th to the 14th century; instituted, as would appear, to keep alive a religious spirit among themselves and disseminate it among their neighbours, until on the establishment of monastic orders in the country they ceased to have a separate existence and lost their individuality in the new communities, as well as their original character; they appear to have been originally, whatever they became at length, something like those fraternities we find later on at Deventer, in Holland, with which Thomas à Kempis was connected, only whereas the former sought to plant Christianity, the latter sought to purify it. The name disappears after 1332, but traces of them are found at Dunkeld, St. Andrews, Brechin, and elsewhere in Scotland; in Ireland they continued in Armagh to the Reformation, and were resuscitated for a few years in the 17th century.
Cullen, Paul, Cardinal, Catholic primate of Ireland, born in Kildare; was an extreme Ultramontanist; vigorously opposed all secret societies in the country with revolutionary aims, as well as the system of mixed education then in force (1803-1878).
Cullen, William, physician, born at Hamilton; studied in Glasgow; held successively the chairs of Chemistry, the Institutes of Medicine, and Medicine in Edinburgh University; author of several medical works; did much to advance the science of medicine; the celebrated Dr. Black was one of his pupils in chemistry (1710-1790).
Culloden, a moor, 5 m. NE. of Inverness, where the Duke of Cumberland defeated Prince Charles in 1746, and finally wrecked the Stuart cause in the country.
Culpeper, Nicholas, a herbalist, born in London, who practised medicine and associated therewith the art of the astrologer as well as the faith of a Puritan; was a character and a phenomenon of his time (1616-1654).
Culverwel, Nathaniel, an English author, born in Middlesex; educated at Cambridge, and one of the Platonist school there; wrote "Light of Nature," "Spiritual Optics," "Worth of Souls," &c., works which evince vigour of thinking as well as literary power (1633-1651).
Cumæ, a considerable maritime city of Campania, now in ruins; alleged to be the earliest Greek settlement in Italy; famous as the residence of the Sibyl (q. v.), and a place of luxurious resort for wealthy Romans.
Cumberland (250), a county in N. of England, of mountain and dale, with good agricultural and pasture land, and a rich coal-field on the coast, as well as other minerals in the interior.
Cumberland, Dr. Richard, bishop of Peterborough, born in London, educated at Cambridge, wrote several works, the chief "An Inquiry into the Laws of Nature," in reply to Hobbes, in which he elevates the tendency to produce happiness into something like a moral principle; wrought hard, lived to a great age, and is credited with the saying, "Better wear out than rust out" (1631-1718).
Cumberland, Richard, dramatist, great-grandson of the preceding; was a prolific writer for the stage; the play "The West Indian," which established his reputation, was his best (1732-1811).
Cumberland, William Augustus, Duke of, second son of George II., was defeated at Fontenoy by the French in 1745; defeated the Pretender next year at Culloden; earned the title of "The Butcher" by his cruelties afterwards; was beaten in all his battles except this one (1721-1765).
Cumbria, a country of the Northern Britons which, in the 6th century, extended from the Clyde to the Dee, in Cheshire.
Cumming, Gordon, the African lion-hunter, of Celtic origin; served for a time in the army; wrote an account of his hunting exploits in his "Five Years of a Hunter's Life" (1820-1866).
Cumming, John, a Scotch clergyman, popular in London, born at Fintray, in Aberdeenshire; of a highly combative turn, and rather foolhardy in his interpretations of prophecy (1807-1881).
Cunard, Sir Samuel, founder of Cunard Line of Steamships, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia (1787-1865).
Cunaxa, a town in Babylonia, on the Euphrates, 60 m. N. of Babylon.
Cunctator, a name given to Fabius Maximus on account of the tantalising tactics he adopted to wear out his adversary Hannibal.
Cune`iform, an epithet applied to the wedge-shaped characters in which the Assyrian and other ancient monumental inscriptions are written.
Cunningham, Allan, poet and man of letters, born in the parish of Keir, Dumfriesshire; bred to the mason craft, but devoted his leisure hours to study and the composition of Scottish ballads, which, when published, gained him the notice of Sir Walter Scott; in 1810 he went to London, where he wrote for periodicals, and obtained employment as assistant to Chantrey the sculptor, in which post he found leisure to cultivate his literary proclivities, collating and editing tales and songs, editing Burns with a Life, and writing the Lives of famous artists, and died in London; "a pliant, Naturmensch," Carlyle found him to be, "with no principles or creed that he could see, but excellent old habits of character" (1784-1842).
Cunningham, Peter, son of the preceding, author of the "Life of Drummond of Hawthornden," "Handbook of London," &c. (1816-1867).
Cunningham, William, a Scotch divine, born in Hamilton, well read in the Reformation and Puritan theology, a vigorous defender of Scottish orthodoxy, and a stanch upholder of the independence of the Church of State control; was a powerful debater, and a host in any controversy in which he embarked (1805-1861).
Cupid, or Amor, the god of love, viewed as a chubby little boy, armed with bow and arrows, and often with eyes bandaged.
Cupid and Psyche, an allegorical representation of the trials of the soul on its way to the perfection of bliss, being an episode in the "Golden Ass" of Apuleius. See Psyche.
Curaça`o (26), one of Antilles, in the West Indies, belonging to the Dutch, 36 m. long by about 8 broad; yields, along with other West Indian products, an orange from the peel of which a liqueur is made in Holland.
Curé of Meudon, Rabelais.
Cure`tes, priests of Cybele, in Crete, whose rites were celebrated with clashing of cymbals.
Cureton, William, Syriac scholar, born in Shropshire, assistant-keeper of MSS. at the British Museum; applied himself to the study and collation of Syriac MSS., and discovered, among other relics, a version of the Epistle of Ignatius; was appointed canon of Westminster (1808-1864).
Curiatii, three Alban brothers who fought with the three Horatii Roman brothers, and were beaten, to the subjection of Alba to Rome.
Curle, Edmund, a London bookseller, notorious for the issue of libellous and of obscene publications, and for prosecutions he was subjected to in consequence (1675-1747).
Curling, a Scottish game played between rival clubs, belonging generally to different districts, by means of cheese-shaped stones hurled along smooth ice, the rules of which are pretty much the same as those in bowling.
Curran, John Philpot, an Irish orator and wit, born in co. Cork; became member of Parliament in 1784; though a Protestant, employed all his eloquence to oppose the policy of the Government towards Ireland, together with the Union; retired on the death of Pitt; was Master of the Rolls for a time; was Irish to the core (1750-1817).
Currie, James, a Liverpool physician, born in Kirkpatrick-Fleming, Dumfriesshire; was the earliest biographer and editor of Burns, in 4 vols., a work he undertook for behoof of his widow and family, and which realised £1400, involved no small labour, was done con amore, and done well (1756-1805).
Currie, Sir Philip, her Majesty's ambassador at Constantinople since 1893; has been connected with the Foreign Office since 1854; had been attaché at St. Petersburg, and was secretary to Lord Salisbury; b. 1834.
Curtis, George William, an American writer, born in Rhode Island, distinguished as contributor or editor in connection with several American journals and magazines; b. 1824.
Curtius, a noble youth of Roman legend who leapt on horseback full-armed into a chasm in the Forum, which the soothsayers declared would not close unless at the sacrifice of what Rome held dearest, and which he did, judging that the wealth of Rome lay in its citizens, and tradition says the chasm thereupon immediately closed.
Curtius, Ernst, a German archæologist and philosopher, born at Lübeck; travelled in Greece and Asia Minor; contributed much by his researches to the history of Greece, and of its legends and works of art; his jubilee as a professor was celebrated in 1891, when he received the congratulations of the Emperor William II., to whose father he at one time had acted as tutor; b. 1814.
Curtius, Georg, German philologist, born at Lübeck, brother of the preceding; held professorial appointments in Prague, Kiel, and Berlin; one of the best Greek scholars in Germany, and contributed largely to the etymology and grammar of the Greek language (1820-1885).
Curtius, Quintus Rufus, a Roman historian of uncertain date; wrote a history of Alexander the Great in ten books, two of which have been lost, the rest surviving in a very fragmentary state.
Curtmantle, a surname of Henry II., from a robe he wore shorter than that of his predecessors.
Curule chair, a kind of ivory camp-stool, mounted on a chariot, on which a Roman magistrate, if consul, prætor, censor, or chief edile, sat as he was conveyed in state to the senate-house or some public function.
Curwen, John, an Independent clergyman, born in Yorkshire; the founder of the Tonic Sol-fa system in music; from 1864 gave himself up to the advocacy and advancement of his system (1816-1880).
Curzon, George Nathaniel, Lord, English statesman, son of a clergyman, educated at Eton and Oxford; became Fellow of All Souls; became Under-Secretary for India in 1891; travelled in the East, and wrote on Eastern topics, on which he became an authority; was appointed Viceroy of India in 1899; b. 1859.
Cushing, an American jurist and diplomatist (1800-1879).
Cushman, Charlotte, an American actress, born in Boston; represented, among other characters, Lady Macbeth, Rosalind, Meg Merilees, and Romeo (1810-1876).
Custine, Count de, a French general, born at Metz; seized and occupied Mayence, 1792; was forced out of it by the Prussians and obliged to retreat; was called to account and sent to the guillotine; "unsuccessfulness," his crime; "had fought in America; was a proud, brave man, and his fortune led him hither" (1746-1793)
Cüstrin, a strong little town, 68 or 70 m. E. of Berlin, where young Frederick the Great was kept in close confinement by his father.
Cutch, a native State in the Bombay Presidency, in the country called Gujarat.
Cutch, Rann of, a salt-water morass between Gujarat and Scinde, which becomes a lake during the SW. monsoon.
Cuthbert, a monk of Jarrow, a disciple of Bede; was with him when he died, and wrote in a letter a graphic and touching account of his death.
Cuthbert, St., born in Northumbria; originally a shepherd; saw a vision in the night-watches of the soul of St. Aidan ascending to heaven, which determined his destiny, and he became a monk; entered the monastery of Melrose, and eventually became prior, but devoted most of his time to mission-work in the surrounding districts; left Melrose to be prior of Lindisfarne, but longing for an austerer life, he retired to, and led the life of a hermit on, an island by himself; being persuaded to come back, he acted as bishop of Lindisfarne, and continued to act as such for two years, but his previous longings for solitude returned, and he went back to a hermit life, to spend a short season, as it happened, in prayer and meditation; when he died; what he did, and the memory of what he did, left an imperishable impression for good in the whole N. of England and the Scottish borders; his remains were conveyed to Lindisfarne, and ere long to Durham (635-687).
Cuttack (47), capital of a district in S. of Bengal, at the apex of the delta formed by the Mahanuddy; noted for its gold and silver filigree work.
Cuvier, Georges, a celebrated naturalist, born at Montebéliard, of Huguenot ancestry; the creator of comparative anatomy and palæontology; was educated at Stuttgart, where he studied natural science; but the observation of marine animals on the coast of Normandy, where he held a tutorship, first led him to the systematic study of anatomy, and brought him into correspondence with Geoffroy St. Hilaire and others, who invited him to Paris, where he prosecuted his investigations, matured his views, and became professor of Comparative Anatomy at the Jardin des Plantes, a member of the French Institute, and Permanent Secretary of the Academy of Sciences, and eventually a peer of France; his labours in the science to which he devoted his life were immense, but he continued to the last a determined opponent of the theory, then being broached and now in vogue, of a common descent (1769-1832).
Cuxhaven, a German watering-place at the mouth of the Elbe, on the southern bank.
Cuyp, Albert, a celebrated Dutch landscape-painter, son of Jacob Cuyp, commonly called Old Cuyp, also a landscapist, born at Dort; painted scenes from the banks of the Meuse and the Rhine; is now reckoned a rival of Claude, though he was not so in his lifetime, his pictures selling now for a high price; he has been praised for his sunlights, but these, along with Claude's, have been pronounced depreciatively by Ruskin as "colourless" (1605-1691).
Cuzco (20), a town in Peru, about 11,440 ft. above the sea-level, the ancient capital of the Incas; still retains traces of its former extent and greatness, the inhabitants reckoned as then numbering 200,000, and the civilisation advanced.
Cybele, a nature-goddess worshipped in Phrygia and W. Asia, whose worship, like that of the nature divinities generally, was accompanied with noisy, more or less licentious, revelry; identified by the Greeks with Rhea (q. v.), their nature-goddess.
Cyclades, islands belonging to Greece, on the East or the Ægean Sea, so called as forming a circle round Delos, the most famous of the group.
Cyclic Poets, poets who after Homer's death caught the contagion of his great poem and wrote continuations, additions, &c.
Cyclopean Walls, a name given to structures found in Greece, Asia Minor, Italy, and Sicily, built of large masses of unhewn stone and without cement, such as it is presumed a race of gigantic strength like the Cyclops (3) must have reared.
Cyclops, a name given to three distinct classes of mythological beings: (1) a set of one-eyed savage giants infesting the coasts of Sicily and preying upon human flesh; (2) a set of Titans, also one-eyed, belonging to the race of the gods, three in number, viz., Brontes, Steropes, and Arges—three great elemental powers of nature, subjected by and subject to Zeus; and (3) a people of Thrace, famed for their skill in building.
Cymbeline, a legendary British king, and the hero of Shakespeare's romance play of the name.
Cynægirus, a brother of Æschylus; distinguished himself at Marathon; is famed for his desperate attempt to seize a retreating ship.
Cynewulf, a Saxon poet, flourished at the second half of the 8th century; seems to have passed through two phases, first as a glad-hearted child of nature, and then as a devout believer in Christ; at the former stage wrote "Riddles" and "Ode to the West Wind," at the latter his themes were the lives of Christ and certain Saints.
Cynics, a sect of Greek philosophers, disciples of Antisthenes, who was a disciple of Socrates, but carried away with him only part of Socrates' teaching and enforced that as if it were the whole, dropped all regard for humanity and the universal reason, and taught that "virtue lay wholly in the avoidance of evil, and those desires and greeds that bind us to enjoyments," so that his disciples were called the "Capuchins of the Old World." These in time went further than their master, and conceived a contempt for everything that was not self-derived; they derived their name from the gymnasium in Athens, where their master taught.
Cyprian, St., one of the Fathers of the Church, born at Carthage, about the year 200, converted to Christianity in 245; devoted himself thereafter to the study of the Bible, with the help of Tertullian his favourite author; became bishop of Carthage in 248; on the outbreak of the Decian persecution had to flee for his life, ministering to his flock the while by substitutes; on his return, after two years, he was involved in the discussion about the reception of the lapsed; under the Valerian persecution was banished; being recalled, he refused to sacrifice to the gods, and suffered martyrdom in 258; he was a zealous bishop of the High Church type, and the father of such, only on broader lines. Festival, Sept. 16.
Cyprus (21), a fertile, mountainous island in the Levant, capital Nicosia (12); geographically connected with Asia, and the third largest in the Mediterranean, being 140 m. long and 60 m. broad; government ceded to Great Britain in 1878 by the Sultan, on condition of an annual tribute; is a British colony under a colonial governor or High Commissioner; is of considerable strategic importance to Britain; yields cereals, wines, cotton, &c., and has 400 m. of good road, and a large transit trade.
Cyrenaics, a sect of Greek philosophers, disciples of Aristippus, who was a disciple of Socrates, but who broke away from his master by divorcing virtue from happiness, and making "pleasure, moderated by reason, the ultimate aim of life, and the supreme good."
Cyre`ne, a town and Greek colony in Africa, E. of Egypt, extensive ruins of which still exist, and which was the capital of the State, called Cyrenaica after it, and the birthland of several illustrious Greeks.
Cyril, St., surnamed the Philosopher, along with his brother Methodius, the "Apostle of the Slavs," born in Thessalonica; invented the Slavonic alphabet, and, with his brother's help, translated the Bible into the language of the Slavs; d. 868. Festival, March 9.
Cyril of Alexandria, St., born at Alexandria, and bishop there; an ecclesiastic of a violent, militant order; persecuted the Novatians, expelled the Jews from Alexandria, quarrelled with the governor, excited a fanaticism which led to the seizure and shameful murder of Hypatia; had a lifelong controversy with Nestorius, and got him condemned by the Council of Ephesus, while he himself was condemned by the Council at Antioch (608), and both cast into prison; after release lived at peace (376-444). Festival, Jan. 28.
Cyril of Jerusalem, St., patriarch of Jerusalem, elected 351, and a Father of the Greek Church; in the Arian controversy then raging was a Semi-Arian, and was persecuted by the strict Arians; joined the Nicene party at the Council of Constantinople in 381; was an instructor in church doctrine to the common people by his catechisms (315-386). Festival, March 18.
Cyropædia, a work by Xenophon, being an idealistic account of the "education of Cyrus the Great."
Cyrus, surnamed the Great, or the Elder, the founder of the Persian empire; began his conquests by overthrowing his grandfather Astyages, king of the Medes; subdued Croesus, king of Lydia; laid siege to Babylon and took it, and finished by being master of all Western Asia; was a prince of great energy and generosity, and left the nations he subjected and rendered tributary free in the observances of their religions and the maintenance of their institutions; this is the story of the historians, but it has since been considerably modified by study of the ancient monuments (560-529 B.C.).
Cyrus, surnamed the Younger, second son of Darius II.; conspired against his brother Artaxerxes Mnemon, was sentenced to death, pardoned, and restored to his satrapy in Asia Minor; conspired anew, raised a large army, including Greek mercenaries, marched against his brother, and was slain at Cunaxa, of which last enterprise and its fate an account is given in the "Anabasis" of Xenophon; d. 401 B.C.
Cythera, the ancient name of Cerigo; had a magnificent temple to Venus, who was hence called Cytheræa.
Czartoryski, a Polish prince, born at Warsaw; passed his early years in England; studied at Edinburgh University; fought under Kosciusko against the Russians, and was for some time a hostage in Russia; gained favour at the Court there, and even a high post in the State; in 1830 threw himself into the revolutionary movement, and devoted all his energies to the service of his country, becoming head of the government; on the suppression of the revolution his estates were confiscated; he escaped to Paris, and spent his old age there, dying at 90 (1770-1861).
Czechs, a branch of the Slavonic family that in the later half of the 6th century settled in Bohemia; have a language of their own, spoken also in Moravia and part of Hungary.
Czerno`witz (54), the capital of the Austrian province of Bukowina, on the Pruth.
Czerny, Charles, a musical composer and pianist, born at Vienna; had Liszt and Thalberg for pupils (1791-1857).
Czerny, George, leader of the Servians in their insurrection against the Turks; assisted by Russia carried all before him; when that help was withdrawn the Turks gained the advantage, and he had to flee; returning after the independence of Servia was secured, he was murdered at the instigation of Prince Milosch (1766-1817).
Dacca (82), a city 150 m. NE. of Calcutta, on a branch of the Brahmaputra, once the capital of Bengal, and a centre of Mohammedanism; famous at one time for its muslins; the remains of its former grandeur are found scattered up and down the environs and half buried in the jungle; it is also the name of a district (2,420), well watered, both for cultivation and commerce.
Dacia, a Roman province, N. of the Danube and S. of the Carpathians.
Dacier, André, a French scholar and critic, born at Castres, in Languedoc; assisted by his wife, executed translations of various classics, and produced an edition of them known as the "Delphin Edition" (1651-1722).
Dacier, Madame, distinguished Hellenist and Latinist, wife of the preceding, born in Saumur (1651-1720).
Dacoits, gangs of semi-savage Indian brigands and robbers, often 40 or 50 in a gang.
Da Costa, Isaac, a Dutch poet, born at Amsterdam, of Jewish parents; turned Christian, and after the death of Bilderdijk was chief poet of Holland (1798-1860).
Dædalus, an architect and mechanician in the Greek mythology; inventor and constructor of the Labyrinth of Crete, in which the Minotaur was confined, and in which he was also imprisoned himself by order of Minos, a confinement from which he escaped by means of wings fastened on with wax; was regarded as the inventor of the mechanic arts.
Daghestan (529), a Russian province W. of the Caspian Sea, traversed by spurs of the Caucasus Mountains; chief town Derbend.
Dago, a marshy Russian island, N. of the Gulf of Riga, near the entrance of the Gulf of Finland.
Dagobert I., king of the Franks, son of Clotaire II., reformed the laws of the Franks; was the last of the Merovingian kings who knew how to rule with a firm hand; the sovereign power as it passed from his hands was seized by the mayor of the palace; d. 638.
Dagon, the national god of the Philistines, represented as half-man, sometimes half-woman, and half-fish; appears to have been a symbol to his worshippers of the fertilising power of nature, familiar to them in the fruitfulness of the sea.
Daguerreotype, a process named after its inventor, Louis Daguerre, a Frenchman, of producing pictures by means of the camera on a surface sensitive to light and shade, and interesting as the first step in photography.
Dahl, a Norwegian landscape-painter, born at Bergen; died professor of Painting at Dresden (1788-1857).
Dahlgren, John Adolph, a U.S. naval officer and commander; invented a small heavy gun named after him; commanded the blockading squadron at Charleston (1809-1870).
Dahlmann, Friedrich Christoph, a German historian and politician, born at Wismar; was in favour of constitutional government; wrote a "History of Denmark," "Histories of the French Revolution and of the English Revolution"; left an unfinished "History of Frederick the Great" (1785-1860).
Dahn, Felix, a German jurist, historian, novelist, and poet, born in Hamburg; a man of versatile ability and extensive learning; became professor of German jurisprudence at Königsberg; b. 1834.
Dahna Desert, the central division of the Arabian Desert.
Dahomey (150), a negro kingdom of undefined limits, and under French protectorate, in W. Africa, N. of the Slave Coast; the religious rites of the natives are sanguinary, they offer human victims in sacrifice; is an agricultural country, yields palm-oil and gold dust, and once a great centre of the slave-trade.
Daïri, the Mikado's palace or his court, and sometimes the Mikado himself.
Dako`ta, North and South (400), three times as large as England, forming two States of the American Union; consist of prairie land, and extend N. from Nebraska as far as Canada, traversed by the Missouri; yield cereals, especially wheat, and raise cattle.
Dalai-Lama, chief priest of Lamaism, reverenced as a living incarnation of deity, always present on earth in him. See Lamaism.
Dalayrac, celebrated French composer; author of a number of comic operas (1753-1809).
Dalberg, Baron de, an eminent member of a noble German family; trained for the Church; was a prince-bishop; a highly cultured man, held in high esteem in the Weimar Court circles, and a friend of Goethe and Schiller; an ecclesiastic, as one might suppose, only in name (1744-1817).
Dalberg, Duc de, nephew of the preceding; contributed to political changes in France in 1814, and accompanied Talleyrand to the Congress of Vienna (1773-1833).
D'Albret, Jeanne, queen of Navarre, and mother of Henry IV. of France; came to Paris to treat about the marriage of her son to Charles IX.'s sister; died suddenly, not without suspicion of foul-play, after signing the treaty; she was a Protestant (1528-1572).
D'Alembert, a French philosopher, devoted to science, and especially to mathematics; along with Diderot established the celebrated "Encyclopédie," wrote the Preliminary Discourse, and contributed largely to its columns, editing the mathematical portion of it; trained to quiet and frugality, was indifferent to wealth and honour, and a very saint of science; no earthly bribe could tear him away from his chosen path of life (1717-1783).
Dalgarno, Lord, a heartless profligate in the "Fortunes of Nigel."
Dalgetty, Dugald, a swaggering soldier of fortune in the "Legend of Montrose," who let out his services to the highest bidder.
Dalhousie, James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, Marquis of, Governor-General of India, third son of the ninth Earl; as Lord Ramsay served in Parliament as member for Haddingtonshire; on his father's death in 1838 entered the House of Lords; held office under Sir Robert Peel and Lord Russell; went to India as Governor-General in 1848; ruled vigorously, annexed territory, developed the resources of the country, projected and carried out important measures for its welfare; his health, however, gave way at the end of eight years, and he came home to receive the thanks of the Parliament, elevation in the peerage, and other honours, but really to end his days in pain and prostration; dying without male issue, he was succeeded in the earldom by Fox Maule, Lord Panmure (1812-1860).
Dalkeith (7), a grain-market town in Midlothian, 6 m. SE. of Edinburgh, with a palace adjoining, a seat of the Duke of Buccleuch.
Dallas, George Mifflin, an American diplomatist, born in Philadelphia; represented the United States as ambassador at St. Petersburg and at London, and was from 1844 to 1849 Vice-President (1792-1864).
Dalmatia (527), a crownland of Austria, lying along the NE. coast of the Adriatic, and bounded on the land side by Croatia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina; half the land is pasture, only one-ninth of it arable, which yields cereals, wine, oil, honey, and fruit.
Dalri`ads, a Celtic race who came over from Ireland to Argyllshire, and established a kingdom in the SW. of Scotland, till King Kenneth Macalpin succeeded in 843, who obtained rule both over it and the northern kingdom of the Picts, and became the first king of Scotland.
Dalrymple, Alexander, hydrographer to the Admiralty and the East India Company, born at New Hailes, and brother of Lord Hailes; produced many good maps (1737-1808).
Dalton, John, chemist and physicist, born near Cockermouth, of a Quaker family; took early an interest in meteorology, and kept through life a record of meteorological observations; taught mathematics and physics in Manchester; made his first appearance as an author in 1793 in a volume of his observations and essays, and in 1808 published "A New System of Chemical Philosophy," which he finished in 1810; famous for his experiments on the elastic force of steam, for his researches on the proportional weights of simple bodies, for his discovery of the atomic theory, as also for his investigations on colour-blindness by experimenting on himself and his brother, who along with himself was colour-blind (1766-1844).
Daltonism, colour-blindness (q. v.). See Dalton, John.
Dalziel, Thomas, general, born in Linlithgowshire; being hand-idle at home, entered the Russian service against the Turks; returning at the request of Charles II., was appointed commander-in-chief in Scotland; suppressed a rising of the Covenanters at Pentland in 1666; never once shaved his beard after the execution of Charles I. (1599-1685).
Daman, a Portuguese settlement with a port of the same name in Gujarat, India, 100 m. N. of Bombay.
Dam`araland, a territory on the W. coast of South Africa, N. of Namaqualand; the chief industry is pastoral; the mountain districts, which are rich in minerals, particularly copper, are inhabited by Damaras, who are nomads and cattle-rearers; it is a German protectorate since 1890.
Damas, Colonel Comte de, a devoted adherent of Louis XVI., and one of his convoys on his attempt at flight.
Damascus (220), the capital of Syria, one of the oldest cities in the world; stands 2260 ft. above the sea-level; is a great centre of the caravan trade; is embosomed in the midst of gardens and orchards, hence its appearance as the traveller approaches it is most striking; its history goes as far back as the days of Abraham; it was the scene of two great events in human destiny—the conversion of St. Paul, and, according to Moslem tradition, a great decisive moment in the life of Mahomet, when he resolutely turned his back once for all on the pleasures of the world.
Damasus, St., Pope from 366 to 384, a Spaniard; a zealous opponent of the Arians and a friend of St. Jerome, who, under his sanction, executed his translation of the Bible into the Vulgate; there was a Damasus II., Pope in 1048.
Dame aux Camélias, La, a romance and a drama by Alexander Dumas fils, one of his best creations.
Damien, Father, a French priest, born at Louvain; devoted his life to nurse and instruct the lepers in an island of the Hawaian group, and, though after 12 years infected with the disease himself, continued to minister to them till his death (1841-1889).
Damiens, Robert François, the would-be assassin of Louis XV., born near Arras; aimed at the king as he was entering his carriage at Trianon, but failed to wound him mortally; was mercilessly tortured to death; was known before as Robert le Diable; his motive for the act was never known (1715-1757).
Damietta (36), a town, the third largest, in Egypt, on an eastern branch of the Nile, 8 m. from its mouth; has a trade in grain, rice, hides, fish, &c.; was taken by St. Louis in 1249, and restored on payment of his ransom from captivity.
Damocles, a flatterer at the court of the elder Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, whom, after one day extravagantly extolling the happiness of kings, Dionysius set down to a magnificent banquet, but who, when seated at it, looked up and saw a sword hanging over his head suspended by a single hair; a lesson this which admonished him, and led him to change his views of the happiness of kings.
Damon and Pythias, two Pythagoreans of Syracuse of the days of Dionysius I., celebrated for their friendship; upon the latter having been condemned to death, and having got leave to go home to arrange his affairs beforehand, the former pledged his life for his return, when just as, according to his promise, he presented himself at the place of execution, Pythias turned up and prepared to put his head on the block; this behaviour struck the tyrant with such admiration, that he not only extended pardon to the offender, but took them both into his friendship.
Dampier, William, an English navigator and buccaneer; led a roving and adventurous life, and parting company with his comrades, set off on a cruise in the South Seas; came home and published a "Voyage Round the World"; this led to his employment in further adventures, in one of which Alexander Selkirk accompanied him, but was wrecked on Juan Fernandez; in his last adventure, it is said, he rescued Selkirk and brought him home (1652-1715).
Dana, Charles Anderson, American journalist, member of Brook Farm (q. v.), and became editor of the New York Tribune, the Sun, and a cyclopædia: b. 1829.
Dana, James Dwight, American mineralogist and geologist, born at Utica, New York State; was associated as scientific observer with Commodore Wilkes on his Arctic and Antarctic exploring expeditions, on the results of which he reported; became geological professor in Yale College; author of works on mineralogy and geology, as also on South Sea volcanoes (1813-1895).
Dana, Richard Henry, an American poet and critic; editor of the North American Review, author of the "Dying Raven," the "Buccaneer," and other poems (1787-1879).
Dana, Richard Henry, a son of the preceding, lawyer; author of "Two Years before the Mast" (1815-1882).
Danaë, daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos, confined by her father in an inaccessible tower of brass to prevent the fulfilment of an oracle that she should be the mother of a son who would kill him, but Zeus found access to her in the form of a shower of gold, and she became the mother of Perseus, by whose hand Acrisius met his fate. See Perseus.
Dana`ides, daughters of Danaüs, who, for murdering their husbands on the night after marriage, were doomed in the nether world to the impossible task of filling with water a vessel pierced with holes. See Danaüs.
Danaüs, son of Belus, and twin-brother of Ægyptus, whom fearing, he fled from with his fifty daughters to Argos, where he was chosen king; by-and-by the fifty sons of Ægyptus, his brother, came to Argos to woo, and were wedded to, their cousins, whom their father provided each with a dagger to murder her husband, which they did, all except Hypermnestra, whose husband, Lynceus, escaping, succeeded her father as king, to the defeat of the old man's purpose in the crime.
Danby, Francis, painter, born near Wexford; settled for a time in Bristol, then in Switzerland, and finally at Exmouth; his works are mostly landscape, instinct with feeling, but some of them are historical, the subjects being taken from Scripture, as the "Passage of the Red Sea," or from pagan sources, as "Marius among the Ruins of Carthage" (1793-1861).
Dance, George, English architect; was architect to the City of London, and designed the Mansion House, his chief work (1700-1768). George, his son, built Newgate Prison (1740-1825).
Dance of Death, an allegorical representation in a dramatic or pictorial form of Death, figuring, originally as a skeleton, and performing his part as a chief actor all through the drama of life, and often amid the gayest scenes of it; a succession of woodcuts by Holbein in representation of this dance is well known.
Dancing Mania, an epidemic of frequent occurrence, especially in German towns, during the Middle Ages, of the nature of hysteria, showing itself in convulsive movements beyond the control of the will, and in delirious acts, sometimes violently suicidal; the most signal occurrence of the mania was at Aix-la-Chapelle in July 1374.
Dancourt, Florent Carton, French dramatist, a prolific author; a favourite of Louis XIV.; wrote comedies, chiefly on the follies of the middle classes of the time (1661-1725).
Dandie Dinmont, a humorous, jovial store-farmer in "Guy Mannering."
Dandin, George, one of Molière's comedies, illustrative of the folly a man commits when he marries a woman of higher rank than his own, George being his impersonation of a husband who has patiently to endure all the extravagant whims and fancies of his dame of a wife.
Dandin, Perrin, a simple citizen in the "Pantagruel" of Rabelais, who seats himself judge-wise on the first stump that offers, and passes offhand a sentence in any matter of litigation; a character who figures similarly in a comedy of Racine's, and in a fable of La Fontaine's.
Dan`dolo, a Venetian family that furnished four Doges to the Republic, Enrico being the most illustrious; chosen Doge in his eighty-fourth year, assisted the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade with ships; joined them, when blind and aged 90, in laying siege to Constantinople; led the attack by sea, and was the first to leap ashore; was offered the imperial crown, but declined it; died instead "despot" of Roumania in 1205, at 97.
Danegelt, originally a tax imposed on land to buy off the Danes from the shores of England, and subsequently for other objects, such as the defence of the coast; abolished by Henry II., though re-imposed subsequently under other names.
Danelagh, a district in the E. of England, N. of the Thames; dominated at one time more or less by the Danes; of vague extent.
Dangeau, Marquis, author of "Memoirs" affecting the court of Louis XIV. and its manners (1638-1720).
D'Angoulême, Duchesse, daughter of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette; was released from restraint after the execution of her parents in exchange for prisoners in the Royalist's hands; fled to Vienna, where she was driven forth; married her cousin, to whom she was early betrothed; could find no place of safe refuge but in England; returned to France on Napoleon's exile to Elba, and headed a body of troops against him on his return; after Waterloo, returned to France and stayed till July 1830, and lived to see Louis Philippe, in 1848, driven from the throne; Napoleon called her "the only man of her family"; left "Memoirs" (1778-1851).
Dangs, The, a forest district in the N. of the Presidency of Bombay, occupied by fifteen wild tribes, each under a chief.
Daniel, a Hebrew of fine physique and rare endowment, who was, while but a youth, carried captive to Babylon, and trained for office in the court of the king; was found, after three years' discipline, to excel "in wisdom and understanding" all the magicians and enchanters of the realm, of which he gave such proof that he rose step by step to the highest official positions, first in the Babylonian and then in the Persian empire. He was a Hebrew prophet of a new type, for whereas the old prophet had, for the most part, more regard to the immediate present and its outlooks, his eye reached forth into the future and foresaw in vision, as his book has foretold in symbol, the fulfilment of the hope for which the fathers of his race had lived and died.
Daniel, Samuel, English poet, born near Taunton; wrote dramas and sonnets; his principal production a "History of the Civil Wars" of York and Lancaster, a poem in seven books; is called the "Well-Englished Daniel," and is much admired for his style; in prose he wrote a "History of England," and a "Defence of Rhyme," which Swinburne pronounces to be "one of the most perfect examples of sound sense, of pure style, and of just judgment in the literature of criticism"; he is associated with Warner and Drayton as having given birth to "a poetry which has devoted itself to extol the glory of England" (1562-1619).
Daniell, John Frederick, a distinguished chemist, born in London; professor of Chemistry in King's College, London; wrote "Meteorological Essays," and "Introduction to Chemical Philosophy"; invented a hygrometer and an electric battery (1790-1845).
Daniell, William, an eminent draughtsman; spent his early life in India; author of "Oriental Scenery," in six folio vols. (1769-1837).
Danites, or Destroying Angels, a band of Mormons organised to prevent the entrance into Mormon territory of other than Mormon immigrants, but whose leader, for a massacre they perpetrated, was in 1827 convicted and shot.
Dannecker, Johann Heinrich von, a distinguished German sculptor, born near Stuttgart, and educated by the Duke of Würtemberg, who had become his patron; became professor of Sculpture in the Academy at Stuttgart; his earlier subjects were from the Greek mythology, and his later Christian, the principal of the latter being a colossal "Christ," which he took eight years to complete; he executed besides busts of contemporaries, which are wonderful in expression, such as those of Schiller, Lavater, and Glück; "Ariadne on the Panther" is regarded as his masterpiece (1758-1841).
Dante Alighieri, the great poet of Italy, "the voice of ten silent centuries," born in Florence; was of noble birth; showed early a great passion for learning; learned all that the schools and universities of the time could teach him "better than most"; fought as a soldier; did service as a citizen; at thirty-five filled the office of chief magistrate of Florence; had, while but a boy of ten, "met a certain Beatrice Portinari, a beautiful girl of his own age and rank, and had grown up in partial sight of her, in some distant intercourse with her," who became to him the ideal of all that was pure and noble and good; "made a great figure in his poem and a great figure in his life"; she died in 1290; he married another, "not happily, far from happily; in some civic Guelf-Ghibelline strife he was expelled the city, and his property confiscated; tried hard to recover it, even 'with arms in his hand,' but could not, and was doomed, 'whenever caught, to be burned alive'; invited to confess his guilt and return, he sternly answered: 'If I cannot return without calling myself guilty, I will never return.'" From this moment he was without home in this world; and "the great soul of Dante, homeless on earth, made its home more and more in that awful other world ... over which, this time-world, with its Florences and banishments, flutters as an unreal shadow." Dante's heart, long filled with this, brooding over it in speechless thought and awe, bursts forth at length into "mystic unfathomable song," and this, his "Divine Comedy" (q. v.), the most remarkable of all modern Books, is the result. He died after finishing it, not yet very old, at the age of 56. He lies buried in his death-city Ravenna, "shutout from my native shores." The Florentines begged back his body in a century after; the Ravenna people would not give it (1265-1321). See Carlyle's "Heroes and Hero-Worship," and Dean Plumptre's "Life of Dante."
Danton, Georges Jacques, "The Titan of the Forlorn Hope" of the French Revolution, born at Arcis-sur-Aube, "of good farmer people ... a huge, brawny, black-browed man, with a waste energy as of a Hercules"; an advocate by profession, "esurient, but with nothing to do; found Paris and his country in revolt, rose to the front of the strife; resolved to do or die"; the cause threatened, he threw himself again and again into the breach defiant, his motto "to dare, and to dare, and again to dare," so as to put and keep the enemy in fear; "Let my name be blighted," he said, "what am I? The cause alone is great, and will live and not perish"; but the "Sea-green" (q. v.) viewed him with jealousy, held him suspect, had him arrested, brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal, the severity of whose proceedings under him he had condemned, and sentenced to the guillotine; a reflection of his in prison has been recorded: "Oh, it were better to be a poor fisherman than to meddle with governing of men." "No weakness, Danton," he said to himself on the scaffold, as his heart began to sink within him as he thought of his wife. His last words were to Samson the headsman: "Thou wilt show my head to the people, it is worth showing"; words worthy of the brother of Mirabeau, who died saying, "I wish I could leave my head behind me, France needs it just now"; a man fiery-real, as has been said, genuine to the core, with many sins, yet lacking that greatest of sins, cant. "He was," says Mr. Belloc, "the most French, the most national, the nearest to the mother of all the Revolutionary group. He summed up France ... when we study him, we see France" (1759-1794). See Carlyle's "French Revolution."
Dantzig (116), the capital of W. Prussia, once a Hanse town, on the Vistula, 4 m. from the mouth; one of the great ports and trading centres of Germany and in the N. of Europe; it is traversed by canals, and many of the houses are built on piles of wood; exports grain brought down the river on timber rafts from the great grain country in the S.; it is one of the chief stations of the German navy.
Danube, The, the great south-eastward-flowing river of Europe, 1750 m. in length, rises in the Black Forest, and is divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower; the Upper extends as far as Pressburg, begins to be navigable to Ulm, flows NE. as far as Ratisbon, and then bends SE. past Vienna; the Middle extends from Pressburg to the Iron Gate, enclosing between its gorges a series of rapids, below Orsova; and the Lower extends from the Iron Gate to the Black Sea. It receives numerous tributary rivers, 60 of them navigable, in its course; forms with them the great water highway of the SE. of Europe, and is of avail for traffic to all the races and nations whose territories it traverses; the navigation of the river is free indeed to all nations.
Danubian Principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia.
Danville, the name of several towns in the United States.
D'Anville, geographer to the king of France; left numerous valuable maps and geographical works (1697-1782).
Daphne (lit. a laurel), a nymph chased by Apollo, transformed into a laurel as he attempts to seize her; henceforth sacred to the god.
Daphnis, a Sicilian shepherd, the mythical inventor of pastoral poetry.
Dapsang, the highest of the Karakorum Mountains.
D'Arblay, Madame, a distinguished novelist, daughter of Dr. Burney, the historian of music; authoress of "Evelina" and "Cecilia," the first novels of the time, which brought her into connection with all her literary contemporaries, Johnson in chief; left "Diary and Letters" (1752-1840).
Darboy, Georges, archbishop of Paris: was a defender of the Gallican liberties of the Church; had been assiduous in offices of benevolence during the siege of Paris; was arrested as a hostage by the Communists, and shot (1813-1871).
Darby and Joan, a married couple celebrated for their mutual attachment.
Darbyites, the Plymouth Brethren (q. v.), from the name of one of their founders, a man of scholarly ability and culture, and the chief expounder of their views (1800-1852).
Dardanelles, a strait extending between the Archipelago and the Sea of Marmora, anciently called the Hellespont, 40 m. long, from 1 to 4 broad; commanded by Turkey, both sides of the strait being strongly fortified.
Dardanus, a son of Zeus and Electra, mythical ancestor of the Trojans; originally a king in Greece.
Darfur (500), a district in the Egyptian Soudan, in which vegetation is for the most part dormant all the year round, except from June to September, when it is rank and rich; was snatched from Egypt by the Mahdi, but is now restored.
D'Argens, Marquis, born at Aix; disinherited owing to his misconduct; turned author, and became a protégé of Frederick the Great, but lost caste with him too, and was deprived of his all once more (1704-1771).
D'Argenson, Comte, an eminent French statesman, head of the police in Paris; introduced lettres de cachet, and was a patron of the French philosophes; had the "Encyclopédie" dedicated to him; fell out of favour at Court, and had to leave Paris, but returned to die there (1696-1764).
Daric, a gold coin current in ancient Persia, stamped with an archer kneeling, and weighing little over a sovereign.
Darien, Gulf of, an inlet of the Caribbean Sea, NW. of S. America. For isthmus of, see Panama.
Darien Scheme, a project to plant a colony on the Atlantic side of the Isthmus, which was so far carried out that some 1200 left Scotland in 1698 to establish it, but which ended in disaster, and created among the Scotch, who were the chief sufferers, an animus against the English, whom they blamed for the disaster, an animus which did not for long die out.
Darius I., eldest son of Hystaspes, king of the Persians; subdued subject places that had revolted, reorganised the empire, carried his conquests as far as India, subdued Thrace and Macedonia, declared war against the Athenians; in 492 B.C. sent an expedition against Greece, which was wrecked in a storm off Athos; sent a second, which succeeded in crossing over, but was defeated in a famous battle at Marathon, 490 B.C.
Darius II., called Ochus or Nothus, king of the Persians; subject to his eunuchs and his wife Parysatis; his reign was a succession of insurrections; he supported the Spartans against the Athenians, to the ascendency of the former in the Peloponnesus; d. 405 B.C.
Darius III., surnamed Codomannus, king of the Persians, a handsome man and a virtuous; could not cope with Alexander of Macedon, but was defeated by him in successive engagements at Granicus, Issus, and Arbela; was assassinated on his flight by Bessus (q. v.), one of his satraps, in 330 B.C.; with him the Persian empire came to an end.
Darjeeling (14), a sanitary station and health resort in the Lower Himalayas, and the administrative head-quarters of the district, 7167 ft. above the level of the sea; it has greatly increased of late years.
Darley, George, poet and critic, born in Dublin; author of "Sylvia" and "Nepenthe"; wrote some good songs, among them "I've been Roaming," once very popular; much belauded by Coleridge; contributed to the Athenæum (1795-1846).
Darling, a tributary of the Murray River, in Australia, now stagnant, now flooded.
Darling, Grace, a young maiden, daughter of the lighthouse keeper of one of the Farne Islands, who with her father, amid great peril, saved the lives of nine people from the wreck of the Forfarshire, on Sept. 7, 1838; died of consumption (1815-1842).
Darlington (38), a town in S. of Durham, on the Tees, with large iron and other works; a considerable number of the inhabitants belong to the Society of Friends.
Darmesteter, James, Orientalist, born in Lorraine, of Jewish descent; a distinguished Zend scholar and authority in Zend literature; in the interpretation of the Zend and other ancient literatures was of the modern critical school (1849-1894).
Darmstadt (55), the capital of the grand-duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, on the Darm, an affluent of the Rhine, 15 m. S. of Frankfort; is divided into an old and a new town; manufactures tobacco, paper, carpets, chemicals, &c.
Darnley, Henry Stuart, Lord, eldest son of the Earl of Lennox and grand-nephew of Henry VIII.; husband of Queen Mary; was murdered on Feb. 5, 1567, in Kirk-o'-Field, which stood on the site of the present University of Edinburgh.
Dartmoor, moor in Devonshire, a tableland of an average height of 1200 ft. above the sea-level, and of upwards of 120,000 acres in extent, incapable of cultivation, but affording pasturage for sheep, of which it breeds a small hardy race; it has rich veins of minerals; abounds in British remains, and contains a large convict prison.
Daru, Comte, a French administrator and littérateur, born at Montpellier; translated Horace when in prison during the Reign of Terror; served as administrator under Napoleon; on the return of the Bourbons devoted himself to letters, and wrote the "History of the Republic of Venice" (1767-1829).
Darwin, Charles Robert, great English naturalist and biologist, born at Shrewsbury, grandson of Erasmus Darwin on his father's side, and of Josiah Wedgwood on his mother's; studied at Edinburgh and Cambridge; in 1831 accompanied as naturalist without salary the Beagle in her voyage of exploration in the Southern Seas, on the condition that he should have the entire disposal of his collections, all of which he got, and which he ultimately distributed among various public institutions; he was absent from England for five years, and on his return published in 1836 his "Naturalist's Voyage Round the World," in 1839-43 accounts of the fruits of his researches and observations in the departments of geology and natural history during that voyage, in 1842 his treatise on the "Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs," and in 1859 his work on the "Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection," a work which has proved epoch-making and gone far to revolutionise thought in the scientific study of, especially, animated nature, and is being applied to higher spheres of being; this work was followed by others more or less confirmatory, finishing off with "The Descent of Man" in 1871, in which he traces the human race to an extinct quadrumanous animal related to that which produced the orang-outang, the chimpanzee, and the gorilla. He may be said to have taken evolution out of the region of pure imagination, and by giving it a basis of fact, to have set it up as a reasonable working hypothesis. Prof. A. R. Wallace claims for Darwin "that he is the Newton of natural history, and has ... by his discovery of the law of natural selection and his demonstration of the great principles of the preservation of useful variations in the struggle for life, not only thrown a flood of light on the process of development of the whole organic world, but also established a firm foundation for the future study of nature." He was buried in Westminster Abbey (1809-1882).
Darwin, Erasmus, physician and natural philosopher, born in Nottinghamshire; studied at Cambridge and Edinburgh; practised medicine in Lichfield, and finally settled in Derby; occupied his mind with the study of fanciful analogies in the different spheres of nature, and committed his views, often not without genuine poetic sentiment and melody of expression, to verse, while in the views themselves there have been recognised occasional glimpses of true insight, and at times a foreshadow of the doctrine developed on strict scientific lines by his illustrious grandson. His chief poetic works were the "Botanic Garden" and the "Zoonomia; or, The Laws of Organic Life," deemed, in the philosophy of them, not unworthy of criticism by such sane thinkers as Paley and Dugald Stewart (1731-1802).
Darwinian Theory, the theory established by Darwin that the several species of plants and animals now in existence were not created in their present form, but have been evolved by natural law of descent, with modifications of structure, from cruder forms. See Darwin, C. R.
Dasent, Sir George Webbe, Icelandic scholar, born at St. Vincent, West Indies; studied at Oxford; from 1845 to 1870 was assistant-editor of the Times; has translated "The Prose, or Younger, Edda" and Norse tales and sagas; written also novels, and contributed to reviews and magazines; b. 1817.
Dash, Countess, the nom de plume of the Viscountess de Saint-Mars, a French novelist, born at Poitiers; in straits for a living, took desperately to writing; treated of aristocratic life and its hollow artificialities and immoralities (1804-1872).
Dashkoff, a Russian princess of note; played a part in the conspiracy which ended in the elevation of Catharine II. to the throne; was a woman of culture; founded the Russian Academy; projected and assisted in the compilation of a Russian dictionary; died at Moscow (1744-1810).
Dates of Epoch-making Events, the Ascendency in Athens of Pericles (445 B.C.); the Fall of the Persian Empire (330 B.C.); the Death of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.); the Reduction of Greece to a Roman province, and the Ruin of Carthage (146 B.C.); the Battle of Actium (31 B.C.); Birth of Christ, 14th year of Augustus; Commencement of the Middle Ages (395); Ruin of the Roman Empire by the Barbarians (476); Clovis, ruler of Gaul (509); the Flight of Mahomet (622); Charlemagne, Emperor of the West (800); Treaty of Verdun (843); the Crusades (1096-1291); Employment of Cannon at Crécy (1346); Invention of Printing (1436); Taking of Constantinople by Mahomet II. (1453); Discovery of America by Columbus (1492); Copernican System published (1500); Accession of Leo X. as Pope (1513); the Reformation of Luther (1517); Publication of Bacon's "Novum Organon" (1620); Publication of Descartes's "Discourse on Method" (1637); the Peace of Westphalia (1648); Reign of Louis XIV. at its Height, and Peace of Nimeguen (1678); Publication of Newton's Theory of Gravitation (1682); Watt's Invention of the Steam-Engine (1769); Independence of the United States (1776); Coup d'état of 10th Brumaire (1799); Waterloo, and Congress of Vienna (1815); Introduction of Railroads into England (1830); First Attempt at Electric Telegraphy in France (1837); Africa traversed by Livingstone (1852-1854); Publication of Darwin's "Origin of Species" (1859); Opening of the Suez Canal (1869); Proclamation of the German Empire (1871); Congress of Berlin (1878).
Daubenton, Louis Jean Marie, a French naturalist, born at Montbard; associated with Buffon in the preparation of the first 15 vols. of his "Histoire Naturelle," and helped him materially by the accuracy of his knowledge, as well as his literary qualifications; contributed largely to the "Encyclopédie," and was 50 years curator of the Cabinet of Natural History at Paris (1716-1799).
Daubeny, Charles, English chemist and botanist, author of "A Description of Active and Extinct Volcanoes," an "Introduction to the Atomic Theory," and other works, all like the latter more or less related to chemistry (1795-1867).
D'Aubigné, Merle, a popular Church historian, born near Geneva; studied under Neander at Berlin; became pastor at Hamburg, court-preacher at Brussels, and professor of Church History at Geneva; his reputation rests chiefly on his "History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century" (1794-1872).
D'Aubigné, Theodore Agrippa, a historian, bred to the military profession; held appointments under Henry IV., on whose assassination he returned to Geneva, where he wrote his "Histoire Universelle," which had the honour to be burned by the common hangman in Paris; was a satirical writer; grandfather to Mme. de Maintenon (1550-1630).
Daubigny, Charles François, a French landscape painter and skilful etcher, born in Paris, attained distinction as an artist late in life (1817-1878).
D'Aubusson, Pierre, grand-master of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, of French origin; served under the Emperor Sigismund against the Turks; went to Rhodes; became a knight of St. John, and was chosen grand-master; defended Rhodes against 100,000 Turks, and thus stayed the career of Mahomet II., who, after establishing himself in Constantinople, was threatening to overrun Europe (1423-1503).
Daudet, Alphonse, a noted French novelist of great versatility, born at Nîmes, of poor parents; early selected literature as his career in life; wrote poems and plays, and contributed to the Figaro and other journals; worked up into his novels characters and situations that had come under his own observation, often in too satirical a vein to become universally popular; has been likened to Dickens in his choice of subjects and style of treatment; died suddenly (1840-1897).
D'Aulnoy, the Countess, authoress of charmingly-written "Contes des Fées" (Fairy Tales), and on which her reputation rests (1650-1705).
Daumier, Henri, a French caricaturist of great fertility and playfulness of genius, born at Marseilles; became blind in his old age (1808-1879).
Daun, Karl, German theologian, born at Cassel, professor at Heidelberg, sought to ground theology on a philosophic basis, and found what he sought in the philosophy of Hegel (1765-1836).
Daun, Leopold, Graf von, an able Austrian general, born at Vienna; distinguished himself by his prudence and valour in the Seven Years' War, gained a victory over Frederick the Great at Kolin in 1757, and another at Hochkirch in 1758; could prevail little or not at all against Frederick afterwards as soon as Frederick saw through his tactics, which he was not long in doing (1705-1766).
Dauphin, a name originally given to the Seigneurs of the province of Dauphiné, in allusion to the dolphin which several members of the family wore as a badge, but in 1349 given to the heir-presumptive to the crown of France, when Humbert II., dauphin of Vienne, ceded Dauphiné to Philippe of Valois, on condition that the eldest son of the king of France should assume the title, a title which was abolished after the Revolution of 1830. The word signifies dolphin in French.
Dauphiné, a SW. province of France, of which the capital was Grenoble; annexed to the French crown under Philippe II. in 1349.
Daurat, Jean, French scholar, a member of the Pléiade (q. v.), and who figures as one of the leading spirits in the fraternity (1507-1588).
Davenant, Sir William, an English playwright, born at Oxford, who succeeded Ben Jonson as poet-laureate, and was for a time manager of Drury Lane; was knighted by Charles I. for his zeal in the Royalist cause; his theatrical enterprise had small success during the Commonwealth, but interest in it revived with the Restoration, at which time "the drama broke loose from the prison of Puritanism to indulge in a shameless license" (1606-1668).
David, Félicien, a French composer, born at Vaucluse; author, among other compositions, of the "Desert," a production which achieved an instant and complete triumph; was in his youth an ardent disciple of St. Simon (1810-1876).
David, Gerhard, a Flemish painter; painted religious subjects, several from the life of Christ (1450-1525).
David, King of Israel, 11th century B.C., born in Bethlehem; tended the flocks of his father; slew Goliath with a stone and a sling; was anointed by Samuel, succeeded Saul as king; conquered the Philistines; set up his throne in Jerusalem, and reigned thirty-three years; suffered much from his sons, and was succeeded by Solomon; the book of Psalms was till recently accepted as wholly his by the Church, but that hypothesis no longer stands the test of criticism.
David, Louis, a French historical painter, born in Paris; studied in Rome and settled in Paris; was carried away with the Revolution; joined the Jacobin Club, swore eternal friendship with Robespierre; designed "a statue of Nature with two mammelles spouting out water" for the deputes to drink to, and another of the sovereign people, "high as Salisbury steeple"; was sentenced to the guillotine, but escaped out of regard for his merit as an artist; appointed first painter by Napoleon, but on the Restoration was banished and went to Brussels, where he died; among his paintings are "The Oath of the Horatii," "The Rape of the Sabines," "The Death of Socrates," and "The Coronation of Napoleon" (1748-1825).
David d'Angers, a French sculptor, born at Angers; came to Paris and became a pupil of the preceding, afterwards proceeded to Rome and associated with Canova; executed in Paris a statue of the Great Condé, and thereafter the pediment of the Pantheon, his greatest work, as well as numerous medallions of great men; on a visit to Weimar he modelled a bust of Goethe (1788-1856).
David I., king of Scotland, youngest son of Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret; was brought up at the English court; was prince of Cumbria under the reign of his brother Alexander, on whose decease he succeeded to the throne in 1124; on making a raid in England to avenge an insult offered to his son Henry, was defeated at Northallerton in the Battle of the Standard; addressed himself after this to the unification of the country and civilisation of his subjects; founded and endowed bishoprics and abbeys at the expense of the crown, on account of which he was called St. David, and characterised by James VI., a successor of his, as a "sair saunt to the croon"; the death of his son Henry was a great grief to him, and shortened his days (1084-1153).
David II., king of Scotland, son of King Robert the Bruce, born at Dunfermline; succeeded his father when a boy of four; spent from 1334 to 1341 in France; was taken prisoner by the English at the battle of Neville's Cross, and was afterwards, till his death, dependent on England (1326-1371).
