B 424916
ARTES
18371
SCIENTIA
VERITAS
LIBRARY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
TUEBOR
431 QUÆRIS PENINSULAM AMEKAM
CIRCUMSPICE
AE
5
.ESS
1851

ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA.
A
POPULAR DICTIONARY
OF
ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE, HISTORY, POLITICS AND
athogal
BIOGRAPHY,
A NEW EDITION;
иат чо томтай катаал
INCLUDING
A COPIOUS COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL ARTICLES
IN
AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY;
ON
THE BASIS OF THE SEVENTH EDITION OF THE GERMAN
CONVERSATIONS-LEXICON
EDITED BY
FRANCIS LIEBER
ASSISTED BY
E. WIGGLESWORTH
VOL. IV.
BOSTON:
B. B. MUSSEY & CO.
1851.

ДИЛОТЯНМА ЛЬОДЯ
THAKOTTOL STATU901
NO
12A BOTTLICH,720тCH HUTARTIN
YHTATOOM
KOITIAN Wan A
EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit:
BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the tenth day of August, in the fifty-fourth year of the Independence of the
United States of America, A. D. 1829, Carey, Lea & Carey, of the said district, have deposited in this office
the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit:
"Encyclopædia Americana. A Popular Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature, History Politics and
Biography, brought down to the present Time; including a copious Collection of Original Articles in American
Biography; on the Basis of the seventh Edition of the German Conversations-Lexicon. Edited by Francis Lieber,
assisted by E. Wigglesworth."
In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An Act for the encouragement of
learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies
during the times therein mentioned:" and also to the act, entitled, "An Act supplementary to an act, entitled,
'An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books to the authors
and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the
arts of designing, engraving and etching historical and other prints."
D. CALDWELL,
70 Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
CIZE-MOITAGEETHOD
*** 210EAS
211 CATIA
HTOWEL JODI H
VIV
Printed by T. K. & P. G. Collins.
.00 Yaau..a
IUBI

ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA.
CRANTARA
RANTARA (Gaelic, crean tarigh); the
cross of shame, because, says sir Walter
Scott, in his note on the passage of the
Lady of the Lake (canto 3), in which he
has made such a fine use of it, disobedi-
ence to what the symbol implied, infer-
red infamy. The Highlanders of Scot-
land appear to have borrowed it from the
ancient Scandinavians, of the use of it
among whom, for rousing the people to
arms, Olaus Magnus gives a particular
count. As late as the insurrection in
1745, the crantara, or fiery cross, was cir-
ylated in Scotland, and, on one occasion,
it passed through the district of Breadal-
bane, a tract of 32 miles, in three hours.
After Charles Edward had marched into
England, two of the king's frigates threat-
ened the coast with a descent. The cran-
tara was sent through the district of Ap-
pine by Alexander Stuart of Invernahyle
(who related the circumstance to sir Wal-
ter Scott), and, in a few hours, a sufficient
force was collected to render the attempt
of the English hopeless.
CRAPE; a light, transparent stuff, like
gauze, made of raw silk, gummed and
twisted on the mill, woven without cross-
ing, and much used in mourning. Crapes
are either craped (i. e., crisped) or smooth.
The silk destined for the first is more
twisted than that for the second, it being
the greater or less degree of twisting,
especially of the warp, which produces
the crisping given to it, when taken out of
the loom, steeped in clear water, and rub-
bed with a piece of wax for the purpose.
Crapes are all dyed raw. This stuff came
originally from Bologna; but, till of late
years, Lyons is said to have had the chief
manufacture of it. It is now manufactur-
ed in various parts of Great Britain. The
crape brought from China is of a more
substantial fabric.
CRAPELET; father and son; two printers.
The father, Charles, born at Bourmont,
Nov. 13, 1762, established his printing-
office in 1789, and died Oct. 19, 1809. He
might be called the French Baskerville.
Like this printer, he endeavored to unite
the greatest simplicity with elegance, to
deliver the art of printing from the hetero-
geneous ornaments with which it was so
overloaded, particularly in France, and
from which even Didot could not entirely
free himself; but he surpassed his model
in the form of his types and the regularity
of his work. His editions are no less cor-
rect than neat and beautiful. He has also
been successful in printing on parchment,
and has shown his skill by producing an
impression in gold (13 copies of Aude-
bert's Oiseaux dorés, Paris, 1802, 2 vols.,
folio).-A. G. Crapelet has extended his
father's business, and has even excelled
him in elegance. His Lafontaine (1814),
Montesquieu (1816), Rousseau and Vol-
taire (both 1819), are monuments of his
taste; and the large vellum-paper copies
are truly splendi works. The words
"De l'imprimerie de Crapelet" are a great
recommendation. Renouard has had all
the editions published at his expense
printed by Crapelet, who, in 1800, em-
ployed 22 presses.
CRASSUS. Two Romans of this name
are here to be mentioned. 1. Lucius Li-
cinius Crassus, who was made consul
A. U. C. 658 (B. C. 96), and passed for the
greatest orator of his time. He was dis-
tinguished for talent, presence of mind
and integrity. 2. M. Licinius Crassus, sur-
named Dives (the rich), so called, like ma-
ny of his family, on account of his vast

4
CRASSUS CRAVAT.
riches. He possessed a fortune equal to
$5,000,000. He once gave an entertain-
ment to the whole people, in which 10,000
tables were set, and, besides this, distrib-
uted corn enough to last each family three
months. In the years of Rome 683 and
698, he was a colleague of Pompey, in the
consulship, and, in 688, censor. As he
was one of the most influential men in
Rome, and very ambitious, his friendship
was sought by Cæsar, who formed, with
him and Pompey, the famous triumvirate.
He perished, with a great part of his army,
in an expedition against the Parthians,
undertaken from motives of avarice and
ambition, B. C. 53.
CRATER. (See Volcano.)
CRAVAT; an unhealthy, uncomfortable,
unbecoming article of European and
American dress. The ancients were un-
acquainted with this ridiculous and injuri-
ous style of bundling up the neck. They
left unconfined that important region of
the body, through which so many vessels
pass, and in which are situated so many
organs, which will endure no constraint
with impunity. In some cases, indeed,
they defended themselves from the cold by
a woollen, cotton or silk band, called, in
Latin, focale, from fauces, throat. But no
one could venture to use this contrivance
publicly, unless he was sick; in which
case he might cover his head, and the
upper part of the shoulders, and even
wear breeches (q. v.), without disgrace.
"Palliolum, sicut fascias et focalia," says
Quinctilian, "sola excusare potest valetudo."
It was allowable, indeed, to cover the
neck with the toga in bad weather, or to
hold the hand over it, for the preservation
or restoration of the natural temperature.
The Poles never wear any thing round
the neck, notwithstanding the severity of
their winters. The same custom prevails
among the Orientals, by whom a white,
round neck is compared to the beauty of
an ivory tower. The bare neck gradually
became unfashionable in Europe. It was
at first surrounded, but not constrained, by
a starched band of fine linen, on the upper
edge of the shirt, falling back natural-
ly upon the bust, where it was fastened
by a small cord. This was the origin of
all the different species of collars since
used the innocent parent of those thick,
hot folds, in which the neck was destined
to be afterwards muffled. Ruffs, stiffened
or plaited, single or in many rows, an
nconvenient, indeed, but not a dangerous
ornament, had their turn, and lasted as
long as short hair was in fashion. They
were abandoned, when Louis XIII allow-
ed his hair to grow: then standing collars,
embroidered and pinked, the plaited col-
larettes, the neck-band, plain or laced and
pointed, encompassed the neck chin-deep;
and, when Louis XIV adopted those enor-
mous periwigs, which hardly left the throat
visible, all these splendid envelopes gave
way to ribands, tied in brilliant bows.
Next came the epoch of the dangerous
subjection of the neck to constriction and
compression, from which it had hitherto
been exempt. In 1660, a foreign regiment
arrived in France, composed of Croats, in
whose singular costume one thing was
generally admired and imitated. It was a
bandage about the neck, consisting of
common stuff for the soldiers, and of
muslin or silk for the officers. The ends
were disposed in a bow, or garnished
with a tuft or a tassel, and hung not un-
gracefully over the breast. This new
article of dress was at first called a croate,
and afterwards, by corruption, a cravat.
The military and the rich, at that time,
wore very fine cravats, with the border
embroidered, or edged with broad lace.
Those of the soldiers consisted of a scrap
of cloth, of cotton, or, at the best, of black,
plaited taffeta, bound round the neck by
two small cords. Afterwards, the place
of these cords was supplied by clasps or a
buckle, and then cravats took the name of
stocks. Under Louis XVI, the stocks
yielded to the cravats à la chancelière.
The last flourished but for a moment: the
revolution came, and with it disappeared
cravats, and even tight breeches. Soon
after this epoch (1796), the cravat recov-
ered its popularity, and increased to an
incredible degree of extravagance. Some
persons enveloped the neck with whole
pieces of muslin; others, with a padded
cushion, on which were wrapped numer-
ous folds. In this way, the neck was
puffed out so as to be larger than the head,
with which it was imperceptibly con-
founded. The shirt-collar arose above
the ears, and the upper edge of the cra-
vat buried up the chin and the mouth
nose-deep; so that the visage, bristling on
either side with a grove of bushy whis-
kers, and its upper regions ensconced to the
eyes by the hair flattened down over the
brows, absolutely showed nothing except
the nose, projecting in all its plenitude.
The exquisites thus cravatted resembled
any thing rather than men, and afforded
excellent subjects for caricatures. If they
wished to look any way except straight
forward, they were obliged to turn the
whole trunk, with which the neck and
head formed but one piece. It was im-

ATA CRAVAT-CRAWFISH.
possible to incline the head in any direc-
tion. Most fashions have been invented
to hide an infirmity or a deformity: large
cravats were probably first used to conceal
some disagreeable scars, or some unlucky
malformation. A singer or a public speak-
er cannot use his voice to advantage dur-
ing the time when his cravat is tied too
tight. The habit of wearing large cravats
renders the neck very liable to be affected
by exposure. By uncovering the neck
imprudently when heated, severe and
dangerous diseases have often been con-
tracted. A young man or young lady, on
leaving a party in a warm apartment,
should be careful to protect the neck and
breast from cold.
CRAVEN, Elizabeth, lady; margravine
of Anspach, youngest daughter of the earl
of Berkeley; born in 1750, and married in
1767, to William, last earl of Craven, by
whom she had seven children. But, after
a connexion of 14 years, in consequence
of his ill-treatment, a separation was
agreed upon in 1781. Lady Craven, after
this, lived successively at the courts of
Versailles, Madrid, Lisbon, Vienna, Berlin,
Constantinople, Warsaw, St. Petersburg,
Rome, Florence and Naples; then in An-
spach, where she became acquainted with
the margrave Christian Frederic Charles
Alexander, a nephew of Frederic the
Great. On this tour, in 1787, she was
persuaded by the count Choiseul-Gouffier,
French ambassador to Constantinople, to
descend into the grotto of Antiparos,
which no woman had ever before visited.
After the death of lord Craven, at Lisbon,
in 1791, the margrave married her, sur-
rendered his estates to the king of Prussia
for a yearly pension, and went, with his
consort, to England, where he purchased
an estate (Brandenburg), not far from
Hammersmith, and died in 1806. From
that time, lady Craven has lived partly in
England, partly in Naples. The account
of her travels through the Crimea to Con-
stantinople, in a series of letters, was first
published in 1789. A new enlarged edi-
tion appeared in 1814. Besides these,
she has written poems, plays and roman-
ces; also her own memoirs (Memoirs of
the Margravine of Anspach, formerly Lady
Craven, &c., London, 1825). These are
interesting on account of her intercourse
with Catharine II, Joseph II, and other
princes.
CRAWFISH (astacus, Fab.); a crustaceous
genus, belonging to the family decapoda
macroura (ten legged, long tailed), charac-
terized by having the anterior part of the
elongated semi-cylindric superior shell
5
The
produced to form a rostrum or beak; the
abdomen large, slightly attenuated poste-
riorly, composed of six joints, forming a
tail quite as long, when extended, as the
body, and terminating in five broad-fring-
ed, swimming appendages, which fold
laterally upon each other. In both sexes,
the under part of the abdomen is generally
provided with five pairs of false claws,
each terminated by two plates or pla-
ments. The exterior jaw-feet are mostly
narrow, elongated, and do not entirely
cover the other parts of the mouth.
gills are pyramidal, brush-shaped, or
plume-like, separated from each other by
tendinous slips, and situated beneath the
sides of the great superior shell, over the
external base of the feet. Of the latter,
the second and third pairs are elongated,
slender, and furnished at the last joint,
which is movable, with small pincers;
the fourth and fifth pairs have the last
joints simply pointed or hooked. The
sexual organs are placed, in both sexes, in
the basal joint of the last pair of feet.
The species belonging to this genus, as
at present restricted, do not exceed six.
Some of these kinds are peculiar to salt
and others to fresh water. Of the former,
the most celebrated is the lobster (astacus
gammarus), so prominent among the lux-
uries of New York, and our other eastern
maritime cities. In their modes of living,
the crawfish generally resemble the aquat-
ic crabs (see Crab), feeding on putrefying
animal matter, spending their time on the
sandy or rocky bottom of deep waters,
and only approaching the shallows when
impelled by the necessity of undergoing
their change of shell, or when under the
sexual influence. The common lobster is
the largest species, and grows to a size
which may well appear wonderful to per-
sons accustomed to see none but small
ones. They are brought to the New York
market more than two feet in length, and
weighing 20 pounds and upwards. Such
individuals, however, are not preferred for
the table, as their size is a good indication
of their age, and their period of life is
stated to extend to 20 years and more. The
smaller, or half-sized lobsters, are consid-
ered the best. The quite small, or young
ones, which are commonly sold in New
Haven (Connecticut), as too small for the
New York market, are, in our opinion, far
superior to either. The fresh-water craw-
fish, of which one species (astacus bartnoir)
is very common in most of the fresh-
water streams and brooks from Pennsyl-
vania southward, affords us the best op-
portunity for observing their habits. We
1*

CRAWFISH-CREAM OF TARTAR.
find them inhabiting excavations of con-
siderable depth along the borders, or a
short distance within the current of the
stream, at the bottom of which they lie
nid. In the spring of the year, by cau-
tiously approaching, and remaining quietly
on the margin of such a stream, we may
see the crawfish industriously bringing
from the lower part of their caves the dirt
accumulated there; and this enables us to
comprehend the manner in which they
originally made their retreats. Upon the
two great claws, folded towards each oth-
er, and thus forming, with the front of the
body, a sort of shelf, the dirt is carefully
brought to the surface, and thrown down
just where the current will sweep it away.
As the substances thus brought up are
very light, it requires a very gentle move-
ment of the animal to avoid spilling, or
rather washing off his lading; and he
therefore rises in the gentlest and most
circumspect manner. We can testify to
the patience with which this labor is con-
tinued, as, with the view of observing the
operation, we have often quietly pushed
in the earth from the edge of the water,
which they as often have toiled on to
remove. It is upon these fresh-water
species that the observations have been
made, relative to the re-production of
limbs or claws violently broken off. But
a short time elapses before a growth or
vegetation occurs at the stump or broken
part, and a new limb, similar to the origi-
nal, though sometimes rather smaller, is
soon formed. This facility of re-produc-
tion is found to extend throughout the
crustaceous class. Fresh-water crawfish
are regarded by many as furnishing a del-
icate dish for the table, though their small
size, and the trouble of collecting a suffi-
cient number of them, are great obstacles
to their being extensively employed in this
way. They are preyed upon by various
animals, especially by certain birds, whose
long bills are adapted to picking them out
from the bottom of their dens.
CRAYER, Gaspar, a Dutch painter, born
in 1582, at Antwerp, was a pupil of Raph-
ael Coxie, and became, by the study of
nature, one of the greatest historical and
portrait painters. At the Spanish court in
Brussels, he painted the portrait of the
cardinal Ferdinand, brother of the king,
and received a pension. He established
himself in Ghent, where he constantly
executed works for the court. He labored
with industry and perseverance till his
86th year. When Rubens saw his finest
painting in the refectory of the abbey of
Affleghem, he cried out, "Crayer, Crayer,
The
nobody will ever surpass thee!"
city of Ghent alone had 21 altar-pieces by
him. In Flanders and Brabant are many
of his works, and some of his pictures are
in the public collections at Vienna and
Münich. His paintings are praised for
fidelity to nature, excellent drawing, and a
coloring approaching the manner of Van-
dyke. The latter was his friend, and took
his likeness. Crayer died in 1669.
CRAYONS; a general name for all color-
ed stones, earths, or other minerals and
substances used in designing or painting
in pastel, whether they have been beaten,
and reduced to a paste, or are used in their
primitive consistence, after being sawn or
cut into long, narrow slips. The sticks of
dry colors which go under this name, and
which are cemented into a friable mass, by
means of gum or size, and sometimes of
clay, afford a very simple means of apply-
ing colors, being merely rubbed upon pa-
per, after which the shades are blended or
softened by means of a stump or small
roll of leather or paper. The drawings
require to be protected by a glass covering,
to save them from being defaced, unless
some means have been adopted to fix
them, so that they may not be liable to be
rubbed off. This may be done by brush-
ing the back of the paper with a strong
solution of isinglass, or by passing the
drawing through a powerful press, in con-
tact with a moist paper.
CREAM OF TARTAR (potassa supertar
tras; cremor tartari). This salt exists in
grapes and in tamarinds. The dregs of
wine also contain a considerable quantity
of it. Cream of tartar contains a very
considerable proportion of super-tartrate
of potassa, about seven or eight hundredths
of tartrate of lime, and a small quantity of
silica, albumen, iron, &c. It is insoluble
in alcohol, but may be dissolved in 15
parts of boiling and 60 of cold water. It
may be rendered much more soluble by
mixing with it a certain quantity of bo-
racic acid or borate of soda, which ren-
ders the cream of tartar soluble in its own
weight of cold water, and in the half only
of this menstruum when boiling. This
preparation is known by the name of solu-
ble cream of tartar. Its aqueous solution is
soon decomposed by the contact of the
air. It is obtained by dissolving in boil-
ing water the common tartar-a white or
reddish crystalline matter, which forms on
the internal sides of the vessels in which
wine has been kept-mixing with it some
clay, which precipitates the coloring mat-
ter, and then permitting the liquor to
crystallize. The action of this substance
CREAM OF TARTAR-CREBILLON.
varies according to the dose in which it is
administered. In small doses, it is ab-
sorbed, and acts as a temperant; and, in
this quality, it is employed in jaundice,
foulness of the stomach and intestines, &c.
In larger doses, it principally spends its
action on the mucous intestinal membrane,
and induces alvine evacuations, especially
when given in powder. Its taste being
rather less unpleasant than that of some
other neutral salts used in medicine, and
its operation being of a very gentle nature,
it is very frequently administered. In
France, the soluble cream of tartar is gen-
erally preferred.
CREBILLON, Prosper Jolyot de, the
elder, a writer of tragedy, who is com-
pared, by his countrymen, even to Eschy-
lus, born at Dijon, Feb. 15, 1674, early
manifested talent at the school of the Jesu-
its in his native town, but, at the same
time, a boisterous and heedless temper.
Being designed for the profession of law,
he was placed with an attorney named
Prieur at Paris; but they were both lov-
ers of the theatre, so that the youth made
little progress in his studies. The attor-
ney perceived, too, that his pupil was dis-
qualified for the profession by his passion-
ate temperament, but showed penetration
and judgment in his criticisms on dra-
matic performances: he therefore advised
him, though he had, as yet, written noth-
ing but some trifling songs and scraps of
verse, to apply himself to dramatic com-
position. Crébillon did so; but his first
piece, La Mort des Enfans de Brutus, was
rejected by the players. He burnt the
manuscript, and resolved to have no more
to do with the drama; but, subsequently,
at the persuasion of Prieur, he wrote Idomé-
née, which, in 1705, was brought upon the
stage. The faults of the play were over-
looked in consideration of the youth of
the author, and the promising talent
which it displayed; and the promptness
with which the author in five days wrote
anew the last act, which had displeased at
the first representation, drew the attention
of the public to the young poet, whose
talents, after the appearance of his Atrée,
in 1707, were loudly applauded. Prieur,
though sick, requested to be carried to the
theatre, and said to the young tragedian,
"I die content; I have made you a poet,
and leave in you a man who belongs to
the nation." A strange taste for unnatural
declamation had been excited by the Rho-
dogune, and this manner was carried to
excess by Crébillon, in the Atrée. In 1709
appeared his Electre, which is as declam-
atory and as intricate as his earlier plays;
7

yet it suited the taste of the age. His
chef d'œuvre, at least according to La
Harpe, is his Rhadamiste (1711). But Boi-
leau, on his death-bed, hearing the first
scenes of this tragedy read to him by Le-
verrier, could not help exclaiming to his
friends, "Heavens! do you wish to hasten
my death? Why, the Boyers and Pradons
were suns to this author! I shall be more
willing to leave the world, since our age
is becoming inundated with silly trash."
Most persons of the present day would
probably agree with Boileau. In eight
days, the Rhadamiste passed through two
editions, and Paris and Versailles vied
with each other in admiring it. Crébillon
had been told that his talent lay in the
terrible, and thought, therefore, that he
could not exert himself too much in scenes
of horror, and hence was called the terri-
ble. Xerxes (1714) exceeded, in this re-
spect, all that he had before written, but
soon disappeared from the stage. Semir-
amis (1717), the mother enamoured of her
son, and not cured of her passion by the
discovery of his relationship, was severely
censured. It was not till nine years after
this that his Pyrrhus appeared (1726), and
met with a good reception, contrary to the
expectation of the author, who, in this
work, had abstained from the frightful
and shocking. Domestic distress and
poverty seem, from this time, to have
crippled the powers of his genius. His
small patrimony was absorbed by debts
and law expenses. A father and a beloved
wife were taken from him within a short
time. Amidst the embarrassments in
which he was involved, he refused, with
characteristic inflexibility, all the offers of
assistance which were made him. When
madame de Pompadour wished to humble
Voltaire, Crébillon was thought of as a fit
instrument for her purpose. The king
gave him the office of censor of the police,
a yearly pension of 1000 francs, and an
appointment in the library. Thus freed
from anxiety, he finished his Catiline,
which was represented, at the king's ex-
pense, in 1749, with all the pomp that the
court theatre could display. This piece,
overrated by the party opposed to Vol-
taire, is undervalued by La Harpe. To
make some atonement to the character of
Cicero, which was thought to have been
wronged in his Catiline, he wrote, at 76,
the Triumvirate, or the Death of Cicero,
which was brought upon the stage in his
81st year. The defects of the piece were
overlooked, from respect to the age of the
author.
Tc
Thus much for his dramatic
compositions. In general, Crébillon snows
8
CREBILLON-CREDIT.

none of the true elevation of the tragic
art, but only an imitation, sometimes a
happy one, of the manner struck out by
Corneille. He was a man of a proud and
independent character, disdained to flatter
the great, and passed much of his life in a
condition bordering on poverty. More
fortunate circumstances might have given
more amenity to his spirit; but, neglected,
as he imagined, by mankind, he sought
consolation in the company of dogs and
cats, which he picked up in the streets
(the poorest and most sickly were those
which he preferred), and found a species
of enjoyment in an irregular manner of
living. In 1731, he became a member of
the academy. Crébillon died June 17,
1762, at the age of 88. Louis XV erected
a magnificent monument to him in the
church of St. Gervais, which, however,
was never entirely completed till it was
removed to the museum of French monu-
ments (aux petits Augustins). Besides the
splendid edition of Crébillon's works pub-
lished by the order of Louis XV, for the
benefit of the author, after the successful
performance of Catiline (Euvres de Cré-
billon, imprimerie R. du Louvre, 1750, 2
vols. 4to.), there is another published by
Didot the elder, 1812, 3 vols., in both of
which, however, six verses are omitted in
Catiline, which had been left out in the
representation, as applicable to madame
de Pompadour.
CRÉBILLON, Claude Prosper Jolyot de,
the younger, son of the preceding, born
at Paris in 1707, succeeded as an author
in an age of licentiousness. By the exhi-
bition of gross ideas, covered only with a
thin veil, and by the subtleties with which
he excuses licentious principles, Crébillon
contributed to diffuse a general corruption
of manners, before confined to the higher
circles of Parisian society. In later times,
the French taste has been so much chang-
ed, especially by the revolution, that such
indelicacies as are found in his works
would not be tolerated at the present day.
His own morals, however, appear to have
been the opposite of those which he por-
trayed. We are told of his cheerfulness,
his rectitude of principle, and his blame-
less life. In the circle of the Dominicaux
(a Sunday society), he was a favorite, and
the caveau where Piron, Gallet, Collé,
wrote their songs and uttered their jests,
was made respectable by his company.
Of his works, the best are-Lettres de la
Marquise***au Comte de*** (1732, 2
vols., 12mo.); Tanzai et Néadarné (less
licentious, but full of now unintelligible
llusions); Les Égaremens du Cœur et de
l'Esprit (Hague, 1736, 3 vols.), perhaps the
most successful, but unfinished. One of
his most voluptuous pieces is Le Sopha
(1745, 2 vols.). In the same licentious
strain are most of his other writings com-
posed. It is still a disputed point whether
he was the author of the Lettres de la Mar-
quise de Pompadour. They are not in-
cluded in the edition of 1779, 7 vols.,
12mo. Crébillon held a small office in
the censorship of the press. He died at
Paris, April 12, 1777.
CRECY OF CRESSY EN PONTHIEU; a
town in France, in Somme; 10 miles N.
of Abbeville, and 100 N. of Paris; popu-
lation, 1650. It is celebrated on account
of a battle fought here Aug. 26, 1346, be-
tween the English and French. Edward
III and his son, the Black Prince, were
both engaged, and the French were de-
feated with great slaughter, 30,000 foot
and 1200 horse being left dead in the
field; among whom were the king of Bo-
hemia, the count of Alençon, Louis count
of Flanders, with many others of the
French nobility.
CREDIT, in economy, is the postpone-
ment agreed on by the parties of the pay-
ment of a debt to a future day. It im-
plies confidence of the creditor in the
debtor; and a "credit system" is one of gen-
eral confidence of people in each other's
honesty, solvency and resources. Credit
is not confined to civilized countries; Mr.
Park mentions instances of it among the
Africans; but it will not prevail exten-
sively where the laws do not protect prop-
erty, and enforce the fulfilment of prom-
ises. Public credit is founded upon a
confidence in the resources, good faith
and stability of the government; and it
does not always flourish or decline at the
same time and rate as private credit; for
the people may have either greater or less
confidence in the government than in
each other: still there is some sympathy
and correspondence between the two; for
a general individual confidence can rarely,
if ever, take place in the midst of distrust
of the government; and, vice versa, a firm
reliance upon the government promotes
a corresponding individual confidence
among the citizens. The history of every
industrious and commercial community,
under a stable government, will present
successive alternate periods of credit and
distrust, following each other with a good
deal of regularity. A general feeling of
prosperity produces extension and facili-
ties of credit. The mere opinion or im-
agination of a prevailing success has, of
its own force, a most powerful influence
CREDIT-CREED.
in exciting the enterprise, and quickening
he industry, of a community. The first
equisite to industry is a stock of instru-
ments, and of materials on which to em-
ploy them: a very busy and productive
Community requires a great stock of both.
Now if this stock, being ever so great,
were hoarded up; if the possessors would
neither use, let, nor sell it, as long as
it should be so withdrawn from circu-
lation, it would have no effect upon the
general activity and productiveness. This
is partially the case when a general dis-
trust and impression of decay and decline
cause the possessors of the stock and ma-
terials to be scrupulous about putting them
out of their hands, by sale or otherwise,
to be used by others; and others, again,
having no confidence in the markets, and
seeing no prospect of profits, hesitate to
purchase materials, or to buy or hire the
implements, mills, ships, &c., of others, or
to use their own in the processes of pro-
duction and transportation. This state of
surplusage and distrust is sure to be fol-
lowed by a reduction of money prices;
and every one who has a stock on hand,
and whose possessions are estimated in
money, is considered to be growing poorer
and poorer every day. But when prices
have reached their lowest point, and begin
regularly to rise, every body begins to
esteem himself and others as being pros-
perous, and the opinion contributes pow-
erfully to verify itself. Credit begins to
expand; all the stores of the commu-
nity are unlocked, and the whole of its
resources is thrown open to enterprise.
Every one is able readily to command a
sufficiency of means for the employment
of his industry; capital is easily procured,
and services are readily rendered, each
one relying upon the success of the others,
and their readiness to meet their engage-
ments; and the acceleration of industry,
and the extension of credit, go on until a
surplus and stagnation are again produced.
The affairs of every industrious and ac-
tive community are always revolving in
this circle, in traversing which, general
credit passes through its periodical ebbs
and flows. This facility and extension of
credit constitutes what is commonly called
fictitious capital. The fiction consists in
many individuals being supposed to be
possessed of a greater amount of clear
capital than they are actually worth. The
most striking instance of this fictitious-
ness of capital, or, in other words, excess
of credit, appears in the immense amounts
of negotiable paper, that some individuals
and companies spread in the community,
9

or of paper currency, where the issuing
of notes for supplying currency by com-
panies or individuals is permitted. Indi-
viduals or companies thus draw into their
hands an immense capital, and it is by no
means a fictitious capital when it comes
into their possession, but actual money,
goods, lands, &c.; but, if they are in a
bad, losing business, the capital, as soon
as they are intrusted with it, becomes fic-
titious in respect to those who trusted
them with it, since they will not again
realize it. Extensive credits, both in sales
and the issuing of paper, in new and
growing communities, which have a small
stock and great industry, grow out of their
necessities, and thus become habitual and
customary, of which the U. States hith-
erto have given a striking example.
CREECH, Thomas, a scholar of some
eminence for his classical translations, was
born in 1659. He took the degree of
M. A. at Oxford in 1683, having the pre-
ceding year established his reputation as a
scholar, by printing his translation of Lu-
cretius. He also translated several other
of the ancient poets, wholly or in part,
comprising selections from Homer and
Virgil, nearly the whole of Horace, the
thirteenth Satire of Juvenal, the Idyls
of Theocritus, and several of Plutarch's
Lives. He likewise published an edition
of Lucretius in the original, with interpre-
tations and annotations. He put an end
to his life at Oxford, in 1700. Various
causes are assigned for this rash act, but
they are purely conjectural. He owes his
fame almost exclusively to his translation
of Lucretius, the poetical merit of which
is very small, although, in the versification
of the argumentative and mechanical parts,
some skill is exhibited. As an editor of
Lucretius, he is chiefly valuable for his
explanation of the Epicurean philosophy,
for which, however, he was largely in-
debted to Gassendi.
CREED; a summary of belief; from the
Latin credo (I believe), with which the
Apostles' Creed begins. In the Eastern
church, a summary of this sort was called
pána (the lesson), because it was learn-
ed by the catechumens; yoápn (the writ-
ing), or Kávov (the rule). But the most com-
mon name in the Greek church was
cußolov (the symbol, q. v.), which has also
passed into the Western church. Numer-
ous ancient formularies of faith are pre-
served in the writings of the early fathers,
Irenæus, Origen, Tertullian, &c., which
agree in substance, though with some di-
versity of expression. The history of
creeds would be the history of the church,
10
CREED.

