The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
by
Edited by Rev. James Wood
Part 10 out of 53
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 Massena 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).
BUeSCHING, 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 archaeological 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 _debut_ 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.
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 Inferieure, 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, ETIENNE, 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 depot 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.
CAEDMON, 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, "Caedmon, 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, 21/2 m. NE.
of Newport; celebrated by Tennyson in connection with Arthurian legend;
it is a very ancient place, and contains relics of Roman times.
CAESALPINUS, Italian natural philosopher, born at Arezzo; was
professor of botany at Pisa; was forerunner of Harvey and Linnaeus;
discovered sex in plants, and gave hints on their classification
(1519-1603).
CAESAR, name of an old Roman family claiming descent from the Trojan
AEneas, 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.
CAESAR, 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 Caesar, 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.
CAESAREA, a Syrian seaport, 30 m. N. of Joppa, built in honour of
Augustus Caesar 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).
CAILLIE, RENE, 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.
CA 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 Theologiae" 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 41/2 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 L1,300,000; 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 Haendel'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.
CALPE, Gibraltar, one of the PILLARS OF HERCULES (q. v.).
CALPURNIA, the last wife of Julius Caesar, daughter of the consul
Piso, who, alive to the danger of conspiracy, urged Caesar 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.
CAMBACERES, JEAN JACQUES REGIS 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 Napoleon_ (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_. Fenelon 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 archaeological 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.
CAMENAE, 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 "AEneid," 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 affiance, 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 Cevennes, 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.
CAMOENS, 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 L2000, 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 L200 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).
CANNAE, 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 protege 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.
CANON 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, FRANCOIS, 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 a 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 a 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).
CANTU, CAESARE, 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 encyclopaedist, 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 Cannae, 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.
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