David, St., or Dewi, the patron saint of Wales, lived about the 5th century; archbishop of Caerleon; transferred his see to St. David's; founded churches, opposed Pelagianism, and influenced many by the odour of his good name.
Davids, Rhys, professor of Pâli and Buddhist literature, born in Colchester; author of "Buddhism: a Sketch of the Life and Teachings of Gautama, the Buddha," and of other works in that department of literature; b. 1843.
Davidson, Andrew Bruce, Hebrew scholar and professor, born in Aberdeenshire; a most faithful, clear, and effective interpreter of the spirit of Hebrew literature, and influential for good as few men of the time have been in matters of biblical criticism; b. 1831.
Davidson, John, poet and journalist, born at Barrhead, Renfrewshire; has written novels and plays as well as poems; b. 1859.
Davidson, Samuel, biblical scholar and exegete, born near Ballymena; wrote Introductions to the Old and the New Testaments; was pioneer in the higher criticism (1807-1898).
Davies, Ben, a popular tenor vocalist, born near Swansea in 1858.
Davies, Sir John, poet and statesman, born in Wiltshire; wrote two philosophic poems, "The Orchestra," a poem in which the world is exhibited as a dance, and "Nosce Teipsum" (Know Thyself), a poem on human learning and the immortality of the soul; became a favourite with James I., and was sent Attorney-General to Ireland (1569-1626).
Davila, a celebrated historian, born near Padua, brought up in France; served in the French army under Henry IV.; did military and other service in Venice; was assassinated; his great work "The History of the Civil War in France" (1576-1631).
Davis, Jefferson, President of the Confederate States, born in Kentucky; entered the army; fought against the Indians; turned cotton-planter; entered Congress as a Democrat; distinguished himself in the Mexican war; defended slave-holding and the interests of slave-holding States; was chosen President of the Confederate States; headed the conflict with the North; fled on defeat, which he was the last to admit; was arrested and imprisoned; released after two years; retired into private life, and wrote a "History of the Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government" (1808-1889).
Davis, John, an English navigator, born near Dartmouth; took early to the sea; conducted (1585-1587) three expeditions to the Arctic Seas in quest of a NW. passage to India and China, as far N. as 73°; discovered the strait which bears his name; sailed as pilot in two South Sea expeditions, and was killed by Japanese pirates near Malacca; wrote the "Seaman's Secret" (1550-1605).
Davis, Thomas, an Irish patriot, born at Mallow; educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and called to the Irish bar; took to journalism in the interest of Irish nationality; founded the Nation newspaper, and by his contributions to it did much to wake up the intelligence of the country to national interests; died young; was the author of "Songs of Ireland" and "Essays on Irish Songs" (1814-1845).
Davis Strait, strait connecting Baffin's Bay with the Atlantic, discovered by John Davis (q. v.).
Davitt, Michael, a noted Irish patriot, born in co. Mayo, son of a peasant, who, being evicted, settled in Lancashire; joined the Fenian movement, and was sentenced to 15 years' penal servitude; released on ticket-of-leave after seven years; founded the Land League; was for over a year imprisoned again for breaking his ticket-of-leave; published in 1885 "Leaves from a Prison Diary"; entered Parliament in 1895 for co. Mayo; b. 1846.
Davos-Platz, a village 5105 ft. above the sea-level, in a valley of the East Grisons; a place frequented in winter by invalids suffering from chest disease, the dry air and sunshine that prevail being favourable for patients of that class.
Davout, Duke of Auerstädt, Prince of Eckmühl, marshal of France, born at Annoux, in Burgundy; was fellow-student with Napoleon at the military school in Brienne; entered the army in 1788, served in the Revolutionary wars under Dumouriez and Desaix, and became general; served under Bonaparte in Egypt; distinguished himself at Austerlitz, Auerstädt, Eckmühl, and Wagram; was made governor of Hamburg; accompanied Napoleon to Moscow; returned to Hamburg, and defended it during a siege; was made Minister of War in 1815, and assisted Napoleon in his preparations for the final struggle at Waterloo; commanded the remains of the French army which capitulated under the walls of Paris; adhered to the Bourbon dynasty on its return, and was made a peer; was famous before all the generals of Napoleon for his rigour in discipline (1770-1823).
Davy, Sir Humphry, a great English chemist, born at Penzance; conceived early in life a passion for the science in which he made so many discoveries; made experiments on gases and the respiration of them, particularly nitrous oxide and carbonic acid; discovered the function of plants in decomposing the latter in the atmosphere, and the metallic bases of alkalies and earths; proved chlorine to be a simple substance and its affinity with iodine, which he discovered; invented the safety-lamp, his best-known achievement; he held appointments and lectured in connection with all these discoveries and their applications, and received knighthood and numerous other honours for his services; died at Geneva (1778-1829).
Davy Jones's Locker, the sailors' familiar name for the sea as a place of safe-keeping, though why called of Davy Jones is uncertain.
Davy-Lamp, a lamp encased in gauze wire which, while it admits oxygen to feed the flame, prevents communication between the flame and any combustible or explosive gas outside.
Dawkins, William Boyd, geologist and palæontologist, born in Montgomeryshire; has written "Cave Hunting," "Early Man in Britain," &c.; b. 1838.
Dawson, George, a popular lecturer, born in London; educated in Aberdeen and Glasgow; bred for the ministry by the Baptist body, and pastor of a Baptist church in Birmingham, but resigned the post for ministry in a freer atmosphere; took to lecturing on a purely secular platform, and was for thirty years the most popular lecturer of the day; no course of lectures in any institute was deemed complete if his name was not in the programme; did much to popularise the views of Carlyle and Emerson (1821-1876).
Dawson, Sir John William, geologist and naturalist, born in Pictou, Nova Scotia; studied in Edinburgh; distinguished himself as a palæontologist; published in 1872, "Story of the Earth and Man"; in 1877, "Origin of the World"; and recently, "Geology and History"; called in question the Darwinian theory as to the origin of species; b. 1820.
Day, John, an English dramatist, contemporary of Ben Jonson; author of the "Parliament of Bees," a comedy in which all the characters are bees.
Day, Thomas, an eccentric philanthropist, born in London; author of "Sandford and Merton"; he was a disciple of Rousseau; had many a ludicrous adventure in quest of a model wife, and happily fell in with one to his mind at last; was a slave-abolitionist and a parliamentary reformer (1748-1789).
Dayton (85), a prosperous town in Ohio, U.S.; a great railway centre, with a court-house of marble, after the Parthenon in Athens.
D'Azara, a Spanish naturalist, born in Aragon; spent 20 years in South America; wrote a "Natural History of the Quadrupeds in Paraguay" (1781-1811).
Dead Sea, called also the Salt Sea and 'the Asphalt Lake, a sea in Palestine, formed by the waters of the Jordan, 46 m. long, 10 m. broad, and in some parts 1300 ft. deep, while its surface is 1312 ft. below the level of the Mediterranean, just as much as Jerusalem is above it; has no outlet; its waters, owing to the great heat, evaporate rapidly, and are intensely salt; it is enclosed E. and W. by steep mountains, which often rise to a height of 6000 ft.
Deák, Francis, an eminent Hungarian statesman, born at Kehida, of an ancient noble Magyar family; his aim for Hungary was the same as that of Cavour (q. v.) for Italy, the establishment of constitutional government, and he succeeded; standing all along as he did from Hungarian republicanism on the one hand, and Austrian tyranny on the other, he urged on the Emperor of Austria the demand of the Diet, of which he had become leader, at first without effect, but after the humiliation of Austria in 1866, all that he asked for was conceded, and the Austrian Emperor received the Hungarian crown (1803-1876).
Deal (9), a town, one of the old Cinque ports, oil the E. of Kent, opposite the Goodwin Sands, 89 m. from London, with a fine sea-beach; much resorted to for sea-bathing quarters.
Dean, Forest of, a forest of 22,000 acres in the W. of Gloucestershire, between the Severn and the Wye; the property of the Crown for the most part; the inhabitants are chiefly miners, who at one time enjoyed special privileges.
Dean of Guild, a burgh magistrate in Scotland who has the care of buildings, originally the head of the Guild brethren of the town.
Dean of St. Patrick's, Jonathan Swift, who held that post from 1713 till his death.
Deans, Davie, Effie, and Jeanie, characters in the "Heart of Midlothian."
Débats, Journal des, a daily paper, established in 1789; it defends at present the Conservative Republican policy, and publishes often remarkable literary articles.
Debenture, a deed acknowledging a debt on a specified security.
Debo`rah, a Hebrew prophetess; reckoned one of the judges of Israel by her enthusiasm to free her people from the yoke of the Canaanites; celebrated for her song of exultation over their defeat, instinct at once with pious devotion and with revengeful feeling; Coleridge calls her "this Hebrew Boadicea."
Debreczen (56), a Hungarian town, 130 m. E. of Buda-Pesth; is the head-quarters of Protestantism in the country, and has an amply equipped and a largely attended Protestant College; is a seat of manufactures and a large trade.
Decameron, a collection of a hundred tales, conceived of as rehearsed in ten days at a country-house during the plague at Florence; are of a licentious character, but exquisitely told; were written by Boccaccio; published in 1352; the name comes from deka, ten, and hemera, a day.
Decamps, Alexandra Gabriel, a distinguished French painter, born in Paris; brought up as a boy among the peasants of Picardy; represented nature as he in his own way saw it himself, and visited Switzerland and the East, where he found materials for original and powerful pictures; his pictures since his death have brought great prices (1803-1860).
De Candolle, Augustin Pyrame, an eminent botanist, born at Geneva, of Huguenot descent; studied in Paris; attracted the attention of Cuvier and Lamarck, whom he assisted in their researches; published his "Flore Française," in six vols.; became professor at Montpellier, and then at Geneva; is the historical successor of Jussieu; his great contribution to botanical science is connected with the classification of plants (1778-1841).
Deca`tur, Stephen, an American naval commodore; distinguished for his feats of valour displayed in the war with Tripoli and with England (1779-1820).
Deccan, a triangular plateau of from 2000 to 3000 ft. of elevation in the Indian peninsula, extending S. of the Vindhya Mountains; is densely peopled, and contains some of the richest soil in the globe.
December, the twelfth month of the year, so called, i. e. tenth, by the Romans, as their year began with March.
Dec`emvirs, the patricians of Rome, with Consular powers, appointed in 450 B.C. to prepare a code of laws for the Republic, which, after being agreed upon, were committed first to ten, then to twelve tables, and set up in the Forum that all might read and know the law they lived under.
Decius, Roman emperor from 249 to 251; was a cruel persecutor of the Christians; perished in a morass fighting with the Goths, who were a constant thorn in his side all through his reign.
Decius Mus, the name of three Romans, father, son, and grandson, who on separate critical emergencies (340, 295, 279 B.C.) devoted themselves in sacrifice to the infernal gods in order to secure victory to the Roman arms; the name is mostly employed ironically.
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, the immortal work of Gibbon, of which the first volume was published in 1776.
Decretals, The, a collection of laws added to the canon law of the Church of Rome, being judicial replies of the Popes to cases submitted to them from time to time for adjudication.
Dee, John, an alchemist, born in London; a man of curious learning; earned the reputation of being a sorcerer; was imprisoned at one time, and mobbed at another, under this imputation; died in poverty; left 79 works, the majority of which were never printed, though still extant in MS. in the British Museum and other places of safe-keeping (1527-1608).
Defauconpret, French littérateur; translator of the novels of Sir Walter Scott and Fenimore Cooper (1767-1843).
Defender of the Faith, a title conferred by Pope Leo X. in 1521 upon Henry VIII. for his defence of the Catholic faith in a treatise against Luther, and retained ever since by the sovereigns of England, though revoked by Pope Paul III. in 1535 in consequence of Henry's apostasy.
Deffand, Marie, Marquise du, a woman of society, famed for her wit and gallantry; corresponded with the eminent philosophes of the time, in particular Voltaire, as well as with Horace Walpole; her letters are specially brilliant, and display great shrewdness; she is characterised by Prof. Saintsbury as "the typical French lady of the eighteenth century"; she became blind in 1753, but retained her relish for society, though at length she entered a monastery, where she died (1697-1780).
Defoe, Daniel, author of "Robinson Crusoe," born in London; bred for the Dissenting ministry; turned to business, but took chiefly to politics; was a zealous supporter of William III.; his ironical treatise, "The Shortest Way with Dissenters" (1703), which, treated seriously, was burned by order of the House of Commons, led to his imprisonment and exposed him for three days to the pillory, amidst the cheers, however, not the jeers, of the mob; in prison wrote a "Hymn to the Pillory," and started his Review; on his release he was employed on political missions, and wrote a "History of the Union," which he contributed to promote. The closing years of his life were occupied mainly with literary work, and it was then, in 1719, he produced his world-famous "Robinson Crusoe"; has been described as "master of the art of forging a story and imposing it on the world for truth." "His circumstantial invention," as Stopford Brooke remarks, "combined with a style which exactly fits it by its simplicity, is the root of the charm of his great story" (1661-1731).
Dege`rando, Baron, a French philanthropist and philosopher, born at Lyons, of Italian descent; wrote "History of Philosophy," long in repute as the best French work on the subject (1772-1842).
Deianeira, the wife of Hercules, whose death she had been the unwitting cause of by giving him the poisoned robe which Nessus (q. v.) had sent her as potent to preserve her husband's love; on hearing the fatal result she killed herself in remorse and despair.
Deiphobus, a son of Priam and Hecuba, second in bravery to Hector; married Helen after the death of Paris, and was betrayed by her to the Greeks.
Deir-al-Kamar, a town in Syria, once the capital of the Druses, on a terrace in the heart of the Lebanon Mountains.
Deism, belief on purely rational grounds in the existence of God, and distinguished from theism as denying His providence.
Deists, a set of free-thinkers of various shades, who in England, in the 17th and 18th centuries, discarded revelation and the supernatural generally, and sought to found religion on a purely rational basis.
Déjazet, Virginie, a celebrated French actress, born in Paris; made her début at five years of age (1797-1875).
Dekker, Thomas, a dramatist, born in London; was contemporary of Ben Jonson, between whom and him, though they formerly worked together, a bitter animosity arose; wrote lyrics as well as dramas, which are light comedies, and prose as well as poetry; the most famous among his prose works, "The Gull's Hornbook," a pamphlet, in which he depicts the life of a young gallant; his pamphlets are valuable (1570-1641).
De la Beche, Sir Henry Thomas, geologist, born in London; wrote the "Depth and Temperature of the Lake of Geneva," and published a "Manual of Geology" and the "Geological Observer"; was appointed head of the Geological Survey in England (1796-1855).
Delacroix, Eugène, a French painter, born at Charenton, dep. of Seine; one of the greatest French painters of the 19th century; was the head of the French Romantic school, a brilliant colourist and a daring innovator; his very first success, "Dante crossing Acheron in Charon's Boat," forms an epoch in the history of contemporary art; besides his pictures, which were numerous, he executed decorations and produced lithographic illustrations of "Hamlet," "Macbeth," and Goethe's "Faust" (1799-1863).
Delagoa Bay, an inlet in the SE. of Africa, E. of the Transvaal, subject to Portugal; stretches from 25° 30' to 26° 20' S.; extends 52 m. inland, where the Transvaal frontier begins, and between which and it a railway of 52 m., constructed by an English company, extends.
Delaistre, a French statuary, born in Paris (1836-1891).
Delambre, Jean Joseph, an eminent French astronomer, born at Amiens, a pupil of Lalande; measured with Méchain the arc of the meridian between Dunkirk and Barcelona towards the establishment of the metric system; produced numerous works of great value, among others "Theoretical and Practical Astronomy" and the "History of Astronomy" (1749-1822).
Delane, John Thadeus, editor of the Times, born in London; studied at Oxford; after some experience as a reporter was put on the staff of the Times, and in 1841 became editor, a post he continued to hold for 36 years; was the inspiring and guiding spirit of the paper, but wrote none of the articles (1817-1879).
Delaroche, Paul, a French historical painter and one of the greatest, born in Paris; was the head of the modern Eclectic school, so called as holding a middle place between the Classical and Romantic schools of art; among his early works were "St. Vincent de Paul preaching before Louis XIII." and "Joan of Arc before Cardinal Beaufort"; the subjects of his latest pictures are from history, English and French, such as "The Princes in the Tower" and "Cromwell contemplating the corpse of Charles I.," a great work; but the grandest monument of his art is the group of paintings with which he adorned the wall of the semicircle of the Palais des Beaux Arts in Paris, which he completed in 1841 (1797-1856).
Delaunay, Le Vicomte, the nom de plume of Mme. Delphine, under which she published her "Parisian Letters."
Delaunay, Louis Arsène, a great French actor, born in Paris; made his début in 1846, retired 1887.
Delavigne, Casimir, a popular French lyric poet and dramatist, born at Havre; his verse was conventional and without originality (1793-1843).
Delaware (168), one of the Atlantic and original States of the American Union, as well as the smallest of them; the soil is rather poor, but porcelain clay abounds.
Delcassé, Théophile, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, born at Pamiers; began life as a journalist; was elected to the Chamber in 1889; became Colonial Minister; advocated colonial expansion; dealt skilfully with the Fashoda affair as Foreign Minister; b. 1852.
Delectable Mountains, mountains covered with sheep in the "Pilgrim's Progress," from which the pilgrim obtains a view of the Celestial City.
Delescluze, a French Communist, born at Dreux; was imprisoned and transported for his extreme opinions; started a journal, the Rèveil, in 1868, to advocate the doctrines of the International; was mainly answerable for the atrocities of the Paris Commune; was killed in the barricades (1809-1871).
Delft (27), a Dutch town, S m. NW. of Rotterdam, once famous for its pottery; is intersected by canals; has an important polytechnic school.
Delgado, a cape of E. Africa, on the border between Zanzibar and Mozambique.
Delhi (192), on the right bank of the Jumna, once the capital of the Mogul empire and the centre of the Mohammedan power in India; it is a great centre of trade, and is situated in the heart of India; it contains the famous palace of Shah Jahan, and the Jama Masjid, which occupies the heart of the city, and is the largest and finest mosque in India, which owes its origin to Shah Jahan; it is walled, is 51 m. in circumference, and divided into Hindu, Mohammedan, and European quarters; it was captured by Lord Lake in 1803, and during the Mutiny by the Sepoys, but after a siege of seven days retaken in 1857.
Delight of Mankind, the Roman Emperor Trajan.
Delilah, the Philistine woman who beguiled and betrayed Samson.
Delille, Jacques, a French poet, born at Aigues Perse, in Auvergne; translator of the "Georgics" of Virgil into verse, afterwards the "Æneid" and "Paradise Lost," besides producing also certain didactic and descriptive works; was a good versifier, but properly no poet, and much overrated; died blind (1738-1813).
Delitzsch, Franz, a learned biblical scholar and exegete, born at Leipzig; his commentaries, which are numerous, were of a conservative tendency; he wrote on Jewish antiquities, biblical psychology, and Christian apologetics; was professor at Erlangen and Leipzig successively, where his influence on the students was distinctly marked (1813-1899).
Delius, Nicolaus, a German philologist, born at Bremen; distinguished especially as a student of Shakespeare and for his edition of Shakespeare's works, which is of transcendent merit (1813-1888).
Delia Cruscans, a set of English sentimental poetasters, the leaders of them hailing from Florence, that appeared in England towards the close of the 18th century, and that for a time imposed on many by their extravagant panegyrics of one another, the founder of the set being one Robert Merry, who signed himself Della Crusca; he first announced himself by a sonnet to Love, in praise of which Anne Matilda wrote an incomparable piece of nonsense; "this epidemic spread for a term from fool to fool," but was soon exposed and laughed out of existence.
Dellys (3), a seaport in Algeria, 49 m. E. of Algiers.
Delolme, John Louis, a writer on State polity, born at Geneva, bred to the legal profession; spent some six years in England as a refugee; wrote a book on the "Constitution of England," and in praise of it, which was received for a time with high favour in the country, but is now no longer regarded as an authority; wrote a "History of the Flagellants," and on "The Union of Scotland with England" (1740-1806).
Delorme, a French architect, born at Lyons; studied in Rome; was patronised by Catherine de Medici; built the palace of the Tuileries, and contributed to the art of building (1518-1577).
Delorme, Marion, a Frenchwoman celebrated for her wit and fascination, born at Châlons-sur-Marne; came to Paris in the reign of Louis XIII., where her drawing-room became the rendezvous of all the celebrities of the time, many of whom were bewitched by her charms; she gave harbour to the chiefs of the Fronde, and was about to be arrested when she died; the story that her death was a feint, and that she had subsequent adventures, is distrusted; she is the subject of a drama by Victor Hugo (1612-1650).
Delos, the smallest and central island of the Cyclades, the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, and where the former had a famous oracle; it was, according to the Greek mythology, a floating island, and was first fixed to the spot by Zeus to provide Leda with a place, denied her elsewhere by Hera, in which to bring forth her twin offspring; it was at one time a centre of Apollo worship, but is now uninhabited, and only frequented at times by shepherds with their flocks.
Delphi, a town of ancient Greece in Phocis, at the foot of Parnassus, where Apollo had a temple, and whence he was wont to issue his oracles by the mouth of his priestess the Pythia, who when receiving the oracle used to sit on a tripod over an opening in the ground through which an intoxicating vapour exhaled, deemed the breath of the god, and that proved the vehicle of her inspiration; the Pythian games were celebrated here.
Delphin Classics, an edition of the Greek and Roman classics, edited by Bossuet and Huet, assisted by thirty-nine scholars, for the use of the dauphin of Louis XIV.; of little use now.
Delphine, a novel by Mme. de Staël; presumed to be an idealised picture of herself.
Delta, the signature of D. Macbeth Moir in Blackwood's Magazine.
Deluc, Jean André, geologist, born in Geneva; lived in England; was reader to Queen Charlotte, and author of several works (1727-1817).
Deluge, name given to the tradition, common to several races, of a flood of such universality as to sweep the land, if not the earth, of all its inhabitants, except the pair by whom the land of the earth was repeopled.
Dem`ades, an Athenian orator, a bitter enemy of Demosthenes, in the interest of Philip of Macedon; put to death for treason by Antipater, 318 B.C.; was a man of no principle, but a great orator.
Demara`tus, king of Sparta from 510 to 491 B.C.; dispossessed of his crown, fled to Persia and accompanied Xerxes into Greece.
Demavend, Mount, an extinct volcano, the highest peak (18,600 ft.) of the Elburz chain, in Persia.
Dembea, a lake, the largest in Abyssinia, being 60 m. long and 6000 ft. above the sea-level, from which the Blue Nile issues.
Dembinski, Henry, a Polish general, born near Cracow; served under Napoleon against Russia, under Kossuth against Austria; fled to Turkey on the resignation of Kossuth; died in Paris (1791-1864).
Demerara, a division of British Guiana; takes its name from the river, which is 200 m. long, and falls into the Atlantic at Georgetown.
Demeter (lit. Earth-mother), the great Greek goddess of the earth, daughter of Kronos and Rhea and sister of Zeus, and ranks with him as one of the twelve great gods of Olympus; is specially the goddess of agriculture, and the giver of all the earth's fruits; the Latins call her Ceres.
Demetrius, the name of two kings of Macedonia who ruled over the country, the first from 290 to 289 B.C., and the second from 240 to 229 B.C.
Demetrius, or Dimitri, the name of several sovereigns of Russia, and of four adventurers called the four false Dimitri.
Demetrius I., Soter (i. e. saviour), king of Syria from 162 to 150 B.C.; was grandson of Antiochus the Great. D. II., Nicator (i. e. conqueror), king of Syria from 143 to 125 B.C. D. III., Eucæros (i. e. the happy), king of Syria in 95, died in 84 B.C.
Demetrius Phalereus, an eminent Athenian orator, statesman, and historian, born at Phalerus, a seaport of Athens; was held in high honour in Athens for a time as its political head, but fell into dishonour, after which he lived retired and gave himself up to literary pursuits; died from the bite of an asp; left a number of works (345-283 B.C.).
Demidoff, a Russian family distinguished for their wealth, descended from a serf of Peter the Great, and who amassed a large fortune by manufacturing firearms for him, and were raised by him to the rank of nobility; they were distinguished in the arts, in arms, and even literature; Anatol in particular, who travelled over the SE. of Europe, and wrote an account of his travels, a work magnificently illustrated.
Demigod, a hero elevated in the imagination to the rank of a divinity in consequence of the display of virtues and the achievement of feats superior to those of ordinary men.
Demi-monde, a class in Parisian society dressing in a fashionable style, but of questionable morals.
Demiurgus, a name employed by Plato to denote the world-soul, the medium by which the idea is made real, the spiritual made material, the many made one, and it was adopted by the Gnostics to denote the world-maker as a being derived from God, but estranged from God, being environed in matter, which they regarded as evil, and so incapable as such of redeeming the soul from matter, from evil, such as the God of the Jews, and the Son of that God, conceived of as manifest in flesh.
Democracy has been defined to be government of the people by the people and for the people, or as a State in which the government rests directly with the majority of the citizens, but this under the protest of some that it is not an end but a means "to the attainment of a truer and truer aristocracy, or government again by the Best."
Democrats, a political party in the United States that contends for the rights of the several States to self-government as against undue centralisation.
Democritus, a Greek philosopher, born in Abdera, Thrace, of wealthy parents; spent his patrimony in travel, gathered knowledge from far and near, and gave the fruits of it in a series of writings to his contemporary compatriots, only fragments of which remain, though they must have come down comparatively entire to Cicero's time, who compares them for splendour and music of eloquence to Plato's; his philosophy was called the Atomic, as he traced the universe to its ultimate roots in combinations of atoms, in quality the same but in quantity different, and referred all life and sensation to movements in them, while he regarded quiescence as the summum bonum; he has been called the Laughing Philosopher from, it is alleged, his habit of laughing at the follies of mankind; b. 460 B.C.
Democritus Junior, a pseudonym under which Burton published his "Anatomy of Melancholy."
Demogeot, French littérateur, born at Paris; wrote a history of literature, chiefly French (1808-1894).
Demogorgon, a terrible deity, the tyrant of the elves and fairies, who must all appear before him once every five years to give an account of their doings.
Demoivre, Abraham, a mathematician, born in Champagne; lived most of his life in England to escape, as a Protestant, from persecution in France; became a friend of Newton, and a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was of such eminence as a mathematician that he was asked to arbitrate between the claims of Newton and Leibnitz to the invention of fluxions (1667-1754).
Demon, or Daimon, a name which Socrates gave to an inner divine instinct which corresponds to one's destiny, and guides him in the way he should go to fulfil it, and is more or less potent in a man according to his purity of soul.
De Morgan, Augustus, an eminent mathematician, born in Madura, S. India; was professor of Mathematics in London University from 1828 till his death, though he resigned the appointment for a time in consequence of the rejection of a candidate, James Martineau, for the chair of logic, on account of his religious opinions; wrote treatises on almost every department of mathematics, on arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, differential and integral calculus, the last pronounced to be "the most complete treatise on the subject ever produced in England"; wrote also "Formal Logic" (1806-1871).
Demosthenes, the great Athenian orator, born in Athens; had many impediments to overcome to succeed in the profession, but by ingenious methods and indomitable perseverance he subdued them all, and became the first orator not of Greece only, but of all antiquity; a stammer in his speech he overcame by practising with pebbles in his mouth, and a natural diffidence by declaiming on the sea-beach amid the noise of the waves; while he acquired a perfect mastery of the Greek language by binding himself down to copy five times over in succession Thucydides' "History of the Peloponnesian War"; he employed 15 years of his life in denunciation of Philip of Macedon, who was bent on subjugating his country; pronounced against him his immortal "Philippics" and "Olynthiacs"; took part in the battle of Cheronea, and continued the struggle even after Philip's death; on the death of Alexander he gave his services as an orator to the confederated Greeks, and in the end made away with himself by poison so as not to fall into the hands of Autipater (385-322 B.C.). See Ctesiphon.
Dempster, Thomas, a learned Scotchman, born in Aberdeenshire; held several professorships on the Continent; was the author of "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," a work of great learning, but of questionable veracity; has been reprinted by the Bannatyne Club; his last days were embittered by the infidelity of his wife (1579-1625).
Denarius, a silver coin among the Romans, first coined in 269 B.C., and worth 8½ d.
Denbigh (6), the county town of Denbighshire, in the Vale of the Clwyd, 30 m. W. of Chester; manufactures shoes and leather.
Denbighshire (117), a county in North Wales, of rugged hills and fertile vales, 40 m. long and 17 m. on an average broad, with a coal-field in the NE., and with mines of iron, lead, and slate.
Dendera, a village in Upper Egypt, on the left bank of the Nile, 28 m. N. of Thebes, on the site of ancient Tentyra, with the ruins of a temple in almost perfect preservation; on the ceiling of a portico of which there was found a zodiac, now in the museum of the Louvre in Paris, and dates from the period of Cleopatra and the early Roman emperors, and has sculptured portraits of that queen and her son Cæsarion.
Dengue, a disease peculiar to the tropics, occurs in hot weather, and attacks one suddenly with high fever and violent pains, and after a relapse returns in a milder form and leaves the patient very weak.
Denham, Dixon, an English traveller, companion of Clapperton; visited Bornu and Lake Tchad (1785-1828).
Denham, Sir John, an English poet, born at Dublin, the son of an Irish judge; took to gambling and squandered his patrimony; was unhappy in his marriage, and his mind gave way; is best known as the author of "Cooper's Hill," a descriptive poem, interspersed with reflections, and written in smooth flowing verse (1615-1669).
Denina, Carlo, an Italian historian, born in Piedmont; banished from Italy for a cynical remark injurious to the monks; paid court to Frederick the Great in Berlin, where he lived a good while, and became eventually imperial librarian in Paris under Napoleon (1731-1813).
Denis, a king of Portugal from 1279 to 1325; the founder of the University of Coimbra and the Order of Christ.
Denis, St., the apostle of the Gauls, the first bishop of Paris, and the patron saint of France; suffered martyrdom in 270.
Denis, St., a town 6 m. N. of Paris, within the line of the fortifications, with an abbey which contains the remains of St. Denis, and became the mausoleum of the kings of France.
Denison, Edward, philanthropist; distinguished by his self-denying benevolent labours in the East End of London (1840-1870).
Denison, George Anthony, archdeacon of Taunton, born in Notts; was charged with holding views on the eucharist inconsistent with the teaching of the Church of England, first condemned and then acquitted on appeal; a stanch High Churchman, and equally opposed to Broad Church and Low; b. 1805.
Denison, John Evelyn, Speaker of the House of Commons from 1858 to 1872, brother of the above (1800-1873).
Denman, Lord, Lord Chief-Justice of England from 1832 to 1850, born in London; was along with Brougham counsel for Queen Caroline (1779-1854).
Denmark (2,182), the smallest of the three Scandinavian kingdoms, consisting of Jutland and an archipelago of islands in the Baltic Sea, divided into 18 counties, and is less than half the size of Scotland; is a low-lying country, no place in it more above the sea-level than 500 ft., and as a consequence has no river to speak of, only meres or lakes; the land is laid out in cornfields and grazing pastures; there are as good as no minerals, but abundance of clay for porcelain; while the exports consist chiefly of horses, cattle, swine, hams, and butter; it has 1407 m. of railway, and 8686 of telegraph wires; the government is constitutional, and the established religion Lutheran.
Dennewitz, a village in Brandenburg, 40 m. SW. of Berlin, where Marshal Ney with 70,000 was defeated by Marshal Bülow with 50,000.
Dennis, John, a would-be dramatist and critic, born in London, in constant broils with the wits of his time; his productions were worth little, and he is chiefly remembered for his attacks on Addison and Pope, and for the ridicule these attacks brought down at their hands on his own head, from Pope in "Narrative of the Frenzy of John Dennis," and "damnation to everlasting fame" in "Dunciad"; he became blind, and was sunk in poverty, when Pope wrote a prologue to a play produced for his benefit (1657-1734).
Dens, Peter, a Catholic theologian, born at Boom near Antwerp; author of a work entitled "Theologia Moralis et Dogmatica," a minute and casuistic vindication in catechetical form of the tenets of the Catholic Church, and in use as a text-book in Catholic colleges (1690-1775).
Dentatus, M. Curius, a Roman of the old stamp; as consul gained two victories over rival States and two triumphs in one year; drove Pyrrhus out of Italy (275 B.C.), and brought to Rome immense booty, of which he would take nothing to himself; in his retirement took to tilling a small farm with his own hand.
Denver (134), the capital of Colorado, U.S., on a plain 5196 ft. above the sea-level; originally founded as a mining station in 1858, now a large and flourishing and well-appointed town; is the centre of a great trade, and a great mining district.
Deodar (25), a small protected independent State in the NW. of Gujarat, India.
Deodoraki, a glacier in the Caucasus Mountains.
Deparcieux, French mathematician, born at Cessoux, dep. of Gard; known for the "Tables" which bear his name, containing a reckoning of the chances of longevity for different ages (1703-1768).
Department, a territorial division in France instituted in 1790, under which the old division into provinces was broken up; each department, of which there are now 87, is broken up into arrondissements.
Depping, a learned French historian, born at Münster; wrote a "History of Normandy," and on "Trade of Europe with the Levant" (1784-1853).
Deptford (101), a town on the S. bank of the Thames, partly in Kent and partly in Surrey, now forming part of London; once with an extensive Government dockyard and arsenal, the site of it purchased by the Corporation of London as a market for foreign cattle; is now the central station for the Electric Light Company.
De Quincey, Thomas, a great English prose writer, born in Manchester; son of a merchant called Quincey; his father dying, he was under a guardian, who put him to school, from which in the end he ran away, wandered about in Wales for a time, and by-and-by found his way to London; in 1803 was sent to Oxford, which in 1807 he left in disgust; it was here as an anodyne he took to opium, and acquired that habit which was the bane of his life; on leaving Oxford he went to Bath beside his mother, where he formed a connection by which he was introduced to Wordsworth and Southey, and led to settle to literary work at Grasmere, in the Lake District; here he wrote for the reviews and magazines, particularly Blackwood's, till in 1821 he went up to London and published his "Confessions" under the nom de plume of "The English Opium-Eater"; leaving Grasmere in 1828 he settled in Edinburgh, and at Polton, near Lasswade, where he died; is characterised by Stopford Brooke as "owing to the overlapping and involved melody of his style one of our best, as he is one of our most various miscellaneous writers"; he was a writer of very miscellaneous ability and acquirement (1785-1859).
Derbend (14), capital of Russian Daghestan, on the W. of the Caspian Sea, 140 m. NW. of Baku.
Derby (94), county town of Derbyshire, on the Derwent, with manufactures of silk, cotton hosiery, lace, porcelain, &c.; it is the centre of a great railway system.
Derby, Charlotte Countess of, wife of the 7th Earl who was taken prisoner at Worcester in 1651, and was beheaded at Bolton; famous for her gallant defence of Lathom House against the Parliamentary forces, which she was obliged to surrender; lived to see the Restoration; d. 1663.
Derby, 14th Earl of, British statesman, born at Knowsley Hall, Lancashire; entered Parliament in 1820 in the Whig interest, and was hailed as an accession to their ranks by the Whigs; supported the cause of reform; in 1830 became Chief Secretary for Ireland under Earl Grey's administration; introduced a coercive measure against the Repeal agitation of O'Connell; contributed to the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832; seceded from the Whigs in 1834, and became Colonial Secretary in 1845 under a Conservative administration, but when Sir Robert Peel brought in a bill to repeal the Corn Laws, he retired from the Cabinet, and in 1848 became the head of the Protectionist party as Earl of Derby, to which title he succeeded in 1851; was after that Prime Minister three times over, and it was with his sanction Disraeli carried his Reform Act of 1867, though he spoke of it as "a leap in the dark"; he resigned his Premiership in 1868, and the last speech he made was against the Irish Disestablishment Bill; was distinguished for his scholarship as well as his oratory, and gave proof of this by his scholarly translation of the "Iliad" of Homer (1797-1869).
Derby, 15th Earl of, eldest son of the preceding; entered Parliament as Lord Stanley in 1848; was a member of the three Derby administrations, in the first and third in connection with foreign affairs, and in the second as Secretary for India, at the time when the government of India passed from the Company to the Crown; became Earl in 1869; was Foreign Secretary under Mr. Disraeli in 1874, but retired in 1878; in 1885 joined the Liberal party, and held office under Mr. Gladstone, but declined to follow him in the matter of Home Rule, and joined the Unionist ranks; was a man of sound and cool judgment, and took a deep interest in economical questions (1826-1893).
Derby Day, the last Wednesday in May, or, as may happen, the 1st of June, being the second day of the Summer Meeting at Epsom, on which the Derby Stakes for colts and fillies three years old are run for, so called as having been started by the 12th Earl of Derby in 1780; the day is held as a great London holiday, and the scene is one to which all London turns out. The stakes run for are £6000, of which the winner gets £5000.
Derbyshire (520), a northern midland county of England, hilly in the N., undulating and pastoral in the S., and with coal-fields in the E.; abounds in minerals, and is more a manufacturing and mining county than an agricultural.
Derg, Lough, an expansion of the waters of the Shannon, Ireland, 24 m. long, from 2 to 6 broad; also a small lake in the S. of Donegal, with small islands, one of which, Station Island, was, as the reputed entrance to St. Patrick's Purgatory, a place of pilgrimage to thousands at one time.
Dervishes, a name given to members of certain mendicant orders connected with the Mohammedan faith in the East. Of these there are various classes, under different regulations, and wearing distinctive costumes, with their special observances of devotion, and all presumed to lead an austere life, some of whom live in monasteries, and others go wandering about, some of them showing their religious fervour in excited whirling dances, and others in howlings; all are religious fanatics in their way, and held sacred by the Moslems.
Derwentwater, one of the most beautiful of the Cumberland lakes, in the S. of the county; extends S. from Keswick; is over 3 m. long, and over 1 m. broad; is dotted with wooded islands, and is overlooked by Skiddaw; it abounds with perch.
Derwentwater, Earl of, a Jacobite leader; was 3rd Earl and the last; several warrants were issued for his apprehension in 1714; he joined the Jacobite rising in 1715; was taken prisoner at Preston, and beheaded on Tower Hill, London, next year, after trial in Westminster Hall, confession of guilt, and pleadings on his behalf with the king.
Derzhaven, Gabriel, a Russian lyric poet, born at Kasan; rose from the ranks as a common soldier to the highest offices in the State under the Empress Catharine II. and her successors; retired into private life, and gave himself up to poetry; the ode by which he is best known is his "Address to the Deity" (1743-1816).
Desaix, Louis Charles Antoine, a distinguished French general, born at the Château d'Ayat, Auvergne, of a noble family; entered the army at 15; commanded a division of the Army of the Rhine in 1796, and after the retreat of Moreau defended Kehl against the Austrians for two months; accompanied Bonaparte to the East, and in 1799 conquered Upper Egypt; contributed effectively to the success at Marengo, and fell dead at the moment of victory, shot by a musket-ball; he was an upright and a chivalrous man, known in Egypt as "the just Sultan," and in Germany as "the good general" (1768-1800).
Desaugiers, Marc, a celebrated French composer of songs and vaudevilles; "stands second to Béranger as a light song-writer," and is by some preferred to him (1772-1827).
Desault, a French surgeon, born in dep. of Haute-Saône; his works contributed largely to the progress of surgery (1714-1795).
Desbarres, Joseph Frederick, military engineer and hydrographer, aide-de-camp of General Wolfe at Quebec; fortified Quebec; surveyed the St. Lawrence; revised the maps of the American coast at the outbreak of the American war; died at Halifax, Nova Scotia, aged 102 (1722-1824).
Descamps, a French painter, born at Dunkirk; painted village scenes (1714-1791).
Descartes, René, the father of modern philosophy, born at La Haye, in Touraine; was educated at the Jesuit College of La Flèche, where he made rapid progress in all that his masters could teach him, but soon grew sceptical as to their methods of inquiry; "resolved, on the completion of his studies, to bid adieu to all school and book learning, and henceforth to gain knowledge only from himself, and from the great book of the world, from nature and the observation of man"; in 1616 he entered the army of the Prince of Orange, and after a service of five years quitted it to visit various centres of interest on the Continent; made a considerable stay in Paris; finally abandoned his native land in 1629, and betook himself to seclusion in Holland in order to live there, unknown and undisturbed, wholly for philosophy and the prosecution of his scientific projects; here, though not without vexatious opposition from the theologians, he lived twenty years, till in 1649, at the invitation of Christina of Sweden, he left for Stockholm, where, the severe climate proving too much for him, he was carried off by pneumonia next year; Descartes' philosophy starts with Doubt, and by one single step it arrives at Certainty; "if I doubt, it is plain I exist," and from this certainty, that is, the existence of the thinking subject, he deduces his whole system; it all comes from the formula Cogito, ergo sum, "I think, therefore I exist," that is, the thinking ego exists; in which thinking philosophy ere long sums the universe up, regarding it as a void, without thought; Descartes' philosophy is all comprehended in two works, his "Discourse on Method," and his "Meditations" (1596-1650).
Deschamps, Émile, a French poet, born at Bourges, one of the chiefs of the Romantic school (1795-1871).
Deschamps, Eustache, a French poet, born at Vertus, in Champagne; studied in Orleans University; travelled over Europe; had his estate pillaged by the English, whom, in consequence, he is never weary of abusing; his poems are numerous, and, except one, all short, consisting of ballads, as many as 1175 of them, a form of composition which he is said to have invented; he deals extensively in satire, and if he wields the shafts of it against the plunderers of his country, he does no less against the oppressors of the poor (1328-1415).
Desdemona, the wife of Othello the Moor, who, in Shakespeare's play of that name, kills her on a groundless insinuation of infidelity, to his bitter remorse.
Desèze, a French advocate, had the courage, along with advocate Tronchet, to defend Louis XVI. when dragged to judgment by the Convention, and who, honourably fulfilling his perilous office, pled for the space of three hours, an honourable pleading "composed almost overnight; courageous, yet discreet; not without ingenuity, and soft pathetic eloquence"; he was imprisoned for a time, but escaped the scaffold; on the return of the Bourbons he was made a peer (1750-1828).
Desmond, Earldom of, an Irish title long extinct by the death of the last earl in 1583; he had rebelled against Elizabeth's government, been proclaimed, and had taken refuge in a peasant's cabin, and been betrayed.
Des Moines (62), the largest city in Iowa, U.S., and the capital, founded in 1846.
Desmoulins, Camille, one of the most striking figures in the French Revolution, born at Guise, in Picardy; studied for the bar in the same college with Robespierre, but never practised, owing to a stutter in his speech; was early seized with the revolutionary fever, and was the first to excite the same fever in the Parisian mob, by his famous call "To arms, and, for some rallying sign, cockades—green ones—the colour of Hope, when," as we read in Carlyle, "as with the flight of locusts, the green tree-leaves, green ribbons from the neighbouring shops, all green things, were snatched to make cockades of"; was one of the ablest advocates of the levelling principles of the Revolution; associated himself first with Mirabeau and then with Danton in carrying them out, and even supported Robespierre in the extreme course he took; but his heart was moved to relent when he thought of the misery the guillotine was working among the innocent families, the wives and the children, of its victims, would, along with Danton, fain have brought the Reign of Terror to a close; for this he was treated as a renegade, put under arrest at the instance of Robespierre, subjected to trial, sentenced to death, and led off to the place of execution; while his young wife, for interfering in his behalf, was arraigned and condemned, and sent to the guillotine a fortnight after him (1762-1794).
De Soto, a Spanish voyager, was sent to conquer Florida, penetrated as far as the Mississippi; worn out with fatigue in quest of gold, died of fever, and was buried in the river (1496-1542).
Des Periers, Bonaventure, a French humanist and story-teller, born at Autun, in Burgundy; valet-de-chamber of Margaret of Valois; wrote "Cymbalum Mundi," a satirical production, in which, as a disciple of Lucian, he holds up to ridicule the religious beliefs of his day; also "Novelles Recréations et Joyeux Devis," a collection of some 129 short stories admirably told; was one of the first prose-writers of the century, and is presumed to be the author of the "Heptameron," ascribed to Margaret of Valois; d. 1544.
Despre`aux. See Boileau.
Dessalines, Jean Jacques, emperor of Hayti, born in Guinea, W. Africa, a negro imported into Hayti as a slave; on the emancipation of the slaves there he acquired great influence among the insurgents, and by his cruelties compelled the French to quit the island, upon which he was raised to the governorship, and by-and-by was able to declare himself emperor, but his tyranny provoked a revolt, in which he perished (1760-1806).
Dessau (34), a North German town, the capital of the Duchy of Anhalt, on the Mulde, affluent of the Elbe, some 70 m. SW. of Berlin; it is at once manufacturing and trading.
Dessauer, the old. See Leopold of Dessau.
Destouches, a French dramatist, born at Tours; his plays were comedies, and he wrote 17, all excellent (1680-1754); also a French painter (1790-1884).
Detmold (9), capital of Lippe, 47 m. SW. of Hanover, with a bronze colossal statue of Arminius (q. v.) near by.
Detroit (285), the largest city in Michigan, U.S., a great manufacturing and commercial centre, situated on a river of the same name, which connects Lake St. Clair with Lake Erie; is one of the oldest places in the States, and dates from 1670, at which time it came into the possession of the French; is a well-built city, with varied manufactures and a large trade, particularly in grain and other natural products.
Dettingen, a village in Bavaria, where an army of English, Hanoverians, and Austrians under George II., in 1743 defeated the French under Duc de Noailles.
Deucalion, son of Prometheus, who, with his wife Pyrrha, by means of an ark which he built, was saved from a flood which for nine days overwhelmed the land of Hellas. On the subsidence of the flood they consulted the oracle at Delphi as to re-peopling the land with inhabitants, when they were told by Themis, the Pythia at the time, to throw the bones of their mother over their heads behind them. For a time the meaning of the oracle was a puzzle, but the readier wit of the wife found it out; upon which they took stones and threw them over their heads, when the stones he threw were changed into men and those she threw were changed into women.
Deus ex machina, the introduction in high matters of a merely external, material, or mechanical explanation instead of an internal, rational, or spiritual one, which is all a theologian does when he simply names God, and all a scientist does when he simply says Evolution (q. v.).
Deuteronomy (i. e. the Second Law), the fifth book of the Pentateuch, and so called as the re-statement and re-enforcement, as it were, by Moses of the Divine law proclaimed in the wilderness. The Mosaic authorship of this book is now called in question, though it is allowed to be instinct with the spirit of the religion instituted by Moses, and it is considered to have been conceived at a time when that religion with its ritual was established in Jerusalem, in order to confirm faith in the Divine origin and sanction of observances there.
Deutsch, Emanuel, a distinguished Hebrew scholar, born at Neisse, in Silesia, of Jewish descent; was trained from his boyhood to familiarity with the Hebrew and Chaldea languages; studied under Boeckh at the university of Berlin; came to England, and in 1855 obtained a post in the library of the British Museum; had made a special study of the "Talmud," on which he wrote a brilliant article for the Quarterly Review, to the great interest of many; his ambition was to write an exhaustive treatise on the subject, but he did not live to accomplish it; died at Alexandria, whither he had gone in the hope of prolonging his days (1829-1873).
Deutz (17), a Prussian town on the right bank of the Rhine, opposite Cologne.
Deux Ponts, French name for Zweibrücken (q. v.).
Deva, the original Hindu name for the deity, meaning the shining one, whence deus, god, in Latin.
Devanag`ari, the character in which Sanskrit works are printed.
Development, the biological doctrine which ascribes an innate expansive power to the organised universe, and affirms the deviation of the most complex forms through intermediate links from the simplest, without the intervention of special acts of creation. See Evolution.
Dev`enter (25), a town in Holland, in the province of Overyssel, 55 m. SE. of Amsterdam; has carpet manufactures; is celebrated for its gingerbread; was the locality of the Brotherhood of Common Life, with which the life and work of Thomas à Kempis are associated.
De Vere, Thomas Aubrey, poet and prose writer, born in co. Limerick, Ireland; educated at Trinity College, Dublin; wrote poetical dramas of "Alexander the Great" and "St. Thomas of Canterbury"; his first poem "The Waldenses"; also critical essays; b. 1814.
Devil, The, a being regarded in Scripture as having a personal existence, and, so far as this world is concerned, a universal spiritual presence, as everywhere thwarting the purposes of God and marring the destiny of man; only since the introduction of Christianity, which derives all evil as well as good from within, he has come to be regarded less as an external than an internal reality, and is identified with the ascendency in the human heart of passions native to it, which when subject ennoble it, but when supreme debase it. He is properly the spirit that deceives man, and decoys him to his eternal ruin from truth and righteousness.
Devil, The, is an Ass, a farce by Ben Jonson, full of vigour, but very coarse.
Devil-worship, a homage paid by primitive tribes to the devil or spirit of evil in the simple-hearted belief that he could be bribed from doing them evil.
Devonport (70), a town in Devonshire, adjoining Plymouth to the W., and the seat of the military and naval government of the three towns, originally called Plymouth Dock, and established as a naval arsenal by William III.
Devonshire, a county in the S. of England, with Exmoor in the N. and Dartmoor in the S.; is fertile in the low country, and enjoys a climate favourable to vegetation; it has rich pasture-grounds, and abounds in orchards.
Devonshire, Duke of. See Cavendish.
Devrient, Ludwig, a popular German actor, born in Berlin, of exceptional dramatic ability, the ablest of a family with similar gifts (1784-1832).
D'Ewes, Sir Simonds, antiquary, born in Dorsetshire; bred for the bar; was a member of the Long Parliament; left notes on its transactions; took the Puritan side in the Civil War; his "Journal of all the Parliaments of Elizabeth" is of value; left an "Autobiography and Correspondence" (1602-1656).
De Wette, Wilhelm Martin Leberecht, a German theologian, born near Weimar; studied at Jena, professor of Theology ultimately at Basel; was held in high repute as a biblical critic and exegete; contributed largely to theological literature; counted a rationalist by the orthodox, and a mystic by the rationalists; his chief works "A Critical Introduction to the Bible" and a "Manual to the New Testament" (1780-1849).
De Witt, Jan, a Dutch statesman, born at Dort; elected grand pensionary in 1652; like his father, Jacob de Witt, before him, was a declared enemy of the House of Orange, and opposed the Stadtholdership, and for a time he carried the country along with him, but during a war with England his influence declined, the Orange party prevailed, and elected the young Prince of Orange, our William III., Stadtholder. He and his brother Cornelius were murdered at last by the populace (1625-1672).
Dewsbury (73), a town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 8 m. SW. of Leeds; engaged in the manufacture of woollens, blankets, carpets, and yarns.
Dextrine, a soluble matter into which the interior substance of starch globules is converted by acids or diastase, so called because when viewed by polarised light it has the property of turning the plane of polarisation to the right.
Deyster, Louis de, a Flemish painter, born at Bruges; was of a deeply religious temper, and his character was reflected in his choice of subjects, such as the "Death of the Virgin," "The Resurrection of Christ," &c.; he was a recluse (1656-1711).
Dezobry, Charles, a French writer, born at St. Denis; author of "Rome in the Time of Augustus" (1798-1871).
Dhagoba, a mound with a dome-shaped top, found to contain Buddhist relics.
Dharma, the name given to the law of Buddha, as distinct from the Sangha, which is the Church.
Dharwar (32), a town in the S. of the Bombay Presidency, a place of considerable trade in a district noted for its cotton growing.
Dhwalagiri, one of the peaks of the Himalayas, the third highest, 26,826 ft. high.
Diabetes, a disease characterised by an excessive discharge of urine, and accompanied with great thirst; there are two forms of this disease.
Diab`lerets, a mountain of the Bernese Alps, between the Cantons de Vaud and de Valois.
Diafoirus, Thomas, the name of two pedantic doctors, father and son, who figure in Molière's "Malade Imaginaire."
Diagoras, a Greek philosopher, born in Melos, one of the Cyclades, 5th century B.C., surnamed the Atheist, on account of the scorn with which he treated the gods of the popular faith, from the rage of whose devotees he was obliged to seek safety by flight; died in Corinth.
Dialectic, in the Hegelian philosophy the logic of thought, and, if of thought, the logic of being, of essential being.
Dialogues of Plato, philosophical dialogues, in which Socrates figures as the principal interlocutor, although the doctrine expounded is rather Plato's than his master's; they discuss theology, psychology, ethics, æsthetics, politics, physics, and related subjects.
Dialysis, the process of separating the crystalloid or poisonous ingredients in a substance from the colloid or harmless ingredients.
Diamante, a Spanish dramatic poet, who plagiarised Corneille's "Cid" and passed it off as original; b. 1826.
Diamantina (13), a district in Brazil, in the province of Minas Geraes, rich in diamonds.
Diamond, the name of Newton's favourite dog that, by upsetting a lamp, set fire to MSS. containing notes of experiments made over a course of years, an irreparable loss.
Diamond Necklace, a necklace consisting of 500 diamonds, and worth £80,000, which one Madame de la Motte induced the jeweller who "made" it to part with for Marie Antoinette, on security of Cardinal de Rohan, and which madame made away with, taking it to pieces and disposing of the jewels in London; the swindle was first discovered when the jeweller presented his bill to the queen, who denied all knowledge of the matter; this led to a trial which extended over nine months, gave rise to great scandal, and ended in the punishment of the swindler and her husband, and the disgrace of the unhappy, and it is believed innocent, queen. See Carlyle's "Miscellanies."
Diamond Net, a name given in the Hegelian philosophy to "the connective tissue, so to speak, that not only supports, but even in a measure constitutes, the various organs" of the universe. See Hegelianism.
Diamond State, Delaware, U.S., from its small size and great wealth.
Diana, originally an Italian deity, dispenser of light, identified at length with the Greek goddess Artemis, and from the first with the moon; she was a virgin goddess, and spent her time in the chase, attended by her maidens; her temple at Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the world. See Artemis.
Diana de Poitiers, the mistress of Henry II. of France, for whom he built the magnificent Château d'Anet, in Eure-et-Loir; she had a great influence over him, and the cruel persecutions of the Huguenots in his reign were due to her instigation (1490-1566).
Diana of France, the Duchess of Angoulême, the natural daughter of Henry II. and the Duchess de Castro (1538-1619).
Diarbekir (42), the largest town in the Kurdistan Highlands, on the Tigris, 194 m. NE. of Aleppo, and on the highway between Bagdad and Constantinople, with a large and busy bazaar.
Diastase, a nitrogenous substance developed during the germination of grain, and having the property of converting starch first into dextrine and then into sugar.
Diavolo, Fra (lit. Brother Devil), Michele Porsa, a Calabrian, originally a monk, who left his monastery and joined a set of bandits, who lent themselves to and conducted insurrectionary movements in Italy; taken prisoner, was hanged at Naples; Auber's opera, "Fra Diavolo," has no connection with him except the name (1760-1806).
Diaz, Barthélemy, a Portuguese navigator, sent on a voyage of discovery by John II., in the command of two ships; sailed down the W. coast of Africa and doubled the Cape of Good Hope, which, from the storm that drove him past it, he called the Cape of Storms; returning to Lisbon he was superseded by Vasco da Gama, or rather subordinated to him; subsequently accompanied Cabral on his voyage to Brazil, and was lost in a storm in 1500.
Diaz Miguel, governor of Porto Rico, born in Aragon; friend and companion of Columbus; suffered from the usual Jealousies in enterprises of the kind, but prevailed in the end; d. 1514.
Diaz de la Peña, a French painter, born at Bordeaux, of Spanish descent; a landscapist of the Romantic school, eminent as a colourist (1809-1876).
Diaz del Castello, historian; accompanied Cortes to Mexico; took part in the conquest, and left a graphic, trustworthy account of it; died in Mexico, 1560.