and of its melancholy aberrations from
the simple doctrines of Jesus. Into this
interesting, but humiliating history we
cannot now enter, but must confine our-
selves to a rapid view of a few of its
most prominent features. Of the earlier
creeds, there are three which require par-
ticular attention. I. The Apostles' Creed is
so called from its having been formerly con-
sidered as the work of the apostles them-
selves. This notion is now acknowledged
to be without foundation. When and by
whom it was drawn up, is not known. It
can only be traced to the 4th century. It
contains a profession of belief in the
Holy Ghost, in the divinity of Jesus, his
descent into hell, and his ascension into
heaven, in the resurrection of the body,
in life everlasting, &c. II. The Nicene
Creed, so called because it was adopted at
the council of Nice, A. D. 325, held to
oppose the Arian heresy. It therefore
contains an explanation of the article of
the Apostles' Creed-"I believe in Jesus
Christ, the only Son," &c., which is as
follows: "The only Son of God, begotten
by the Father, that is to say, of the sub-
stance of the Father, God of God, light
of light, very God of very God, begotten
and not made, consubstantial with the
Father, through whom every thing has
been made in heaven and on earth."
Macedonius, bishop of Constantinople,
having denied the divinity of the Holy
Ghost, it became necessary to settle this
point, which was done by the council of
Constantinople, A. D. 381, who added the
words which follow "I believe in the
Holy Ghost;" viz. "the Lord and Giver
of life, who proceedeth from the Father
and the Son' was afterward inserted by
the Spanish bishops), who, with the Fa-
ther and the Son together, is worshipped
and glorified, who spake by the prophets."
The insertion of the words " and the Son"
was finally sanctioned by the Roman
church in 883, but has never been receiv-
ed by the Greek church. III. The Atha-
nasian Creed is now acknowledged not to
have been the work of Athanasius (q. v.),
whose name it bears. It was probably
written in Latin, in the sixth century. In
the 10th century, it was generally received
in the Western church, and, at the refor-
mation, was adopted by the Protestants. It
consists of an introduction and two posi-
tions, with their proofs, deductions and con-
clusions. The introduction declares, that
"whosoever will be saved must hold the
Catholic faith." The first position then
states, "The Catholic faith is this that we
worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in
Unity, neither confounding the persons,
nor dividing the substance." For (to give
briefly the remainder of this position) there
are three persons, but one Godhead. The
Father, Son and Holy Ghost are uncreate,
incomprehensible, eternal, almighty, God,
Lord; yet there are not three Lords, Gods,
almighty, eternal, incomprehensible, un-
created, but one. The Father is neither
made, created nor begotten: the Son is
of the Father alone, not made, nor creat-
ed, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of
the Father and the Son, neither made, nor
created, nor begotten, but proceeding;
and in this Trinity none is afore or after
another; none is greater or less than an-
other. He, therefore, that will be saved
must thus think of the Trinity. The sec-
ond position establishes the doctrine of
Christ's incarnation. It is necessary to
everlasting salvation, that we believe
rightly in the incarnation of our Lord
Jesus Christ. The right faith is, that he
is the Son of God, God and man; perfect
God and perfect man; yet not two, but
one Christ; one, not by conversion of the
Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the
manhood into God; one altogether, not
by confusion of substance, but by unity
of person. This is the Catholic faith,
which except a man believe faithfully, he
cannot be saved.
Besides these creeds, there are numer
ous Confessions of Faith, which have been
adopted by different churches, as stand
ards to which the ministers in the respec-
tive communions are required to conform.
I. The Greek church (q. v.) presented the
Confession of the true and sincere Faith
to Mohammed II, in 1453; but in 1643,
the Orthodox Confession of the Catholic
and Apostolic Greek Church, composed by
Mogila, metropolitan of Kiow, was ap-
proved with great solemnity by the pa-
triarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria,
Antioch and Jerusalem, and for a long
time was the standard of the principles of
the Russian Greek church: it has been
superseded by the Summary of Christian
Divinity, composed in 1765, by the metro-
politan of Moscow (translated into Eng
lish, Edinburgh, 1814). II. The church of
Rome has always received the Apostles',
the Nicene and the Athanasian Creeds.
but a public authoritative symbol was first
fixed by the council of Trent. A sum-
mary of the doctrines contained in the
canons of that council is given in the
creed published by Pius IV (1564), in the
form of a bull. It is introduced by the
Nicene Creed, to which it adds twelve
articles, containing those doctrines which
CREED-CREMNITZ.
the church of Rome finally adopted after
her controversies with reformers. III. The
Lutherans call their standard books of
faith and discipline Libri Symbolici Eccle-
sie Evangelica. They contain the three
creeds above mentioned, the Augsburg
Confession (q. v.), the Apology for that
confession by Melancthon, the Articles
of Smalcalden, drawn up by Luther, the
Catechisms of Luther, and, in many
churches, the Form of Concord or Book of
Torgau. The best edition is by Tittmann
(Leipsic, 1817). The Saxon (composed
by Melancthon), Würtemberg, Suabian,
Pomeranian, Mansfeldtian and Copenha-
gen Confessions agree in general with
the symbolical books of the Lutherans,
but are of authority only in the countries,
from which they are respectively called.
IV. The confessions of the Calvinistic
churches are numerous. The following
are the principal: 1. The Helvetic Confes-
sions are three-that of Basle (1530); the
Summary and Confession of Faith of the
Helvetic churches (Basle, 1536); and the
Expositio simplex, &c. (1566), attributed
to Bullinger. 2. The Tetrapolitan Con-
fession (Strasburg, 1531), which derives
its name from the four cities of Strasburg,
Constance, Memmingen and Lindau, by
the deputies of which it was signed, is
attributed to Bucer. It differs from the
symbolical books of the Lutherans in the
doctrine of the sacraments, and especially
in its exposition of the eucharist. 3. The
Palatine or Heidelberg Confession was
framed at Heidelberg by order of the
elector palatine, John Casimir (1575).
4. The Confession of the Gallic Churches
was accepted at the first synod held by
the reformed at Paris, in 1559. In the fol-
lowing year, it was presented to Francis II,
and, in 1561, it was presented by Beza to
Charles IX. 5. The Confession of the Re-
formed Churches in Belgium was drawn
up in 1559, and approved in 1561. 6. The
Confession of Faith of the Kirk of Scot-
land. The ecclesiastical discipline and
doctrine of the church of Geneva were
adopted in Scotland from the beginning
of the reformation there. In 1581, the
Scotch nation subscribed a General Con-
fession, together with a Solemn League
and Covenant to defend the Protestant re-
ligion and Presbyterian government. The
Scotch covenanters afterwards adopted
the Westminster Confession, in the com-
pilation of which some delegates from
their general assembly had assisted. In
1688, that confession was received as the
standard of the national faith, which all
ministers, and the officers of the Scotch uni-
11

versities, are required to subscribe. With
this are generally connected the catechisms
of their assembly. 7. Confession of Faith
of the Anglican Church. In the beginning
of the reign of queen Elizabeth, she gave
her assent to thirty-nine articles agreed up-
on in the convocation held at London in
1552. They were drawn up in Latin; but
in 1571, they were revised and subscribed
both in Latin and English. They were
adopted by the Episcopal church in the
U. States in 1801, with some alterations,
and the rejection of the Athanasian Creed.
The first five contain the doctrines of
the Anglican church concerning the
Father, Son and Holy Ghost; in the sixth,
seventh and eighth, the rule of faith is
established; the next 10 relate to Chris-
tians as individuals, and the remaining 21
relate to them as members of a religious
society. (See Corpus et Syntagma Con-
fessionum Fidei, Geneva, 1612 and 1654;
Sylloge Confessionum, Oxford, 1804; But-
ler's Account of Confessions of Faith.)
CREEKS, OF MUSCOGEES; Indians in the
western part of Georgia and the eastern
part of Alabama, in the country watered
by the Chatahoochee, Tallapoosa and Coo-
sa. The number of warriors is about 6000,
and of souls about 20,000. They suffered
severely in 1813 and 1814, in the war with
the U.States. (See Seminoles). They are ac-
counted the most warlike tribe found east
of the Mississippi. Some of their towns
contain from 150 to 200 houses. They
have made considerable progress in agri-
culture, and raise horses, cattle, fowls and
hogs, and cultivate tobacco, rice and corn.
CREES, or KNISTENAUX; Indians in
North America, residing about lon. 105°
12 W.; lat. 55° N. They are of moder-
ate stature, well proportioned, active, have
keen black eyes and open countenances.
CREFELD; a city in the Prussian prov-
ince of Cleves-Berg, with 1543 houses and
16,000 inhabitants, of whom 700 are Men-
nonites; above 12,000 are manufactur-
ers. The city is built in the Dutch taste.
The chief manufactories are of velvet cloth
and ribands. The former is made prin-
cipally in the city, the latter in the envi-
rons. Silk goods of various kinds, flannels,
woollen stockings, cotton and linen goods
&c., are also made here. Crefeld likewise
contains tanneries, sugar refineries, dis-
tilleries, manufactories of soap. Of late,
it has exported much to America.
CREMNITZ, or KREMNITZ; a free royal
city in Hungary, in Barsch, situated on
the side of a hill; 100 miles E. Vienna:
lon. 19° 13' E.; lat. 48° 45' N.; population,
9700; houses, 1200. It is situated amidst
12
CREMNITZ-CREOLE.

lofty mountains, and contains one Luther-
an, one Calvinist, and one Catholic church,
and a Lutheran gymnasium. It is cele-
brated for its mines of gold and silver, and
is the oldest mining town in Hungary.
The situation is elevated, and the air is very
cold. The town itself is very small, not
containing 50 houses, but the faubourgs
are of great extent. The ducats which
bear the name of Cremnitz have enjoyed,
for a long time, the reputation of very fine
They are to be known by the two
letters K. B. (Kermecz Banya, Cremnitz
mines), between which is the image of
the sovereign. Much gold and silver from
these mines is coined in Vienna.
CREMONA; a city of the Lombardo-
Venetian kingdom, capital of the province
and district, in a beautiful situation. It is
about five miles in circumference, and
has spacious and regular streets, with sev-
eral squares, but the houses are in general
ill built. Here are 44 churches and chap-
els, 43 convents, and an obscure universi-
ty. It is the see of a bishop. The cathe-
dral is a massy structure, with a façade of
beautiful white and red marble, ornament-
ed, in the interior, with various paintings
and pictures in fresco. The tower of
Cremona, built by Frederic Barbarossa, in
the 12th century, is a very curious edifice,
consisting of two octagonal obelisks, sur-
mounted by a cross, and, in all, 372 feet
in height. The silk manufactures of this
place are considerable, and it has long
been noted for its superior violins. This
city is of great antiquity, having been
created a Roman colony B. C. 291. The
Venetians possessed it a long time; and,
under Napoleon, it was, until 1814, capi-
tal of the department of Alto Po. Popu-
lation, 23,000; 38 miles S. E. Milan; lon.
10° 2 12" E.; lat. 45° 7' 43" N.
CREOLE (from the Spanish Criollo) is
the name which was originally given to
all the descendants of Spaniards born
in America and the West Indies. It
is also used for the descendants of other
Europeans, as French, Danes, in which
case we say, French-Creole, Danish-Cre-
ole. Since the native Spaniards have
been expelled from the former Spanish
American colonies, the term Creole is
comparatively little used, in speaking
of those parts of America, it being sel-
dom necessary as a term of distinction;
but, in speaking of the French, Danish
and Spanish possessions in the West In-
dies, the word occurs more frequently.
In the U. States, it is often used for the
descendants of the French and Spaniards
in Louisiana (many of the latter having
settled there from Spanish America), in
contradistinction to Americans, meaning,
by the latter term, people born in the other
states, or their descendants. In 1776,
Charles III, king of Spain, declared the
Creoles capable of civil, military, and ec-
clesiastical offices, from which, till then,
they had been excluded. Native Span-
iards, however, still continued to have the
preference, and the Creoles were treated
with the arrogance which too often dis-
tinguishes the conduct of the natives of a
parent country towards colonists; and the
consequence was great exacerbation of
feeling on the part of the Creoles. In the
West Indies, the Creoles have always en-
joyed equal rights with native Europeans.
Before the declaration of independence
by the colonies of Spanish America, there
existed marked lines of distinction between
the different classes, founded on difference
of birth. The Chapetones were Europeans
by birth, and first in rank and power;
the Creoles were the second; the Mulattoes
and Mestizoes (descendants of white and
black, or white and Indian parents) form-
ed the third class; Negroes and Indians,
the fourth. At present, they are all en-
titled to equal privileges by the constitu-
tions. Some of Bolivar's generals are
dark Mulattoes, and Paez is a Llanero.
The Llaneros are converted Indians. The
native Spaniards formerly avoided asso-
ciating with the Creoles, and formed the
first class. In Venezuela, there existed a
kind of Creole nobility, unknown in other
parts of South America. They were call-
ed Mantuanos, and divided themselves
into those of Sangre Azul (blue blood), de-
scendants of the first Spanish conquerors,
and those of Sangre Mezclada (mixed
blood), Creole families of a later origin,
who had intermarried with Spaniards or
Frenchmen. The Creoles, in general, be-
fore the revolution, were very lazy, leav-
ing the mechanical arts and husbandry
altogether to the Mulattoes, Negroes or
Indians; and, even now, the mechanics
are mostly colored or black persons. The
ladies are of a sallow complexion, have
beautiful teeth, large, dark eyes, and are,
like the men, very finely formed.-Creole
dialects are those jargons which have
originated from the mixture of different
languages in the West Indies. They are
spoken by the slaves, who have destroyed
the fine grammatical construction of the
European languages, and have intermixed
with them some original African words.
According to the European language
which prevails in a Creole dialect, it is
called French-Creole, Danish-Creole, &c.
CREOLE-CRESCENT.
In St. Thomas, for instance, the latter is
spoken; in Hayti, French-Creole. Among
the numerous corruptions of European
words and constructions, we find, very
generally, in the Creole dialects, the cor-
ruptions of grammar common among
children; for instance, me is used instead
of I. Often no distinction is made be-
tween the possessive pronoun and the
personal; e. g., me house for my house, or
wi massra for our master. The infinitive
is used for the finite tenses, as moi donner
for je donne. It is well known that Ho-
mer has several deviations from grammar
which are now peculiar to children; and
the Creole dialects have several peculiari-
ties in common with those used by Ho-
iner. The mixture of words from differ-
ent languages is often considerable in these
dialects; but most of them can be under-
stood, without a great deal of difficulty,
by a man acquainted with English, Da-
nish, French and Spanish. We will give
an example of the Papimento language-
a Creole dialect spoken in St. Thomas-
from a work extracted from the four Gos-
pels, entitled Da Tori va wi Massra en
Helpiman Jesus Christus, so leki wi findi
datti na inni dem fo Evangeliste: Mat-
theus, Marcus, Lucas en Johannes, 1816
(The Story of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, as we find it in the four Evange-
lists, &c.) A part of the first chapter of
the Gospel of St. John, from the 4th to
the 8th verse, is given in this work, as fol-
lows:-Libi ben de na inni va hem, Kuba
da libi ben de Kandera va somma. Kaba
da Kandera de krini na dungru, ma dungru
no ben teki da Kandera. Gado ben senni
wan somma, dem kali Johannes, dissi ben
Komm va takki vo da Kandera, va dem
somma Komm bribi na da Kandera. Hem
srefi no da Kandera, ma a ben Komm va
takki na somma vo da Kandera. This
specimen will give an idea of the strange
mixture of words, and of the clumsy peri-
phrases used to express ideas, e. g., libi
ben de na inni va hem; of the poverty, e. g.,
ben for been, has been, has, was, and had, &c.
There are, however, in all languages,
heavy periphrases, our familiarity with
which prevents us from being sensible of
them; e. g., je venais de chez moi, or he is
about to set out on a journey; which, if we
had one word for undertaking a journey,
and a tense for expressing the intention,
might be expressed in one word. That a
careful investigation of the Creole dialects
would lead to several interesting discover-
les respecting the origin of some gram-
matical formations and modes of expres-
sion, is hardly to be doubted. When the
2
VOL. IV.
13

allied armies invaded France, and the
Russian and German soldier were often
under the necessity of comaraunicating
with each other, and with the French, a
kind of jargon came into use among them,
in which the writer observed that mi-the
Low German for me, and pretty nearly
resembling the French moi-was used by
all parties to express the first person sin-
gular. The infinitive was also used in-
stead of the finite modes, expressing only
the gross idea of action without modifica-
tion. Flesh, from the German Fleisch
(meat), dobri, from the Russian, for good,
were also employed by all parties, as was
also the word caput, to signify broken down,
spoiled, &c. This last word is still in use
among the lower classes of North Germa-
ny. Mi flesh caput meant, in this military
dialect, my meat is spoiled. Several of the
modern European languages must have
originated in this way, after the irruption
of the northern tribes into the Roman
empire.
CRESCENDO, OF CRES. (Ital.) By the
term crescendo, the Italians signify that the
notes of the passage over which it is
placed are to be gradually swelled. This
operation is not of modern invention.
The ancient Romans, as we learn from a
passage in Cicero, were aware of its beau-
ty, and practised it continually.-Crescendo
is also the name of a musical instrument,
invented in 1778, by the counsellor Bauer,
in Berlin, which is played like a piano, and,
like this, is furnished with wire strings.
CRESCENT (crescens, Lat.); an emblem,
representing the moon in her state of
increase. This emblem of the Ottomans
is of very high antiquity. The Egyptians
had their Isis, the Greeks their Diana, and
it is easy to conceive that the crescent,
which announced the returning light of
the moon, soon became an object of wor-
ship with such people. Thus Isis, Diana,
and the bull Apis, are decorated with this
emblem; which is also found on medals
of Alexander, and other ancient monu-
ments of art. The citizens of Athens of
illustrious birth wore crescents of ivory
and silver upon their buskins; and the
same mark of distinction was granted to
the patricians and senators of Rome.
They were called lunulati calcei. The cres-
cent was often used by females as an orna-
ment for the head; an example of which
may be seen on a bust of Marciana, in the
Villa Pamfili. On many medals of queens,
the bust is supported by a crescent, ex-
pressive of the relation they bore to their
husbands, who, as kings, were as the sun,
while they were as the moon. It is also
14
CRESCENT-CRESCIMBENI.

an emblem of the eternity of an empire.
The god Lunus bears it upon his shoul-
der; and the denarii of the Lucretian fam-
ily have it accompanied by the Seven Stars
of the northern hemisphere. It is also
found on medals of many cities, particu-
larly of Byzantium, from whence it is sup-
posed to have been borrowed by the Otto-
mans. Since their establishment in Eu-
rope, it has been the universal emblem of
their empire. It decorates their minarets,
their turbans, their ensigns, their insignia;
every thing appertaining to the Mussul
mans is characterized by this sign, and
their states are designated as the Empire of
the Crescent. During the crusades, par-
ticularly, the crescent was the distinguish-
ing symbol of the Mussulmans, as the cross
was of the Christians.
CRESCENZI, Pietro, or Petrus de, the
restorer of the scientific study of agricul-
ture in Europe, born at Bologna, in 1230,
was an attorney and magistrate, till he
was obliged, by civil troubles, to leave his
native country. He travelled through
Italy, and collected useful observations. It
was not till after 30 years of absence, when
order was at length restored to his native
city, that he was permitted to return; and,
at the age of 70, he was made senator.
He now carried into execution his princi-
ples of agriculture, on an estate near Bo-
logna, in the cultivation of which he pass-
ed the remainder of his life. See his
essay on agriculture (Ruralium Commo-
dorum, 12 books), which he composed at
the desire of Charles II. He submitted
his work to the examination of learned
men in Bologna, by whom it was correct-
ed and improved. It is a remarkable
monument of his time, of which it is far in
advance. Apostolo Zeno has proved that
these 12 books, in the arrangement of
which the author seems to have followed
Columella, were written originally in Lat-
in. There exists an Italian translation
(Il Libro della Agricultura di P. Crescen-
tio, Florence, 1487 et seq.), which is es-
teemed very highly, on account of the
purity of the language, and has given rise
to the opinion that Crescenzi wrote in his
native tongue. He understood the an-
cients, and made use of them. His prin-
ciples are simple, founded upon experi-
ence, and free from many prejudices,
which continued to prevail in Europe for
centuries after. His work was no sooner
published, than it spread throughout Eu-
rope. It was translated into several Eu-
ropean languages, particularly for Charles
V of France, in a splendid manuscript
(1373), which is still extant; and no soon-
er was the art of printing invented, than
copies of this work were greatly multipli-
ed. The oldest known edition, which is
now very rare, appeared at Augsburg, in
1471, in folio. The earliest Italian trans-
lation, the author of which is supposed to
be Lorenzo Benvenuti, of St. Geminiano,
and which is accounted among the mod-
els of language, is contained in the collec-
tion of the Classici Italiani (Milan, 1805).
A more exact, but a less esteemed trans-
lation, was made by Sansovino. We are
indebted for much information concerning
Crescenzi and his work to professor Filip-
po Re, at Bologna.
CRESCENZI, D. Juan Baptista, marquis
de la Torre, born at Rome towards the
end of the 16th century, studied the art
of painting under Pomerancias. Some
of his early compositions attracted the
attention of the pope, Paul V, who intrust-
ed him with the decoration of the Pauline
chapel. Cardinal Zapata took him to
Spain in 1617, where he obtained the
favor of Philip III. Some flower-pieces
occasioned his receiving the commission
to build the sepulchral monument in the
Escurial, the splendor and finished ele-
gance of which place it among the most
remarkable monuments of Europe. (See
Santo's History of the Escurial, with cop-
perplates.) The bronze figures were exe-
cuted by Roman artists. Philip IV made
him a grandee of Castile, with the title of
marquis de la Torre, and conferred upon
him other marks of distinction. His house,
which contained rich treasures in every
branch of art, was ever open to artists.
He died in 1660.
CRESCIMBENI, Giovanni Maria, a scholar
and poet, was born at Macerata, in the
Mark of Ancona, Oct. 9, 1663. When
but a child, he displayed an inclination for
poetry. Ariosto's verses, in particular,
were impressed on his memory by an edi-
tion of Orlando Furioso, with copper-
plates, in which he used to search for and
peruse the passages to which the engrav-
ings referred. In the Jesuits' college, at
Macerata, he wrote, at 13, a tragedy-Da-
rius. At 15, he was a member of an acad-
emy, and, at 16, doctor of laws. His
father sent him, in 1681, to Rome, to per-
fect himself in the knowledge of law; but
he applied himself, with still more zeal, to
poetry. Some canzoni of Filicaja, in 1687,
gave him correct views of the character
of the poetry then in vogue. Dissatisfied
with all that he had formerly attempted,
he felt himself at once constrained to imi-
tate only the ancient models, and to rec-
ommend their simple and natural manner
CRESCIMBENI-CREST.
to his contemporaries. Crescimbeni be-
longed to all the three academies in Rome,
which rivalled each other in wretched
verses. Out of these, he selected cer-
tain members, whose views harmonized
with his own, and formed a new acad-
emy, which was sportively called the
Arcadia, in allusion to the rural taste of
the founder. (See Arcadians.) He was
the first custode of this academy, under
the name of Alfesibeo Cario, and was re-
elected to the office for several succes-
sive Olympiads. Crescimbeni, delighted
with the success of his plan, was not the
least active among his fellow poets. In
1698 appeared his Istoria della volgar Poe-
sia-a work of vast industry, but destitute
of method and criticism. He next pub-
lished his Trattato della Bellezza della vol-
gar Poesia (Rome, 1700, 4to.), which
passed, in a short time, through three
editions, and, like the earlier work, was
first made capable of being understood
and enjoyed by the Commentary intorno
alla Storia della volgar Poesia (Rome,
1702, 5 volumes, 4to.). The favor of
Clement XI placed him in an easy situa-
tion. In the tranquillity of his canoni-
cate, disturbed only by the disputes of the
Arcadians, the number of his works rap-
idly increased. He made a translation of
Nostradamus's Lives of the Provençal
Poets, with additions, enlarged his own
Commentaries with four valuable vol-
umes, and wrote a History of the Arcadia,
and Lives of the Arcadian Poets. About
this time, also, appeared the two first vol-
umes of verses (Rime) of his Arcadia,
which were well received. Clement V
and Benedict XIII rewarded his labors
with ecclesiastical honors; and John V
of Portugal presented the Arcadia with
some funds. The society erected a thea-
tre, still existing, on the Janiculum, and
their first Olympic games were celebrated
Sept. 9, 1726, in honor of the king of
Portugal. The poems which Crescim-
beni read on that occasion were received
with lively approbation. Meanwhile his
constitution was yielding to a disorder of
the breast. After being admitted, at his
request, into the order of the Jesuits, in
whose garb he wished to die, he expired,
March 8, 1728. During his lifetime, he
had caused his monument to be erect-
ed in the church of Santa Maria Mag-
giore, with the inscription-I. M. C. P.
ARC. C. (Joannes Marius Crescimbenius,
Pastorum Arcadum Custos), and bearing
the Arcadian pipe. He was of a gentle
disposition, benevolent, affable and mod-
erate. Among his numerous works, oc-
15

casional compositions and eulogies, those
already mentioned are all that deserve a
high rank in the literature of his country.
A biography of him is prefixed to his
History of Arcadia (Rome, 1712, 12mo.),
by the canon Mancurti of Imola.
CRESPI, Giuseppe Maria, surnamed il
Spagnuolo, a painter of the Bolognese
school, born at Bologna, in 1665, studied
the masterpieces in the monastery of San
Michaele in Bosco, and particularly imi-
tated the Caracci, whose works he also
copied. He received instruction from
Canuti, then from Cignani, afterwards
studied in Venice and Parma, and finally
came out with his own productions in his
native city. His first work was the Com-
bat of Hercules with Antæus. From this
time he had continual employment. He
painted, for cardinal Ottoboni, the Seven
Sacraments, now in the Dresden gallery;
several pieces for prince Eugene of Savoy,
for the elector of the Palatinate, for the
grand-duke of Tuscany, and for cardinal
Lambertini, his patron, who afterwards,
when pope Benedict XIV, conferred on
him the honor of knighthood. Crespi,
however, has been frequently censured for
the singular ideas which he often intro-
duced into his paintings; e. g. he repre-
sents Chiron giving his pupil Achilles a
kick for some fault that he had committed.
Moreover he painted every thing a prima,
with strong, bold strokes, in the manner
of Caravaggio, and has become a man-
nerist from a desire to be constantly new.
He had many scholars, among whom were
his two sons, Antonio and Luigi Crespi.
The latter distinguished himself by his
writings on painting. Crespi died in 1747.
CRESSY. (See Crecy.)
CREST (from the Latin crista) is used
to signify the rising on the defensive
armor of the head, also the ornament
frequently affixed to the helmet, such
as a plume or tuft of feathers, a bunch
of horse-hair, &c. Warriors have al-
ways been in the habit of adorning their
persons; and the helmet, from its conspicu-
ousness, is very naturally chosen as the
place of one of the principal ornaments.
We learn from Homer (Il. iii, 336) that the
crests of the earlier Greeks were of horse-
hair; afterwards plumes, especially red
ones, were adopted. (VIRG. En. ix, 50,
271, 808.) To gain an enemy's crest was
accounted an honorable achievement, as
it was reckoned among the spolia. The
Greeks called the crest páλos and λópos;
but some are of opinion that these words
mean different things, dálos signifying the
raised part of the helmet (conus), and
16
CREST-CRETINISM.

Aogos, the real crest. The crests of com-
manders (appipadot), of course, were gen-
erally larger than those of common sol-
diers. The Æginetan statues (see Egi-
netan Style) have crests of horse-hair. In
the middle ages, when rank and honors
became hereditary, and particular heraldic
devices were appropriated to particular
families, the crest became a distinguishing
hereditary mark of honor. It denotes, in
heraldry, a figure placed upon a wreath,
coronet, or cap of maintenance, above both
helmet and shield; as, for instance, the
crest of a bishop is the mitre. The crest
is considered a greater criterion of nobility
than the armor generally. It is commonly
a piece of the arms, as that of Castile is
a castle. Crests, therefore, form an im-
portant subject in the unimportant science
of heraldry.
CRETE. (See Candia.)
CRETICUS. (See Rhythmus.)
CRETINISM makes a very close ap-
proach to rickets in its general symptoms.
It differs principally in its tendency to
that peculiar enlargement of the thyroid
giand, which, in France, is denominated
goitre, and in the mental imbecility which
accompanies it from the first. The en-
largement of the gland does not always,
however, accompany the other symptoms,
though it does generally. Cretinism was
first distinctly noticed and described by
Plater, about the middle of the 17th centu-
ry, as occurring among the peasants in Ca-
rinthia and the Valais. It was afterwards
found, in a still severer degree, in other
valleys of Switzerland, and the Alps gen-
erally. It has since been detected in vari-
ous other regions, where the country ex-
hibits similar features, as among a miser-
able race called Cagots, inhabiting the hol-
lows of the Pyrenees, whose district and
history have been described by Mr. Ray-
mond; and in Chinese Tartary, where it
is represented as existing by sir George
Staunton. On the first discovery of cre-
tinism, it was ascribed by some to the use
of snow-water, and by others to the use
of water impregnated with calcareous
earth, both which opinions are without
foundation. The first is sufficiently dis-
proved by the fact that persons born in
places contiguous to the glaciers, and who
drink no other water than what flows
from the melting of ice and snow, are
not subject to this disorder; and, on the
contrary, that the disorder is observed in
places where snow is unknown. The
second is contradicted by the fact, that the
common water of Switzerland, instead
of being impregnated with calcareous
matter, excels that of most other coun-
tries in Europe in purity and flavor. The
water usually drank at La Batia and
Martigny is from the river Dranse, which
flows from the glacier of St. Bernard, and
falls into the Rhone. It is remarkably
free from earthy matter, and well tasted.
At Berne, the water is extremely pure;
yet, as Haller remarks, swellings of the
throat are not uncommon in both sexes,
though cretinism is rare. As comfortable
and congenial warmth forms one of the
best auxiliaries in attempting the cure of
both cretinism and rickets, there can be
no doubt that the chill of snow-water
must considerably add to the general de-
bility of the system when laboring under
either of these diseases, though there
seems no reason for supposing that it
would give rise to either. It is not diffi-
cult to explain why water impregnated
with calcareous earth should have been
regarded as the cause; for in cretinism, as
in rickets, the calcareous earth, designed
by nature for the formation of the bones, is
often separated, and floats loose in various
fluids of the body, for want of a sufficien-
cy of phosphoric acid to convert it into a
phosphate of lime, and give it solidity.
And as it is, in consequence, pretty freely
discharged in the urine, this seems to have
given rise to the opinion that such calca-
reous earth was introduced into the sys-
tem with the common water of the lakes
or rivers, and thus produced the morbid
symptoms. M. de Saussure has assigned
the real cause of the disease. The val-
leys of the Alps, he tells us, are surround-
ed by very high mountains, sheltered
from currents of fresh air, and exposed
to the direct, and, what is worse, the re-
flected rays of the sun. They are marshy,
and hence the atmosphere is humid, close
and oppressive; and when to these causes
we add the meager, innutritious food of
the poor of these districts, their indolence
and uncleanliness, with a predisposition
to the disease, from a hereditary taint of
many generations, we can sufficiently ac-
count for the prevalence of cretinism in
such places, and for the humiliating char-
acter which it assumes. The general
symptoms of cretinism are the same as
those of rickets; but the disease shows
itself earlier, often at birth, and not unfre-
quently before this period, apparently com-
mencing with the procreation of the fœtus,
and affording the most evident proofs of
ancestral contamination. The child, if not
deformed and diseased at birth, soon be-
comes so; the body is stinted in its growth,
and the organs in their developement.
CREUSA-CREUZER.
CREUSA; the name of several celebrat-
ed females of antiquity. 1. Daughter of
Erectheus, who, before she was married
to Xuthus, gave birth to Ion, the fruit of
an amour with Apollo. To her second
husband she bore Achæus. 2. The daugh-
ter of Priam and Hecuba, wife to Ene-
as, and mother of Ascanius. In the tu-
mult of the conflagration of Troy, when
Æneas fled with the images of his gods,
with his father and son, he lost her, and,
after he had sought her a long time in vain,
her spirit appeared to him, saying that the
mother of the gods had taken her to her-
self, because she was not willing that she
should leave Phrygia.
CREUTZ, Gustavus Philip, count of; a
Swedish poet and statesman, was born
in Finland in 1726. He was a member
of the learned and elegant circle, which
surrounded the queen of Sweden, Louisa
Ulrica, sister of Frederic the Great; and
his Atis og Camilla, an erotic poem in
five cantos, published at Stockholm (1761),
grew out of the meetings of this society.
This poem and his Letter to Daphne are
considered as masterpieces in Swedish
poetry. He was appointed minister to
Madrid, and, at a later period, to Paris,
where he remained twenty years, and be-
came particularly acquainted with Mar-
montel and Gretry. April 3, 1783, he
signed, with doctor Franklin, a treaty of
amity between the United States and
Sweden. He was afterwards placed at
the head of the department of foreign af-
fairs in Stockholm, but he could not en-
dure the climate of his country, and died in
1785. His works and those of his friend
Gyllenborg are published together, under
the title Vitterhets Arbeten of Creutz og
Gyllenborg, Stockholm, 1795. At a chap-
ter of the Seraphim order, April 28,
1786, king Gustavus himself read the
eulogy of Creutz.
CREUZER, George Frederic (in his late
publications called simply Frederic), pro-
fessor at the university of Heidelberg,
a philologist and antiquarian, born at
Marburg, in Hesse, March 10, 1771, was
devoted, from his earliest youth, to the an-
cient classics. He studied at the univer-
sities of Marburg and Jena, and after-
wards lived in and near Giessen, occupied
with the study of the Greek historians, and
at the same time with teaching. About
this time, he published his first literary
production, Herodotus und Thucydides;
Versuch einer näheren Würdigung ihrer
Historischen Grundsätze (Essay toward
determining the Historical Principles of
Herodotus and Thucydides), Leipsic, 1798
17

and 1803, which was received with ap-
probation, as was also his subsequent pub
lication, De Xenophonte Historico (1799).
In 1802, he was made professor of elo-
quence in the university at Marburg, and,
in 1804, professor of philology and an-
cient history, at Heidelberg. His Diony-
sus sive Commentationes Academica de
Rerum Bacchicarum Originibus (Heidel-
berg, 1808) may be considered as the first
specimen of his views on the connexion
of the mythological traditions of the an-
cient world. According to Creuzer, there
existed, in the most ancient times of
Greece, a body of Grecian poetry berrow-
ed from the East. Homer, and more
particularly Hesiod, instead of being the
authors of the religion, or even of the
mythology, of their country, merely intro-
duce us to a previously existing world of
poetry, philosophy and theology. The
most ancient Greek poetry contained
the symbolical and even the Magian and
allegorical ideas; and though this poetry,
which was introduced from the East,
changed its forms at different times, it
was never substantially lost among the
Greeks. It was preserved in the hierar-
chical institutions and mysteries, and was
in later times an object for the investiga-
tion of historians and philosophers; but
the traces which remain are only suffi-
cient to enable us to determine and de-
scribe its most essential features. Accord-
ing to Creuzer, this ancient wisdom was
received first from the Pelasgi, who were,
if not altogether a ruling tribe of priests,
yet a tribe with ruling priests. But ex-
clusive hierarchical institutions could not
prosper upon the soil of Greece. The
Pelasgi were expelled by the Hellenes.
After the ancient races had become ex-
tinct, the Hellenic spirit departed more
and more from the spirit of the East.
Families of priests had united into castes,
and what remained of the old and relig-
ious poetry was confined to the mysteries.
In Homer and Hesiod there are evident
traces of a misunderstanding of the elder
notions and traditions; yet there are also
evidences that they were not ignorant of
the ancient theology. The first germ of
the more profound theological doctrines
can therefore be found only in a revela-
tion from above, to which we must refer
the religious belief of different nations.
and we must conclude that similar sym-
bols and allegories are founded upon sim-
ilar primitive views. Creuzer developed
these principles in his Symbolik und My-
thologie der alten Völker, besonders der
Griechen (Leipsic and Darmstadt, 1819-
2*
18
CREUZER-CRICHTON.

