Chapter XIV: Part 14
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.
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.
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The Nuttall encyclopædiaChapter XIV: Part 14
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