Dibdin, Charles, musician, dramatist, and song-writer, born in Southampton; began life as an actor; invented a dramatic entertainment consisting of music, songs, and recitations, in which he was the sole performer, and of which he was for the most part the author; wrote some 30 dramatic pieces, and it is said 1400 songs; his celebrity is wholly due to his sea songs, which proved of the most inspiring quality, and did much to man the navy during the war with France; was the author of "Tom Bowling"; left an account of his "Professional Life" (1745-1814).
Dibdin, Thomas, dramatic author and song-writer, son of the preceding; was an actor as well as an author, and a most versatile one; performed in all kinds of characters, and wrote all kinds of plays, as well as numerous songs (1771-1841).
Dibdin, Thomas Frognall, bibliographer, nephew of Charles Dibdin, born in Calcutta; took orders in the Church of England; held several preferments; wrote several works all more or less of a bibliographical character, which give proof of extensive research, but are lacking often in accuracy and critical judgment; was one of the founders of the Roxburghe Club (1775-1847).
Dicæarchus, an ancient geographer, born at Messina, 4th century B.C.; a disciple of Aristotle.
Dick, James, a West Indian and London merchant, born in Forres; bequeathed £113,787 to encourage learning and efficient teaching among the parish schoolmasters of Elgin, Banff, and Aberdeen shires; it is known as the Dick Bequest, and the property is vested in a governing body of thirteen duly elected (1743-1828).
Dickens, Charles, celebrated English novelist, born at Landport, Portsmouth; son of a navy clerk, latterly in great straits; was brought up amid hardships; was sent to a solicitor's office as a clerk, learned shorthand, and became a reporter, a post in which he learned much of what afterwards served him as an author; wrote sketches for the Monthly Magazine under the name of "Boz" in 1834, and the "Pickwick Papers" in 1836-37, which established his popularity; these were succeeded by "Oliver Twist" in 1838, "Nicholas Nickleby" in 1839, and others which it is needless to enumerate, as they are all known wherever the English language is spoken; they were all written with an aim, and as Ruskin witnesses, "he was entirely right in his main drift and purpose in every book he has written," though he thinks we are apt "to lose sight of his wit and insight, because he chooses to speak in a circle of stage fire.... Allowing for his manner of telling them, the things he tells us are always true"; being a born actor, and fain in his youth to become one, he latterly gave public readings from his works, which were immensely popular; "acted better," says Carlyle, who witnessed one of these performances, "than any Macready in the world; a whole tragic, comic, heroic theatre visible, performing under one hat, and keeping us laughing—in a sorry way some of us thought—the whole night"; the strain proved too much for him; he was seized with a fit at his residence, Gad's Hill, near Rochester, on June 8, 1870, and died the following morning; he was a little man, with clear blue intelligent eyes, a face of most extreme mobility, and a quiet shrewdness of expression (1812-1870).
Dictator, a magistrate invested with absolute authority in ancient republican Rome in times of exigence and danger; the constitution obliged him to resign his authority at the end of six months, till which time he was free without challenge afterwards to do whatever the interest of the commonwealth seemed to him to require; the most famous dictators were Cincinnatus, Camillus, Sulla, and Cæsar, who was the last to be invested with this power; the office ceased with the fall of the republic, or rather, was merged in the perpetual dictatorship of the emperor.
Dictator of Letters, Voltaire.
Dictys Cretensis (i. e. of Crete), the reputed author of a narrative of the Trojan war from the birth of Paris to the death of Ulysses, extant only in a Latin translation; the importance attached to this narrative and others ascribed to the same author is, that they are the source of many of the Greek legends we find inwoven from time to time in the mediæval literature that has come down to us.
Diddler, Jeremy, a needy, artful swindler in Kenny's farce of "Raising the Wind."
Diderot, Denis, a French philosopher, born at Langres, the son of a cutler there; a zealous propagator of the philosophic ideas of the 18th century, and the projector of the famous "Encyclopédie," which he edited along with D'Alembert, and which made a great noise in its day, but did not enrich its founder, who was in the end driven to offer his library for sale to get out of the pecuniary difficulties it involved him in, and he would have been ruined had not Catharine of Russia bought it, which she not only did, but left it with him, and paid him a salary as librarian. Diderot fought hard to obtain a hearing for his philosophical opinions; his first book was burnt by order of the parlement of Paris, while for his second he was clapped in jail; and all along he had to front the most formidable opposition, so formidable that all his fellow-workers were ready to yield, and were only held to their task by his indomitable resolution and unquenchable ardour. "A deist in his earlier writings," says Schwegler, "the drift of his subsequent writings amounts to the belief that all is God. At first a believer in the immateriality and immortality of the soul, he peremptorily declares at last that only the race endures, that individuals pass, and that immortality is nothing but life in the remembrance of posterity; he was kept back, however, from the materialism his doctrines issued in by his moral earnestness"; that Diderot was at heart no sceptic is evident, as Dr. Stirling suggests, from his "indignation at the darkness, the miserable ignorance of those around him, and his resolution to dispel it" (1713-1784).
Didius, Julianus, a Roman emperor who in 193 purchased the imperial purple from the prætorian guards, and was after two months murdered by the soldiers when Severus was approaching the city.
Dido, the daughter of Belus, king of Tyre, and the sister of Pygmalion, who, having succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, put Sichæus, her husband, to death for the sake of his wealth, whereupon she secretly took ship, sailed away from the city with the treasure, accompanied by a body of disaffected citizens, and founded Carthage, having picked up by the way 80 virgins from Cyprus to make wives for her male attendants; a neighbouring chief made suit for her hand, encouraged by her subjects, upon which, being bound by an oath of eternal fidelity to Sichæus, she erected a funeral pile and stabbed herself in presence of her subjects; Virgil makes her ascend the funeral pile out of grief for the departure of Æneas, of whom she was passionately in love.
Didot, the name of a French family of paper-makers, printers, and publishers, of which the most celebrated is Ambroise Firmin, born in Paris, a learned Hellenist (1790-1876).
Didymus (twin), a surname of St. Thomas; also the name of a grammarian of Alexandria, a contemporary of Cicero, and who wrote commentaries on Homer.
Diebitsch, Count, a Russian general, born in Silesia; commander-in-chief in 1829 of the Russian army against Turkey, over the forces of which he gained a victory in the Balkans; commissioned to suppress a Polish insurrection, he was baffled in his efforts, and fell a victim to cholera in 1831.
Dieffenbach, Johann Friedrich, an eminent German surgeon, born at Königsberg; studied for the Church; took part in the war of liberation, and began the study of medicine after the fall of Napoleon; was appointed to the chair of Surgery in Berlin; his fame rests on his skill as an operator (1792-1847).
Dieffenbach, Lorenz, a distinguished philologist and ethnologist, born at Ostheim, in the grand-duchy of Hesse; was for 11 years a pastor; in the end, until his death, librarian at Frankfort-on-the-Main; his literary works were numerous and varied; his chief were on philological and ethnological subjects, and are monuments of learning (1806-1883).
Diego Suarez, Bay of, is situated on the NE. of Madagascar, and has been ceded to France.
Diemen, Antony van, governor of the Dutch possessions in India, born in Holland; was a zealous coloniser; at his instance Abel Tasman was sent to explore the South Seas, when he discovered the island which he named after him Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania after the discoverer (1593-1645).
Diepenbeck, Abraham van, a Flemish painter and engraver (1599-1675).
Dieppe (22), a French seaport on the English Channel, at the mouth of the river Arques, 93 m. NW. of Paris; a watering and bathing place, with fisheries and a good foreign trade.
Dies Irae (lit. the Day of Wrath), a Latin hymn on the Last Judgment, so called from first words, and based on Zeph. i. 14-18; it is ascribed to a monk of the name of Thomas de Celano, who died in 1255, and there are several translations of it in English, besides a paraphrastic rendering in the "Lay of the Last Minstrel" by Scott, and it is also the subject of a number of musical compositions.
Diet, a convention of the princes, dignitaries, and delegates of the German empire, for legislative or administrative purposes, of which the most important in a historical point of view are diets held at Augsburg in 1518, at Worms in 1521, at Nüremberg in 1523, 1524, at Spires in 1526, 1529, at Augsburg in 1530, at Cologne in 1530, at Worms in 1536, at Frankfort in 1539, at Ratisbon in 1541, at Spires in 1544, at Augsburg in 1547, 1548, 1550, and at Ratisbon in 1622.
Dietrich, mayor of Strasburg, at whose request Rouget de Lisle composed the "Marseillaise"; was guillotined (1748-1793).
Dietrich of Bern, a favourite hero of German legend, who in the "Nibelungen" avenges the death of Siegfried, and in the "Heldenbuch" figures as a knight-errant of invulnerable prowess, from whose challenge even Siegfried shrinks, hiding himself behind Chriemhilda's veil; has been identified with Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths.
Diez, Friedrich Christian, a German philologist, born at Giessen; after service as a volunteer against Napoleon, and a tutorship at Utrecht, went to Bonn, where, advised by Goethe, he commenced the study of the Romance languages, and in 1830 became professor of them, the philology of which he is the founder; he left two great works bearing on the grammar and etymology of these languages (1794-1876).
Diez, Juan Martin, a Spanish brigadier-general of cavalry, born at Valladolid, the son of a peasant; had, as head of guerilla bands, done good service to his country during the Peninsular war and been promoted; offending the ruling powers, was charged with conspiracy, tried, and executed (1775-1825).
Digby, a seaport on the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia; noted for the curing of pilchards, called from it digbies.
Digby, Sir Everard, member of a Roman Catholic family; concerned in the Gunpowder Plot, and executed (1581-1606).
Digby, Sir Kenelm, a son of the preceding; was knighted by James I.; served under Charles I.; as a privateer defeated a squadron of Venetians, and fought against the Algerines; was imprisoned for a time as a Royalist; paid court afterwards to the Protector; was well received at the Restoration; was one of the first members of the Royal Society, and a man of some learning; wrote treatises on the Nature of Bodies and Man's Soul, on the corpuscular theory (1603-1665).
Dihong, the name given to the Brahmaputra as it traverses Assam; in the rainy season it overflows its channel and floods the whole lowlands of the country.
Dijon (61), the ancient capital of Burgundy, and the principal town in the dep. of Côte d'Or, 195 m. SE. of Paris, on the canal of Bourgogne; one of the finest towns in France, at once for its buildings, particularly its churches, and its situation; is a centre of manufacture and trade, and a seat of learning; the birthplace of many illustrious men.
Dikë (i. e. Justice), a Greek goddess, the daughter of Zeus and Themis; the guardian of justice and judgment, the foe of deceit and violence, and the accuser before Zeus of the unjust judge.
Diktys, the fisherman of Seriphus; saved Perseus and his mother from the perils of the deep.
Dilettante Society, The, a society of noblemen and gentlemen founded in England in 1734, and which contributed to correct and purify the public taste of the country; their labours were devoted chiefly to the study of the relics of ancient Greek art, and resulted in the production of works in illustration.
Dilettantism, an idle, often affected, almost always barren admiration and study of the fine arts, "in earnest about nothing."
Dilke, Charles Wentworth, English critic and journalist; served for 20 years in the Navy Pay-Office; contributed to the Westminister and other reviews; was proprietor and editor of the Athenæum; started the Daily News; left literary Papers, edited by his grandson (1789-1864).
Dilke, Sir Charles Wentworth, English publicist and politician, grandson of the preceding, born at Chelsea; called to the bar; travelled in America and the English colonies, and wrote a record of his travels in his "Greater Britain"; entered Parliament as an extreme Liberal; held office under Mr. Gladstone; from exposures in a divorce case had to retire from public life, but returned after a time; b. 1843.
Dillmann, a great German Orientalist, born at Illingen, a village of Würtemberg; studied under Ewald at Tübingen; became professor at Kiel, at Giessen, and finally at Berlin; as professor of Old Testament exegesis made a special study of the Ethiopic languages, and is the great authority in their regard; wrote a grammar and a lexicon of these, as well as works on theology; b. 1823.
Dillon, a general in the service of France, born in Dublin; was butchered by his troops near Lille (1745-1792).
Dillon, John, an Irish patriot, born in New York; entered Parliament in 1880 as a Parnellite; was once suspended, and four times imprisoned, for his over-zeal; sat at first for Tipperary, and since for East Mayo; in 1891 threw in his lot with the M'Carthyites; b. 1851.
Dimanche, M. (Mr. Sunday), a character in Molière's "Don Juan," the type of an honest merchant, whom, on presenting his bill, his creditor appeases by his politeness.
Dime, a U.S. silver coin, worth the tenth part of a dollar, or about fivepence.
Dinan (10), an old town in the dep. of Côtes du Nord, France, 14 m. S. of St. Malo; most picturesquely situated on the top of a steep hill, amid romantic scenery, of great archæological interest; the birthplace of Duclos.
Dinant, an old town on the Meuse, 14 m. S. of Namur, Belgium; noted for its gingerbread, and formerly for its copper wares, called Dinanderie.
Dinapur (44), a town and military station on the right bank of the Ganges, 12 m. NW. of Patna.
Dinarchus, an orator of the Phocion party in Athens, born at Corinth.
Dinaric Alps, a range of the Eastern Alps in Austria, runs SE. and parallel with the Adriatic, connecting the Julian Alps with the Balkans.
Dindorf, Wilhelm, a German philologist, born at Leipzig; devoted his life to the study of the ancient Greek classics, particularly the dramatists, and edited the chief of them, as well as the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" of Homer, with notes; was joint-editor with his brothers Ludwig and Hase of the "Thesaurus Græcæ Linguæ" of Stephanus (1802-1883).
Dingelstedt, a German poet, novelist, and essayist, born near Marburg; was the Duke of Würtemberg's librarian at Stuttgart, and theatre superintendent at Münich, Weimar, and Vienna successively; his poems show delicacy of sentiment and graphic power (1814-1881).
Dingwall, the county town of Ross-shire, at the head of the Cromarty Firth.
Dinkas, an African pastoral people occupying a flat country traversed by the White Nile; of good stature, clean habits; of semi-civilised manners, and ferocious in war.
Dinmont, Dandie, a jovial, honest-hearted store-farmer in Scott's "Guy Mannering."
Dinocrates, a Macedonian architect, who, in the time of Alexander the Great, rebuilt the Temple of Ephesus destroyed by the torch of Erostratus; was employed by Alexander in the building of Alexandria.
Diocletian, Roman emperor from 284 to 308, born at Salona, in Dalmatia, of obscure parentage; having entered the Roman army, served with distinction, rose rapidly to the highest rank, and was at Chalcedon, after the death of Numerianus, invested by the troops with the imperial purple; in 286 he associated Maximianus with himself as joint-emperor, with the title of Augustus, and in 292 resigned the Empire of the West to Constantius Chlorus and Galerius, so that the Roman world was divided between two emperors in the E. and two in the W.; in 303, at the instance of Galerius, he commenced and carried on a fierce persecution of the Christians, the tenth and fiercest; but in 305, weary of ruling, he abdicated and retired to Salona, where he spent his remaining eight years in rustic simplicity of life, cultivating his garden; bating his persecution of the Christians, he ruled the Roman world wisely and well (245-313).
Diodati, a Calvinistic theologian, born at Lucca; was taken while a child with his family to Geneva; distinguished himself there in the course of the Reformation as a pastor, a preacher, professor of Hebrew, and a professor of Theology; translated the Bible into Italian and into French; a nephew of his was a school-fellow and friend of Milton, who wrote an elegy on his untimely death (1576-1614).
Diodorus Siculus, historian, born in Sicily, of the age of Augustus; conceived the idea of writing a universal history; spent 30 years at the work; produced what he called "The Historical Library," which embraced the period from the earliest ages to the end of Cæsar's Gallic war, and was divided into 40 books, of which only a few survive entire, and some fragments of the rest.
Diogenes Laërtius, a Greek historian, born at Laerte, in Cilicia; flourished in the 2nd century A.D.; author of "Lives of the Philosophers," a work written in 10 books; is full of interesting information regarding the men, but is destitute of critical insight into their systems.
Diogenes of Apollonia, a Greek philosopher of the Ionic school, and an adherent of Anaximenes (q. v.), if of any one, being more of an eclectic than anything else; took more to physics than philosophy; contributed nothing to the philosophic movement of the time.
Diogenes the Cynic, born in Sinope, in Pontus, came to Athens, was attracted to Antisthenes (q. v.) and became a disciple, and a sansculotte of the first water; dressed himself in the coarsest, lived on the plainest, slept in the porches of the temples, and finally took up his dwelling in a tub; stood on his naked manhood; would not have anything to do with what did not contribute to its enhancement; despised every one who sought satisfaction in anything else; went through the highways and byways of the city at noontide with a lit lantern in quest of a man; a man himself not to be laughed at or despised; visiting Corinth, he was accosted by Alexander the Great: "I am Alexander," said the king, and "I am Diogenes" was the prompt reply; "Can I do anything to serve you?" continued the king; "Yes, stand out of the sunlight," rejoined the cynic; upon which Alexander turned away saying, "If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes." D'Alembert declared Diogenes the greatest man of antiquity, only that he wanted decency. "Great truly," says Carlyle, but adds with a much more serious drawback than that (412-323 B.C.). See "Sartor Resartus," bk. iii. chap. 1.
Diogenes the Stoic, born in Seleucia; a successor of Zeno, and head of the school at Athens, 2nd century B.C.
Diomedes, king of Argos, called Tydides, from his father; was, next to Achilles, the bravest of the Greeks at the Trojan war; fought under the protection of Athene against both Hector and Æneas, and even wounded both Aphrodité and Ares; dared along with Ulysses to carry off the Palladium from Troy; was first in the chariot race in honour of Patroclus, and overcame Ajax with the spear.
Diomedes, king of Thrace; fed his horses with human flesh, and was killed by Hercules for his inhumanity.
Dion Cassius, a Greek historian, born at Nicæa, in Bithynia, about A.D. 155; went to Rome, and served under a succession of emperors; wrote a "History of Rome" from Æneas to Alexander Severus in 80 books, of which only 18 survive entire; took years to prepare for and compose it; it is of great value, and often referred to.
Dion Chrysostomus (Dion with the golden, or eloquent, mouth), a celebrated Greek rhetorician, born at Prusa, in Bithynia, about the middle of the 1st century; inclined to the Platonic and Stoic philosophies; came to Rome, and was received with honour by Nerva and Trajan; is famous as an orator and as a writer of pure Attic Greek.
Dion of Syracuse, a pupil of Plato, and an austere man; was from his austerity obnoxious to his pleasure-loving nephew, Dionysius the Younger; subjected to banishment; went to Athens; learned his estates had been confiscated, and his wife given to another; took up arms, drove his nephew from the throne, usurped his place, and was assassinated in 353 B.C., the citizens finding that in getting rid of one tyrant they had but saddled themselves with another, and greater.
Dione, a Greek goddess of the earlier mythology; figures as the wife of the Dodonian Zeus; drops into subordinate place after his nuptials with Hera.
Dionysius the Elder, tyrant of Syracuse from 406 to 367 B.C.; at first a private citizen; early took interest in public affairs, and played a part in them; entered the army, and rose to be head of the State; subdued the other cities of Sicily, and declared war against Carthage; was attacked by the Carthaginians, and defeated them three times over; concluded a treaty of peace with them, and spent the rest of his reign, some 20 years, in maintaining and extending his territory; was distinguished, it is said, as he might well be, both as a poet and a philosopher; tradition represents him as in perpetual terror of his life, and taking every precaution to guard it from attack.
Dionysius the Younger, tyrant of Syracuse, son of the preceding, succeeded him in 367 B.C. at the age of thirty; had never taken part in public affairs; was given over to vicious indulgences, and proved incapable of amendment, though Dion (q. v.) tried hard to reform him; was unpopular with the citizens, who with the help of Dion, whom he had banished, drove him from the throne; returning after 10 years, was once more expelled by Timoleon; betook himself to Corinth, where he associated himself with low people, and supported himself by keeping a school.
Dionysius of Alexandria, patriarch from 348, a disciple of Origen, and his most illustrious pupil; a firm but judicious defender of the faith against the heretics of the time, in particular the Sabellians and the Chiliasts; d. 264.
Dionysius, St., the Areopagite (i. e. judge of the Areopagus), according to Acts xvii. 34, a convert of St. Paul's; became bishop of Athens, and died a martyr in 95; was long regarded as the father of mysticism in the Christian Church, on the false assumption that he was the author of writings of a much later date imbued with a pantheistic idea of God and the universe.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a Greek historian and rhetorician of the age of Augustus; came to Italy in 29 B.C., and spent 27 years in Rome, where he died; devoted himself to the study of the Roman republic, its history and its people, and recorded the result in his "Archæologia," written in Greek, which brings down the narrative to 264 B.C.; it consisted of 20 books, of which only 9 have come down to us entire; he is the author of works in criticism of the orators, poets, and historians of Greece.
Dionysius Periegetes, a Greek geographer who lived about the 4th century, and wrote a description of the whole earth in hexameters and in a terse and elegant style.
Dionysus, the god of the vine or wine; the son of Zeus and Semele (q. v.), the "twice born," as plucked first from the womb of his dead mother and afterwards brought forth from the thigh of Zeus, which served to him as his "incubator." See Bacchus.
Diophantus, a Greek mathematician, born in Alexandria; lived presumably about the 4th century; left works in which algebraic methods are employed, and is therefore credited with being the inventor of algebra.
Dioscor`ides, a Greek physician, born in Cilicia, lived in the 1st century; left a treatise in 5 books on materia medica, a work of great research, and long the standard authority on the subject.
Dioscuri, twin sons of Zeus, Castor and Pollux, a stalwart pair of youths, of the Doric stock, great the former as a horse-breaker and the latter as a boxer; were worshipped at Sparta as guardians of the State, and pre-eminently as patrons of gymnastics; protected the hearth, led the army in war, and were the convoy of the traveller by land and the voyager by sea, which as constellations they are still held to be.
Diphilus, a Greek comic poet, born at Sinope; contemporary of Menander; was the forerunner of Terence and Plautus, the Roman poets.
Diphtheria, a contagious disease characterised by the formation of a false membrane on the back of the throat.
Dippel, Johann Konrad, a celebrated German alchemist; professed to have discovered the philosopher's stone; did discover Prussian blue, and an animal oil that bears his name (1672-1734).
Dippel's Oil, an oil obtained from the distinctive distillation of horn bones.
Dircæan Swan, Pindar, so called from the fountain Dirce, near Thebes, his birthplace.
Dirce, the wife of Lycus, king of Thebes, who for her cruelty to Antiope, her divorced predecessor, was, by Antiope's two sons, Zethos and Amphion, tied to a wild bull and dragged to death, after which her carcass was flung by them into a well; the subject is represented in a famous antique group by Apollonius and Tauriscus.
Directory, The, the name given to the government of France, consisting of a legislative body of two chambers, the Council of the Ancients and the Council of Five Hundred, which succeeded the fall of the Convention, and ruled France from October 27, 1795, till its overthrow by Bonaparte on the 18th Brumaire (November 9, 1799). The Directors proper were five in number, and were elected by the latter council from a list presented by the former, and the chief members of it were Barras and Carnot.
Dirschau (11), a Prussian town on the Vistula, 21 m. SE. of Danzig, with iron-works and a timber trade.
Dis, a name given to Pluto and the nether world over which he rules.
Discipline, The Two Books of, books of dates 1561 and 1581, regulative of ecclesiastical order in the Presbyterian churches of Scotland, of which the ground-plan was drawn up by Knox on the Geneva model.
Discobolus, The, an antique statue representing the thrower of the discus, in the Louvre, and executed by the sculptor Myron.
Discord, Apple of. See infra.
Discord, The Goddess of, a mischief-making divinity, daughter of Night and sister of Mars, who on the occasion of the wedding of Thetis with Peleus, threw into the hall where all the gods and goddesses were assembled a golden apple inscribed "To the most Beautiful," and which gave rise to dissensions that both disturbed the peace of Olympus and the impartial administration of justice on earth. See Paris.
Dismal Science, Carlyle's name for the political economy that with self-complacency leaves everything to settle itself by the law of supply and demand, as if that were all the law and the prophets. The name is applied to every science that affects to dispense with the spiritual as a ruling factor in human affairs.
Dismas, St., the good thief to whom Christ promised Paradise as he hung on the cross beside Him.
Disraeli, Benjamin. See Beaconsfield.
D'Israeli, Isaac, a man of letters, born at Enfield, Middlesex; only son of a Spanish Jew settled in England, who left him a fortune, which enabled him to cultivate his taste for literature; was the author of several works, but is best known by his "Curiosities of Literature," a work published in six vols., full of anecdotes on the quarrels and calamities of authors; was never a strict Jew; finally cut the connection, and had his children baptized as Christians (1766-1848).
Dithyramb, a hymn in a lofty and vehement style, originally in honour of Bacchus, in celebration of his sorrows and joys, and accompanied with flute music.
Ditmarsh (77), a low-lying fertile district in West Holstein, between the estuaries of the Elbe and the Eider; defended by dykes; it had a legal code of its own known as the "Ditmarisches Landbuch."
Ditton, Humphry, author of a book on fluxions (1675-1715).
Diu (12), a small Portuguese island, with a port of the same name, in the Gulf of Cambay, S. of the peninsula of Gujarat, India; was a flourishing place once, and contained a famous Hindu temple; inhabited now chiefly by fishermen.
Divan, The, a collection of poems by Häfiz, containing nearly 600 odes; also a collection of lyrics in imitation of Goethe, entitled "Westöstlicher Divan."
Dives, the name given, originally in the Vulgate, to the rich man in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
Dividing Range, a range of mountains running E. from Melbourne, and then N., dividing the basin of the Murray from the plain extending to the coast.
Divine Comedy, The, the great poem of Dante, consisting of three compartments, "Inferno," "Purgatorio," and "Paradiso"; "three kingdoms ... Dante's World of Souls...; all three making up the true Unseen World, as it figured in the Christianity of the Middle Ages; a thing for ever memorable, for ever true in the essence of it, to all men ... but delineated in no human soul with such depth of veracity as in this of Dante's ... to the earnest soul of Dante it is all one visible fact—Hell, Purgatory, Paradise, with him not mere emblems, but indubitable awful realities." See Dante, and Carlyle's "Heroes and Hero-Worship."
Divine Doctor, Jean de Ruysbroek, the mystic (1294-1381).
Divine Pagan, Hypatia (q. v.).
Divine Right, a claim on the part of kings, now all but extinct, though matter of keen debate at one time, that they derive their authority to rule direct from the Almighty, and are responsible to no inferior power, a right claimed especially on the part of and in behalf of the Bourbons in France and the Stuart dynasty in England, and the denial of which was regarded by them and their partisans as an outrage against the ordinance of very Heaven.
Dixie Land, nigger land in U.S.
Dixon, W. Hepworth, an English writer and journalist, born in Manchester; called to the bar, but devoted himself to literary work; wrote Lives of Howard, Penn, Robert Blake, and Lord Bacon, "New America," "Spiritual Wives," &c.; was editor of the Athenoeum from 1853 to 1869; died suddenly (1821-1879).
Dizier, St. (13), a flourishing French town, 30 m. from Châlons-sur-Marne.
Dizzy, a nickname given to Benjamin Disraeli.
Djezzar (i. e. Butcher), the surname of Achmed Pasha, pacha of Acre; was born at Bosnia; sold as a slave, and raised himself by his servility to his master to the length of executing his cruellest wishes; in 1799 withstood a long siege of Acre by Bonaparte, and obliged him to retire (1735-1804).
Djinnestan, the region of the Jinns.
Dnieper, a river of Russia, anciently called the Borysthenes, the third largest for volume of water in Europe, surpassed only by the Danube and the Volga; rises in the province of Smolensk, and flowing in a generally southerly direction, falls into the Black Sea below Kherson after a course of 1330 m.; it traverses some of the finest provinces of the empire, and is navigable nearly its entire length.
Dniester, a river which takes its rise in Austria, in the Carpathians, enters Russia, flows generally in a SE. direction past Bender, and after a rapid course of 650 m. falls into the Black Sea at Akjerman.
Doab, The, a richly fertile, densely peopled territory in the Punjab, between the Jumna and Ganges, and extending 500 m. N., that is, as far as the Himalayas; it is the granary of Upper India.
Dobell, Sidney, poet, born at Cranbrook, in Kent; wrote, under the pseudonym of Sidney Yendys, the "Roman," a drama, "Balder," and, along with Alexander Smith, sonnets on the war (the Crimean); suffered much from weak health (1824-1874).
Döbereiner, a German chemist, professor at Jena; inventor of a lamp called after him; Goethe was much interested in his discoveries (1780-1849).
Döbereiner's Lamp, a light caused by a jet of hydrogen passing over spongy platinum.
Dobrovski, Joseph, a philologist, born in Gyarmet, in Hungary; devoted his life to the study of the Bohemian language and literature; wrote a history of them, the fruit of immense labour, under which his brain gave way more than once; was trained among the Jesuits (1753-1829).
Dobrenter, Hungarian archæologist; devoted 30 years of his life to the study of the Magyar language; author of "Ancient Monuments of the Magyar Language" (1786-1851).
Dobrudja (196), the part of Roumania between the Danube and the Black Sea, a barren, unwholesome district; rears herds of cattle.
Dobson, Austin, poet and prose writer, born at Plymouth, is in a department of the Civil Service; wrote "Vignettes in Rhyme," "Proverbs in Porcelain," "Old World Idylls," in verse, and in prose Lives of Fielding, Hogarth, Steele, and Goldsmith; contributed extensively to the magazines; b. 1840.
Dobson, William, portrait-painter, born in London; succeeded Vandyck as king's serjeant-painter to Charles I.; painted the king and members of his family and court; supreme in his art prior to Sir Joshua Reynolds; died in poverty (1610-1646).
Docetæ, a sect of heretics in the early Church who held that the humanity of Christ was only seeming, not real, on the Gnostic or Manichæan theory of the essential impurity and defiling nature of matter or the flesh.
Doctor (lit. teacher), a title implying that the possessor of it is such a master of his art that he can teach it as well as practise it.
Doctor Mirabilis, Roger Bacon.
Doctor My-Book, John Abernethy, from his saying to his patients, "Read my book."
Doctor of the Incarnation, Cyril of Alexandria, from his controversy with the Nestorians.
Doctor Slop, a doctor in "Tristram Shandy," fanatical about a forceps he invented.
Doctor Squintum, George Whitfield.
Doctor Syntax. See Combe, William.
Doctors' Commons, a college of doctors of the civil law in London, where they used to eat in common, and where eventually a number of the courts of law were held.
Doctrinaires, mere theorisers, particularly on social and political questions; applied originally to a political party that arose in France in 1815, headed by Roger-Collard and represented by Guizot, which stood up for a constitutional government that should steer clear of acknowledging the divine right of kinghood on the one hand and the divine right of democracy on the other.
Dodabetta, the highest peak, 8700 ft., in the Nilgherries.
Dodd, Dr. William, an English divine, born at Bourne, Lincolnshire; was one of the royal chaplains; attracted fashionable audiences as a preacher in London, but lived extravagantly, and fell hopelessly into debt, and into disgrace for the nefarious devices he adopted to get out of it; forged a bond for £4500 on the Earl of Chesterfield, who had been a pupil of his; was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, a sentence which was carried out notwithstanding the great exertions made to procure a pardon; wrote a "Commentary on the Bible," and compiled "The Beauties of Shakespeare" (1729-1777).
Doddridge, Philip, a Nonconformist divine, born in London; was minister at Kebworth, Market Harborough, and Northampton successively, and much esteemed both as a man and a teacher; suffered from pulmonary complaint; went to Lisbon for a change, and died there; was the author of "The Family Expositor," but is best known by his "Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul," and perhaps also by his "Life of Colonel Gardiner" (1702-1751).
Döderlein, Ludwig, a German philologist, born at Jena; became professor of Philology at Erlangen; edited Tacitus, Horace, and other classic authors, but his principal works were on the etymology of the Latin language (1791-1863).
Dodger, The Artful, a young expert in theft and other villanies in Dickens's "Oliver Twist."
Dodgson, Charles Lutwidge, English writer and man of genius, with the nom de plume of Lewis Carroll; distinguished himself at Oxford in mathematics; author of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," with its sequel, "Through the Looking-Glass," besides other works, mathematical, poetic, and humorous; mingled humour and science together (1833-1898).
Dodington, George Bubb, an English politician, notorious for his fickleness, siding now with this party, now with that; worked for and won a peerage before he died; with all his pretensions, and they were many, a mere flunkey at bottom (1691-1762).
Dodo, an ungainly bird larger than a turkey, with short scaly legs, a big head and bill, short wings and tail, and a greyish down plumage, now extinct, though it is known to have existed in the Mauritius some 200 years ago.
Dodo`na, an ancient oracle of Zeus, in Epirus, close by a grove of oak trees, from the agitation of the branches of which the mind of the god was construed, the interpreters being at length three old women; it was more or less a local oracle, and was ere long superseded by the more widely known oracle of Delphi (q. v.).
Dods, Meg, an old landlady of consistently inconsistent qualities in "St. Ronan's Well"; also the pseudonym of the authoress of a book on cookery.
Dodsley, Robert, an English poet, dramatist, and publisher; wrote a drama called "The Toyshop," which, through Pope's influence, was acted in Drury Lane with such success as to enable the author to commence business as a bookseller in Pall Mall; projected and published the Miscellany, and continued to write plays, the most popular "Cleone"; is best known in connection with his "Collection of Old Plays"; he was a patron of Johnson, and much esteemed by him (1703-1764).
Doeg, a herdsman of Saul (1 Sam. xxi. 7); a name applied by Dryden to Elkanah Settle in "Absalom and Achitophel."
Dogberry, a self-satisfied night constable in "Much Ado about Nothing."
Dog-days, 20 days before and 20 after the rising of the dog-star Sirius, at present from 3rd July to 11th August.
Doge, the name of the chief magistrate of Venice and Genoa, elected at first annually and then for life in Venice, with, in course of time, powers more and more limited, and at length little more than a figure-head; the office ceased with the fall of the republic in 1797, as it did in Genoa in 1804.
Dogger Bank, a sandbank in the North Sea; a great fishing-field, extending between Jutland in Denmark and Yorkshire in England, though distant from both shores, 170 m. long, over 60 m. broad, and from 8 to 10 fathoms deep.
Dogs, Isle of, a low-lying projection of a square mile in extent from the left bank of the Thames, opposite Greenwich, and 3½ m. E. of St. Paul's.
Dolabella, son-in-law of Cicero, a profligate man, joined Cæsar, and was raised by him to the consulship; joined Cæsar's murderers after his death; was declared from his profligacy a public enemy; driven to bay by a force sent against him, ordered one of his soldiers to kill him.
Dolci, Carlo, a Florentine painter, came of a race of artists; produced many fine works, the subjects of them chiefly madonnas, saints. &c. (1616-1686).
Dolcino, a heresiarch and martyr of the 14th century, of the Apostolic Brethren, a sect which rose in Piedmont who made themselves obnoxious to the Church; was driven to bay by his persecutors, and at last caught and tortured and burnt to death; a similar fate overtook others of the sect, to its extermination.
Doldrums, a zone of the tropics where calms, squalls, and baffling winds prevail.
Dôle (12), a town in the dep. of Jura, on the Doubs, and the Rhône and Rhine Canal, 28 m. SE. of Dijon, with iron-works, and a trade in wine, grain, &c.
Dolet, Étienne, a learned French humanist, born at Orleans, became, by the study of the classics, one of the lights of the Renaissance, and one of its most zealous propagandists; suffered persecution after persecution at the hands of the Church, and was burned in the Place Maubert, Paris, a martyr to his philosophic zeal and opinions (1509-1546).
Dolgelly, capital of Merioneth, Wales, with manufactures of flannel.
Dolgorouki, the name of a noble and illustrious Russian family.
Dollart Zee, a gulf in Holland into which the Ems flows, 8 m. long by 7 broad, and formed by inundation of the North Sea.
Döllinger, a Catholic theologian, born in Bamberg, Bavaria, professor of Church History in the University of Münich; head of the old Catholic party in Germany; was at first a zealous Ultramontanist, but changed his opinions and became quite as zealous in opposing, first, the temporal sovereignty, and then the infallibility of the Pope, to his excommunication from the Church; he was a polemic, and as such wrote extensively on theological and ecclesiastical topics; lived to a great age, and was much honoured to the last (1799-1890).
Dollond, John, a mathematical instrument-maker, born in Spitalfields, London, of Dutch descent; began life as a silk-weaver; made good use of his leisure hours in studies bearing mainly on physics; went into partnership with his son, who was an optician; made a study of the telescope, suggested improvements which commended themselves to the Royal Society, and in especial how, by means of a combination of lenses, to get rid of the coloured fringe in the image (1706-1761).
Dolmen, a rude structure of prehistoric date, consisting of upright unhewn stones supporting one or more heavy slabs; long regarded as altars of sacrifice, but now believed to be sepulchral monuments; found in great numbers in Bretagne especially.
Dolomite Alps, a limestone mountain range forming the S. of the Eastern Alps, in the Tyrol and N. Italy, famous for the remarkable and fantastic shapes they assume; named after Dolomieu, a French mineralogist, who studied the geology of them.
Domat, Jean, a learned French jurist and friend of Pascal, regarded laws and customs as the reflex of political history (1625-1696).
Dombasle, an eminent French agriculturist, born at Nancy (1771-1818).
Dom-Boke (i. e. Doom-book), a code of laws compiled by King Alfred from two prior Saxon codes, to which he prefixed the Ten Commandments of Moses, and rules of life from the Christian code of ethics.
Dombrowski, John Henry, a Polish general, served in the Polish campaigns against Russia and Prussia in 1792-1794; organised a Polish legion which did good service in the wars of Napoleon; covered the retreat of the French at the Beresina in 1812 (1755-1818).
Domdaniel, a hall under the ocean where the evil spirits and magicians hold council under their chief and pay him homage.
Domenichi`no, a celebrated Italian painter, born at Bologna; studied under Calvaert and Caracci; was of the Bolognese school, and reckoned one of the first of them; his principal works are his "Communion of St. Jerome," now in the Vatican, and the "Martyrdom of St. Agnes," at Bologna, the former being regarded as his masterpiece; he was the victim of persecution at the hands of rivals; died at Naples, not without suspicion of having been poisoned (1581-1641).
Domesday Book, the record, in 2 vols., of the survey of all the lands of England made in 1081-1086 at the instance of William the Conqueror for purposes of taxation; the survey included the whole of England, except the four northern counties and part of Lancashire, and was made by commissioners appointed by the king, and sent to the different districts of the country, where they held courts, and registered everything on evidence; it is a valuable document.
Dominic de Guzman, St., saint of the Catholic Church, born in Old Castile; distinguished for his zeal in the conversion of the heretic; essayed the task by simple preaching of the Word; sanctioned persecution when persuasion was of no avail; countenanced the crusade of Simon de Montfort against the Albigenses for their obstinate unbelief, and thus established a precedent which was all too relentlessly followed by the agents of the Spanish Inquisition, the chiefs of which were of the Dominican order, so that he is ignominiously remembered as the "burner and slayer of heretics" (1170-1221). Festival, Aug. 4.
Dominica, or Dominique (26), the largest and most southerly of the Leeward Islands, and belongs to Britain; one-half of the island is forest, and parts of it have never been explored; was discovered by Columbus on Sunday, November 3, 1493, whence its name.
Dominical Letter, one of seven letters, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, used to mark the Sundays throughout the year, so that if A denote the first Sunday, it will denote all the rest, and so on with B, C, &c., till at the end of seven years A becomes the dominical letter again.
Dominican Republic, or St. Domingo (610), a republic forming the E. part of the island of Haiti, and consisting of two-thirds of it; it belonged alternately to France and Spain till 1865, when, on revolt, the Spaniards were expelled, and a republic established; the capital is St. Domingo (15), and the chief port Puerto Plata.
Dominicans, a religious order of preaching friars, founded at Toulouse in 1215 by St. Dominic, to aid in the conversion of the heretic Albigenses to the faith, and finally established as the order whose special charge it was to guard the orthodoxy of the Church. The order was known by the name Black Friars in England, from their dress; and Jacobins in France, from the street of Paris in which they had their head-quarters.
Dominie, Sampson, a schoolmaster in "Guy Mannering," "a poor, modest, humble scholar, who had won his way through the classics, but fallen to the leeward in the voyage of life."
Dominis, Marco Antonio de, a vacillating ecclesiastic, born in Dalmatia; was educated by the Jesuits; taught mathematics in Padua; wrote a treatise in which an explanation was for the first time given of the phenomenon of the rainbow; became archbishop of Spalatro; falling under suspicion he passed over to England, professed Protestantism, and was made dean of Windsor; reconciled to the Papacy, returned to the Church of Rome, and left the country; his sincerity being distrusted, was cast into prison, where he died, his body being afterwards disinterred and burned (1566-1624).
Domitian, Roman emperor, son of Vespasian, brother of Titus, whom he succeeded in 81, the last of the twelve Cæsars; exceeded the expectations of every one in the beginning of his reign, as he had given proof of a licentious and sanguinary character beforehand, but soon his conduct changed, and fulfilled the worst fears of his subjects; his vanity was wounded by the non-success of his arms, and his vengeful spirit showed itself in a wholesale murder of the citizens; many conspiracies were formed against his life, and he was at length murdered by an assassin, who had been hired by his courtiers and abetted by his wife Domitia, in 96.
Domrémy, a small village on the Meuse, in the dep. of Vosges; the birthplace of Joan of Arc.
Don, a Russian river, the ancient Tanaïs; flows southward from its source in the province of Tula, and after a course of 1153 m. falls into the Sea of Azov; also the name of a river in Aberdeenshire, and another in Yorkshire.
Don Juan, the member of a distinguished family of Seville, who seduces the daughter of a noble, and when confronted by her father stabs him to death in a duel; he afterwards prepares a feast and invites the stone statue of his victim to partake of it; the stone statue turns up at the least, compels Don Juan to follow him, and delivers him over to the abyss of hell, the depths of which he had qualified himself for by his utter and absolute depravity.
Don Quixote, the title of a world-famous book written by Miguel Cervantes, in satire of the romances of chivalry with which his countrymen were so fascinated; the chief character of which gives title to it, a worthy gentleman of La Mancha, whose head is so turned by reading tales of knight-errantry, that he fancies he is a knight-errant himself, sallies forth in quest of adventures, and encounters them in the most commonplace incidents, one of his most ridiculous extravagancies being his tilting with the windmills, and the overweening regard he has for his Dulcinea del Tobosa.
Donaldson, John William, a philologist, born in London; Fellow of Cambridge and tutor of Trinity College; author of "New Cratylus; or Contributions towards a more Accurate Knowledge of the Greek Language," a work of great erudition and of value to scholars; contributed also to the philological study of Latin, and wrote a grammar of both languages; he failed when he intruded into the field of biblical criticism (1811-1861).
Donatello, a great Italian sculptor, born at Florence, where he was apprenticed to a goldsmith; tried his hand at carving in leisure hours; went to Rome and studied the monuments of ancient art; returned to Florence and executed an "Annunciation," still preserved in a chapel in Santa Croce, which was followed by marble statues of St. Peter, St. Mark, and St. George, before one of which, that of St. Mark, Michael Angelo exclaimed, "Why do you not speak to me?"; he executed tombs and figures, or groups in bronze as well as marble; his schoolmasters were the sculptors of Greece, and the real was his ultimate model (1383-1460).
Donati, an Italian astronomer, born at Pisa; discoverer of the comet of 1858, called Donati's comet (1826-1873).
Donatists, a sect in N. Africa, founded by Donatus, bishop of Carthage, in the 4th century, that separated from the rest of the Church and formed itself into an exclusive community, with bishops and congregations of its own, on the ground that no one was entitled to be a member of Christ's body, or an overseer of Christ's flock, who was not of divine election, and that in the face of an attempt, backed by the Emperor Constantine, to thrust a bishop on the Church at Carthage, consecrated by an authority that had betrayed and sold the Church to the world; the members of it were subject to cruel persecutions in which they gloried, and were annihilated by the Saracens in the 7th century.
Donatus, a Latin grammarian and rhetorician of the 4th century, the teacher of St. Jerome; the author of treatises in grammar known as Donats, and, along with the sacred Scriptures, the earliest examples of printing by means of letters cut on wooden blocks, and so appreciated as elementary treatises that they gave name to treatises of the kind on any subject; he wrote also scholia to the plays of Terence.
Donau, the German name for the Danube.
Doncaster (26), a market and manufacturing town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, well built, in a pleasant country, on the right bank of the Don, 33 m. S. of York; famous for its races, the St. Leger in particular, called after Colonel St. Leger, who instituted them in 1776.
Dondra Head, the southern extremity of Ceylon, once the site of the capital.
Donegal (185), a county in the NW. of Ireland, in the province of Ulster, the most mountainous in the country; is mossy and boggy, and is indented along the coast with bays, and fringed with islands.
Donetz, a tributary of the Russian Don, the basin of which forms one large coal-field, reckoned to be as large as all Yorkshire, and is reckoned one of the largest of any in the world.
Dongola, New, a town in Nubia, on the left bank of the Nile, above the third cataract, 20° N. and over 700 m. from Cairo; was founded by the Mamelukes.
Donizetti, a celebrated Italian composer, born at Bergamo, Lombardy, and studied at Bologna; devoted himself to dramatic music; produced over 60 operas, among the number "Lucia di Lammermoor," the "Daughter of the Regiment," "Lucrezia Borgia," and "La Favorita," all well known, and all possessing a melodious quality of the first order (1797-1848).
Donne, John, English poet and divine, born in London; a man of good degree; brought up in the Catholic faith; after weighing the claims of the Romish and Anglican communions, joined the latter; married a young lady of sixteen without consent of her father, which involved him in trouble for a time; was induced to take holy orders by King James; was made his chaplain, and finally became Dean of St. Paul's; wrote sermons, some 200 letters and essays, as well as poems, the latter, amid many defects, revealing a soul instinct with true poetic fire (1573-1631). See "Professor Saintsbury on Donne."
Donnybrook, a village now included in Dublin, long celebrated for its fairs and the fights it was the scene of on such occasions.
Donon, the highest peak of the Vosges Mountains.
Doo, George Thomas, a celebrated English line-engraver, and one of the best in his day (1800-1886).
Doon, a river rendered classic by the muse of Burns, which after a course of 30 m. joins the Clyde 2 m. S. of Ayr.
Dora, the child-wife of "David Copperfield," Dickens's novel.
Dora d'Istria, the pseudonym of Helena Ghika, born in Wallachia, of noble birth; distinguished for her beauty and accomplishments; was eminent as a linguist; translated the "Iliad" into German; wrote works, the fruits of travels (1829-1888).
Doran, John, an English man of letters, born In London, of Irish descent; wrote on miscellaneous subjects; became editor of the Athenæum and Notes and Queries (1807-1878).
Dorat, Jean, a French poet, born at Limoges; a Greek scholar; contributed much to the revival of classical literature in France, and was one of the French Pléiade (q. v.); d. 1588.
Dorcas Society, a society for making clothing for the poor. See Acts ix. 39.
Dorchester (7), the county town of Dorset, on the Frome; was a Roman town, and contains the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre.
Dordogne, a river in the S. of France, which, after a course of 300 m., falls into the estuary of Garonne; also a dep. (478) through which it flows.
Doré, Gustave, a French painter and designer, born in Strasburg; evinced great power and fertility of invention, having, it is alleged, produced more than 50,000 designs; had a wonderful faculty for seizing likenesses, and would draw from memory groups of faces he had seen only once; among the books he illustrated are the "Contes Drolatiques" of Balzac, the works of Rabelais and Montaigne, Dante's "Inferno," also his "Purgatorio" and "Paradiso," "Don Quixote," Tennyson's "Idylls," Milton's works, and Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner"; among his paintings were "Christ Leaving the Prætorium," and "Christ's Entry into Jerusalem"; he has left behind him works of sculpture as well as drawings and pictures; his art has been severely handled by the critics, and most of all by Ruskin, who treats it with unmitigated scorn (1832-1883).
Doria, Andrea, a naval commander, born in Genoa, of noble descent, though his parents were poor; a man of patriotic instincts; adopted the profession of arms at the age of 19; became commander of the fleet in 1513; attacked with signal success the Turkish corsairs that infested the Mediterranean; served under Francis I. to free his country from a faction that threatened its independence, and, by his help, succeeded in expelling it; next, in fear of the French supremacy, served, under Charles V., and entering Genoa, was hailed as its liberator, and received the title of "Father and Defender of his country"; the rest of his life, and it was a long one, was one incessant wrestle with his great rival Barbarossa, the chief of the corsairs, and which ended in his defeat (1466-1560).
Dorians, one of the four divisions of the Hellenic race, the other three being the Achæans, the Æolians, and the Ionians; at an early period overran the whole Peloponnesus; they were a hardy people, of staid habits and earnest character.
Doric, the oldest, strongest, and simplest of the four Grecian orders of architecture.
Dorine, a petulant domestic in Molière's "Tartuffe."
Doris, a small mountainous country of ancient Greece, S. of Thessaly, and embracing the valley of the Pindus.
Doris, the wife of Nereus, and mother of the Nereids.
Dorislaus, Isaac, a lawyer, born at Alkmaar, in Holland; came to England, and was appointed Judge-Advocate; acted as such at King Charles's trial, and was for that latter offence assassinated at the Hague one evening by certain high-flying Royalist cut-throats, Scotch several of them; "his portrait represents him as a man of heavy, deep-wrinkled, elephantine countenance, pressed down by the labours of life and law" (1595-1649).
Dorking (7), a market-town picturesquely situated in the heart of Surrey, 24 m. SW. of London; gives name to a breed of fowls; contains a number of fashionable villas.
Dorn, a distinguished German orientalist; wrote a History of the Afghans, and on their language (1805-1881).
Dorner, Isaak August, a German theologian, born at Würtemberg; studied at Tübingen; became professor of Theology in Berlin, after having held a similar post in several other German universities; his principal works were the "History of the Development of the Doctrine of the Person of Christ," and the "History of Protestant Theology" (1809-1884).
Dornoch, the county town of Sutherland, a small place, but a royal burgh; has a good golf course.
Doros, a son of Helen and grandson of Deucalion, the father of the Dorians, as his brother Æolis was of the Æolians.
Dorothea, St., a virgin of Alexandria, suffered martyrdom by being beheaded in 311. Festival, Feb. 6.
Dorpat (38), a town on the Embach, in Livonia, Russia, 150 m. NE. of Riga, with a celebrated university founded by Gustavus Adolphus in 1632; it has a well-equipped staff, and is well attended; the majority of the population is German.
D'Orsay, Count, a man of fashion, born in Paris; entered the French army; forsook it for the society of Lord and Lady Blessington; married Lady B.'s daughter by a former marriage; came to England with her ladyship on her husband's death; started a joint establishment in London, which became a rendezvous for all the literary people and artists about town; was "Phoebus Apollo of Dandyism"; paid homage to Carlyle at Chelsea one day in 1839; "came whirling hither in a chariot that struck all Chelsea into mute amazement with splendour," says Carlyle, who thus describes him, "a tall fellow of six feet three, built like a tower, with floods of dark auburn hair, with a beauty, with an adornment unsurpassable on this planet: withal a rather substantial fellow at bottom, by no means without insight, without fun, and a sort of rough sarcasm, rather striking out of such a porcelain figure"; having shown kindness to Louis Napoleon when in London, the Prince did not forget him, and after the coup d'état appointed him to a well-salaried post, but he did not live to enjoy it (1798-1852).
Dorset (194), maritime county in the S. of England, with a deeply indented coast; it consists of a plain between two eastward and westward reaching belts of downs; is mainly a pastoral county; rears sheep and cattle, and produces butter and cheese.
Dort, or Dordrecht (34), a town on an island in the Maas, in the province of South Holland, 12 m. SE. of Rotterdam; admirably situated for trade, connected as it is with the Rhine as well, on which rafts of wood are sent floating down to it; is famous for a Synod held here in 1618-19, at which the tenets of Arminius were condemned, and the doctrines of Calvin approved of and endorsed as the doctrines of the Reformed Church.
Dortmund (89), a town in Westphalia; a great mineral and railway centre, with large iron and steel forges, and a number of breweries.
Dory, John, the hero of an old ballad.
Do-the-Boys'-Hall, a scholastic establishment in "Nicholas Nickleby."
Douay (31), a town on the Scarpe, in the dep. of Nord, France, 20 m. S. of Lille, and one of the chief military towns of the country; has a college founded in 1568 for the education of Catholic priests intended for England, and is where a version of the Bible in English for the use of Catholics was issued.
Doubs, a tributary of the Saône, which it falls into below Dôle; gives name to the dep. (303), which it traverses.
Doubting Castle, a castle belonging to Giant Despair in the "Pilgrim's Progress," which only one key could open, the key Promise.
Douce, Francis, a learned antiquary, born in London; for a time keeper of MSS. in the British Museum; author of "Illustrations of Shakespeare," and an illustrated volume, "The Dance of Death"; left in the Museum a chest of books and MSS. not to be opened till 1900; was a man of independent means, and a devoted archæologist (1757-1834).
Douglas (19), the largest town and capital as well as chief port of the Isle of Man, 74 m. from Liverpool; much frequented as a bathing-place; contains an old residence of the Dukes of Atholl, entitled Castle Mona, now a hotel. See Man, Isle of.
Douglas-1, the name of an old Scotch family, believed to be of Celtic origin, and that played a conspicuous part at one time in the internal and external struggles of the country; they figure in Scottish history in two branches, the elder called the Black and the later the Red Douglases or the Angus branch, now represented by the houses of Hamilton and Home. The eldest of the Douglases, William, was a kinsman of the house of Murray, and appears to have lived about the end of the 12th century. One of the most illustrious of the family was the Good Sir James, distinguished specially as the "Black" Douglas, the pink of knighthood and the associate of Bruce, who carried the Bruce's heart in a casket to bury it in Palestine, but died fighting in Spain, 1330.
Douglas, Gawin or Gavin, a Scottish poet and bishop of Dunkeld, third son of Archibald, Earl of Angus, surnamed "Bell-the-Cat"; political troubles obliged him to leave the country and take refuge at the Court of Henry VII., where he was held in high regard; died here of the plague, and was buried by his own wish in the Savoy; besides Ovid's "Art of Love," now lost, he translated (1512-1513) the "Æneid" of Virgil into English verse, to each book of which he prefixed a prologue, in certain of which there are descriptions that evince a poet's love of nature combined with his love as a Scotchman for the scenery of his native land; besides this translation, which is his chief work, he indited two allegorical poems, entitled the "Palace of Honour," addressed to James IV., and "King Hart" (1474-1522).
Douglas, Sir Howard, an English general and writer on military subjects, born at Gosport; saw service in the Peninsula; was Governor of New Brunswick and Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands (1776-1861).
Douglas, John, bishop of Salisbury, born at Pittenweem, Fife; wrote "The Criterion of, or a Discourse on, Miracles" against Hume; was a friend of Samuel Johnson's (1721-1807).
Douglas, Stephen Arnold, an American statesman, born in Brandon, Vermont; a lawyer by profession, and a judge; a member of Congress and the Senate; was a Democrat; stood for the Presidency when Lincoln was elected; was a leader in the Western States; a splendid monument is erected to his memory in Chicago (1813-1861).
Douglass, Frederick, American orator, born a slave in Maryland; wrought as a slave in a Baltimore shipbuilder's yard; escaped at the age of 21 to New York; attended an anti-slavery meeting, where he spoke so eloquently that he was appointed by the Anti-Slavery Society to lecture in its behalf, which he did with success and much appreciation in England as well as America; published an Autobiography, which gives a thrilling account of his life (1817-1895).
Doulton, Sir Henry, the reviver of art pottery, born in Lambeth; knighted in the Jubilee year for his eminence in that department; b. 1820.