1821, 5 volumes, with an atlas). He has
met with much opposition. G. Hermann,
in his Briefe über Homer und Hesiod, vor-
züglich über die Theogonie (Heidelberg,
1818), and in a letter addressed to Creu-
zer, Über das Wesen und die Behandlung
der Mythologie (Leipsic, 1819), opposed
him with much perspicuity and force of
argument. I. H. Voss declared open war
against Creuzer, in the Litteraturzeitung
of Jena, and published his Antisymbolik
(Stuttgart, 1824), which was followed by
replies from Wolfg. Menzel and others.
The study of the theories of Creuzer,
which are elaborated in his Symbolik with
the most extensive learning, has been
facilitated by a perspicuous abstract, Aus-
zug der Symbolik und Mythologie (Leipsic
and Darmstadt, 1822, 1 volume). In 1809,
Creuzer accepted the professorship of
philology in Leyden; but, before entering
on the office, he felt the injurious influence
of the Dutch climate upon his health,
and returned in October of the same year
to Heidelberg. He has since published
an edition of Plotinus de Pulchritudine,
acced. Procli Disp. de Pulchritudine et Uni-
tate, Nicephori Nathanaelis Antitheticus
(Heidelberg, 1814). Guigniaut has partly
translated, partly recomposed, Creuzer's
Symbolik in his work Religions de l'An-
tiquité considérées principalement dans leur
Formes Symboliques et Mythologiques (Pa-
ris, 1824). The academy of inscriptions,
at Paris, chose Creuzer a foreign member
in 1825.
CREVENNA, Pietro Antonio (commonly
called Bolongaro Crevenna), a bibliogra-
pher, born in the middle of the 18th century,
at Milan, received from his father-in-law
Bolongaro (whose name he took) a large
fortune, and lived mostly in Holland.
Love for the sciences, in particular for
literary history, induced him to devote his
hours of leisure, from an extensive com-
mercial business, to literary pursuits, and
to collect a choice library. The learned
catalogues of his books, prepared by him-
elf and others, have given to the works
which belonged to him great value in
the eyes of amateurs, and the catalogues
themselves have bibliographical authority.
His Catalogue Raisonné de la Collection
des Livres de M. Crévenna (Amsterdam,
1776, 6 vols., 4to.) contains an exact de-
scription of the Incunabula, with colla-
tions of rare books, and letters of many
learned men of the 17th and 18th centu-
ries, printed there for the first time. To
understand the importance of the Creven-
nian library, it is necessary to compare
with this catalogue another, the Catalogue
des Livres de la Bibl. de M. Crévenna
(Amsterdam, 1789, 6 vols.). In 1790, he
sold the greatest part of his library by
public auction. What he retained may be
known by the Catalogue de la Bibl. de feu
M. Crévenna (Amsterdam, 1793). Towards
the end of his life, he left Holland, and
died in Rome, Oct. 8, 1792.
CRIBBAGE; a game at cards, wherein
no cards are to be thrown out, and the set
to make 61; and, as it is an advantage to
deal, by reason of the crib, it is proper to
lift for it, and he that has the least card
deals.
CRICHTON, James, was born in Scot-
land, in 1551, or, according to some ac-
counts, in 1560, of a noble family. On
account of his remarkable endowments,
both of body and mind, he obtained the
surname of the Admirable. He was edu.
cated at the university of St. Andrew,
and, before his 20th year, had run through
the whole circle of the sciences, could
speak and write to perfection 10 different
languages, and was equally distinguished
for his skill in riding, dancing, singing,
and playing upon all sorts of instruments.
Thus accomplished, he set out on his
travels, and is said to have gone to Paris,
where he offered to dispute in any art or
science, and to answer whatever should
be proposed to him in any of these 12 lan-
guages-Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Greek,
Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, English,
Dutch, Flemish and Sclavonic; and this
either in prose or verse, at the option of
his antagonist. On the day fixed, he is
said to have maintained the contest from
nine o'clock in the morning until six at
night, to the great admiration of the spec-
tators, who saluted him as the "admirable
Crichton." Before and after the dispute,
he was engaged in tilting, vaulting, &c.,
or in balls, concerts, and other similar
amusements. This account is probably de-
rived from the following letter, which has
generally been applied to Crichton. "There
came to the college of Navarre a young
man of 20 years of age, who was perfectly
well skilled in all the sciences, as the
most learned masters of the university
acknowledged. In vocal and instrumental
music, none could excel him. In paint-
ing and drawing in colors, none could
equal him. In all military feats, he was
most expert, and could play with the
sword so dexterously, with both his hands,
that no man could fight him. When he
saw his enemy, he would throw himself
upon him at one jump of 20 or 24 feet
distance. He was a master of arts, and
disputed with us, in the schools of the
CRICHTON-CRICKET.
college, in medicine, the civil and canon
law, and theology; and, although we
were above 50 in number, besides above
3000 that were present, so pointedly and
learnedly he answered to all the questions
proposed, that none but eye-witnesses can
believe. He spake Latin, Greek, Hebrew,
and other languages, most politely. He
was a most excellent horseman; and, tru-
ly, if a man should live a hundred years
without eating, drinking or sleeping, he
could not attain to this man's knowledge,
which struck us with a panic; for he
knew more than human nature can well
bear. He overcame four of the doctors
of the church, for, in learning, none could
contest with him, and he was thought to
be Antichrist." Whoever this astonishing
youth may have been, it could not, says
doctor Kippis, have been Crichton; for
Pasquier, from whose Recherches de la
France this letter is taken, says, expressly,
that this young man made his appearance
in 1445, about a century before Crichton's
birth. After similar exhibitions at Rome
and Venice, we find him, in 1581, at Pa-
dua, exposing the errors of Aristotle, as-
tonishing his hearers with his ingenuity
and elegance in an extempore oration In
Praise of Ignorance; and, finally, to con-
found his enemies, offering to prove the
fallacies of Aristotle, and the ignorance of
his commentators, to dispute in all the
sciences, to answer all that should be pro-
posed or objected, in the common logical
way, or by numbers and mathematical
figures, or in a hundred sorts of verses,
and, during three days, sustaining this
contest with a spirit and energy, with
such learning and skill, as to obtain the
praises and admiration of all men. His
next exploit was at Mantua. There was
in that city a famous gladiator, who had
foiled the most skilful fencers in Europe,
and had lately killed three persons, who
had entered the lists with him. Crichton
offered to fight him for 1500 pistoles, and,
having slain him in the contest, he distrib-
uted his prize among the widows of the
three persons above-mentioned. The duke
of Mantua, in consequence of his wonder-
ful performances, chose him preceptor to
his son-a youth of a dissolute life and
riotous temper. To amuse his patron,
Crichton composed a comedy, ridiculing
the weaknesses of men in all employ-
ments, and sustained 15 characters in his
own play, "setting before the eyes of the
spectators the overweening monarch, the
peevish swain, the superficial courtier, the
proud warrior, the dissembled churchman,
the cozening lawyer, the lying traveller,
19

the covetous merchant, the rude seaman.
the pedantic scholar, and the tricksy ser-
vant," &c. During the carnival (1583),
while amusing himself with his guitar, he
was attacked by half a dozen persons in
masks. He defended himself, and, dis-
arming their leader, found him to be his
own pupil. Crichton fell on his knees,
and presented his own sword to the prince
who immediately stabbed him to the heart.
The motives which impelled his pupil to
the commission of so savage a deed are
unknown. It is difficult to decide with
certainty on the merits of Crichton. The
works which he has left us, consisting of
a few Latin odes, and some sketches of
scholastic reasoning, do not give us a very
elevated idea of his talents; and the origi-
nal sources, from which our information
is derived, are not of the most indubitable
character. It appears, from the usual
account, that, at 20 years of age, he was
acquainted with all sciences, and was
master of 12 languages. His death took
place 13 years after, during which period
we do not find that he performed any
thing worthy of his early fame. The best
account of him is contained in the Bio-
graphia Britannica, and the following sen-
tence is passed upon him there:-"What,
then, is the opinion which we are to form
of the admirable Crichton? It is evident
that he was a youth of such parts as ex-
cited admiration of his present attainments,
and great expectations of his future per-
formances. He appears to have had a
fine person, to have been adroit in his
bodily exercises, to have possessed a
peculiar faculty in learning languages, to
have enjoyed a remarkably quick and re-
tentive memory, and to have excelled in
power of declamation, fluency of speech,
and readiness of reply. His knowledge,
likewise, was probably very uncommon
for his years; and this, in conjunction with
his other qualities, enabled him to shine
in public disputation. But whether his
knowledge and learning were accurate or
profound, may justly be questioned; and
it may equally be doubted, whether he
could have risen to any great eminence in
the literary world."
CRICKET (gryllus, Lin.; acheta, Fab.); a
genus of orthopterous or straight-winged
insects, belonging to the grylloid family,
which comprises the grasshoppers, mole-
crickets, crickets proper.
This family,
like all other orthoptera, do not undergo
a complete transformation. They are
hatched from eggs symmetrically stuck
together by a viscous material, either
upon vegetables, or placed under ground;
20
CRICKET.

and, from the moment of escaping from
the egg, the young are sufficiently vigorous
to seek their own food, which consists of
organized substances. While yet very
soft, they are perfectly formed, with the ex-
ception of the rudiments of the elytra and
wings. These, in some species, are never
developed. As the insect grows, the skin
becomes too small, and requires to be
hanged as often as seven or eight times,
before the insect attains its full size. The
crickets are distinguished from the other
members of this family by their long,
silken antennæ, by having but three joints
to their tarsi, and by the comparative
smallness of their thighs. Their bodies
are short, thick-set and soft, with the head,
corselet and abdomen immediately applied,
and of equal length and breadth. The
head is thick, rounded above, and nearly
vertical. Between the eyes, which are
widely separated and reticulated on the
surface, there are two brilliant stemmata.
The corselet is quadrangular, somewhat
larger transversely, and rounded at the
edges. The elytra, which do not com-
pletely cover the belly, are curved square-
ly, and are not roof-shaped, as in the
locust and grasshopper. In the winged
species, the wings exceed the elytra, and
even abdomen, beyond which they pro-
ject, in the form of a sort of bifid tail. In
addition to the two flexible abdominal
appendages common to both sexes, the
females have a long borer or oviduct,
which is a stiff, square tube, formed of
two pieces, separable, and free at the point,
sometimes seeming to be split, and termi-
nating by a slight enlargement.-The
noise, for which all crickets are remarka-
ble, and usually called chirping, is pro-
duced by the friction of the bases of their
elytra, or wing-cases, against each other,
these parts being curiously adapted to
produce this sound. Both sexes have the
elytra longitudinal, divided into two por-
tions, one of which is vertical or lateral,
covering the sides, and the other dorsal,
covering the back. These portions, in
the female, have their nervures alike, run-
ning obliquely in two directions, forming,
by their intersection, numerous small
meshes, which are of a rhomboidal or
lozenge shape. The elytra of the females
have an elevation at the base. The ver-
tical portion in the males does not materi-
ally differ from that of the females, but, in
the horizontal part, the base of each ely-
trum is so elevated as to form a cavity
beneath. The nervures are stronger, and
very irregular in their course, with various
inflexions, curved, spiral, &c., producing a
variety of different sized and shaped
meshes, generally larger than in the fe-
male: towards the extremity of the wing,
particularly, there is a nearly circular
space, surrounded by one nervure, and
divided into two meshes by another. The
friction of the nervures of the convex
surface of the base of the left or under-
most elytrum against those of the concave
surface of the base of the right one,
causes vibrations of the membranous
areas of an intensity proportioned to the
rapidity of the friction. In fact, the insect
may be regarded as performing on a sort
of violin, the base of one elytrum serving
for a bow, and the cords of the other as
the strings of the instrument. The reader,
who may wish to enter upon a very mi-
nute study of this and similar insects' con-
trivances for producing sounds, may advan-
tageously consult De Geer (vol. iii, p. 512),
and Kirby and Spence (24th letter, vol. 2,
p. 375 et seq.) The chirping of the do-
mestic cricket (acheta domestica) is by
many regarded as pleasant or musical,
and their presence in holes is regarded as
a good omen by some people. Where
they are numerous, certainly, to our ears,
their noise is any thing but agreeable; and
it requires considerable habituation to it to
be able to sleep undisturbed by it. They
are very harmless, taking up their abode
near chimneys, fire-places, and other warm
situations, whence they come out, when
the inmates of the house have retired to
rest, and commence their monotonous
song. If a light be brought, they speedily
retreat, leaping lightly to their holes, the
length and peculiar structure of their long
thighs especially fitting them for this
mode of progression. One action which
we have observed them perform with the
antenna shows the delicacy and perfec-
tion of the muscles. They move the long
silken appendages, as if cleaning or polish-
ing them, somewhat as we see birds do
with their feathers. The field crickets
(A. campestris) are as loud and noisy in the
day as those above-mentioned are at night,
and largely contribute to the music of the
fields, so delightful to the ear of the stu-
dent of nature. Both species have attract-
ed the attention of poets, who have cele-
brated their simple but lively notes in
verse of various degrees of excellence.
Both species are equally innoxious, sub-
sisting on small particles of organized
matter, which might otherwise become
troublesome from accumulation; while,
from their numbers, birds and other ani-
mals of higher rank in the scale of being
obtain a part of their supply of food.
CRILLON-CRIME.
CRILLON, Louis de Balbe, one of the
greatest warriors of the 16th century, and
the friend of Henry IV, was born in 1541,
at Murs, in Provence, of a respectable
family of Piedmont. Being a younger
son, the name of Crillon was given him
from an estate belonging to the family-a
name which he so ennobled by his ex-
ploits and virtues, that the heads of the
Balbe family adopted it for their own.
The army called Crillon the man without
fear (l'homme sans peur). Charles IX, Hen-
ry III and queen Margaret called him sim-
ply le brave; but Henry IV gave him the sur-
name of le brave des braves. His indepen-
dence and nobleness of spirit were equal
to his bravery, and his humanity and vir-
tue were not less famous than his heroic
achievements. He was distinguished in
five successive reigns-those of Henry II,
Francis II, Charles IX, Henry III, and,
above all, in that of Henry IV. In his
first campaign (1557), he contributed much
to the speedy conquest of Calais, by a bold
deed of arms. He was the first to storm
the breach. Here he encountered the
commander of the fort, grappled with him,
and threw him into the moat. The Eng-
lish had employed 11 months in the re-
duction of the place. The French retook
it in 8 days. Crillon subsequently distin-
guished himself in the battles of Dreux
(1561), Jarnac (1563), and Moncontour (in
1569), against the Huguenots. As a knight
of Malta, the young hero gained renown
in the crusades against the Turks. Selim
II had taken Cyprus from the Venetians.
The terror of the Moslem arms filled all
Europe; a coalition was formed, and the
famous naval battle of Lepanto fought in
1571. Crillon, in this action, displayed
prodigies of valor, and, though wounded,
was appointed to carry the tidings of the
great victory to the pope and the king of
France. Pope Pius V and the king of
France (Charles IX) loaded him with
honors and favors. The massacre of St.
Bartholomew. (1572), the preparations for
which had been carefully concealed from
Crillon, was loudly reprobated by him.
We find him, the following year, at the
celebrated siege of Rochelle, and, subse-
quently, in various military operations,
where there was need of courage and en-
terprise. Henry III ventured to propose
to him the murder of the duke of Guise,
which had been resolved upon by the
estates of Blois. "I cannot stain my hon-
or with a deed of shame" was his answer.
He fought heroically for Henry IV against
the league. After the battle of Arques, in
Normandy, Henry wrote to him-"Pends-
21

toi, brave Crillon, nous avons combattu a
Arques et tu n'y étais pas. Adieu, brave
Crillon, je vous aime à tort et à travers."
He succeeded in throwing himself into
Quilleboeuf, which was defended by a
small force against marshal Villars. Vil-
lars summoned the city to surrender, rep-
resenting to Crillon that it was impossible
for him, in an almost open place, with a
comparatively feeble garrison, to hold out
against his army: Crillon's answer was,
"Crillon est dedans, et Villars est dehors."
Villars ordered an assault, but was repuls-
ed, and the siege was raised. The young
duke of Guise, who was with Crillon at
Marseilles, when a Spanish fleet was
cruising before the place, indulged in a
frolic, which afforded new proof of the
heroism of Crillon. Guise rushed, with
some of his young friends, about midnight,
into the warrior's sleeping apartment.
They hastily awaked him, and exclaimed
that all was lost; that the Spaniards had
made themselves masters of the harbor,
and of all the important points in the city:
rescue was impossible. The young duke
now proposes to Crillon to make their
escape together. Crillon rejects the pro-
posal with indignation. "It is better," he
cries, "to die with arms in our hands than
to survive the loss of this place." He arms
himself, and rushes down stairs, when the
laugh of the young duke discovers the
jest that had been played upon him. Cril-
lon turned with a serious air, seized the
duke by the arm, and said, "Young man,
never amuse yourself with trying the cour-
age of a brave man. By Heaven, had you
found me weak, I would have plunged
this dagger into your breast!" Finally,
when the wars which had shaken Europe
were terminated by the peace with Savoy,
Crillon returned to Avignon, where he died
in 1616, in his 75th year. History repre-
sents this hero as a brilliant warrior, a wise
counsellor, true to his word, and faithful
to every duty. He did not desert Henry
III when his crown seemed to be lost.
He was faithful to Henry IV when he had
nothing but in prospect. Nevertheless, his
independence sometimes became rudeness.
He was exceedingly sensitive on the point
of honor, and any phrase which looked like
an insult would make him draw his sword.
He was remarkable for his profanity, and,
in the last days of his life, swore with his
favorite oath never to swear again. Next
to Bayard, Crillon is the greatest character
of his class, to be found in French history.
CRIME. [The present article is from the
German, and, of course, was written by a
European lawyer, and has reference to
22
CRIME. 83

the jurisprudence of the European conti-
nent.] Crime is generally used to desig-
nate an act of guilt, which offends the
laws both of God and man. It implies
freedom of will, and a power of dis-
tinguishing between right and wrong.
Hence young children, madmen and idi-
ots cannot commit crimes, neither can
persons in a state of great intoxication.*
But the circumstances under which full im-
putability or responsibility shall commence
cannot be decided by general rules, but
each case must be judged by itself. To
constitute a crime, there must be an inten-
tion manifested by an outward act. If
the intention be wanting, the act is merely
accidental. If the outward act is want-
ing, there is nothing for human tribunals
to punish. Mere intention does not come
under their cognizance. There are, more-
over, many acts of guilt committed, in ev-
ery community, which are not of a nature
to be made the subject of legislation, and
cannot be brought before the courts. On
the other hand, there are, in every state,
certain actions, in themselves naturally
indifferent, but which are forbidden and
punished as injurious to the community.
These form the greater part of the class
of mere offences against the police regula-
tions. Many actions, in themselves indif-
ferent, may, however, by reason of the
heavy penalties attached to them, be class-
ed among crimes in the technical and
iuridical sense. The degree of punish-
ment imposed on any crime should be
proportioned to the degree of injury vol-
untarily inflicted. It is a matter of impor-
tance to decide whether an uninterrupted
series of illicit acts is to be considered as
the continuation of a single crime (delictum
continuatum), or as several crimes of the
same kind (delictum reiteratum). In the
former case, there would be only one
punishment; in the latter, several. But
the award of several punishments, if capi-
tal, cannot be executed by more than one
punishment of death; and, if the punish-
ment consist in a deprivation of freedom,
the confinement can only be prolonged.
According to the scientific principles of
law, it would be, perhaps, most correct to
consider the several crimes as constituting
a whole, deserving only one punishment, to
be proportioned to the amount of guilt (pa-
na major absorbet minorem), although the
Inajority of learned jurists is, at present, of
another opinion.-Quasi delicta are injuries
which must be repaired by their authors,
*Drunkenness is not admitted as a ground of
acquittal, or even of mitigation of punishment,
either in England or the U. States.
though the intention to perpetrate an illicit
act need not be evident. The Roman law
has made such provisions in various cases.
(See Criminal Law.) Punishments them-
selves may be divided into criminal or
civil, or police punishments. The crimi-
nal or severe punishments are such as
have great crimes for their object. They
may be divided into, 1. capital punish-
ments (see Death, Punishment of): 2. de-
privation of liberty simply (as in the case
of imprisonment, and exile from the coun-
try), or accompanied with hard labor (for
instance, labor in a work-house, a tread-
mill, &c.), or sharpened by the infliction
of pain (for instance, the punishment of
laboring in the work-house, with stripes at
the entrance and exit, or hard labor, with
an iron chain round the neck): 3. pun-
ishments inflicting mere bodily pains, or
corporeal punishments, such as mutila-
tion (which, however, is discarded in
well ordered states) and whipping (the
latter is frequently applied in inferior
crimes, or on young persons not yet en-
tirely corrupted): 4. punishments affecting
the honor. All punishments of crime, in-
deed, have this character; but, in some
cases, the punishment consists mainly in
the degradation. Of this latter sort are,
1. such punishments as have for their
object to work complete degradation; for
instance, the breaking of the armorial
bearings of a noble family by the hang-
man, branding, and the public flogging
usually connected with it, deprivation of
decent burial, civil death, hanging in
effigy: 2. such as are intended merely to
withdraw some particular civil honor; as
loss of nobility, exclusion from guilds and
corporations, removal from office: 3. such
as have for their object merely humilia-
tion and chastisement. The latter sort
may, according to the rank of the crimi-
nal and the magnitude of the crime, be
connected with corporeal punishment;
for instance, the pillory, &c.: or they may
be of a different kind; as suspension from
office, church penances, judicial repri-
mands, begging of pardon, recantation of
injuries, &c. This latter class of punish-
ments is intended chiefly for the correc-
tion of the person chastised. The highest
degree of degrading punishments is always
to be considered as equal to loss of life.
4. Civil death is a fiction of law (fictio
juris), by means of which an individual
can be considered as really dead, with
regard to all or some of the common legal
privileges. This is not always to be con
sidered as a degrading punishment, since
any one can give occasion to a sentence
CRIME.
of civil death by absence or neglect.
This, however, in such instances, has no
effect beyond the case which gave occa-
sion to the sentence. 5. Fines in money
are not always attended with a loss or
diminution of honor. They are imposed
principally on usurers, counterfeiters, libel-
lers, adulterers, forestallers, persons guilty
of frauds against the revenue, and other
frauds, of adulterating wine, of carrying
on trades which they are not entitled to
exercise, and on many offenders against
the police regulations and the feudal insti-
tutions. Except in the case of high trea-
son, fines or confiscations do not usually
embrace the whole fortune of the offender,
and are mostly limited to the instruments
with which the crimes were perpetrated.
A colorable transfer of property which has
become liable to confiscation will not pro-
tect it. Civil and police punishments are
such as are inflicted for petty offences, and
can be imposed by the civil judge. They
are chiefly-1. fines; yet a corporeal pun-
ishment, when changed by the sovereign
into a fine, retains the character of a crim-
inal punishment, without being generally
connected with ignominy; 2. imprison-
ment; for instance, civil confinement; ar-
rest, which is not connected with criminal
imprisonment; 3. such fines as are nei-
ther equivalent to a corporeal punishment,
nor can be changed into one; 4. con-
demnation to mechanical and agricultural
labors, or chastisement with stripes, con-
finement within jail limits, or confinement
to a country, city or district, by which a
person is laid under an obligation not to
pass over certain limits; 5. removal from
office without infamy; 6. temporary sus-
pension from office; 7. reprimand from the
court; 8. recantation before the court, or
publicly; 9. apologies ordered by the court.
Punishment can be inflicted only upon the
perpetrator of a crime, and his accomplices.
Fines, which have not been imposed dur-
ing the life-time of the criminal, cannot be
exacted after his death, unless, in order to
escape punishment, he commits suicide,
or endeavors to delay the judgment in
other unlawful ways. If the laws of the
place where the crime has been com-
mitted, differ from those where the crimi-
nal is tried, the milder punishment is
usually preferred to the more severe. The
severity of the laws of a country ought not
to add to the severity of the punishment
of a crime committed abroad. In the
case of crimes of a very deep die, the pun-
ishment is determined by the general law.
Punishments are also divided into ordinary
or legal, and discretionary punishments.
23

The former are expressly provided by the
law for any case that may occur; the lat-
ter are pronounced by the judge, in cases
in which the legal punishment cannot take
effect, or in which the punishment is left
to his discretion. Alterations in the legal
punishments take place, 1. when the ob-
ject of the punishment would not be ob-
tained by its application; 2. when the exe-
cution is impossible, or, at least, very diffi-
cult; 3. when the execution would be
injurious not so much to the criminal as
to some innocent individual; 4. when the
rank or the personal relations of the crim-
inal require an exception. Before making
such an alteration, however, the inferior
court or judge must first obtain the opin-
ion of the higher court. Punishments do
not take effect in case, 1. of unlimited re-
mission or pardon; 2. of a mitigation of
the sentence; 3. of entire abolition, or the
stopping of all proceedings, by the sove-
reign power; 4. of the expiration of the
period within which process can be insti-
tuted, which is generally 20 years; 5. of
the restoration of the offender to his for-
mer rank; 6. where the party is provis-
ionally discharged, but remains liable to
be put again on trial, if new evidence
should be produced; 7. of the death of
the criminal, unless he was convicted of
high treason, or unless the case was one in
which the punishment was to have been
executed in effigy; 8. in the case of small
offences, the punishment may be remitted
upon an accommodation taking place be-
tween the parties, or upon a request for
pardon coming from the offended party;
9. corporeal punishments are remitted, in
general, when the criminal, before the ex-
ecution of the sentence, becomes insane
or sick, to such a degree, that the inflic-
tion of the punishment might prove fatal
to him. In such a case, fines are usually
substituted for corporeal punishments.
The obligation to repair the injury done
to the offended party, does not become ex-
tinct with the punishment.-[The forego-
ing article contains a summary view of
the theory of crimes, and of the princi-
ples applicable to them, derived from the
civil law, or the jurisprudence of conti-
nental Europe. The admission of drunk-
ards into the class of persons not respon-
sible for the acts which they commit, on
the ground that the injuries which they
commit are not accompanied with a ra-
tional intention, is liable to much objection.
The common law has decided that, as it is
a voluntary madness, resulting from the
vice of the party, he shall not excuse one
offence by setting up another. But a dis
24
CRIME.

tinction is taken between a crime com-
mitted when the party is in a state of
actual intoxication, and a crime com-
mitted when he is insane, and his insanity
is remotely caused by an indulgence in
habits of drunkenness. In the former
case, he is deemed culpable, in the latter,
not. The principle that there are degrees
in crime, is not always sufficiently attend-
ed to, and codes of penal law often assign
very disproportionate punishments to of-
fences. The criminal code of England
has been justly stigmatized as sanguinary,
as it punishes capitally crimes of very
different magnitudes. It seems to have
been regulated, in a great measure, by
the principle of terror, and not of reform.
In the U. States, punishments are com-
paratively mild. There are very few
crimes punished with death. No state
punishes capitally more than 10 or 12
offences. The other punishments are
generally fine, imprisonment, confinement
in a house of correction, hard labor, &c.,
in penitentiaries for a term of years or
for life; and the punishments are propor-
tioned, both in length of time and degree,
to the offence. In many of the American
states, the punishment by the pillory is
abolished; and in all, the tendency is to
avoid disgraceful punishments which are
cruel. The constitution of the U. States
has expressly declared, that excessive
fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel and
unusual punishments inflicted. The com-
mon law provides that every offence,
which is not punishable by law in any
other manner, shall be punished by fine
or imprisonment, or both, at the discretion
of the court before which the conviction
is had, according to the aggravation of the
offence.] (For more information on this
subject, see Criminal Law.)
Crime, the Statistics of. This forms a
very interesting subject, which has not
been as yet sufficiently investigated to en-
able us to give as accurate an account as
we could wish of the comparative amount
of crime in different countries, and of the
numerical proportion of the different
kinds of crime. In deducing inferences
from such views, we should keep in
mind the general condition of different
countries, and not argue, for instance,
against the moral state of a rich and
populous country, because many crimes
against property are committed therein,
nor against that of a poor and thinly peo-
pled region, because it affords compara-
tively numerous instances of personal
violence. For the study of the statistics
of crime in France, we would recommend
the Compte générale de l'Administration de
la Justice criminelle en France, which has
been published annually, since 1825, by
the keeper of the seals. It gives an ex-
cellent view of all the criminal processes
in France. For England, we have the re-
turns to parliament, of which an abstract
has appeared, for two years past, in the
Companion to the British Almanac, pub-
lished under the direction of the society
for the diffusion of useful knowledge
(London). For America, we do not know
of any more complete statement, than
that given in the Annual Reports of the
Prison Discipline Society (Boston), thought
it has not yet been in the power of this
praiseworthy institution to give a com-
plete view of the nature of crimes in
all the states. Respecting Germany and
many other parts of the European conti-
nent, much information is to be found in
the Jahrbücher der Straf- und Besserungs-
Anstalten (Annals of Establishments for
Punishment and Correction), by Nicholas
Henry Julius (Berlin), published in month-
ly numbers-a very excellent work, em-
bracing a wide extent of information.
The same writer has collected, in a high-
ly judicious manner, a great number of
statements respecting crimes, prisons,
houses of correction, common schools,
&c., both in Europe and America, in his
Vorlesungen über Gefängniss-Kunde, &c.
(Lectures on the Subject of Prisons), by
doctor N. H. Julius, Berlin, 1828. The
last report of the keeper of the seals in
France, for 1828, contains the following
information. The courts of assize de-
cided within the year 6396 cases. The
number of individuals accused was 7396,
being an increase of 467 above those of
1827. The proportion of the persons ac-
cused to the whole population, was, in
1827, as 1 to 4593, and in 1828, as 1 to
4307. Among the 7396 persons brought
to the bar of the courts of assize, 5970
were men, and 1426 women, being in the
proportion of 100 to 24. Among these,
4166 could neither read nor write; 1858
could write and read but imperfectly;
780 were well instructed in the first ele-
ments of knowledge; and 118 had receiv-
ed an education in colleges, or otherwise
superior to that supplied by primary
schools. Of the 7396 prisoners, 2845
were acquitted, and 4551 convicted. Of
the latter, 114 were condemned to death,
268 to hard labor for life, 1142 to hard la-
bor for different terms, 1228 to solitary
imprisonment, and the rest to different
kinds of correctional penalties. The pro-
portion of acquittals to convictions is as 39
CRIME.
to 61. Of the persons convicted and con-
demned, 3833 appealed to the court of
cassation against their sentences. Among
the 114 condemned to capital punishment,
17 were persons who had already been
sentenced to penalties less severe. The
chambers of the first instance discharged,
before trial, 16,409 persons who had been
arrested, or against whom informations
had been lodged. The police cases or
charges, decided within the year, amount-
ed to 95,589, including 132,169 persons.
This is an excess of 9162 over those of
the preceding year. Among the facts, of
which justice was called upon to verify
and state the causes, were 4855 accidental
deaths, 1754 suicides, and 86 duels, of
which 29 were fatal. Late reports to the
English parliament contain the following
Return of the Number of Persons charged
with Criminal Offences committed for Trial,
whether convicted or acquitted, and the Num-
ber executed in England and Wales, with a
similar Return for Ireland, in the years
1827 and 1828.
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Committed for trial.
Convicted,
Acquitted,
Males, . . . .
Females, ..
.
No bills found, and
not prosecuted, S
1827.
1828.
12,564.. 11,723
3,407.. 3,169
1,950.. 1,672
79
25

A report of a committee of the house
of commons, in 1828, contains the follow-
ing statement of the comparative amount
of crime in England and France in the
year 1826.
.
In France, the total number of accused
was
Acquitted,
Convicted,
a
In England, committed for
Acquitted,
Not prosecuted, or no
bills found,
Convicted,
2,640
6,988
4,348
6,988
trial,. . 16,147
3,266
1,786
5,052
11,095
16,147
Of 4,348 convicted in France, were con-
.. 150
demned to death, . . .
In England, of 11,095.
Of those condemned to death in France,
1,200
executed: in England, of 1,200, only 57
it would appear that the greater part were
were executed.-Of the crimes for which
the punishment of death was inflicted,
we find, in the French statement, mur-
15,151.. 13,832
15,151..13,832 der, 11; attempt to murder, 88; parricide,
2,770.. 2,732
2,770.. 2,732 4; infanticide, 6; poisoning, 11; false
17,921..16,564 money, 9; robbery on a public road, 1;
other robberies, 2; arson of houses, 17;
arson of other descriptions, 1. The Eng-
lish statement, besides the crimes contain-
ed above, contains, burglary, 10; forg-
ery, 1; horse-stealing, 7; larceny in a
dwelling-house to the value of 40 shillings.
17,921..16,564 5; rape, 2; sheep-stealing, 3. In France,
it appears to be the practice to condemn,
in the first instance, to the punishment in-
tended to be inflicted. For instance, in
France, robbery on the highway gives,
condemned to death, 1; hard labor for
life, 30; for a term, 8; solitary confine-
ment, 5; correctional punishments, 22.
The English gives, robbery on person, on
the highway and other places, sentenced
to death, 144; executed, 15.-Of secon-
dary punishments, France gives, hard
labor for life, 281; for a term, 1139; soli-
tary confinement, 1228; to the pillory, 5;
banishment, 1; degradation from civil
rights, 1; correctional punishments, 1478.
In England, we have transportation for
life, 133; for 14 years, 185; for 7 years,
1945; imprisonment 5 years, none: 3
years, 11; 2 years, and above 1 year, 297;
1 year, 1201; 6 months and under, 5813;
whipping and fine, 310.-With respect to
terms of imprisonment, we find in the
French statement,
For 20 years,.
Of whom were executed,
70
IRELAND.
Committed for trial.
1827.
Males,
14,598
Females, . . 3,433
Convicted,.....
Acquitted,.
No bills found,
1828.
11,919
2,764
18,031.. 14,683
9,269
10,207.
3,059.. 2,245
4,461..
Bailed and not prosecuted, 304
3,078
91
18,031.. 14,683
14,683
Of whom were executed,
37.. 21
Return of the Number of Male Convicts sent to
New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land,
in 1826 and 1827, with the total Expense of
their Conveyance, and the average per head.
Number.
Total Expense. Average about
£25 8 10
1826..2097.. £53,349 5 2
1827..3393.. 81,682 17 8
3
VOL. IV
24 1 6
48
26
For 15 years,
10..
5...
From 1 to 5 years,
6 months to 1 year,
Less than 6 months,
•
59
175
857
512
68
104
CRIME.

In France, the number of accused were in
the proportion of 1 in 4195 of the popula-
tion; of the accused tried, 1 in 4557. In
England, the proportion would be greatly
superior. But it is difficult to draw any
parallel in this respect. The offences
tried before the correctional tribunals in
France are of a graver character than
those which are punished in England out
of the courts of assize and quarter ses-
sion. For instance, in France, under the
head of crimes punished by the correc-
tional tribunals, there appear, under the
title vols (thefts), 10,796, of which 4364
were punished by imprisonment for a
year or more. Distinguishing crimes
against the person, and those against
property, the number under the former
head is, in France, of accused, 1907; un-
der the latter, 6988: leaving out Corsica, the
former number would be reduced to 1821,
the latter to 6939. In England, including
the same class of crimes, the numbers are,
Against the person,
Against property,
But adding to the 6939, 10,796, the num-
bers would be
· •
531
..... 15,616
For France, against the person,.. 1,821
property, 17,735
For England, against the person,
.
531
property, 15,616
ufactures tend to increase depredations on
property, and to diminish acts of violence
against the person.-In Prussia, 9646
crimes were committed in 1817. The
proportion of crimes to the population
was greatest in Berlin, in which it was as
1 to 297. In the Rhenish provinces, the
proportion was 1 to 400; in Silesia and
Prussia Proper, 1 to 2000. This differ-
ence is owing to the difference in the
provinces. From 1818 to 1827, 210 per-
sons were sentenced to death in Prussia,
tion to 135,414 inhabitants. For a full
but only 87 executed, giving one execu-
condition and state of civilization of the
account of the statistics of crime in Prus-
sia, see the above-mentioned Gefängniss-
lands, in 1825, when the inhabitants were
Kunde, by doctor Julius.-In the Nether-
6,157,286, there were 4400 criminals in the
1150 military prisoners. See Verslag van
prisons, 2400 in houses of correction, and
de Handelingen der tweede algemeene Ver-
gadering van het Nederlandisch Genootschap
tot Zedelyke verbetering der Gevangenen,
gehouden binnen, Amsterdam, den 27 April
second general Meeting of the Netherland
1825 (Account of the Transactions of the
ish Society for the Improvement of the
Condition of Prisoners, held in Amsterdam
&c.).-Russia presents, from 1823 to 1827
both inclusive,
853 thefts and robberies,
5,817 murders,
5,263 suicides,
95 cases of exposed children,
whole number of criminals,
14,087 {including deserters.
reports, in which, however, no information
is contained respecting the state of crime
in Arragon, Valencia and the Balearic isl-
ands, the number of criminals amounted
to 12,937, which, if the population is
11,447,629, would give one crime for 885
persons.
Without pretending to any great exact-In Spain, in 1826, according to official
ness on this subject, it may be inferred
that the whole quantity of crime is greater,
in proportion to the population, in Eng-
land than in France; but that of offences
against the person, there are more, both in
proportion to the whole number of offen-
ces, and to the population, in France than
in England. The general conclusion
from this and other facts seems to be,
that crowded towns and flourishing man-
Crimes.
Stealing, shoplifting, &c.,.
Counterfeit money,
Burglary,.
Forgery,
..
Robbery,
·
Arson,
Assault,
The following table shows the number
and offences of the convicts in the Massa-
chusetts Prison from 1820 to 1828 inclusive:
...
1820. 1821. 1822.
244 207
16 13
19 17
3 9
3
1823. 1824. 1825. 1826. 1827. 1828
230 222 199 192 180 186
22 26 35 30
23 18
15 16
16 17
16 18
8
11
11
8
7 9
·
BBQ43TQ
5
4
2
2 1
1
1 1
5 7 ...
8
5 6 6
5
2
4
3 ...
2 3
4
5 5
...
7 7
11 10
10
1
2
162
1
..
1
3 3
6
6 9
10
11 10
48730
...
Attempt to commit rape,
Adultery, &c.,....
Attempt to murder,.
Conspiracy,
CRIME.
227
Manslaughter,
Bestiality,
Fraud,
Maiming cattle,
Perjury,
Crimes.
Robbing bank,
Common cheat,.
Common thief,
Assault and battery,
Murder committed,
Attempt to rescue convicts,
Open and gross lewdness,.
Horse-stealing,
Maiming,
Receiving stolen goods,
Escape from house of correction,
Conspiracy to defraud,
Accessory to thieving,.
1
1
1
1
...
1820. 1821. 1822. 1823. 1824. 1825. 1826. 1827. 1828
3 3 1 4

...
...
...
...
3
3
1
1
...
1
1
1
1
1
1 1
...
20:222:21
3
2
1 ..
8
20
16 20
......
1
2
2 2 2
2 1 1
2 ..
2 ..
1
141 1
1 1 1 ...
1 ...
2
The four reports, which have been published by the prison discipline society above-
mentioned, contain many interesting facts respecting other prisons, but do not enable
us to give a general view of the state of crime in the U. States. (See the article Prison.)
The following is an abstract of the state of crime in several countries, such as we
should wish to be able to give of all civilized countries:-
Number of Crimes brought before Courts of Justice.
CRIMES AGAINST CRIMES AGAINST
Scotland, 1806-1811,
Wales,
1805-1811,
Ireland, 1805-1810,
England, 1805-1811,
1805,
1826,
England, 1827,
1828,
•
.
1823-1825,
annual
average,
PERSONS.
PROPERTY.
Whole No. Per Ct.
W. No. Per Ct.
Total.
89
Proportion to
Population.
1:20,279
2,644
1: 1,702
72
1: 8,436
4,777
1: 1,988
4,527
1: 1,951
17,921 S
16,147 1:
763
16,564 1 721
1:
403
.
London, 1826,
3,457
..
1827,
3,381 S
1:
380
France,
Before courts ( 1825,
of assizes, 1826,
Of correction- 1825,
al police, 1826,
2066 29
1907 27
5168 71
5081 73
7,234 1: 4,424
5051141,733
6,988 1: 4,436
141,733 1: 219
159,740 1: 194
Of local po- 1825,
139,944 1: 222
lice,
1826,
1825,
Total,
1826,
141,021 1: 221
288,911 1: 107
308,749 1: 104
Khenish
Prussia,
provinces),
Assizes,
Correctional
police,
Prussia (the old 1819-1826, " 52,583
30 132,549 70 185,132
1: 427
1822-26, "
23
..... 27
317 1: 6,666
...
1822-26,
39
52
48
7,744 1: 276
Total,
Local police, 1822-26, "
1822-26, "
212,374 1. 51
252.679
42
28
CRIME.
Convicted Criminals.