Douro, a river, and the largest, of the Spanish Peninsula, which rises in the Cantabrian Mountains; forms for 40 m. the northern boundary of Portugal, and after a course of 500 m. falls into the Atlantic at Oporto; is navigable only where it traverses Portugal.
Douster-swivel, a German swindling schemer in the "Antiquary."
Dove, in Christian art the symbol of the Holy Ghost, or of a pure, or a purified soul, and with an olive branch, the symbol of peace and the gospel of peace.
Dove, Heinrich Wilhelm, a German physicist, born at Liegnitz, Silesia; professor of Natural Philosophy in Berlin; was eminent chiefly in the departments of meteorology and optics; he discovered how by the stereoscope to detect forged bank-notes (1803-1879).
Dover (33), a seaport on the E. coast of Kent, and the nearest in England to the coast of France, 60 m. SE. of London, and with a mail service to Calais and Ostend; is strongly fortified, and the chief station in the SE. military district of England; was the chief of the Cinque Ports.
Dover, Strait of, divides France from England and connects the English Channel with the North Sea, and at the narrowest 20 m. across; forms a busy sea highway; is called by the French Pas de Calais.
Dovrefeld, a range of mountains in Norway, stretching NE. and extending between 62° and 63° N. lat., average height 3000 ft.
Dow or Douw, Gerard, a distinguished Dutch genre-painter, born at Leyden; a pupil of Rembrandt; his works, which are very numerous, are the fruit of a devoted study of nature, and are remarkable for their delicacy and perfection of finish; examples of his works are found in all the great galleries of Europe (1613-1675).
Dowden, Edward, literary critic, professor of English Literature in Dublin University, born in Cork; is distinguished specially as a Shakesperian; is author of "Shakespeare: a Study of his Mind and Art," "Introduction to Shakespeare," and "Shakesperian Sonnets, with Notes"; has written "Studies in Literature," and a "Life of Shelley"; is well read in German as well as English literature; has written with no less ability on Goethe than on Shakespeare; b. 1843.
Down (266), a maritime county in the SE. of the province of Ulster, Ireland, with a mostly level and fairly fertile soil, and manufactures of linen.
Downs, The, a safe place of anchorage, 8 m. long by 6 m. broad, for ships between Goodwin Sands and the coast of Kent.
Downs, The North and South, two parallel ranges of low broad hills covered with a light soil and with a valley between, called the Weald, that extend eastward from Hampshire to the sea-coast, the North terminating in Dover cliffs, Kent, and the South in Beachy Head, Sussex; the South famous for the breed of sheep that pastures on them.
Doyle, Dr. Conan, novelist, nephew of Richard and grandson of John, born in Edinburgh; studied and practised medicine, but gave it up after a time for literature, in which he had already achieved no small success; several of his productions have attracted universal attention, especially his "Adventures" and his "Memoir of Sherlock Holmes"; wrote a short play "A Story of Waterloo," produced with success by Sir Henry Irving; b. 1859.
Doyle, Sir Francis Hastings, an English poet, born near Tadcaster; bred to the bar, but devoted to poetry and horse-racing; became professor of Poetry at Oxford; author of "Miscellaneous Verses," "Two Destinies," "Retreat of the Guards," "The Thread of Honour," and "The Private of the Buffs" (1810-1858).
Doyle, John, an eminent caricaturist, of Irish origin, under the initials H. B. (1797-1868).
Doyle, Richard, eminent caricaturist, born in London, son of the preceding; contributed to Punch, of which he designed the cover, but left the staff, in 1850 owing to the criticisms in the journal adverse to the Catholic Church; devoted himself after that chiefly to book illustration and water-colour painting (1824-1883).
Dozy, Reinhart, an Orientalist and linguist, born at Leyden, where he became professor of History; devoted himself to the study of the history of the Arabs or Moors in North-Western Africa and Spain, his chief work being "The History of the Mussulmans of Spain"; wrote also a "Detailed Dictionary of the Names of the Dress of the Arabs" (1820-1883).
Drachenfels (Dragon's Rock), one of the Siebengebirge, 8 m. SE. of Bonn, 1056 ft. above the Rhine, and crowned by a castle with a commanding view; the legendary abode of the dragon killed by Siegfried in the "Lay of the Nibelungen."
Draco, a celebrated Athenian law-giver, who first gave stability to the State by committing the laws to writing, and establishing the Ephetæ, or court of appeal, 621 B.C.; only he punished every transgressor of his laws with death, so that his code became unbearable, and was superseded ere long by a milder, instituted by Solon, who affixed the penalty of death to murder alone; he is said to have justified the severity of his code by maintaining that the smallest crime deserved death, and he knew no severer punishment for greater; it is said he was smothered to death in the theatre by the hats and cloaks showered on him as a popular mark of honour; he was archon of Athens.
Dragon, a fabulous monster, being a hideous impersonation of some form of deadly evil, which only preternatural heroic strength and courage can subdue, and on the subdual and slaying of which depends the achievement of some conquest of vital moment to the human race or some members of it; is represented in mediæval art as a large, lizard-like animal, with the claws of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the tail of a serpent, with open jaws ready and eager to devour, which some knight high-mounted thrusts at to pierce to death with a spear; in the Greek mythology it is represented with eyes ever on the watch, in symbol of the evil that waylays us to kill us if we don't kill it, as in guarding the "Apples of the Hesperides" and the "Golden Fleece," because these are prizes that fall only to those who are as watchful of him as he is of them; and it is consecrated to Minerva to signify that true wisdom, as sensible of the ever-wakeful dragon, never goes to sleep, but is equally ever on the watch.
Dragonnades, the name given to the persecution at the instance of Louis XIV. to force the Huguenots of France back into the bosom of the Catholic Church by employment of dragoons.
Dragon's Teeth, the teeth of the dragon that Cadmus slew, and which when sown by him sprang up as a host of armed men, who killed each other all to the five who became the ancestors of the Thebans, hence the phrase to "sow dragon's teeth," to breed and foster strife.
Drake, Sir Francis, a great English seaman of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, born near Tavistock, in Devon; served in the Royal Navy under his relative, Sir John Hawkins, and distinguished himself with signal success by his valour and daring against the pride of Spain, towards which, as the great Catholic persecuting power, he had been taught to cherish an invincible hatred; came swoop down like a hawk on its ports across seas, and bore himself out of them laden with spoil; in 1577 sailed for America with five ships, passed through the Strait of Magellan, the first Englishman to do it; plundered the W. coast as far as Peru; lost all his ships save one; crossed the Pacific, and came home by way of the Cape—the first to sail round the world—with spoil to the value of £300,000, his successes contributing much to embolden his countrymen against the arrogance of the Catholic king; and he was vice-admiral in the fleet that drove back the Armada from our shores (1540-1596).
Drake, Friedrich, a German sculptor, born at Pyrmont; studied under Rauch; executed numerous statues and busts, among others busts of Oken and Ranke, Bismarck and Moltke; his chief works are the "Eight Provinces of Prussia," represented by large allegorical figures, and the "Warrior crowned by Victory" (1805-1882).
Drake, Nathan, a physician, born at York; author of "Shakespeare and his Times" (1766-1836).
Drakenberg Mountains, a range of mountains in S. Africa, 6500 ft. high, between Natal and the Orange Free State.
Dramatic unities, three rules of dramatic construction prescribed by Aristotle, observed by the French dramatists, but ignored by Shakespeare, that (1) a play should represent what takes place within eight hours, (2) there must be no change of locality, and (3) there must be no minor plot.
Drammen (20), a Norwegian seaport on a river which falls into Christiania Bay, 30 m. SW. of Christiania; trade chiefly in timber.
Draper, John William, a chemist, scientist, and man of letters, born at Liverpool; settled in the United States; wrote on chemistry, physiology, and physics generally, as well as works of a historical character, such as the "History of the Intellectual Development of Europe" and the "History of the Conflict between Science and Religion," an able book (1811-1882).
Drapier, a pseudonym adopted by Swift in his letters to the people of Ireland anent Wood's pence, and which led to the cancelling of the patent.
Drave, a river from the Eastern Alps which flows eastward, and after a course of 380 miles falls into the Danube 10 m. below Essek.
Dravidians, races of people who occupied India before the arrival of Aryans, and being driven S. by them came to settle chiefly in the S. of the Dekkan; they are divided into numerous tribes, each with a language of its own, but of a common type or group, some of them literary and some of them not, the chief the Tamil; the tribes together number over 20 millions.
Drawcansir, a blustering, bullying boaster in Buckingham's play the "Rehearsal"; he kills every one of the combatants, "sparing neither friend nor foe."
Drayton, Michael, an English poet, born In Warwickshire, like Shakespeare; was one of the three chief patriotic poets, Warner and Daniel being the other two, which arose in England after her humiliation of the pride of Spain, although he was no less distinguished as a love poet; his great work is his "Polyolbion," in glorification of England, consisting of 30 books and 100,000 lines; it gives in Alexandrines "the tracts, mountains, forests, and other parts of this renowned isle of Britain, with intermixture of the most remarkable stories, antiquities, wonders, pleasures, and commodities of the same digested in a poem"; this was preceded by other works, and succeeded by a poem entitled "The Ballad of Agincourt," pronounced one of the most spirited martial lyrics in the language (1563-1631).
Drelincourt, a French Protestant divine, born at Sedan; author of "Consolations against the Fear of Death" (1595-1669).
Drenthe (137), a province of Holland lying between Hanover and the Zuyder Zee; the soil is poor, and the population sparse.
Dresden (250), the capital of Saxony, on the Elbe, 116 m. SE. of Berlin; a fine city, with a museum rich in all kinds of works of art, and called in consequence the "Florence of Germany"; here the Allies were defeated by Napoleon in 1813, when he entered the city, leaving behind him 30,000 men, who were besieged by the Russians and compelled to surrender as prisoners of war the same year.
Dreyfus, l'Affaire. On 23rd December 1894, Alfred Dreyfus, an Alsatian Jew, captain of French Artillery; was by court-martial found guilty of revealing to a foreign power secrets of national defence, and sentenced to degradation and perpetual imprisonment; he constantly maintained his innocence, and, in time, the belief that he had been unjustly condemned became prevalent, and a revision of the trial being at length ordered, principally through the exertions of Colonel Picquart and Zola, the well-known author, Dreyfus was brought back from Cayenne, where he had been kept a close prisoner and cruelly treated, and a fresh trial at Rennes began on 6th August 1899, and lasted till 9th September; the proceedings, marked by scandalous "scenes," and by an attempt to assassinate one of prisoner's counsel—disclosed an alarmingly corrupt condition of affairs in some lines of French public life under the Republic of the time, and terminated in a majority verdict of "guilty"; M. Dreyfus was set at liberty on 20th September, the sentence of ten years' imprisonment being remitted; b. 1860.
Dreyse, Nicholaus von, inventor of the needle-gun, born at Sömmerda, near Erfurt, the son of a locksmith, and bred to his father's craft; established a large factory at Sömmerda for a manufactory of firearms; was ennobled 1864 (1787-1867).
Drogheda (11), a seaport in co. Louth, near the mouth of the Boyne, 32 m. N. of Dublin, with manufactures and a considerable export trade; was stormed by Cromwell in 1649 "after a stout resistance," and the garrison put to the sword; surrendered to William III. after the battle of the Boyne in 1690.
Dromore, a cathedral town in co. Down, Ireland, 17 m. SW. of Belfast, of which Jeremy Taylor was bishop.
Droogs, steep rocks which dot the surface of Mysore, in India, and resemble hay-ricks, some of these 1500 ft. high, some with springs on the top, and scalable only by steps cut in them.
Droste-Hülshoff, Fraulein von, a German poetess, born near Münster; was of delicate constitution; wrote tales as well as lyrics in record of deep and tender experiences (1797-1848).
Drouet, Jean Baptiste, notable king-taker, a violent Jacobin and member of the Council of the Five Hundred; had been a dragoon soldier; was postmaster at St. Menehould when Louis XVI., attempting flight, passed through the place, and by whisper of surmise had the progress of Louis and his party arrested at Varennes, June 21, 1791, for which service he received honourable mention and due reward in money; was taken captive by the Austrians at last; perched on a rock 100 ft. high, descended one night by means of a paper kite he had constructed, but was found at the foot helpless with leg broken (1763-1824).
Drouet, Jean Baptiste, Comte d'Erlon, marshal of France, born at Rheims; distinguished in the wars of the Republic and the Empire; on Napoleon's return from Elba seized on the citadel of Lille, and held it for the emperor; commanded the first corps d'armée at Waterloo; left France at the Restoration; returned after the July Revolution; became governor of Algiers, and was created marshal (1765-1844).
Drouot, a French general, son of a baker at Nancy; Napoleon, whom, as commander of artillery, he accompanied over all his battlefields in Europe and to Elba, used to call him the Sage of the Grande Armée (1774-1847).
Drouyn de Lhuys, French statesman and diplomatist, born in Paris; was ambassador at the Hague and Madrid; distinguished himself by his opposition to Guizot; served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Louis Napoleon; withdrew into private life after the collapse at Sedan (1805-1881).
Droysen, a German historian, born in Pomerania; professor in Berlin; author of the "History of Prussian Policy," "History of Alexander the Great," and "History of Hellenism" (1808-1884).
Droz, the name of a Swiss family of mechanicians, one of them, Jean Pierre, an engraver of medals (1746-1833); also of a French moralist and historian, author of "History of Louis XVI." (1773-1850).
Droz, Gustav, a highly popular and brilliant novelist, born in Paris; author of "Monsieur, Madam, et Bébé," "Entre Nous," and "Cahier bleu de Mlle. Cibot" (1832-1895).
Druids, a sacred order of learned men under a chief called the Archdruid, among the ancient Celtic nations, particularly of Gaul and Britain, who, from their knowledge of the arts and sciences of the day, were the ministers of religion and justice, as well as the teachers of youth to the whole community, and exercised an absolute control over the unlearned people whom they governed; they worshipped in oak groves, and the oak tree and the mistletoe were sacred to them; the heavenly bodies appear to have been also objects of their worship, and they appear to have believed in the immortality and transmigration of the soul; but they committed nothing to writing, and for our knowledge of them we have to depend on the reports of outsiders.
Drumclog Moss, a flat wilderness of broken bog and quagmire in Lanarkshire, where the Covenanters defeated Claverhouse's dragoons in 1679.
Drummond, Henry, popular scientist and Christian teacher, born in Stirling; was educated at Edinburgh and Tübingen; studied for the Free Church; lectured on natural science; became famous by the publication of "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," a book which took with the Christian public at once, and had an enormous sale, which was succeeded by "Tropical Africa," a charmingly-written book of travel, and by a series of booklets, commencing with "The Greatest Thing in the World," intended to expound and commend the first principles of the Christian faith; his last work except one, published posthumously, entitled the "Ideal Life," was the "Ascent of Man," in which he posits an altruistic element in the process of evolution, and makes the goal of it a higher and higher life (1851-1897).
Drummond, Captain Thomas, civil engineer, born in Edinburgh; inventor of the Drummond Light; was employed in the trigonometrical survey of Great Britain and Ireland; became Under-Secretary for Ireland, and was held in high favour by the Irish (1797-1840).
Drummond, William, of Hawthornden, a Scottish poet, named the "Petrarch of Scotland," born in Hawthornden; studied civil law at Bourges, but poetry had more attractions for him than law, and on the death of his father he returned to his paternal estate, and devoted himself to the study of it and the indulgence of his poetic tastes. "His work was done," as Stopford Brooke remarks, "in the reign of James I., but is the result of the Elizabethan influence extending to Scotland. Drummond's sonnets and madrigals have some of the grace of Sidney, and he rose at intervals into grave and noble verse, as in his sonnet on John the Baptist." He was a devoted Royalist; his first poem was "Tears" on the death of James I.'s eldest son Henry, and the fate of Charles I. is said to have cut short his days; the visit of Ben Jonson to him at Hawthornden is well known (1585-1649).
Drummond Light, an intensely-brilliant and pure white light produced by the play of an oxyhydrogen flame upon a ball of lime, so called from the inventor, Captain Thomas Drummond.
Drury, Dru, a naturalist, born in London; bred a silversmith; took to entomology; published "Illustrations of Natural History"; his principal work "Illustrations of Exotic Entomology" (1725-1803).
Drury Lane, a celebrated London theatre founded in 1663, in what was a fashionable quarter of the city then; has since that time been thrice burnt down; was the scene of Garrick's triumphs, and of those of many of his illustrious successors, though it is now given up chiefly to pantomimes and spectacular exhibitions.
Druses, a peculiar people, numbering some 80,000, inhabiting the S. of Lebanon and Anti-lebanon, with the Maronites on the N., whose origin is very uncertain, only it is evident, though they speak the Arab language, they belong to the Aryan race; their religion, a mixture of Christian, Jewish, and Mohammedan beliefs, is grounded on faith in the unity and the incarnation of God; their form of government is half hierarchical and half feudalistic; in early times they were under emirs of their own, but in consequence of the sanguinary, deadly, and mutually exterminating strife between them and the Christian Maronites in 1860, they were put under a Christian governor appointed by the Porte.
Drusus, M. Livius, a tribune of the people at Rome in 122 B.C., but a stanch supporter of the aristocracy; after passing a veto on a popular measure proposed by Gracchus his democratic colleague, proposed the same measure himself in order to show and prove to the people that the patricians were their best friends; the success of this policy gained him the name of "patron of the senate."
Drusus, M. Livius, tribune of the people, 91 B.C., son of the preceding, and an aristocrat; pursued the same course as his father, but was baffled in the execution of his purpose, which was to broaden the constitution, in consequence of which he formed a conspiracy, and was assassinated, an event which led to the Social War (q. v.).
Drusus, Nero Claudius, surnamed "Germanicus," younger brother of Tiberius and son-in-law of Marc Antony; distinguished himself in four successive campaigns against the tribes of Germany, but stopped short at the Elbe, scared by the apparition of a woman of colossal stature who defied him to cross, so that he had to "content himself with erecting some triumphal pillars on his own safe side of the river and say that the tribes across were conquered"; falling ill of a mortal malady, his brother the emperor hastened across the Alps to close his eyes, and brought home his body, which was burned and the ashes buried in the tomb of Augustus.
Dryads, nymphs of forest trees, which were conceived of as born with the tree they were attached to and dying along with it; they had their abode in wooded mountains away from men; held their revels among themselves, but broke them off at the approach of a human footstep.
Dryas, the father of Lycurgus, a Thracian king, and slain by him, who, in a fit of frenzy against the Bacchus worshippers, mistook him for a vine and cut him down. See Lycurgus.
Dryasdust, a name of Sir Walter Scott's invention, and employed by him to denote an imaginary character who supplied him with dry preliminary historical details, and since used to denote a writer who treats a historical subject with all due diligence and research, but without any appreciation of the human interest in it, still less the soul of it.
Dryburgh, an abbey, now a ruin, founded by David I., on the Tweed, in Berwickshire, 3 m. SE. of Melrose; the burial-place of Sir Walter Scott.
Dryden, John, a celebrated English poet, "glorious John," born in Northamptonshire, of a good family of Puritan principles; educated at Westminster School and Cambridge; his first poetic production of any merit was a set of "heroic stanzas" on the death of Cromwell; at the Restoration he changed sides and wrote a poem which he called "Astræa Redux" in praise of the event, which was ere long followed by his "Annus Mirabilis," in commemoration of the year 1666, which revealed at once the poet and the royalist, and gained him the appointment of poet-laureate, prior to which and afterwards he produced a succession of plays for the stage, which won him great popularity, after which he turned his mind to political affairs and assumed the role of political satirist by production of his "Absalom and Achitophel," intended to expose the schemes of Shaftesbury, represented as Achitophel and Monmouth as Absalom, to oust the Duke of York from the succession to the throne; on the accession of James II. he became a Roman Catholic, and wrote "The Hind and the Panther," characterised by Stopford Brooke as "a model of melodious reasoning in behalf of the milk-white hind of the Church of Rome," and really the most powerful thing of the kind in the language; at the Revolution he was deprived of his posts, but it was after that event he executed his translation of Virgil, and produced his celebrated odes and "Fables" (1631-1700).
Dualism, or Manichæism, the doctrine that there are two opposite and independently existing principles which go to constitute every concrete thing throughout the universe, such as a principle of good and a principle of evil, light and darkness, life and death, spirit and matter, ideal and real, yea and nay, God and Devil, Christ and Antichrist, Ormuzd and Ahriman.
Du Barry, Countess, mistress of Louis XV., born at Vaucouleurs, daughter of a dressmaker; came to Paris, professing millinery; had fascinating attractions, and was introduced to the king; governed France to its ruin and the dismissal of all Louis' able and honourable advisers; fled from Paris on the death of Louis, put on mourning for his death; was arrested, brought before the Revolutionary tribunal, condemned for wasting the finances of the State, and guillotined (1746-1793).
Du Bellay, a French general, born at Montmirail; served under Francis I. (1541-1590).
Dublin (360), the capital of Ireland, at the mouth of the Liffey, which divides it in two, and is crossed by 12 bridges; the principal and finest street is Sackville Street, which is about 700 yards long and 40 wide; it has a famous university and two cathedrals, besides a castle, the residence of the Lord-Lieutenant; and a park, the Phoenix, one of the finest in Europe; manufactures porter, whisky, and poplin.
Dubois, Guillaume, cardinal and prime minister of France; notorious for his ambition and his debauchery; appointed tutor to the Duke of Orleans; encouraged him in vice, and secured his attachment and patronage in promotion, so that in the end he rose to the highest honours, and even influence, in both Church and state; notwithstanding his debauchery he was an able man and an able minister (1656-1723).
Dubois, Reymond, a German physiologist, born in Berlin, of French descent; professor of Physiology at Berlin; distinguished for his researches in animal electricity; b. 1818.
Dubois de Crancé, a violent French revolutionary, born at Charleville; besieged and captured Lyons, giving no quarter; was Minister of War under the Directory; secured the adoption of the principle of conscription in recruiting the army (1747-1814).
Dubourg, a French magistrate, member of the parlement of Paris; burnt as a heretic for recommending clemency in the treatment of the Huguenots (1521-1559).
Dubufe, a distinguished French portrait-painter (1820-1883).
Dubuque (36), a town in Iowa, U.S., on the Mississippi, with lead-mines and a trade in grain, timber, &c.
Ducamp, Maxime, a French littérateur, born in Paris; has written "Travels in the East"; is the author of "Paris," its civic life, as also an account of its "Convulsions"; b. 1822.
Du Cange, Charles, one of the most erudite of French scholars, born at Amiens, and educated among the Jesuits; wrote on language, law, archæology, and history; devoted himself much to the study of the Middle Ages; contributed to the rediscovery of old French literature, and wrote a history of the Latin empire; his greatest works are his Glossaries of the Latin and Greek of the Middle Ages (1614-1688).
Ducat, a coin, generally in gold, that circulated in Venice, and was current in Germany at one time, of varied value.
Du Chaillu, Paul Belloni, an African traveller, born in Louisiana; his principal explorations confined to the equatorial region of West Africa, and the result an extension of our knowledge of its geography, ethnology, and zoology, and particularly of the character and habits of the ape tribes, and above all the gorilla; b. 1837.
Du Châtelet, Marquise de, a scientific lady and friend of Voltaire's, born in Paris; "a too fascinating shrew," as he at length found to his cost (1706-1749).
Duchesne, André, French historian and geographer, born in Touraine; styled the "Father of French History"; famous for his researches in it and in French antiquities, and for histories of England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively; his industry was unwearied; he left more than 100 folios in MS. (1584-1640).
Duchobortzi, a religious community in Russia of Quaker principles, and of a creed that denied the doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ; they became a cause of trouble to the empire by their fanaticism, and were removed to a high plateau in Transcaucasia, where they live by cattle-rearing.
Ducis, Jean, a French dramatist, born at Versailles; took Shakespeare for his model; declined Napoleon's patronage, thinking it better, as he said, to wear rags than wear chains (1733-1816).
Ducking Stool, a stool or chair in which a scolding woman was confined, and set before her own door to be pelted at, or borne in a tumbrel through the town to be jeered at, or placed at the end of a see-saw and ducked in a pool.
Duclos, Charles, a witty and satirical French writer, born at Dinan; author of "Observations," and "A History of the Manners of the Eighteenth Century," and "Mémoires of the Reigns of Louis XIV. and Louis XV."; he mingled much in French society of the period, and took studious note of its passing whims (1704-1772).
Ducornet, a French historical-painter, born at Lille; being born without arms, painted with his foot (1805-1856).
Ducos, Roger, French politician, born at Bordeaux, member of the National Convention and of the Directory (1754-1816).
Ducrot, a French general, born at Nivers; served in Algeria, in the Italian campaign of 1859, and as head of a division in the German War; was imprisoned for refusing to sign the capitulation treaty of Sedan, but escaped and took part in the defence of Paris when besieged by the Germans (1817-1882).
Du Deffand, Marquise. See Deffand.
Dudley (90), the largest town in Worcestershire, 8½ m. NW. of Birmingham, in the heart of the "Black Country," with coal-mines, iron-works, and hardware manufactures.
Dudley, Edmund, an English lawyer and privy-councillor; was associated with Empson as an agent in carrying on the obnoxious policy of Henry VII., and beheaded along with him at the instance of Henry VIII. on a charge of high treason in 1510.
Dudley, John, grand-marshal of England, son of the preceding, father-in-law of Lady Jane Grey; beheaded in 1558 for his part in an insurrection in her favour.
Duff, Alexander, an eminent Indian missionary, born at Moulin, near Pitlochry, Perthshire; a man of Celtic blood, apostolic zeal, and fervid eloquence; was the first missionary sent out to India by the Church of Scotland; sailed in 1830, returned in 1840, in 1849, and finally in 1863, stirring up each time the missionary spirit in the Church; he was the originator of a new method of missionary operations in the East by the introduction of English as the vehicle of instruction in the Christian faith, which met at first with much opposition, but was finally crowned with conspicuous success; died in Edinburgh (1806-1873).
Duff, James Grant, Indian soldier and statesman, born at Banff; conspicuous as a soldier for his services in subduing the Mahratta chiefs, and as a statesman for establishing friendly relations between the Mahrattas and the East India Company (1789-1858).
Dufferin, Marquis of, and Earl of Ava, statesman and diplomatist; held office under Lord John Russell and Mr. Gladstone; was in succession Governor-General of Canada, ambassador first at St. Petersburg, then at Constantinople, and finally Governor-General of India; has since acted as ambassador at Rome and Paris; is a man of literary as well as administrative ability; b. 1826.
Duffy, Sir Charles Gavan, an Irish patriot, born in co. Monaghan; bred for the bar; took to journalism in the interest of his country's emancipation; was one of the founders of the Nation newspaper; was twice over tried for sedition, but acquitted; emigrated at length to Australia, where he soon plunged into Colonial politics, and in his political capacity rendered distinguished services to the Australian colonies, especially in obtaining important concessions from the mother-country; he is the author of the "Ballad Poetry of Ireland," and an interesting record of his early experiences in "Young Ireland"; b. 1816.
Dufour, a Swiss general, born at Constance; commanded the army directed against the Sonderbund (q. v.), and brought the war there to a close (1787-1875).
Dufresne, Charles. See Du Cange.
Dufresny, French painter and poet, born at Paris (1765-1825).
Dufresny, Charles Rivière, French dramatist, a universal genius, devoted to both literature and the arts; held in high esteem by Louis XIV.; wrote a number of comedies, revealing a man of the world, instinct with wit, and careless of style (1648-1724).
Dugdale, Sir William, antiquary, born in Warwickshire; was made Chester herald, accompanied Charles I. throughout the Civil War; his chief work was the "Monasticum Anglicanum," which he executed conjointly with Roger Duckworth; wrote also on the antiquities of Warwickshire and heraldry; left 27 folio MSS. now in the Bodleian Library (1605-1686).
Dugommier, French general, pupil of Washington, born at Guadeloupe; distinguished himself in Italy; commanded at the siege of Toulon, which he took; fell at the battle of Sierra-Negra, in Spain, which he had invaded (1736-1794).
Duguay-Trouin, René, a celebrated French sea-captain, born at St. Malo; distinguished at first in privateer warfare during the reign of Louis XIV., and afterwards as a frigate captain in the royal navy, to which the royal favour promoted him; was much beloved by the sailors and subordinate officers; died poor (1673-1736).
Du Guesclin, Bertrand, constable of France, born in Côtes du Nord; one of the most illustrious of French war-captains, and distinguished as one or the chief instruments in expelling the English from Normandy, Guienne, and Poitou; was taken prisoner at the battle of Auray in 1364, but ransomed for 100,000 francs, and again by the Black Prince, but soon liberated; he was esteemed for his valour by foe and friend alike, and he was buried at St. Denis in the tomb of the kings of France (1314-1380).
Duhesme, a French general; covered with wounds at Waterloo, he was cruelly massacred by the Brunswick hussars in the house to which he had fled for refuge (1760-1815).
Duilius, Caius, a Roman consul; distinguished for having on the coast of Sicily gained the first naval victory recorded in the annals of Rome, 260 B.C.
Dulce Domum (for Sweet Home), a song sung by the pupils at Winchester College on the approach of and at the break-up of the school for the summer holidays.
Dulcinea del Tobosa, the name Don Quixote gave to his beloved Aldonza Lorenzo, a coarse peasant-girl of Tobosa, conceived by him as a model of all feminine perfection, and as such adored by him.
Dulia, an inferior kind of worship paid to angels and saints, in contradistinction to Latria (q. v.).
Dulong, a French chemist, born at Rouen; discoverer, by accidental explosion, of the chloride of nitrogen (1785-1838).
Duluth (52), a port on Lake Superior, with a fine harbour, and a great centre of commerce.
Dulwich, a southern Surrey suburb of London, with a flourishing college founded in 1619, and a picture gallery attached, rich especially in Dutch paintings. See Alleyn, Edward.
Dumachus, the impenitent thief, figures in Longfellow's "Golden Legend" as one of a band of robbers who attacked St. Joseph on his flight into Egypt.
Dumas, Alexandre, the Elder, a celebrated French author, born at Villers-Cotterets, son of General Dumas, a Creole; lost his father at four, and led for a time a miscellaneous life, till, driven by poverty, he came to Paris to seek his fortune; here he soon made his mark, and became by-and-by the most popular dramatist and romancier of his time; his romances are numerous, and he reached the climax of his fame by the production of "Monte Cristo" in 1844, and the "Three Musketeers" the year after; he was unhappy in his marriage and with his wife, as afterwards, he squandered his fortune in reckless extravagance; before the end it was all spent, and he died at Dieppe, broken in health and impaired in intellect, ministered to by his son and daughter (1806-1876).
Dumas, Alexandre, the Younger or fils, dramatist and novelist, born in Paris, son of the preceding; he made his début as a novelist with "La Dame aux Camélias" in 1848, which was succeeded by a number of other novels; he eventually gave himself up to the production of dramas, in which he was more successful than in romance (1824-1895).
Dumas, Jean Baptiste André, a distinguished French chemist, born at Alais; was admitted to the Académie française at the age of 25; at the Revolution of 1848 he became a member of the National Assembly; was created a senator under the Empire, but retired into private life after Sedan; he was distinguished for his studies in chemistry, both theoretical and practical, and ranks among the foremost in the science (1800-1884).
Du Maurier, artist, born in Paris; started in London as a designer of wood engravings; did illustrations for Once a Week, the Cornhill Magazine, &c.., and finally joined the staff of Punch, to which he contributed numerous clever sketches; he published a novel, "Peter Ibbetson," in 1891, which was succeeded in 1895 by "Trilby," which had such a phenomenal success in both England and America (1834-1897).
Dumb Ox, Thomas Aquinas (q. v.), so called from his taciturnity before he opened his mouth and began, as predicted, to fill the world with his lowing.
Dumbarton (17), the county town of Dumbartonshire, and a royal burgh, at the mouth of the Leven, on the Clyde, 15 m. from Glasgow; shipbuilding the chief industry; it was the capital of the kingdom of Strathclyde; adjoining is a castle of historic interest, 250 ft. high, kept up as a military fortress; the county, which is fertile, and was originally part of Lennox, is traversed by the Leven, with its bleach-fields and factories.
Dumbdrudge, an imaginary village referred to in "Sartor," where the natives toil and drudge away and say nothing about it, as villagers all over the world used contentedly to do, and did for most part, at the time "Sartor" was written, though less so now.
Dumbiedikes, a Scotch laird who figures in the "Heart of Midlothian," in love with Jeanie Deans.
Dumesnil, Marie Françoise, a celebrated French tragédienne, born near Alençon; like Mrs. Siddons, surpassed all others at the time in the representation of dignity, pathos, and strong emotion; made her first appearance in 1737, retired in 1775 (1711-1803).
Dumfries (18), an agricultural market-town, county town of Dumfriesshire and a seaport, stands on the left bank of the Nith, with Maxwelltown as suburb on the right, 90 m. SW. of Edinburgh; manufactures tweeds and hosiery, and trades in cattle; here Robert Burns spent the last five years of his life, and his remains lie buried.
Dumfriesshire (74), a south-western Border county of Scotland; an agricultural district, which slopes from a northern pastoral region to the Solway, and is traversed by the fertile valleys of Nithsdale and Annandale.
Dumnorix, a chief of the Æduan nation in Gaul, who gave some trouble to Cæsar in his conquest of Gaul.
Dumont, Augustin-Alexandre, a sculptor, born in Paris (1801-1884).
Dumont, Jean, an eminent French publicist, who settled in Austria and served the emperor; wrote on international law (1660-1726).
Dumont, Louis, a French publicist, born at Geneva, a friend of Mirabeau, memoirs of whom he wrote, and who, coming to England, formed a close intimacy with Jeremy Bentham, and became his disciple and expounder (1759-1829).
Dumont d'Urville, Jules, a celebrated French navigator, born at Condé-sur-Noireau; made a three years' voyage round the world, and visited the Antarctic regions, of which he made a survey; he was distinguished as a scientist no less than a sea-captain; lost his life in a railway accident at Versailles (1790-1842).
Dumoulin, a celebrated French jurist, born at Paris; did for French law what Cujas (q. v.) did for Roman (1500-1560).
Dumouriez, a French general, born at Cambrai, "a wiry, elastic, unwearied man ... creature," as he boasted in his old age, "of God and his own sword ... on the whole, one of Heaven's Swiss"; took when already grey to the Revolution and fought on its behalf; gained the battles of Valmy and Jemmapes; conquered Belgium, but being distrusted, passed over to the ranks of the enemies of France; a man really "without faith; wanted above all things work, work on any side"; died an exile in England (1739-1824). See Carlyle's "French Revolution."
Düna, a river of Russia, which rises near the source of the Volga, and after a W. and NW. course of 650 m. falls into the Gulf of Riga; it is connected with the Dnieper by the Beresina Canal.
Dunbar, an ancient seaport and town of Haddingtonshire, on the coast of the Forth, 29 m. E. of Edinburgh; is a fishing station, and manufactures agricultural implements and paper; was, with its castle, which has stood many a siege, a place of importance in early Scottish history; near it Cromwell beat the Scots under Leslie on September 3, 1650.
Dunbar, William, a Scottish poet, entered the Franciscan order and became an itinerant preaching friar, in which capacity he wandered over the length and breadth of the land, enjoying good cheer by the way; was some time in the service of James IV., and wrote a poem, his most famous piece, entitled "The Thistle and the Rose," on the occasion of the King's marriage with the Princess Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII. His poems were of three classes—allegoric, moral, and comic, the most remarkable being "The Dance," in which he describes the procession of the seven deadly sins in the infernal regions. Scott says he "was a poet unrivalled by any that Scotland has produced" (1480-1520).
Dunblane, a town in Perthshire, 5 m. N. of Stirling, with a beautiful cathedral, which dates back as far as 1240; of the diocese the saintly Leighton was bishop.
Duncan, Adam, Viscount, a British admiral, born at Dundee; entered the navy in 1746; steadily rose in rank till, in 1795, he became admiral of the Blue and commander of the North Sea fleet in 1795; kept watching the movements of the Dutch squadron for two years, till, at the end of that term, it put to sea, and came up with it off Camperdown, and totally defeated it, June 11, 1797 (1731-1804).
Duncan, Thomas, a Scotch artist, born at Kinclaven, Perthshire; painted fancy and Scoto-historical subjects, and a number of excellent portraits; his career, which was full of promise, was cut short by an early death (1807-1845).
Dunciad, The, a satire of Pope's in four books, the "fiercest" as well as the best of his satires, in which, with merciless severity, he applies the lash to his critics, and in which Colley Cibber figures as the King of Dunces.
Duncker, Max, a historical writer, born in Berlin; held a professorship at Halle and Tübingen, and became a minister of State; wrote among other works a work of great learning, in seven vols., entitled the "History of Antiquity" (1811-1886).
Duncombe, T. S., an English politician, M.P. for Finsbury, one of the extreme Liberal party of the time, presented to the House of Commons the Chartist petition in 1842; denounced Sir James Graham, the Home Secretary of the day, for opening Mazzini's letter, and advocated Jewish emancipation (1796-1861).
Dundalk (12), capital of co. Louth, Ireland, 50 m. N. of Dublin; a place of considerable trade and manufactures; is an ancient city; Edward Bruce, the last king of all Ireland, was crowned and resided here; it was besieged and taken more than once, by Cromwell for one.
Dundas (of Arniston), the name of a Scottish family, many of the members of which have distinguished themselves at the bar and on the bench.
Dundas, Henry, Viscount Melville, a junior member of the above family; trained for the bar; rose to be Lord Advocate for Scotland and M.P. for the county of Edinburgh; opposed at first to Pitt, he became at last his ablest coadjutor in Parliament, and did important services in connection with the military and naval defences of the country; his power was sovereign in Scotland; his statue, mounted on a lofty column, adorns one of the principal squares of the New Town of Edinburgh (1741-1811).
Dundee (153), the third largest city in Scotland, stands on the Firth of Tay, 10 m. from the mouth; has a large seaport; is a place of considerable commercial enterprise; among its numerous manufactures the chief is the jute; it has a number of valuable institutions, and sends two members to Parliament.
Dundonald, Thomas Cochrane, Earl of, entered the navy at the age of 17; became captain of the Speedy, a sloop-of-war of 14 guns and 54 men; captured in ten months 33 vessels; was captured by a French squadron, but had his sword returned to him; signalised himself afterwards in a succession of daring feats; selected to burn the French fleet lying at anchor in the Basque Roads, he was successful by means of fire-ships in destroying several vessels, but complained he was not supported by Lord Gambier, the admiral, a complaint which was fatal to his promotion in the service; disgraced otherwise, he went abroad and served in foreign navies, and materially contributed to the establishment of the republic of Chile and the empire of Brazil; in 1830 he was restored by his party, the Whigs, to his naval rank, as a man who had been the victim of the opposite party, and made a vice-admiral of the Blue in 1841; he afterwards vindicated himself in his "Autobiography of a Seaman" (1775-1860).
Dundreary, Lord, a character of the play "Our American Cousin"; the personification of a good-natured, brainless swell; represented uniquely on the stage by Mr. Sothern.
Dunedin (47), the capital of Otago, in New Zealand, situated well south on the E. side of the South Isle, at the head of a spacious bay, and the largest commercial city in the colony; founded by Scotch emigrants in 1848, one of the leaders a nephew of Robert Burns.
Dunes, low hills of sand extending along the coast of the Netherlands and the N. of France.
Dunfermline (19), an ancient burgh in the W. of Fife; a place of interest as a residence of the early kings of Scotland, and as the birthplace of David II., James I., and Charles I., and for its abbey; it stands in the middle of a coal-field, and is the seat of extensive linen manufactures.
Dunkeld, a town in Perthshire, 15 m. NW. of Perth, with a fine 14th-century cathedral.
Dunkers, a sect of Quakerist Baptists in the United States.
Dunkirk (40), the most northern seaport and fortified town of France, on the Strait of Dover; has manufactures and considerable trade.
Dunnet Head, a rocky peninsula, the most northerly point in Scotland, the rocks from 100 to 600 ft. high.
Dunnottar Castle, an old castle of the Keiths now in ruins, on the flat summit of a precipitous rock 1½ m. S. of Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, Scotland, and connected with the mainland by a neck of land called the "Fiddle Head"; famous in Scottish history as a State prison, and as the place of safe-keeping at a troubled period for the Scottish regalia, now in Edinburgh Castle.
Dunois, Jean, a French patriot, called the Bastard of Orleans, born in Paris, natural son of Louis of Orleans, brother of Charles VI.; one of the national heroes of France; along with Joan of Arc, compelled the English to raise the siege of Orleans, and contributed powerfully, by his sword, to all but expel the English from France after the death of that heroine (1402-1468).
Duns Scotus, Johannes, one of the most celebrated of the scholastics of the 14th century, whether he was native of England, Scotland, or Ireland is uncertain; entered the Franciscan order, and from his acuteness got the name of "Doctor Subtilis"; lectured at Oxford to crowds of auditors, and also at Paris; was the contemporary of Thomas Aquinas, and the head of an opposing school of Scotists, as against Thomists, as they were called; whereas Aquinas "proclaimed the Understanding as principle, he proclaimed the Will, from whose spontaneous exercise he derived all morality; with this separation of theory from practice and thought from thing (which accompanied it) philosophy became divided from theology, reason from faith; reason took a position above faith, above authority (in modern philosophy), and the religious consciousness broke with the traditional dogma (at the Reformation)."
Dunstan, St., an English ecclesiastic, born at Glastonbury; a man of high birth and connection as well as varied accomplishments; began a religious life as a monk living in a cell by himself, and prevailed in single combat on one occasion with the devil; became abbot of Glastonbury, in which capacity he adopted the rôle of statesman, and arose to great authority during the reign of Edgar, becoming archbishop of Canterbury, ruling the nation with vigour and success, but with the death of Edgar his power declined, and he retired to Canterbury, where he died of grief and vexation; he is the patron saint of goldsmiths (924-988).
Dunton, Watts. See Watts, Theodore.
Dupanloup, a French prelate, bishop of Orleans, born at St. Felix, in Savoy; a singularly able and eloquent man; devoted himself to educational emancipation and reform; protested vigorously against papal infallibility; yielded at length, and stood up in defence of the Church (1802-1878).
Duperré, a French admiral, born at La Rochelle; contributed along with Marshal Bourmont to the taking of Algiers (1775-1846).
Duperron, cardinal, a Swiss by birth and a Calvinist by religious profession; went to Paris, turned papist, and rose to ecclesiastical eminence in France under Henry IV. (1556-1618).
Dupin, André, French jurist and statesman; distinguished at the time of the revolution of the three days as a supporter of Louis Philippe, and of the house of Orleans after him (1783-1865).
Dupleix, Joseph, a French merchant, head of a factory at Chandernagore, who rose to be governor of the French settlements in India, and in the management of which he displayed conspicuous ability, defending them against the English and receiving the dignity of marquis; jealousy at home, however, led to his recall, and he was left to end his days in neglect and poverty, though he pled hard with the cabinet at Versailles to have respect to the sacrifices he made for his country (1697-1763).
Duplessis, Mornay, a soldier, diplomatist, and man of letters; a leader of the Huguenots, who, after the massacre of St. Bartholomew, visited England, where he was received with favour by Elizabeth in 1575; entered the service of the King of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV. of France, but on Henry's reconciliation with the Church of Rome, retired into private life and devoted himself to literary pursuits; he was called the "Pope of the Huguenots"; d. 1623.
Dupont, Pierre, French song-writer; his songs, "Le Chant des Ouvriers" and "Les Boeufs," the delight of the young generation of 1848 (1820-1872).
Dupont de l'Eure, a French politician, born at Neubourg; filled several important offices in the successive periods of revolution in France; was distinguished for his integrity and patriotism, and made President of the Provisional Government in 1848 (1767-1855).
Dupont de Nemours, French political economist; took part in the Revolution; was opposed to the excesses of the Jacobin party, but escaped with his life; wrote a book entitled "Philosophie de l'Universe" (1739-1817).
Dupuis, Charles François, a French savant; was a member of the Convention of the Council of the Five Hundred, and President of the Legislative Body during the Revolution period; devoted himself to the study of astronomy in connection with mythology, the result of which was published in his work in 12 vols., entitled "Origine de tous les Cultes, ou la Religion Universelle"; he advocated the unity of the astronomical and religious myths of all nations (1742-1809).
Dupuy, M. Charles, French statesman, born at Puy; elected to the Chamber in 1885; became Premier in 1893 and in 1894; was in office when Dreyfus was condemned and degraded, and resigned in 1895; b. 1851.
Dupuytren, Baron, a celebrated French surgeon, born at Pierre-Buffière; he was a man of firm nerve, signally sure and skilful as an operator, and contributed greatly, both by his inventions and discoveries, to the progress of surgery; a museum of pathological anatomy, in which he made important discoveries, bears his name (1777-1835).
Duquesne, Abraham, Marquis, an illustrious naval officer of France, born at Dieppe; distinguished himself in many a naval engagement, and did much to enhance the naval glory of the country; among other achievements plucked the laurels from the brow of his great rival, De Ruyter, by, in 1676, defeating the combined fleets of Spain and Holland under his command; Louis XIV. offered him a marshal's baton if he would abjure Calvinism, but he declined; he was the only one of the Huguenots excepted from proscription in the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, but his last days were saddened by the banishment of his children (1610-1688).
Dura Den, a glen near Cupar-Fife, famous for the number of ganoid fossil fishes entombed in its sandstone.
Durance, a tributary of the Rhône, which, after a rapid course of 180 m., falls into that river by its left bank 3 m. below Avignon.
Durand, an Indian officer; served in the Afghan and Sikh Wars, and became Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab (1828-1871).
Durandal, the miraculous sword of Orlando, with which he could cleave mountains at a blow.
Durban (27), the port of Natal, largest town in the colony, with a land-locked harbour.
Durbar, a ceremonious State reception in India.
Dürer, Albert, the great early German painter and engraver, born at Nürnberg, son of a goldsmith, a good man, who brought him up to his own profession, but he preferred painting, for which he early exhibited a special aptitude, and his father bound him apprentice for three years to the chief artist in the place, at the expiry of which he travelled in Germany and other parts; in 1506 he visited Venice, where he met Bellini, and painted several pictures; proceeded thence to Bologna, and was introduced to Raphael; his fame spread widely, and on his return he was appointed court-painter by the Emperor Maximilian, an office he held under Charles V.; he was of the Reformed faith, and a friend of Melanchthon as well as an admirer of Luther, on whose incarceration in Wartburg he uttered a long lament; he was a prince of painters, his drawing and colouring perfect, and the inventor of etching, in which he was matchless; he carved in wood, ivory, stone, and metal; was an author as well as an artist, and wrote, among other works, an epoch-making treatise on proportion in the human figure; "it could not be better done" was his quiet, confident reply as a sure workman to a carper on one occasion (1471-1528).
D'Urfey, Tom, a facetious poet; author of comedies and songs; a great favourite of Charles II. and his court; of comedies he wrote some 30, which are all now discarded for their licentiousness, and a curious book of sonnets, entitled "Pills to Purge Melancholy"; came to poverty in the end of his days; Addison pled on his behalf, and hoped that "as he had made the world merry, the world would make him easy" (1628-1723).
Durgâ, in the Hindu mythology the consort of Siva.
Durham (15), an ancient city on the Wear, with a noble cathedral and a castle, once the residence of the bishop, now a university seat, in the heart of a county of the same name (1,106), rich in coal-fields, and with numerous busy manufacturing towns.
Durham, Admiral, entered the navy in 1777; was officer on the watch when the Royal George went down off Spithead, and the only one with Captain Waghorn who escaped; served as acting-lieutenant of a ship under Lord Howe at the relief of Gibraltar, and commanded the Defence, a ship of 74 guns, at the battle of Trafalgar (1763-1815).
Durham, John G. L., Earl of, an English statesman, born in Durham Co.; a zealous Liberal and reformer, and a member of the Reform Government under Earl Grey, which he contributed much to inaugurate; was ambassador in St. Petersburg, and was sent governor-general to Canada in 1839, but owing to some misunderstanding took the extraordinary step of ultroneously returning within the year (1792-1840).
Durward, Quentin, a Scottish archer in the service of Louis XI., the hero of a novel of Scott's of the name.
Düsseldorf (176), a well-built town of Rhenish Prussia, on the right bank of the Rhine; it is a place of manufactures, and has a fine picture-gallery with a famous school of art associated.
Dutens, Joseph, a French engineer and political economist (1763-1848).
Dutens, Louis, a French savant, born at Tours; after being chaplain to the British minister at Turin, settled in England, and became historiographer-royal; was a man of varied learning, and well read in historical subjects and antiquities (1730-1812).
Dutrochet, a French physiologist and physicist, known for his researches on the passage of fluids through membranous tissues (1776-1847).
Duumvirs, the name of two Roman magistrates who exercised the same public functions.
Duval, Claude, a French numismatist, and writer on numismatics; keeper of the imperial cabinet of Vienna; was originally a shepherd boy (1695-1775).
Dwight, Timothy, an American theologian, grandson of Jonathan Edwards, and much esteemed in his day both as a preacher and a writer; his "Theology Explained and Defended," in 5 vols., was very popular at one time, and was frequently reprinted (1752-1817).
Dwina, a Russian river, distinguished from the Düna (q. v.), also called Duna, and an important, which flows N. to the White Sea.
Dyaks, the native name of tribes of Malays of a superior class aboriginal to Borneo.
Dyce, Alexander, an English literary editor and historian, born in Edinburgh; edited several of the old English poets and authors, some of them little known before; also the poems of Shakespeare, Pope, &c.; was one of the founders of the Percy Society, for the publication of old English works (1798-1869).
Dyce, William, a distinguished Scottish artist, born in Aberdeen, studied in Rome; settled for a time in Edinburgh, and finally removed to London; painted portraits at first, but soon took to higher subjects of art; his work was such as to commend itself to both German and French artists; he gave himself to fresco-painting, and as a fresco-painter was selected to adorn the walls of the Palace of Westminster and the House of Lords; his "Baptism of Ethelbert," in the latter, is considered his best work (1806-1864).
Dyer, John, English poet; was a great lover and student of landscape scenery, and his poems, "Grongar Hill" and the "Fleece," abound in descriptions of these, the scenery of the former lying in S. Wales (1700-1758).
Dynam, the unit of work, or the force required to raise one pound one foot in one second.
Dynamite, a powerful explosive substance, intensely local in its action; formed by impregnating a porous siliceous earth or other substance with some 70 per cent. of nitro-glycerine.
Dynamo, a machine by which mechanical work is transformed into powerful electric currents by the inductive action of magnets on coils of copper wire in motion.
Eadmer, a celebrated monk of Canterbury; flourished in the 12th century; friend and biographer of St. Anselm, author of a History of His Own Times, as also of many of the Lives of the Saints; elected to the bishopric of St. Andrews in 1120; resigned on account of Alexander I. refusing to admit the right of the English Archbishop of Canterbury to perform the ceremony of consecration.
Eadric, a Saxon, notorious for his treachery, fighting now with his countrymen against the Danes and now with the Danes against them, till put to death by order of Canute in 1017.
Eads, James Buchanan, an American engineer, born in Laurenceburg, Indiana; designed ingenious boats for floating submerged ships; built with remarkable speed warships for the Federalists in 1861; constructed a steel bridge spanning the Mississippi at St. Louis, noteworthy for its central span of 520 ft. (1820-1887).
Eagle, the king of birds, and bird of Jove; was adopted by various nations as the emblem of dominant power, as well as of nobility and generosity; in Christian art it is the symbol of meditation, and the attribute of St. John; is represented now as fighting with a serpent, and now as drinking out of a chalice or a communion cup, to strengthen it for the fight.
Eagle, Order of the Black, an order of knighthood founded by the Elector of Brandenburg in 1701; with this order was ultimately incorporated the Order of the Red Eagle, founded in 1734 by the Markgraf of Bayreuth.
Eagle of Brittany, Du Guesclin (q. v.).
Eagle of Meaux, Bossuet (q. v.).
Eagre, a name given in England to a tidal wave rushing up a river or estuary on the top of another, called also a Bore (q. v.).
Earl, a title of nobility, ranking third in the British peerage; originally election to the dignity of earl carried with it a grant of land held in feudal tenure, the discharge of judicial and administrative duties connected therewith, and was the occasion of a solemn service of investiture. In course of time the title lost its official character, and since the reign of Queen Anne all ceremony of investiture has been dispensed with, the title being conferred by letters-patent. The word is derived from the Anglo-Saxon eorls which signified the "gentle folk," as distinguished from the ceorls, the "churls" or "simple folk."
Earl Marshal, a high officer of State, an office of very ancient institution, now the head of the college of arms, and hereditary in the family of the Dukes of Norfolk; formerly one of the chief officers in the court of chivalry, a court which had to do with all matters of high ceremonial, such as coronations.
Earlom, Richard, a mezzotint engraver, born in London; celebrated for his series of 200 prints after the original designs of Claude de Lorraine (1743-1822).
Earlston or Ercildoune, a village in Berwickshire, with manufactures of ginghams and other textiles. In its vicinity stand the ruins of the "Rhymer's Tower," alleged to have been the residence of Thomas the Rhymer.
Early English, a term in architecture used to designate that particular form of Gothic architecture in vogue in England in the 13th century, whose chief characteristic was the pointed arch.
Earth Houses, known also as Yird Houses, Weems and Picts' Houses, underground dwellings in use in Scotland, extant even after the Roman evacuation of Britain. Entrance was effected by a passage not much wider than a fox burrow, which sloped downwards 10 or 12 ft. to the floor of the house; the inside was oval in shape, and was walled with overlapping rough stone slabs; the roof frequently reached to within a foot of the earth's surface; they probably served as store-houses, winter-quarters, and as places of refuge in times of war. Similar dwellings are found in Ireland.
Earthly Paradise, poem by William Morris, his greatest effort, considered his masterpiece; consists of 24 tales by 24 travellers in quest of an earthly paradise.
East India Company, founded in 1600; erected its first factories on the mainland in 1612 at Surat, but its most profitable trade in these early years was with the Spice Islands, Java, Sumatra, &c.; driven from these islands by the Dutch in 1622, the Company established itself altogether on the mainland; although originally created under royal charter for purely commercial purposes, it in 1689 entered upon a career of territorial acquisition, which culminated in the establishment of British power in India; gradually, as from time to time fresh renewals of its charter were granted, it was stripped of its privileges and monopolies, till in 1858, after the Mutiny, all its powers were vested in the British Crown.
East River, the strait which separates Brooklyn and New York cities, lying between Long Island Sound and New York Bay, about 10 m. long; is spanned by a bridge.
Eastbourne (35), a fashionable watering-place and health resort on the Sussex coast, between Brighton and Hastings, and 66 m. S. of London; has Roman remains, and is described in "Domesday Book."
Easter, an important festival of the Church commemorating the resurrection of Christ; held on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the calendar which happens on or next after 21st of March, and constituting the beginning of the ecclesiastical year; the date of it determines the dates of other movable festivals; derives its name from Eastre, a Saxon goddess, whose festival was celebrated about the same time, and to which many of the Easter customs owe their origin.
Eastern States, the six New England States in N. America—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
Eastlake, Sir Charles Lock, artist and author, born at Plymouth; studied painting in London and in Paris; produced the last portrait of Napoleon, which he executed from a series of sketches of the emperor on board the Bellerophon in Plymouth harbour; he travelled in Greece, and from 1816 to 1830 made his home at Rome; "Christ Weeping over Jerusalem," his greatest work, appeared in 1841; was President of the Royal Academy; wrote several works on subjects relating to his art, and translated Goethe's "Farbenlehre" (1793-1865).
Eastwick, Edward Backhouse, Orientalist and diplomatist, born at Warfield, in Berkshire; went to India as a cadet, acquired an extensive knowledge of Indian dialects and Eastern languages, and passed an interpretership examination, gaining the high proficiency reward of 1000 rupees; carried through peace negotiations with China in 1842; invalided home, he became professor of Hindustani at Haileybury College; afterwards studied law and was called to the bar; entered Parliament, and held various political appointments, including a three years' embassy in Persia; was a fellow of many antiquarian and philological societies; amongst his numerous philological productions and translations his "Gulistan" and "Life of Zoroaster" from the Persian are noted (1814-1883).
Eau Creole, a liqueur from the distillation of the flowers of the mammee apple with spirits of wine.
Eau-de-Cologne, a perfume originally manufactured at Cologne by distillation from certain essential oils with rectified spirit.
Ebal, Mount, a mountain with a level summit, which rises to the height of 3077 ft. on the N. side of the narrow Vale of Shechem, in Palestine, and from the slopes of which the people of Israel responded to the curses which were pronounced by the Levites in the valley.
Eberhard, Johann August, German philosophical writer, born at Halberstadt; professor at Halle; rationalistic in his theology, and opposed to the Kantian metaphysics; was a disciple of Leibnitz; wrote a "New Apology of Socrates," in defence of rationalism in theology, as well as a "Universal History of Philosophy," and a work on German synonyms (1739-1809).
Ebers, George Moritz, German Egyptologist, born at Berlin; discovered an important papyrus; was professor successively at Jena and Leipzig; laid aside by ill-health, betook himself to novel-writing as a pastime; was the author of "Aarda, a Romance of Ancient Egypt," translated by Clara Bell (1837-1898).
Ebert, Karl Egon, a Bohemian poet, born at Prague; his poems, dramatic and lyric, are collected in 7 vols., and enjoy a wide popularity in his country (1801-1882).
Ebionites, a sect that in the 2nd century sought to combine Judaism and the hopes of Judaism with Christianity, and rejected the authority of St. Paul and of the Pauline writings; they denied the divinity of Christ, and maintained that only the poor as such were the objects of salvation.
Eblis, in Mohammedan tradition the chief of the fallen angels, consigned to perdition for refusing to worship Adam at the command of his Creator, and who gratified his revenge by seducing Adam and Eve from innocency.
Ebony, a name given to Blackwood by James Hogg, and eventually applied to his magazine.
Ebro, a river of Spain, rises in the Cantabrian Mountains, flows SE. into the Mediterranean 80 m. SW. of Barcelona, after a course of 422 m.
Ecbatana, the ancient capital of Media, situated near Mount Orontes (now Elvend); was surrounded by seven walls of different colours that increased in elevation towards the central citadel; was a summer residence of the Persian and Parthian kings. The modern town of Hamadan now occupies the site of it.
Ecce Homo (i. e. Behold the Man), a representation of Christ as He appeared before Pilate crowned with thorns and bound with ropes, as in the painting of Correggio, a subject which has been treated by many of the other masters, such as Titian and Vandyck.
Ecchymosis, a discolouration of the skin produced by extravasated blood under or in the texture of the skin, the result of a blow or of disease.
Ecclefechan, a market-town of Dumfriesshire, consisting for the most part of the High Street, 5 m. S. of Lockerbie, on the main road to Carlisle, 16 m. to the S.; noted as the birth and burial place of Thomas Carlyle.
Ecclesiastes (i. e. the Preacher), a book of the Old Testament, questionably ascribed to Solomon, and now deemed of more recent date as belonging to a period when the reflective spirit prevailed; and it is written apparently in depreciation of mere reflection as a stepping-stone to wisdom. The standpoint of the author is a religious one; the data on which he rests is given in experience, and his object is to expose the vanity of every source of satisfaction which is not founded on the fear, and has not supreme regard for the commandments, of God, a doctrine which is the very ground-principle of the Jewish faith; but if vanity is written over the whole field of human experience, he argues, this is not the fault of the system of things, but due, according to the author, to the folly of man (chap. vii. 29).
Ecclesiastical Polity, the Law of, a vindication of the Anglican Church against the Puritans, written by Richard Hooker; the most splendid and stately piece of literary prose that exists in the language.
Ecclesiastical States, territories in Italy once subject to the Pope as a temporal prince as well as ecclesiastically.
Ecclesiasticus, one of the books of the Apocrypha, ascribed to Jesus, the son of Sirach, admitted to the sacred canon by the Council of Trent, though excluded by the Jews. It contains a body of wise maxims, in imitation, as regards matter as well as form, of the Proverbs of Solomon, and an appendix on the men who were the disciples of wisdom. Its general aim, as has been said, is "to represent wisdom as the source of all virtue and blessedness, and by warnings, admonitions, and promises to encourage in the pursuit of it." It was originally written in Hebrew, but is now extant only in a Greek translation executed in Egypt, professedly by the author's grandson.
Ecclesiology, the name given in England to the study of church architecture and all that concerns the ground-plan and the internal arrangements of the parts of the edifice.
Ecgberht, archbishop of York; was a pupil of Bede, and the heir to his learning; founded a far-famed school at York, which developed into a university; flourished in 766.
Echidna, a fabulous monster that figures in the Greek mythology, half-woman, half-serpent, the mother of Cerberus, the Lernean Hydra, the Chimæra, the Sphinx, the Gorgons, the Nemean Lion, the vulture that gnawed the liver of Prometheus, &c.
Echo, a wood-nymph in love with Narcissus, who did not return her love, in consequence of which she pined away till all that remained of her was only her voice.
Eck, John, properly Maíer, a German theologian, of Swabian birth, professor at Ingolstadt; a violent, blustering antagonist of Luther and Luther's doctrines; in his zeal went to Rome, and procured a papal bull against both; undertook at the Augsburg Diet to controvert Luther's doctrine from the Fathers, but not from the Scriptures; was present at the conferences of Worms and Regensburg (1486-1543).
Eckermann, Johann Peter, a German writer, born at Winsen, in Hanover; friend of Goethe, and editor of his works; the author of "Conversations with Goethe in the Last Years of his Life, 1823-32," a record of wise reflections and of Goethe's opinions on all subjects, of the utmost interest to all students of the German sage (1792-1854).
Eckhart, Meister, a German philosopher and divine, profoundly speculative and mystical; entered the Dominican Order, and rapidly attained to a high position in the Church; arraigned for heresy in 1325, and was acquitted, but two years after his death his writings were condemned as heretical by a papal bull; died in 1327.
Eckmühl, a village in Bavaria where Napoleon defeated the Austrians in 1809, and which gave the title of Duke to Davout (q. v.), one of Napoleon's generals.
Eclectics, so-called philosophers who attach themselves to no system, but select what, in their judgment, is true out of others. In antiquity the Eclectic philosophy is that which sought to unite into a coherent whole the doctrines of Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle, such as that of Plotinus and Proclus was. There is an eclecticism in art as well as philosophy, and the term is applied to an Italian school which aimed at uniting the excellencies of individual great masters.
Ecliptic, the name given to the circular path in the heavens round which the sun appears to move in the course of the year, an illusion caused by the earth's annual circuit round the sun, with its axis inclined at an angle to the equator of 23½ degrees; is the central line of the Zodiac (q. v.), so called because it was observed that eclipses occurred only when the earth was on or close upon this path.
Economy, "the right arrangement of things," and distinct from Frugality, which is "the careful and fitting use of things."
Ecorcheurs (lit. flayers properly of dead bodies), armed bands who desolated France in the reign of Charles VII., stripping their victims of everything, often to their very clothes.
Ecstatic Doctor, Jean Ruysbroek, a schoolman given to mysticism (1294-1381).
Ecuador (1,271), a republic of S. America, of Spanish origin, created in 1822; derives its name from its position on the equator; lies between Columbia and Peru; is traversed by the Andes, several of the peaks of which are actively volcanic; the population consists of Peruvian Indians, negroes, Spanish Creoles; exports cocoa, coffee, hides, and medicinal plants; the administration is vested in a president, a vice-president, two ministers, a senate of 18, and a house of deputies of 30, elected by universal suffrage.
Ecumenical Council, an ecclesiastical council representative, or accepted as representative, of the Church universal or Catholic. See Councils.
Eczema, a common skin disease, which may be either chronic or acute; develops in a red rash of tiny vesicles, which usually burst and produce a characteristic scab; is not contagious, and leaves no scar.
Edda (lit. grandmother), the name given to two collections of legends illustrative of the Scandinavian mythology: the Elder, or Poetic, Edda, collected in the 11th century by Sæmund Sigfusson, an early Christian priest, "with perhaps a lingering fondness for paganism," and the Younger, or Prose, Edda, collected in the next century by Snorri Sturleson, an Icelandic gentleman (1178-1241), "educated by Sæmund's grandson, the latter a work constructed with great ingenuity and native talent, what one might call unconscious art, altogether a perspicuous, clear work, pleasant reading still."
Eddystone Lighthouse, situated on a low reef of rocks submerged at high tide, 14 m. SW. of Plymouth; first built of wood by Winstanley, 1696; destroyed by a storm in 1703; rebuilt of wood on a stone base by Rudyard; burnt in 1755, and reconstructed by Smeaton of solid stone; the present edifice, on a different site, was completed by Sir James Douglas in 1882, is 133 ft. in height, and has a light visible 17½ m. off.
Edelinck, Gerard, a Flemish copper-plate engraver, born at Antwerp; invited to France by Colbert, and patronised by Louis XIV.; executed in a masterly manner many works from historical subjects (1640-1707).
Eden (i. e. place of delight), Paradise, the original spot referred to by tradition wholly uncertain, though believed to have been in the Far East, identified in Moslem tradition with the moon.
Edessa (40), an ancient city in Mesopotamia; figures in early Church history, and is reputed to have contained at one time 300 monasteries; it fell into the hands of the Turks in 1515; is regarded as the sacred city of Abraham by Orientals.
Edfu, a town in Upper Egypt, on the left bank of the Nile; has unique ruins of two temples, the larger founded by Ptolemy IV. Philopater before 200 B.C.
Edgar, a king of Saxon England from 959 to 975, surnamed the Peaceful; promoted the union and consolidation of the Danish and Saxon elements within his realm; cleared Wales of wolves by exacting of its inhabitants a levy of 300 wolves' heads yearly; eight kings are said to have done him homage by rowing him on the Dee; St. Dunstan, the archbishop of Canterbury, was the most prominent figure of the reign.
Edgar the Atheling, a Saxon prince, the grandson of Edmund Ironside; was hurriedly proclaimed king of England after the death of Harold in the battle of Hastings, but was amongst the first to offer submission on the approach of the Conqueror; spent his life in a series of feeble attempts at rebellion, and lived into the reign of Henry I.
Edgehill, in the S. of Warwickshire, the scene of the first battle in the Civil War, in 1642, between the royal forces under Charles I. and the Parliamentary under Essex; though the Royalists had the worst of it, no real advantage was gained by either side.
Edgeworth, Henry Essex, known as the "Abbé" Edgeworth, born in Ireland, son of a Protestant clergyman; educated at the Sorbonne, in Paris; entered the priesthood, and became the confessor of Louis XVI., whom he attended on the scaffold; exclaimed as the guillotine came down, "Son of St. Louis, ascend to heaven!" left France soon after; was subsequently chaplain to Louis XVIII. (1745-1807).
Edgeworth, Maria, novelist, born at Blackbourton, Berks; from her fifteenth year her home was in Ireland; she declined the suit of a Swedish count, and remained till the close of her life unmarried; amongst the best known of her works are "Moral Tales," "Tales from Fashionable Life," "Castle Rackrent," "The Absentee," and "Ormond"; her novels are noted for their animated pictures of Irish life, and were acknowledged by Scott to have given him the first suggestion of the Waverley series; the Russian novelist, Turgenief, acknowledges a similar indebtedness; "in her Irish stories she gave," says Stopford Brooke, "the first impulse to the novel of national character, and in her other tales to the novel with a moral purpose" (1766-1849).
Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, an Irish landlord, father of Maria Edgeworth, with a genius for mechanics, in which he displayed a remarkable talent for invention; was member of the last Irish Parliament; educated his son in accordance with the notions of Rousseau; wrote some works on mechanical subjects in collaboration with his daughter (1744-1817).
Edict of Nantes, an edict issued in 1598 by Henry IV. of France, granting toleration to the Protestants; revoked by Louis XIV. in 1685.
Edie Ochiltree, a character in Scott's "Antiquary."
Edina, poetic name for Edinburgh.
Edinburgh (263), the capital of Scotland, on the Firth of Forth, picturesquely situated amid surrounding hills; derives its name from Edwin, king of Northumbria in the 7th century; was created a burgh in 1329 by Robert the Bruce, and recognised as the capital in the 15th century, under the Stuarts; it has absorbed in its growth adjoining municipalities; is noted as an educational centre; is the seat of the Supreme Courts; has a university, castle, and royal palace, and the old Scotch Parliament House, now utilised by the Law Courts; brewing and printing are the chief industries, but the upper classes of the citizens are for the most part either professional people or living in retirement.
Edinburgh Review, a celebrated quarterly review started in October 1802 in Edinburgh to further the Whig interest; amongst its founders and contributors were Horner, Brougham, Jeffrey, and Sidney Smith, the latter being editor of the first three numbers; Jeffrey assumed the editorship in 1803, and in his hands it became famous for its incisive literary critiques, Carlyle and Macaulay contributing some of their finest essays to it.
Edinburgh University, founded in 1583; was the last of the Scotch Universities to receive its charter; was raised to an equal status with the others in 1621; its site was the famous Kirk o'Field, the scene of the Darnley tragedy; now consists of two separate buildings, one entirely devoted to medicine, and the other to arts and training in other departments; has an average matriculation roll of about 3000.
Edison, Thomas Alva, a celebrated American inventor, born at Milan, Ohio; started life as a newsboy; early displayed his genius and enterprise by producing the first newspaper printed in a railway train; turning his attention to telegraphy, he revolutionised the whole system by a series of inventions, to which he has since added others, to the number of 500, the most notable being the megaphone, phonograph, kinetoscope, a carbon telegraph transmitter, and improvements in electric lighting; b. 1847.
Edith, the alleged name of Lot's wife.
Edithe, St., an English princess, the natural daughter of Edgar, king of England (961-984). Festival, Sept. 16.
Edmund, St., king or "landlord" of East Anglia from 855 to 870; refused to renounce Christianity and accept heathenism at the hands of a set of "mere physical force" invading Danes, and suffered martyrdom rather; was made a saint of and had a monastery called "Bury St. Edmunds," in Norfolk, raised to his memory over his grave.
Edmund, St., Edmund Rich, archbishop of Canterbury, born at Abingdon; while still at school made a vow of celibacy and wedded the Virgin Mary; sided as archbishop with the popular party against the tyranny of both Pope and king; coming into disfavour with the papal court retired to France, where, on his arrival, the mother of St. Louis with her sons met him to receive his blessing, and where he spent his last days in a monastery; died in 1240, and was canonised six years after by Innocent IV., somewhat reluctantly it is said.
Edmund Ironside, succeeded to the throne of England on the death of his father Ethelred the Unready in 1016, but reigned only seven months; he struggled bravely, and at first successfully, against Canute the Dane, but being defeated, the kingdom ultimately was divided between them (981-1016).
Edom, or Idumæa, a mountainous but not unfertile country, comprising the S. of Judæa and part of the N. of Arabia Petræa, 100 m. long by 20 m. broad, peopled originally by the descendants of Esau, who were ruled by "dukes," and were bitterly hostile to the Jews.
Edred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, son of Edward the Elder; subdued Northumbria; had in the end of his reign St. Dunstan for chief adviser; d. 955.
Edrisi, an Arabian geographer, born at Ceuta, in Spain; by request of Roger II. of Sicily wrote an elaborate description of the earth, which held a foremost place amongst mediæval geographers (1099-1180).
Education, as conceived of by Ruskin, and alone worthy of the name, "the leading human souls to what is best, and making what is best out of them"; and attained, "not by telling a man what he knew not, but by making him what he was not."
Edui, an ancient Gallic tribe, whose capital was Bibracte (Autun).
Edward, Thomas, naturalist, born at Gosport; bred a shoemaker; settled in Banff, where he devoted his leisure to the study of animal nature, and collected numerous specimens of animals, which he stuffed and exhibited, but with pecuniary loss; the Queen's attention being called to his case, settled on him an annual pension of £50, while the citizens of Aberdeen presented him in March 1877 with a gift of 130 sovereigns, on which occasion he made a characteristic speech (1814-1886).
Edward I., surnamed Longshanks, king of England, born at Westminster, son of Henry III., married Eleanor (q. v.) of Castile; came first into prominence in the Barons' War; defeated the nobles at Evesham, and liberated his father; joined the last Crusade in 1270, and distinguished himself at Acre; returned to England in 1274 to assume the crown, having been two years previously proclaimed king; during his reign the ascendency of the Church and the nobles received a check, the growing aspiration of the people for a larger share in the affairs of the nation was met by an extended franchise, while the right of Parliament to regulate taxation was recognised; under his reign Wales was finally subdued and annexed to England, and a temporary conquest of Scotland was achieved (1239-1307).
Edward II., king of England (1307-1327), son of the preceding; was first Prince of Wales, being born at Carnarvon; being a weakling was governed by favourites, Gaveston and the Spencers, whose influence, as foreigners and unpatriotic, offended the barons, who rose against him; in 1314 Scotland rose in arms under Bruce, and an ill-fated expedition under him ended in the crushing defeat at Bannockburn; in 1327 he was deposed, and was brutally murdered in Berkeley Castle (1284-1327).
Edward III., king of England (1327-1377), son of the preceding, married Philippa of Hainault; during his boyhood the government was carried on by a council of regency; in 1328 the independence of Scotland was recognised, and nine years later began the Hundred Years' War with France, memorable in this reign for the heroic achievements of Edward the Black Prince (q. v.), the king's eldest son; associated with this reign are the glorious victories of Crécy and Poitiers, and the great naval battle at Sluys, one of the earliest victories of English arms at sea; these successes were not maintained in the later stages of the war, and the treaty of Bretigny involved the withdrawal of Edward's claim to the French crown; in 1376 the Black Prince died.
Edward IV., king of England (1461-1483), son of Richard, Duke of York, and successor to the Lancastrian Henry VI., whom he defeated at Towton; throughout his reign the country was torn by the Wars of the Roses, in which victory rested with the Yorkists at Hedgeley Moor, Hexham, Barnet, and Tewkesbury; in this reign little social progress was made, but a great step towards it was made by the introduction of printing by Caxton (1442-1483)
Edward V., king of England for three months in 1483, son of the preceding; deposed by his uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester; was ultimately murdered in the Tower, along with his young brother (1470-1483).
Edward VI., king of England (1547-1553), son of Henry VIII. and Jane Seymour; his reign, which was a brief one, was marked by a victory over the Scots at Pinkie (1547), Catholic and agrarian risings, and certain ecclesiastical reforms (1537-1553).
Edward VII., king of Great Britain and Ireland and "all the British Dominions beyond the Seas," born 9th November 1841, succeeded his mother, Queen Victoria, 22nd Jan. 1901. On 10th March 1863 he married Princess Alexandra, eldest daughter of Christian IX. of Denmark, and has four surviving children: George, Prince of Wales, b. 1865; Louise, Duchess of Fife, b. 1867; Victoria, b. 1868; and Maud, b. 1869, who married Prince Charles of Denmark. The king's eldest son, Albert Victor, b. 1864, died January 14, 1892.
Edward the Confessor, king of England, married Edith, daughter of the great Earl Godwin (q. v.); was a feeble monarch of ascetic proclivities; his appeal to the Duke of Normandy precipitated the Norman invasion, and in him perished the royal Saxon line; was canonised for his piety (1004-1066).
Edward the Elder, king of the Anglo-Saxons from 901 to 925; was the son and successor of Alfred the Great; extended the Anglo-Saxon dominions.
Edwardes, Sir Herbert Benjamin, soldier and administrator in India, born at Frodesley, Shropshire; was actively engaged in the first Sikh War and in the Mutiny; served under Sir Henry Lawrence, whose Life he partly wrote (1819-1868).
Edwards, Bryan, historian, born at Westbury; traded in Jamaica; wrote a "History of British Colonies in the West Indies" (1743-1800).
Edwards, Jonathan, a celebrated divine, born at E. Windsor, Connecticut; graduated at Yale; minister at Northampton, Mass.; missionary to Housatonnuck Indians; was elected to the Presidency of Princeton College; wrote an acute and original work, "The Freedom of the Will," a masterpiece of cogent reasoning; has been called the "Spinoza of Calvinism" (1703-1758).
Edwin, king of Northumbria in the 6th century; through the influence of his wife Ethelburga Christianity was introduced into England by St. Augustine; founded Edinburgh; was defeated and slain by the Mercian King Penda in 634.
Edwy, king of the Anglo-Saxons from 955 to 957; offended the clerical party headed by Dunstan and Odo, who put his wife Elgiva to death, after which he soon died himself at the early age of 19.
Eeckhout, a Dutch portrait and historical painter, born at Antwerp; the most eminent disciple of Rembrandt, whose style he successfully imitated (1621-1674).
Effen, Van, a Dutch author, who wrote chiefly in French; imitated the Spectator of Addison, and translated into French Swift's "Tale of a Tub" and Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" (1684-1735).
Effendi, a title of honour among the Turks, applied to State and civil officials, frequently associated with the name of the office, as well as to men of learning or high position.
Egalité, Philippe, Duke of Orleans, born April 13th, 1787, father of Louis Philippe; so called because he sided with the Republican party in the French Revolution, and whose motto was "Liberté, Fraternité, et Egalité." See Orleans, Duke of.
Egates, three islands on the W. coast of Sicily.
Egbert, king of Wessex, a descendant of Cedric the founder; after an exile of 13 years at the court of Charlemagne ascended the throne in 800; reigned till 809, governing his people in tranquillity, when, by successful wars with the other Saxon tribes, he in two years became virtual king of all England, and received the revived title of Bretwalda; d. 837.
Egede, Hans, a Norwegian priest, founder of the Danish mission in Greenland, whither he embarked with his family and a small colony of traders in 1721; leaving his son to carry on the mission, and returning to Denmark, he became head of a training school for young missionaries to Greenland (1686-1758).
Egede, Paul, son of Hans; assisted his father in the Greenland mission, and published a history of the mission; translated part of the Bible into the language of the country, and composed a grammar and a dictionary of it; d. 1789.
Eger (17), a town in Bohemia, on the river Eger, 91 m. W. of Prague, a centre of railway traffic; Wallenstein was murdered here in 1634; the river flows into the Elbe after a NE. course of 190 m.
Egeria, a nymph who inhabited a grotto in a grove in Latium, dedicated to the Camenæ, some 16 m. from Rome, and whom, according to tradition, Numa was in the habit of consulting when engaged in framing forms of religious worship for the Roman community; she figures as his spiritual adviser, and has become the symbol of one of her sex, conceived of as discharging the same function in other the like cases.
Egerton, Francis. See Bridgewater, Earl of.
Egger, Émile, a French Hellenist and philologist (1813-1885).
Egham (10), a small town in Surrey, on the Thames, 20 m. W. of London; has in its vicinity Runnymede, where King John signed Magna Charta in 1215.
Eginhard, or Einhard, a Frankish historian, born in Mainyan, in East Franconia; a collection of his letters and his Annals of the Franks, as well as his famous "Life of Charlemagne," are extant; was a favourite of the latter, who appointed him superintendent of public buildings, and took him with him on all his expeditions; after the death of Charlemagne he continued at the Court as tutor to the Emperor Louis's son; died in retirement (770-840).
Eglantine, Madame, the prioress in the "Canterbury Tales" of Chaucer.
Eglinton and Winton, Earl of, Archibald William Montgomerie, born at Palermo; became Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland; Rector of Glasgow University; was a noted sportsman and patron of the turf; is chiefly remembered in connection with a brilliant tournament given by him at Eglinton Castle in 1839, in which all the splendour and detail of a mediæval tourney were spectacularly reproduced (1812-1861).
Egmont, Lamoral, Count of, born in Hainault; became attached to the Court of Charles V., by whom, for distinguished military and diplomatic services, he was appointed governor of Flanders; fell into disfavour for espousing the cause of the Protestants of the Netherlands, and was beheaded in Brussels by the Duke of Alva; his career and fate form the theme of Goethe's tragedy "Egmont," a play nothing as a drama, but charming as a picture of the two chief characters in the piece, Egmont and Clärchen.
Egmont, Mount, the loftiest peak in the North Island, New Zealand, is 8270 ft. in height, and of volcanic origin.
Ego and Non-Ego (i. e. I and Not-I, or Self and Not-Self), are terms used in philosophy to denote respectively the subjective and the objective in cognition, what is from self and what is from the external to self, what is merely individual and what is universal.
Egoism, the philosophy of those who, uncertain of everything but the existence of the Ego or I, resolve all existence as known into forms or modifications of its self-consciousness.
Egoist, a novel by George Meredith, much admired by R. L. Stevenson, who read and re-read it at least five times over.
Egypt (8,000), a country occupying the NE. corner of Africa, lies along the W. shore of the Red Sea, has a northern coast-line on the Mediterranean, and stretches S. as far as Wady Halfa; the area is nearly 400,000 sq. m.; its chief natural features are uninhabitable desert on the E. and W., and the populous and fertile valley of the Nile. Cereals, sugar, cotton, and tobacco are important products. Mohammedan Arabs constitute the bulk of the people, but there is also a remnant of the ancient Coptic race. The country is nominally a dependency of Turkey under a native government, but is in reality controlled by the British, who exercise a veto on its financial policy, and who, since 1882, have occupied the country with soldiers. The noble monuments and relics of her ancient civilisation, chief amongst which are the Pyramids, as well as the philosophies and religions she inherited, together with the arts she practised, and her close connection with Jewish history, give her a peculiar claim on the interested regard of mankind. Nothing, perhaps, has excited more wonder in connection with Egypt than the advanced state of her civilisation when she first comes to play a part in the history of the world. There is evidence that 4000 years before the Christian era the arts of building, pottery, sculpture, literature, even music and painting, were highly developed, her social institutions well organised, and that considerable advance had been made in astronomy, chemistry, medicine, and anatomy. Already the Egyptians had divided the year into 365 days and 12 months, and had invented an elaborate system of weights and measures, based on the decimal notation.
Egyptian Night, such as in Egypt when, by judgment of God, a thick darkness of three days settled down on the land. See Exodus x. 22.
Egyptians, The, of antiquity were partly of Asiatic and partly of African origin, with a probable infusion of Semitic blood, and formed both positively and negatively a no inconsiderable link in the chain of world-history, positively by their sense of the divinity of nature-life as seen in their nature-worship, and negatively by the absence of all sense of the divinity of a higher life as it has come to light in the self-consciousness or moral sense and destiny of man.
Egyptology, the science, in the interest of ancient history, of Egyptian antiquities, such as the monuments and their inscriptions, and one in which of late years great interest has been taken, and much progress made.
Egyptus, the brother of Danaüs, whose 50 sons, all but one, were murdered by the daughters of the latter. See Danaüs.
Ehkili, a dialect of S. Arabia, interesting to philologists as one of the oldest of Semitic tongues.
Ehrenberg, a German naturalist, born in Delitsch; intended for the Church; devoted himself to medical studies, and graduated in medicine in 1818; acquired great skill in the use of the microscope, and by means of it made important discoveries, particularly in the department of infusory animals; contributed largely to the literature of science (1795-1878).
Ehrenbreitstein (5) (i. e. broad stone of honour), a strongly fortified town in Prussia, on the Rhine, opposite Coblentz, with which it has communication by a bridge of boats and a railway viaduct; the fortress occupies the summit of the rock, which is precipitous; is about 500 ft. high, and has large garrison accommodation.
Eichhorn, Johann Gottfried, a German theologian and Orientalist, born at Dorrenzimmern, Franconia; a man of extensive scholarship; held the chair of Oriental languages in Jena, and afterwards at Göttingen; was the first to apply a bold rationalism to the critical treatment of the Scriptures; he was of the old school of rationalists, now superseded by the historico-critical; his chief works are a Universal Library of Biblical Literature, in 10 vols., Introductions to the Old and to the New Testament, each in 5 vols., and an Introduction to the Apocrypha (1752-1827).
Eichthal, Gustave d', a French publicist, born at Nancy; an adherent of St. Simonianism; wrote "Les Evangiles"; Mrs. Carlyle describes him as "a gentle soul, trustful, and earnest-looking, ready to do and suffer all for his faith" (1804-1886).
Eichwald, Charles Edward, an eminent Russian naturalist, born in Mitau, Russia; studied science at Berlin and Vienna; held the chairs of Zoology and Midwifery at Kasan and Wilna, and of Palæontology at St. Petersburg; his explorations, which led him through most of Europe, Persia, and Algeria, and included a survey of the Baltic shores, as well as expeditions into the Caucasus, are described in his various works, and their valuable results noted (1795-1876).
Eiffel, Gustave, an eminent French engineer, born at Dijon; early obtained a reputation for bridge construction; designed the great Garabit Viaduct, and also the enormous locks for the Panama Canal; his most noted work is the gigantic iron tower which bears his name; in 1893 became involved in the Panama scandals, and was fined, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment; b. 1832.
Eiffel Tower, a structure erected on the banks of the Seine in Paris, the loftiest in the world, being 985 ft. in height, and visible from all parts of the city; it consists of three platforms, of which the first is as high as the towers of Notre Dame; the second as high as Strasburg Cathedral spire, and the third 863 ft; it was designed by Gustave Eiffel, and erected in 1887-1889; there are cafés and restaurants on the first landing, and the ascent is by powerful lifts.
Eigg or Egg, a rocky islet among the Hebrides, 5 m. SW. of Skye; St. Donnan and 50 monks from Iona were massacred here in 617 by the queen, notwithstanding a remonstrance on the part of the islanders that it would be an irreligious act; here also the Macleods of the 10th century suffocated in a cave 200 of the Macdonalds, including women and children.
Eighteenth Century, "a sceptical century and a godless," according to Carlyle's deliberate estimate, "opulent in accumulated falsities, as never century before was; which had no longer the consciousness of being false, so false has it grown; so steeped in falsity, and impregnated with it to the very bone, that, in fact, the measure of the thing was full, and a French Revolution had to end it"; which it did only symbolically, however, as he afterwards admitted, and but admonitorily of a doomsday still to come. See "Frederick the Great," Bk. i. chap, ii., and "Heroes."
Eikon Basilikë (i. e. the Royal Likeness), a book containing an account of Charles I. during his imprisonment, and ascribed to him as author, but really written by Bishop Gauden, though the MS. may have been perused and corrected by the king; it gives a true picture of his character and possible state of mind.
Eildons, The, a "triple-crested eminence" near Melrose, 1385 ft., and overlooking Teviotdale to the S., associated with Sir Walter Scott and Thomas the Rhymer; they are of volcanic origin, and are said to have been cleft in three by the wizard Michael Scott, when he was out of employment.
Eimeo, one of the French Society Islands; is hilly and woody, but well cultivated in the valleys; missionary enterprise in Polynesia first found a footing here.
Einsiedeln (8), a town in the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland; has a Benedictine abbey, containing a famous black image of the Virgin, credited with miraculous powers, which attracts, it is said, 200,000 pilgrims annually.
Eisenach (21), a flourishing manufacturing town in Saxe-Weimar, close to the Thuringian Forest and 48 m. W. of Weimar; is the birthplace of Sebastian Bach; in the vicinity stands the castle of Wartburg, the hiding-place for 10 months of Luther after the Diet of Worms.
Eisleben (23), a mining town in Prussian Saxony, 24 m. NW. of Halle; the birthplace and burial-place of Luther.
Eisteddfod, a gathering of Welsh bards and others, now annual, at which, out of a patriotic motive, prizes are awarded for the encouragement of Welsh literature and music and the preservation of the Welsh language and ancient national customs.
Ekaterinburg (37), a Russian town on the Isset, on the E. side of the Ural Mountains, of the mining industry in which it is the chief centre; has various manufactures, and a trade in the cutting and sorting of precious stones.
Ekron, a town in N. Palestine, 30 m. N. from Gaza and 9 m. from the sea.
Elaine, a lady of the court of King Arthur in love with Lancelot, and whose story is related by Malory in his "History" and by Tennyson in his "Idylls of the King."
Elaterium, a drug obtained from the mucus of the fruit of the squirting cucumber; is a most powerful purgative, and was known to the ancients.
Elba, a small and rocky island in the Mediterranean between Corsica and Tuscany, with a bold precipitous coast; belongs to Italy; has trade in fish, fruits, and iron ore; famous as Napoleon's place of exile from May 1814 to February 1815.
Elbe, the most important river in N. Germany; rises in the Riesengebirge, in Austria, flows NW. through Germany, and enters the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 725 m. long, navigable 520 m.; abounds in fish.
Elberfeld (126), an important manufacturing commercial centre, 16 m. NE. of Düsseldorf; noted for its textiles and dye-works.
Elboeuf (21), a town on the Seine, 75 m. NW. of Paris; has flourishing manufactures in cloths, woollens, &c.
Elburz, a lofty mountain range in N. Persia, S. of the Caspian; also the name of the highest peak in the Caucasus (18,571 ft.).
Elder, a name given to certain office-bearers in the Presbyterian Church, associated with the minister in certain spiritual functions short of teaching and administering sacraments; their duties embrace the general oversight of the congregation, and are of a wider nature than those of the deacons, whose functions are confined strictly to the secular interests of the church; they are generally elected by the church members, and ordained in the presence of the congregation; their term of office is in some cases for a stated number of years, but more generally for life.
Eldon, John Scott, Lord, a celebrated English lawyer, born at Newcastle, of humble parentage; educated at Oxford for the Church, but got into difficulties through a runaway marriage; he betook himself to law, rose rapidly in his profession, and, entering Parliament, held important legal offices under Pitt; was made a Baron and Lord Chancellor, 1801, an office which he held for 26 years; retired from public life in 1835, and left a large fortune at his death; was noted for the shrewd equity of his judgments and his delay in delivering them (1751-1838).
El Dorado (lit. the Land of Gold), a country which Orellana, the lieutenant of Pizzaro, pretended to have discovered in S. America, between the Amazon and Orinoco, and which he represented as abounding in gold and precious gems; now a region of purely imaginary wealth.
Eleanor, queen of Edward I. of England and sister of Alfonso X. (q. v.) of Castile, surnamed the Wise, accompanied her husband to the Crusade in 1269, and is said to have saved him by sucking the poison from a wound inflicted by a poisoned arrow; was buried at Westminster (1244-1290).
Eleatics, a school of philosophy in Greece, founded by Xenophanes of Elia, and of which Parmenides and Zeno, both of Elia, were the leading adherents and advocates, the former developing the system and the latter completing it, the ground-principle of which was twofold—the affirmation of the unity, and the negative of the diversity, of being—in other words, the affirmation of pure being as alone real, to the exclusion of everything finite and merely phenomenal. See "Sartor," Bk. I. chap. 8.
Election, The Doctrine of, the doctrine that the salvation of a man depends on the election of God for that end, of which there are two chief phases—the one is election to be Christ's, or unconditional election, and the other that it is election in Christ, or conditional election.
Electors, The, or Kurfürsts, of Germany, German princes who enjoyed the privilege of disposing of the imperial crown, ranked next the emperor, and were originally six in number, but grew to eight and finally nine; three were ecclesiastical—the Archbishops of Mayence, Cologne, and Trèves, and three secular—the Electors of Saxony, the Palatinate, and Bohemia, to which were added at successive periods the Electors of Brandenburg, of Bavaria, and Hanover. "There never was a tenth; and the Holy Roman Empire, as it was called, which was a grand object once, but had gone about in a superannuated and plainly crazy state some centuries, was at last put out of pain by Napoleon, August 6, 1806, and allowed to cease from the world."
Electra (i. e. the Bright One), an ocean nymph, the mother of Isis (q. v.).
Electra, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, who, with her brother Orestes, avenged the death of her father on his murderers.
Electric Light, a brilliant white light due to positive and negative currents rushing together between two points of carbon or (the "incandescent" light) to the intense heat in a solid body, caused by an electric current passing through it.
Electricity, the name given to a subtle agent called the electric fluid, latent in all bodies, and first evolved by friction, and which may manifest itself, under certain conditions, in brilliant flashes of light, or, when in contact with animals, in nervous shocks more or less violent. It is of two kinds, negative and positive, and as such exhibits itself in the polarity of the magnet, when it is called Magnetic (q. v.), and is excited by chemical action, when it is called Voltaic (q. v.).
Elegy, a song expressive of sustained earnest yearning, or mild sorrow after loss.
Elemental Spirits, a general name given in the Middle Ages to salamanders, undines, sylphs, and gnomes, spirits superstitiously believed to have dominion respectively over, as well as to have had their dwelling in, the four elements—fire, water, air, and earth.
Elements, originally the four forms of matter so deemed—fire, air, earth, and water, and afterwards the name for those substances that cannot be resolved by chemical analysis, and which are now found to amount to sixty-seven.
Elephant, a genus of mammals, of which there are two species, the Indian and the African; the latter attains a greater size, and is hunted for the sake of its tusks, which may weigh as much as 70 lbs.; the former is more intelligent, and easily capable of being domesticated; the white elephant is a variety of this species.
Elephant, Order of the White, a Danish order of knighthood, restricted to 30 knights, the decoration of which is an elephant supporting a tower; it was instituted by Canute IV., king of Denmark, at the end of the 12th century.
Elephanta, an island 6 m. in circuit in Bombay harbour, so called from its colossal figure of an elephant which stood near the landing-place; it contains three temples cut out of solid rock, and covered with sculptures, which, along with the figure at the landing, are rapidly decaying.
Elephantiasis, a peculiar skin disease, accompanied with abnormal swelling; so called because the skin becomes hard and stiff like an elephant's hide; attacks the lower limbs and scrotum; is chiefly confined to India and other tropical countries.
Elephantine, a small island below the first cataract of the Nile; contains interesting monuments and ruins of the ancient Roman and Egyptian civilisations.
Eleusinian Mysteries, rites, initiation into which, as religiously conducive to the making of good men and good citizens, was compulsory on every free-born Athenian, celebrated annually at Eleusis in honour of Demeter and Persephone, and which lasted nine days.
Eleusis, a town in ancient Attica, NW. of Athens, with a temple for the worship of Demeter, the largest in Greece; designed by the architect of the Parthenon (q. v.).
Eleutheria, the goddess of liberty, as worshipped in ancient Greece.
Elf-arrows, arrow-heads of flint used in hunting and war by the aborigines of the British Isles and of Europe generally, as they still are among savages elsewhere; derived their name from the superstitious belief that they were used by the fairies to kill cattle and sometimes human beings in their mischief-joy; they were sometimes worn as talismans, occasionally set in silver, as a charm against witchcraft.
Elgin or Moray (43), a northern Scottish county, fronting the Moray Firth and lying between Banff and Nairn, mountainous in the S. but flat to the N., watered by the Spey, Lossie, and Findhorn; agriculture, stone-quarrying, distilling, and fishing are the staple industries; has some imposing ruins and interesting antiquities.
Elgin (8), the county town of above, on the Lossie; created a royal burgh by David I.; has ruins of a fine Gothic cathedral and royal castle.
Elgin (17), a city in Illinois, on the Fox, 35 m. NW. of Chicago; watchmaking the chief industry.
Elgin, James Bruce, 8th Earl of, statesman and diplomatist, born in London; governor of Jamaica and Canada; negotiated important treaties with China and Japan; rendered opportune assistance at the Indian Mutiny by diverting to the succour of Lord Canning an expedition that was proceeding to China under his command; after holding office as Postmaster-General he became Viceroy of India (1861), where he died; his Journal and Letters are published (1811-1863).
Elgin Marbles, a collection of ancient sculptured marbles brought from Athens by the Earl of Elgin in 1812, and now deposited in the British Museum, after purchase of them by the Government for £35,000; these sculptures adorned certain public buildings in the Acropolis, and consist of portions of statues, of which that of Theseus is the chief, of alto-reliefs representing the struggle of the Centaurs and Lapithæ, and of a large section of a frieze.
Elia, the nom de plume adopted by Charles Lamb in connection with his Essays.
Elias, Mount, a mountain in NW. coast of N. America; conspicuous far off at sea, being about 18,000 ft. or 3½ m. above it.
Elijah, a Jewish prophet, born at Tishbe, in Gilead, near the desert; prophesied in the reign of Ahab, king of Israel, in the 10th century B.C.; revealed himself as the deadly enemy of the worship of Baal, 400 of whose priests he is said to have slain with his own hand; his zeal provoked persecution at the hands of the king and his consort Jezebel, but the Lord protected him, and he was translated from the earth in a chariot of fire, "went up by a whirlwind into heaven." See Prophets, The.
Eliot, George, the nom de plume of Mary Ann Evans, distinguished English novelist, born at Arbury, in Warwickshire; was bred on evangelical lines, but by-and-by lost faith in supernatural Christianity; began her literary career by a translation of Strauss's "Life of Jesus"; became in 1851 a contributor to the Westminster Review, and formed acquaintance with George Henry Lewes, whom she ere long lived with as his wife, though unmarried, and who it would seem discovered to her her latent faculty for fictional work; her first work in that line was "Scenes from Clerical Life," contributed to Blackwood in 1856; the stories proved a signal success, and they were followed by a series of seven novels, beginning in 1858 with "Adam Bede," "the finest thing since Shakespeare," Charles Reade in his enthusiasm said, the whole winding up with the "Impressions of Theophrastus Such" in 1879; these, with two volumes of poems, make up her works; Lewes died in 1878, and two years after she formally married an old friend, Mr. John Cross, and after a few months of wedded life died of inflammation of the heart; "she paints," says Edmond Scherer, "only ordinary life, but under these externals she makes us assist at the eternal tragedy of the human heart... with so much sympathy," he adds, "the smile on her face so near tears, that we cannot read her pages without feeling ourselves won to that lofty toleration of hers" (1819-1880).
Eliot, John, the apostle of the Indians, born in Hertfordshire; entered the Church of England, but seceded and emigrated to New England; became celebrated for his successful evangelistic expeditions amongst the Indians during his lifelong occupancy of the pastorate at Roxbury (1604-1690).
Elis, a district of Greece, on the W. coast of the Peloponnesus, sacred to all Hellas as the seat of the greatest of the Greek festivals in connection with the Olympian Games, a circumstance which imparted a prestige to the inhabitants.
Elisa or Elissa, Dido, queen of Carthage, in love with Æneas.
Elisha, a Jewish prophet, the successor of Elijah, who found him at the plough, and consecrated him to his office by throwing his mantle over him, and which he again let fall on him as he ascended to heaven. He exercised his office for 55 years, but showed none of the zeal of his predecessor against the worship of Baal; was, however, accredited as a prophet of the Lord by the miracles he wrought in the Lord's name.
Elizabeth, sister of Louis XVI.; was guillotined (1764-1794).
Elizabeth Farnese, queen of Spain, a daughter of Odoardo II. of Parma; in 1714 she married Philip V. of Spain, when her bold and energetic nature soon made itself felt in the councils of Europe, where she carried on schemes for territorial and political aggrandisement; was an accomplished linguist; is called by Carlyle "the Termagant of Spain"; her Memoirs are published in four volumes (1692-1766).
Elizabeth, Empress of Russia, daughter of Peter the Great and Catharine I.; assisted Maria Theresa in the war of the Austrian Succession; opposed Frederick the Great in the Seven Years' War; indolent and licentious, she left the affairs of the State mainly in the hands of favourites (1709-1762).
Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, daughter of James VI. of Scotland and I. of England; married Frederick V., Elector Palatine, who for a brief time held the throne of Bohemia; her daughter Sophia, by marrying the Elector of Hanover, formed a tie which ultimately brought the crown of England to the House of Brunswick (1596-1662).
Elizabeth, Queen of England (1658-1603), daughter of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn, born in Greenwich Palace; was an indefatigable student in her youth; acquired Greek and Latin, and a conversational knowledge of German and French; the Pope's opposition to her succession on the ground of being judged illegitimate by the Church strengthened her attachment to the Protestant faith, which was her mother's, and contributed to its firm establishment during the reign; during it the power of Spain was crushed by the defeat of the Armada; maritime enterprise flourished under Drake, Raleigh, and Frobisher; commerce was extended, and literature carried to a pitch of perfection never before or since reached; masterful and adroit, Elizabeth yet displayed the weakness of vanity and vindictiveness; the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, is a blot upon her fame, and her intrigues with Seymour, Leicester, and Essex detract from her dignity; her wisdom was manifested in her wise choice of counsellors and leaders, and her patriotism won her a secure place in the hearts of her people (1533-1608).
Elizabeth, St., "a very pious, but also a very fanciful young woman; her husband, a Thuringian landgraf, going to the Crusade, where he died straightway," Carlyle guesses, "partly the fruit of the life she led him; lodging beggars, sometimes in her very bed; continually breaking his night's rest for prayer and devotional exercises of undue length, 'weeping one moment, then smiling in joy the next'; meandering about, capricious, melodious, weak, at the will of devout whim mainly; went to live at Marburg after her husband's death, and soon died there in a most melodiously pious sort" in 1231, aged 24.
Elizabethan Architecture, a term applied to the style of architecture which flourished in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., and which was characterised by a revival of classic designs wrought into the decadent Gothic style. Lord Salisbury's house at Hatfield is a good specimen of this mixed style.
Elizabethan Era, according to Carlyle, "the outcome and flowerage of all which had preceded it... in that old age lies the only true poetical literature of England. The poets of the last ago took to pedagogy (Pope and his school), and shrewd men they were; those of the present age to ground-and-lofty tumbling; and it will do your heart good," he adds, "to see how they vault."
Elkargeh (4), a town in the great oasis in the Libyan Desert; has ancient remains, and is an important resting stage in crossing the desert.
Ellenborough, Edward Law, Earl of, an English Conservative statesman, son of Baron Ellenborough, Lord Chief-Justice of England; entered Parliament in 1813; held office under the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel; appointed Governor-General of India (1841); recalled in 1844; subsequently First Lord of the Admiralty and Indian Minister under Lord Derby (1790-1871).
Ellenrieder, Marie, a painter of great excellence, born at Constance; studied in Rome; devoted herself to religious subjects, such as "Christ Blessing Little Children," "Mary and the Infant Jesus," &c. (1771-1863).
Ellesmere, Francis Egerton, Earl of, statesman and author, born in London, second son of the Duke of Sutherland; was Secretary for Ireland and War Secretary; author of some books of travel, and a translation of "Faust" (1800-1857).
Elliot, George Augustus. See Heathfield.
Elliotson, John, an English physician, born in London; lost his professorship in London University on account of employing mesmerism for medical purposes; promoted clinical instruction and the use of the stethoscope; founded the Phrenological Society (1791-1868).
Elliott, Ebenezer, poet, known popularly as the "Corn-Law Rhymer," born in Rotherham parish, Yorkshire; an active worker in iron; devoted his leisure to poetic composition; proved a man that could handle both pen and hammer like a man; wrote the "Corn-Law Rhymes" and other pieces; his works have been "likened to some little fraction of a rainbow, hues of joy and harmony, painted out of troublous tears; no full round bow shone on by the full sun, and yet, in very truth, a little prismatic blush, glowing genuine among the wet clouds, ... proceeds from a sun cloud-hidden, yet indicates that a sun does shine...; a voice from the deep Cyclopean forges where Labour, in real soot and sweat, beats with his thousand hammers, doing personal battle with Necessity and her brute dark powers to make them reasonable and serviceable" (1781-1849).
Ellis, Alexander J., an eminent English philologist, born at Horeton; published many papers on phonetics and early English pronunciation; was President of the Philological Society; his name, originally Sharpe, changed by royal license (1814-1890).
Ellis, George, literary critic, born in London; did much to promote the study of early English literature; contributed to the Anti-Jacobin, and was joint-author of the "Rolliad," a satire on Pitt, and of "Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances"; Scott declared him to be the best conversationalist he had ever met (1753-1815).
Ellis, Sir Henry, chief librarian of the British Museum from 1827 to 1856, born in London; edited various works on antiques; wrote an "Introduction to Domesday Book"; knighted in 1833 (1777-1869).
Ellis, William, a missionary and author, born in London; laboured in the South Sea Islands, and afterwards in Madagascar; wrote various works descriptive of these islands; he married Sarah Stickney, who is the authoress of a number of popular works, including "The Women of England," "The Daughters of England," &c. (1794-1872).
Elliston, Robert William, a celebrated actor, born in London; ran away from home and joined the stage, rose to the front rank both as comedian and tragedian (1774-1831).
Ellora, an Indian village in Hyderabad, 12 m. NW. of Aurungabad, famed for its Buddhist and Hindu cave and monolithic temples, the most magnificent of which is hewn out of a solid hill of red stone, the most beautiful being the Hindu temple of Kailás.
Ellwood, Thomas, a celebrated Quaker, born at Crowell, Oxfordshire; the intimate friend of Milton, to whom he suggested the idea of "Paradise Regained" by remarking to him, "Thou hast said much of Paradise Lost, but what hast thou to say of Paradise Found?" his Autobiography is still read (1639-1713).
Elmo's Fire, St., a popular name for the display of electric fire which sometimes plays about the masts of ships, steeples, &c., accompanied at times with a hissing noise; commoner in southern climates, known by other names, e. g. Fire of St. Clara, of St. Elias.
Eloge, a discourse in panegyric of some illustrious person deceased, in which composition Fontenelle took the lead, and in which he was followed by D'Alembert, Condorcet, Flourens, and others.
Elohim, a Hebrew word in the plural number, signifying God or one as God, but with a verb in the singular, signifying generally the one true God; according to the Talmud it denotes God as just in judgment to all in contradistinction to Jehovah, which denotes God as merciful to His people.
Elohist, a name given by the critics to the presumed author of the earlier part of the Pentateuch, whose work in it they allege is distinguished by the use of the word Elohim for God; he is to be distinguished from the Jehovist, the presumed author of the later portions, from his use, on the other hand, of the word Jehovah for God.
Elphinstone, George Keith, Admiral. See Keith.
Elphinstone, Mountstuart, a noted Indian civil servant and historian; co-operated with Wellesley in firmly establishing British rule in India; was governor of Bombay, where he accomplished many useful reforms, and issued the Elphinstone Code of Laws; wrote a "History of India," which earned for him the title of the "Tacitus of India" (1779-1859).
Elphinstone, William, an erudite and patriotic Scottish ecclesiastic and statesman, born in Glasgow; took holy orders; went to Paris to study law, and became a professor in Law there, and afterwards at Orleans; returned to Scotland; held several high State appointments under James III. and James IV.; continued a zealous servant of the Church, holding the bishoprics of Ross and of Aberdeen, where he founded the university (1431-1514).
Elsass (French Alsace), a German territory on the left bank of the Rhine, traversed by the Vosges Mountains; taken from the French in 1870-71.
Elsinore, a seaport on the island of Zeeland, in Denmark, 20 m. N. of Copenhagen; has a good harbour; the scene of Shakespeare's "Hamlet."
Elswick (53), a town in the vicinity of Newcastle, noted for the great engineering and ordnance works of Sir W. G. (now Lord) Armstrong.
Elton, a salt lake of SE. Russia, in the government of Astrakhan; has an area of about 65 sq. m., but is very shallow; yields annually some 90,000 or 95,000 tons of salt, which is shipped off viâ the Volga.
Elton, Charles Isaac, jurist and ethnologist, born in Somerset; held a Fellowship in Queen's College, Oxford; called to the bar in 1865, and in 1884 was returned to Parliament as a Conservative; his first works were juridical treatises on the tenure of land, but in 1882 he produced a learned book on the origins of English history; b. 1839.
Elvas, a strongly fortified town in Portugal, in the province of Alemtejo, 12 m. W. of Badajoz; is a bishop's see; has a Moorish aqueduct 3½ m. long and 250 ft. high.
Ely (8), a celebrated cathedral city, in the fen-land of Cambridgeshire, on the Ouse, 30 m. SE. of Peterborough; noted as the scene of Hereward's heroic stand against William the Conqueror in 1071; the cathedral, founded in 1083, is unique as containing specimens of the various Gothic styles incorporated during the course of 400 years.
Ely, Isle of, a name given to the N. portion of Cambridgeshire on account of its having been at one time insulated by marshes; being included in the region of the Fens, has been drained, and is now fertile land.
Elyot, Sir Thomas, author and ambassador, born in Wiltshire; ambassador to the court of Charles V.; celebrated as the author of "The Governour," the first English work on moral philosophy, and also of the first Latin-English dictionary (1490-1546).
Elysium the abode of the shades of the virtuous dead in the nether world as conceived of by the poets of Greece and Rome, where the inhabitants live a life of passive blessedness, which, however, is to such a man as Achilles a place of woe rather and unrest, where he would fain exchange places with the meanest hind that breathes in the upper world.
Elze, Frederick Carl, a German Shakespearian scholar, born at Dessau; early devoted himself to the study of English literature; lived some time in England and Scotland; in 1875 became professor of English Literature at Halle; his various publications on Shakespeare and the Elizabethan dramatists are full of excellent criticisms; also wrote Lives of Scott and Byron (1821-1889).
Elzevir, the name of an eminent family of printers residing in Amsterdam and Leyden, Louis the first of them, who started in Leyden; their publications date from 1594 to 1680.
Elzevir Editions, editions of the classics printed at Amsterdam and Leyden during the 16th and 17th centuries by a family of the Elzevirs, and considered to be immaculate.
Emanation, the Doctrine of, a doctrine of Eastern origin, which derives everything that exists from the divine nature by necessary process of emanation, as light from the sun, and ascribes all evil and the degrees of it to a greater and greater distance from the pure ether of this parent source, or to the extent in consequence to which the being gets immersed in and clogged with matter.
Emancipation, originally a term in Roman law and name given to the process of the manumission of a son by his father; the son was sold to a third party and after the sale became sui juris; it is now applied to the remission of old laws in the interest of freedom, which Carlyle regards in his "Shooting Niagara," as the sum of nearly all modern recent attempts at Reform.
Emanuel I., king of Portugal from 1495 to 1521; his reign inaugurated the golden period of Portuguese history, during which Portugal became the first maritime and commercial power in Europe; was the patron of Vasco da Gama and Albuquerque; issued an edict for the expulsion of the Jews from his kingdom, and wrote to the Elector of Saxony begging him to get rid of Luther (1469-1521).
Embalming, the art of preserving dead bodies from decay by means of antiseptic agents applied both externally and internally; although known to other people, e. g. the Peruvians, the art was chiefly practised among the Egyptians, and the practice of it dates back to 4000 B.C.; the thoroughness of the process depended on the money expended, but it usually involved the removal of the viscera, save the heart and kidneys, the extraction of the brain, the introduction of drugs to the cavities, and the pickling of the body in native carbonate of soda, and the wrapping of it in linen; experiments in embalming, more or less successful, have been made in recent times, and even still are.
Ember Days, four annually recurring periods of three days each, appointed by the Romish and English Churches to be devoted to fasting and praying; they are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the first Sunday in Lent, after Pentecost, after the 14th September, and after the 13th December.
Embryo, the scientific term for the young of an animal while yet in the initial stage of development in the womb; also applied to the plant in its rudimentary stage within the seed.
Embryology, the section of biology which treats of the development of the embryo.
Emden (14), the chief part of the province of Hanover, in Prussia, situated at the outlet of the river Ems; is intersected by canals; shipbuilding and brewing are the chief industries.
Emerald, a precious stone of great value, allied in composition to the beryl; is of a beautiful transparent green colour; the finest specimens are found in Colombia and Venezuela.