Scotland, 1823,..
1810-1826,
1826,.
England, 1827,.
For Crimes For Crimes
against Pers. against Prop.
Total.
288
Proportion to
Population.
1:9,649

2,539
119,349
121,888
1: 902
11,095
1:1,082
·
12,564
1:1,019
1828,
11,723
London, 1827,
2,300
1: 587
1815,.
2,319
1:2,803
Ireland,
1823,.
7,923
1: 820
1827,.
10,207
1: 666
1828,.
11,919
1: 570
1825,.
Assizes,
1,046
3,548
4,594
1:6,748
1826,
1,459
3,451
4,910
1:6,313
Correctional (1825,
118,251
1: 262
France,
police,
1826,.
134,384 1: 231
Local police,
1825,.
119,091 1: 260
1826,.
119,746 1: 259
•
Total,
1825,.
241,936 1: 128
1826,.
•
259,040
1: 120
Pays de Vaud, 1826, .
79
1:2,151
Old provinces,
827
8,048
8,875
1: 924
Prussia,
Rhenish provinces,
The whole country,
Sleswic Holstein, in 1820,
Per centum, in 1821,
Norway, Total, 1814-1825,
Total, in 1826,
Spain, Per centum, in 1826,
110
3,307
3,417
1: 543
937
•
11,355
12,292
1: 818
1,089
1:6,281
10
90
100
9,740
1:1,403
12,937
1: 885
37
63
100
Sentences of Death.

Sentenced.
Executed.
Scotland, 1806-1811,
annual average..7
31
England and Wales, 1805-1811,
Ireland, 1805-1810, .
Scotland, 1821-1823,
England, 1810-1826,.
London, 1731-1740,
..
1810-1826,
C
3754
56
...
85
48
total.
49
28
21
15,652
1,384
35
531
316
2,755
350
France, 1825,
176
111
.
1826,
66
150
110
Old provinces, 1818-1827,
แ
140
77
Prussia,
Rhenish prov.,
66
70
10
Total,
66
210
87
Spain, 1826,
39
167
Executions.
For Crimes
For Crimes
against Pers. against Prop.
Total.
Proportion to
Population.


1768-1775,
11
21
32
Scotland, 1776-1780,
2
7
9
1827,.
England,
S1826,.
1827,.
1731-1740,
1749-1780,
London,
1781-1806,
·
1827,..
13
1: 169,271
57
1: 210,526
70
1 : 182,857
46
270
316
112
889
1,001
1: 30,000
61
726
787
17
...
....
1: 79,412
CRIME.
For Crimes
against Pers.
1815-1819 (annual average),
France,
1825,.
1826,
Prussia,
Old provinces, 1818-1827,
Rhenish prov.,
Whole country,
S 1825, including debtors,
Scotland, 1825,
Debtors,
66
without debtors,
England, April 29, 1826,
Wales, CC
Scotland,
Ireland,
339
66
66
CC
.
For Crimes
against Prop.
Total.
29

Proportion to
Population.
303
1: 90,909
111
1: 279,279
110
1: 281,818
77
1:1,240,960
10
1:2,371,000
87
1:1,354,140
Prisoners.
Proportion to
Number.
Population.
8,378
1:
262
5,935
1: 369
2,864
1: 4,187
73
1:10,411
216
1:10,185
663
1:11,011
France, 1821,
Southern Netherlands
(civil and milit. prisoners),
41,307
1: 778
1817,
1819,.
11,729
1: 512
11,353
1:
528
1821,
.
10,557
1: 568
Prussia,
S1798,
1826,
•
2,179
1: 3,671
5,300
1: 2,396
Prussian 1826, standing army,
1,124
1:
111
army,
66
militia,
724
1: 122
..
8,100
1: 1,550
622
1:
112
693
1: 1,399
833
1: 1,200
7,740
1: 1,371
1: 1,600
Prussia, civil and military,
Sleswic Holstein, 1819,
1821,
Norway, 1826,
1814-1826,
Sweden, 1824,
Though the number of persons committed
for trial has progressively increased, in
England, for a series of years, it by no
means follows that the quantity of crime
has increased; and it is perfectly certain,
that crimes of the most atrocious charac-
ter have diminished. Thus, though the
parliamentary returns of the number of
criminal offenders committed for trial in
1827 be greater, by 1774, than those of
1826, we should minutely investigate the
nature of the offences with which these
persons are charged, before we affirm
that the morals of the people generally
were more unsound in 1827 than in 1826.
"Offences," say a committee of the house
of commons, in a report on the criminal
commitments and convictions, "which
were formerly either passed over entirely,
or were visited with a summary chastise-
ment on the spot, are now made occasions
of commitment to jail and regular trial.
Mr. Dealtry-a magistrate for the West
Riding of the county of York-says, 'I
think one reason we may give for the
increase of crime, or the greater exhibition
of it to public view, is the seizure and de-
livery to the police of all those who com-
mit offences, that are styled offences at all.
1,500
I remember, in former days, persons were
taken and pumped upon, or something of
that sort; but now they are handed over
to the police and tried.' Sir Thomas Bar-
ing, and other witnesses, gave a similar
testimony. The malicious trespass act,
the act for paying prosecutors their ex-
penses in cases of misdemeanor, and other
acts not necessary to mention, have tended
to fill the prisons, without any positive
increase of crime. The magistrates, like-
wise, are more ready to commit than they
used to be." There is a fact, which is
most important to keep in view, namely,
that, in England, and in every other coun-
try rapidly advancing in civilization, offen
ces against the person are diminished pre-
cisely in the proportion that the means of
education are enlarged. The most numer.
ous class of offences has been found, not
only in that country, but in France, in the
U. States, and in Switzerland, to be that
of the smaller offences against property;
for example, in London and Middlesex, as
stated by Mr. Peel in the house of com-
mons, the number of commitments, in
1820, was 2773; in 1826, 3457; increase
of commitments, 684. In 1820, of these
commitments, the number for larceny was
3*
30
of
CRIME.

1384; in 1826, 2118; increase of commit-
ments for larceny, 734. Thus we see
that, whilst, in 1826, there was a large
increase of offences against property, there
was an actual diminution of crimes against
the person. The report of the committee
before-mentioned states, that "the numbers
persons convicted of murder, from the
year 1821 to 1827 inclusive, adding there-
to those convicted of shooting at, stabbing,
and administering poison with intent to
murder, were respectively, 35, 57, 26, 38,
29, 27, 47. The numbers charged with
murder, shooting at, stabbing, and admin-
istering poison with intent to murder,
were, from 1821 to 1827, 232, 241, 239,
253, 273, 245, 288. The whole number
of persons tried for offences against the
person, in 1827, including robbery of the
person, which ought not properly to have
been included, was under 1000. The
criminal calendar of London and Middle-
sex exhibits, for the respective periods
from 1811 to 1817, and from 1821 to 1827,
an average increase of committals in the
latter seven years, equal to 48 per cent.
The convictions, during an average of the
same periods, have increased 55 per cent.
The population of London and Middlesex
has been computed to have increased 19
per cent.; therefore, of the convictions, 36
per cent. remains to be accounted for by
other causes than the increase of popula-
tion. That large increase, afflicting as it
is, may be attributed to the large increase
Years.
Total
Convictions
for Larceny.
of petty offences, of stealing from the
house, or the person, 'goods which are
easily transported, and may be quickly
converted into money,' and to the greater
vigilance of the police, which renders
prosecutions more certain. Moreover, the
number of those sentenced to death has
increased only 4 per cent.; but, the pop-
ulation having increased 19 per cent.,
there is thus a positive diminution of 15
per cent. upon the higher offences, subject
to the penalty of death generally. For the
higher crimes against the person, such as
murder, manslaughter, shooting, stabbing
and poisoning, the number of convic-
tions followed by sentence of death has
decreased 50 per cent. For some of the
most atrocious offences against property,
such as arson and maiming of cattle, the
number of convictions followed by sen-
tence of death has decreased 50 per cent.
For the offences of coining and forgery,
uttering base coin, &c., the number of
convictions has decreased 22 per cent.,
and the number of those sentenced to
death has decreased 43 per cent.
particular decrease is principally to be
attributed to the withdrawal of small notes
of the bank of England from circulation.
The great increase of convictions has,
therefore, been in the class of frauds, and
larcenies of all descriptions. This result
for London and Middlesex is also true, as
will be seen from the following table, with
reference to all England and Wales.
Yearly
Increase of
Convictions.
Yearly Inc. of
Convictions
for Larceny.
Yearly Inc. of
Convictions not
for Larceny.
This
Total
Convictions.
1821
8,788
6,629
1822
8,209
6,424
1823
8,204
6,452
26
1824
9,425
7,550
1,221
1,068
123
1825
9,964
8,011
539
461
78
1826
11,095
8,962
1,131
951
180
12,564
1,469
841
628
1827
9,803
Much of the large increase of convictions
not for larceny, in 1827, may be distinctly
referred to the passing of the act for pay-
ing prosecutors their expenses in cases of
misdemeanor. The increase, in 1824,
1825 and 1826, is also to be referred to
changes in legislation and temporary
causes. Offences against the game laws
have greatly multiplied the number of
commitments. From 1820 to 1826, 12,000
persons were committed to the county
prisons on the charge of poaching. From
the returns for England and Wales, of
which we have thus given the results, it
appears that, since 1821, the convictions
for larceny (that is, for robbery and theft
of all descriptions) have increased 50 per
cent., while the population has increased,
by computation, about 16 per cent. We
have thus 34 per cent. of this increase of
crimes against property unaccounted for
by the increase of population. Some of
this increase is real, and some only more
apparent.-With reference to the real and
apparent increase of the smaller crimes
against property, the greater multiplication
of property, in a highly-civilized state of
society, offers a ready solution why such
a growing tendency to theft may exist,
notwithstanding the progress of education.
CRIME-CRIMINAL LAW.
The number of thieves increases from the
constant addition to the number of the ob-
jects of temptation, from the greater luxu-
ries with which every individual is sur-
rounded, from the increased rapidity with
which goods may be transported to distant
parts of the country, and from the more
easy communication with the continent.
Add all these causes, and many others, to
a more vigilant administration of justice,
which produces committals for the most
trifling offences against property, and we
shall easily understand how the return of
committals may be increased, while the
great bulk of the people is becoming
more intelligent and more prudent.-M.
Lucas, an advocate in the royal court at
Paris, has collected, with much accuracy,
a body of facts relating to France, Great
Britain, the cantons of Geneva and Vaud,
and the U. States, all of which tend to
confirm the principles we have endeavored
to establish that the higher crimes are
lessened as men become more civilized
and enlightened; and that, though offences
against property may increase, crimes
against the person are invariably dimin-
ished. With regard to France, this fact
has been clearly proved by the calculations
of M. Charles Dupin. In the northern
departments of that country, where the
inhabitants are the best instructed, the
higher crimes against the person are rare;
in the southern, where the people are very
ignorant, the most frightful crimes are
twice as numerous. But, again, it is re-
markable, that, in the north-the richest
and most enlightened portion of France-
the crimes against property exceeded, in
1826 and 1827, those in the south by 917.
Of those crimes, however, the south ex-
hibits the greatest number of atrocious ex-
amples, having 207 highway robberies,
while the north had only 82. In the can-
ton of Vaud, from 1803 to 1826, the total
number of offences was 1914. Of these,
there were only 52 of the highest crimes
against the person. Of the offences against
property, only 75 were of the gravest
character of crime, such as burglary and
highway robbery. In the canton of Ge-
neva, from 1815 to 1826, there were 212
criminal processes, of which 27 only were
for crimes against the person. The num-
ber of offences against property was 185,
of which 145 were simple larcenies. In
the state of Pennsylvania, from 1787 to
1825, the total number of convictions was
7397, of which 628 were for offences
against the person. Of the remaining
6769 offences against property, 5338 were
larcenies. In Spain, the catalogue of
31

crimes against the person for one year
amounts to 3436, amongst which are the
following:-
Homicides,
Infanticides,.
Poisonings,
Anthropophagy,.
Cutting and maiming,
1233
.13
5
.. 1
1773.*
We thus see that, in Spain, the greater
quantity of crime is precisely of an oppo-
site character to that which exists in
France, Great Britain, Switzerland and
Pennsylvania. On the other hand, the
crimes against property amount only to
2379. From these data, we may conclude
that the greater proportion of offences
amongst an ignorant people are those
which proceed from the licentious and
revengeful passions, unsubdued by the
cultivation of the understanding, and the
subjection of the will to true morality and
pure religion. The greater portion of of-
fences among a rich and highly-cultivated
people, are of that sort which proceed
from the temptations of property, the ac-
cumulation of which is the result of capi-
tal and intellectual energy. (For further
information, see Prison, and School.)
CRIMEA. (See Taurida.)
CRIMINAL LAW. [This article, to the
paragraph on page 34, is from the German
Lexicon.] In no department of legal sci-
ence do so many different views prevail
among jurisconsults, and in none have
these views exercised so great an influence
upon the theory and practice, as in this.
The doctrine of the criminal law is, that
the individual committing an unlawful act,
must not only make amends to the party
injured, but also be punished by the su-
preme authority of the state. The first
question is, whether and how far the state
is authorized to inflict punishment. This
question cannot be decided by positive
rules of law, because the object of the
inquiry is to reconcile these rules with
natural justice. States have, indeed, at all
times, exercised the power of punishment,
without waiting for or regarding such the-
oretical investigations, because it is obvi-
ous that, without the right of punishing,
no state could exist. The different sys-
tems, which have attempted to establish
theoretically the right of punishment, may
be brought under the following heads:-
I. The system of vengeance. From the
This comparative statement of offences in
rests upon the authority of an article in the Bulle-
France, Switzerland, the U. States and Spain,
tin Universel, for September. The precise year
taken for Spain is not mentioned.
32
CRIMINAL LAW. D

opinion that he who has injured another,
cannot complain of injustice, if a similar
evil is inflicted upon himself, and the in-
jured person, or, in case of murder, his
family, would be disgraced, if they did not
obtain satisfaction, arises the rude system
of retaliation, which we meet with in
so many nations; but, whilst those who
take revenge must beware not to exceed
the measure of the injury received, lest
they become aggressors in their turn,
they will be obliged to adhere literally to
the rule of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for
a tooth;" and in this state we find the
criminal law subsisting among nations for
a considerable time, and bloody revenge
and retaliation become a common right
and duty. (See Michaelis, On the Mosaic
Law.) In this state of things, the punish-
ment of offences against the law belongs
not to the community, but to the individ-
ual, and the public authority is active
only in putting limits to the continual ex-
ercise of revenge, and in providing means
for terminating the hostilities among fam-
ilies, which threaten the nation itself with
destruction. From this arises the system
of composition. Offences are estimated
at certain rates in money; and not only
is the offender forced to pay the sum fixed,
but the offended party must also receive
it in satisfaction. With this degree of
progress is connected the idea of a nation-
al peace, which is developed in various
forms and relations, as the peace of the
king, the peace of the court, &c., involv-
ing, at the same time, the acknowledg-
ment of a public power, whose duty it is
to protect and judge. We find the law
of composition among the old Germans,
as well as the nations of the Indian archi-
pelago, and the tribes of American sava-
ges. The next step is the acknowledg-
ment of the principle, that the community
is bound to prevent crimes. The right
of revenge passes into the hands of the
state, which does not wait for the com-
plaint of the offended party, but takes up-
on itself the duty of the accuser. The
theory which next succeeds is,
II. The system of deterring. By the
punishment of the offender, others are to
be deterred from similar acts. The pun-
ishment is, therefore, inflicted publicly;
and the more horrible the crime, the
more effort is made to confirm the popu-
lar abhorrence of it by severe penalties.
This system is liable to the most weighty
objections. It cannot be allowable to tor-
ment or put to death a human being, sim-
ply with the view that others may receive
from his sufferings such an impression, as
to be proof against the temptation to com-
mit crime. In point of fact, this end has
never been attained, and would require a
scale of punishments offensive to sound
reason. The mere fear of punishment is
of very little weight. Men are kept from
crime principally by the natural abhor-
rence of wrong, heightened by a good
education and good example. If the plan
of deterring should be carried through
consistently, it would compel us to propor-
tion punishment rather to the temptation
to commit crimes than to their magnitude.
(See Feuerbach's Revision der Grundsätze
des peinl. Rechts, Erfurt, 1799-Revision
of the Principles of Penal Law.) With
regard to capital punishments, more par-
ticularly, the system of deterring fell by
degrees into disrepute, after the marquis
Beccaria (On Crimes and Punishments,
London, 1770), and a great many other
learned men, had declared themselves
for,
III. The system of prevention, which is
ingeniously defended by the Hessian
minister Von Grolman (Grundsätze der
Criminalrechtswissenschaften, Giessen, 1798
Principles of the Science of Criminal
Law). Every crime contains, if man is
considered as a consistent being, the ex-
pression of a principle of conduct, and,
accordingly, besides the present transgres-
sion of the law, a threat of a repetition of
the offence. The community is, therefore,
entitled to take measures of prevention
against it, which, if the injury done is irrep-
arable, may extend to the deprivation of
life. This system may be said to afford
the true reason for punishment in general.
It may, however, be objected to it, that
this provision against future crimes is not
really punishment, and that the punish-
ment must needs be omitted, if this pre-
sumption of the future offences is refuted
by the particular circumstances of the case.
This principle, moreover, admits of no
scale of punishment, because the means
of effectual prevention must always be
the same-death or imprisonment for life.
The direction which the science of natural
law had taken, at this period, seeking for
the foundation of every right in a contract,
led to,
IV. The system of compact, which as-
serts that, by becoming a member of the
state, every individual has, by tacit com-
pact, bound himself to submit to punish-
ment, if the society choose to inflict it.
As, however, no one can be bound by a
contract to any thing which is not right in
itself, the lawfulness of punishment cannot
be shown in this manner. Fichte, there-
CRIMINAL LAW.
fore, in his original way, modified this
theory. He proceeded upon the principle
that, by trespassing upon the right of others,
the criminal deprived himself of the claim
to be treated as a rational being, since
the rights of a free agent depend on his
respect for those of others. Every crime,
therefore, he says, justifies the expulsion
of the offender from human society. The
compact, by which the punishment is de-
termined, is consequently in favor of those
who receive a lighter punishment than
such expulsion. They acquire a right, by
suffering some determined evil, to be ad-
mitted again into civil society. Much of
this theory is true, but the real existence
of such a compact seems to be wanting.
V. At the same time, the theory of
atonement was introduced by Klein and
others. The criminal does injury in two
ways; 1. to the person who is the imme-
diate subject of the wrong, for which he
has to make him amends according to the
rules of private law; and, 2. by the bad
example afforded by the diminished re-
spect for the laws of the state, for which
he is answerable to the community. This
latter injury is compensated by the pun-
ishment, which vindicates the authority
of the law in the minds of the people.
This theory has, in later times, been fur-
ther developed, with great ingenuity, by
Schultz (Entwickelung der philosoph. Prin-
cipien des bürgerl. und peinl. Rechts, 1813
Developement of the philosophical Prin-
ciples of Civil and Criminal Law), and
by Martin (Lehrbuch des Criminalrechts,
1819-1825-Compendium of Criminal
Law).
VI. The theory of psychological con-
straint, by Feuerbach, is founded upon the
system of deterring, with the addition of
this position-that the threatening of pun-
ishment, in general, is lawful, because it
forbids no one to do any thing which he
can have a right to do; and this menace
renders punishment lawful in case of an
offence occurring, because the individual
knew beforehand what he had to expect.
This theory is exposed to most of the ob-
jections against the theory of deterring,
and the grounds on which it rests often
fail in particular cases.
VII. The principle of moral correction,
has been little used as the basis of the
right to punish. It has for its end to cor-
rect, by punishment, in the criminal him-
self, those unlawful propensities which
impelled him to crime. It is undeniably
correct, so far as this, that the punishment
ought never to be such as to make the
moral correction of the criminal impossi-
33

ble, by the annihilation of his sense of
honor, by exposing him to corruption in
the society of other criminals, and destroy-
ing his ability to support himself in an
honest manner. But it is evident, on the
other hand, that the sentiments of men,
and their moral reformation, cannot be the
direct object of legislation, from the very
circumstance, that this effect is not of a
kind to be ascertained; but to produce
an outward habit (for instance, to dispose
the idle to labor, the drunkard to sobriety,
&c.), is practicable.
Finally, VIII. The theory of retaliation
has been adopted, since the time of Kant,
by almost all the German philosophers,
but, at the same time, by very few law-
yers. It is founded upon the principles,
that the state ought to suffer no wrong
within itself; that every unlawful action
ought to be annihilated, and is annihilated
when made to revert on the author; and
that the latter suffers no injustice by being
treated in the same way as he has treated
others. This retaliation is not, however, a
literal one. It inflicts not the same evil on
the criminal which he has done to anoth-
er; but it seeks for a generic notion of the
offence, and applies, according to this, the
principle of the criminal against himself.
This affords, at the same time, a measure
for punishment, which no other principle
of penal law affords, though it still requires
that the degree of punishment, in particular
cases, should be fixed by positive law.
We have thus set forth the theories
on the subject of criminal legislation. In
no branch of law has legislation been at
all times so active as in this. The
influence of theory has extended even,
to the forms of process, and the civili-
zation of nations always manifests itself
early by the improvement of the criminal
law. Criminal law was first treated sci-
entifically in Italy, but remained in a very
rude state till the middle of the 16th cen-
tury. The dreadful abuses in the admin-
istration of criminal justice in Germany
and France, gave occasion to the two
great reforms introduced by the penal
code of Charles V, of 1532, and the crim-
inal ordinance of Francis I, of 1539. This
branch of jurisprudence now assumed a
more systematic character. The ordinance
of Charles V greatly improved the forms
of process, but retained, according to the
spirit of the times, cruel punishments, and
even torture. Of the points of criminal
law, which, in recent times, have given
rise to much diversity of opinion, the
following are of particular practical impor-
tance:-1. The right of punishing flagrant
34
CRIMINAL LAW.

crimes without the authority of an express
law. Those who acknowledge the au-
thority of a natural law, affirm the exist-
ence of such a right, and divide criminal
actions into those which are bad in them-
selves (delicta juris naturalis), or, as the
English law terms them, mala in se, and
actions which are of themselves indiffer-
ent, but are subjected to a penalty by par-
ticular laws (delicta juris positivi), or, as
the English law terms them, mala prohib-
ita. Crimes of the first class, as murder,
theft, &c., must be every where punished,
even without a positive law; but those of
the second, as contraband trade, are pun-
ishable only when made penal by express
enactment. Feuerbach and others, how-
ever, acknowledge no right of punishment
without an express law. 2. With the pre-
ceding is nearly connected the question
-how far it is the right or duty of the
state to punish crimes, which have been
committed in foreign countries. On this
point, in addition to the difficulties attend-
ing the main question, there exists a great
difference of opinion as to the laws by
which such crimes are to be judged, wheth-
er by the laws of the foreign country, or of
that to which the individual belongs.
3. What power should be given to the
judge to vary the punishment according
to the different circumstances attending
the offence? The tendency, in modern
times, is to define crimes and their punish-
ments so exactly as to leave nothing to
the discretion of the judge, and to enable
every man to see what he has to expect
from a violation of the law. It is doubt-
ful whether so much precision is gener-
ally advantageous, since it almost necessa-
rily produces an unequal distribution of
punishment, the question whether it shall
be light or severe frequently depending
on a little difference in the age of the
offender, the amount of property stolen,
&c.; so that a penny more or less may
make a difference of several years' con-
finement in a penitentiary; or the differ-
ence of a day, in the age of the culprit,
may decide whether he shall be punished
with a few stripes, or deprived of his lib-
erty for years, or of his life. 4. One of the
most difficult points is the just estimation
of injuries done to the honor of another,
which involves the great question of the
liberty of the press. The most important
differences of opinion, however, are those
which prevail with regard to criminal
process. From the representation given
above of the principles and the devel-
opement of penal law, it is evident that
criminal proceedings have always been
founded at first upon private accusations,
in regard to which almost the same princi-
ples prevail as those observed in civil ac-
tions. In the course of time, this mode is
superseded by a public accusation on the
part of the state, appearing by an attorney,
to prosecute the offence. Upon this prin-
ciple are founded the criminal proceed-
ings of the English courts, and of the
French courts since the revolution. With
this may be united the public trial by jury,
which has found so many adherents in
modern times. Its fundamental character
consists in this, that the party accused
remains merely passive, and waits for the
charge to be proved. The consequence
is, that the sentence must be pronounced
from a view of probabilities, and depends,
therefore, more on a knowledge of men,
and the deductions of a sound judgment,
than on technical rules. It has been con-
sidered the safest mode of trying offences,
in particular, as it prevents the dangers
arising from the influence of the higher
officers of the state over judges deriving
their salaries from the sovereign, by refer-
ring the question of guilt or innocence to
the verdict of men taken immediately from
among the people, i. e. jurors. The Ger-
man criminal proceedings are directed
principally, it may be said solely, to the
end of obtaining from the accused a con-
fession of the deed, and of its circum-
stances, by inquisitory process. This ad-
mits neither of an accuser nor of a public
trial, but the judge must inquire of the
accused himself, and obtain from him, if
possible, by a skilful combination of the
circumstances, as well as by awakening
the voice of conscience, complete truth.
What is in Germany the chief business of
the judge, belongs, in France, to the juge
instructeur, and, in England, to justices of
the peace, as police officers, whose inves-
tigations afford, in common cases, the ma-
terials for the final trial. The opponents
of the trial by jury allege, as a chief reason
for their opposition, that, when the prepar-
atory process affords no certain results, the
subsequent trial is attended by the same
uncertainty.
To the preceding article, taken from
the German Lexicon, we have to add a
few suggestions growing out of the prac-
tice of the common law, which constitutes
the basis of the institutions of the U. States,
as well as of England. The general the-
ory of the common law is, that all wrongs
are divisible into two species; first, civil
or private wrongs; secondly, criminal or
public wrongs. The former are to be
redressed by private suits, or remedies in
CRIMINAL LAW.
stituted by the parties injured. The latter
are redressed by the state, acting in its
sovereign capacity. The general descrip-
tion of private wrongs is, that they com-
prehend those injuries which affect the
rights and property of the individual, and
terminate there; that of public wrongs
or offences is, that they comprehend such
acts as injure, not merely individuals, but
the community at large, by endangering
the peace, the comfort, the good order, the
policy, and even the existence of socie-
ty. The exact boundaries between these
classes are not, perhaps, always easy to be
discerned, even in theory; for there are
few private wrongs which may not and do
not exert an influence beyond the individ-
ual whom they directly injure. In doubt-
ful cases, the legislature usually interferes,
and prescribes a positive rule. In clear
cases, the right of punishment on the part
of the state is assumed as a deduction
from natural justice and the duty of the
state to protect all its subjects. Hence, in
the common law, two classes of offences
are distinctly traced out. The first em-
braces those which rest upon legislative
enactments. The second embraces those
which, independently of any such enact-
ment, are deemed, from their very nature,
injuries to the public. The offences be-
longing to this last class are not, perhaps,
capable of a perfect enumeration; and the
test by which they are ascertained is left
to the judgment of judges, as cases arise,
to be fixed, not according to their own
discretion, but by analogy and apprecia-
tion of the principles and cases already
well settled by former adjudications.
When, therefore, a non-enumerated wrong
arises, which does not fall under any
known former rule, the question which is
discussed is, how far it falls under the
principles already established respecting
public crimes. If reasoning furnishes a
strong analogy, it is deemed a public of
fence; if otherwise, it is left for the legis-
lature to declare that it shall be such.
Treason, murder, setting fire to a dwelling
house in a large city, riots disturbing the
general peace, poisoning public wells, &c.,
it will be readily admitted, naturally en-
danger the good order and safety of the
state, and therefore are properly to be
punished by the state. But it is not so
easy to trace the same principle in mere
secret thefts, or a private fight, and yet
deny its existence in violent seizures of
private property, and private quarrels pro-
ducing defamation of character.
The
common law considers the great object
of the public punishment of crimes to be
35

the prevention of offences, by deterring
both the offender and others from a repe-
tition of the same. Its object is not so
much an atonement for, or expiation of,
the offences, as a precaution against their
recurrence. This naturally includes, not
as a primary motive, but as an incident,
the reformation of the criminal himself;
for, so far as that is effected, it prevents
offences. That system of punishments is
indeed most desirable, which attains its
object by such a reformation. But it is
obvious, that reformation cannot always
be relied upon as a sufficient security for
society. Hence arises the necessity or
policy of capital punishment, which, by
cutting off the offender, not only operates
as a terror to others, but secures society
against the possible perpetration of the
same offence by him. Undoubtedly it
ought never to be resorted to except in
cases of atrocious guilt, and where less
punishments are manifestly inadequate to
produce security. Some persons, indeed,
doubt the lawfulness of capital punish-
ment altogether; but the divine law has
certainly sanctioned it. Others, who do
not question its lawfulness, doubt or deny
its policy. It is certain that the frequency
of capital punishment has some tendency
to abate its terrors; and it is by no means
as certain that capital punishments have a
tendency to prevent the occurrence of the
crime, or to secure a conviction. There
is a natural repugnance to punish, with so
much severity, slight offences; and judges
and juries, as well as the public, under
such circumstances, lean against prosecu-
tions and in favor of acquittals. Hence the
probability of conviction is sometimes in
proportion to the moderation of punish-
ments. On the other hand, it is found by
experience, that the punishment of death
is not sufficient to deter men from the
commission of offences to which they are
strongly tempted by their passions or their
wants. The tendency of modern legis-
lation has, therefore, almost uniformly
been in favor of relaxing the severity of
the penal code. In England, capital pun-
ishments are very extensively provided
for by statute. There are more than 160
capital offences in her code. (4 Bl. Comm.
18.) In the U. States, there has been a
constant effort to diminish the number of
capital offences. There are but 9 in the
criminal code of the U. States; and the
codes of the respective states do not gen
* Indeed, the severity of the punishment some-
times induces the offender to become more savage
and atrocious. Thus, where robbery is punishable
with death, it is often attended with murder.
36
CRIMINAL LAW.

erally embrace a larger number. Treason,
murder, rape, arson or burning of a dwel-
ling house, are generally punishable with
death; and sometimes robbery, burglary
or breaking into a dwelling house in
the night time with intent to steal. The
code of the U. States also includes piracy,
the slave-trade, fraudulently casting away
ships on the sea, robbery of the mail,
burning public ships of war, and the res-
cue of convicts capitally convicted when
the sentence is about to be executed. The
punishment of other offences is, for those
of great enormity, solitary confinement or
hard labor in a penitentiary or prison
erected for that purpose; and for those of
a lower degree, fine or imprisonment, or
both, according to the nature and aggra-
vation of the offence. In the U. States,
no capital punishments are inflicted unless
by the injunctions of some positive statute.
In England, the same rule prevails to a
limited extent. A few offences are pun-
ished by the common law with death,
without any statute to direct it, founded
either upon the notion of conformity to the
divine law, or upon some positive law
whose existence cannot now be traced.
Such are murder, rape, robbery, burglary,
and certain other felonies at the common
law. In respect to other offences, for
which no statute has prescribed any pun-
ishment, the general rule of the common
law is, that they are punishable by fine or
imprisonment, or by both. Considering
the infinite variety of circumstances which
may occur to extenuate or aggravate the
offence, not only the common law, but the
legislature has left much of the degree of
punishment to the discretion of the judges
who try the case. That discretion must
be exercised in public; and experience
has proved that it is, on the whole, wiser
and safer to leave it to the natural opera-
tions of judicial responsibility, than, by any
attempts to define and limit the exact de-
gree of punishment, to run the hazard of
introducing other mischiefs by excluding
mercy where it might be most desirable.
No code of laws could be sufficiently mi-
nute to embrace all circumstances; and
none could, therefore, provide for a perfect
uniformity of punishments, according to
the absolute nature of the offence. Anoth-
er inquiry is, Who are, in a legal sense,
capable of committing crimes, so as to be
amenable to punishment? The general
rule of the common law is, that all per-
sons are punishable for disobedience to,
and infractions of the law. The excep-
tions are few, and are clearly defined.
They are such as presuppose a defect of
reason and understanding, or of intention.
A defect of understanding exists in the
case of injuries committed by persons in a
state of infancy, lunacy, idiocy, or intoxi-
cation. A defect of intention exists in the
case of offences committed by chance,
mistake and ignorance, wholly without or
against the intention of the party. In
respect to want of capacity, idiots, mad
men, and other persons not at the time in
possession of reason, such as somnambu-
lists, are generally excused, whatever in-
juries they may commit. But the com-
mon law does not extend this indulgence to
crimes committed by persons who are in
a state of voluntary intoxication. It con-
siders this circumstance rather in the light
of an aggravation of the offence. But a
distinction is here to be made. If the
party be, at the time of the offence, drunk
by the use of strong liquors, he is punish-
able, though he may be thereby reduced,
at the time, to a state of insanity. But if
drunkenness be only the remote cause of
the insanity, and the party be not, at the
time, under the influence of intoxicating
liquors, the law treats his case like that of
any other insane person. It does not look
back to the original and remote cause of
the insanity, to ascertain whether it has
been produced by criminal indulgence, or
neglect of duty, but to the immediate and
operating cause, at the time when the
crime is committed. The exception,
therefore, of the case of insanity by imme-
diate intoxication, is carved out of the
general exception in favor of insanity, and
arises from, or at least is countenanced
by, motives of public policy, to prevent
the dangerous effects arising from indul-
gence in strong liquors. The common
law is, in this particular, more severe than
the civil law. The latter never punished
capitally for an offence committed under
such circumstances. (4 Bl. Comm. 26.)-
As to crimes committed by infants. There
are various ages of infancy, in the com-
mon law, for different purposes. The
general age of majority for all purposes is,
in our law, 21 years; in the civil law, 25
years. Children under 7 years of age are
deemed without discretion, and are uni
versally exempted, by our law, from pun-
ishment. Between 7 and 14 years, they
are said to be in a dubious stage, in point
of discretion. If they, in fact, possess it,
if they appear to have judgment, and un-
derstanding, and a sense of crime, they
are liable to punishment; otherwise not.
Generally, the rule of presumption is in
favor of mercy, that an infant under
14 is doli incapax; but this presumption