Emerald Isle, Ireland, from the fresh verdure of its herbage.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, an American philosophic thinker and poet, of English Puritan descent, born at Boston, where he started in life as a Unitarian preacher and pastor, an office he resigned in 1832 for literature, in which he found he would have freer and fuller scope to carry out his purpose as a spiritual teacher; in 1833 he paid a visit to England, and in particular a notable one to Craigenputtock (q. v.), with the inmates of which he formed a lifelong friendship; on his return the year after, he married, a second time as it happened, and, settling down in Concord, began his career as a lecturer and man of letters; by his "Essays," of which he published two series, one in 1841 and a second in 1844, he commended himself to the regard of all thinking men in both hemispheres, and began to exercise an influence for good on all the ingenuous youth of the generation; they were recognised by Carlyle, and commended as "the voice of a man"; these embraced subjects one and all of spiritual interest, and revealed transcendent intellectual power; they were followed by "Representative Men," lectures delivered in Manchester on a second visit to England in 1847, and thereafter, at successive periods, by "Society and Solitude," "English Traits," "The Conduct of Life," "Letters and Social Aims," besides a long array of poems, as well as sundry remarkable Addresses and Lectures, which he published; he was a man of exceptional endowment and great speculative power, and is to this day the acknowledged head of the literary men of America; speculatively, Carlyle and he were of the same school, but while Carlyle had "descended" from the first "into the angry, noisy Forum with an argument that could not but exasperate and divide," he continued pretty much all his days engaged in little more than in a quiet survey and criticism of the strife; Carlyle tried hard to persuade him to "descend," but it would appear Emerson never to his dying day understood what Carlyle meant by the appeal, an appeal to take the devil by the throat and cease to merely speculate and dream (1803-1882).
Emerson Tennent, Sir James, bred for the bar; was from 1845 to 1852 colonial secretary and lieutenant-governor of Ceylon, and became on his return joint-secretary to the Board of Trade; wrote "Christianity in Ceylon" and "Ceylon: an Account of the Island" (1804-1869).
Emery, a dull, blue-black mineral, allied in composition to the sapphire, but containing a varying quantity of iron oxide; is found in large masses; is exceedingly hard, and largely used in polishing metals, plate-glass, and precious stones.
Emigrants, The (Les Emigrés), the members of the French aristocracy and of the partisans of the ancient régime who at the time of the Revolution, after the fall of the Bastille, fled for safety to foreign lands, congregating particularly in Coblenz, where they plotted for its overthrow, to the extent of leaguing with the foreigner against their country, with the issue of confiscation of their lands and properties by the republic that was set up.
Émile, the hero of a philosophic romance by Rousseau of the same name, in which the author expounds his views on education, and presents his reasons, with his ideal of what, according to him, a good education is, a theory practically adopted by many would-be educationists with indifferent fruit.
Emir, a title bestowed on the descendants of Mahomet's daughter Fatima, the word denoting a "prince" or "ruler"; has lost this its primary meaning; the emirs, of whom there are large numbers in Turkey, enjoying no privileges save the sole right to wear a green turban, the supposed favourite colour of Mahomet, though they hold a high social position; the title is also given to chieftains of N. Africa.
Emmet, Robert, a patriotic Irishman, born in Dublin; bred for the bar; took part in the Irish rebellion; was hanged for his share in attempting to seize Dublin Castle (1778-1803).
Empe`docles, a philosopher of Agrigentum, in Sicily; "extolled in antiquity as a statesman and orator, as physicist, physician, and poet, and even as prophet and worker of miracles," who flourished about the year 440 B.C.; he conceived the universe as made up of "four eternal, self-subsistent, mutually underivative, but divisible, primal material bodies, mingled and moulded by two moving forces, the uniting one of friendship and the disuniting one of strife"; of him it is fabled that, to persuade his fellow-citizens, with whom he had been in high favour as their deliverer from the tyranny of the aristocracy, of his bodily translation from earth to heaven, he threw himself unseen into the crater of Etna, but that at the next eruption of the mountain his slipper was cast up and revealed the fraud.
Empires: the Roman, capital Rome, dates from the reign of Augustus, 25 B.C., to that of Theodosius, A.D. 395; of the East, or Low Empire, capital Constantinople, being part of the Roman empire, dates from 295 to 1453; of the West, capital Rome, dates from 295 to 476; the Holy, or Second Empire of the West, founded by Charlemagne, dates from 800 to 911; the Latin, capital Constantinople, founded by the Crusaders, dates from 1204 to 1261; the German, founded by Otho the Great in 962, ended by abdication of Francis II. of Austria in 1806, and restored under William I. in 1870; the French, founded by Napoleon I., dates from 1804 to 1815, and as established by Napoleon III. dates from 1852 to 1870; of the Indies, founded in 1876 under the crown of England.
Empiric, the name given to any who practises an art from the mere experience of results, apart from all reference to or knowledge of the scientific explanation.
Empiricism, a philosophical term applied to the theory that all knowledge is derived from the senses and experience alone, to the rejection of the theory of innate ideas; Locke, in modern times, is the great representative of the school that advocates this doctrine supported by Aristotle.
Empson, Sir Richard, a lawyer in the reign of Henry VII.; was Speaker of the House of Commons; incurred the hatred of the populace by acting as the king's agent in forcing payment of taxes and penalties; was convicted of tyranny and treason, and beheaded in 1510.
Empyema, a medical term signifying a diseased condition of the chest, in which pus accumulates in the pleura, cures of which are sometimes effected by drawing off the pus by means of tubes.
Empyrean, the highest heaven, or region of pure elemental fire, whence everything of the nature of fire has been conceived to emanate, whether in the phenomena of nature or the life of man.
Ems, 1, a river of NW. Germany, rises in Westphalia, and after a course of 205 m. discharges into Dollart Bay, an inlet of the North Sea; is navigable, and is joined to the Lippe by means of a canal, and also similarly to Dortmund. 2, A celebrated German watering-place, on the Lahn, near Coblenz; its mineral springs, known to the Romans, vary in warmth from 80° to 135° F.
Enamel, a vitreous compound, easily fusible, and coloured in various tints by the admixture of different metallic oxides; is fused to the surface of metals for utility and ornament; was known to the European and Asiatic ancients, and has maintained its popularity to the present day. Various schools have been formed, of which the Byzantine, Rhenish, and Limoges are the most noted.
Encaustic Painting, an ancient style of decorative art somewhat similar to enamelling, which consisted in overlaying the surface (e. g. of walls) with wax, then inlaying a coloured design, the whole being subsequently polished.
Enceladus, one of the chief giants that revolted against Zeus, and who, as he fled and took refuge in Sicily, was transfixed by a thunderbolt, and buried under Etna. The fiery eruptions of the mountain are his breath, and the shaking of it ascribed to his shifting from one side to another. In the latter regard he serves in literature as the symbol of a blind, often impotent, struggle to throw off some oppressive incubus.
Enceladus, Manuel Blanco, a distinguished Chilian statesman and soldier, born in Buenos Ayres; trained for the navy in Spain, but joined the Chilian revolutionaries; served with distinction under Lord Cochrane, and rose to high rank both in the army and navy; was commander of the Chilian forces in 1825, and for two months in the following year President of the Republic; was subsequently Governor of Valparaiso, and minister to France (1790-1876).
Enchiridion of Epictetus. See Epictetus.
Encina or Enzina, Juan de la, a Spanish dramatist, whose works mark the rise of the Spanish drama, born at Salamanca; was at one time secretary to the Duke of Alva, and afterwards conductor of music in the chapel of Leo X. at Rome (1469-1534).
Encke, Johann Franz, a celebrated German astronomer, born at Hamburg; determined the sun's distance, and the orbit of the comet of 1680; calculated the time of the revolution of the comet which now bears his name, and which appeared in 1818; determined also the distance of the sun by the two transits of Venus in 1761 and 1769 (1791-1865).
Encyclical Letter, a letter addressed by the Pope to the bishops of the Church, condemnatory of prevailing errors or counselling them how to act in connection with public questions of the day.
Encyclopædia, a name of Greek derivation, given to works which embrace within their pages a more or less complete account, in alphabetical order, of the whole round of human knowledge, or of some particular section of it. Attempts in this direction were made as far back as Aristotle's day, and various others have since been made from time to time, according as the circle of knowledge widened. Amongst famous encyclopædias which have appeared, mention may be made of the French "Encyclopédie" (q. v.); the "Encyclopædia Britannica," Edinburgh (1708-1771), now in its ninth edition (1889); the German "Encyclopedie," begun in 1818 by Ersch and Gruber, and not yet completed, although 170 volumes have appeared; while the largest of all is the Chinese encyclopædia, in 5020 vols., printed in Pekin in 1726.
Encyclopédie, a French encyclopædia consisting of 28 vols., to which a supplement of 5 vols. was added; edited by D'Alembert and Diderot; contributed to by a number of the eminent savants of France, and issued in 1751-1777, and which contributed to feed, but did nothing to allay, or even moderate, the fire of the Revolution.
Encyclopedist, generally a man of encyclopedic knowledge, or who conducts or contributes to an encyclopædia; specially one who has, as the French encyclopedists, an overweening, false, and illusory estimate of the moral worth and civilising power of such knowledge. See Carlyle's "Sartor," Bk. I. chap. 10, on the "Encyclopedic Head."
Endemic, a term applied to diseases which affect the inhabitants of certain countries and localities, and which arise from strictly local causes, e.g. neighbouring swamps, bad sanitation, impure water, climate, &c.
Endogens, those plants in which the new fibrous matter is developed in the centre of the stem, and which is pushed outward by the formation of new tissue within, thus developing the stem outwards from the inside. See Exogens.
Endor, a place on the S. of Mount Tabor, in Palestine, where the sorceress lived who was consulted by Saul before the battle of Gilboa, and who professed communication with the ghost of Samuel (1 Sam, xxviii. 7).
Endosmose, a word used in physics to describe the intermingling of two liquids of different densities, in close juxtaposition, but separated by a thin membranous tissue. The liquid of lesser density passes more rapidly through the dividing tissue, and raises the level of the liquid in the other vessel, this action is named endosmose; while the flowing of the liquid of greater density into the vessel whose level is falling, is called exosmose.
Endymion, a beautiful shepherd, son of Zeus, whom Selene (q. v.) carried off to Mount Lemnos, in Caria, where, as she kissed him, he sank into eternal sleep. This is one version of the story.
Eneid, an epic poem of Virgil, the hero of which is Æneas of Troy.
Energy, Conservation of, the doctrine that, however it may change in form and character, or be dissipated, no smallest quantity of force in the universe is ever lost.
Enfantin, Barthélemy Prosper, a Socialist and journalist, born in Paris, adopted the views of Saint-Simon (q. v.); held subversive views on the marriage laws, which involved him in some trouble; wrote a useful and sensible book on Algerian colonisation, and several works, mainly interpretative of the theories of Saint-Simon (1796-1864).
Enfield (32), a town in Middlesex, 10 m. NE. of London, has a celebrated Government rifle factory; was for six years the dwelling-place of Charles Lamb.
Engadine, a noted Swiss valley in the canton of the Grisons, stretches about 65 m. between the Lepontine or Rhætian Alps; is divided into the Lower Engadine, wild and desolate, and the Upper Engadine, fertile and populous, and a favourite health resort; the river Inn flows through it, its waters collected here and there into lakes.
Engedi, an oasis, a spot of rare beauty, once a place of palm-trees, 23 m. W. of the N. end of the Dead Sea.
Enghien, Louis de Bourbon, Duc d', an ill-fated French Royalist, born at Chantilly; joined the Royalists under his grandfather, Prince of Condé, and took part in the Rhine campaign against the Republicans; was suspected of being concerned in a Bourbon plot to assassinate the Emperor Napoleon; was seized in the neutral territory of Baden, brought to Vincennes, and, after an inconclusive and illegal trial, shot by Napoleon's orders, a proceeding which gave rise to Fouché's remark, "It is worse than a crime—it is a blunder" (1772-1804).
Engineers, Royal Naval, since 1848 have ranked as commissioned officers; salaries vary from £110 to £639 a year; admission is by examination; duties include the entire oversight and management of the ship-machinery; there are three ranks—inspectors of machinery, chief engineers, and assistants, the latter being of three grades; in 1888 engineer studentships were created.
Engineers, the Corps of Royal, in the British army, instituted in 1763, consists of about 900 officers and 5000 non-commissioned officers and men, usually recruited from skilled artisans; their duties comprise the undertaking of all engineering operations necessary in the conduct of war, e. g. bridging and mining, road and railway and telegraph construction, building of fortifications, &c.; their term of service is 7 years in the active army and 5 in the reserve, or maybe 3 in the former and 9 in the latter.
England (27,000), the "predominant partner" of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, comprises along with Wales the southern, and by far the greater, portion of Great Britain, the largest of the European islands; it is separated from the Continent on the E. and S. by the North Sea and English Channel, and from Ireland on the W. by St. George's Channel, while Scotland forms its N. boundary; its greatest length N. and S. is 430 m., and greatest breadth (including Wales) 370. It is of an irregular triangular shape; has a long and highly-developed coast-line (1800 m.); is divided into 40 counties (with Wales 52); has numerous rivers with navigable estuaries, while transit is facilitated by a network of railways and canals; save the highlands in the N., and the Pennine Range running into Derby, England is composed (if we except the mountainland of Wales) of undulating plains, 80 per cent, of which is arable; while coal and iron are found in abundance, and copper, lead, zinc, and tin in lesser quantities; in the extent and variety of its textile factories, and in the production of machinery and other hardware goods, England is without an equal; the climate is mild and moist, and affected by draughts; but for the Gulf Stream, whose waters wash its western shores, it would probably resemble that of Labrador. Under a limited monarchy and a widely embracing franchise, the people of England enjoy an unrivalled political freedom. Since Henry VIII.'s time, the national religion has been an established Protestantism, but all forms are tolerated. In 1896 education was made free. The name England is derived from Engle-land, or land of the Angles, a Teutonic people who, with kindred Saxons and Jutes, came over from the mainland in the 5th century, and took possession of the island, driving Britons and Celts before them. Admixtures to the stock took place during the 11th century through the Danish and Norman conquests. E. annexed Wales in 1284, and was united with Scotland under one crown in 1603, and under one Parliament in 1707.
England, The Want Of, "England needs," says Ruskin, "examples of people who, leaving Heaven to decide whether they are to rise in the world, decide for themselves that they will be happy in it, and have resolved to seek, not greater wealth, but simpler pleasures; not higher fortune, but deeper felicity; making the first of possessions self-possession, and honouring themselves in the harmless pride and calm pursuits of peace."
Engles, Friedrich, a Socialist, the friend of Karl Marx; an active propagandist of socialistic theories; author of several works on Socialism (1820-1895).
Enid, the daughter of Yniol and the wife of Geraint; one of the ladies of the court of King Arthur; celebrated for her steadfast conjugal affection, the story regarding whom is given in Tennyson's "Idylls of the King."
Enniskillen (5), the county town of Fermanagh, Ireland, on an isle in the river which joins Lower and Upper Loughs Erne; the scene of the defeat of James II.'s troops by those of William of Orange; gives its name to a well-known dragoon regiment.
Ennius, an early Roman poet, the father of Roman epic poetry, born in Rudiæ, Calabria; promoted the study of Greek literature in Rome; of his poems, dramatic and epic, only a few fragments are extant (239-169 B.C.).
Enoch, a godly man, who lived in antediluvian times among a race gone godless, and whom the Lord in judgment removed from the earth to return Himself by-and-by with a flood in order to clear the world of the ungodly.
Enoch, The Book of, an apocryphal book, quoted from by Jude, discovered over a century ago, composed presumably about the 2nd century, though subsequently enlarged and ascribed to Enoch; it professes to be a series of revelations made to the patriarch bearing upon the secrets of the material and spiritual universe and the course of Providence, and written down by him for the benefit of posterity.
Enoch Arden, a poem of Tennyson, and one of his happiest efforts to translate an incident of common life into the domain of poetry; the story is: A sailor, presumed to be lost, and whose wife marries another, returns, finds her happily wedded, and bears the sorrow rather than disturb her felicity by revealing himself.
Entablature, a term in classic architecture applied to the ornamented portion of a building which rests in horizontal position upon supporting columns; is subdivided into three parts, the lower portion being called the architrave, the middle portion the frieze, and the uppermost the cornice; the depth assigned to these parts varies in the different schools, but the whole entablature generally measures twice the diameter of the column.
Entail, a term in law which came to be used in connection with the practice of limiting the inheritance of estates to a certain restricted line of heirs. Attempts of the kind, which arise naturally out of the deeply-seated desire which men have to preserve property—especially landed estates—in their own families, are of ancient date; but the system as understood now, involving the principle of primogeniture, owes its origin to the feudal system. Sometimes the succession was limited to the male issue, but this was by no means an invariable practice; in modern times the system has been, by a succession of Acts of Parliaments (notably the Cairns Act of 1882), greatly modified, and greater powers given to the actual owner of alienating the estates to which he has succeeded, a process which is called "breaking the entail."
Entsagen, the renunciation with which, according to Goethe, life, strictly speaking, begins, briefly explained by Froude as "a resolution, fixedly and clearly made, to do without pleasant things—wealth, promotion, fame, honour, and the other rewards with which the world recompenses the services it appreciates," or, still more briefly, the renunciation of the flesh symbolised in the Christian baptism by water.
Environment, a term of extensive use in biological science, especially employed to denote the external conditions which go to determine modifications in the development of organic life to the extent often of producing new species.
Eon de Beaumont, Charles d', the "Chevalier d'Eon," a noted French diplomatist, born at Tonnerre, Burgundy; notorious as having, while on secret missions, adopted a woman's dress for purposes of disguise; was ambassador at the English Court, but degraded and recalled by Louis XVI., and condemned to wear feminine garb till the close of his life; died in destitution, when the popular doubt as to his real sex was set at rest (1728-1810).
Eos, the goddess of the dawn, the daughter of Hyperion, and the sister of Helios and Selene. See Aurora.
Eötvös, Jozsef, Hungarian statesman and author, born at Buda; adopted law as a profession, but devoted himself to literature, and eventually politics; Minister of Public Instruction, and then of Worship and Education; published some powerful dramas and novels, notably "The Village Notary," a work pronounced equal in many respects to the best of Scott's novels; also vigorous political essays (1813-1871).
Epact, a name given to the excess of the solar month over the lunar, amounting to 1 day 11 hours 11 minutes and 57 seconds, and of the solar year over the lunar amounting to 11 days.
Epaminondas, a famous Theban statesman and soldier, defeated Sparta in the great victory of Leuctra, and during his lifetime raised Thebes to a position of dominant power; was slain in the battle of Mantinea when again successfully engaging the Spartans; blameless in his private life as he was heroic in the field, he figures as the great hero of Theban history; born about the close of the 5th century B.C.
Epée, Charles Michel, Abbé de l', a noted philanthropist, born at Versailles; took holy orders, but was divested of them on account of Jansenist views; devoted his life to the instruction of deaf-mutes, for whom he founded an institute, and invented a language of signs (1712-1789).
Epeius, the contriver of the wooden horse, by means of which the Greeks entered and took possession of Troy, and who was assisted by Athena in the building of it.
Épernay (18), a French town on the Marne, 20 m. NW. of Châlons; the chief emporium of the champagne district.
Ephesians, The Epistle to, a presumably circular letter of St. Paul to the Church at Ephesus, among other Churches in the East, written to show that the Gentile had a standing in Christ as well as the Jew, and that it was agreeable to the eternal purpose of God that the two should form one body in Him; it contains Paul's doctrine of the Church, and appears to have been written during his first imprisonment in Rome (61-63); it appears from the spirit that breathes in it and the similar thoughts and exhortations, contained to have been written at the same time as the Epistle to the Colossians.
Ephialtes, one of the giants who revolted against Zeus and threatened to storm heaven; he appears to have been maimed by Apollo and Hercules.
Ephialtes, a Malian Greek who led the Persians across a pass in the mountains, whereby they were able to surround and overcome Leonidas and his Spartans at Thermopylæ.
Ephod, a richly and emblematically embroidered vestment worn by the high-priest of the Jews, and consisting of two parts, one covering the breast and supporting the breastplate, and the other covering the back, these being clasped to the shoulders by two onyx stones, with names inscribed on them, six on each, of the 12 tribes, and the whole bound round the waist with a girdle of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined linen.
Eph`ori (i. e. overseers), the name of five magistrates annually elected in ancient Sparta from among the people as a countercheck to the authority of the kings and the senate; had originally to see to the execution of justice and the education of youth; their authority, which resembled that of the tribunes in Rome, was at last destroyed in 225 B.C.
Ephraem Syrus, the most famous of the Church Fathers in Syria, and called "prophet of the Syrians," also "Pillar of the Church" and "Help of the Holy Ghost," born at Nisibis, Mesopotamia; lived a hermit's life in a cave near Edessa; left exegetical writings, homilies, and poems, and so great was his piety and self-denial, that he was looked upon as a saint, and is still so reverenced in several Churches (320-370).
Ephraim, one of the 12 tribes of Israel, the one to which Joshua belonged, located in the centre of the land; powerful in the days of the Judges, the chief of the 10 tribes that revolted under Jeroboam after the death of Solomon, and is found often to give name to the whole body of them.
Epic, a poem that treats of the events in the life of a nation or a race or the founder of one, agreeably to the passion inspiring it and in such form as to kindle and keep alive the heroism thereof in the generations thereafter; or a poem in celebration of the thoughts, feelings, and feats of a whole nation or race; its proper function is to disimprison the soul of the related facts and give a noble rendering of them; of compositions of this kind the "Iliad" of Homer, the "Æneid" of Virgil, and the "Divine Comedy" of Dante take the lead.
Epic melody, melody in accord with the feeling of the whole race or the subject as a whole.
Epicharis, a Roman lady who conspired against Nero and strangled herself rather than reveal her accomplices after undergoing the cruellest tortures.
Epicharmus, a Greek philosopher and poet in the island of Cos; studied philosophy under Pythagoras; conceived a taste for comedy; gave himself up to that branch of the drama, and received the name of the "Father of Comedy"; lived eventually at the court of Hiero of Syracuse (540-430 B.C.).
Epictetus, a celebrated Stoic philosopher of the 1st century, originally a slave; lived and taught at Rome, but after the expulsion of the philosophers retired to Nicopolis, in Epirus; was lame, and lived in poverty; his conversations were collected by Arrian, and his philosophy in a short manual under the Greek name of "Enchiridion of Epictetus," written, as is alleged, in utter obliviousness of the fact that "the end of man is an action, not a thought."
Epicureans, a sect of philosophers who derived their name from Epicurus, and who divided the empire of philosophy with the Stoics (q. v.), at the birth of Christ; they held that the chief end of man was happiness, that the business of philosophy was to guide him in the pursuit of it, and that it was only by experience that one could learn what would lead to it and what would not; they scouted the idea of reason as regulative of thought, and conscience as regulative of conduct, and maintained that our senses were our only guides in both; in a word, they denied that God had implanted in man an absolute rational and moral principle, and maintained that he had no other clue to the goal of his being but his experience in life, while the distinction of right and wrong was only a distinction of what was found conducive to happiness and what was not; they had no faith in or fear of a divine Being above man any more than of a divine principle within man, and they scorned the idea of another world with its awards, and concerned themselves only with this, which, however, in their hands was no longer a cosmos but a chaos, out of which the quickening and ordinative spirit had fled.
Epicurus, a Greek philosopher, born at Samos, of Athenian origin; settled at Athens in his thirty-sixth year, and founded a philosophical school there, where he taught a philosophy in opposition to that of the Stoics; philosophy he defined as "an activity which realises a happy life through ideas and arguments," summing itself up "in ethics, which are to teach us how to attain a life of felicity"; his system comprised "the three branches included in philosophy, viz., logic, physics, and ethics," but he arranges them in reverse order, logic and physics being regarded only as the handmaids of ethics; for he "limited logic to the investigation of the criterion of truth," and physics he valued as disillusioning the mind of "the superstitious fear that went to disturb happiness"; he was a man of a temperate and blameless life, and it is a foul calumny on him to charge him with summing up happiness as mere self-indulgence, though it is true he regarded "virtue as having no value in itself, but only in so far as it offered us something—an agreeable life."
Epicycle, an expression used in the Ptolemaic (q. v.) system of astronomy; the old belief that the celestial bodies moved in perfect circles round the earth was found to be inadequate to explain the varying position of the planets, a difficulty which led Ptolemy to invent his theory of epicycles, which was to the effect that each planet revolved round a centre of its own, greater or less, but that all these centres themselves moved in procession round the earth, a theory which fell to pieces before the investigations of Kepler and Newton.
Epidaurus, a town of ancient Greece, in Argolis, on the eastern shore of the Peloponnesus; was at one time an independent State and an active centre of trade, but was chiefly noted for its famous temple of Æsculapius, to which people flocked to be cured of their diseases, and which bore the inscription "Open only to pure souls"; ruins of a magnificent theatre are still extant here.
Epidemic, a name given to contagious diseases which, arising suddenly in a community, rapidly spread through its members, often travelling from district to district, until often a whole country is affected; the theory of the transmission of disease by microbes has largely explained the spread of such scourges, but the part which atmospheric and other physical, and perhaps psychic, causes play in these disorders is still matter of debate, especially as regards epidemic mental diseases. See Endemic.
Epigoni (the Descendants), the name given to the sons of the Seven who perished before Thebes; they avenged the death of their fathers by razing Thebes to the ground; the war first and last has been made the subject of epic and tragic poems.
Epigram, in modern usage, is a neat, witty, and pointed utterance briefly couched in verse form, usually satiric, and reserving its sting to the last line; sometimes made the vehicle of a quaintly-turned compliment, as, for example, in Pope's couplet to Chesterfield, when asked to write something with that nobleman's pencil;—
The Latin epigrammatists, especially Martial and Catullus, were the first to give a satirical turn to the epigram, their predecessors the Greeks having employed it merely for purposes of epitaph and monumental inscriptions of a laudatory nature.
Epilepsy, a violent nervous affection, manifesting itself usually in sudden convulsive seizures and unconsciousness, followed by temporary stoppage of the breath and rigidity of the body, popularly known as "falling sickness"; origin as yet undecided; attributed by the ancients to demoniacal possession.
Epimenides, a philosopher of Crete of the 7th century B.C., of whom it is fabled that he fell asleep in a cave when a boy, and that he did not awake for 57 years, but it was to find himself endowed with all knowledge and wisdom. He was invited to Athens during a plague to purify the city, on which occasion he performed certain mysterious rites with the effect that the plague ceased. The story afforded Goethe a subject for a drama entitled "Das Epimenides Erwachen," "in which he symbolises his own aloofness from the great cause of the Fatherland, the result of want of faith in the miraculous power that resides in an enthusiastic outbreak of patriotic feeling."
Epimetheus (i. e. Afterthought), the brother of Prometheus (Forethought), who in spite of the warnings of the latter opened Pandora's box, and let loose a flood of evils on the earth, which oppress it to this day.
Epinal (21), the capital of the dep. of Vosges, in France, charmingly situated at the foot of the Vosges Mountains, on the Moselle; is elegantly built, and has ruins of an old castle, surrounded by fine gardens, a 10th-century church, and a fine library, &c.; a suspension bridge spans the Moselle; there is industry in cotton, paper, &c.
Epinay, Madame d', a French writer, unhappily married in her youth; became notorious for her illicit intimacy with Rousseau and Grimm; her "Mémoires et Correspondence" give a lively picture of her times (1725-1783).
Epiphanius, St., one of the Fathers of the Greek Church; of Jewish descent; flourished in the 4th century; led a monastic life, and founded a monastery in Eleutheropolis; was bishop of Constantia in 367; bigoted and tyrannical, he became notorious for his ecclesiastical zeal, and for his indictments of Origen and St. Chrysostom; left writings that show great but indiscriminate learning (330-402).
Epiphany, as observed in the Christian Church, is a festival held on the 12th day after Christmas, in commemoration of the manifestation of Christ to the Magi of the East; but up to the close of the 4th century the festival also commemorated the incarnation of Christ as well as the divine manifestation at His baptism.
Epi`rus, was the NW. portion of ancient Hellas, Dodona its capital, and Acheron one of its rivers; in 1466 became part of the Ottoman empire, but in 1881 a portion was ceded to Greece.
Episcopacy, the name given to the form of Church government in which there are superior and inferior orders among the clergy, as between that of bishop and that of a presbyter; called also Prelacy.
Episcopius, Simon, a Dutch theologian, born at Amsterdam; the head of the Arminian party after the death of Arminius; was unjustly misrepresented, and tyrannically, even cruelly, treated by the opposite party; he was a man of great ability, enlightened views, and admirable temper, and set more store by integrity and purity of character than orthodoxy of belief (1583-1643).
Epistolæ Obscurorum Virorum (i. e. letters of obscure men), a celebrated collection of Latin letters which appeared in the 16th century in Germany, attacking with merciless severity the doctrines and modes of living of the scholastics and monks, credited with hastening the Reformation.
Epitaph, an inscription placed on a tombstone in commemoration of the dead interred below. The natural feeling which prompts such inscriptions has manifested itself among all civilised peoples, and not a little of a nation's character may be read in them. The Greeks reserved epitaphs for their heroes, but amongst the Romans grew up the modern custom of marking the tombs of relatives with some simple inscription, many of their sepulchres being placed on the side of the public roads, a circumstance which explains the phrase, Siste, viator—Stay, traveller—found in old graveyards.
Epithalamium, a nuptial song, sung before the bridal chamber in honour of the newly-wedded couple, particularly among the Greeks and Romans, of whom Theocritus and Catullus have left notable examples; but the epithalamium of Edmund Spenser is probably the finest specimen extant of this poetic form.
Epping Forest, as it now exists in the SE. of Essex, is a remnant—5600 acres—of the famous Epping or Waltham Forest, which once extended over all Essex, and which then served as a royal hunting-ground, is now a favourite pleasure-ground and valuable field for explorations of botanical and entomological collectors.
Epsom, a market-town in Surrey, skirting Banstead Downs, 15 m. SW. of London; formerly noted for its mineral springs, now associated with the famous Derby races.
Equinoctial Points are the two points at which the celestial equator intersects the Ecliptic (q. v.), so called because the days and nights are of equal duration when the sun is at these points.
Equinoxes, the two annually recurring times at which the sun arrives at the Equinoctial Points (q. v.), viz., 21st March and 22nd September, called respectively the vernal and the autumnal equinoxes in the northern hemisphere, but vice versa in the southern; at these times the sun is directly over the equator, and day and night is then of equal length over the whole globe.
Equites, The, a celebrated equestrian order in ancient Rome, supposed to have been instituted by Romulus; at first purely military, it was at length invested with the judicial functions of the Senate, and the power of farming out the public revenues; gradually lost these privileges and became defunct.
Erasmus, Desiderius, a famous scholar and man of letters, born at Rotterdam; illegitimate son of one Gerhard; conceived a disgust for monkish life during six years' residence in a monastery at Steyn; wandered through Europe and amassed stores of learning at various universities; visited Oxford in 1489, and formed a lifelong friendship with Sir Thomas More; was for some years professor of Divinity and Greek at Cambridge; edited the first Greek Testament; settled finally at Basel, whence he exercised a remarkable influence over European thought by the wit and tone of his writings, notably the "Praise of Folly," the "Colloquia" and "Adagia"; he has been regarded as the precursor of the Reformation; is said to have laid the egg which Luther hatched; aided the Reformation by his scholarship, though he kept aloof as a scholar from the popular movement of Luther (1467-1536).
Erastianism, the right of the State to override and overrule the decisions of the Church that happen to involve civil penalties. See Erastus.
Erastus, an eminent physician, born at Baden, in Switzerland, whose fame rests mainly on the attitude he assumed in the theological and ecclesiastical questions of the day; he defended Zwingli's view of the Eucharist as a merely symbolical ordinance, and denied the right of the Church to inflict civil penalties, or to exercise discipline—the power of the keys—that belonging, he maintained, to the province of the civil magistrate and not to the Church (1534-1583).
Erato (i. e. the Lovely), the muse of erotic poetry and elegy, represented with a lyre in her left hand.
Eratosthenes, surnamed the Philologist, a philosopher of Alexandria, born at Cyrene, 276 B.C.; becoming blind and tired of life, he starved himself to death at the age of 80; he ranks high among ancient astronomers; measured the obliquity of the ecliptic, and estimated the size of the earth (276-194 B.C.).
Ercilla y Zuñiga, a Spanish poet, born at Madrid; took part in the war of the Spaniards with the Araucos in Chile, which he celebrated in an epic of no small merit called "La Araucana"; he ended his days in poverty (1553-1595).
Erdgeist, the Spirit of the Earth, represented in Goethe's "Faust" as assiduously weaving, at the Time-Loom, night and day, in death as well as life, the earthly vesture of the Eternal, and thereby revealing the Invisible to mortal eyes.
Erdmann, a German philosopher, born at Wolmar, professor at Halle; was of the school of Hegel, an authority on the history of philosophy (1805-1892).
Erebus, a region of utter darkness in the depths of Hades, into which no mortal ever penetrated, the proper abode of Pluto and his Queen with their train of attendants, such as the Erinnyes, through which the spirits of the dead must pass on their way to Hades; equivalent to the valley of the shadow of death.
Erectheus or Erichthonius, the mythical first king of Athens; favoured and protected from infancy by Athena, to whom accordingly he dedicated the city; he was buried in the temple of Athena, and worshipped afterwards as a god; it is fabled of him that when an infant he was committed by Athena in a chest to the care of Agraulos and Herse, under a strict charge not to pry into it; they could not restrain their curiosity, opened the chest, saw the child entwined with serpents, were seized with madness, and threw themselves down from the height of the Acropolis to perish at the foot.
Erfurt (72), a town in Saxony, on the Gera, 14 m. W. of Weimar, formerly capital of Thüringia, and has many interesting buildings, amongst the number the 14th-century Gothic cathedral with its great bell, weighing 13½ tons, and cast in 1497; the monastery of St. Augustine (changed into an orphanage in 1819), in which Luther was a monk; the Academy of Sciences, and the library with 60,000 vols. and 1000 MSS.; various textile factories flourish.
Ergot, a diseased state of grasses, &c., but a disease chiefly attacking rye, produced by a fungus developing on the seeds; the drug "ergot of rye" is obtained from a species of this fungus.
Eric, the name of several of the kings of Denmark, and Sweden, and Norway, the most notorious being the son of the noble Swedish king Gustavus Vasa (q. v.), who aspired to the hand of Elizabeth of England and challenged his rival Leicester to a duel; afterwards sought Mary of Scotland, but eventually married a peasant girl who had nursed him out of madness brought on by dissipation; was deposed after a State trial instigated by his own brothers, and ultimately poisoned himself in prison eight years later (1533-1577).
Eric the Red, a Norwegian chief who discovered Greenland in the 10th century, and sent out expeditions to the coast of North America.
Ericsson, John, a distinguished Swedish engineer, born at Langbanshyttan; went to England in 1826 and to United States of America in 1839, where he died; invented the screw propeller of steamships; built warships for the American navy, and amongst them the famous Monitor; his numerous inventions mark a new era in naval and steamship construction (1802-1889).
Erie, Lake, the fourth in size among the giant lakes of North America, lies between Lakes Huron and Ontario, on the Canadian border, is 240 m. long and varies from 30 to 60 m. in breadth; is very shallow, and difficult to navigate; ice-bound from December till about April.
Erigena, Johannes Scotus, a rationalistic mystic, the most distinguished scholar and thinker of the 9th century, of Irish birth; taught at the court of Charles the Bald in France, and was summoned by Alfred to Oxford in 877; died abbot of Malmesbury; held that "damnation was simply the consciousness of having failed to fulfil the divine purpose"; he derived all authority from reason, and not reason from authority, maintaining that authority unfounded on reason was of no value; d. 882.
Erin, the ancient Celtic name of Ireland, used still in poetry.
Erinna, a Greek poetess, the friend of Sappho, died at 19; wrote epic poetry, all but a few lines of which has perished; born about 612 B.C.
Erinnyes, The (i. e. the roused-to-anger, in Latin, the Furies), the Greek goddesses of vengeance, were the daughters of Gaia, begotten of the blood of the wounded Uranus, and at length reckoned three in number, Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megara; they were conceived of as haunting the wicked on earth and scourging them in hell; they were of the court of Pluto, and the executioners of his wrath.
Eris, the Greek goddess of strife or discord, sowing the seeds thereof among the gods to begin with, which she has since continued to do among men.
Erivan (15), a fortified town in Transcaucasia, situated 30 m. NE. of Mount Ararat on an elevated plateau; was ceded to Russia in 1828 by Persia.
Erlangen (13), a Bavarian town on the Regnitz, has a celebrated Protestant university, founded by Wilhelmina, sister of Frederick the Great, who was the Electress; was a place of refuge for the Huguenots in 1685; manufactures in gloves, mirrors, and tobacco are carried on, and brewing.
Erlau (22), an ecclesiastical city of Hungary, on the Erlau, 89 m. NE. of Pesth; is the seat of an archbishop; has a fine cruciform cathedral, built since 1837, several monasteries, a lyceum with a large library and an observatory; is noted for its red wine.
Erl-King, a Norse impersonation of the spirit of superstitious fear which haunts and kills us even in the guardian embrace of paternal affection.
Erminia, a Syrian, the heroine of Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered," in love with the Christian prince Tancred.
Ernesti, Johann August, a celebrated German classicist and theologian, called the "German Cicero," born at Tennstädt, Thüringia; professor of Philology in Leipzig, and afterwards of Theology; edited various classical works, his edition of Cicero specially noted; was the first to apply impartial textual criticism to the Bible, and to him, in consequence, we owe the application of a more correct exegesis to the biblical writings (1707-1781).
Ernst, Elector of Saxony, founder of the Ernestine line of Saxon princes, ancestor of Prince Consort, born at Altenburg; was kidnapped along with his brother Albert in 1455, an episode famous in German history as the "Prinzenraub" (i. e. the stealing of the prince); succeeded his father in 1464; annexed Thüringia in 1482, and three years later shared his territory with his brother Albert (1441-1486).
Ernst I., Duke of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg; served in the Thirty Years' War under Gustavus Adolphus, and shared in the victory of Lützen; was an able and wise ruler, and gained for himself the surname of "the Pious" (1601-1675).
Eros (in Latin, Cupido), the Greek god of love, the son of Aphrodité, and the youngest of the gods, though he figures in the cosmogony as one of the oldest of the gods, and as the uniting power in the life of the gods and the life of the universe, was represented at last as a wanton boy from whose wiles neither gods nor men were safe.
Erostratus, an obscure Ephesian, who, to immortalise his name, set fire to the temple of Ephesus on the night, as it happened, when Alexander the Great was born; the Ephesians thought to defeat his purpose by making it death to any one who named his name, but in vain, the decree itself giving wider and wider publicity to the act.
Erpenius (Thomas van Erpen), Arabic scholar, born at Gorkum, in Holland; after completing his studies at Leyden and Paris, became professor of Oriental Languages there; famed for his Arabic grammar and rudiments, which served as text-books for upwards of 200 years (1585-1624).
Ersch, Johann Samuel, a bibliographer, born at Grossglogau; after a college career at Halle devoted himself to journalism, and in 1800 became librarian of the University of Jena; subsequently filled the chair of Geography and Statistics at Halle; his "Handbook of German Literature" marks the beginning of German bibliography; began in 1818, along with Gruber, the publication of an encyclopædia which is still unfinished (1766-1828).
Erskine, Ebenezer, founder of the Secession Church of Scotland, born at Chirnside, Berwickshire; minister at Portmoak for 28 years; took part in the patronage dispute, and was deposed (1733), when he formed a church at Gairney Bridge, near Kinross, the nucleus of the Secession Church (1703-1754).
Erskine, Henry, a famous Scotch lawyer, second son of the Earl of Buchan, born at Edinburgh; called to the bar and became Lord Advocate; a Whig in politics; brought about useful legal reforms; noted as a brilliant wit and orator (1746-1817).
Erskine, John, a Scottish jurist; called to the bar in 1719; became professor of Scots Law in Edinburgh University in 1837, resigned 1763; author of two important works on Scots Law, "The Institutes" and "Principles" (1695-1768).
Erskine, John, D.D., son of the preceding; a celebrated Scotch preacher and author of various essays and pamphlets; a prominent leader on the Evangelical side in the General Assemblies; was minister of the Old Greyfriars, Edinburgh, and the colleague of Principal Robertson; is remembered for a retort in the pulpit and for another in the General Assembly; the former was to a remark of his colleague, Principal Robertson, "If perfect virtue were to appear on earth we would adore it." ... "Perfect virtue did appear on earth and we crucified it"; and that other in the General Assembly was "Rax (reach) me that Bible," as certain Moderates in the court began derisively to scoff at the proposal to send missions to the heathen (1721-1803).
Erskine, John, of Dun, a Scotch Reformer, supported Knox and Wishart; was several times Moderator of the General Assembly, and assisted in the formation of "The Second Book of Discipline" (1509-1591).
Erskine, Ralph, a Scotch divine, brother of Ebenezer (q. v.), with whom he co-operated in founding the Secession Church; his sermons and religious poems, called "Gospel Sonnets," were widely read; one of the first of the Scotch seceders, strange to contemplate, "a long, soft, poke-shaped face, with busy anxious black eyes, looking as if he could not help it; and then such a character and form of human existence, conscience living to the finger ends of him, in a strange, venerable, though highly questionable manner ... his formulas casing him all round like the shell of a beetle"; his fame rests chiefly on his "Gospel Sonnets," much appreciated at one time (1685-1752).
Erskine, Thomas, Lord, a famous lawyer, youngest son of the Earl of Buchan, born in Edinburgh; spent his early years in the navy, and afterwards joined the army; resigned in 1775 to enter upon the study of law; called to the bar in 1778; a king's counsel in 1783; created a baron and Lord Chancellor in 1806; was engaged in all the famous trials of his time; an unrivalled orator in the law courts; his speeches rank as masterpieces of forensic eloquence (1750-1823).
Erskine, Thomas, of Linlathen, member of the Scottish bar, but devoted in an intensely human spirit to theological interests, "one of the gentlest, kindliest, best bred of men," says Carlyle, who was greatly attached to him; "I like him," he says, "as one would do a draught of sweet rustic mead served in cut glasses and a silver tray ... talks greatly of symbols, seems not disinclined to let the Christian religion pass for a kind of mythus, provided one can retain the spirit of it"; he wrote a book, much prized at one time, on the "Internal Evidences of Revealed Religion," also on Faith; besides being the constant friend of Carlyle, he corresponded on intimate terms with such men as Maurice and Dean Stanley (1788-1870).
Erwin, a German architect, born at Steinbach, Baden; the builder of the western façade of the cathedral of Strasburg (1240-1318).
Erymanthus, a mountain in Arcadia that was the haunt of the boar killed by Hercules.
Erysipelas, known popularly as St. Anthony's Fire and Rose, a febrile disease, manifesting itself in acute inflammation of the skin, which becomes vividly scarlet and ultimately peels; confined chiefly to the head; is contagious, and recurrent.
Erythema, a medical term used loosely to designate a diseased condition of the skin; characterised by a scarlet or dark-red rash or eruption, distinct from erysipelas.
Erythrea (220), a colony belonging to Italy, extending from Cape Kasar 670 m. along the western shore of the Red Sea to a point in the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb; Massowah the capital.
Erythrean Sea, a name of the Red Sea.
Erzerum (60), a city in Turkish Armenia, capital of the province of the same name, 125 m. SE. of Trebizond; situated on a fertile plain 6300 ft. above sea-level; is an important entrepôt for commerce between Europe and Asia; is irregularly built, but contains imposing ruins; has a fortress, and in the suburbs a number of mosques and bazaars; is famed for its iron and copper ware; fell into the hands of the Turks in 1517; figured as a military centre in many Turkish wars; was reduced by the Russians in 1878; was a scene of Armenian massacres by the Turks in 1895.
Erzgebirge, a range of mountains lying between Saxony and Bohemia; the highest peak is the Keilberg, 4052 ft.; is rich in various metallic ores, especially silver and lead.
Eryx, an ancient town in the NW. of Sicily, at the foot of a mountain of the same name, with a temple to Venus, who was hence called Erycina.
Esau, the eldest son of Isaac, who sold his birthright to Jacob for a mess of lentils; led a predatory life, and was the forefather of the Edomites.
Eschatology, the department of theology which treats of the so-called last things, such as death, the intermediate state, the millennium, the return of Christ, the resurrection, the judgment, and the end of the world.
Eschenbach, Wolfram von, a famous minnesinger, born at Eschenbach, in Bavaria, at about the close of the 12th century; was of good birth, and lived some time at the Thuringian Court; enjoyed a wide reputation in his time as a poet; of his poems the epic "Parzival" is the most celebrated, and records the history of the "Grail."
Escher, Johann Heinrich Alfred. Swiss statesman, born at Zurich; bred for the law, and lectured for a while in his native town; became President of the Council of Zurich; co-operated with Farrer in expelling the Jesuits; became member of the Diet; supported Federal union, and did much to promote and establish State education in Switzerland; b. 1819.
Eschines. See Æschines; as also Esculapius, Eschylus, Esop, &c., under Æ.
Escobar, Mendoza Antonio, a Spanish Jesuit and casuist, born at Valladolid, a preacher and voluminous writer (1589-1669).
Escurial, a huge granite pile, built in the form of a gridiron, 30 m. NW. from Madrid, and deemed at one time the eighth wonder of the world; was built in 1563-1584; was originally dedicated as a monastery to St. Lorenzo in recognition of the services which the Saint had rendered to Philip II. at the battle of St. Quentin, and used at length as a palace and burial-place of kings. It is a mere shadow of what it was, and is preserved from ruin by occasional grants of money to keep it in repair.
Esdraëlon, a flat and fertile valley in Galilee, called also the valley of Jezreel, which, with a maximum breadth of 9 m., extends in a NW. direction from the Jordan at Bathshean to the Bay of Acre.
Esdras, the name of two books of the Apocrypha, the first, written 2nd century B.C., containing the history of the rebuilding of the Temple and the restoration of its cultus, with a discussion on the strangest of all things, ending in assigning the palm to truth; and the second, written between 97 and 81 B.C., a forecast of the deliverance of the Jews from oppression and the establishment of the Messianic kingdom.
Esk, the name of several Scottish streams: (1) in Dumfriesshire, the Esk of young Lochinvar, has a course of 31 m. after its formation by the junction of the North and South Esks, and flows into the Solway; (2) in Edinburgh, formed by the junction of the North and South Esks, joins the Firth of Forth at Musselburgh; (3) in Forfarshire, the South Esk discharges into the North Sea at Montrose, and the North Esk also flows into the North Sea 4 m. N. of Montrose.
Eskimo or Esquimaux, an aboriginal people of the Mongolian or American Indian stock, in all not amounting to 40,000, thinly scattered along the northern seaboard of America and Asia and in many of the Arctic islands; their physique, mode of living, religion, and language are of peculiar ethnological interest; they are divided into tribes, each having its own territory, and these tribes in turn are subdivided into small communities, over each of which a chief presides; the social organisation is a simple tribal communism; Christianity has been introduced amongst the Eskimo of South Alaska and in the greater part of Labrador; in other parts the old religion still obtains, called Shamanism, a kind of fetish worship; much of their folk-lore has been gathered and printed; fishing and seal-hunting are their chief employments; they are of good physique, but deplorably unclean in their habits; their name is supposed to be an Indian derivative signifying "eaters of raw meat."
Eskimo dog, a dog found among the Eskimo, about the size of a pointer, hair thick, and of a dark grey or black and white; half tamed, but strong and sagacious; invaluable for sledging.
Esmond, Henry, the title of one of Thackeray's novels, deemed by the most competent critics his best, and the name of its hero, a chivalrous cavalier of the time of Queen Anne. "Esmond" is pronounced by Prof. Saintsbury to be "among the very summits of English prose fiction, exquisitely written in a marvellous resurrection of eighteenth-century style, touched somehow with a strange modernity and life which make it no pastiche, containing the most brilliant passages of mere incident, and, above all, enshrining such studies of character ... as not four other makers of English prose and verse can show."
Esné, a town in Upper Egypt, on the left bank of the Nile, and 25 m. S. of Thebes; famous for the ruins of a temple.
Esoteric, a term used to denote teaching intended only for the initiated, and intelligible only to them.
Espartero, a celebrated Spanish general and statesman, born at Granatula; supported, against the Carlist faction, the claims of Isabella to the throne of Spain; was for his services made Duke of Vittoria, and in 1841 elected regent; compelled to abdicate, he fled to England, but afterwards returned for a time to the head of affairs; an able man, but wanting in the requisite astuteness and tact for such a post (1793-1879).
Espinasse, Clare Françoise, a wit and beauty, born at Lyons, illegitimate child of the Countess d'Albon; went to Paris as companion to Madame du Deffand, with whom she quarrelled; set up a salon of her own, and became celebrated for her many attractions; D'Alembert was devoted to her; many of her letters to her lovers, the Marquis de Mora and M. de Guilbert in particular, have been published, and display a charming personality (1732-1776).
Espinel, Vincent de, a Spanish poet and musician, born at Ronda, Granada; first a soldier and then a priest, the friend of Lope de Vega, and author of a work which Le Sage made free use of in writing "Gil Blas"; was an expert musician; played on the guitar, and added a fifth string (1551-1634).
Espiritu Santo, (1) a small and swampy maritime province of Brazil (121), lying on the N. border of Rio de Janeiro; does some trade in timber, cotton, coffee, and sugar; Victoria is the capital; (2) a town (32) in central Cuba; (3) the largest of the New Hebrides (q. v.) (20); the climate is unhealthy, but the soil fertile.
Esprit des Lois (i. e. the Spirit of Laws), the title of Montesquieu's great work, at once speculative and historical, published in 1748, characterised in "Sartor" as the work, like many others, of "a clever infant spelling letters from a hieroglyphic book the lexicon of which lies in Eternity, in Heaven."
Espy, James Pollard, a meteorologist, born in Pennsylvania; did notable work in investigating the causes of storms, and in 1841 published "The Philosophy of Storms"; was appointed to the Washington observatory, where he carried on experiments in the cooling of gases and atmospheric expansion (1785-1860).
Esquire, originally meant a shield-bearer, and was bestowed upon the two attendants of a knight, who were distinguished by silver spurs, and whose especial duty it was to look after their master's armour; now used widely as a courtesy title.
Esquiros, Henry Alphonse, poet and physician, born at Paris; his early writings, poems and romances, are socialistic in bias; member of the Legislative Assembly in 1848; retired to England after the coup d'état; returned to France and rose to be a member of the Senate (1875); wrote three works descriptive of the social and religious life of England (1814-1876).
Essen (79), a town in the Rhine province of Prussia, 20 m. NE. of Düsseldorf, the seat of the famous "Krupp" steel-works.
Essenes, a religious communistic fraternity, never very numerous, that grew up on the soil of Judea about the time of the Maccabees, and had establishments in Judea when Christ was on earth, as well as afterwards in the time of Josephus; they led an ascetic life, practised the utmost ceremonial cleanness, were rigorous in their observance of the Jewish law, and differed from the Pharisees in that they gave to the Pharisaic spirit a monastic expression; they represented Judaism in its purest essence, and in the spirit of their teaching came nearer Christianity than any other sect of the time; "Essenism," says Schürer, "is first and mainly of Jewish formation, and in its non-Jewish features it had most affinity with the Pythagorean tendency of the Greeks."
Essequibo, an important river in British Guiana, 620 m. long, rises in the Sierra Acaray, navigable for 50 m. to small craft, flows northward into the Atlantic.
Essex (785), a county in the SE. of England, between Suffolk on the N. and Kent in the S., faces the German Ocean on the E.; is well watered with streams; has an undulating surface; is chiefly agricultural; brewing is an important industry, and the oyster fisheries of the Colne are noted; Chelmsford is the county town.
Essex, Robert Devereux, Earl of, a favourite of Queen Elizabeth, born at Netherwood, Hereford; served in the Netherlands under Leicester, his stepfather; won the capricious fancy of Elizabeth; lost favour by marrying clandestinely the widow of Sir Philip Sidney, but was restored, and led a life of varying fortune, filling various important offices, till his final quarrel with the Queen and execution (1567-1601).
Essex, Robert Devereux, Earl of, son of preceding; commander of the Parliamentary forces against Charles I.; the title died with him, but was conferred again upon the present family in 1661 (1591-1646).
Essling, a village near Vienna, where the French gained a bloody victory over the Austrians in 1809, and which gave the title of prince to Masséna.
Esslingen (22), an old historic and important manufacturing town in Würtemberg, on the Neckar, 9 m. SE. of Stuttgart; has a citadel and the Liebfrauen Church, which is a fine Gothic structure with a spire 246 ft.; is a noted hardware centre, and celebrated for its machinery; a good trade is done in textiles, fruit, and sparkling champagne.
Estaing, Comte d', a French admiral, "one of the bravest of men," fought against the English in the Indies and in America; winced as a Royalist at the outbreak of the French Revolution; his loyalty to royalty outweighed, it was thought, his loyalty to his country, and he was guillotined (1729-1794).
Este, an ancient and illustrious Italian family from which, by an offshoot founded by Welf IV., who became Duke of Bavaria in the 11th century, the Guelph Houses of Brunswick and Hanover, also called the Este-Guelphs, trace their descent. Of the Italian branch the most noted descendant was Alphonso I., a distinguished soldier and statesman and patron of art, whose second wife was the famous Lucrezia Borgia. His son, Alphonso II., is remembered for his cruel treatment of Tasso, placing him in prison for seven years as a madman who dared to make love to one of the princesses.
Este (6), an Italian town, 18 m. SW. of Padua, on the S. side of the Euganean Hills; has a castle and church with a leaning campanile.
Esterhazy, the town of a noble Austrian family of ancient date, and that gave birth to a number of illustrious men.
Esterhazy de Galantha, the name of a powerful and famous Hungarian family holding the rank of Princes of the Empire since the 17th century. Their estates include upwards of 4000 villages, 60 market-towns, many castles and lordships, but they are heavily mortgaged.
Esther, The Book of, a book of the Old Testament, which takes its name from the chief figure in the story related, an orphan Jewess and ward of her cousin Mordecai, who, from her beauty, was chosen into the royal harem and raised to be consort to the king. It is read through in the Jewish synagogues at the feast of Purim (q. v.). It is observed that the name of God does not occur once in the book, but the story implies the presence of an overruling Providence, responding to the cry of His oppressed ones for help.
Esthonia (393), one of the Russian Baltic provinces, has a northern foreshore on the Gulf of Finland, and on the W. abuts on the Baltic; what of the country that is free from forest and marsh is chiefly agricultural, but fishing is also an important industry; the people are a composite of Finns and immigrant Germans, with latterly Russians superimposed.
Estienne, the name of a family of French painters. See Stephens.
Est-il-possible? the name given by James II. to Prince George of Denmark, the husband of Princess Anne, from his invariable exclamation on hearing how one after another had deserted the Stuart cause; he ended with deserting it himself.
Estrades, Count d', a French diplomatist (1579-1680).
Estremadura (1,111), a coast province of Portugal, between Beira and Alemtejo, watered by the Tagus; richly fertile in many parts, but sparely cultivated; silk is an important industry, and an increasing; Lisbon is the chief city, and with Setubal monopolises the trade; salt, fruits, wine, and oil are exported; also name of a district in Spain between Portugal and New Castile, now divided into the provinces of Badajoz and Cácéres.
Etéocles, a son of Oedipus, king of Thebes, agreed on the banishment of his father to govern the state alternately with his brother Polynices, but failing to keep his engagement, the latter appealed to his guardian, out of which there arose the War of the Seven against Thebes, which ended in the slaughter of the whole seven, upon which the brothers thought to end the strife in single combat, when each fell by the sword of the other.
Eternal City, ancient Rome in the esteem of its inhabitants, in accordance with the promise, as Virgil feigns, of Jupiter to Venus, the goddess-mother of the race.