CRIMINAL LAW.
may be removed by facts establishing a
clear sense of the difference between good
and evil, together with malice and supe-
rior cunning. (4 Bl. Comm. 22, 23.) How-
ever, it deserves consideration, whether
this is a sufficient test of rational discern-
ment of the nature of crime and duty;
and judges may well lean against convic-
tions in such cases, upon principles not
merely of humanity, but of philosophical
responsibility. After 14, the general pre-
sumption is in favor of an infant being
doli capax, and therefore he generally
stands upon grounds similar to those of
adults, until his actual incapacity is proved.
-As to crimes committed by lunatics and
idiots, the exception on account of want
of capacity obviously applies only to
cases where it exists at the time of the
commission of the offence. Hence it is
no excuse, if a person who has been in-
sane commits an offence in a lucid inter-
val, or at a time when his reason is clearly
restored. So, on the other hand, a per-
son may not be an absolute idiot, so as to
have no discernment whatsoever, and yet
may be excusable from punishment if his
capacity be so weak that he does not,
though an adult, understand clearly the
distinctions between right and wrong. Ex-
treme old age sometimes reduces persons
to a state almost of fatuity, and exposes
them to be imposed upon, and even se-
luced to the commission of offences,
ander circumstances where they would
be held no more liable to punishment
than infants. Every thing depends upon
soundness of mind and real discretion
at the time of committing the offence.
When a person becomes insane after the
commission of an offence, and before trial,
he is not, by the common law, ever al-
lowed to be brought to trial, until he is
restored to his reason. At whatever stage
of a public prosecution the insanity occurs,
it operates as a suspension of all further
proceedings. Thus, if it occurs before
arraignment, the party ought not to be
arraigned for the offence; if after arraign-
ment, he ought not to be required to plead;
if after plea, he ought not to be put to
trial; if after trial, he ought not to have
judgment or sentence pronounced against
him; if after judgment, execution of the
sentence ought to be stayed. The ground
upon which this rule of law is commonly
supposed to stand is, that it ought never
to be presumed that the party, if sane,
might not suggest some defence that, in
reason or justice, would entitle him to
mercy, or to exemption from punishment.
A reason quite as satisfactory is, that the
4
VOL. IV.
37
punishment of an insane person can pro-
duce no good result, either to reform the
offender or as a public example. It would
shock all the feelings of humanity to inflict
punishment on those whom the visitation
of Providence had already made objects
of wretchedness and of compassion. In
all cases where it is doubtful whether the
party be insane or not, the fact is, by the
common law, to be tried by a jury.-In re-
spect to injuries committed without the in-
tention of the party, as through misfortune
or chance. Where an accidental mischief
happens in the performance of a lawful
act, in the doing of which the party uses
reasonable care and diligence, he is whol-
ly free from guilt, and it is deemed his
misfortune; but if he does not use rea-
sonable care and diligence, he is liable to
punishment according to the nature and
extent of his negligence. If guilty of gross
negligence, he is sometimes punishable in
the same manner as if the act were inten-
tionally committed; if guilty of slight
negligence only, he escapes with a more
moderate punishment. If the mischief
happens in the performance of an unlaw-
ful act, and a consequence ensues which
was not intended or foreseen, the party is
not free from guilt. But the degree of
punishment ought to depend upon the
nature of the unlawful act itself. A dis-
tinction is taken, in the common law,
between cases where the original act is
wrong and unlawful in itself (malum per se),
and where it is merely prohibited by stat-
ute (malum prohibitum). In the former
case, the party is responsible for all inci-
dental consequences of the unlawful act;
in the latter, not. An illustration of these
principles may be found in cases com-
monly put in our treatises on criminal
law: If a man be at work with a hatchet,
and the head flies off, and kills a stander-
by, this is not any offence, for the party
was doing a lawful act, without any in-
tention of hurt. So a parent may mod-
erately correct a child, and if, in so doing,
death happens, against his intention, it is
mere misadventure. But if he corrects
the child immoderately, or uses an instru-
ment which is dangerous to life, or is
wanting in reasonable caution, he is guilty
either of manslaughter or murder, accord-
ing to the circumstances and the degree of
the punishment. If a man, riding a horse
with reasonable care, accidentally runs
over a child and kills him, he is not guilty
of any offence. If he rides him furiously
in a street where there may be danger,
and the like mischief happens, he is guilty
of manslaughter at least. If he rides him
38
CRIMINAL LAW.

furiously into a crowd, either from wan-
tonness or thoughtlessness, and the like
accident happens, it will be murder. If a
person in England, duly qualified by law to
kill game, accidentally kills another while
so doing, he is guilty of no offence. If a
person be prohibited by statute from kill-
ing game, and the like accident happens
by his shooting, he is not answerable in
any other manner than a person duly
qualified. This last case illustrates the
distinction as to cases of malum prohibitum.
On the other hand, if a person, shooting
at poultry belonging to another person,
by accident kills a man, if his intention
was to steal the poultry, it will be murder,
by reason of the felonious intent: if his
intention was not to steal, but it was an
act of mere wantonness, it will be man-
slaughter only. In these last cases, the
act is malum in se-In respect to injuries
committed through ignorance or mistake.
This may arise when a man, intending to
do a lawful act, does what is unlawful.
An illustration commonly put is that of a
man intending to kill a thief or house-
breaker, in his own house, who, by mis-
take, kills one of his own family. In this
case, if he acted under circumstances of
reasonable belief that the party killed was
the thief or housebreaker, there is no
ground to impute criminality to him. His
conduct was founded in a mistake of fact,
that is, of the person; for it is sometimes
lawful, by the common law, to kill a
housebreaker found in your house. But
a mistake, or ignorance of law will not
justify an act of the like nature. If a per-
son supposes he has a right to kill a tres-
passer or outlaw, or excommunicated per-
son, and he does so, he is guilty of murder.
In respect to crimes committed by compul-
sion or force. The common law recognises
but few cases in which the authority or
command of a superior furnishes any ex-
cuse for the commission of an offence. In
the case of children or servants, the com-
mands of the master or parent furnish no
excuse. In the case of a wife who com-
mits a crime in company with her husband,
she is deemed, by the benignity of our law,
to act under compulsion, and therefore
she is excused in all cases except murder,
manslaughter and treason. These excep-
tions are founded upon the peculiar dan-
ger and atrocity of the offences, and the
public policy of discouraging every motive
to commit them. Where the wife com-
mits the offence alone, without the com-
pany or compulsion of her husband, she
is personally responsible in the same man-
ner as if she were unmarried. There are
other species of compulsion recognised in
the common law, which may excuse the
commission of offences. Thus where a
person commits an offence in consequence
of threats or menaces, which induce a fear
of death or other bodily harm. This is
called duress per minas. But the fear
which compels a man to do an illegal act
must be just and well grounded, such as
may intimidate a firm and resolute man
and not merely of such a nature as may
operate upon the timid and irresolute, oth-
erwise it will constitute no excuse. Thus,
in time of war or rebellion, a man may
be excused for doing treasonable acts, if
they are caused by the compulsion of the
enemy or rebels. But the compulsion
must not be a mere threat to do injury to
property, nor even slight injury to the
person, but a just fear either of death or
of great bodily injury; and even in such
case, it is the duty of the party to avoid
doing such acts as soon as he safely may,
by escape or otherwise; for if he does not,
he will be liable to punishment as a vol-
unteer. But even this excuse is not al-
lowed in all cases, but seems principally
confined to crimes positively created by
society; for no man can justify or excuse
himself for murdering an innocent person,
under the pretence of fear or necessity,
though he certainly may kill another in
necessary self-defence. Another case of
compulsion or necessity often occurs in the
reasoning of speculative writers, whether
a person in extreme want of food is excu-
sable for stealing to satisfy his hunger.
Whatever may be the doctrine of foreign-
jurists, or the opinion of publicists, it is
certain that no such excuse is now admit-
ted in the common law. If the offence
should be committed under circumstances
of extraordinary suffering, the case would
rarely be brought before any tribunal of
justice; and if it should be, the power of
pardon in the government, and the human-
ity of the court itself, would either annul or
mitigate the punishment. There is another
case often put, where two persons at sea
are shipwrecked, and get on a single
plank, and it cannot support both, but
both must be drowned unless one is dis-
placed: what is then to be done? In such
a case, the law of self-preservation has
been supposed to justify either party in a
forcible dispossession of the other. The
common law seems to recognise this prin-
ciple, and, in such a deplorable calamity,
imputes no blame to the survivor.-We
now proceed to notice another important
distinction, which the common law acts
upon in relation to crimes. It is the dis-
2106 CRIMINAL LAW.MIRO
tinction in guilt and punishment which is
made between principals and accessories.
Persons are called principals in the first
degree, who are the actors or perpetrators
of the offence. Persons who are present,
aiding and abetting the perpetrator, are
called principals in the second degree. This
presence may be either in fact, as where
the parties are immediately standing by,
or are within sight and hearing; or con-
structive, as when the party, though not
within sight or hearing, is on the watch
at a convenient distance, ready to assist,
and near enough to do so, if required.
There are cases, too, in which a person
may be the principal in construction of
law, although he is absent, and the fact is
done through the instrumentality of anoth-
er; as, in case of murder by poisoning,
a man may be the principal felon by pre-
paring or laying the poison, with an inten-
tion that it should be taken, or by employ-
ing an innocent person to administer it,
under false pretences, although he is not
personally present when it is taken or
administered. Many cases of the like
nature may be easily put. An accessory
is he who is not the chief actor in the of
fence, nor present at its perpetration, in
the sense above stated, but who is in some
manner concerned in it, either before or
after the fact is committed. If he pro-
cures, counsels, abets or commands the
crime, and is absent at its commission, he
is deemed an accessory before the fact.
If, without any such participation in it, he
knows that the crime has been committed,
and afterwards relieves, assists, comforts
or receives the offender, he is deemed an
accessory after the fact. Thus, if he aids
the offender to escape, or rescues him from
arrest, or conceals or supports him, he is
deemed an accessory after the fact; so
if he buys or receives stolen goods, know-
ing them to be stolen. There are certain
classes of offences at the common law
which admit of no accessories. Thus, in
treason, all the parties concerned are deem-
ed principals propter odium delicti; and in
offences which are under the degree of fel-
ony, and in trespasses, all persons con-
cerned are deemed principals, for an oppo-
site reason, because the law will not con-
descend, in petty crimes, to ascertain the
different degrees of guilt. In all other
offences, that is, in all except the highest
and the lowest, there may be, technically
speaking, accessories. It follows as a
maxim, that, in such cases, the accessory
cannot be guilty of a higher offence than
his principal. In respect to punishment,
the ancient common law did not make any
39

distinction between accessories and princi-
pals; but by statute, many distinctions are
now made, and especially regarding ac-
cessories after the fact. In the U. States,
few of our criminal codes have failed to
mark out very strong differences in the
punishment. There are, in fact, many
reasons which require the distinction be..
tween principals and accessories to be
constantly kept in view. In the first place,
in many instances, a man cannot be tried
as accessory until after the trial and con-
viction of the principal. In the next
place, if a man be indicted as accessory
and acquitted, he may still be indicted as
principal. In the third place, as a natural
inference from the other considerations,
the defence of the accused may, and often
must, turn upon very different principles,
where he is accused as accessory, from
what might or could arise if he were
accused as principal.-In respect to the
mode of presentment and trial for of-
fences. In England, no person can be
brought to trial, for any capital offence or
felony, except upon the presentment or
indictment of a grand jury; but for infe-
rior offences or misdemeanors, an informa-
tion, in the nature of an indictment, may
be filed by the king's attorney-general, or
other proper officer, upon which the party
may be put upon trial. Even in such
cases, an indictment also lies. In the U.
States, informations are rarely resorted to
in any of the states in such cases; and
the usual, and, in many cases, the only
constitutional course is an indictment by a
grand jury. All offences, whether charged
by indictment or information, are, by the
common law, to be tried by a jury com-
posed of 12 men, and their verdict is con-
clusive upon the facts. In the U. States,
this privilege of trial by jury is generally
secured by the constitutions of the state
and national governments. A privilege
often quite as valuable to the accused, is
that of being assisted by counsel in the
management of his defence. It is a cu-
rious anomaly in the English jurispru-
dence, that counsel are admissible in the
argument of facts to the jury only in the
highest and lowest offences; in treason
by the express provision of statute, and in
mere misdemeanors, by the common law.
In all capital cases, except treason, the ac-
cused is denied this privilege; and, how-
ever important and useful such a privilege
may be, the introduction of it has been
hitherto successfully resisted in the British
parliament. In the U. States, a far differ-
ent, and, as we think, wiser and more hu-
mane rule prevails. In all criminal cases,
40
CRIMINAL LAW-CROCODILE

the accused is entitled, as of right, to the
assistance of counsel in his defence; and
this right, also, is generally secured by the
state and national constitutions of govern-
ment. This is not the place for a discus-
sion of the value of such a right, though
to us it seems recommended by principles
of policy as well as of justice and human-
ity. The mode of impanneling juries, the
right of challenge, and other incidents of
criminal trials, belong more appropriately
to other heads. (See Crime, Courts, and
Jury.)
CRISIS (from Kpivew, to decide), in medi-
cine; a point in a disease, at which a de-
cided change for the better or the worse
takes place. The crisis is most strongly
marked in the case of acute diseases, and
with strong patients, particularly if the
course of the disease is not checked by
energetic treatment. At the approach of
a crisis, the disease appears to take a more
violent character, and the disturbance of
the system reaches the highest point. If
the change is for the better, the violent
symptoms cease with a copious perspira-
tion, or some other discharge from the
system. In cases where the discharge
may have been too violent, and the nobler
organs have been greatly deranged, or
where the constitution is too weak to re-
sist the disease, the patient's condition
becomes worse. In regular fevers, the
crisis takes place on regular days, which
are called critical days (the 7th, 14th and
21st); sometimes, however, a little sooner
or later, according to the climate and the
constitution of the patient. A bad turn
often produces a crisis somewhat sooner.
When the turn is favorable, the crisis fre-
quently occurs a little later. After a salu-
tary crisis, the patient feels himself relieved,
and the dangerous symptoms cease.-It
hardly need be mentioned, that the word
crisis is figuratively used for a decisive
point in any important affair or business,
for instance, in politics.
CRISPIN; the name of two legendary
saints, whose festival is celebrated on the
25th of October. They are said to have
been born at Rome, about 303 A. D., and
to have travelled to France to propagate
Christianity, where they died as martyrs.
During their mission, they maintained
themselves by shoemaking; hence they
are the patrons of shoemakers.
CRITICAL PHILOSOPHY. (See Kant, and
Philosophy.)
CROATIA; a kingdom of the Austrian
monarchy, connected with Hungary. It
is divided into Civil and Military Croatia.
l'he former contains 3665 square miles,
441,000 inhabitants, 7 cities, 16 market
towns, 1827 villages, and consists of the
three counties of Agram, Creutz, and the
Hungarian Littorale (of which the princi-
pal place is Fiume). It is watered by the
Drave, Save, Culpa and Unna, and bound-
ed by Hungary, Sclavonia, Bosnia, Dal-
matia, Illyria and Styria. Military Croa-
tia (see Military Districts) contains 6100,
according to some, 4884, square miles,
with 414,800 inhabitants, in 6 cities, 6
market towns, and 1241 villages. The
inhabitants are Croats and Rascians, mix-
ed with a few Germans and Hungarians.
The Croats, a Sclavonic tribe, are Roman
Catholics, and are known as good sol-
diers, but have made little progress in
science and the arts; nay, they have not
among them even all of the ordinary
mechanics. Their language is the Slave-
no-Horwatic dialect. In Turkish Croatia
(on the Unna and near Bihatsch), they
are Greek Catholics. Civil Croatia is
fertile, and intersected by heights of very
moderate elevation, extending down from
Styria and Carniola. Military Croatia,
however, towards Bosnia and Dalmatia,
has mountains rising to the height of
5400 feet; as, for instance, Wellebit, the
Plissivicza mountains, and the mountains
of Zrin. The climate is healthier than
that of the neighboring Sclavonia, and
mild. The country produces chiefly wine,
tobacco, grain of various sorts, including
maize, fruits, particularly plums, wood,
cattle, horses, sheep, swine, game, fish,
bees, iron, copper, and sulphur.
CROCODILE (crocodilus); a genus of
saurian, or lizard-like reptile, species of
which are found in the old and new
world. That inhabiting the Nile and
other rivers of Africa has been known
for many ages, and celebrated, from the
remotest antiquity, for qualities which
render it terrible to mankind. As the
largest reptile known,* and as the most
ferocious and destructive of the inhabi-
tants of the waters, it could not but com-
mand the attention, and excite the fears,
of those who were near enough to observe
its peculiarities. Few persons have read
the sublime book of Job, without being
struck with the magnificent and terrible
description of the attributes of leviathan
to which alone the characters of the
crocodile correspond. It is not surprising
that the Egyptians, who deified almost
*The skeletons of much larger reptiles have
been discovered within the last half century; but,
certain they had become extinct long before the
from the strata in which they were found, it is
carth was inhabited by man.
CARIO CROCODILE.
every thing, should place among their
gods animals so powerful and destructive,
though a better reason is to be found in
the defence which they afforded against
the incursions of Arabs and other robbers,
who were not fond of adventuring across
canals and rivers frequented by crocodiles.
A regular priesthood and worship were
consecrated to this ferocious deity, and in
the temple of Memphis a sacred individ-
ual of the species was reared with great
care, being abundantly fed, adorned with
jewels, and lodged in a spacious basin,
having offerings and sacrifices made to
him. Being thus fed and managed, the
terrible reptile became sufficiently mild
and tractable to be led about in ceremo-
nial processions. When he died, the
priests embalmed his body, and buried it
in the royal sepulchre! So much for the
wisdom of the nation which is commonly
regarded as the most enlightened of an-
tiquity! The most ancient description of
the crocodile is that given by Herodotus,
in his observations on Egypt, in his first
book. This account, though mingled
with a considerable share of fable, is gen-
erally correct; and some of the errors still
in existence concerning this animal, ap-
pear to be derived from his statement:
such are the stories of the bird which
picks the crocodile's teeth, and that the
animal moves only the upper jaw. The
latter assertion, though utterly incorrect,
is repeated, even at this day, by persons
who have had opportunities of knowing
better from actual observation, had they
not been too much blinded by prejudice
to profit thereby. The genus is charac-
terized by the following peculiarities: The
tail is compressed or broadest vertically;
the posterior feet are wholly or partly
palmated; the tongue attached to the
mouth, even to its very edges, without
being in the least extensible; a single
range of simple pointed teeth; the male
organ single. There are five toes on the
front, four on the hind feet, only three
toes of each foot being provided with
claws. The body, above and below, and
the entire length of the tail, are covered
with square scales or plates, most of those
on the back having ridges or spines of
various lengths: the flanks are only pro-
tected by small round scales. Two rang-
es of spines, forming a double dentated
line, are placed at the base of the tail,
which subsequently unite or form a single
ridge on the remainder of its length. The
ears are externally closed by two fleshy
slips; the nostrils form a long narrow
canal, which only opens interiorly at the
41

back of the throat. The eyes are provid-
ed with three lids; and under the throat
there are two small pouches, which se-
crete a strongly musky substance. Cuvier
has divided the genus into three sub-gen-
era, viz. gavials, having an elongated nar-
row beak or snout; caymans, or alligators,
with broad snouts, and having four lower
teeth to fit into holes excavated for them
in the upper jaw, and crocodiles proper,
having the head oblong, twice as long as
broad, and the four long lower jaw teeth
passing by grooves, and not entering into
cavities in the upper jaw. The gavials
are most common in, if not peculiar to,
the great rivers of India. The alligators
are confined to the new continent, and the
crocodile proper, with a single exception,
to Africa. These reptiles are truly for-
midable, from their great size and strength,
and, if they were not rendered unwieldy
by the length of the body and tail, might
become as dreadful on land as in the
water, where they can act to the greatest
advantage. Where they abound, it is ex-
tremely dangerous to venture into the
rivers for the purpose of bathing, or to be
carelessly exposed in a small boat. On
shore, their shortness of limb, great length
of body, and difficulty of turning, or of
advancing otherwise than directly for-
ward, enable men and animals readily to
escape pursuit. For a crocodile of 12,
15, or 18 feet in length, to turn fairly, it
must necessarily describe a very large
circle. In the water, the vast force it can
exert by means of the long oar-like tail,
amply compensates for want of flexibility,
and renders the animal more than a
match for any of its enemies. The force
with which it darts through the water, in
pursuit of prey, resembles the flight of an
arrow rather than the progression of a
huge animal, and, when engaged in rude
gambols, or in combating with others of
its kind, the waves are lashed into foam,
and may be truly said to "boil like a pot."
The mouth, when expanded, forms a hor-
rible chasm, extending even to the ears,
and armed around its border by strong
pointed teeth. This construction, with
the absence of lips, and the confined posi-
tion of the tongue, show that the action of
the mouth is confined simply to seizing
and tearing the food. These animals are
exclusively carnivorous, feeding on such
animals as frequent the waters, on fish, or
carcasses thrown into the streams they
inhabit. They always prefer their food
in a certain state of putrefaction, and are
found to keep animals killed by them-
selves in the mud, until this process has
4*
42
CROCODILE-CROISADE.

begun. In regard to the general charac-
ter and habits of crocodiles, we might
safely refer to the account given in the
first volume of this work, under the title
Alligator, which has been more carefully
observed. They are so similar in every
respect, that what is said of the American
species, with very slight modification, will
hold good of the African. The crocodile
of Egypt is no longer found, except in the
upper parts of that country, where the
heat is greatest, and the population least
numerous. Anciently, the species was
common nearly to the outlet of the Nile;
and it is stated by Pliny, that they used to
pass the winter months buried in the
mud, in a state of torpidity. They are
still common enough in the river Senegal,
the Jaïre, Joliba, &c. The size to which
these creatures grow is very remarkable,
and would lead us to believe that they live
to a vast age. It is stated by excellent au-
thorities, that individuals have been killed
in Upper Egypt measuring 30 feet in
length. M. Cloquet, who was one of the
French institute, engaged in exploring
that country, while the armies of the re-
public were present, saw a crocodile 25
feet long. A little reflection upon the
muscular power of such a reptile will
We serve to convince us of its ability to com-
mit extensive ravages on the lives of other
creatures. There are numerous particu-
lars connected with the anatomy of these
beings, which are very curious and inter-
esting. Such are the articulations of the
lower jaw with the upper, the joint being
so far back as to cause almost every inci-
dental observer to believe that the upper,
not the lower jaw, is moved in opening
the mouth; the lateral spines on the ver-
tebræ, which prevent the turning of the
body, except in a large circle; the curious
set of ribs designed exclusively for the
protection of the belly, aided by two
broad bones standing on the anterior edge
of the pelvis, which may be compared
with the ossa marsupialia of certain quad-
rupeds; the construction of the external
ears; the apparatus for the protection of
the eye, &c., &c. But for such details,
we are under the necessity of referring
the reader to treatises especially devoted
to their illustration. The species of croc-
odile admitted by Cuvier, in the excellent
researches contained in the 10th and 12th
volumes of the Annales du Muséum, are
the following: 1. the common crocodile
of Egypt (C. vulgaris); 2. the double-
crested (C. biporcatus); 3. the lozenge
crocodile (C. rhombifer); 4. the two-plate
crocodile (C. biscutatus); and 5. the Hay-
tian (C. acutus), the only true crocodile
found in the new world, according to his
definition. The memoirs above referred
to contain very minute and satisfactory
accounts of the discriminating marks of
these species, and to that source the read-
er who desires such information may refer
with great advantage.
CRESUS, the last king of Lydia, lived
in the sixth century before Christ. He
was brave, and augmented his empire by
the conquest of many provinces of Asia
Minor. His riches, which he obtained
chiefly from mines, and the gold dust of
the river Pactolus, were greater than
those of any king before him; and the
expression "riches of Croesus" came to
signify unbounded wealth. Proud of his
treasures, he carried his love of splendor
to extravagance, and thought himself the
happiest of men. Herodotus tells us that
Solon visited him at his court, and, on
being asked by him who was the happiest
man he knew, mentioned, first, Tellus,
then Cleobis and Biton, all three humble
individuals of Greece, who had died in
the midst of a virtuous career. The story
of these individuals, as related by Solon,
is one of the most affecting and charming
passages in the work of the father of his-
tory. Croesus manifested displeasure that
the choice of the sage had not fallen upon
him; but Solon reminded him that no one
can be safely pronounced happy until his
death; and Croesus was soon forced to
acknowledge the truth of the reflection,
having lost two beloved sons by violent
death, and having been conquered him-
self by Cyrus, against whom he had
waged war for the benefit of the Baby-
lonians. He was taken prisoner in his
capital, Sardis, and, having been placed
on a pile in order to be burnt, he three
times exclaimed, "Oh, Solon!" Cyrus,
having learned the meaning of his ex-
clamation, was much moved, ordered him
to descend, took him as his companion in
his wars, and treated him well. The
time of the death of Croesus is not known.
He was alive in the reign of Cambyses,
the son and successor of Cyrus. He is
represented as one of the most pious
among the ancients, constantly laboring
to please the gods. Some historians deny
the interview with Solon; others do not
mention his having been sentenced to be
burnt: at all events, the history, as it is
told in Herodotus, is equalled by few nar-
ratives, true or fictitious, in touching sim-
plicity.
CROCUS. (See Saffron).
CROISADE. (See Crusade).
CROIX-CROMWELL.
CROIX, Saint, is the name of many riv-
ers and places, as is also Santa Croce in
Italian, Santa Cruz in Spanish, and the
compositions with Kreuz in German.
Among the many St. Croix are:
St. Croix, or Schoodic, or Passamaquoddy;
a river of North America, which divides
Maine from New Brunswick, and flows
into Passamaquoddy bay. It is navigable
for ships 25 miles.
St. Croix; a river in the North-West
Territory, which runs into the Mississippi
90 miles below St. Authony's falls. It is
navigable for boats about 100 miles.
St. Croix; a river of Canada, which
runs into the river St. Maurice 33 miles
above Quebec.
CROKER, John W.; first secretary to the
board of admiralty, member of the Brit-
ish parliament, a poet, and an active con-
tributor to the Quarterly Review. He
was born in Dublin, 1781, and, after hav-
ing studied in Trinity college, in that
city, was entered at Lincoln's Inn, and, in
1802, admitted to the Irish bar. In 1807,
he was chosen member of parliament for
Downpatrick (Ireland), and has ever since
retained a seat in that body. In 1809, he
distinguished himself by his activity in
the affair of the duke of York and Mrs.
Clarke, and was rewarded with the ap-
pointment of secretary for Ireland dur-
ing the absence of sir Arthur Wellesley
(duke of Wellington), and soon after with
that of first secretary to the admiralty.
In parliament, he is a fluent speaker, and
an efficient supporter of the ministry. Mr.
Croker has published several literary
works of some merit, which appeared
anonymously. Among them are, Famil-
iar Epistles on the Irish Stage (poetical,
1803); an Intercepted Letter from China
(1805), a Satirical Sketch; State of Ire-
land, past and present (1807); the Battle
of Talavera, a poem, in which the battle
is described with much fire (1809). He
has been one of the most lively and popu-
lar of the regular contributors to the
Quarterly Review. His articles have
been more commonly on literary than
political subjects, and show much tact
and considerable talent. His favorite
weapon is sarcasm. The most of the ar-
ticles on French literature are from his
pen, and display much illiberal preju-
dice, with not a little ignorance of the
subject.
CROMLECH, OF CROMLEH, in British an-
tiquities; huge, broad, flat stones, lying
upon other stones set up on end. They
are common in the isle of Anglesea.
These monuments are described by Mr.
43

Rowland, Dr. Borlase, &c., under the
name of are, or altars. Mr. Rowland,
however, is divided in his opinion, sup-
posing them to have been originally tombs,
but that, in after times, sacrifices were per
formed upon them to the heroes deposit-
ed within. There is an account of king
Harold having been interred beneath a
monument of this kind, in Denmark; and
Mr. Wright discovered, in Ireland, a skel-
eton deposited in one of them. Mr. To-
land mentions a cromlech in Nevern par-
ish, in Pembrokeshire, South Wales, hav-
ing the middle stone 18 feet high and 9
broad towards the base, but narrowing up-
wards; and by it there lay a broken piece,
10 feet in length, which seemed to be of
a weight heavier than 20 oxen could
draw. But at Poitiers, in France, there is
one supported by five lesser stones, much
exceeding all in the British islands, as it is
50 feet in circumference. This he con-
ceives to have been a "rocking-stone."
At Boudoyr, in Anglesea, there is a noble
cromlech, many of the stones being 30
tons in weight.
CROMWELL, Oliver, protector of the
commonwealth of England, Scotland and
Ireland, one of the most powerful charac-
ters that ever rose from a revolution; a
statesman and general, who, with the Bi
ble in one hand, and the sword in the
other, raised and ruled the stormy ele-
ments of political and religious fanati-
cism; with a bold, yet artful ambition,
achieved great enterprises, and planned
still greater; admired, feared, and calumni-
ated by his contemporaries, and first truly
appreciated by after ages, was born at
Huntingdon, April 25, 1599, and descend-
ed from a family which traced its geneal-
ogy through Richard Williams, who as-
sumed the name of Cromwell from his
maternal uncle, Thomas Cromwell, secre-
tary of state to Henry VIII, and through
William ap Yevan, up to the barons of
the 11th century. His father, Robert
Cromwell, proprietor of the borough of
Huntingdon, had a seat in parliament,
but, at the same time, to support a numer-
ous family, undertook a large brewing
establishment. Oliver received a careful
education. Anticipations of future great-
ness early seized upon his imagination.
When a child, he met with several hair-
breadth escapes. During his infancy, a
large ape snatched him out of his cradle,
and, to the terror of the family, mounted
with him to the roof of the house. Some
years after, he was rescued by a clergy-
man from drowning The unusually
strict discipline of the grammar school at
44
CROMWELL.

which he was educated, created a disgust
in the ambitious boy for all prescribed
tasks. While at school, he performed
with great enthusiasm, in the old play of
Lingua, the part of Tactus, who finds a
crown and purple mantle. He retained
an impression, in after life, of having seen,
in his youth, an apparition of a gigantic
woman at his bedside, who told him that
he would become the greatest man in the
kingdom. In his 17th year, he went to
Cambridge, where he studied with zeal,
but, at the same time, carried his fondness
for athletic exercises even to a love of
prawls and combats. After staying there
a year, his mother sent him to study law
in London, where he became a member
of Lincoln's Inn, and spent most of his
time in dissipated company. After re-
maining here a short time, he returned to
reside upon his paternal property, where
he continued his dissolute habits, and had
a quarrel with his uncle. There was a
restlessness in his nature, which made
strong excitements necessary to him; but
he early renounced the vices and follies
of his youth, when, at 21, he espoused
Elizabeth, daughter of sir James Bour-
chier, a woman whose conduct was ever
irreproachable. His change of character
was owing, however, in a great measure, to
his close connexion with a religious sect,
which afterwards became formidable, in a
political view, under the name of Puritans
and Independents. At the same time, he
became a student of theological and mili-
tary works. In 1625, he was member of
parliament, under the reign of Charles I,
from the borough of Huntingdon. Here
he saw, with indignation, the abuses
of public administration, and, by the per-
suasion of the famous Hampden and St.
John, his relations, took the side of the
opposition. Both of them hated the es-
tablished church, and their sentiments
were embraced by Cromwell, whose
spirit was early inclined to enthusiasm.
His heated imagination often made him
believe that he was dying, and the physi-
cians pronounced him a "vaporous and
fanciful hypochondriac." No one but the
penetrating Hampden had a correct idea
of his great talents. In the parliament of
1628, he distinguished himself by his zeal
against popery. After this, he retired to
a farm, made restitution of some money
that he had won in earlier years by gam-
ing, and, from 1635, devoted himself whol-
ly to agriculture at Ely, where he had in-
herited an estate. While in this place, he
prevented the draining of the fens, and
hereby made himself so popular with the
people of the place, that they gave him the
title of "lord of the fens." He afterwards
patronised this measure during his protec-
torate. The storm was already at hand
which was to shake the repose of England.
The king wished to reign without a par-
liament, and the arbitrary manner in which
he imposed taxes, assisted by the prevail-
ing religious feeling and sectarian ani-
mosity, inflamed the passions of men, and
urged them into political conflict. The
opponents of the arbitrary measures of the
government had so little idea of the im-
pending convulsion, that several of them
were making arrangements to embark,
with their families, for New England.
Among those already engaged in this
scheme were Cromwell, Hampden, Pym,
Haselrigg and other men, afterwards so
formidable in the revolution; but the
government forbade their emigration, as
the king was fearful that they would help
to widen the breach that already existed
between the colonies and the English
church. Thus did Charles himself coun-
teract the movements of fortune in his
favor. Cromwell returned to Ely, where
he lived, for a time, a quiet and pious life.
It was at this period that he wrote to his
friend St. John, that "he was ready to do
and to suffer for the cause of his God."
He also held meetings of the sectaries at his
house, and not unfrequently preached and
prayed himself before them. At length, the
king was compelled, by the state of affairs
in Scotland, to summon a parliament.
Cromwell (who was returned member by
the town of Cambridge) and others were
so loud in their complaints of abuses in
church and state, that Charles prorogued
the parliament, but, six months after,
November, 1640, was obliged to reässem-
ble it. In this parliament, called the long
parliament (from November, 1640, to April,
1653) Cromwell attracted notice chiefly by
his rustic and slovenly dress, and by the
vehemence of his oratory, often degenerat-
ing into coarseness. "That sloven," said
Hampden of him, "that sloven hath no
ornament in his speech, but he will be
the greatest man in England, if we should
ever come to a breach with the king." In
the declaration of grievances called the
Remonstrance, which was passed by a
small majority, and which brought on
the civil war, Cromwell took an active
part. He was at this time a sincere Puri-
tan; but his crafty nature soon led him
into the windings of intrigue. On the
breaking out of the war in 1642, being
appointed captain, and afterwards colonel,
he raised a troop of horse composed of
CROMWELL.
zealous Puritans, who were ready to risk
all for the cause of God. The address
with which he infused his own spirit into
his soldiers, and the strict discipline which
he maintained, gave proof of the sagacity
with which he afterwards ruled three
kingdoms. His first military exploit was
the occupation of Cambridge, where, with
puritanical zeal, he seized the university
plate, in the name of God, to defray the
expenses of the war. He then routed
the royalists, and made himself master of
their supplies. This success very much
facilitated the parliament's levies, while it
had the opposite effect on those of the roy-
alists. His troops behaved with remark-
able order, except on occasions when
their religious feelings were excited. He
laid the foundation of his military fame
by the relief of Gainsborough. From
that time, he rivalled in boldness, in decis-
ion, and in presence of mind, the most
practised warriors. At Marston Moor,
July 2, 1644, the cavalry which he had
trained, and which was commanded by
Fairfax and himself, decided the victo-
ry. And now his political influence be-
gan. Both a Puritan and a republican, he
thought with Ireton and Hampden, but
spoke out more boldly and distinctly, and
thus became the prominent leader of the
party that was resolved to carry matters
to the last extremity. But amid all his
real and feigned honesty, he was al-
ready beginning to play the secret part,
for which his sagacity and knowledge of
human nature soon suggested the most
politic course. He constantly served, as
Hobbes remarks, the strongest party, as
well as he was able, and carried matters
with it as far as it wished. Once, indeed,
when he had charged lord Manchester
with cowardice, before parliament, be-
cause, after the battle of Newbury (1643),
he would not permit the cavalry to charge
the enemy on their retreat, from fear that,
if routed, they would all be treated as
rebels and traitors, the earl publicly ac-
cused him of an intention of putting him-
self at the head of the army, and giving
the law to king and parliament. Fortu-
nately for Cromwell, the influence of the
Independents (q. v.) prevented a thorough
investigation of the matter. From that
time, however, the English Presbyterians
regarded him as a dangerous man; and
the commander-in-chief, Essex, joined
with the Scots, who hated Cromwell for
his contemptuous treatment of them, in
seeking his downfall. Upon this, Crom-
well, in concert with his friends, planned
a measure which may be regarded as the
45

masterstroke of his political e inning.
On fast day, he induced the London cler-
gy to preach on the necessity of the par-
liament freeing itself from the charge of
selfish ends, which could be done only by
its members resigning all their lucrative
offices, civil and military, and leaving it
to the Lord to choose other instruments
for bringing to a conclusion so glorious a
work. In consequence of this, the par
liament passed what was called the self-
denying ordinance, in accordance with
which sir Harry Vane, Cromwell, and
others, gave in their resignations, because
the army, as they said, stood in need of a
stricter discipline, and, above all, of more
Christian leaders. The project was car-
ried through; Essex was dismissed, and
the zealous, but irresolute sir Thomas
Fairfax was put in his place. As the
honorable but weak Fairfax did not feel
himself qualified for the duties of general,
he obtained an exemption from the above-
mentioned ordinance for Cromwell, who,
uniting ability with boldness, was again
placed under him, with the command of
the cavalry. Cromwell now introduced
into the whole army the excellent disci-
pline in which he had already trained a
part of it, and gained the decisive battle
of Naseby (June 14, 1645), in which the
king was routed with great loss. Crom-
well got possession of the correspondence
of Charles I with the queen, from which
the parliament published all the passages
which would injure the king and queen
in public opinion. After this victory, and
the capture of Bristol, Cromwell wrote to
the parliament, in that affectedly humble
and sanctified strain, with which he dis-
guised his ambitious designs; "This is
none other but the hand of God, and to
him alone belongs the glory." The spirit
in the army, which the officers, and es-
pecially Cromwell, excited by their ser-
mons and prayers, had now risen to fanat-
icism; at the same time that good order
and morality were so well maintained,
that profanity, drunkenness, robbery, and
the like offences, hardly ever occurred.
By this course, Cromwell succeeded in
crushing the last efforts of the royal party,
which he persecuted with fanatical bit-
terness. Charles I at last took refuge
with the Scotch army; but was sold by
them to the parliament (May 5, 1646) for
their arrears of pay, on which occasion
Cromwell was one of the commissioners.
Contrary to the expectation of the people,
Charles was treated as a prisoner by the
leaders of the war party and the Inde-
pendents, who carried their cruelty so far
46
CROMWELL.

as even to deny him the consolation of
having one of his chaplains with him.
The parliament was now in possession of
the supreme power.
It distributed re-
wards to its adherents, and Cromwell re-
ceived £2500 a year, from the estates of
the marquis of Worcester. But when the
parliament wished to disband the army,
which was infected with the fanatical
spirit of the Independents, the soldiers
appointed, from the creatures of Cromwell
and the wildest visionaries, a council of
officers and a body of subalterns and pri-
vates, called agitators, who insolently de-
clared to the parliament, that they would
not lay down their arms till the freedom
of the nation was established. Some of
the soldiers conducted with so much
boldness, that the parliament ordered their
arrest; on which occasion Cromwell not
only supported the house, but, with tears
in his eyes, deplored the seditious temper
of the troops, which, he said, had even put
his own life in danger. Some of the
members, however, saw in him the secret
mover of those measures, and accordingly
proposed his apprehension; but, on that
very day, Cromwell repaired to the army,
in order, as he wrote to the lower house,
to restore the deluded soldiers to their
duty, and, at the same time, requested
that Fairfax and the other officers would
coöperate with him to this end. On the
same day (June 3, 1647), one of the agi-
tators, Joyce, forcibly carried off the king
from Holmby, and delivered him into the
hands of the army. Cromwell seems at
this time to have contemplated the restor-
ation of the king. But he was convinced,
on a nearer view of the fanatical spirit
that reigned in the army, that he could
not venture such a measure without dan-
ger of his life; besides, he was only
second in command, and could not reckon
on the assistance of the most influential
men, some of whom, as Vane and St.
John, were his equals in cunning, and
others, as Ludlow, Haselrigg, and many
more, his equals in courage. They were
all zealous republicans, and firmly resolv-
ed to destroy monarchy with the mon-
arch. Cromwell seems, too, to have feared
the political principles of his son-in-law,
Ireton. Thus he was finally obliged to
continue in the course which he had
begun, and, in order to preserve the
favor of the army, to make a hypocriti-
cal show of sentiments which he no
longer felt. He personally respected the
king as an upright and conscientious man.
He is said to have connived at his flight
from Hampton court, and to have wished
that he might escape from the kingdom
and spoke with tears of his first meeting
with his children; for Cromwell, in pri-
vate life, was mild and noble in his tem-
per. At last, yielding to the force of cir-
cumstances, he united himself entirely to
the commonwealth party, and, in their
deliberations about the future form of
government, feebly advocated a monar-
chy, which this party called a mischief
and a sin, because they regarded God
alone as their Lord and King. Cromwell
had now learned the disposition of his
people, and, with that coarse levity which
was a leading trait in his character, he
concluded a conference by throwing a
cushion at Ludlow's head, and running
down stairs, where another was thrown
after him in return. The next day, he
said to Ludlow, that he thought the aboli-
tion of the monarchy was desirable, but
hardly practicable. Soon after, Cromwell
had a proof of the strength of his party.
Major Huntingdon accusing him, in par-
liament, of a design to raise, in concert
with Ireton, an army against the parlia-
ment, and establish a military government
under the name of the king, the influence
of the Independents outweighed that of
the Presbyterians; and, as the insurrec-
tions of the Welsh and Scotch were to be
subdued, the parliament did not dare to con-
demn or dismiss a general whose services
were so necessary. Upon this, Cromwell
reduced Wales by a sudden attack; and, as
Fairfax, from Presbyterian scruples, de-
clined the command of the expedition
against Scotland, he undertook it with the
more eagerness, as he knew the weak
condition of the Scotch army, and had,
for many years, heartily hated the Scotch
people. With a much inferior force, he
defeated them at Preston, and was re-
ceived in Edinburgh as a deliverer.
Now followed the tragedy of the king's
execution (see Charles I), who was be-
headed Jan. 29, 1649. Cromwell was
induced to consent to this act by the
advice of Ireton, and took a conspicuous
part in it, as he had not the courage or
the power to prevent it. He carried his
want of feeling so far, as not only to be a
spectator of the execution from a window
fitted up for him, but even to have the
body in the coffin shown to him. The
republic was established, and Cromwell,
as a proof of his republican virtue, resolved
on the death of lord Capel, because, as he
said, the friendship which he felt for this
loyal adherent of the king must be sacri-
ficed to public duty. Yet Cromwell was
not naturally cruel. He shed blood from
CROMWELL.
a politic calculation of his own interest.
He was more afraid of his old friends, the
levellers, than of the royalists. At last, he
succeeded in putting down the former
by strong measures, and then, to the aston-
ishment of his enemies, who wished for
nothing more than his absence, he led his
army to Ireland. Victory was now to
raise him still higher in the favor of the
people. He took Drogheda by storm
(Sept., 1649), where he gave orders that
nothing should be spared. "This bit-
serness," he said, "will save much effu-
sion of blood, through the goodness of
God." Most of the cities opened their
gates without resistance, and Cromwell,
trusting to the terror of his name, though
his army was greatly weakened by sick-
ness, marched boldly into the interior,where
cowardice and treachery every where
yielded him a submissive welcome. With-
in six months, the royalist party in Ireland
was wholly crushed. Resigning the com-
mand to Ireton, he now undertook, at the
request of the parliament, a similiar ex-
pedition against Scotland, where Charles
Stuart, afterwards Charles II, had been
proclaimed king. Cromwell had, at first,
desired that Fairfax should take the com-
mand of the army; but Fairfax had taken
the covenants (see Covenant), and would
not fight against the Scotch. Cromwell
was therefore appointed commander-in-
chief, and marched into Scotland. Being
ignorant of the nature of the country, and
of the situation of the Scotch forces, his
supplies were cut off, his army became
sickly, his retreat was intercepted, and he
must have been forced to surrender at
Dunbar, had the Scotch avoided a battle.
When he saw them advance, he exclaimed,
"The Lord hath delivered them into our
hands!" The victory at Dunbar (Sept. 3,
1650) rid the fortunate general of his ene-
mies the Presbyterians. He then marched
into Edinburgh. Meanwhile king Charles
had collected new forces; but Cromwell,
by skilful marches near Stirling, cut him off
from his points of support, when, contrary
to his expectation, the king entered Eng-
land, and threatened London itself. Every
thing was done to strengthen the army
of Cromwell, who conducted like an active
and resolute general, while, in the royal
camp, irresolution and discord prevailed.
Charies was totally defeated at Worces-
ter, Sept. 3, 1651. This victory, which
Cromwell called the crowning mercy
of God,
gave the commonwealth party full power
over three kingdoms. Cromwell already
exerted a weighty influence on the su-
preme direction of public affairs. He
47

succeeded in restoring the continental rela-
tions of England, which had been almost
entirely dissolved, and regulated them so
as to promote the interests of commerce.
The navigation act, from which may be
dated the rise of the naval power of Eng-
land, was framed upon his suggestion, and
passed in 1651. At the same time, the
general, who was honored by the city of
London as the father of his country, was
aiming at sole sovereignty. The only man
whom he feared, Ireton, was dead. At a
consultation with some members of par-
liament, and the most distinguished offi-
cers, on the form of government to be
established, he recommended a species
of monarchy, but was silent when some
lawyers in the convention proposed the
young duke of Gloucester for king. Mean-
time the long parliament, which was
aiming to establish its own power, was
growing more and more unpopular, in
consequence of its undisguised tyranny,
the war which it had provoked with the
Dutch, and its treatment of the prisoners
taken at Worcester, some of whom were
put to death in prison, and others sold for
slaves in the colonies. A frightful tem-
pest, too, which occurred on the day of
the execution of a London clergyman by
the name of Love, made a deep impres-
sion on the people. And now Cromwell
broke silence. He spoke openly to his
friends of the ambition, the godlessness
and injustice of the parliament. Encour
aged by their support, he at last hazarded
a decisive step, and, with 300 soldiers, dis-
persed that body, "for the glory of God
and the good of the nation." He then
summoned a council of war, in which the
officers finally chose a parliament of 128
persons, selected from the three kingdoms,
which, from Praise-God Barebone, one of
the principal characters in it, by trade a
leather-seller, was nicknamed Praise-God
Barebone's parliament. Cromwell himself
opened the session with a speech, in
which he said, that the day had come, on
which the saints were to commence their
reign upon earth. Fifteen months after, a
new annual parliament was chosen ; but,
after a session of five months, Cromwell
prevailed on this body, who were totally
incapable of governing, to place the charge
of the commonwealth in his hands. The
chief power now devolving again upon
the council of officers (Dec. 12, 1653),
they declared Oliver Cromwell sole gov-
ernor of the commonwealth, under the
name of lord protector, with an assistant
council of 21 men. The new protector
behaved with dignity and firmness. With
48
CROMWELL.

the aid of general Lambert, he formed a
constitution, called the Instrument of Gov-
ernment, by which the protector was in-
vested with the power of peace and war,
and was to summon a parliament once
every three years, which he should not
dissolve under five months; bills presented
to him were to have the force of laws if
not ratified by him within 20 days; and,
on the other hand, he had power to enact
laws, with the consent of his council,
which should be binding in the intervals
of the sessions of parliament. In case of
his death, the council were immediately
to choose a new protector; but no protec-
tor after him was to command the army.
Cromwell, having concluded peace with
Portugal, turned the resources of the state
to the enlargement of its navy and com-
merce. France and Spain courted the
friendship of the fortunate protector, who
at length united with cardinal Mazarin, in
order to increase the colonial power of
England. To make a thorough reduction
of Scotland, he gave orders to general
Monk to plunder every place that made
resistance, and put the garrison to the
sword--orders which were so rigorously
executed by Monk, that terror ensured the
most implicit submission. The nobles
feared, the clergy hated the protector,
while the people, whom he treated with
equity and kindness, loved him, because
they enjoyed much more liberty under
him than before. The protector treated
Ireland with great severity. His act of
pardon was, in reality, a desperate reme-
dy for a desperate evil. The surviving
inhabitants of an island wasted by fire,
sword and pestilence, were compelled to
remove, on penalty of death, to a barren
tract of the province of Connaught, which
was divided among them; the rest of the
island became the property of the con-
querors. Such was the bitter hatred oc-
casioned by the unceasing quarrels of the
Protestants and Catholics. Here, how-
ever, as in Scotland, the protector estab-
lished an equitable form of government,
which, in the course of a few generations,
would have very much improved the
state of the island. But, in England, the
situation of the protector was far from
being secure. A member of parliament
loudly declared, that he could not brook,
after the overthrow of one tyrant, to see
the liberties of the nation shackled by
another, whose prerogative had no meas-
ure but the length of his sword; and
Cromwell met with so much opposition,
that, after the first five months, he dissolved
the parliament. On the whole, his political
administration was masterly, and adapted
to the circumstances of his situation.
He established large magazines of pro-
visions; the pay of the soldiers was regu
larly delivered to them a month in ad-
vance; the public revenues were strictly
and economically managed, without any
additional imposts. He appointed for
judges the most upright and distinguished
men. Among these was the famous sir
Matthew Hale. He never interfered with
the proceedings of the courts of justice.
In religion, he acted on the principle of
toleration. Every man had liberty of
conscience. In other things, too, Crom-
well, as his own correct judgment prompt-
ed, would have governed with mildness
and justice, promoted the arts and sci-
ences, and healed the wounds of the na-
tion; but he was obliged to maintain his
power, as he had acquired it, against his
better will, by a severity often amounting
to tyranny. Equally afraid of the royalists
and the levellers, he could not rely upon
the officers of the army; he did not place
confidence even in the soldiers, and would
have taken a regiment of Swiss for his
body-guard, had he not been fearful of
making himself unpopular, and betraying
his suspicions, by so doing. With the
help of the fanatics, he kept the royalists
in check; and the latter served as a coun-
terpoise to the former. For this reason
he rejected, as much from policy as from
principle, the proposition, which was re-
peatedly made in the council of war, to
massacre all the royalists. They were
obliged, however, to give up a tenth part
of their property, were always looked
upon as enemies, and were denied the
common privileges of a court of justice.
In order to collect the fines imposed on the
royalists, to prosecute those whom he sus-
pected, perhaps also to disunite the army,
the protector divided England into 12
military jurisdictions, and placed over each
a major-general with absolute power, from
whose decisions there was no appeal, ex-
cept to the protector himself; but he speed
ily broke up this odious government of
pachas. On the other hand, he strength-
ened the British navy. The famous admi-
ral Blake, and other naval heroes, fought
several well-contested battles with the
Dutch fleets, under De Ruyter, Tromp
and others. In the peace with Holland
(April 15, 1654), England maintained the
honor ofher flag, and the navigation act gave
a new impulse to the colonial trade. The
skilful and fortunate conduct of the war with
Spain, from 1655 to 1658, in which Jamaica
and Dunkirk were taken, made the new par
CROMWELL.
liament, from which Cromwell had care-
fully excluded all republicans, so obsequi-
ous, that they at last offered him the title
of king. Some individuals, among whom
was Lambert, the second in command of
the army, who was in hopes of being pro-
tector after Cromwell, and the majority
of the officers, opposed the measure so
resolutely, that Cromwell, fearing the fate
of Cæsar, declined the title. His brother-
in-law, Desborough, and his son-in-law,
Fleetwood, also dissuaded him from ac-
cepting it. For this, the parliament, by an
act entitled Humble Petition and Advice,
gave him the title of highness, and the right
of appointing his successor; and he was
a second time solemnly invested by the
speaker with the ensigns of his office-a
velvet mantle of purple color, symbolical
of justice and mercy, the Bible, the staff
and the sword. Cromwell received from
all quarters marks of the highest respect;
yet the incense of admiration did not in-
toxicate his understanding: he saw things
in their true light, with a calm, clear and
careful eye. Shakspeare himself has
portrayed no situation more dramatic
than that of Cromwell; but, unlike the
stupified and despairing Macbeth, the pro-
tector rose in spirit as he rose in fortune.
He renounced the principles with which
he had set out, as untenable. Gladly would
he have repaired the past mischief; but
the men whom he had hitherto used as
instruments were opposed to him, and
the blood of the king was inexpiable.
Charles Stuart, son of the late king, of
fered to allow him to make his own terms,
if he would place him on the throne; and
Cromwell's wife urged him to accept the
proposal; but he answered, "If Charles
Stuart can forgive me all that I have done
against him and his family, he does not
deserve to wear the crown of England."
Cromwell, the lord of three kingdoms, the
mightiest potentate in Europe, the great-
est man in an age of great men, and wor-
thier than any other of his high station,
had he risen by upright means, was un-
happy in the last years of his life. In his
heart, he wished to govern on mild and
constitutional principles; but self-preser-
vation compelled him to be severe and
suspicious. A usurper must be a des-
pot. He at last governed without a par-
liament, since none was pliant enough for
him; and the bigots, who once extolled
him, now called him a shameful tyrant.
Their conspiracies against his life kept
him in continual alarm. He never went
out without a guard; no one knew what
route he would take; he usually turned
VOL. IV.
5
49

back after starting, and took another direc-
tion; he wore a shirt of mail under his
dress, and seldom slept two nights suc-
cessively in the same room. According
to Ludlow's account, he expressed, on his
death-bed, some fears that his memory
would be insulted, and his remains tram-
pled upon. He asked his preacher, wheth-
er it was true that the elect could never
finally fall; and, when assured that it was
so, Cromwell rejoined, "Then I am safe
for I am sure that once I was in a state of
grace."
"The powerful medicines which
were administered to him, while his body
was weakened by the tertian ague, brought
on a kind of insanity. He assured his
physicians, as the fanatics about him had
persuaded him to believe, that he should
not die, whatever they might think of his
situation; "for God was far above nature,
and God had promised his people his
recovery." His last words appeared to
be those of a person interceding with God
for the people. Cromwell died Sept. 3,
1658, at the age of 59, and was buried in
Westminster abbey. Most of the Euro-
pean courts went into mourning for him,
even that of Versailles. Great as a gen-
eral, Cromwell was still greater as a civil
ruler. He lived in a simple and retired
way, like a private man, without any
parade or ostentation. He was abstemi-
ous, temperate, indefatigably industrious,
and exact in his official duties. His exte-
rior inspired neither love nor confidence;
his figure had neither dignity nor grace;
his conversation and manners were rude
and vulgar; his voice was harsh; in his
public speeches, he expressed himself with
force and fire, but without method or taste.
On the other hand, he possessed extraor
dinary penetration and knowledge of hu
man nature; no one knew so well as he
the art of winning men and using them to
his purposes. He devised the boldest
plans with a quickness, equalled only by
the decision and intrepidity with which
he executed them. No obstacle deterred
him; and he was never at a loss for ex-
pedients. His coins bore the motto Par
quæritur bello. Cool and reserved, but ful!
of great projects, he patiently waited for
the favorable moment, and failed not to
make use of it. Under the guise of piety
and virtue, he practised the most subtle
Machiavellism; yet he was, in truth, an
upright and tolerant Calvinist. As his
political interest was often at variance with
his real sentiments, he sometimes showed
himself cruel, sometimes moderate, even
towards his avowed enemies. In his in-
tercourse with others, he often indulged in
50
CROMWELL.

low and scurrilous jests, frivolity and
coarseness, which agreed as ill with his
iron sternness of character, as with the
noble spirit which breathes in some of his
speeches, and with the force of his oratory,
which swayed not only the ignorant and
fanatical soldiery, but also the more en-
lightened parliament. His elevation was
the fruit of injustice and deceit; and, on
his death, his family soon sunk into ob-
scurity. He had appointed his eldest son,
Richard, his successor; but the republican
and religious fanaticism of the army and
officers, with Fleetwood at their head,
now subverted, as it had formerly served,
the projects of Cromwell. The mild and
virtuous Richard was compelled, by the
mutinous officers, to dissolve the parlia-
ment; and, a few days after, conscious of
his incapacity, he voluntarily abdicated
the protectorship, April 22, 1659. His
brother Henry, who had talent, bravery
and mildness of temper, and who, from
1654, had governed Ireland in tranquillity,
improved its trade, and won the affections
of the people by his upright administra-
tion, followed the example of Richard,
and died in privacy in England. Richard
lived in narrow circumstances, his proper-
ty being nearly exhausted in the expenses
of his father's funeral. At the restoration,
he went to the continent, and returned to
England in 1680, and, assuming the name
of Clark, passed the remainder of his days
in tranquil seclusion, at Cheshunt, in Hert-
fordshire. He died in 1712, at the age of
86. His father's corpse, by the command
of Charles II, was dug up in 1661, hanged,
and buried under the gallows. For fur-
ther information respecting the life of
Cromwell, the reader may consult Claren-
don and Hume, Ludlow's Memoirs, and
those of Whitelocke and Noble; also the
accounts of him by Banks, Jeudy Dugour
(Paris, 1795), and Villemain's Histoire de
Cromwell (Paris, 1819, 2 vols.); besides
these, the collections of Cromwell's let-
ters and state papers, by Carte, 1736, and
Nichols, 1743, published at London. A de-
cendant of the family, Oliver Cromwell,
published Memoirs of the Protector Oliver
Cromwell, and of his Sons, Richard and
Henry (London, 1820, 4to.). See the fol-
lowing rticle.ping to and palm
CROMWELL, Oliver, a gentleman re-
cently deceased, was the great-grandson
of Henry Cromwell, son of the protector.
He practised as a solicitor in Essex street
(London) for several years, and was clerk
to St. Thomas's ospital. He succeeded
to the estate of Theobald's, which de-
scended to him through the children of
Richard Cromwell, eldest son of the pro-
tector, and died at Cheshunt park, Hert-
fordshire, May 31, 1821, aged 79. He
wrote the Memoirs of the Protector, Oli-
ver Cromwell, and his Sons, Richard and
Henry, illustrated by Original Letters and
other Family Papers (London, 1820, 4to.).
CROMWELL, Thomas, earl of Essex,
was the son of a blacksmith at Putney, in
Surrey, and was born about the year 1490.
In his youth, he was employed as clerk to
the English factory at Antwerp. In 1510,
he went to Rome, and, on his return to
England, became the confidential servant
of cardinal Wolsey. On his master's dis-
grace, in 1529, Cromwell defended him
with great spirit, in the house of com-
mons, of which he was then a member,
and effectually opposed the articles of trea
son brought against Wolsey. After the
cardinal's death, he was taken into the
king's service, into which he entered with
zeal, but with little consideration or re-
gard for others. He was knighted and
made a privy counsellor, and, in 1534, be-
came principal secretary of state and
master of the rolls. In 1535, he was ap-
pointed visitor-general of all the monas-
teries in England, in order to suppress
them. In this office, he acted with great
severity and injustice. His services were
rewarded by the situation of lord keeper
of the privy seal, and a seat in the house
of peers, with the title of baron Cromwell
of Okeham. On the abolition of the
pope's supremacy, he was created king's
vicar-general, and used all his influence
to promote the reformation. He caused
articles of religion to be published by the
royal authority, acknowledging only three
sacraments, and speaking doubtfully of
purgatory. He was made chief justice
itinerant of the forests beyond Trent,
knight of the garter, and finally, in 1539,
earl of Essex, and lord high chamberlain
He at length fell into disgrace with the
king, for the interest he took in promoting
his marriage with Anne of Cleves. Her
person proved disagreeable to Henry,
who fell in love with Catharine Howard
a lady allied to the principal Catholic
families; and, in consequence of her in-
fluence and the royal displeasure, Crom-
well was arrested at the council table on
a charge of treason, committed to the
Tower, and condemned without a hearing
He was beheaded on Tower-hill, July 28.
1540, declaring that he died in the faith
of the Catholic church, from which he
confessed he had been seduced.
bore his good fortune with moderation,
was charitable to the poor, and willing to
He
CROMWELL-CROSS.
benefit the deserving. The Protestants
praise him for his industry and solidity, and
all the qualities which fitted him for the
management of important affairs; while
the Papists dwell on his violence, ambition
and injustice. He always gratefully return-
ed any favors he had received while in an
humble condition. He left a son, who was
created lord Cromwell, which title remain-
ed in the family for several generations.
CRONION. (See Jupiter.)
CRONOS. (See Saturn.)
CRONSTADT, OF BURZENLAND (in Hun-
garian, Brassau); a free royal city of Tran-
sylvania, in the Land of the Saxons, 25
leagues E. S. E. of Hermanstadt, 31 N.
N. W. of Bucharest, with a citadel; lat.
45° 36' 30" N.; lon. 25° 43' 47" E. It con-
tains six Lutheran, one Roman Catholic,
two Greek Catholic churches, one Luther-
an gymnasium, one normal school; 25,000
inhabitants. Its commerce, chiefly with
Walachia, is very brisk.
CRONSTADT, OF KRONSCHTAT; a sea-
port and fortress of Russia, in the govern-
ment of St. Petersburg, situated on the
south-eastern extremity of the island of
Retusari, in the gulf of Finland, two miles
from the coast of Ingria, and eight from
that of Carelia, at the mouth of the Neva.
It was founded by Peter I in 1710. Some
of the streets are tolerably regular; but
the houses are in general built of wood,
and there is scarcely any pavement. The
principal public buildings are the imperial
hospital for sailors, the civil hospital, the
barracks, the English and German church-
es, &c. The population amounts to about
40,000, of whom at least 10,000 are sail-
ors. The harbor is very spacious, and
consists of the three divisions of the mer-
chants' harbor, the war harbor, and the
man of war's mole. The war harbor is
the principal station of the Russian fleet.
Adjoining it are the docks for building
and careening ships of war. They can
hold ten men of war, and are faced with
stone and paved with granite: they are
40 feet deep and 105 broad. The man
of war's mole is an interesting structure,
enclosed by a strong rampart of granite,
built in the sea, under the direction of the
late admiral Greig. Here is a foundery for
casting cannon, and a ropewalk for manu-
facturing cables of all sizes, with great
magazines of naval stores. Cronstadt is
defended towards the sea by two fortifi-
cations, called Cronschlot, on the Neva,
where this river is 2000 paces wide,
and towards the land by ramparts and
bastions. About 1100 vessels enter and
leave the port annually. The principal
51

exports from this harbor are iron, flax,
hemp, linseed, oil and tar. 22 miles west
St. Petersburg. Lon. 29° 49′ 30″ E.; lat.
59° 59′ 26" N.
CROSIER; a tall staff of silver or gold,
curved at the upper end, which is car-
ried before bishops, abbots and abbesses,
as an ensign expressive of their dignity,
while they are exercising the functions of
their office; and the figure of which is
also borne in their coat of arms. When
bestowing the blessing upon the people,
they take the staff into their own hands.
It was originally a shepherd's crook, the
bishops being regarded as the pastors of
their dioceses. By degrees the humble
emblem became highly adorned, and was
made of costly materials. Artists like
Benvenuto Cellini and Giovanni da Bo-
logna were employed to make it. The
investiture of the bishop is indicated by
the delivery of the crosier. Some say
that the crosier was originally only a sim-
ple staff, which, from the earliest times, has
been given as an emblem of authority to
judges, kings, &c. In conformity to this
explanation, St. Isidore says that bishops
bear the staff because they have the right
to correct the erring, and the duty to sup-
port the weak. The excess of splendor
lavished in later times upon this instru-
ment, gave occasion to the following sa-
tirical lines:
Au temps passé du siècle d'or,
Crosse de bois, evesque d'or:
Maintenant changent les loix,
Crosse d'or, evesque de bois.
CROSS; one straight body laid at any
angle upon another; the ensign or em-
blem of the Christian religion, as being a
representation of the instrument of pun-
ishment, on which Jesus Christ suffered
death from the Jews; the form in which
many churches and cathedrals are built.
The cross of the ancients was simply a
piece of wood, fastened across a tree or
upright post, on which were executed
criminals of the very worst class. After
the crucifixion of Jesus, and the exten-
sion of the Christian religion, the cross was
assumed as the ensign of his followers.
The cross was used emblematically be-
fore the Christian era. Upon a multitude
of medals and ancient monuments, are to
be found crosses placed in the hands of
statues of Victory, and of figures of em-
perors. It was also placed upon a globe,
which, ever since the days of Augustus,
has been the sign of the empire of the
world and the image of victory. The
shields, the cuirasses, the helmets, the im-
perial cap, were all thus decorated. The
52
CROSS.

cross has also been often stamped upon
the reverses of money, as is proved by
the old English game of cross and pile.
The coins struck at Constantinople, and
those of the Franks from the time of
Clovis, were also thus marked. Exam-
ples of these are given in the dissertation
by Ducange, Sur les Médailles Byzantines,
and in the treatise by Le Blanc, Sur les
Monnaies de France. The cross is now
the universal Christian emblem, being
used upon the arms and banners of the
soldier, the vestments of the priest, and
in the armorial bearings of nobles. The
forms of cathedrals, and often the pat-
terns of their pavements, are adapted to
the representation of the cross, which is
also sculptured and elevated upon tombs
and sepulchres. Sculptured crosses of
various descriptions, elevated upon hand-
some pedestals, were formerly erected in
cemeteries and market-places, to designate
peculiar events; as the queen's crosses at
Northampton, Waltham, &c. Very fine
ones are still to be seen in many parts of
Great Britain, and particularly in Ireland.
In order to understand the meaning of
the sign of the cross among the first
Christians, it must be kept in mind, that
the cross was in their time an instrument
of infamous punishment, like the gallows
at present, and that they assumed this
sign to show that they gloried in being
the followers of Christ, notwithstanding
the infamy which had been attempted to
be thrown upon him, by the manner of
his execution. The custom of making
the sign of the cross, in memory of Jesus,
may be traced to the 3d century of our era.
Constantine the Great had crosses erected
in public places, in palaces and churches.
This emperor is generally supposed to
have been the first who ordered the
cross to be used as the sign or emblem
under which he would fight and con-
quer, in remembrance of the miraculous
appearance of a cross in the heavens.
A certain legend relates that, before his
battle with Maxentius, a cross appeared to
him, bearing the words Tour Vika (Under
this thou shalt conquer, In hoc signo vinces),
in consequence of which he had a stand-
ard made bearing this image, and called
labarum. It was customary, in his time, to
paint a cross at the entrance of a house,
to denote that it belonged to a Christian.
Subsequently, the churches were, for the
greater part, built in the form of this in-
strument. But it did not become an ob-
ject of adoration, until the empress Hele-
na (Constantine's mother) found a cross
in Palestine, which was believed to be
the one on which Christ suffered, and
conveyed a part of it to Constantinople.
This is the origin of the festival of the
finding of the cross, which the Catholic
church celebrates on the third of May.
Standards and weapons were now orna-
mented with it, and the emperor Herac-
lius thought he had recovered the palla-
dium of his empire, when he gained pos-
session of a piece of the true cross, in 628,
which had fallen into the hands of the Per-
sians, in 616. In memory of this event, the
festival of the exaltation of the cross was
instituted, Heraclius having caused the
cross to be erected at Jerusalem, on mount
Calvary. This festival is celebrated on
the 14th of September. It is remarkable
how this holy relic became multiplied.
Numberless churches possessed some
parts of it, the miraculous power of which
was said to have been proved by the most
astonishing facts; and many persons ac-
tually believed that it could be infinitely
divided without decreasing. It was in
vain that the Iconoclasts, who condemned
the worship of images, attempted to over-
throw the adoration of the cross. The
crucifix was considered as a principal ob
ject of worship, in preference to the im-
ages of the saints, and, in compliance with
the teachings of John of Damascus, was
adored, during the 7th century, in all the
churches of the East. That the West
also ascribed a mysterious power to this
symbol, is evident from the use which
was made of it in the trials "by the judg-
ment of God," in the middle ages. There
never has existed any sign, which has
been so often repeated in works of art as
the cross. This may be ascribed, in part,
to its form being applicable to many more
purposes than those of other emblems;
such, for instance, as the crescent. The
distinguishing cipher of the Jesuits is
IIS, which signifies In hac cruce salus, or
Jesus, in Greek letters, and abbreviated.
Crosses have been the badge of number-
less orders, military and civil. To make
the sign of the cross, is thought by many
people, in Catholic countries, a defence
against evil spirits, evil influences, &c.
The Greeks make this sign constantly,
hardly taking a glass of raky without
signing the cross over it. Catholic bish-
ops, archbishops, abbots and abbesses
wear a small golden cross. The Catholic
penediction is generally performed by,
making the sign of the cross over the
object. There are different kinds of
crosses, as the common cross, +, St. An-
drew's cross, X, &c. (See the article Ad
CROSS-CROTCH.
oration.) Two sorts of crosses are used
for the forms of churches, the Greek and
the Latin. The Greek cross has its arms
at right angles, and all of equal length;
whereas the Latin cross has one of its
limbs much longer than the other three.
Bramante originally designed St. Peter's
for a Latin cross; Michael Angelo reduced
it to the proportions of the Greek cross;
but Carlo Maderno again elongated it to
the original dimensions of Bramante.
The cathedral of St. Paul's, London, is a
Latin cross, with its base spread by a sort
of second transept, which increases the
breadth of the western front.
Cross, in baptism. In the administra-
tion of the ordinance of baptism, the
practice of making the sign of the
cross on the forehead of the person bap-
tized, was adopted at an early period,
though not enjoined by any express
command, or sanctioned by any known
example in scripture. The use of the
cross, indeed, was very frequent in the
primitive ages of Christianity. Such was
the respect paid to it, that it formed,
in one mode or another, a distinguishing
part of the civil and religious ceremonies
of those times. The first Christian writer
who mentions it in connexion with bap-
tism, is Tertullian, who wrote after the
middle of the 2d century. This writer
says (De Cov. Mil. c. 2), that "at every
setting out, or entry upon business, when-
ever we come in or go out from any
place, when we dress for a journey, when
we go into a bath, when we go to meat,
when the candles are brought in, when
we lie down or sit down, and whatever
business we have, we make on our fore-
heads the sign of the cross;" and, speak-
ing of baptism, in his treatise De Carn.
Resur., he says, "the flesh is signed that
the soul may be fortified."
Cross-bearer (porte-croix, cruciger), in
the Roman Catholic church, the chaplain
of an archbishop, or a primate, who bears
a cross before him on solemn occasions.
The pope
pope has the cross borne before him
every where; a patriarch any where out
of Rome; and primates, metropolitans,
and those who have a right to the pallium,
throughout their respective jurisdictions.
Gregory XI forbade all patriarchs and
prelates to have it borne in the presence
of cardinals. A prelate bears a single
cross, a patriarch a double cross, and the
pope a triple one on his arms.
CROSS-BAR SHOт are shots with iron
bars crossing through them, sometimes
standing out 6 or 8 inches at both sides.
They are used at sea for injuring the ene-
53

my's rigging, and in sieges, for destroying
the palisades in the covert-way, ditches,
&c.
CROSS-Bow, or ARBALIST; formerly a
very common weapon for shooting, but not
long used in war after the invention of
fire-arms. It is a strong wooden or steel
bow, fixed to a stock, stretched by the
spanner, and shot off by the trigger fixed
to the stock. All kinds of weapons, in
which the bow was fastened to the stock,
were called cross-bows, some of which
were attached to carriages, and drawn by
horses. There was a small kind, from
which were shot little balls. To the
larger sort were attached instruments for
bending the bow. There are some socie-
ties still existing in Germany, who exer-
cise with the cross-bow; for instance, in
Aix-la-Chapelle. (See Archery.)
CROSS EXAMINATION; the examination
of a witness called by one party, by the
opposite party or his counsel.
CROSS FIRE, in the art of war, is when
the lines of fire, from two or more parts
of a work, cross one another. It is
frequently made use of to prevent an
enemy's passing through a defile. The
flanks, as well as the faces of two adjoin-
ing bastions, afford the means of cross
fire, as do also the faces of two adjoining
redoubts.
CROTCH, William, in his infancy a mu-
sical prodigy, was born at Norwich, Eng.,
July 5, 1775. His father, a carpenter, had
made a little organ for his amusement,
and, one evening, when a friend was play-
ing on the instrument, and singing at the
same time, the child became so excited,
that the parents were anxious to account
for the cause: their surprise was extreme,
when they remarked the delight with
which the child touched the keys, when
his mother carried him to the organ
The following morning, his father placed
him at the instrument, when he repeated
several passages from airs which he had
heard performed. After this, the boy was
permitted to play on the organ, when-
ever he was inclined. He learnt different
airs with facility, and often intermixed
passages of his own composition, which
were always harmonious, as he had a
natural aversion to discords. This prodi-
gy of two years old was frequently called
on to amuse the public by his extraordina-
ry talent. In November, 1778, his mother
took him to Cambridge, and, in December,
to London, where the boy excited universal
astonishment by his performance on the
organ. In 1779, he played before the
court of St. James with great applause.
5*
54
CROTCH-CROUP.