Eternities, The Conflux of, Carlyle's expressive phrase for Time, as in every moment of it a centre in which all the forces to and from Eternity meet and unite, so that by no past and no future can we be brought nearer to Eternity than where we at any moment of Time are; the Present Time, the youngest born of Eternity, being the child and heir of all the Past times with their good and evil, and the parent of all the Future, the import of which (see Matt. xvi. 27) it is accordingly the first and most sacred duty of every successive age, and especially the leaders of it, to know and lay to heart as the only link by which Eternity lays hold of it and it of Eternity.
Ethelbert, a king of Kent, in whose reign Christianity was introduced by St. Augustin and a band of missionaries in 597; drew up the first Saxon law code (552-616).
Etheldreda, a Saxon princess, whose name, shortened into St. Audrey, was given to a certain kind of lace, whence "tawdry"; she took refuge from the married state in the monastery of St. Abb's Head, and afterwards founded a monastery in the Isle of Ely (630-679).
Ethelred I., king of Saxon England (866-871), predecessor and brother of Alfred; his reign was a long and unsuccessful struggle with the Danes.
Ethelred II., the Unready, a worthless king of Saxon England (979-1016), married Emma, daughter of Richard, Duke of Normandy, a step which led in the end to the claim which issued in the Norman Conquest (968-1016).
Ether, a volatic liquid prepared from the distillation of alcohol and sulphuric acid at high temperature; is colourless, and emits a sweet, penetrating odour; is highly combustible; a useful solvent, and an important anæsthetic.
Ether, a subtle element presumed to pervade all interstellar space, vibrations in which are assumed to account for the transmission of light and all radiant energy.
Etheredge, Sir George, the originator of the kind of comedy "containing a vein of lively humour and witty dialogue which were afterwards displayed by Congreve and Farquhar"; has been called the "founder of the comedy of intrigue"; he was the author of three clever plays, entitled "Love in a Tub," "She Would if She Could," and "Sir Fopling Flutter" (1636-1694).
Ethics, the science which treats of the distinction between right and wrong and of the moral sense by which they are discriminated.
Ethics of Dust, The, "a book by Ruskin about crystallography, but it twists symbolically in the strangest way all its geology into morality, theology, Egyptian mythology, with fiery cuts at political economy, pretending not to know whether the forces and destinies and behaviour of crystals are not very like those of a man."
Ethiopia, a term loosely used in ancient times to indicate the territory inhabited by black or dark-coloured people; latterly applied to an undefined tract of land stretching S. of Egypt to the Gulf of Aden, which constituted the kingdom of the Ethiopians, a people of Semitic origin and speaking a Semitic language called Ge'ez, who were successively conquered by the Egyptians, Persians, and Romans; are known in the Bible; their first king is supposed to have been Menilehek, son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba; their literature consists mostly of translations and collections of saws and riddles; the language is no longer spoken.
Ethnology, a science which treats of the human race as grouped in tribes or nations, but limits itself to tracing the origin and distribution of races, and investigating the physical and mental peculiarities and differences exhibited by men over all parts of the globe; the chief problem of the science is to decide between the monogenous and polygenous theories of the origin of the race, and investigation inclines to favour the former view. The polygenous argument, based on the diversity of languages, has been discarded, as, if valid, necessitating about a thousand different origins, while the monogenous position is strengthened by the ascertained facts that the different racial groups are fruitful amongst themselves, and present points of mental and physical similarity which accord well with this theory. Ethnologists now divide the human race into three main groups: the Ethiopian or negro, the Mongolic or yellow, and the Caucasic or white.
Étienne, St., (133), an important French town, capital of the dep. of the Loire, on the Furens, 35 m. SW. of Lyons; chief seat of the iron-works of France; also has noted ribbon factories.
Etive, a sea-loch in Argyllshire, Scotland, is an inland extension of the Firth of Lorne, about 20 m. in length, and varying in breadth from 2 to ¼ m.; the mountain scenery along the shores grandly picturesque; the river which bears the same name rises in Rannoch Moor, and joins the loch after a SW. course of 15 m.; both loch and river afford salmon-fishing.
Etna, a volcanic mountain on the E. coast of Sicily, 10,840 ft. high; a striking feature is the immense ravine, the Val del Bove, splitting the eastern side of the mountain, and about 5 m. in diameter; on the flanks are many smaller cones. Etna is celebrated for its many and destructive eruptions; was active in 1892; its observatory, built in 1880, at an elevation of 9075 ft. above sea-level, is the highest inhabited dwelling in Europe.
Eton, a town in Buckinghamshire, on the Thames, 22 m. SW. of London; celebrated for its public school, Eton College, founded in 1440 by Henry VI., which has now upwards of 1000 scholars.
Être Suprême, the Supreme Being agreeably to the hollow and vacant conception of the boasted, beggarly 18th-century Enlightenment of Revolutionary France.
Etruria, the ancient Roman name of a region in Italy, W. of the Apennines from the Tiber to the Macra in the N.; inhabited by the Etruscans, a primitive people of Italy; at one time united in a confederation of twelve States; gradually absorbed by the growing Roman power, and who were famous for their artistic work in iron and bronze. Many of the Etruscan cities contain interesting remains of their early civilised state; but their entire literature, supposed to have been extensive, has perished, and their language is only known through monumental inscriptions. Their religion was polytheistic, but embraced a belief in a future life. There is abundant evidence that they had attained to a high degree of civilisation; the status of women was high, the wife ranking with the husband; their buildings still extant attest their skill as engineers and builders; vases, mirrors, and coins of fine workmanship have been found in their tombs, and jewellery which is scarcely rivalled; while the tombs themselves are remarkable for their furnishings of chairs, ornaments, decorations, &c., showing that they regarded these sanctuaries more as dwellings of departed spirits than as sepulchres of the dead.
Ettmüller, Ernst Moritz Ludwig, a German philologist, born at Gerfsdorf, Saxony, professor of German literature in Zurich in 1863; did notable work in connection with Anglo-Saxon and in Middle German dialects (1802-1877).
Ettrick, a Scottish river that rises in Selkirkshire and joins the Tweed, 3 m. below Selkirk; the Yarrow is its chief tributary; a forest of the same name once spread over all Selkirkshire and into the adjoining counties; the district is associated with some of the finest ballad and pastoral poetry of Scotland.
Ettrick Shepherd, James Hogg (q. v.).
Etty, William, a celebrated painter, born at York; rose from being a printer's apprentice to the position of a Royal Academician; considered by Ruskin to have wasted his great powers as a colourist on inadequate and hackneyed subjects (1787-1849).
Euboea (82), the largest of the Grecian Isles, skirts the mainland on the SE., to which it is connected by a bridge spanning the Talanta Channel, 40 yards broad; it is about 100 m. in length; has fine quarries of marble, and mines of iron and copper are found in the mountains; Chalcis is the chief town.
Euclid of Alexandria, a famous geometrican, whose book of "Elements," revised and improved, still holds its place as an English school-book, although superseded as such in America and the Continent; founded a school of Mathematics in Alexandria; flourished about 300 B.C.
Euclid of Megara, a Greek philosopher, a disciple of Socrates, was influenced by the Eleatics (q. v.); founded the Megaric school of Philosophy, whose chief tenet is that the "good," or that which is one with itself, alone is the only real existence.
Eudæmonism, the doctrine that the production of happiness is the aim and measure of virtue.
Eudocia, the ill-fated daughter of an Athenian Sophist, wife of Theodosius II., embraced Christianity, her name Athenais previously; was banished by her husband on an ill-founded charge of infidelity, and spent the closing years of her life in Jerusalem, where she became a convert to the views of Eutyches (q. v.) (394-400).
Eudoxus of Cnidus, a Grecian astronomer, was a pupil of Plato, and afterwards studied in Egypt; said to have introduced a 365½ day year into Greece; flourished in the 4th century B.C.
Eugene, François, Prince of Savoy, a renowned general, born at Paris, and related by his mother to Cardinal Mazarin; he renounced his native land, and entered the service of the Austrian Emperor Leopold; first gained distinction against the Turks, whose power in Hungary he crushed in the great victory of Pieterwardein (1697); co-operated with Marlborough in the war of the Spanish Succession, and shared the glories of his great victories, and again opposed the French in the cause of Poland (1663-1736).
Eugénie, ex-Empress of the French, born at Granada, second daughter of Count Manuel Fernandez of Montigos and Marie Manuela Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, Dumfriesshire; married to Napoleon III. in 1853; had to leave France in 1870, and has since January 1873 lived as his widow at Chiselhurst, Kent; b. 1826.
Eugenius, the name of four Popes. E., St., I., Pope from 654 to 658 (festival, August 27); E. II., Pope from 824 to 827; E. III., Pope from 1145 to 1153; E. IV., Pope from 1431 to 1447.
Eugenius IV., Pope, born at Venice; his pontificate was marked by a schism created by proceedings in the Council of Basel towards the reform of the Church and the limitation of the papal authority, the issue of which was that he excommunicated the Council and the Council deposed him; he had an unhappy time of it, and in his old age regretted he had ever left his monastery to assume the papal crown.
Eugubine Tables, seven bronze tablets discovered in 1441 near Eugubium, in Italy, containing inscriptions which supply a key to the original tongues of Italy prior to Latin.
Euhemerism, the theory that the gods of antiquity are merely deified men, so called from Euhemeros, the Greek who first propounded the theory, and who lived 316 B.C.
Eulenspiegel (i. e. Owl-glass), the hero of a popular German tale, which relates no end of pranks, fortunes, and misfortunes of a wandering mechanic born in a village in Brunswick; buried in 1350 at Mölln, in Lauenburg, where they still show his tombstone sculptured with an owl and a glass.
Euler, Leonhard, a celebrated mathematician, born at Basel; professor in St. Petersburg successively of Physics and Mathematics; came to reside in Berlin in 1741 at the express invitation of Frederick the Great; returned to St. Petersburg in 1746, where he died; besides many works issued in his lifetime, he left 200 MSS., which were published after his death (1707-1783).
Eumenides (i. e. the Well-meaning), a name given to the Erinnyes (q. v.) or Furies, from a wholesome and prudent dread of calling them by their true name.
Eumolpus, the founder of the Eleusinian Mysteries, alleged to have been a priest of Demeter or Ceres.
Eunomians, an ultra-Arian sect of the 4th century, which soon dwindled away after breaking from the orthodox Church; called after Eunomius (q. v.).
Eunomius, an Arian divine, born in Cappadocia; head of a sect who maintained that the Father alone was God, that the Son was generated from Him, and the Spirit from the Son; was bishop of Cyzicum, a post he by-and-by resigned; d. 394.
Eupatoria (13), a Russian town on the Crimean coast, in the government of Taurida, 40 m. NW. of Simferopol; has a fine Tartar mosque, and does a large export trade in hides and cereals; during the Crimean War was an important military centre of the Allies.
Euphemism, is in speech or writing the avoiding of an unpleasant or indelicate word or expression by the use of one which is less direct, and which calls up a less disagreeable image in the mind. Thus for "he died" is substituted "he fell asleep," or "he is gathered to his fathers"; thus the Greeks called the "Furies" the "Eumenides," "the benign goddesses," just as country people used to call elves and fairies "the good folk neighbours."
Euphrates, a river in West Asia, formed by the junction of two Armenian streams; flows SE. to Kurnah, where it is joined by the Tigris. The combined waters—named the Shat-el-Arab—flow into the Persian Gulf; is 1700 m. long, and navigable for 1100 m.
Euphrosyne, the cheerful one, or life in the exuberance of joy, one of the three Graces. See Graces.
Euphuism, an affected bombastic style of language, so called from "Euphues," a work of Sir John Lyly's written in that style.
Eure (349), a dep. of France, in Normandy, so called from the river Eure which traverses it.
Eure-et-Loir (285), a dep. of France lying directly S. of the preceding; chief rivers the Eure in the N. and the Loir in the S.
Eureka (i. e. I have found it), the exclamation of Archimedes on discovering how to test the purity of the gold in the crown of Hiero (q. v.); he discovered it, tradition says, when taking a bath.
Euripides, a famous Greek tragic dramatist, born at Salamis, of wealthy parents; first trained as an athlete, and then devoted himself to painting, and eventually to poetry; he brought out his first play at the age of 25, and is reported to have written 80 plays, of which only 18 are extant, besides fragment of others; of these plays the "Alcestes," "Bacchæ," "Iphigenia at Aulis," "Electra," and "Medea" may be mentioned; he won the tragic prize five times; tinged with pessimism, he is nevertheless less severe than his great predecessors Sophocles and Æschylus, surpassing them in tenderness and artistic expression, but falling short of them in strength and loftiness of dramatic conception; Sophocles, it is said, represented men as they ought to be, and Euripides as they are; he has been called the Sophist of tragic poets (480-406 B.C.).
Europa, a maiden, daughter of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, whom Zeus, disguised as a white bull, carried off to Crete, where she became by him the mother of Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon (q. v.).
Europe (361,000), the most important, although the second smallest, of the five great land divisions of the globe; is, from a geographical point of view, a peninsula of Asia; the Caspian Sea, Ural River and mountains, form its Asiatic boundary, while on the other three sides it is washed by the Mediterranean on the S., Atlantic on the W., and Arctic Ocean on the N.; its coast-line is so highly developed that to every 190 sq. m. of surface there is 1 m. of coast; this advantage, combined with the varied adaptability of its land, rivers, and inland seas, and its central position, has made it the centre of civilisation and the theatre of the main events of the world's history. Its greatest length is 3370 m. from Cape St. Vincent to the Urals, and its greatest breadth 2400 m. from Cape Matapan to Nordkyn, while its area is about 3,800,000 sq. m.; it is singularly free from wild animals, has a fruitful soil richly cultivated, and possesses in supreme abundance the more useful metals. Its peoples belong to the two great ethnological divisions, the Caucasian and Mongolian groups; to the former belong the Germanic, Romanic, Slavonic, and Celtic races, and to the latter the Finns, Magyars, and Turks. Christianity is professed throughout, except amongst the Jews, of whom there are about six millions, and in Turkey, where Mohammedanism claims about seven millions; of Catholics there are about 155 millions, of Protestants 85, and of the Greek Church 80. Amongst the 18 countries the form of government most prevailing is the hereditary monarchy, resting more and more on a wide representation of the people.
Eurotas, the classic name of the Iri, a river of Greece, which flows past Sparta and discharges into the Gulf of Laconia, 30 m. long.
Eurus, the god of the withering east wind.
Eurystheus, the king of Mycenæ, at whose command, as subject to him by fate, Hercules was required to perform his 12 labours, on the achievement of which depended his admission to the rank of an immortal.
Eusebius Pamphili, a distinguished early Christian writer, born in Palestine, bishop of Cæsarea in 313; headed the moderate Arians at the Council of Nice, who shrank from disputing about a subject so sacred as the nature of the Trinity; wrote a history of the world to A.D. 328; his "Ecclesiastical History" is the first record of the Christian Church up to 324; also wrote a Life of Constantine, who held him in high favour; many extracts of ancient writers no longer extant are found in the works of Eusebius (about 264-340).
Eustachio, Bartolommeo, an Italian physician of the 16th century; settled at Rome, made several anatomical discoveries, among others those of the tube from the middle ear to the mouth, and a valve on the wall of the right auricle of the heart, both called Eustachian after him.
Eustathius, archbishop of Thessalonica, a Greek commentator of Homer, born in Constantinople; a man of wide classical learning, and his work on Homer of value for the extracts of writings that no longer exist; d. 1198.
Euterpë, the Muse of lyric poetry, represented in ancient works of art with a flute in her hand.
Eutropius, Flavius, a Roman historian, secretary to the Emperor Constantine; wrote an epitome of Roman history, which from its simplicity and accuracy still retains its position as a school-book; d. about 370.
Eutyches, a Byzantine heresiarch, who, in combating Nestorianism (q. v.), fell into the opposite extreme, and maintained that in the incarnation the human nature of Christ was absorbed in the divine, a doctrine which was condemned by the Council of Chalcedon in 448 (378-454).
Eutychianism. See supra.
Euxine, a Greek name for the Black Sea (q. v.).
Evander, an Arcadian, who is said to have come from Greece with a colony to Latium and settled in it 60 years before the Trojan war, and with whom Æneas formed an alliance when he landed in Italy; he is credited with having introduced the civilising arts of Greece.
Evangelical, a term applied to all those forms of Christianity which regard the atonement of Christ, or His sacrifice on the Cross for sin, as the ground and central principle of the Christian faith.
Evangelical Alliance, an alliance of Christians of all countries and denominations holding what are called evangelical principles, and founded in 1845.
Evangelical Union, a religious body in Scotland which originated in 1843 under the leadership of James Morison of Kilmarnock, and professed a creed which allowed them greater freedom as preachers of the gospel of Christ. See Morisonianism.
Evangeline, the heroine of a poem by Longfellow of the same name, founded on an incident connected with the expulsion of the natives of Acadia from their homes by order of George II.
Evangelist, a name given in the early Church to one whose office it was to persuade the ignorant and unbelieving into the fold of the Church.
Evans, Sir de Lacy, an English general, born at Moeg, Ireland; served in the Peninsular war; was present at Quatre-Bras and Waterloo; commanded the British Legion sent to assist Queen Isabella in Spain, and the second division of the army in the Crimea and the East; was for many years a member of Parliament (1787-1870).
Evans, Mary Ann, the real name of George Eliot (q. v.).
Evelyn, John, an English writer, born at Wotton, Surrey; travelled in France and Italy during the Civil War, where he devoted much time to gardening and the study of trees; was author of a celebrated work, entitled "Sylva; or, A Discourse of Forest Trees," &c.; did much to improve horticulture and introduce exotics into this country; his "Memoirs," written as a diary, are full of interest, "is justly famous for the fulness, variety, and fidelity of its records" (1620-1706).
Everest, Mount, the highest mountain in the world; is one of the Himalayan peaks in Nepal, India; is 29,002 ft. above sea-level.
Everett, Alexander Hill, an American diplomatist and author, born at Boston; was U.S. ambassador at The Hague and Madrid, and commissioner to China; wrote on a variety of subjects, including both politics and belles-lettres, and a collection of critical and miscellaneous essays (1792-1847).
Everett, Edward, American scholar, statesman, and orator, brother of the preceding; was a Unitarian preacher of great eloquence; distinguished as a Greek scholar and professor; for a time editor of the North American Review; was a member of Congress, and unsuccessful candidate for the Vice-Presidency of the Republic; his reputation rests on his "orations," which are on all subjects, and show great vigour and versatility of genius (1794-1865).
Everlasting No, The, Carlyle's name for the spirit of unbelief in God, especially as it manifested itself in his own, or rather Teufelsdröckh's, warfare against it; the spirit, which, as embodied in the Mephistopheles (q. v.) of Goethe, is for ever denying,—der stets verneint—the reality of the divine in the thoughts, the character, and the life of humanity, and has a malicious pleasure in scoffing at everything high and noble as hollow and void. See Sartor Resartus.
Everlasting Yea, The, Carlyle's name for the spirit of faith in God in an express attitude of clear, resolute, steady, and uncompromising antagonism to the Everlasting No, an the principle that there is no such thing as faith in God except in such antagonism, no faith except in such antagonism against the spirit opposed to God.
Eversley, a village in Hampshire, 13 m. NE. of Basingstoke; the burial-place of Charles Kingsley, who for 35 years was rector of the parish.
Eversley, Charles Shaw Lefevre, Viscount, politician; graduated at Cambridge; called to the bar; entered Parliament, and in 1839 became Speaker of the House of Commons, a post he held with great acceptance for 18 years; retired, and was created a peer (1794-1888).
Evil Eye, a superstitious belief that certain people have the power of exercising a baneful influence on others, and even animals, by the glance of the eyes. The superstition is of ancient date, and is met with among almost all races, as it is among illiterate people and savages still. It was customary to wear amulets toward the evil off.
Evolution, the theory that the several species of plants and animals on the globe were not created in their present form, but have all been evolved by modifications of structure from cruder forms under or coincident with change of environment, an idea which is being applied to everything organic in the spiritual as well as the natural world. See Darwinian Theory.
Ev`ora, a city of Portugal, beautifully situated in a fertile plain 80 m. E. of Lisbon, once a strong place, and the seat of an archbishop; it abounds in Roman antiquities.
Evremond, Saint, a lively and witty Frenchman; got into trouble in France from the unbridled indulgence of his wit, and fled to England, where he became a great favourite at the court of Charles II., and enjoyed himself to the top of his bent; his letters are written in a most graceful style (1613-1703).
Evreux (14), capital of the dep. of Eure, on the Iton, 67 m. NW. of Paris; is an elegant town; has a fine 11th-century cathedral, an episcopal palace with an old clock tower; interesting ruins have been excavated in the old town; is the seat of a bishop; paper, cotton, and linen are manufactured, and a trade is carried on in cereals, timber, and liqueurs.
Ewald, Georg Heinrich August von, a distinguished Orientalist and biblical scholar, born at Göttingen, and professor both there and at Tübingen; his works were numerous, and the principal were "The Poetic Books of the Old Testament," "The Prophets," and "The History of the People of Israel"; he was a student and interpreter of the concrete, and belonged to no party (1803-1875).
Ewald, Johannes, a Danish dramatist and lyrist, born at Copenhagen; served as a soldier in the German and Austrian armies; studied theology at Copenhagen; disappointed in love, he devoted himself to poetical composition; ranks as the founder of Danish tragedy, and is the author of some of the finest lyrics in the language (1743-1781).
Ewige Jude, the Everlasting Jew, the German name for the Wandering Jew.
Excalibur, the magic sword of King Arthur, which only he could unsheathe and wield. When he was about to die he requested a knight to throw it into a lake close by, who with some reluctance threw it, when a hand reached out to seize it, flourished it round three times, and then drew it under the water for good.
Excommunication, an ecclesiastical punishment inflicted upon heretics and offenders against the Church laws and violators of the moral code; was formulated in the Christian Church in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It varied in severity according to the degree of transgression, but in its severest application involved exclusion from the Eucharist, Christian burial, and the rights and privileges of the Church; formerly it had the support of the civil authority, but is now a purely spiritual penalty.
Exelmans, Remy Joseph Isodore, Comte, a distinguished French marshal, born at Bar-le-Duc; entered the army at 16; won distinction in the Naples campaign, and for his services at Eylau in 1807 was made a Brigadier-General; was taken prisoner in Spain while serving under Murat, and sent to England, where he was kept prisoner three years; liberated, took part in Napoleon's Russian campaign, for his conduct in which he was appointed a General of Division; after Napoleon's fall lived in exile till 1830; received honours from Louis Philippe, and was created a Marshal of France by Louis Napoleon in 1851 (1775-1852).
Exeter (50), the capital of Devonshire, on the Exe, 75 m. SW. of Bristol, a quaint old town; contains a celebrated cathedral founded in 1112.
Exeter Hall, a hall in the Strand, London; head-quarters of the Y.M.C.A.; erected in 1831 for holding religious and philanthropic meetings.
Exmoor, an elevated stretch of vale and moorland in the SW. of Somerset, NE. of Devonshire; has an area of over 100 sq. m., 25 of which are covered with forest.
Exmouth (8), a noted seaside resort on the Devonshire coast, at the mouth of the Exe, 11 m. SE. of Exeter; has a fine beach and promenade.
Exodus (i. e. the Going out), the book of the Old Testament which records the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, and the institution of the moral and ceremonial laws for the nation; consists partly of history and partly of legislation.
"Exodus from Houndsditch," the contemplated title of a work which Carlyle would fain have written, but found it impossible in his time. "Out of Houndsditch indeed!" he exclaims. "Ah, were we but out, and had our own along with us" (our inheritance from the past, he means). "But they that have come hitherto have come in a state of brutal nakedness, scandalous mutilation" (having cast their inheritance from the past away), "and impartial bystanders say sorrowfully, 'Return rather; it is better even to return!'" Houndsditch was a Jew's quarter, and old clothesmarket in London, and was to Carlyle the symbol of the alarming traffic at the time in spiritualities fallen extinct. Had he given a list of these, as he has already in part done, without labelling them so, he would only, he believed, have given offence both to the old-rag worshippers and those that had cast the rags off, and were all, unwittingly to themselves, going about naked; considerate he in this of preserving what of worth was in the past.
Exogens, the name for the order of plants whose stem is formed by successive accretions to the outside of the wood under the bark.
Exorcism, conjuration by God or Christ or some holy name, of some evil spirit to come out of a person; it was performed on a heathen as an idolater, and eventually on a child as born in sin prior to baptism.
Exoteric, a term applied to teaching which the uninitiated may be expected to comprehend, and which is openly professed, as in a public confession of faith.
Externality, the name for what is ab extra as apart from what is ab intra in determining the substance as well as form of things, and which in the Hegelian philosophy is regarded as working conjointly with the latter.
Extreme Unction, one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church; an anointing of consecrated or holy oil administered by a priest in the form of a cross to a sick person upon the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, and face at the point of death, which is presumed to impart grace and strength against the last struggle.
Eyck, Jan van, a famous Flemish painter, born at Mass-Eyck; was instructed by his eldest brother Hubert (1370-1426), with whom he laboured at Bruges and Ghent; reputed to have been the first to employ oil colours (1389-1440).
Eylau, a small town, 23 m. S. of Königsberg, the scene of a great battle between Napoleon and the Russian and Prussian allies in February 8, 1807; the fight was interrupted by darkness, under cover of which the allies retreated, having had the worst of it.
Eyre, Edward John, explorer and colonial governor, born in Yorkshire; emigrated to Australia in 1832; successfully explored the interior of SW. Australia in 1841; governor of New Zealand in 1846, of St. Vincent in 1852, and of Jamaica in 1862; recalled in 1865, and prosecuted for harsh treatment of the natives, but was acquitted; his defence was championed by Carlyle, Ruskin, and Kingsley, while J. S. Mill supported the prosecution; b. 1815.
Eyre, Jane, the heroine of a novel of Charlotte Brontë's so called, a governess who, in her struggles with adverse fortune, wins the admiration and melts the heart of a man who had lived wholly for the world.
Ezekiel, a Hebrew prophet, born in Jerusalem; a man of priestly descent, who was carried captive to Babylon 599 B.C., and was banished to Tel-abib, on the banks of the Chebar, 201 m. from the city, where, with his family about him, he became the prophet of the captivity, and the rallying centre of the Dispersion. Here he foretold the destruction of Jerusalem as a judgment on the nation, and comforted them with the promise of a new Jerusalem and a new Temple on their repentance, man by man, and their return to the Lord. His prophecies arrange themselves in three groups—those denouncing judgment on Jerusalem, those denouncing judgment on the heathen, and those announcing the future glory of the nation.
Ezra, a Jewish scribe of priestly rank, and full of zeal for the law of the Lord and the restoration of Israel; author of a book of the Old Testament, which records two successive returns of the people from captivity, and embraces a period of 79 years, from 576 to 457 B.C., being a continuation of the book of Chronicles, its purpose being to relate the progress of the restored theocracy in Judah and Jerusalem, particularly as regards the restoration of the Temple and the re-institution of the priesthood.
Faber, Frederick William, a Catholic divine and hymn-writer, born at Calverley, Yorkshire; at Oxford he won the Newdigate Prize in 1836; for three years was rector of Elton, but under the influence of Newman joined the Church of Rome (1845), and after founding a brotherhood of converts at Birmingham in 1849, took under his charge a London branch of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri; wrote several meritorious theological works, but his fame chiefly rests on his fine hymns, the "Pilgrims of the Night" one of the most famous (1814-1863).
Faber, George Stanley, an Anglican divine, born in Holland; a voluminous writer on theological subjects and prophecy (1773-1854).
Fabian, St., Pope from 236 to 251; martyred along with St. Sebastian during the persecution of Decius.
Fabian Society, a middle-class socialist propaganda, founded in 1883, which "aims at the reorganisation of society by the emancipation of land and industrial capital from individual and class ownership, and vesting of them in the community for the general benefit"; has lectureships, and issues "Essays" and "Tracts"; it watches and seizes its opportunities to achieve Socialist results, and hence the name. See Fabius Quintus (1).
Fabii, a family of ancient Rome of 307 members, all of whom perished in combat with the Veii, 477 B.C., all save one boy left behind in Rome, from whom descended subsequent generations of the name.
Fabius Pictor, the oldest annalist of Rome; his annals of great value; 216 B.C.
Fabius Quintus, (Maximus Verrucosus), a renowned Roman general, five times consul, twice censor and dictator in 221 B.C.; famous for his cautious generalship against Hannibal in the Second Punic War, harassing to the enemy, which won him the surname of "Cunctator" or delayer; d. 203 B.C.
Fabius Quintus (Rullianus), a noted Roman general, five times consul and twice dictator; waged successful war against the Samnites in 323 B.C.
Fabius, The American, General Washington, so called from his Fabian tactics. See Fabius Quintus (1).
Fable of the Bees, a work by Mandeville, a fable showing how vice makes some people happy and virtue miserable, conceived as bees.
Fabliaux, a species of metrical tales of a light and satirical nature in vogue widely in France during the 12th and 13th centuries; many of the stories were of Oriental origin, but were infused with the French spirit of the times; La Fontaine, Boccaccio, and Chaucer drew freely on them; they are marked by all the vivacity and perspicuity, if also lubricity, of their modern successors in the French novel and comic drama.
Fabre, Jean, a French Protestant, celebrated for his filial piety; he took the place of his father in the galleys, who had been condemned to toil in them on account of his religious opinions (1727-1797).
Fabre d'Eglantine, a French dramatic poet, born at Carcassonne; wrote comedies; was a member of the Convention and of the Committee of Public Safety, of the extreme party of the Revolution; falling under suspicion, was guillotined along with Danton (1752-1794).
Fabricius, Caius, a Roman of the old school, distinguished for the simplicity of his manners and his incorruptible integrity; his name has become the synonym for a poor man who in public life deals honourably and does not enrich himself; was consul 282 B.C.
Fabricius or Fabrizio, Girolamo, a famous Italian anatomist, born at Aquapendente; became professor at Padua in 1565, where he gained a world-wide reputation as a teacher; Harvey declares that he got his first idea of the circulation of the blood from attending his lectures (1537-1619).
Fabroni, Angelo, a learned Italian, born in Tuscany; wrote the Lives of the illustrious literati of Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, and earned for himself the name of the "Plutarch" of his country (1732-1803).
Facciolati, Jacopo, lexicographer, born at Torreglia; became a professor of Theology and Logic at Padua; chiefly interested in classical literature; he, in collaboration with an old pupil, Egidio Forcellini (1688-1768), began the compilation of a new Latin dictionary, which was completed and published two years after his death by his colleague; this work has been the basis of all subsequent lexicons of the Latin language (1682-1769).
Facial Angle, an angle formed by drawing two lines, one horizontally from the nostril to the ear, and the other perpendicularly from the advancing part of the upper jawbone to the most prominent part of the forehead, an angle by which the degree of intelligence and sagacity in the several members of the animal kingdom is by some measured.
Faërie Queene, the name of an allegorical poem by Edmund Spenser, in which 12 knights were, in twelve books, to represent as many virtues, described as issuing forth from the castle of Gloriana, queen of England, against certain impersonations of the vices and errors of the world. Such was the plan of the poem, but only six of the books were finished, and these contain the adventures of only six of the knights, representing severally Holiness, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Justice, and Courtesy.
Faed, John, a Scottish artist, son of a millwright, born at Barley Mill, Kirkcudbright; was elected an A.R.S.A. in 1847, and R.S.A. in 1851; his paintings are chiefly of humble Scottish life, the "Cottar's Saturday Night" among others; b. 1820.
Faed, Thomas, brother of the preceding, born at Barley Mill; distinguished himself in his art studies at Edinburgh; went to London, where his pictures of Scottish life won him a foremost place among those of his contemporaries; was elected R.A. in 1864 and honorary member of the Vienna Royal Academy; b. 1826.
Faenza (14), an old Italian cathedral town, 31 m. SE. of Bologna; noted for its manufacture of majolica ware, known from the name of the town as "faience."
Fagel, Gaspar, a Dutch statesman, distinguished for his integrity and the firmness with which he repelled the attempts of Louis XIV. against his country, and for his zeal in supporting the claims of the Prince of Orange to the English throne (1629-1688).
Fagot vote, a vote created by the partitioning of a property into as many tenements as will entitle the holders to vote.
Fahrenheit, Gabriel Daniel, a celebrated physicist, born at Danzig; spent much of his life in England, but finally settled in Holland; devoted himself to physical research; is famed for his improvement of the thermometer by substituting quicksilver for spirits of wine and inventing a new scale, the freezing-point being 32° above zero and the boiling 212° (1686-1736).
Faineant, Le Noir, Richard Coeur-de-Lion in "Ivanhoe."
Faineants (i. e. the Do-nothings), the name given to the kings of France of the Merovingian line from 670 to 752, from Thierry III. to Childéric III., who were subject to their ministers, the mayors of the palace, who discharged all their functions.
Fair City, Perth, from the beauty of its surroundings.
Fair Maid of Kent, the Countess of Salisbury, eventually wife of the Black Prince, so called from her beauty.
Fair Maid of Norway, daughter of Eric II. of Norway, and granddaughter of Alexander III. of Scotland; died on her way from Norway to succeed her grandfather on the throne of Scotland, an event which gave rise to the famous struggle for the crown by rival competitors.
Fair Maid of Perth, a beauty of the name of Kate Glover, the heroine of Scott's novel of the name.
Fair Rosamond, the mistress of Henry II.; kept in a secret bower at Woodstock, in the heart of a labyrinth which only he could thread.
Fairbairn, Andrew M., able and thoughtful theologian, born in Edinburgh where he also graduated (1839); received the charge of the Evangelical Church at Bathgate, and subsequently studied in Berlin. In 1878 became Principal of the Airedale Congregational College at Bradford; was Muir Lecturer on Comparative Religions in Edinburgh University in 1881-83, and five years later was elected Principal of Mansfield College at Oxford; author of "The Place of Christ in Modern Theology," and several other scholarly works; b. 1838.
Fairbairn, Sir William, an eminent engineer, born at Kelso; served an apprenticeship in N. Shields, and in 1817 started business in Manchester, where he came to the front as a builder of iron ships; improved upon Robert Stephenson's idea of a tubular bridge, and built upwards of 1000 of these; introduced iron shafts into cotton mills, and was employed by Government to test the suitability of iron for purposes of defence; created a baronet in 1869 (1789-1874).
Fairfax, Edward, translator of Tasso, born at Denton, Yorkshire, where he spent a quiet and studious life; his stately translation of Tasso's "Gerusalemme Liberata" was published in 1600, and holds rank as one of the best poetical translations in the language; he wrote also a "Discourse" on witchcraft (about 1572-1632).
Fairfax, Thomas, Lord, a distinguished Parliamentary general, nephew of the preceding, born at Denton, Yorkshire; served in Holland, but in 1642 joined the Parliamentarians, of whose forces he became general (1645); after distinguishing himself at Marston Moor and Naseby, was superseded by Cromwell (1650), and retired into private life until Cromwell's death, when he supported the restoration of Charles II. to the English throne (1612-1671).
Fairies, imaginary supernatural beings conceived of as of diminutive size but in human shape, who play a conspicuous part in the traditions of Europe during the Middle Ages, and are animated more or less by a spirit of mischief out of a certain loving regard for, or humorous interest in, the affairs of mankind, whether in the way of thwarting or helping.
Fairservice, Andrew, a shrewd gardener in "Rob Roy."
Fairy Rings, circles of seemingly withered grass often seen in lawns and meadows, caused by some fungi below the surface, but popularly ascribed in superstitious times to fairies dancing in a ring.
Faith, in its proper spiritual sense and meaning is a deep-rooted belief affecting the whole life, that the visible universe in every section of it, particularly here and now, rests on and is the manifestation of an eternal and an unchangeable Unseen Power, whose name is Good, or God.
Faith, St., a virgin martyr who, in the 4th century, was tortured on an iron bed and afterwards beheaded.
Fakir (lit. poor), a member of an order of monkish mendicants in India and adjoining countries who, from presumed religious motives, practise or affect lives of severe self-mortification, but who in many cases cultivate filthiness of person to a disgusting degree.
Falaise (8), a French town in the dep. of Calvados, 22 m. SW. of Caen; the birthplace of William the Conqueror.
Falconer, Hugh, botanist and palæontologist, born at Forres, Elginshire; studied at Aberdeen and Edinburgh; joined the East India Company's medical service; made large collections of fossils and plants; became professor of Botany in Calcutta; introduced the tea-plant into India, and discovered the asafoetida plant; died in London (1808-1865).
Falconer, Ion Keith, missionary and Arabic scholar, the third son of the Earl of Kintore; after passing through Harrow and Cambridge, his ardent temperament carried him into successful evangelistic work in London; was appointed Arabic professor at Cambridge, but his promising career was cut short near Aden while engaged in missionary work; translated the Fables of Bidpaï; a noted athlete, and champion cyclist of the world in 1878 (1856-1887).
Falconer, William, poet, born in Edinburgh; a barber's son; spent most of his life at sea; perished in the wreck of the frigate Aurora, of which he was purser; author of the well-known poem "The Shipwreck" (1732-1769).
Falconry, the art and practice of employing trained hawks in the pursuit and capture on the wing of other birds, a sport largely indulged in by the upper classes in early times in Europe.
Falk, Adalbert, Prussian statesman, born at Metschkau, Silesia; as Minister of Public Worship and Education he was instrumental in passing laws designed to diminish the influence of the clergy in State affairs; retired in 1879; b. 1827.
Falkirk (20), a town in Stirlingshire, 26 m. NW. of Edinburgh, noted for its cattle-markets and the iron-works in its neighbourhood; Wallace was defeated here in 1298 by Edward I.
Falkland (2), a royal burgh in Fifeshire, 10 m. SW. of Cupar; has ruins of a famous palace, a royal residence of the Stuart sovereigns, which was restored by the Marquis of Bute in 1888.
Falkland, Lucius Gary, Viscount, soldier, scholar, and statesman, son of Sir Henry Cary, Viscount Falkland; was lord-deputy of Ireland under James I.; entered the service of the new Dutch Republic, but soon returned to England and settled at Tew, Oxfordshire, where he indulged his studious tastes, and entertained his scholarly friends Clarendon, Chillingworth, and others; after joining Essex's expedition into Scotland he sat in Parliament, and in 1642 became Secretary of State; suspicious of Charles's weakness and duplicity, he as much distrusted the Parliamentary movement, and fell at Newbury fighting for the king (1610-1643).
Falkland Islands (2), a group of islands in the S. Atlantic, 240 m. E. of Tierra del Fuego; discovered in 1592 by Davis; purchased from the French in 1764 by Spain, but afterwards ceded to Britain, by whom they were occupied in 1833 and used as a convict settlement until 1852; besides E. and W. Falkland there are upwards of 100 small islands, mostly barren; wheat and flax are raised, but sheep-farming is the main industry.
Fall, The, the first transgression of divine law on the part of man, conceived of as involving the whole human race in the guilt of it, and represented as consisting in the wilful partaking of the fruit of the forbidden tree of the knowledge of both good and evil. The story of the Fall in Genesis has in later times been regarded as a spiritual allegory, and simply the Hebrew attempt, one amongst many, to explain the origin of evil. It is worthy of note that a narrative, similar even to detail, exists in the ancient religious writings of the Hindus and Persians.
Fallopius, Gabriello, anatomist, born at Modena; professor of Anatomy at Pisa and at Padua; the Fallopian tubes which connect the ovaries with the uterus, first accurately described by him, are called after his name, as also the duct which transmits the facial nerve after it leaves the auditory nerve (1523-1562).
Falloux, Frédéric Alfred Pierre, Vicomte de, author and statesman, born at Angers; member of the House of Deputies; favoured the revolutionaries of 1848, and under the Presidency of Louis Napoleon became Minister of Public Instruction; retired in 1849, and became a member of the French Academy (1857); author of a "History of Louis XVI." and a "History of Pius V.," both characterised by a strong Legitimist bias (1811-1886).
Falmouth (13), a seaport on the Cornish coast, on the estuary of the Fal, 18 m. NE. of the Lizard; its harbour, one of the finest in England, is defended E. and W. by St. Mawes Castle and Pendennis Castle; pilchard fishing is actively engaged in, and there are exports of tin and copper.
Falstaff, Sir John, a character in Shakespeare's "Henry IV." and the "Merry Wives of Windsor"; a boon companion of Henry, Prince of Wales; a cowardly braggart, of sensual habits and great corpulency. See Fastolf.
Familiar Spirits, certain supernatural beings presumed, agreeably to a very old belief (Lev. xix. 31), to attend magicians or sorcerers, and to be at their beck and call on any emergency.
Familists, or the Brotherhood of Love, a fanatical sect which arose in Holland in 1556, and affected to love all men as brothers.
Family Compact, a compact concluded in 1761 between the Bourbons of France, Spain, and Italy to resist the naval power of England.
Fan, a light hand implement used to cause a draught of cool air to play upon the face; there are two kinds, the folding and non-folding; the latter, sometimes large and fixed on a pole, were known to the ancients, the former were invented by the Japanese in the 7th century, and became popular in Italy and Spain in the 16th century; but Paris soon took a lead in their manufacture, carrying them to their highest pitch of artistic perfection in the reign of Louis XIV.
Fanariots, the descendants of the Greeks of noble birth who remained in Constantinople after its capture by Mahomet II. in 1453, so called from Fanar, the quarter of the city which they inhabited; they rose at one time to great influence in Turkish affairs, though they have none now.
Fandango, a popular Spanish dance, specially in favour among the Andalusians; is in ¾ time, and is danced to the accompaniment of guitars and castanets.
Fans, an aboriginal tribe dwelling between the Gaboon and Ogoway Rivers, in western equatorial Africa; are brave and intelligent, and of good physique, but are addicted to cannibalism.
Fanshawe, Sir Richard, diplomatist and poet, born at Ware Park, Hertford; studied at the Inner Temple, and after a Continental tour became attached to the English embassy at Madrid; sided with the Royalists at the outbreak of the Civil War; was captured at the battle of Worcester, but escaped and shared the exile of Charles II.; on the Restoration negotiated Charles's marriage with Catharine, and became ambassador at the court of Philip IV. of Spain; translated Camoëns's "Lusiad" and various classical pieces (1608-1666).
Fantine, one of the most heart-affecting characters in "Les Misérables" of Victor Hugo.
Fantis, an African tribe on the Gold Coast, enemies of their conquerors the Ashantis; fought as allies of the British in the Ashanti War (1873-74), but, although of strong physique, proved cowardly allies.
Farad, the unit of electrical energy, so called from Faraday.
Faraday, Michael, a highly distinguished chemist and natural philosopher, born at Newington Butts, near London, of poor parents; received a meagre education, and at 13 was apprenticed to a bookseller, but devoted his evenings to chemical and electrical studies, and became a student under Sir H. Davy, who, quick to detect his ability, installed him as his assistant; in 1827 he succeeded Davy as lecturer at the Royal Institution, and became professor of Chemistry in 1833; was pensioned in 1835, and in 1858 was allotted a residence in Hampton Court; in chemistry he made many notable discoveries, e. g. the liquefaction of chlorine, while in electricity and magnetism his achievements cover the entire field of these sciences, and are of the first importance (1791-1867).
Faraizi, a Mohammedan sect formed in 1827, and met with chiefly in Eastern Bengal; they discard tradition, and accept the Korân as their sole guide in religious and spiritual concerns, in this respect differing from the Sunnites, with whom they have much else in common; although of a purer morality than the main body of Mohammedans, they are narrow and intolerant.
Farel, William, a Swiss reformer, born at Dauphiné; introduced, in 1534, after two futile attempts, the reformed faith into Geneva, where he was succeeded in the management of affairs by John Calvin; he has been called the "pioneer of the Reformation in Switzerland and France" (1489-1565).
Faria y Sousa, Manuel de, a Portuguese poet and historian; entered the diplomatic service, and was for many years secretary to the Spanish embassy at Rome; was a voluminous writer of history and poetry, and did much to develop the literature of his country (1590-1649).
Farinata, a Florentine nobleman of the Ghibelline faction, whom for his infidelity and sensuality Dante has placed till the day of judgment in a red-hot coffin in hell.
Farinelli, Carlo, a celebrated singer, born in Naples; his singing created great enthusiasm in London, which he visited in 1734 (1705-1782).
Farini, Luigo Carlo, an Italian statesman and author, born at Russi; practised as a doctor in his native town; in 1841 was forced, on account of his liberal sympathies, to withdraw from the Papal States, but returned in 1846 on the proclamation of the Papal amnesty, and afterwards held various offices of State; was Premier for a few months in 1863; author of "Il Stato Romano," of which there is an English translation by Mr. Gladstone (1812-1866).
Farmer, Richard, an eminent scholar, born at Leicester; distinguished himself at Cambridge, where he became classical tutor of his college, and in the end master (1775); three years later he was appointed chief-librarian to the university, and afterwards was successively canon of Lichfield, Canterbury, and St. Paul's; wrote an erudite essay on "The Learning of Shakespeare" (1735-1797).
Farmer George, George III., a name given to him from his plain, homely, thrifty manners and tastes.
Farmers-General, a name given in France prior to the Revolution to a privileged syndicate which farmed certain branches of the public revenue, that is, obtained the right of collecting certain taxes on payment of an annual sum into the public treasury; the system gave rise to corruption and illegal extortion, and was at best an unproductive method of raising the national revenue; it was swept away at the Revolution.
Farne or Ferne Isles, The, also called the Staples, a group of 17 isles 2 m. off the NE. coast of Northumberland, many of which are mere rocks visible only at low-water; are marked by two lighthouses, and are associated with a heroic rescue by Grace Darling (q. v.) in 1838; on House Isle are the ruins of a Benedictine priory; about 50 people have their homes upon the larger isles.
Farnese, the surname of a noble Italian family dating its rise from the 13th century.
Farnese, Alessandro, attained the papal chair as Paul III. in 1534; the excommunication of Henry VIII. of England, the founding of the Order of the Jesuits (1540), the convocation of the Council of Trent (1542), mark his term of office (1468-1549).
Farnese, Alessandro, grandson of the following, and 3rd duke of Parma, a famous general; distinguished himself at the battle of Lepanto; was governor of the Spanish Netherlands, and fought successfully against France, defeating Henry IV. before the walls of Paris, and again two years later at Rouen, where he was mortally wounded (1546-1592).
Farnese, Pietro Luigi, a natural son of Pope Paul III., who figures in Benvenuto Cellini's Life; received in fief from the Papal See various estates, including the dukedom of Parma; he ill requited his father's trust and affection by a life of debauchery and finally suffered assassination in 1549.
Faroe Islands (13), a group of 22 islands of basaltic formation, about 200 m. NW. of the Shetlands; originally Norwegian, they now belong to Denmark; agriculture is limited, and fishing and sheep-farming chiefly engage the natives; there is an export trade in wool, fish, and wild-fowl leathers. The people, who still speak their old Norse dialect, although Danish is the language of the schools and law courts, are Lutherans, and enjoy a measure of self-government, and send representatives to the Danish Rigsdag.
Farquhar, George, comic dramatist, born at Londonderry; early famous for his wit, of which he has given abundant proof in his dramas, "Love and a Bottle" being his first, and "The Beaux' Stratagem" his last, written on his deathbed; died young; he commenced life on the stage, but threw the profession up in consequence of having accidentally wounded a brother actor while fencing (1678-1707).
Farr, William, statistician, born at Kenley, Shropshire; studied medicine, and practised in London; obtained a post in the Registrar-General's office, and rose to be head of the statistical department; issued various statistical compilations of great value for purposes of insurance (1807-1883).
Farragut, David Glasgow, a famous American admiral, of Spanish extraction, born at Knoxville, Tennessee; entered the navy as a boy; rose to be captain in 1855, and at the outbreak of the Civil War attached himself to the Union; distinguished himself by his daring capture of New Orleans; in 1862 was created rear-admiral, and two years later gained a signal victory over the Confederate fleet at Mobile Bay; was raised to the rank of admiral in 1866, being the first man to hold this position in the American navy (1801-1870).
Farrar, Frederick William, a celebrated divine and educationalist, born at Bombay; graduated with distinction at King's College, London, and at Cambridge; was ordained in 1854, and became head-master of Marlborough College; was for some years a select preacher to Cambridge University, and held successively the offices of honorary chaplain and chaplain-in-ordinary to the Queen; became canon of Westminster, rector of St. Margaret's, archdeacon, chaplain to the House of Commons, and dean of Canterbury; his many works include the widely-read school-tales, "Eric" and "St. Winifred's," philological essays, and his vastly popular Lives of Christ and St. Paul, besides the "Early Days of Christianity," "Eternal Hope," and several volumes of sermons; in recent years have appeared "Darkness and Dawn" (1892) and "Gathering Clouds" (1895); b. 1831.
Fasces, a bundle of rods bound round the helve of an axe, and borne by the lictors before the Roman magistrates in symbol of their authority at once to scourge and decapitate.
Fascination, the power, originally ascribed to serpents, of spell-binding by the eye.
Fasti, the name given to days among the Romans on which it was lawful to transact business before the prætor; also the name of books among the Romans containing calendars of times, seasons, and events.
Fastolf, Sir John, a distinguished soldier of Henry V.'s reign, who with Sir John Oldcastle shares the doubtful honour of being the prototype of Shakespeare's Falstaff, but unlike the dramatist's creation was a courageous soldier, and won distinction at Agincourt and at the "Battle of the Herrings"; after engaging with less success in the struggle against Joan of Arc, he returned to England and spent his closing years in honoured retirement at Norfolk, his birthplace; he figures in the "Paston Letters" (1378-1459).
Fata Morgana, a mirage occasionally observed in the Strait of Messina, in which, from refraction in the atmosphere, images of objects, such as men, houses, trees, etc., are seen from the coast under or over the surface of the water.
Fatalism, the doctrine that all which takes place in life and history is subject to fate, that is is to say, takes place by inevitable necessity, that things being as they are, events cannot fall out otherwise than they do.
Fates, The, in the Greek mythology the three goddesses who presided over the destinies of individuals—Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos (q. v.). See Parcæ".
Father of Comedy, Aristophanes (q. v.).
Father of Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius (q. v.).
Father of French History, Duchesne (q. v.).
Father of German Literature, Lessing (q. v.).
Father of History, Herodotus (q. v.).
Father of Tragedy, Eschylus (q. v.).
Father Paul, Paul Sarpi (q. v.).
Fathers of the Church, the early teachers of Christianity and founders of the Christian Church, consisting of live Apostolic Fathers—Clement of Home, Barnabas, Hermes, Ignatius, and Polycarp, and of nine in addition called Primitive Fathers—Justin, Theophilus of Antioch, Irenæus, Clemens of Alexandria, Cyprian of Carthage, Origen, Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius of Alexandria, and Tertullian. The distinctive title of Apostolic Fathers was bestowed upon the immediate friends and disciples of the Apostles, while the patristic period proper may be said to commence with the 2nd century, but no definite date can be assigned as marking its termination, some closing it with the deaths of Gregory the Great (601) and John of Damascus (756), while Catholic writers bring it down as far as the Council of Trent (1542); discarded among Protestants, the Fathers are regarded by Catholics as decisive in authority on points of faith, but only when they exhibit a unanimity of opinion.
Fathom, a measure of 6 ft. used in taking marine soundings, originally an Anglo-Saxon term for the distance stretched by a man's extended arms; is sometimes used in mining operations.
Fathom, Count Ferdinand, a villain in the novel of Smollett so named.
Fatima, the last of Bluebeard's wives, and the only one who escaped being murdered by him; also Mahomet's favourite daughter.
Fatimides, a Mohammedan dynasty which assumed the title of caliphs and ruled N. Africa and Egypt, and later Syria and Palestine, between the 10th and 12th centuries inclusive; they derived their name from the claim (now discredited) of their founder, Obeidallah Almahdi, to be descended from Fatima, daughter of Mahomet and wife of Ali; they were finally expelled by Saladin in 1169.
Faucher, Léon, a political economist, brought into notice by the Revolution of 1830; edited Le Temps; opposed Louis Philippe's minister, M. Guizot; held office under the Presidency of Louis Napoleon, but threw up office on the coup d'état of 1851 (1803-1854).
Fauchet, Abbé, a French Revolutionary, a Girondin; blessed the National tricolor flag; "a man of Te Deums and public consecrations"; was a member of the first parliament; stripped of his insignia, lamented the death of the king, perished on the scaffold (1744-1793).
Faucit, Helen, a famous English actress; made her début in London (1836), and soon won a foremost place amongst English actresses by her powerful and refined representations of Shakespeare's heroines under the management of Macready; she retired from the stage in 1851 after her marriage with Theodore Martin (q. v.); in 1885 she published a volume of studies "On Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters" (1820-1899).
Fauns, divinities of the woods and fields among the Romans, and guardians of flocks against the wolf.
Fauntleroy, Henry, banker and forger; in his twenty-third year became a partner in the bank of Marsh, Sibbald, & Co., London; was put on trial for a series of elaborate forgeries, found guilty, and hanged; the trial created a great sensation at the time, and efforts were made to obtain a commutation of the sentence (1785-1824).
Faunus, a god, grandson of Saturn, who figures in the early history of Latium, first as the god of fields and shepherds, and secondly, as an oracular divinity and founder of the native religion, afterwards identified with the Greek Pan.
Faure, François Felix, President of the French Republic, born in Paris; carried on business in Touraine as a tanner, but afterwards settled in Havre and became a wealthy shipowner; he served with distinction as a volunteer in the Franco-German War; entered the Assembly in 1881, where he held office as Colonial and Commercial Minister in various Cabinets; was elected President in 1895 (1841-1899).
Faust, Johannes. See Fust.
Faust, or Doctor Faustus, a reputed professor of the black art, a native of Germany, who flourished in the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, and who is alleged to have made a compact with the devil to give up to him body and soul in the end, provided he endowed him for a term of years with power to miraculously fulfil all his wishes. Under this compact the devil provided him with a familiar spirit, called Mephistopheles, attended by whom he traversed the world, enjoying life and working wonders, till the term of the compact having expired, the devil appeared and carried him off amid display of horrors to the abode of penal fire. This myth, which has been subjected to manifold literary treatment, has received its most significant rendering at the hands of Goethe, such as to supersede and eclipse every other attempt to unfold its meaning. It is presented by him in the form of a drama, in two parts of five acts each, of which the first, published in 1790, represents "the conflicting union of the higher nature of the soul with the lower elements of human life; of Faust, the son of Light and Free-Will, with the influences of Doubt, Denial, and Obstruction, or Mephistopheles (q. v.), who is the symbol and spokesman of these; and the second, published in 1832, represents Faust as now elevated, by the discipline he has had, above the hampered sphere of the first, and conducted into higher regions under worthier circumstances."
Fausta, the wife of Constantino the Great.
Faustina, Annia Galeri, called Faustina, Senior, wife of Antoninus Pius, died three years after her husband became emperor (105-141).
Faustina, Annia, Junior, wife of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, daughter of the preceding. Both she and her mother are represented by historians as profligate and unfaithful, and quite unworthy the affection lavishly bestowed upon them by their husbands.
Faustulus, the shepherd who, with his wife Laurentia, was the foster-parent of Romulus and Remus, who, as infants, had been exposed on the Palatine Hill.
Favart, Charles Simon, French dramatist, born at Paris, where he became director of the Opéra Comique; was celebrated as a vivacious playwright and composer of operas; during a temporary absence from Paris he established his Comedy Company in the camp of Marshal Saxe during the Flanders campaign; his memoirs and correspondence give a bright picture of theatrical life in Paris during the 18th century (1710-1792).
Favonius, the god of the favouring west wind.
Favre, Jules Claude Gabriel, a French Republican statesman, born at Lyons; called to the Paris bar in 1830; a strong Republican, he joined the Revolutions of 1830 and 1848; held office as Minister of the Interior in the New Republic, and disapproving of the coup d'état, resumed practice at the bar; defended the Italian conspirator Orsini (q. v.), and in 1870, on the dissolution of the Empire, became Minister of Foreign Affairs; mistakes in his negotiations with Bismarck led to his resignation and resumption of his legal practice (1809-1880).