his infantine, playful manner prepossess-
ing every one in his favor. Whatever he had
once heard he could repeat, and often with
variations. In every other respect, Crotch
was a perfect child, animated, petulant,
sometimes obstinate, and of a weak frame.
He now received regular instruction, first
at Cambridge, then in the college of St.
Mary, at Oxford. Here he was chosen
organist, in his 18th year, and likewise
studied drawing and painting, in which
he made rapid progress. After he had
been appointed doctor and professor in
Oxford, he proceeded to London, where
he delivered lectures on music in the
Royal and Surry institution, and gave
lessons on the piano during 20 years. He
now lives at Fulham, near London, and
has not appeared in public for several
years. He is a well informed and modest
man. His musical publications consist of
arrangements of compositions for the pi-
ano-forte from the first masters, and an in-
teresting collection of characteristic pieces
for the different musical styles of compo-
sition, entitled Specimens of various Styles
of Music (3 vols., folio). Only one work
of his has created a sensation amongst the
musical connoisseurs in England-his ora-
torio called Palestine. It is evident that
Crotch has more capacity for acquiring
than inventing.
CROTONA, also CROTO, in ancient ge-
ography; a Greek republic in Magna
Græcia, or South Italy. Livy gives the
circumference of the city of Crotona at
12,000 paces. This city was famous for
producing the strongest athlete. Milo,
e. g., was born here. Under the Ro-
mans, Crotona was infamous for luxury
and dissoluteness. The ruins of this
place are still to be seen above Capo della
Colonna.
Video
CROTON OIL is expressed from the
seeds of an East Indian plant, the croton
tiglium, and is one of the most valuable
of the late additions to the materia medi-
ca. It is so strongly purgative, that one
drop is a full dose, and half a drop will
sometimes produce a powerful effect. It
is also found to produce the same effect
when rubbed upon the tongue, or even
upon the skin. It is so active, that it
should never be used but under the direc-
tion of an experienced physician. In the
hands of such, it is of great value, as its
small bulk and insipid taste render it ser-
viceable in cases in which no common
medicine can be used, and its great power
makes it operate when other medicines
fail. It has been given to the extent of
8 or 10 drops, in a bad case of ileus, which
it cured, without producing any bad symp-
toms. It should, however, be used with
great caution.
CROUP; a disease that mostly attacks
infants, who are suddenly seized with a
difficulty of breathing and a crouping
noise; it is an inflammation of the mu-
cous membrane of the windpipe, induc-
ing the secretion of a very tenacious,
coagulable lymph, which lines the air
passages and impedes respiration. The
croup does not appear to be contagious,
whatever some physicians may think to
the contrary; but it sometimes prevails
epidemically. It seems, however, pecu-
liar to some families; and a child, having
once been attacked, is very liable to a
return. It is confined to young children,
and has never been known to attack a
person arrived at the age of puberty. The
application of cold seems to be the gen-
eral cause which produces this disorder,
and therefore it occurs more frequently in
the winter and spring than in the other
seasons. It has been said, that it is most
prevalent near the sea-coast; but it is
frequently met with in inland situations,
and particularly those which are marshy.
Some days previous to an attack of the
disease, the child appears drowsy, inac-
tive and fretful; the eyes are somewhat
suffused and heavy; and there is a cough,
which, from the first, has a peculiarly
shrill sound; this, in the course of two
days, becomes more violent and trouble-
some, and likewise more shrill. Every
fit of coughing agitates the patient very
much; the face is flushed and swelled,
the eyes are protuberant, a general tremor
takes place, and there is a kind of convul-
sive endeavor to renew respiration at the
close of each fit. As the disease ad-
vances, a constant difficulty of breathing
prevails, and the head is thrown back in
the agony of attempting to cscape suffo-
cation. There is not only an unusual
sound produced by the cough (something
between the yelping and barking of a dog),
but respiration is performed with a hissing
noise, as if the windpipe was closed up
by some slight, spongy substance. The
cough is generally dry; but if any thing
is spit up, it has either a purulent appear-
ance, or seems to consist of films resem-
bling portions of a membrane. Where
great nausea and frequent retchings pre-
vail, coagulated matter of the same nature
is brought up. With these symptoms,
there is much thirst, and an uneasy sense
of heat over the whole body a continual
inclination to change from place to place,
great restlessness, and frequency of the
CROUP-CROW.
pulse. In an advanced stage of the dis-
ease, respiration becomes more stridulous,
and is performed with still greater diffi-
culty, being repeated at longer periods,
and with greater exertions, until, at last, it
ceases entirely. The croup frequently
proves fatal by suffocation, induced either
by spasm affecting the glottis, or by a
quantity of matter blocking up the air pas-
sages; but when it terminates in health,
it is by a resolution of the inflammation,
by a ceasing of the spasms, and by a free
expectoration of the matter exuding from
the trachea, or of the crusts formed there.
The disease has, in a few instances, ter-
minated fatally within 24 hours after its
attack; but it more usually happens, that
where it proves fatal, it runs on to the
4th or 5th day. Where considerable por-
tions of the membranous films, formed on
the surface of the trachea, are thrown up,
life is sometimes protracted for a day or
two longer than would otherwise have
happened. Dissections of children, who
have died of the croup, have mostly shown
a preternatural membrane, lining the whole
internal surface of the upper part of the
trachea, which may always be easily sep-
arated from the proper membrane. There
is likewise usually found a good deal of
mucus, with a mixture of pus, in the wind-
pipe and its ramifications. The treat-
ment of this disease must be conducted on
the strictly antiphlogistic plan. It will
commonly be proper, where the patient is
not very young, to begin by taking blood
from the arm or the jugular vein; several
leeches should be applied along the fore
part of the neck. It will then be right to
give a nauseating emetic, ipecacuanha
with tartarized antimony, or with squill, in
divided doses; this may be followed up
by cathartics, diaphoretics, digitalis, &c.
Large blisters ought to be applied near the
affected part, and a discharge kept up by
savin cerate, or other stimulant dressing.
Mercury, carried speedily to salivation,
has in several instances arrested the prog-
ress of the disease, when it appeared pro-
ceeding to a fatal termination. As the
inflammation is declining, it is very im-
portant that free expectoration should take
place. This may be promoted by nauseat-
ing medicines, by inhaling steam, and by
stimulating gargles, for which the decoc-
tion of seneka is particularly recommend-
ed. Where there is much wheezing, an
occasional emetic may relieve the patient
considerably, and, under symptoms of
threatening suffocation, the operation of
bronchotomy has sometimes saved life.
Should fits of spasmodic difficulty of
55

breathing occur in the latter periods of
the disease, opium, joined with diapho-
retics, would be most likely to do good.
Napoleon, on the occasion of the death
of his nephew, the prince of Holland, of
this disease, offered a premium of 12,000
francs for the best treatise on the croup.
Of 83 essays, which were presented to the
committee of 12 members assembled for
the examination at Paris, in 1811, two
were acknowledged as the best, one by
Iurine, in Geneva, and the other by Albers,
of Bremen, between whom the prize was
divided.
CROUSAZ, John Peter de, a celebrated
mathematician and philosopher, was born
at Lausanne, in 1660. He early distin-
guished himself by his progress in mathe-
matics and philosophy, under able pro-
fessors at Geneva and Lausanne, apply-
ing himself particularly to the writings of
Descartes. In 1682, he went to the uni-
versity of Leyden, and thence proceeded
to Paris, where he became acquainted
with the celebrated father Malebranche,
who, with other celebrated men, vainly
endeavored to convert him to the Catholic
religion. On returning to his native coun-
try, he was ordained minister, appointed
honorary professor, and remained pastor
of the church at Lausanne. In 1699, he
was made professor of Greek and of phi-
losophy in the academy of Lausanne, ap-
pointed rector in 1706, and again in 1722.
In 1724, he was chosen mathematical and
philosophical professor at the university at
Groningen. In 1732, he was nominated
counsellor of embassies to the king of
Sweden, and, in 1737, elected professor
of philosophy and mathematics at Lau-
sanne. His works are distinguished for
learning, liberality and acuteness. The
principal are, A System of Reflections that
may contribute to the Illustration and Ex-
tension of Knowledge, or a new Essay on
Logic (in 6 vols., 12mo., 1741); Summa
Logica (1724); a Treatise on Education;
Examen du Pyrrhonisme ancien et mo-
derne; Géométrie des Lignes et des Surfaces
rectilignes et circulaires; Examen de l'Es-
sai de M. Pope; Commentaire sur la Tra-
duction de l'Essai de M. Pope, de l'Abbé du
Resnel; Traité du Beau; a Treatise on
the Human Understanding.
CROW (corvus, L.); a genus of birds
remarkable for their gregarious and preda-
tory habits, distinguished by the following
characters: The bill is straight, convex
and compressed, being covered at its base
by incumbent, bristly feathers; the upper
mandible is curved at tip, the lower is a
little shorter, carinated on both sides, and
56
CROW

slightly ascending at the extremity; the
nostrils are placed on the base of the bill,
and are patulous, though covered by the
incumbent feathers; the tongue is short,
cartilaginous, acute and bifid at tip; the
tarsus scarcely exceeds the middle toe in
length; the toes are separated almost to
the base, and the middle one is the longest;
the nails are moderate, pointed, hollow
beneath, and sharp-edged, the hind one
being generally longest; the wings are
subelongated, acute, the first primary short,
third or fourth longest; the tail consists of
twelve feathers. Four species of this
genus, as at present restricted, are found
in North America-the raven (C. corax);
the crow (C. corone); fish-crow (C. ossi-
fragus); and Clark's crow (C. columbia-
nus). These and other members of the
genus are very extensively spread over
the globe, and are almost equally distin-
guished for their remarkable sagacity, and
the amount of mischief which they occa-
sion where they are very numerous. The
raven is by no means common in the Mid-
dle States of the Union, but is found in
considerable numbers, in the vicinity of
the northern lakes, and the interior of the
Union. This is the largest species of its
tribe, very little inferior in size to a com-
mon cock, being 26 inches in length, and
more than 3 feet from the tip of one wing
to that of the other. The plumage is of a
very glossy black, with some reflections
of bluish purple on the back. The female
is less purely black than the male, and a
little smaller. The raven, when on the
ground, marches at a grave and stately
pace: his favorite haunts are the vast soli-
tudes of rocks and forests, whence he sel-
dom emerges except called by hunger,
and then never in large flocks, like the
crows. The ordinary food of the raven,
and that which he prefers, is putrefying
animal matter, which this bird discovers,
by the acuteness of his sense of smelling,
at great distances, and flies to the feast
with unerring precision. When carrion
is not attainable, the raven feeds on various
fruits, insects, dead fish, &c. Judging by
the habits of the crow and other kindred
species, there is no question but the ra-
ven, when pressed by hunger, will kill
small birds or other animals coming with-
in its reach. They have been known to
pluck the eyes out of the heads of lambs
and sick animals unable to drive them
away. Birds so voracious and destruc-
tive cannot be regarded otherwise than
injurious in a poor country, though in a
rich one, their services, as scavengers and
destroyers of the larves of noxious insects,
might more than counterbalance their
mischief.* Like most of their tribe, ra-
vens have a considerable talent for imi-
tating sounds, and may be taught to pro-
nounce words with remarkable distinct-
ness. When domesticated, they become
very bold and impudent, fearless of dogs
or cats, and fighting fiercely with them
when provoked: sometimes, indeed, their
insolence renders them dangerous inmates,
as they will wound children, and even
grown persons, with their powerful bill.
They also participate in the disposition
common to most of their fraternity, to
steal and hide pieces of money, plate, and
other shining objects, which cannot be of
the slightest use to the purloiner. The
raven is a model of conjugal fidelity, hav-
ing but one female, to whom he remains
attached, most probably, for life. Obser-
vations were made on one pair by lord
Ross, during 30 years, and there can be
but little doubt, that the union was only
interrupted by death. Their nests are
commonly placed in chinks of rocks, lofty
old walls, or the tops of tall, insulated
trees, and are made externally of roots
and branches of shrubs; a second layer is
then formed of animal bones, or other hard
materials, and this is covered with a bed
of soft grass or moss. About the month
of March, the female lays 5 or 6 pale-
green and bluish eggs, speckled with very
numerous spots and touches of a darker
color. The incubation continues for 20
days, and both parents participate in it.
The male also defends the nest courage-
ously against the approach of hawks and
other birds of prey, and provides for the
subsistence of his companion. The young
remain with the parents throughout the
summer succeeding their hatching, and,
when able to provide for themselves, are
sent off to establish new colonies else-
where. The flight of the raven is very
lofty, and its power of wing great, so that
it is able to pass over immense spaces in a
short time. Few birds are more numerous
and annoying to the farmers of the Atlan-
tic States than the common crow (C. co-
rone), which, throughout a considerable
part of the year, collects in astonishingly
large flocks, and makes destructive descents
upon newly-planted maize and other grain.
In this species, it seems as if all the evil
propensities of the race were united and
augmented. Exceedingly cunning in de-
*In England, the rook (C. frugilegus) is not
allowed to be killed, and a large rookery is con-
sidered a valuable appendage to an estate. The
young are obtained from the nest, and considered
very fine for the table.
WCROW.
57

to be obliged to keep several persons con-
tinually on guard in the fields. When the
corn has shot up an inch or two above the
surface, a host of these black-coated plun-
derers invade the fields, and, having posted
sentinels in several commanding situa-
tions, march regularly along the corn-
rows, drawing up the grain, pulling skil-
fully by the shoot, and then swallowing
the germinating corn. Among the most
successful experiments made to prevent
the crows from doing this mischief is that
of coating the seed corn with a mixture
of tar, oil, and a small quantity of slacked
lime, in powder. The ingredients being
mixed in a tub, the seed corn is stirred in
it until each grain receives a thorough
coating of the mixture. This preparation,
as it necessarily keeps the grain from
being readily affected by moisture, is found
to retard the germination about three days.
In the instance we witnessed of the trial
of this preventive, it was fully successful
for, although the field was daily visited by
hosts of crows, they were content with
pulling up enough corn, in various places,
to be satisfied that it was, throughout,
equally unpalatable. During their breed-
ing season, which is in the spring months,
the flocks spread over a great extent of
country, and build their nests of small
sticks, lined with grass, in lofty trees,
choosing the most remote and difficult of
approach. The young, generally, are two
in number, and, until fully fledged, are
most solicitously protected by their pa-
rents. When the young crows first begin
to receive lessons in flying, nothing is
more remarkable and affecting than the
efforts made to preserve them, by the
parents, when a gunner approaches the
vicinity. Every artifice is employed to
call attention away from the young, which
seem to comprehend the directions or calls
of their parents, and remain perfectly
silent and motionless. In the mean while,
the father and mother fly towards the
gunner, taking care not to remain an in-
stant in one place, and, by the most vo-
ciferous outcries, deprecate his cruelty.
These efforts being continued, their vol-
untary exposure, and the eagerness with
which they fly about a particular spot, are
almost always successful in withdrawing
the sportsman from the place where the
young actually are. As soon as they have
succeeded in leading him to a sufficient
distance, they cease their accents of dis-
tress, fly a little farther from their young,
and from a lofty perch, which enables
them to watch all around, utter an occa-
sional cry, which one may readily im-
tecting every contrivance intended for their
destruction, they are rarely destroyed to any
great extent, except in seasons of excessive
and long-protracted cold weather. Then
(as during the winter of 1828-9) vast num-
bers perish from starvation, since, the earth,
brooks, rivers and bays being completely
locked up, all their sources of supply are
cut off. At such times, their hunger is so
distressing as to force them to the most
extraordinary exertions, and they devour
substances, which nothing but excessive
hunger could induce any animal to swal-
low. During the hard winter alluded
to, immense flocks were observed passing
from the direction of the famous roosting
place in the vicinity of Bristol, Pa. (partic-
ularly noted by Wilson), towards the
shores of the sea and bay, and returning
regularly in the afternoon. Thousands
upon thousands, for several hours, moved
heavily along in a broad, irregular line;
and, from the numbers found dead in the
fields, it is most probable that, during the
severest weather, but little benefit resulted
from their long diurnal pilgrimage. The
common crow is voracious at all times,
and nearly, if not quite, as omnivorous as
the brown rat. Grain of all sorts, but
especially Indian corn, insects, carrion,
eggs, fish, young birds, the young of vari-
ous domestic fowls, and even young pigs,
are sought for eagerly, and devoured with
avidity. This species, from the peculiar
excellence of its sight, smell and hearing,
by which it is very early warned of ap-
proaching danger, is very audacious, fre-
quently coming close to the farm-houses
in search of prey, and persevering in ef-
forts to rob the hens of their chickens,
until successful. The writer has wit-
nessed several times, in the state of Ma-
ryland, where crows are far too abun-
dant, the pertinacity of one of these rob-
bers in attempting to seize a young chick-
en, notwithstanding the fierce defence
made by the hen. His approaches ap-
peared to have in view the withdrawal of
the hen to a little distance from the brood;
then, taking advantage of his wings, he
would fly suddenly over her, and seize the
chick. The same attempts were fre-
quently made upon the goose, with a view
to seize her goslins, but the vigilant gan-
der, though sorely fatigued by his strug-
gles, never failed to defeat a single crow:
it was otherwise, however, when two or
more united for the purpose of feasting on
the young. It is not an uncommon thing
for farmers to be under the necessity of
replanting corn several times in the spring,
and, when it is just rising above the ground,
58
CROW-CROWN.

agine to be intended for the direction and
encouragement of their offspring. The
most successful mode of destroying crows,
is that of invading them in their extensive
dormitories during the night. When they
have selected a pine thicket, or other dense
piece of wood, for a roosting place, they
repair thither with great regularity. Every
evening, vast flocks come sailing to the
retreat, and the trees are literally covered
and bowed down. When the state of
Maryland received crow scalps in pay-
ment of taxes, at three cents each, parties
were frequently made to attack the crow
roosts. Gunners were stationed at various
parts, surrounding the roosts, and all those
of one division fired at once; the slaughter
was necessarily dreadful, and those re-
maining unhurt, bewildered by the dark-
ness, the flashing and report of the guns,
and the distressing cries of their compan-
ions, flew but to a little distance, and set-
tled near another party of gunners. As
soon as they were fairly at rest, the same
tragedy was reacted and repeated, until
the approach of day or the fatigue of
their destroyers caused a cessation. The
wounded were then despatched by knock-
ing them on the head or wringing their
necks, and the bill, with so much of the
skull as passed for a scalp, was cut off
and strung for the payment of the tax-
gatherer. The poor people, who had no
taxes to pay, disposed of their crow scalps
to the store-keepers, who purchased them
at rather a lower rate. This premium has
long been discontinued, and the number
of these marauders is, in many parts of
that state, quite large enough to require its
reëstablishment.
CROWN. In the early ages, when men
were fond of expressing all their feelings
by outward signs, a wreath of flowers or
leaves was naturally one of the first em-
blems of honor or of joy. Such was the
ornament of the priest in the performance
of sacrifice, of the hero on his return from
victory, of the bride at her nuptials, and
of the guests at a feast. The ancient my-
thology, which gave every thing a distinct
beginning and a poetical origin, ascribes
the invention of wreaths to Prometheus,
who imitated, with flowers, the fetters
which he had borne for his love to man-
kind, whom he had created. According
to Pliny, wreaths were first made of ivy,
and Bacchus first wore them. In process
of time, they were made of very different
materials. Those worn by the Greeks at
feasts in honor of a divinity, were made
of the flowers of the plant consecrated to
the god. Wreaths of roses afterwards
became very common. In some cases,
wreaths were even made of wool.
Wreaths of ivy and amethyst were worn,
by the Greeks, on the head, neck and
breast, at entertainments, with a view to
prevent drunkenness. Mnesitheus and
Callimachus, two Greek physicians, wrote
entire books on wreaths, and their medi-
cal virtues. Corpses were covered with
wreaths and green branches. Lovers
adorned with wreaths and flowers the
doors of their mistresses, and even cap-
tives, who were to be sold as slaves, wore
wreaths; hence the phrase sub corona ve-
nire or vendere. The beasts sacrificed to
the gods were also crowned. Wreaths,
in process of time, were made of metal, in
imitation of flowers, or of the fillet which
the priest wore round his head when he
sacrificed, which was called diámpa. This
attribute of distinction was early adopted
by the kings, when they united in their
persons the temporal and spiritual power.
Among the various crowns and wreaths
in use among the Greeks and Romans,
were the following:
Corona agonothetarum; the reward of
the victor in the great gymnastic games.
Corona aurea (the golden crown); the
reward of remarkable bravery.
Corona castrensis; given to him who
first entered the camp of the enemy.
Corona civica (see Civic Crown); one of
the highest military rewards. It was given
to him who had saved the life of a citizen.
Corona convivalis; the wreath worn at
feasts.
Corona muralis; given by the general
to the soldier who first scaled the enemy's
wall.
Corona natalitia; a wreath which pa-
rents hung up before the door at the birth
of a child. It was made of olive-branches
if the child was a boy, and of wool if a
girl.
Corona navalis, the next in rank after
the civic crown, was given to him who
first boarded and took an enemy's vessel.
Corona nuptialis; a crown or wreath
worn by brides. The bridegroom, also,
and his relations, on the day of the wed-
ding, adorned themselves with wreaths.
At first, the corona nuptialis was of flow
ers; afterwards, of gold or silver and pre
cious stones.
Corona obsidionalis; a reward given to
him who delivered a besieged town, or a
blockaded army. It was one of the high-
est military honors, and very seldom ob-
tained. It was made of grass; if possible,
of such as grew on the delivered place.
Corona triumphalis ; a wreath of laurel
CROWN-CROWN OFFICE.
which was given, by the army, to the im-
perator. He wore it on his head at the
celebration of his triumph. Another
crown of gold, the material of which
(coronarium aurum) was furnished by the
conquered cities, was carried over the
head of the general. The wreaths, con-
ferred at the great games of Greece, were
of different kinds; at the Olympic games,
of wild olive; at the Pythian games, of
laurel; at the Nemean games, first of
olive, then of parsley; at the Isthmian
games, a wreath of pine leaves, afterwards
of parsley; subsequently pine leaves were
resumed.
In the middle ages, crowns became ex-
clusively appropriated to the royal and
imperial dignity; the coronets of nobles
were only borne in their coats of arms.
(See Coronet, also Tiara.) From the Jew-
ish king being called, in the Scriptures, the
anointed of the Lord, a kind of religious
mystery and awe became attached to
crowned heads, which, in most countries,
continues to the present day, though his-
tory has shown us abundantly that crowns
often cover the heads of very weak or very
wicked individuals, and that there is no
great mystery about their origin; some
having been obtained by purchase, some
by crime, some by grants from a more
powerful prince, some by contract, some
by choice, but, on the whole, compara-
tively few in an honest way. The iron
crown of Lombardy, preserved at Monza,
in the territory of Milan, is a golden crown
set with precious stones, with which in
former times the Lombard kings were
crowned, and, at a later period, the Ro-
man-German emperors, when they wished
to manifest their claims as kings of Lom-
bardy. An iron circle, made, according to
the legend, out of a nail of Christ's cross,
which is fixed inside, gave rise to the
name. Agilulf, king of Lombardy, was
the first person crowned with it (in 590).
Charlemagne was crowned with it in 774.
Napoleon put it on his head in 1805, and
established the order of the iron crown.
In 1815, when Austria established the
Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, the empe-
ror admitted the order of the iron crown
among those of the Austrian empire.
Crown is used, figuratively, for the royal
power, in contradistinction either to the
person of the monarch, or to the body of
the nation, with its representatives, inte-
rests, &c. Thus, in modern times, the
word crown is used, on the European con-
tinent, to express the rights and preroga-
tives of the monarch considered as a part of
the state, which includes all powers-the
59

legislative, judicial, &c. Thus the crown
domains are distinguished from the state
or national domains. In France, a differ-
ence is even made between the crown do-
mains and the private domains of the
king; the former are inalienable, and be-
long to the reigning monarch, whilst the
second may be treated like any other pri-
vate property. The distinction between
crown and state, of course, does not exist in
perfectly arbitrary governments.-Crown-
officers are certain officers at the courts of
European sovereigns. Formerly, when
the different branches of government were
not accurately defined, they were often, or
generally, also state officers, as in the old
German empire, and still in Hungary.
The offices were generally hereditary; but,
of late years, they are almost exclusively
attached to the court, the title, in a few
cases, being connected with military digni-
ties, as, for instance, in France, where civil
and military grand officers of the crown
have always existed. (See Dignitaries.)
Crown, in commerce; a common name
for coins of several nations, which are
about the value of a dollar. (See Coins,
Table of.)
Crown, in an ecclesiastical sense, is used
for the tonsure, the shaven spot on the
head of the Roman Catholic priests, where
they received the ointment of consecra-
tion. (See Tonsure.)
CROWN GLASS, the best kind of win-
dow-glass, the hardest and most colorless,
is made almost entirely of sand and al-
kali and a little lime, without lead or
any metallic oxide, except a very small
quantity of manganese, and sometimes of
cobalt. Crown glass is used, in connex-
ion with flint glass, for dioptric instru-
ments, in order to destroy the disagreeable
effect of the aberration of colors. Both
kinds of glass are now made, in the high-
est perfection, in Benedictbeurn (q. v.),
where Reichenbach's famous manufactory
of optical instruments is situated.
CROWN OFFICE. The court of king's
bench is divided into the plea side and the
crown side. In the plea side, it takes cog-
nizance of civil causes; in the crown side,
it takes cognizance of criminal causes,
and is thereupon called the crown of
fice. In the crown office are exhibited
informations in the name of the king,
of which there are two kinds: 1. those
which are truly the king's own suits,
and filed, ex officio, by his own immediate
officer, the attorney-general; 2. those in
which, though the king is the nominal
prosecutor, yet some private person, as a
common informer, is the real one: these
60
CROWN OFFICE-CRUSADES.

are filed by the king's coroner and attorney,
usually called master of the crown office.
CROWN POINT; a post-town in Essex
county, New York, on lake Champlain;
12 miles N. Ticonderoga, 96 N. Albany;
population, in 1820, 1522; lat. 44° 3' N.;
lon. 72° 29′ W. This town received its
name from a noted fortress, much cele-
brated in the history of the American
wars. The fortress, which is now in ru-
ins, is situated in the north-east part of the
township, on a point of land projecting
some distance into the lake, elevated 47
feet above the surface, and 15 miles north
of fort Ticonderoga. It was an exten-
sive and regular fortification, about 1500
yards square, surrounded by a deep and
broad ditch, cut in rock, with immense
labor. The walls were of wood and earth,
22 feet thick and 16 high, and are only
partially decayed.
CROZAT, Joseph Antony, marquis du
Châtel, born in 1696, at Toulouse, a great
lover and collector of works of art, in-
herited a large fortune from his father
(who was a financier during the last years
of the reign of Louis XIV), was counsel-
lor of the parliament of Toulouse, and
subsequently reader to the king. The
whole of his life was dedicated to the
works of art which he had collected, and
to the artists who wished to profit by
them. The sketches in his collection ex-
ceeded 19,000, and he had expended above
450,000 livres in this particular branch.
During the 60 years which he employed
in collecting, no cabinet was sold in any
part of Europe, of which some part was not
purchased by him. Crozat went to Italy,
in 1714, for the purpose of increasing his
collection. Corn. Vermeulen came yearly
from Antwerp to Paris, to bring him the
works of the artists of the Netherlands. He
was also presented with several valuable
collections. His cabinet of antiques and
sculpture, particularly of gems, was equal-
ly valuable, and contained about 1400
pieces. This treasure became more fa-
mous from the description which Mariette
gave of it, when in the possession of the
duke of Orleans, in 1742. It is at pres-
ent at St. Petersburg. On Crozat's death
(1740), his collection came into the pos-
session of his brother, the marquis du
Chatel. Mariette's Description sommaire
des Collections de M. Crozat, avec des Ré-
flexions sur la Manière de Dessiner des
principaux Maitres (Paris, 1741), is the
only account we now have of this great
museum.
CRUISERS, in naval affairs; vessels, as
the name imports, employed on a cruise.
The name is commonly given to small
men of war, made use of to secure mer-
chant ships and vessels from the enemy's
small frigates and privateers. They are
generally formed for fast sailing, and well
manned.
CRUSADES are the wars which were
carried on by the Christian nations of the
West, from the end of the 11th to the end
of the 13th century, for the conquest of
Palestine. They were called crusades be-
cause all the warriors who followed the
holy banner (crusaders), wore the sign of
the cross. The Christian and Moham-
medan nations had been, during a long
period, in a state of war, not only in Asia,
but also in Europe, where the Moors,
Mohammedans by religion, had taken
possession of part of the Spanish penin-
sula. The nations of the West were
grieved that the Holy Land, where Jesus
had lived, taught, and died for mankind,
where pious pilgrims resorted to pour out
their sorrows, and ask for aid from above, at
the tomb of their Savior, should be in the
power of unbelievers. The pilgrims, on
their return, related the dangers they had
encountered. The caliph Hakem was
particularly described as a second Nero.
Being the son of a Christian woman, he
shed the blood of Christians without mer-
cy, to prevent the suspicion of his being
secretly attached to that religion. These
representations kindled the religious zeal
of Christian Europe into a flame, and
a general ardor was awakened to de-
liver the sepulchre of Christ from the
hands of the infidels. In order to under-
stand this general excitement, we must
remember that, at this period, the confu-
sion and desolation, which had followed
the irruption of the barbarians into the
south and west of Europe, had ceased, and
the dawn of civilization and intellectual
cultivation had commenced. In this men-
tal twilight, men were just in a state to
receive a strong religious excitement.
The idea of the Virgin, too, harmonized
well with the Teutonic reverence for the
female sex; and to fight in her cause was
gratifying to the spirit of chivalry. The
undisciplined minds of men were bent
upon adventure, and their imaginations
were easily roused by the reports of the
riches of the East. The joys of paradise
were the sure reward of all who fell in
the holy cause. Thus a crowd of the
strongest feelings, chivalrous devotion to
the female sex, the hope of adventure,
of wealth, of honor and of heaven,
stirred up the spirit of Europe, and im-
pelled her sons into the East. (See Chiv
CRUSADES.
alry.) The pope considered the invasion
of Asia as the means of promoting Chris-
tianity amongst the infidels, and of win-
ning whole nations to the bosom of the
church; monarchs expected victory and
increase of dominion; the peasant, who,
in the greater part of Europe, was strug-
gling with wretchedness in the degrading
condition of bondage, was ready to follow
to a country which was pictured as a par-
adise. The East has always had a poeti-
cal charm for the people of the West,
which has by no means ceased in our
time. The crusades, and the ardor with
which whole nations engaged in them,
must be attributed to the above causes.
Peter of Amiens, or Peter the Hermit, was
the immediate cause of the first crusade.
In 1093, he had joined other pilgrims on
a journey to Jerusalem. On his return,
he gave pope Urban II a description of
the unhappy situation of Christians in the
East, and presented a petition from the
patriarch of Jerusalem, in which he anx-
iously entreated the assistance of the
Western Christians for their suffering
brethren. The pope disclosed to the
council which was held at Piacenza, in
1095, in the open air, on account of the
number of people assembled, the message
which Christ had sent, through Peter the
Hermit, caused the ambassadors of the
Greek emperor Alexius to describe the
condition of Christianity in the East, and
induced many to promise their assistance
for the relief of their oppressed brethren.
The sensation which he produced at the
council assembled at Clermont, in 1096,
where ambassadors from all nations were
present, was still greater; he inspired the
whole assembly so completely in favor
of his plan, that they unanimously ex-
claimed, after he had described the mis-
erable condition of the Oriental Christians,
and called upon the West for aid, Deus
vult (It is God's will)! In the same year,
numberless armies went forth in different
divisions. This is considered the first
crusade. Many of these armies, being
ignorant of military discipline, and unpro-
vided with the necessaries for such an ex-
pedition, were completely destroyed in
the different countries through which they
had to pass before reaching Constantino-
ple, which had been chosen for their
place of meeting. A superficial knowl-
edge of these holy wars throws a false
glare round the character of the crusading
armies. They contained, indeed, some
men of elevated character; but the great-
er part consisted of crazy fanatics and
wretches bent on plunder. A well con-
6
VOL. IV
61

ducted, regular army, however, of 80,000
men, was headed by Godfrey of Boulogne,
duke of Lower Lorraine, Hugh, brother
to Philip king of France, Baldwin, brother
of Godfrey, Robert of Flanders, Raymond
of Toulouse, Bohemond, Tancred of Apu-
lia, and other heroes. With this army.
the experienced commanders traversed
Germany and Hungary, passed over the
strait of Gallipoli, conquered Nice in 1097.
Antioch and Edessa in 1098, and, lastly,
Jerusalem in 1099. Godfrey of Boulogne
was chosen king of Jerusalem, but died in
1100. The news of the conquest of Jeru-
salem renewed the zeal of the West. In
1102, an army of 260,000 men left Europe,
which, however, perished partly on the
march, and partly by the sword of the sul-
tan of Iconium. The Genoese, and other
commercial nations, undertook several ex-
peditions by sea. The second great and
regularly conducted crusade was occa-
sioned by the loss of Edessa, which the
Saracens conquered in 1142. The news
of this loss produced great consternation
in Europe, and it was apprehended that
the other acquisitions, including Jerusa-
lem, would fall again into the hands of
the infidels. In consequence of these
fears, pope Eugene III, assisted by St.
Bernard of Clairvaux, exhorted the Ger-
man emperor, Conrad III, and the king
of France, Louis VII, to defend the cross.
Both these monarchs obeyed the call in
1147, and led large bodies of forces to the
East; but their enterprise was not suc-
cessful, and they were compelled to with-
draw, leaving the kingdom of Jerusalem
in a much weaker condition than they
had found it. When sultan Saladin, in
1187, took Jerusalem from the Christians,
the zeal of the West became still more
ardent than at the commencement of the
crusades; and the monarchs of the three
principal European countries-Frederic
I, emperor of Germany, Philip Augus-
tus, king of France, and Richard I, king
of England-determined to lead their ar-
mies in person against the infidels (1189).
This is regarded as the third crusade.
Frederic's enterprise was unsuccessful;
but the kings of France and England
succeeded in gaining possession of Acre,
or Ptolemais, which, until the entire ter-
mination of the crusades, remained the
bulwark of the Christians in the East.
The fourth crusade was conducted by the
king of Hungary, Andrew II, in 1217, by
sea. The emperor Frederic II, compelled
by the pope, who wished for his destruc-
tion, to fulfil a promise made in early
youth, undertook the fifth crusade, and
62
CRUSADES-CRUZADA.