Fawcett, Henry, statesman and political economist, born at Salisbury; though blind, it was his early ambition to enter the arena of politics, and he devoted himself to the study of political economy, of which he became professor at Cambridge; entering Parliament, he became Postmaster-General under Mr. Gladstone in 1880; he wrote and published works on his favourite study (1832-1884).
Fawkes, Guy, a notorious English conspirator, born of a respected Yorkshire family; having spent a slender patrimony, he joined the Spanish army in Flanders; was converted to the Catholic faith; and on his return to England allied himself with the conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot (q. v.), and was arrested in the cellars of the House of Commons when on the point of firing the explosive; was tried and executed (1570-1606).
Fay, Andreas, Hungarian dramatist and novelist, born at Kohany; studied law, but the success of a volume of fables confirmed him in his choice of literature in preference; wrote various novels and plays; was instrumental in founding the Hungarian National Theatre; was a member of the Hungarian Diet (1786-1804).
Fayal (26), a fruit-bearing island among the Azores (q. v.), exports wine and fruits; Horta, with an excellent bay, is its chief town.
Fayyum (160), a fertile province of Central Egypt, lies W. of the Nile, 65 miles from Cairo, is in reality a southern oasis in the Libyan desert, irrigated by means of a canal running through a narrow gorge to the Nile valley; its area is about 840 sq. m., a portion of which is occupied by a sheet of water, the Birket-el-Kern (35 m. long), known to the ancients as Lake Moeris, and by the shores of which stood one of the wonders of the world, the famous "Labyrinth."
Feasts, Jewish, of Dedication, a feast in commemoration of the purification of the Temple and the rebuilding of the altar by Judas Maccabæus in 164 B.C., after profanation of them by the Syrians: of the Passover, a festival in April on the anniversary of the exodus from Egypt, and which lasted eight days, the first and the last days of solemn religious assembly: of Pentecost, a feast celebrated on the fiftieth day after the second of the Passover, in commemoration of the giving of the law on Mount Sinai; both this feast and the Passover were celebrated in connection with harvest, what was presented in one in the form of a sheaf being in the other presented as a loaf of bread: of Purim, a feast in commemoration of the preservation of the Jews from the wholesale threatened massacre of the race in Persia at the instigation of Haman: of Tabernacles, a festival of eight days in memory of the wandering tentlife of the people in the wilderness, observed by the people dwelling in bowers made of branches erected on the streets or the roofs of the house; it was the Feast of Ingathering as well.
February, the second month of the year, was added along with January by Numa to the end of the original Roman year of 10 months; derived its name from a festival offered annually on the 15th day to Februus, an ancient Italian god of the nether world; was assigned its present position in the calendar by Julius Cæsar, who also introduced the intercalary day for leap-year.
Fécamp (13), a seaport in the dep. of Seine-Inférieure, 25 m. NE. of Havre; has a fine Gothic Benedictine church, a harbour and lighthouse, hardware and textile factories; fishing and sugar refineries also flourish; exports the celebrated Benedictine liqueurs.
Fechner, Gustav Theodor, physicist and psychophysicist, born at Gross-Särchen, in Lower Lusatia; became professor of Physics in Leipzig, but afterwards devoted himself to psychology; laid the foundations of the science of psychophysics in his "Elements of Pyschophysics"; wrote besides on the theory of colour and galvanism, as well as poems and essays (1801-1887).
Fechter, Charles Albert, a famous actor, born in London, his father of German extraction and his mother English; made his début in Paris at the age of 17; after a tour through the European capitals established himself in London as the lessee of the Lyceum Theatre in 1863; became celebrated for his original impersonations of Hamlet and Othello; removed to America in 1870, where he died (1824-1879).
Feciales, a college of functionaries in ancient Rome whose duty it was to make proclamation of peace and war, and confirm treaties.
Federal Government, in modern parlance is the political system which a number of independent and sovereign States adopt when they join together for purposes of domestic and especially International policy; local government is freely left with the individual States, and only in the matter of chiefly foreign relations is the central government paramount, but the degree of freedom which each State enjoys is a matter of arrangement when the contract is formed, and the powers vested in the central authority may only be permitted to work through the local government, as in the German Confederation, or may bear directly upon the citizens throughput the federation, as in the U.S. of America, and since 1847 in Switzerland.
Federalist, a name in the United States for a supporter of the Union and its integrity as such; a party which was formed in 1788, but dissolved in 1820; has been since applied to a supporter of the integrity of the Union against the South in the late Civil War.
Federation, The Champs-de-Mars, a grand féte celebrated in the Champs-de-Mars, Paris, on July 14, 1790, the anniversary of the taking of the Bastille, at which deputies from the newly instituted departments assisted to the number of 80,000, as well as deputies from other nations, "Swedes, Spaniards, Polacks, Turks, Chaldeans, Greeks, and dwellers in Mesopotamia," representatives of the human race, "with three hundred drummers, twelve hundred wind-musicians, and artillery planted on height after height to boom the tidings all over France, the highest recorded triumph of the Thespian art." Louis XVI. too assisted at the ceremony, and took solemn oath to the constitution just established in the interest of mankind. See Carlyle's "French Revolution."
Fehmgericht. See Vehmgerichte.
Feith, a Dutch poet, born at Zwolle, where, after studying at Leyden, he settled and died; his writings include didactic poems, songs, and dramas; had a refining influence on the literary taste of his countrymen (1753-1824).
Félicité, St., a Roman matron, who with her seven sons suffered martyrdom in 164. Festival, July 10.
Felix, the name of five Popes: F. I., St., Pope from 269 to 274, said to have been a victim of the persecution of Aurelius; F. II., Pope from 356 to 357, the first anti-pope having been elected in place of the deposed Liberius who had declined to join in the persecution of Athanasius (q. v.), was banished on the restoration of Liberius; F. III., Pope from 483 to 492, during his term of office the first schism between the Eastern and Western Churches took place; F. IV., Pope from 526 to 530, was appointed by Theodoric in face of the determined opposition of both people and clergy; F. V., Pope from 1439 to 1449. See Amadeus VIII..
Felix, Claudius, a Roman procurator of Judæa in the time of Claudius and Nero; is referred to in Acts xxiii. and xxiv. as having examined the Apostle Paul and listened to his doctrines; was vicious in his habits, and formed an adulterous union with Drusilla, said by Tacitus to have been the granddaughter of Antony and Cleopatra; was recalled in A.D. 62.
Felix Holt, a novel of George Eliot's, written in 1866.
Fell, John, a celebrated English divine; Royalist in sympathy, he continued throughout the Puritan ascendency loyal to the English Church, and on the Restoration became Dean of Christ Church and a royal chaplain; was a good man and a charitable, and a patron of learning; in 1676 was raised to the bishopric of Oxford; was the object of the well-known epigram, "I do not like thee, Dr. Fell, The reason why I cannot tell" (1625-1686).
Fellah, the name applied contemptuously by the Turks to the agricultural labourer of Egypt; the Fellahin (pl. of Fellah) comprise about three-fourths of the population; they are of good physique, and capable of much toil, but are, despite their intelligence and sobriety, lazy and immoral; girls marry at the age of 12, and the children grow up amidst the squalor of their mud-built villages; their food is of the poorest, and scarcely ever includes meat; tobacco is their only luxury; their condition has improved under British rule.
Fellows, Sir Charles, archæologist, born at Nottingham; early developed a passion for travel; explored the Xanthus Valley in Asia Minor, and discovered the ruins of the cities Teos and Xanthus, the ancient capital of Lycia (1838); returned to the exploration of Lycia in 1839 and again in 1841, discovering the ruins of 13 other ancient cities; accounts of these explorations and discoveries are fully given in his various published journals and essays; was knighted in 1845 (1799-1861).
Fellowship, a collegiate term for a status in many universities which entitles the holder (a Fellow) to a share in their revenues, and in some cases to certain privileges as regards apartments and meals in the college, as also to a certain share in the government; formerly Fellowships were usually life appointments, but are now generally for a prescribed number of years, or are held during a term of special research; the old restrictions of celibacy and religious conformity have been relaxed.
Felo-de-se, in English law the crime which a man at the age of discretion and of a sound mind commits when he takes away his life.
Felony, "a crime which involves a total forfeiture of lands or goods or both, to which capital or other punishment may be superadded, according to the degree of guilt."
Felton, Cornelius Conway, American scholar, born at West Newbury, Massachusetts; graduated at Harvard in 1827, and became professor of Greek there, rising to the Presidency of the same college in 1860; edited Greek classics, and made translations from the German; most important work is "Greece, Ancient and Modern," in 2 vols. (1807-1862).
Felton, John, the Irish assassin of the Duke of Buckingham in 1628.
Femmes Savantes, a comedy in five acts by Molière, and one of his best, appeared in 1672.
Fenella, a fairy-like attendant of the Countess of Derby, deaf and dumb, in Scott's "Peveril of the Peak," a character suggested by Goethe's Mignon in "Wilhelm Meister."
Fénélon, François de Salignac de la Mothe, a famous French prelate and writer, born in the Château de Fénélon, in the prov. of Périgord; at the age of 15 came to Paris, and, having already displayed a remarkable gift for preaching, entered the Plessis College, and four years later joined the Seminary of St. Sulpice, where he took holy orders in 1675; his directorship of a seminary for female converts to Catholicism brought him into prominence, and gave occasion to his well-known treatise "De l'Éducation des Filles"; in 1685, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he conducted a mission for the conversion of the Huguenots of Saintonge and Poitou, and four years later Louis XIV. appointed him tutor to his grandson, the Duke of Burgundy, an appointment which led to his writing his "Fables," "Dialogues of the Dead," and "History of the Ancient Philosophers"; in 1694 he became abbé of St. Valery, and in the following year archbishop of Cambrai; soon after this ensued his celebrated controversy with Bossuet (q. v.) regarding the doctrines of Quietism (q. v.), a dispute which brought him into disfavour with the king and provoked the Pope's condemnation of his "Explication des Maximes des Saints sur la Vie intérieure"; the surreptitious publication of his most famous work "Télémache," the MS. of which was stolen by his servant, accentuated the king's disfavour, who regarded it as a veiled attack on his court, and led to an order confining the author to his own diocese; the rest of his life was spent in the service of his people, to whom he endeared himself by his benevolence and the sweet piety of his nature; his works are extensive, and deal with subjects historical and literary, as well as philosophical and theological (1651-1715).
Fenians, an Irish political organisation having for its object the overthrow of English rule in Ireland and the establishment of a republic there. The movement was initiated in the United States soon after the great famine in Ireland of 1846-47, which, together with the harsh exactions of the landlords, compelled many Irishmen to emigrate from their island with a deeply-rooted sense of injustice and hatred of the English. The Fenians organised themselves so far on the model of a republic, having a senate at the head, with a virtual president called the "head-centre," and various "circles" established in many parts of the U.S. They collected funds and engaged in military drill, and sent agents to Ireland and England. An invasion of Canada in 1866 and a rising at home in 1867 proved abortive, as also the attack on Clerkenwell Prison in the same year. Another attempt on Canada in 1871 and the formation of the Skirmishing Fund for the use of the Dynamitards and the institution of the Clan-na-Gael leading to the "Invincibles," and the Phoenix Park murders (1882) are later manifestations of this movement. The Home Rule and Land League movements practically superseded the Fenian. The name is taken from an ancient military organisation called the Fionna Eirinn, said to have been instituted in Ireland in 300 B.C.
Ferdinand the Catholic, V. of Castile, II. of Aragon and Sicily, and III. of Naples, born at Sos, in Aragon, married Isabella of Castile in 1849, a step by which these ancient kingdoms were united under one sovereign power; their joint reign is one of the most glorious in the annals of Spanish history, and in their hands Spain quickly took rank amongst the chief European powers; in 1492 Columbus discovered America, and the same year saw the Jews expelled from Spain and the Moorish power crushed by the fall of Granada. In 1500-1 Ferdinand joined the French in his conquest of Naples, and three years later managed to secure the kingdom to himself, while by the conquest of Navarre in 1512 the entire Spanish peninsula came under his sway. He was a shrewd and adroit ruler, whose undoubted abilities, both as administrator and general, were, however, somewhat marred by an unscrupulous cunning, which found a characteristic expression in the institution of the notorious Inquisition, which in 1480 was started by him, and became a powerful engine for political as well as religious persecution for long years after (1452-1516).
Ferdinand I., emperor of Germany (1556-64), born at Alcalá, in Spain, son of Philip I., married Anna, a Bohemian princess, in 1521; was elected king of the Romans (1531), added Bohemia and Hungary to his domains (1503-1564).
Ferdinand II., emperor of Germany (1619-37), grandson of the preceding and son of Charles, younger brother of Maximilian II., born at Grätz; his detestation of the Protestants, early instilled into him by his mother and the Jesuits, under whom he was educated, was the ruling passion of his life, and involved the empire in constant warfare during his reign; an attempt on the part of Bohemia, restless under religious and political grievances, to break away from his rule, brought about the Thirty Years' War; by ruthless persecutions he re-established Catholicism in Bohemia, and reduced the country to subjection; but the war spread into Hungary and Germany, where Ferdinand was opposed by a confederacy of the Protestant States of Lower Saxony and Denmark, and in which the Protestant cause was in the end successfully sustained by the Swedish hero, Gustavus Adolphus (q. v.), who had opposed to him the imperial generals Tilly and Wallenstein (q. v.); his reign is regarded as one of disaster, bloodshed, and desolation to his empire, and his connivance at the assassination of Wallenstein will be forever remembered to his discredit (1578-1637).
Ferdinand III., emperor of Germany (1637-57), son of the preceding, born at Grätz; more tolerant in his views, would gladly have brought the war to a close, but found himself compelled to face the Swedes reinforced by the French; in 1648 the desolating struggle was terminated by the Peace of Westphalia; the rest of his reign passed in tranquillity (1608-1657).
Ferdinand I., king of the Two Sicilies, third son of Charles III. of Spain, succeeded his father on the Neapolitan throne (1759), married Maria Caroline, daughter of Maria-Theresa; joined the Allies in the struggle against Napoleon, and in 1806 was driven from his throne by the French, but was reinstated at the Congress of Vienna; in 1816 he constituted his two States (Sicily and Naples) into the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and in the last four years of his reign ruled, with the aid of Austria, as a despot, and having broken a pledge to his people, was compelled ere his return to grant a popular constitution (1751-1825).
Ferdinand II., king of the Two Sicilies, grandson of the preceding and son of Francis I.; after the death of his first wife, a daughter of Victor Emmanuel I., he married the Austrian princess Maria-Theresa, and fell under the influence of Austria during the rest of his reign; in 1848 he was compelled to grant constitutional rights to his people, but was distrusted, and an insurrection broke out in Sicily; with merciless severity he crushed the revolt, and by his savage bombardment of the cities won him the epithet "Bomba"; a reign of terror ensued, and in 1851 Europe was startled by the revelations of cruel injustice contained in Mr. Gladstone's famous Neapolitan letters (1810-1859).
Ferdinand III., Grand-duke of Tuscany and Archduke of Austria, born at Florence; succeeded to the government of Tuscany in 1790; introduced many wise measures of reform, which brought peace and prosperity to his State; reluctantly joined the coalition against Napoleon in 1793, but two years later entered into friendly relations with France, and in 1797, in order to save his States being merged in the Cisalpine Republic, undertook to make payment of an annual subsidy; later he formed an alliance with Austria, and was by Napoleon driven from his possessions, which were, however, restored to him in 1814 by the Peace of Paris (1769-1824).
Ferdinand VII. of Spain, son of Charles IV. of Spain; too weak to steer his way through the intrigues of the court, he appealed to Napoleon in 1807 to support the king, his father, and himself; but his letter was discovered, and his accomplices exiled; the following year the French entered Spain, and Charles abdicated in favour of his son Ferdinand; but soon after, under Napoleon's influence, the crown was surrendered to the French, and Joseph Bonaparte became king; in 1813 Ferdinand was reinstated, but found himself immediately met by a demand of his people for a more liberal representative government; the remaining years of his reign were spent in an internecine struggle against these claims, in which he had French support under Louis XVIII. (1784-1833).
Feretrum, the shrine containing the sacred effigies and relics of a saint.
Fergus, the name of three Scottish kings: F. I., d. 356; F. II., king from 411 to 427; and F. III., king from 764 to 767.
Ferguson, Adam, a Scotch philosopher and historian, born at Logierait, Perthshire; after passing through the universities of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, he in 1745 was appointed Gaelic chaplain to the Black Watch Highland Regiment, and was present at the battle of Fontenoy; in 1757 he became keeper of the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh; two years later professor of Natural Philosophy, and subsequently of Moral Philosophy in the university there; during his professorship he, as secretary, was attached to the commission sent out by Lord North to bring about a friendly settlement of the dispute pending between England and the North American colonies; resigning his chair in 1785 he retired to Neidpath Castle, to engage in farming at Hallyards, an estate in the same neighbourhood; died at St. Andrews; his best-known works are "Institutes of Moral Philosophy," "History of the Roman Republic," and "Principles of Moral and Political Science" (1723-1816).
Ferguson, James, a popular writer on astronomy and mechanics, born at Rothiemay, Banff, son of a labourer; his interest in astronomy was first aroused by his observation of the stars while acting as a "herd laddie," and much of his time among the hills was spent in the construction of mechanical contrivances; compelled by circumstances to betake himself to various occupations, pattern-drawing, clock-mending, copying prints, and portrait sketching, he still in his leisure hours pursued those early studies, and coming to London in 1743 (after a residence of some years in Edinburgh), began lecturing on his favourite subjects; a pension of £50 was granted him out of the privy purse, and in 1763 he was elected an F.R.S.; besides publishing lectures on mechanics, hydrostatics, optics, &c., he wrote several works on astronomy, chiefly popular expositions of the methods and principles of Sir Isaac Newton (1710-1776).
Ferguson, Patrick, soldier and inventor of the breech-loading gun, born at Pitfour, Aberdeenshire; served in the English army in Germany and Tobago; brought out his new rifle in 1766, which was tried with success in the American War of Independence; rose to be a major, and fell at the battle of King's Mountains, in South Carolina (1744-1780).
Ferguson, Robert, a notorious plotter, who took part in Monmouth's invasion in 1685 and was prominent in the various plots against Charles II. and James II., but after the Revolution turned Jacobite; published a history of the Revolution in 1706; died in poverty (about 1637-1714).
Fergusson, James, a writer on the history and art of architecture, born at Ayr; went to India as an indigo-planter, but afterwards gave himself up to the study of the rock-temples; published various works, and in his later years interested himself in the fortifications of the United Kingdom; his "History of Architecture," in 4 vols., is a standard work (1808-1886).
Fergusson, Robert, a Scottish poet, born in Edinburgh; after a university course at St. Andrews he obtained a post in the office of the commissionary-clerk of Edinburgh; his first poems appeared in Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine, and brought him a popularity which proved his ruin; some years of unrestrained dissipation ended in religious melancholia, which finally settled down into an incurable insanity; his poems, collected in 1773, have abundant energy, wit, and fluency, but lack the passion and tenderness of those of Burns; he was, however, held in high honour by Burns, who regarded him as "his elder brother in the Muses." "In his death," says Mr. Henley, "at four-and-twenty, a great loss was inflicted to Scottish literature; he had intelligence and an eye, a right touch of humour, the gifts of invention and observation and style, together with a true feeling for country and city alike ... Burns, who learned much from him, was an enthusiast in his regard for him, bared his head and shed tears over 'the green mound and the scattered gowans,' under which he found his exemplar lying in Canongate Churchyard, and got leave from the managers to put up a headstone at his own cost there" (1750-1774). See Mr. Henley's "Life of Burns" in the Centenary Burns, published by the Messrs. T. C. and E. C. Jack.
Fergusson, Sir W., surgeon, born at Prestonpans; graduated at Edinburgh; was elected to the chair of Surgery in King's College, London, and in 1866 was made a baronet; was serjeant-surgeon to the Queen, and president of the Royal College of Surgeons; Fergusson was a bold and skilful surgeon; is the author, amongst other treatises, of a "System of Practical Surgery," besides being the inventor of many surgical instruments (1808-1877).
Ferishtah, a Persian historian, born at Astrabad, on the Black Sea; went at an early age, accompanied by his father, to India, where his life was spent in the service, first of Murtaza Nizam Shah, in Ahmednagar, and afterwards at the court of the prince of Bijapur; his famous history of the Mohammedan power in India, finished in 1609, and the writing of which occupied him for 20 years, is still a standard work, and has been translated into English (about 1570-1611).
Fermanagh (74), an Irish county in the SW. corner of Ulster, of a hilly surface, especially in the W.; is well wooded, and produces indifferent crops of oats, flax, and potatoes; some coal and iron, and quantities of limestone, are found in it; the Upper and Lower Loughs Erne form a waterway through its centre; chief town, Enniskillen.
Fermat, Pierre de, a French mathematician, born near Montauban; made important discoveries in the properties of numbers, and with his friend Pascal invented a calculus of probabilities; was held in high esteem by Hallam, who ranks him next to Descartes (1601-1665).
Fernandez, Juan, a Spanish navigator, discovered the island off the coast of Chile that bears his name; d. in 1576.
Fernando Po (25), a mountainous island, with an abrupt and rocky coast, in the Bight of Biafra, W. Africa; the volcano, Mount Clarence (9300 ft.), rises in the N.; is covered with luxuriant vegetation, and yields maize and yams, some coffee, and palm-oil and wine; is inhabited by the Bubis, a Bantu tribe; is the chief of the Spanish Guinea Isles.
Ferozepore (50), the chief town of the district of the same name in the Punjab, India, a few miles S. of the Sutlej; is strongly fortified, and contains a large arsenal; the present town was laid out by Lord Lawrence. F. District (887), lies along the S. bank of the Sutlej; came into the possession of the British in 1835; cereals, cotton, sugar, and tobacco are cultivated.
Ferrar, Nicholas, a religious enthusiast in the reign of Charles I.; was elected a Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge, in 1610; afterwards devoted himself to medicine and travelled on the Continent; subsequently joined his father in business in London, and entered Parliament in 1624; but a year later retired to the country, and at Little Gidding, Huntingdonshire, founded, with some of his near relations, a religious community, known as the "Arminian Nunnery," some account of which is given in Shorthouse's "John Inglesant"; it was broken up by the Puritans in 1647; he was the intimate friend of George Herbert; this community consisted of some "fourscore persons, devoted to a kind of Protestant monasticism; they followed celibacy and merely religious duties, employed themselves in binding prayer-books, &c., in alms-giving and what charitable work was possible to them in their desert retreat, kept up, night and day, a continual repetition of the English liturgy, never allowing at any hour the sacred fire to go out" (1592-1637).
Ferrar, Robert, an English prelate, born at Halifax, was prior of the monastery of St. Oswald's, embraced the Reformation, and was made Bishop of St. David's by Edward VI.; suffered martyrdom under Mary in 1555.
Ferrara, a broadsword bearing the name of Andrea Ferrara, one of an Italian family famous in the 16th and 17th centuries for the quality of their swords.
Ferrara (31), a fortified and walled Italian city, capital of the province of the name, situated on a low and marshy plain between the dividing branches of the Po, 30 m. from the Adriatic; it has many fine ecclesiastical buildings and a university founded in 1264, with a library of 100,000 vols., but now a mere handful of students; a fine old Gothic castle, the residence of the Estes (q. v.), still stands; it was the birthplace of Savonarola, and the sometime dwelling-place of Tasso and Ariosto; once populous and prosperous, it has now fallen into decay.
Ferrari, Gaudenzio, Italian painter and sculptor, born at Valduggia, in Piedmont; studied at Rome under Raphael; many of his paintings and frescoes are to be found in the Lombard galleries, and principally in Milan; his work is characterised by bold and accurate drawing, inventiveness, and strong colouring, but it somewhat lacks the softer qualities of his art (1484-1550).
Ferrari, Paolo, Italian dramatist, born at Modena; produced his first play at the age of 25; his numerous works, chiefly comedies, and all marked by a fresh and piquant style, are the finest product of the modern Italian drama; in 1860 he was appointed professor of History at Modena and afterwards at Milan; his dramatic works have been published in 14 vols. (1822-1889).
Ferrier, David, a distinguished medical scientist, born at Woodside, Aberdeen; graduated in arts there; studied at Heidelberg, and coming to Edinburgh graduated in medicine with high distinction in 1868; in 1872 became professor of Forensic Medicine at King's College, London, and afterwards physician to the National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic; his most notable work has been done in connection with the brain, and his many experiments on the brains of living animals have resulted in much valuable information, embodied in his various writings; is editor and co-founder of the periodical Brain; b. 1843.
Ferrier, James Frederick, a metaphysician of singular ability and originality, born at Edinburgh; after graduating at Oxford was called to the Scotch bar in 1832; but under the influence of Sir W. Hamilton, metaphysics became his dominant interest, and he found an outlet for his views in the pages of Blackwood by a paper on "Consciousness," which attracted the attention of Emerson; in 1842 was appointed professor of History in Edinburgh University, and three years later of Moral Philosophy in St. Andrews; published the "Institutes of Metaphysics," a lucid exposition of the Berkleian philosophy, and "Lectures on Greek Philosophy," and edited the works of his uncle and father-in-law, Christopher North; "he belongs," says Dr. Stirling, "to an era of thought that was inaugurated by Thomas Carlyle" (1808-1864).
Ferrier, Susan Edmonston, a Scottish novelist, aunt of the preceding, born in Edinburgh, where her life was chiefly spent, her father being Clerk in the Court of Session, and a colleague of Sir Walter Scott; her novels, "Marriage," "The Inheritance," and "Destiny," &c., are rich in humour and faithful in their pictures of Scottish life and character; Scott held her in high esteem, and kept up a warm friendship with her till his death (1782-1854).
Ferrol (26), a strongly fortified seaport in Galicia, Spain, 10 m. NE. of Coruña, on a narrow inlet of the sea which forms a splendid harbourage, narrow at the entrance and capacious within, and defended by two forts; it possesses one of the largest Spanish naval arsenals; manufactures linen and cotton, and exports corn, brandy, and sardines.
Ferry, Jules François Camille, a distinguished French statesman, born at Saint Dié, in the Vosges; called to the Paris bar in 1854, he speedily plunged into the politics of the time, and offered uncompromising opposition to the party of Louis Napoleon; as a member of the Corps Législatif he opposed the war with Prussia, but as central mayor of Paris rendered signal service during the siege by the Germans; during his tenure of office as Minister of Public Instruction in 1879 was instrumental in bringing about the expulsion of the Jesuits; as Prime Minister in 1880 and again in 1883-85 he inaugurated a spirited colonial policy, which involved France in war in Madagascar, and brought about his own downfall (1832-1893).
Fesch, Joseph, an eminent French ecclesiastic, born at Ajaccio, the half-brother of Napoleon's mother; was educated for the Church, but, on the outbreak of the Revolution, joined the revolutionaries as a storekeeper; co-operated with his illustrious nephew in restoring Catholicism in France, and became in 1802 archbishop of Lyons, and a cardinal in 1803; as ambassador at Rome in 1804 he won the Pope's favour, and brought about a more friendly understanding between him and Napoleon; later he lost favour with the emperor, and retired to Lyons, whence in 1814 he fled to Rome, there to end his life; was a lover of art, and left a magnificent collection of pictures (1763-1839).
Festus, the name of a poem by Philip James Bailey (q. v.), first published in 1839, but extended to three times its length since, a poem that on its first production produced no small sensation.
Festus, Sextus Pompeius, a Latin grammarian of probably the 3rd century; noted for an epitome of a great work by Verrius Flaccus on the meaning and derivation of Latin words, which, although only a portion of it exists, is regarded as an invaluable document, and is preserved at Naples.
Fetichism, the worship of a fetich, an object superstitiously invested with divine or demonic power, and as such regarded with awe and worshipped.
Feudalism, or the Feudal system, that system which prevailed in Europe during the Middle Ages and in England from the Norman Conquest, by which vassals held their lands from the lord-superior on condition of military service when required, for "the extreme unction day" of which see Carlyle's "French Revolution," vol. i. Bk. 4.
Feuerbach, Ludwig Andreas, German philosopher, son of the succeeding, born at Landshut; studied theology at Hiedelberg, but coming under the influence of Hegel went to Berlin and devoted himself to philosophy; after failing in an attempt to support himself by lecturing in Erlangen, he was fortunate in his marriage, and upon his wife's means lived a retired and studious life at Bruckberg; in his philosophy, which is a degeneracy and finally total departure from Hegel, he declines to find a higher sanction for morality than man's own conception of right and wrong as based on a doctrine of Hedonism (q. v.); his chief work, on the nature of Christianity, which was translated into English by George Eliot, is extravagant in its departure from orthodox lines of thought; his influence has been trifling outside his own country; he began with Hegel, but "descended at last from Hegel's logical idea to naked sense," and what guidance for life might be involved in it (1804-1872).
Feuerbach, Paul Johann Anselm von, a highly distinguished criminal jurist, born at Jena, where he studied philosophy and law; at 23 came into prominence by a vigorous criticism of Hobbes's theory on civil power; and soon afterwards, in lectures on criminal jurisprudence he set forth his famous theory, that in administering justice judges should be strictly limited in their decisions by the penal code; this new doctrine gave rise to a party called "Rigorists," who supported his theory; he held professorships in Jena and in Kiel, and in 1804 was appointed to an official post in Münich; in 1814 he became president of the Court of Appeal at Anspach; his chief work was the framing of a penal code for Bavaria, which became a model for several other countries (1775-1833).
Feuillans, a reformed brotherhood of Cistercian monks, founded in 1577 by Jean de la Barrière, abbot of the Cistercian monastery at Feuillans, in Languedoc. The movement thus organised was a protest against the laxity which had crept into the Church, and probably received some stimulus from the Reformation, which was then in progress. The Feuillans settled in a convent in the Rue St. Honoré, Paris, which in after years became the meeting-place of a revolutionary club, which took the name of Feuillans; founded in 1790 by Lafayette, La Rochefoucauld, &c., and which consisted of members of the respectable property classes, whose views were more moderate than those of the Jacobins. They could not hold out against the flood of revolutionary violence, and on March 28, 1791, a mob burst into their place of meeting and dispersed them.
Féuillet, Octave, a celebrated French novelist, born at Saint-Lò, in La Manche; started his literary career as one of Dumas' assistants, but made his first independent success in the Revue des Deux Mondes by a series of tales, romances, &c., begun in 1848; in 1862 he was elected a member of the Academy, and later became librarian to Louis Napoleon; his novels, of which "Le Roman d'un Jeune Homme Pauvre" and "Sibylle" are the most noted, are graceful in style, and reveal considerable dramatic force, but often lapse into sentimentality, and too often treat of indelicate subjects, although in no spirit of coarseness (1812-1890).
Fez (150), the largest city in Morocco, of which it is the second capital; is surrounded by walls and prettily situated in the valley of the Sebu, a stream which flows through its centre and falls into the Atlantic 100 m. to the E. It has been for many centuries one of the most important of the sacred cities of the Moslem; has many fine mosques, the Sultan's palace, and an important university; is yet a busy commercial centre, although signs of decay appear all over the city, and carries on an active caravan trade with Central Africa.
Fezzan (50), a Turkish province lying to the S. of Tripoli, to which it is politically united; in character partakes of the desert region to which it belongs, being almost wholly composed of barren sandy plateaux, with here and there an oasis in the low valleys, where some attempt at cultivation is made. The people, who belong to the Berber stock, are Mohammedans, honest, but lazy and immoral. Murzuk (6) is the chief town.
Fiars, an expression in Scotch law given to the prices of grain which are determined, by the respective sheriffs in the various counties assisted by juries. The Court for "striking the fiars" is held towards the end of February in accordance with Acts of Sederunt of the Court of Session. The prices fixed are used in the settling of contracts where no prices have been determined upon, e. g. in fixing stipends of ministers of the Church of Scotland, and are found useful in other ways.
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb, a celebrated German philosopher, born in Upper Lusatia; a man of an intensely thoughtful and noble nature; studied theology at Jena, and afterwards philosophy; became a disciple of Kant, and paid homage to him personally at Königsberg; was appointed professor of Philosophy at Jena, where he enthusiastically taught, or rather preached, a system which broke away from Kant, which goes under the name of "Transcendental Idealism," and which he published in his "Wissenschaftslehre" and his "System der Sittenlehre"; obliged to resign his chair at Jena on a charge of atheism, he removed to Berlin, where he rose into favour by his famous "Address to the Germans" against the tyranny of Napoleon, and after a professorate in Erlangen he became head of the New University, and had for colleagues such men as Wolff, Humboldt, Scheiermacher, and Neander; he fell a victim to the War of Independence which followed, dying of fever caught through his wife and her nursing of patients in the hospitals, which were crowded with the wounded; besides his more esoterico-philosophical works, he was the author of four of a popular cast, which are worthy of all regard, on "The Destiny of Man," "The Nature of the Scholar," "The Characteristics of the Present Age," and "The Way to the Blessed Life"; "so robust an intellect, a soul so calm," says Carlyle, "so lofty, massive, and immovable, has not mingled in philosophic discussion since the time of Luther ... the cold, colossal, adamantine spirit, standing erect and clear, like a Cato Major among degenerate men; fit to have been the teacher of the Stoa, and to have discoursed of Beauty and Virtue in the groves of Academe" (1762-1814).
Fichtelgebirge, a mountain chain in North-East Bavaria, so called from its having once been covered with pines, Fichtel meaning a pine. In its valleys rise the Elbe, Rhine, and Danube; considerable quantities of iron, copper, and lead are found, which give rise to a smelting industry, while mother-of-pearl is obtained from the streams. The climate is cold and damp, but the district has of late become a favourite resort of tourists.
Ficino, Marsilio, an eminent Italian Platonist, born at Florence; in 1463 became president of a Platonic school, founded by Cosmo de' Medici, where he spent many years spreading and instilling the doctrines of Plato, and, indeed, ancient philosophy generally; entered the Church in 1473, and under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici was appointed to the canonry of Florence Cathedral; his religious beliefs were a strange blend of Platonism and Christianity, but were the foundation of a pure life, while his interest in classical studies helped considerably to further the Renaissance (1433-1499).
Fick, August, a German philologist, born at Petershagan; spent his life chiefly at Göttingen, where he first studied philology under Benfey; became a teacher in the Gymnasium, and eventually in 1876 professor of Comparative Philology in the university; in 1887 accepted a professorship in Breslau, but retired four years later; author of a variety of learned works on philology; b. 1833.
Fidelio, a celebrated opera by Beethoven, and his only one.
Fi`des, the Roman goddess of fidelity, or steadfast adherence to promises and engagements. Numa built a shrine for her worship and instituted a festival in her honour; in later times a temple containing a statue of her dressed in white adjoined the temple of Jupiter, on the Capitol at Rome.
Field, Cyrus West, brother of the following, born at Stockbridge, Massachusetts; was first a successful paper manufacturer, but turning his attention to submarine telegraphy was instrumental in establishing cable communication between England and America, and founded the Atlantic Telegraph Company in 1856; on the successful laying of the 1866 cable, since which time communication between the Old and New Worlds has never been interrupted, he was awarded a gold medal and the thanks of the nation; afterwards interested himself in developing the overhead railway in New York (1819-1892).
Field, David Dudley, an eminent American Jurist, born in Haddam, Connecticut; for 57 years a prominent member of the New York bar, during which time he brought about judiciary reforms, and drew up, under Government directions, political, civil, and penal codes; interested himself in international law, and laboured to bring about an international agreement whereby disputes might be settled by arbitration and war done away with; was President of the London Peace Congress in 1890 (1805-1894).
Field of the Cloth of Gold, a plain near Guisnes, where Henry VIII. had an interview with Francis I.; was so called from the magnificence displayed on the occasion on the part of both sovereigns and their retinue.
Fielding, Copley, an eminent English water-colour painter; became secretary and treasurer and finally president of the Society of Water-Colour Painters (1787-1855).
Fielding, Henry, a famous novelist, who has been styled by Scott "the father of the English novel," born at Sharpham Park, Glastonbury, son of General Edmund Fielding and a cousin of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (q. v.); was educated at Eton and at Leyden, where he graduated in 1728; led for some years a dissipated life in London, and achieved some celebrity by the production of a series of comedies and farces, now deservedly sunk into oblivion; in 1735 he married Miss Charlotte Cradock, and after a brief experiment as a theatre lessee studied law at the Middle Temple, and was called to the bar; literature was, however, his main pursuit, and in 1742 he came to the front with "Joseph Andrews," a burlesque on Richardson's "Pamela," in which his powers as a novelist first showed themselves; in 1743 followed three volumes of "Miscellanies," including "Jonathan Wild"; after his wife's death he turned again to law, but in 1745 we find him once more engaged in literature as editor of the True Patriot and afterwards of the Jacobite's Journal; "Tom Jones," his masterpiece, appeared in 1749, and three years later "Amelia"; journalism and his duties as a justice of the peace occupied him till 1754, when ill-health forced him abroad to Lisbon, where he died and was buried. Fielding is a master of a fluent, virile, and attractive style; his stories move with an easy and natural vigour, and are brimful of humour and kindly satire, while his characters in their lifelike humanness, with all their foibles and frailties, are a marked contrast to the buckram and conventional figures of his contemporary Richardson; something of the laxity of his times, however, finds its way into his pages, and renders them not always palatable reading to present-day readers (1707-1754).
Fieschi, Count, a Genoese of illustrious family who conspired against Andrea Doria, but whose plot was frustrated on the eve of its fulfilment by his falling into the sea and being drowned as he stept full-armed from one of his ships into another (1523-1547).
Fieschi, Joseph Marco, a Corsican conspirator; served under Murat and in Russia in 1812; obtained a government post in 1830, and in consequence of his discharge from this five years later he, by means of an infernal machine, made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Louis Philippe, for which, along with his accomplices, he was tried and executed (1790-1836).
Fiesole, a small town, 3 m. from Florence, where the wealthy Florentines have villas, and near which Fra Angelico lived as a monk.
Fife (190), a maritime county in the E. of Scotland, which juts out into the German Ocean and is washed by the Firths of Tay and Forth on its N. and S. shores respectively, thus forming a small peninsula; has for the most part a broken and hilly surface, extensively cultivated however, while the "How of Fife," watered by the Eden, is a fertile valley, richly wooded; and valuable coal deposits are worked in the S. and W.; its long coast-line is studded with picturesque towns, many of them of ancient date, a circumstance which led James VI. to describe the county as "a beggar's mantle fringed with gold"; it is associated with much that is memorable in Scottish history.
Fifth-Monarchy Men, a set of fanatics of extreme levelling tendencies, who, towards the close of the Protectorate, maintained that Jesus Christ was about to reappear on the earth to establish a fifth monarchy that would swallow up and forcibly suppress all that was left of the four preceding—the Assyrian, the Persian, the Macedonian, and the Roman; their standard exhibited the lion of the tribe of Judah couchant, with the motto, "Who will rouse him up?" some of them conspired to murder the Protector, but were detected and imprisoned till after his death.
Figaro, a name given by the French dramatist Beaumarchais to a cunning and intriguing barber who figures in his "Barbier de Seville" and his "Mariage de Figaro," and who has since become the type of all such characters. The name has been adopted by various journals in England and in France.
Figaro, Mariage de, a play by Beaumarchais, "issued on the stage in Paris 1784, ran its hundred nights; a lean and barren thing; succeeded, as it flattered a pruriency of the time and spoke what all were feeling and longing to speak."
Figuier, Louis, a popular writer on scientific subjects, born at Montpellier, where he became professor of Pharmacy in 1846, and subsequently in Paris; his voluminous writings have done much to popularise science, and they comprise a volume on alchemy and one in defence of immortality; many of these have been received with favour in England (1819-1894).
Fiji (125), a group of islands in the S. Pacific Ocean, known also as the Viti Islands; they lie between 15°-22° S. lat. and 176° E.-178° W. long., and are a dependency of Britain; sighted by Tasman in 1643, though first discovered, properly speaking, by Cook in 1773, came first into prominence in 1858, when the sovereignty was offered to England and declined, but in 1874 were taken over and made a crown colony; they number over 200 islands, of which Viti Leon and Vanua Leon are by far the largest; Suva is the capital; sugar, cotton, vanilla, tea, and coffee are cultivated, besides fruit.
Fildes, S. Luke, artist, born in Lancashire; made his mark first as a designer of woodcuts; contributed to various magazines and illustrated books, notably Dickens's "Edwin Drood"; his most noted pictures are "Applicants for a Casual Ward," "The Widower," and "The Doctor"; he was made an R.A. in 1887; b. 1844.
Filibuster, a name given to buccaneers who infested the Spanish-American coasts or those of the West Indies, but more specially used to designate the followers of Lopez in his Cuban expedition in 1851, and those of Walker in his Nicaraguan in 1855; a name now given to any lawless adventurers who attempt to take forcible possession of a foreign country.
Filigree, a name given to a species of goldsmith's ornamental work fashioned out of fine metallic (usually gold or silver) wire into lace-like patterns; the art is of ancient date, and was skilfully practised by the Etruscans and Egyptians, as well as in Central Asia and India.
Filioque Controversy, a controversy which ended in the disruption of the Western from the Eastern Church on the question whether the Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son or from the Father only, the Western maintaining the former and the Eastern the latter.
Fillan, St., a name borne by two Scottish saints: (1) the son of a Munster prince, lived in the 8th century, was first abbot of the monastery on the Holy Loch in Argyll, and afterwards laboured at Strathfillan, Perthshire; some of his relics are to be seen in the Edinburgh Antiquarian Museum; (2) or Faolan, known as "the leper," had his church at the end of Loch Earn, Perthshire; a healing well and chair are associated with his name.
Fillmore, President of the United States from 1850 to 1853.
Finality John, Lord John Russell, from his complacently pronouncing the Reform Bill of 1832 a final measure.
Finch, Heneage, first Earl of Nottingham and Lord Chancellor of England, born in Kent, studied at Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1645; at the Restoration he was appointed Solicitor-General, and took an active part in prosecuting the regicides; in 1670 he became Attorney-General, and in 1675 Lord-Chancellor; he presided as Lord-High Steward at the trial of Stafford in 1680, and pronounced judgment in a speech of great eloquence (1621-1682).
Findlater, Andrew, encyclopedist, born near Aberdour, in Aberdeenshire, of humble parentage; graduated at Aberdeen, and became a schoolmaster at Tillydesk, and afterwards held the post of head-master of Gordon's Hospital in Aberdeen; in 1853 joined the staff of Messrs. W. & R. Chambers, Edinburgh, and became eventually editor of the first edition of their encyclopedia (1861-1868); amongst other work done for the Messrs. Chambers were various manuals on astronomy, geography, &c.; was a man of wide and accurate scholarship (1810-1877).
Fingal or Fionn, the great hero of Gaelic mythology, represented by Ossian (q. v.) to have ruled over the kingdom of Morven, which may be said to have been then co-extensive with Argyllshire and the West Highlands; in ballad literature he is represented as belonging also to Ireland.
Fingal's Cave, a remarkable cave of basaltic formation on the coast of the Isle of Staffa (q. v.); entrance to the cave is effected in boats through a natural archway 42 ft. wide and 66 ft. high, and the water fills the floor of this great hall to a distance of 227 ft.
Finisterre or Finistère (727), the most westerly department of France, washed on the N. by the English Channel, and on the S. and W. by the Atlantic; has a rugged and broken coast-line, but inland presents a picturesque appearance with tree-clad hills and fertile valleys; the climate is damp, and there is a good deal of marshy land; mines of silver, lead, &c., are wrought, and quarries of marble and granite; fishing is largely engaged in; and the manufacture of linen, canvas, pottery, &c., are important industries, while large quantities of grain are raised.
Finland (2,431), a grand-duchy forming the NW. corner of Russia; was ceded by the Swedes in 1809, but still retains an independent administration. The coast-line is deeply indented, and fringed with small islands; the interior, chiefly elevated plateau, consists largely of forest land, and is well furnished with lakes, many of which are united by canals, one 36 m. connecting Lake Saima with the Gulf of Finland. Various cereals (barley, oats, &c.) are grown, and there is a varied and valuable fauna; fishing is an extensive industry, and no less than 80 kinds of fish are found in the rivers, lakes, and coast waters. The country is divided into eight counties, and is governed by a Senate and Diet, the reigning Russian emperor holding rank as grand-duke; education is highly advanced; Swedish and Finnish are the two languages of the country, Russian being practically unknown. There is an excellent Saga literature, and the beginnings of a modern literature. The Finns came under the dominion of the Swedes in the 12th and 13th centuries, and were by them Christianised.
Finlay, George, a distinguished historian, horn at Faversham, Kent, but of Scotch parents; received a university training at Glasgow and Göttingen, and in 1822 went to Greece, where he met Byron and fought in the War of Independence; henceforth Greece became his home, and there, after an unavailing effort to promote agriculture, he betook himself to a studious life and to writing the history of his adopted country; his valuable history, published in various parts, traces the national life of Greece from 146 B.C. to A.D. 1864 (1799-1875).
Finmark (29), a province of Norway, lying in the extreme N., with a rocky and indented coast and a barren and mountainous interior; fishing is the main industry of the inhabitants, who are chiefly Lapps.
Finns, the native inhabitants of Finland, and originally of the districts in Sweden and Norway as well, are of the Mongolian type, and were settled in Europe before the arrival of the Slavic and Teutonic races.
Fiords, deep indentations forming inlets of the sea, especially on the coast of Norway, overlooked by high mountains and precipitous cliffs.
Firdausi or Firdusi, the pseudonym of Abu-'l Kasim Mansur, the great poet of Persia, born near Tûs, in Khorassan; flourished in the 10th century B.C.; spent 30 years in writing the "Shah Nama," a national epic, but having been cheated out of the reward promised by Sultan Mahmud, he gave vent to bitter satire against his royal master and fled the court; for some time he led a wandering life, till at length he returned to his birthplace, where he died; a complete translation of his great poem exists in French.
Fire-Worship, worship of fire, especially as embodied in the sun viewed as the most express and emphatic exhibition of beneficent divine power.
Firmament, a name given to the vault of the sky conceived as a solid substance studded with stars, so applied in the Vulgate.
Firman, a Persian word denoting a mandate or decree; among the Turks the term is applied to such decrees as issue from the Ottoman Porte, and also to passports, the right of signing which lies with the Sultan or a Pasha; the word is also used in India to denote a permit to trade.
Firmin, St., bishop of Amiens, who suffered martyrdom in 287. Festival, Sept. 25.
First Gentleman of Europe, George IV., from his fine style and manners.
Fischart, Johann, a German satirist; an imitator of Rabelais (1545-1589).
Fischer, Ernst Kuno Berthold, a German historian of philosophy, born at Sandewalde, Silesia; as a student of Erdmann at Halle he was smitten with the love of philosophy, and gave his life to the study of it; after graduating he went to Heidelberg and there established himself as a private lecturer, in which capacity he was eminently successful, but in 1853 was deprived of his status by Government, probably on account of the alleged Pantheistic trend of his teaching; in 1856, however, he was elected to the chair of Philosophy in Jena, and 16 years later was called back to Heidelberg as Zeller's successor; his chief work is a "History of Modern Philosophy"; b. 1824.
Fisher, John, bishop of Rochester, born at Beverley; was distinguished at Cambridge, and became chaplain and confessor to the Countess of Richmond, Henry VII.'s mother, who had him appointed professor of Divinity at his alma mater; in 1504 he was elected Chancellor of the University and made bishop of Rochester, but incurred the royal displeasure by opposing Henry VIII.'s divorce of Catherine of Aragon, and by upholding the Pope's supremacy; became involved in the deceptions of Elizabeth Barton, maid of Kent, and was sent to the Tower in 1534 for refusing to take the oath of succession; was created a cardinal, but was beheaded by order of the king ere his hat arrived; was beatified in 1886 (1469-1535).
Fiske, John, American writer, born at Hartford, Conn., U.S.; studied at Harvard; in 1869 lectured at his old university as a Positivist, and was under-librarian from 1872 to 1879; he is the author of a number of works on Darwinism, American history, philosophy, etc.; b. 1842.
Fitch, John, an American inventor, born in Connecticut; led a life of adventure, at one time acting as gunsmith to the American revolutionaries and at another falling into the hands of Indians whilst trading in the West; in 1785 he brought out a model steamboat with side wheels, and in 1788 and in 1790 constructed larger vessels, one of the latter being for some time employed as a passenger boat; some of his plans are said to have fallen into Robert Fulton's hands and given him the idea of his steamship; disheartened by the ill-success of a trip to France he committed suicide at Bardstown, Kentucky (1743-1798).
Fitz-Boodle, George, Thackeray's pseudonym in Fraser's Magazine.
FitzGerald, Edward, English scholar, born in Suffolk; at Cambridge, where he graduated in 1830, he formed close friendships with James Spedding and Thackeray, and afterwards was on intimate terms with Carlyle and Tennyson; his life was quietly spent in his country residence in Suffolk, varied by yachting expeditions and visits to London, where he made the round of his friends; his first book, "Euphranor," a dialogue on youth, appeared when he was 42, "Polonius" followed and some Spanish translations, but his fame rests on his translations of Persian poetry, and especially on his rendering of the 11th-century poet, Omar Khayyám (1809-1883).
Fitzgerald, Lady, a daughter of Egalité and Mme. Genlis, called Pamela; distinguished for her beauty and enthusiasm for liberty, and who became the wife of Lord Fitzgerald, the Irish patriot (q. v.); d. 1831.
Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, the younger son of the Duke of Leinster, born at Carlton Castle, near Dublin; spent his early years in France; joined the English army and served with distinction in the American War; in 1784 he was elected to the Irish Parliament, and opposed the English Government; was attracted to France by the Revolution, but returned to Ireland and joined the United Irishmen in 1796, and began plotting the rising of 1798; his scheme was betrayed, and he was arrested in Dublin after a determined resistance, during which he received wounds of which he died in prison (1763-1798).
Fitzherbert, Mrs., a Roman Catholic lady, maiden name Maria Anne Smythe, with whom, after her second widowhood, George IV., while Prince of Wales, contracted a secret marriage in 1785, which, however, under the Royal Marriage Act, was declared invalid (1756-1837).
Fitzroy, Robert, admiral, navigator, and meteorologist, born at Ampton Hall, near Bury St. Edmunds; entered the navy at 14, and in 1828-1830 conducted a survey of the coasts of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, a work he continued while commanding the Beagle (1831-1836), in which Darwin accompanied him; in 1843-1845 was governor of New Zealand; in his later years devoted himself to meteorology, and, on the retired list, rose to be vice-admiral; published accounts of his voyages, etc.; under pressure of work his mind gave way, and he committed suicide (1805-1865).
Fitzwilliam, William, Earl, a politician of George the Third's time; the excesses of the French Revolution caused him to come over from the Whigs and support Pitt; favoured Catholic emancipation during his Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland, but was recalled; held office under Grenville in 1806, and took some part in the Reform Bill agitation of the day (1748-1833).
Fiume (29), a seaport of Hungary, on the Adriatic, at the rocky entrance of the Fiumara, 40 m. SE. of Trieste; a new town of spacious and colonnaded streets and many fine buildings, has grown up on the ground sloping down from the old town; has an excellent harbour, and flourishing industries in paper, torpedoes, tobacco, etc., besides being the entrepôt of an important and increasing commerce.
Flacius or Vlacich, Matthias, surnamed Illyricus, a German theologian, born at Albona, in Illyria; was the pupil of Luther and Melanchthon; became professor of the Old Testament Scriptures at Wittenberg, but four years later lost his position on account of certain attacks he made on Melanchthon; subsequently he was elected professor at Jena, but was again deposed for heterodox notions on original sin; died in poverty; was author of an ecclesiastical history and other works (1520-1575).
Flagellants, a set of medieval fanatics, who first arose in Italy in 1260, and subsequently appeared in other quarters of Europe, and who thought by self-flagellation to atone for sin and avert divine judgment, hoping by a limited number of stripes to compensate for a century of scourgings; the practice arose at a time when it was reckoned that the final judgment of the world was at hand.
Flahault de la Billarderie, Auguste Charles Joseph, Comte de, a French soldier and diplomatist, born at Paris; was aide-de-camp to Napoleon, and for distinguished services in the Peninsular war and at Leipzig was made a general and count; fought at Waterloo, and two years later married Margaret Elphinston, who by inheritance became Baroness Keith; he was ambassador at the Courts of Venice (1841-48) and at London (1860) (1785-1870).
Flambard, Randolph, a Norman who came over with the Conqueror to England and became chaplain to William Rufus, whom he abetted and pandered to in his vices, in return for which, and a heavy sum he paid, he was in 1099 made bishop of Durham.
Flamboyant, the name given, from the flame-like windings of its tracery, to a florid style of architecture in vogue in France during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Flamens, priests elected in Rome by the people and consecrated by the chief pontiff to the service of a particular god, such as Jupiter, Mars, &c.
Flaminius, Caius, a Roman tribune and consul, who constructed the Flaminian Way; perished at Lake Trasimene, where he was defeated by Hannibal in the Second Punic War, 217 B.C.
Flaminius, T. Quintus, a Roman consul, who defeated Philip of Macedon and proclaimed the freedom of Greece, and it was his close neighbourhood to Hannibal that induced the latter to take poison rather than fall into his hands (230-174 B.C.).
Flammarion, Camille, French astronomer, born at Montigny-le-Roi; he was attached to the Paris Observatory in 1858, and by means of books and lectures has spent a busy life in popularising his science; many of his works have been translated into English; b. 1842.
Flamsteed, John, the first astronomer-royal of England, born near Derby; his devotion to astronomy gained him the favour of Sir Jonas Moore, who was the means of getting him the appointment of astronomer-royal in 1675; from the Observatory of Greenwich, specially built for his use, he catalogued the fixed stars and supplied Newton with useful information bearing on his lunar theory; in 1675 he took holy orders, and was presented to the living of Burstow in Surrey, which he held till his death (1646-1719).
Flanders, the land of the Flemings, borders upon the North Sea, formerly extended from the Scheldt to the Somme, and included, besides the present Belgian provinces of East and West Flanders, part of Zealand, and also of Artois, in France; the ancient county dates from 862, in which year Charles the Bold of France, as suzerain, raised it to the status of a sovereign county, and bestowed it upon his son Baldwin I.; it has successively belonged to Spain and Austria, and in Louis XIV.'s reign a portion of it was ceded to France, now known as French Flanders, while Zealand passed into the hands of the Dutch; the remainder was in 1714 made the Austrian Netherlands, and in 1831 was incorporated with the new kingdom of Belgium (q. v.).
Flandrin, a French painter, born at Lyons; was a pupil of Ingres; represented the religious movement in art in the 19th century (1809-1864).
Flaubert, Gustave, a realistic romancer, born at Rouen; author of "Madame Bovary," a study of provincial life, which became the subject of a prosecution, and "Salammbô," wonderful for its vigour and skill in description; he indulged in repulsive subjects (1821-1880).
Flavel, John, an English Nonconformist divine of spiritualising tendencies, much read by pious people of his class; d. 1691.
Flaxman, John, an eminent sculptor, born at York; was brought up in London, where his father carried on business as a moulder of plaster figures; his love of drawing and modelling soon marked him out as an artist, and helped by friends he devoted himself to art; exhibited at the age of 12, and won the silver medal of the Royal Academy at 14; for some years he supplied the Wedgwoods with designs for their famous pottery, and in 1787 he went to Rome, which for seven years became his home; in 1810 became professor of Sculpture to the Royal Academy; besides many fine statues of eminent men and much exquisite work in bas-reliefs, he executed a series of noble designs illustrating Homer, Dante, and Æschylus; he was a Swedenborgian by religious creed (1755-1826).
Flechier, a famous French pulpit orator, bishop of Nîmes; his funeral