succeeded in regaining Jerusalem, al-
though he could not secure the perma-
nent possession of the country. The list
of heroes who conducted the crusades is
honorably closed with St. Louis, king of
France (who conducted the sixth crusade,
commencing in 1248), although fate frus-
trated his plan, which was ably conceived
and bravely executed. While Louis was
still in Egypt (for he proposed conquering
the Holy Land by an invasion of Egypt,
the seat, at that time, of the rulers of
Palestine), a revolution broke out in that
country, which proved decisive with re-
gard to the possession of the Holy Land.
The house of Saladin was dethroned,
and the dominion of the Mamelukes and
sultans established. These directed their
efforts against the possessions of the
Christians in Palestine. Tripoli, Tyre,
Berytus, fell into their hands successively,
and, on the fall of Acre, or Ptolemais,
the last bulwark and the last remains of
the Christian empire on the continent of
Asia, were overthrown. By means of
these joint enterprises, the European na-
tions became more connected with each
other, the class of citizens increased in
influence, partly because the nobility suf-
fered by extravagant contributions to the
crusades, and partly because a commer-
cial intercourse took place throughout
Europe, and greatly augmented the
wealth of the cities; the human mind ex-
panded, and a number of arts and scien-
ces, till then unknown in Europe, were in-
troduced there. The present civilization
of the European world is, in a great de-
gree, the result of these crusades. It be-
longs to a history of poetry to describe
how much contemporary poetry was af-
fected by the crusades, and the extent to
which they have given currency to a cer-
tain class of ideas that has prevailed ever
since. Some of the best works on the
crusades are Frederic Wilken's Geschichte
der Kreuzzüge nach morgenländischen und
abendländishen Berichten, Leipsic (the three
first volumes appeared in 1807-19: vol-
ume 4, which treats of the period from
1188 to 1195, appeared in 1826); Histoire
des Croisades, by De Michaud, a member
of the French academy, fourth edition,
Paris, 1825; Charles Mills's History of
the Crusades. London, 1820; Heeren's
Versuch einer Entwickelung der Folgen der
Kreuzzüge für Europa, Göttingen, 1808.
CRUSADE, and CRUSADA. (See cruza-
da, old and new, in the article Coins, under
the division Portugal.
CRUSCA, ACADEMIA DELLA. (See Acad-
emies.)
CRUSTACEOUS ANIMALS, in natural his-
tory; those covered with shells, consist-
ing of several pieces or scales, as crabs,
lobsters, &c. Their shells are generally
softer than the shells of the testaceous
kind, which consist of but few pieces or
valves, such as those of the oyster, scal-
lop, cockle.
CRUZ, SANTA (Spanish; Holy Cross).
Among the various places of this name,
the most important are, 1. An island in
the West Indies, belonging to Denmark,
the most southerly of the Virgin isles;
lat. 17° 45′ N.; lon. 64° 35 W. It is
about 24 miles in length, with an area of
84 square miles, and contains 33,000 in-
habitants, of which 30,000 are slaves.
The country is mostly level, the climate
unhealthy at certain seasons, the water
scarce and bad. The soil is fertile, produc-
ing cotton, sugar-cane, some coffee and in-
digo, and tropical fruits. About 9,000,000
gallons of rum are annually exported.
The best ports are Christianstadt and
Frederickstadt. The former, situated on
the northern coast of the island, is the
capital of all the Danish West Indies. Af-
ter having been successively in the hands
of the Dutch, English, French, and Span-
iards, Santa Cruz was ceded to Denmark
in 1733. In 1807, it was taken by the
English, but was restored to the Danes by
the peace of Paris, in 1814. 2. A city on
the island of Teneriffe; lat. 28° 28' N.
lon. 16° 30' W. The road is much visited
by European vessels, on their way to the
Indies and to America, for water and pro-
visions. The population is 8400. The
principal article of export is Teneriffe
wine. (See Teneriffe.)
CRUZADA (Spanish). A bull called the
bull of the crusade, is a source of consider-
able revenue to the Spanish crown. Pope
Calixtus III first issued this bull, during
the reign of king Henry of Castile, in
1457, granting an absolution for past of-
fences to all who would fight against infi-
dels, or pay a certain sum (200 maravedis),
to aid the crown in carrying on war
against them; and, as this bull is granted
only for five years, the king has the power
of renewing it. It confers also certain
immunities, such as the right to eat some
kinds of prohibited food in Lent. It has not
been customary to renew the grant since
1753. These bulls were formerly sold, in
a printed form, by priests and monks, who
very often abused their authority, and
would not confess people, or give them
extreme unction, unless they would buy
the bulls. The revenue thus received by
the crown was estimated, for Spain and
CRUZADA CRYPTOGRAPHY.
Spanish America, at $1,500,000. Portugal
also received such a bull in 1591, for the
support of her fortifications in Africa.
Mendoza, in one chapter of his Vida de
Lazarillo de Tormes, describes the abuses
by which the bullarios, or sellers of bulls,
extorted money from the people.
CRYPT, in architecture; a hollow place
or vault constructed under ground. The
tombs of the Christian martyrs also were
so called, where the early Christians met
to perform their devotions, for fear of per-
secution. Hence crypt came to signify
a church under ground, or the lower
story, like that of St. Paul's, London,
Lastingham priory, and many of the
ancient ecclesiastical edifices of England,
Germany and France. When crypts are
on a large scale, like those of Rome, Na-
ples and Paris, they are then called cata-
combs. (See Catacombs.) Bartoli and
Bellori have published engravings of
paintings found in the crypts of Rome, of
which there are several editions. The
one of 1738 is in Latin.
CRYPTO; a prefix from the Greek
KOURTOS (secret), used in several compounds;
for instance, cryptography (q. v.), cryp-
togamy (q. v.), Crypto-Calvinists (q. v.)
When the Jesuits were dissolved by a
papal bull, much was said of Crypto-Jes-
uits. In France, we hear sometimes of
crypto-republicans, &c.
CRYPTO-CALVINISTS (crypto from the
Greek KOUTOS, secret); a name given to
the favorers of Calvinism in Saxony, on
account of their secret attachment to the
Genevan doctrine and discipline. (See
Concord, Form of.)
CRYPTOGAMIA, in botany; the 24th
and last class of the sexual system of
Linnæus, including several very numerous
families of plants, in which the parts es-
sential to their fructification have not been
sufficiently ascertained, or are too small
to admit of their being accurately de-
scribed and referred to any of the other
classes.
CRYPTOGRAPHY (from the Greek кOURTOS,
secret, and yoape, to write); the art of
transmitting secret information by means
of writing, which is intended to be illegi-
ble, except by the person for whom it is
destined. The ancients sometimes shaved
the head of a slave, and wrote upon the
skin with some indelible coloring matter,
and then sent him, after his hair had
grown again, to the place of his destina-
tion. This is not, however, properly
secret writing, but only a concealment of
writing. Another sort, which corresponds
better with the name, is the following, used
63

by the ancients. They took a small stick,
and wound around it bark, or papyrus,
upon which they wrote. The bark was
then unrolled, and sent to the correspond-
ent, who was furnished with a stick of the
same size. He wound the bark again
round this, and thus was enabled to read
what had been written. This mode of
concealment is evidently very imperfect.
Cryptography properly consists in writing
with signs, which are legible only to him
for whom the writing is intended, or who
has a key, or explanation of the signs.
The most simple method is to choose for
every letter of the alphabet some sign, or
only another letter. But this sort of cryp-
tography (chiffre) is also easy to be deci-
phered without a key. Hence many illu-
sions are used. No separation is made
between the words, or signs of no meaning
are inserted among those of real meaning.
Various keys likewise are used, according
to rules before agreed upon. By this
means, the deciphering of the writing be-
comes difficult for a third person, not
initiated; but it is likewise extremely
troublesome for the correspondents them
selves; and a slight mistake often makes
it illegible, even by them. Another mode
of communicating intelligence secretly,
viz., to agree upon some printed book, and
mark the words out, is also troublesome,
and not at all safe. The method of con-
cealing the words which are to convey the
information intended in matter of a very
different character, in a long letter, which
the correspondent is enabled to read, by
applying a paper to it, with holes corre-
sponding to the places of the significant
words, is attended with many disadvan-
tages: the paper may be lost; the repeti-
tion of certain words may lead to discov-
ery; and the difficulty of connecting the
important with the unimportant matter, so
as to give the whole the appearance of an
ordinary letter, is considerable. If this is
effected, however, this mode has the advan-
tage of concealing the fact that any secrecy
is intended. Writing with sympathetic ink,
or milk, lemon-juice, &c., is unsafe, be-
cause the agents to make the letters visible
are too generally known. Hence the chiffre
quarré, or chiffre indéchiffrable, so called,
has come very much into use, because it
is easily applied, difficult to be deciphered
and the key may be preserved in the
memory merely, and easily changed. It
consists of a table, in which the letters of
the alphabet, or any other signs agreed.
upon, are arranged under one another
thus:--
64
CRYPTOGRAPHY-CUBA.

abcdefghiklmnopqrst
U V W X Y Z
abcdefghiklmnopqrstuvwxyza
bcdefghiklmnopqrstuvwxyzab
cdefghiklmnopqrstuvwxyzabe
defghiklmnopqrstuvwxyzabed
efghiklmnopqrstuvwxyzabed
f
go hiklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdef
ge
h
ghiklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcd e f
hiklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdef
1 klmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghi
klmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghik
ImnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghikT
mnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghik1m
q
10
r
0
nopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghiklmn
opqrstuvwxyzabcdefghiklmn
pqrstuvwxyzabcdefghiklmnop
rstuvwxyzabcdefghiklmnopq
stuvwxyzabcdefghiklmnopqr
stuvwxyzabcdefghiklmnopqrs
tuvwxyzabcdefghiklmnopqrst
uvwxyzabcdefghiklmnopqrstu
vwxyzabcdefghiklmnopqrstuv
wxyzabcdefghiklmnopqrstuvw
xyzabcdefghiklmnopqrstuvwx
yzabcdefghiklmnopqrstuvwxy
zabcdefghiklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Any word is now taken for a key; Paris,
for example. This is a short word, and,
for the sake of secrecy, it would be well
to choose for the key some one or more
words less striking. Suppose we wish to
write in this cipher, with this key, the
phrase "We lost a battle;" we must write
Paris over the phrase, repeating it as often
as is necessary, thus:-
Paris Paris Par
We lost a battle.
We now take, as a cipher for w, the letter
which we find in the square opposite w in
the left marginal column, and under p on
the top, which is m. Instead of e, we
take the letter opposite e and under a,
which is f; for 1, the letter opposite 7 and
under r, and so on. Proceeding thus, we
should obtain the following series of let-
ters:-
mfcxlibtkmimw
The person who receives the epistle
writes the key over the letters; as,
ParisParis Par
mfcxlibtkmimw
He now goes down in the perpendicular
ine, at the top of which is p, until he
19
VW
meets m, opposite to which, in the left
marginal column, he finds w. Next, going
in the line of a down to f, he finds on the
left e. In the same way, r gives l, i gives
o, and so on.
o, and so on. Or you may reverse the
process; begin with
process; begin with p, in the left marginal
column, and look along horizontally till
you find m, over which, in the top line,
you will find w. It is easily seen, that the
same letter is not always designated by
the same cipher; thus, e and a occur
twice in the phrase selected, and they are
designated respectively by the ciphers f
and w, b and k. Thus the possibility of
finding out the secret writing is almost
excluded. The key may be changed from
time to time, and a different key may be
used with each correspondent. The ut-
most accuracy is necessary, because one
character, accidentally omitted, changes
the whole cipher. The correspondent,
however, may ascertain this with consid-
erable trouble. (See Deciphering.)
CUBA; the largest and most westerly
of the Antilles. Its configuration, extent,
geographical position, great number of
ports, fertility and climate, contribute to
CUBA.
render it one of the most interesting
countries of America. Its length, from
cape St. Antonio to point Maisi, in a direc-
tion from W. S. W. to E. N. E., and then
from W. N. W. to E. S. E., is 257 leagues,
and its greatest width, in the direction
north to south, is 38 leagues. The learned
geographer don Felipe Bausá calculated,
in June, 1825, that the surface of Cuba
contained 3615 square marine leagues (20
to a degree). Cuba is situated between
lon. 73° 56′ and 85° W. and between lat.
19° 48' 30" and 23° 12′ 45" N. It lies 14
leagues west from cape Nicolas, in the
island of St. Domingo, 34 south from
point Morant, in Jamaica, 27 east from
cape Catoche, and 37 south from cape
Florida. The gulf of Mexico, which is
very nearly of a circular form, of more
than 250 leagues in circumference, is closed
by the island of Cuba, with the exception
of two narrow passages, the one to the
south, between cape Catoche and cape
St. Antonio, and the other to the north,
between Bahia Honda and the Florida
shoals. Along the coast of Cuba are
many keys and small islands, which are
included in the same government with
the large island. The navigation of the
coast is very unsafe on account of the
rocks and shoals which encompass it al-
most without interruption, and often ex-
tend from 2 to 3 miles into the sea. The
broken outline of this vast extent of coast,
however, affords more than 50 ports and an-
choring places, which are equally safe and
easy of access. The most remarkable, in
a commercial point of view, are those of
Havanna, Matanzas, Nuevitas, Jibara and
Baracoa, on the north; St. Jago, Manza-
nillo, Trinidad, Jagua and Batabano, on
the south side of the island. There is
another port between Manzanillo and
Trinidad, called Santa Cruz, which, in
February, 1829, was declared a free port,
and which, undoubtedly, will be much
frequented, furnishing great facilities for
trading with Puerto Principe (the second
city in Cuba in point of population), being
the only good harbor in its vicinity on the
south side of the island, and distant from
it but 20 leagues. The harbors of Bahia
Honda, Nipe, Naranjo and Guantanamo
also deserve to be mentioned, as they are
very spacious, and have plenty of water
for such large vessels as may be in want
of a safe port. A ridge of mountains
traverses the whole of the island, from the
east to the west, dividing it into two
parts. At the foot of these, the country
opens into extensive savannas. A consid-
crable number of small streams from
65

these heights water the island on both
sides. These streams abound in fish of
different kinds, and are said to bring down
considerable quantities of gold. There are
likewise many salt ponds, which furnish
abundance of fish and game; also several
springs of mineral water, which have
proved very useful for the cure of many
diseases. The most remarkable are those
of St. Diego, 40 leagues west of Havan-
na; those of Madruga, 14 leagues S. W
of the said city; those of the town of
Guanabacoa; and those of Camugiro, 14
league from Puerto Principe. Those of
St. Diego are the only ones which have
been analysed. They consist of two
wells (Tigre and Templado), and, accord-
ing to the analysis of señor Esteves, a
pound of the water contains 0.46 grains
of sulphureted hydrogen gas, 10.5 of sul-
phate of lime, 1.0 of hydrochlorate of
magnesia, and one grain of carbonate of
magnesia. They are particularly useful
in cases of scrofula, cutaneous diseases,
&c. The island is very rich in minerals,
particularly in copper, iron and loadstone.
In 1813, some persons endeavored to
work a mine which they found near the
city of Trinidad, and from which they
obtained good gold and silver. They
were, however, obliged, from want of
funds, to desist, though it was highly
probable that, with a sufficient capital, it
could have been made profitable. For
the same reason, together with the want
of protection from the government, a very
rich mine of coal, which was opened in
1816, near Bacuranáo, was abandoned.
In 1827, a silver mine was discovered,
yielding 7.5 of pure silver to a quintal of
ore. Iron seems to be abundant, as it
shows itself in parts of the great cordil-
lera of Sierra Maestra. Loadstone is
found in the mountains of Paragua and
on the northern coast. Marbles of various
kinds, serpentine, chalcedony of excellent
quality, quartz, mineral bitumen, &c., are
likewise found in the island. Our knowl-
edge of the geological and mineralogical
structure of Cuba, however, is compara-
tively small, on account of the thickness
of the forests and the asperity of the
mountains, particularly on the eastern
part. Most that we know on this subject
is derived from the researches of Alexan-
der von Humboldt. The soil of Cuba is so
productive that it yields two, and even three
crops of corn in a year. The fields, dur-
ing the whole year, are covered with aro-
matic plants and trees in blossom. The
climate is dry and warm. In the months
of July and August, the thermometer
6*
66
CUBA.

ranges from 28° to 29° Réaumur (95° to
97° Fahrenheit), and in those of December
and January, which are the coldest, com-
monly between 17° and 21° of Réaumur
(70° and 79° Fahrenheit.) It never freez-
es, not even on the highest mountains.
The coasts of the island are well known
to be unhealthy; but this is not the case
with the mountains. Among the animals
indigenous in the island or the surround-
ing sea, are the cayman or alligator (q. v.),
the manati or sea cow, the iguana (a
species of lizard), the turtle, &c. Many
of the domestic animals of Europe have
been introduced. A great number of
swine, and also of bees, are raised. Late-
ly, the breeding of mules has been carried
on to a considerable extent. Birds are
numerous in the forests. Among them
are the canary-bird, the linnet, also a bird
resembling the nightingale, the cardinal
gross-beak, the bunting, &c. The rivers,
though they have but a short course, and
are deficient in water, abound, at certain
seasons, with excellent fish. Reptiles are
extremely numerous. Among the insects,
of which there are very many, are the
mosquitoes, verdaderamente una plaga que
infesta los cayos, costas y terrenos pantano-
sos, to use the words of the Cuadro Estadis-
tico mentioned below. They are divided
into different species-mosquito proper, co-
raci, zancudo, rodador, jagüey and lancetero.
In the rainy season, they follow men and
beasts into the interior of the island. The
gregen, which is almost invisible, is ex-
ceedingly numerous and very trouble-
some. Among the spiders, the peluda is
the most disagreeable in appearance, and
its bite produces fever, yet without dan-
ger to life. There are other kinds partic-
ularly troublesome to particular animals.
The vegetable kingdom of Cuba is ex-
tremely rich. Here are to be found the
mahogany-tree, the cedar, lignum-vitæ,
various kinds of ebony, besides numerous
woods suitable for building houses, ships,
&c.; also palm-trees, among which the
palma real is remarkable for the utility
of every part to man and various ani-
mals; sarsaparilla and many other plants
useful in medicine; also the chestnut, the
pine-apple, the annona or custard-apple,
the medlar, plantain, orange, and various
kinds of melons. Among the agricultural
plants, maize is the most important; rice,
beans, peas, garbanzos are also cultivated.
The culture of wheat is abandoned. The
true riches of the country consist in its
great articles of export-sugar, coffee, to-
bacco, wax, cacao, molasses, rum, maize,
&c. According to a very recent and
complete official publication-Cuadro Es-
tadistico de la siempre fiel Isla de Cuba cor-
respondiente al año de 1827, formado por
una Comission de Gefes y Oficiales de orden
y bajo de la Direccion del Excelsmo. Sr.
Capitan General D. Fr. Dionisio Vives,
Habana, 1829-the export of sugar, in
1827, was 5,878,9244 arrobas (an arroba is.
equal to 25 pounds), or, including tare,
&c., 6,300,000 arrobas. The whole
amount produced was 8,091,837 arrobas;
consumed on the island, 1,791,837. Of
coffee, the export, in the same year, was
2,001,5831 arrobas, and the amount con-
sumed in the island, 881,9443. Of tobac-
co, the amounts have not been so well
ascertained. This article pays a duty of
six per cent. to the king (ordinance of
Oct. 8, 1827). In 1827, there were ex-
ported 61,898 cargas, or about 500,000 ar-
robas, of which 79,1061 were en rama (in
the leaf). Of wax, the export, in 1827,
was 22,4023 arrobas; the whole produc-
tion, 63,160. Of cotton, the export, in the
same year, was 23,414 arrobas; whole
quantity raised, 38,142. Of cacao, the
export was only 1953 arrobas, while the
whole quantity raised was 23,806 arrobas.
Indigo began to be cultivated in 1795, but
little has as yet been raised-in 1827, only
56 arrobas-and of wheat only 120 arro-
bas. The export of molasses, in 1827,
was 74,083 bocoyes (hogsheads); of rum
(aguardiente de caña), 2457 pipes. Rice is
raised in large quantity, but not enough to
supply the great home consumption.
1827, 520,897 arrobas were produced on
the island, and 590,820 arrobas imported.
Of maize, 1,617,806 fanegas were raised
(a fanega is about 100 pounds), and yet
there were imported 70,497 arrobas of the
corn, and 4,952 barrels of the meal. Of
beans (frijolles), there were produced, in
1827, 134,185 arrobas, and imported,
58,4183. Notwithstanding this great pro-
duction, it is believed that only a seventh
part of all the land suitable for cultivation
is actually brought into use. The com-
merce of the country has increased lately
very much. The island enjoys great
privileges in comparison with other coun-
tries under the yoke of Spain. The
trade of Cuba is carried on chiefly through
Havanna, the capital. There have been
times when the exports of the island
amounted to $12,000,000, and its imports
were over $15,000,000. In the year 1827,
17,352,854 dollars' worth of merchan-
dise was imported, and 3,561,887 dollars'
worth exported, making the consumption
In
CUBA.
67

amount to $13,791,267, which, after the The tonnage luty paid by } $234,922
subtraction of articles of food import-
ed for the slaves, leaves $12,291,267
for the value of imported articles con-
sumed by the 337,126 white and 106,494
colored free persons, which gives $28 as
the average consumption of each individ-
ual during the year. The total value of
the produce of the island was lately esti-
mated at $44,634,343. In 1827, the com-
merce of Havanna contributed to the royal
revenue $4,383,262, whilst, in 1815, it paid
only $1,726,9633. The interior adminis-
trations furnished to the revenue, in 1827,
$2,272,808. The whole revenue of the
island has been estimated at $7,500,000,
and the expenses of the government at
$6,500,000. According to the Balanza Mer-
cantil of Havanna, for the year 1829, it ap-
pears, that the imports in American vessels
from the U. States into Havanna, in 1829,
amounted to the sum of. . $4,086,230 69
From the U. States in? 610,797 12
Spanish vessels,
$1,048,965 63
France,
Hanseatic
cities,
Denmark,
England,
Italy,
Portugal,
913,601 00
12,962 75
1,548,779 37
29,773 12
Netherlands, 289,758 88
56,144 88
$3,899,985 53
Of which imports, one
fourth, at least, was
brought in American
bottoms-say
From Spain in foreign
bottoms,$3,097,590 38,
of which two thirds,
at least, were under
the U. States' flag,log
Making a total of im-
ports, in 1829, under
Thus, from, the
U. States alone
(American ton-
nage) came
One fourth
fourth of
foreign ton-
nage from oth-
er countries,
thirds of
Two
tonnage of for-
eign vessels
from Spain,
67,664 tons.
6,172
20,133
Total American
93,969 (ts. at
$234,922
tonnage,
2.53,
From the above notes, it seems that the U.
States and her ships have supplied more
than 50 per cent. of the entire imports of
Havanna for the last year.-The island is
subject to the king of Spain, and, for the
purposes of government, is divided into two
political divisions. That on the west is
under the immediate control of the captain-
general residing in Havanna. The other is
under a governor appointed by the king,
but subject, in many respects, to the cap-
tain-general. It is also divided into two ec-
clesiastical jurisdictions, the one governed
by an archbishop, who resides at St. Jago,
the other one by a bishop, who resides at
Havanna. These jurisdictions have their
limits 20 leagues east of the town of Es-
piritu Santo. Since the beginning of
1826, the island has been divided, for the
purpose of defence, into three military de-
974,996 44 partments; these again into districts, and
the districts into sections. The depart-
ments are commanded by a general offi-
cer. The eastern department embraces
the districts of St. Jago, Baracoa, Holguin,
2,065,060 24 Jibara, Jiguani, Cobre, Tiguabos, Manza-
nillo and Bayamo; the central, those of
Puerto Principe, Nuevitas, Trinidad, Espi-
ritu Santo, Villa de Santa Clara and St.
Juan de los Remedios; the western, those
of Havanna, St. Antonio de Compostela, St.
the American flag, in- $7,737,084 49 Felipe, and St. Jago del Bejucal, St. Anto-
cluding the imports
from the U. States in
Spanish vessels, of
The whole value of im-
nio Abad de los Baños, Guanajay, Guana-
bacóa, Filipina, Jaruco, Guines, Matanzas
and Guamutas. These same divisions serve
as limits for the jurisdictions of the three
ports for 1829, into 14,925,414 50 intendencies which are established for
Havanna,
Supplied by the U.
States and by Ameri-
can vessels,
Leaving, for all other
flags, including the
Spanish,
7,737,084 49
the collection and administration of the
public revenue, and the heads of which
reside at Havanna, Puerto Principe and
St. Jago, the capital cities of the three
departments. Education is in a very low
state; but, according to Abbot's Letters
7,188,330 01 on Cuba (Boston, 1829), it is improving,
The morals of the people are loose; the
68
CUBA.

police is weak or inactive: murders are
frequent. The laws are very numerous
and contradictory, and much bribery and
corruption prevail in the administration
of justice. In 1821, the importation of
slaves was prohibited by law; and, though
it is yet carried on, and tolerated by the
authorities of Cuba, in spite of the laws
against it, there is no doubt that it has
diminished a great deal, in consequence
of the efforts and vigilance of the English
cruisers. The emancipation of Colom-
bia, Mexico, and the Spanish part of St.
Domingo, has brought to Cuba almost all
the Spaniards who were settled in those
countries, together with many of the Cre-
oles. The number of the aboriginal popu-
lation cannot now be ascertained. The
European and African population, in 1511,
did not include more than 300 persons.
Within the last 52 years, the population
has more than quadrupled: the colored
population has increased faster than the
white. According to the census of 1827,
given in the Spanish report mentioned
above, the population then stood thus:
35416201 4000 Males. Females. Total.
Whites,. . . . . 168,653 142,398 311,051
Free Mulattoes, 28,058 29,456 57,514
Free Negroes,. 23,904 250,76 48,980
Mulatto and
Negro slaves,183,290 103,652 286,942
Grand total, 704,487
of which 311,051 are white, and 393,436
are colored.
It is generally believed, that the inhabi-
tants are not desirous of separating from
the Spanish government, partly because
Spain treats them tolerably well, and part-
ly because of the distracted condition in
which they behold those parts of Span-
ish America which have shaken off the
Spanish yoke. A conspiracy was discov-
ered, however, in 1830, the object of
which was the independence of the
island. A ridiculous expedition was sent
from Cuba, in 1829, against Mexico, under
general Barradas, who was forced to ca-
pitulate at Tampico, on September 11 of
that year. The principal cities of the
island are the capital, Havanna (siempre fi-
delisima ciudad de S. Cristobal de la Ha-
bana), with 237,828 inhabitants, St. Jago
de Cuba, St. Salvador, St. Carlos de Ma-
tanzas, St. Maria de Puerto Principe, &c.
(See these articles.)-For further informa-
tion respecting the island, the reader is
referred to Humboldt's Personal Narra-
tive, and the Cuadro Estadistico already
mentioned.
Cuba was discovered, in 1492, by
Christopher Columbus. In 1511, don
Diego Velasquez sailed from St. Domingo,
with four vessels and about 300 men, for
the conquest of the island. He landed,
on the 25th of July, near the bay of St.
Jago, to which he gave its name. The
natives, commanded by the cacique Hat-
uey, who had fled from St. Domingo, his
native country, on account of the cruel-
ties of the Spaniards, in vain endeavored
to oppose the progress of the invaders.
The noise of the fire-arms was sufficient
to disperse the poor Indians. Hatuey
was taken prisoner and condemned to be
burned alive, which sentence was execut-
ed after he had refused to be baptized.
This diabolical act filled all the other
caciques with terror, and they hastened
to pay homage to Velasquez, who met
with no more opposition. The conquest
of Cuba did not cost the Spaniards a sin-
gle man. The conquerors, not finding
the mines sufficiently rich to induce them
to work them, gradually exterminated the
natives, whom they could not employ. Af-
ter the conquest of Cuba, more than two
centuries elapsed without the occurrence
of any memorable incident. In 1741, the
English admiral Vernon sailed, in July,
from Jamaica, and entered the bay of Gu-
antanamo, which he named Cumberland.
He landed his troops 20 miles up the river,
where they remained in perfect inaction
until November, when they went back to
Jamaica. Notwithstanding the disastrous
termination of this expedition, the English
government did not relinquish the idea of
taking possession of Cuba. In 1762,
they sent from England a formidable ex-
pedition, which, after its junction with the
naval force which had been already serv-
ing in the West Indies, consisted of 19
ships of the line, 18 small vessels of war,
and 150 transports, which conveyed 12,000
troops. The whole of the fleet appeared
off Havanna June 6. 4000 more troops
went from North America, in July, to
reënforce them. The Spaniards used
every effort to defend the city. The
English were several times repelled, but
at last the Spaniards surrendered, August
13. The booty obtained by the English
was great. About three millions of dol-
lars in specie, and a large quantity of
goods, fell into their hands, besides a great
quantity of munitions of war, 9 ships of
the line, and 4 frigates. In 1763, the con-
querors, notwithstanding the high opinion
that they had of the importance of Cuba,
restored it to Spain, in exchange for the
Floridas. Since then, Cuba has been a
Spanish island, and has been so well forti-
fied, that it is now not in much danger from
CUBA CUCKOO.
any attack that can be made upon it. The
forces of the island consist of 9886 regular
troops, and 14,560 militia. The navy
contains 2 seventy-fours, 3 frigates of 50
guns, 1 of 40, 1 sloop of war, and 2 brigs
of 22 guns each, 1 brig of 20, one of 16,
and 6 schooners mounting 13 guns.
CUBATURE OF A SOLID, in geometry;
the measuring of the space contained in
it, or finding the solid content of it.
CUBE, in geometry; a solid body, con-
sisting of six equal square sides. The
solidity of any cube is found by multiply-
ing the superficial area of one of the sides
by the height. Cubes are to one another
in the triplicate ratio of their diagonals;
and a cube is supposed to be generated by
the motion of a square plane along a line
equal to one of its sides, and at right
angles thereto; whence it follows, that
the planes of all sections, parallel to the
base, are squares equal thereto, and, con-
sequently, to one another.
CUBE, or CUBIC NUMBER, in arithmetic;
that which is produced by the multiplica-
tion of a square number by its root; thus
64 is a cube number, and arises by multi-
plying 16, the square of 4, by the root,
4.
CUBE, or CUBIC QUANTITY, in algebra;
the third power in a series of geometrical
proportionals continued; as, a is the root,
a a the square, and a a a the cube.
CUBE ROOT of any number or quantity is
a number or quantity, which, if multiplied
into itself, and then again by the product
thence arising, gives a product equal to
the number or quantity whereof it is the
cube root; as, 2 is the cube root of 8, be-
cause twice 2 are 4, and twice 4 are 8.
CUBIC FOOT of any substance; so much
of it as is contained in a cube whose side
is one foot. (See Cube.)
CUBIT, in the mensuration of the an-
cients; a long measure, equal to the length
of a man's arm, from the elbow to the tip
of the fingers. Doctor Arbuthnot makes
the English cubit equal to 18 inches, the
Roman cubit equal to 1 foot, 5.406 inches,
and the cubit of scripture equal to 1 foot,
9.888 inches.
CUCKINGSTOOL; an ancient instrument
of punishment, described, in Doomsday
Book, as cathedra stercoris. Scolds, cheat-
ing bakers or brewers, and other petty
offenders, were led to this stool, and im-
merged over head and ears in stercore, or
stinking water.
CUCKOO (cuculus, Lin.); a genus of
birds, characterized by a bill of moderate
size, short tarsi, and tail composed of 10
feathers. The bill is compressed, and
69

slightly arched. The greater number of
species belonging to this genus are found
on the ancient continent. Only one spe-
cies is a native of Great Britain, and very
few belong to Europe. In America, no
true cuckoos are found, for the genus coc-
cyzus differs very essentially from them in
its habits. The cuckoos are especially
distinguished by their habit of laying their
eggs in the nests of other, and, generally,
much smaller birds. What is still more
singular, it has been found, by very care-
ful observations, that the young cuckoo,
shortly after being hatched, throws out of
the nest all the other young or eggs, and
thus engrosses to itself the whole parental
care of the bird in whose nest it has been
lodged. The manner in which this eject-
ment is effected is thus described by Jen-
ner, in the second part of the Philosoph-
ical Transactions for 1788, article 14:-
"The little animal, with the assistance of
its rump and wings, contrived to get the
bird on its back, and, making a lodg-
ment for the burden by elevating its
elbows, clambered backwards with it up
the side of the nest, till it reached the top,
where, resting for a moment, it threw off
its load with a jerk, and quite disengaged
it from the nest. It remained in this situ-
ation a short time, feeling about with the
extremity of its wings, as if to be convinc-
ed whether the business was properly ex-
ecuted, and then dropped into the nest
again. With these (the extremities of its
wings) I have often seen it examine, as it
were, an egg or nestling before it began
its operations; and the nice sensibility
which these parts appeared to possess
seemed sufficient to compensate the want
of sight, which, as yet, it was destitute of.
I afterwards put in an egg, and this, by a
similar process, was conveyed to the edge
of the nest, and thrown out. These exper-
iments I have since repeated several times
in different nests, and have always found
the young cuckoo disposed to act in the
same manner. In climbing up the nest,
it sometimes drops its burden, and thus
is foiled in its endeavors; but, after a little
respite, the work is resumed, and goes on
almost incessantly till it is effected. It is
wonderful to see the extraordinary exer-
tion of the young cuckoo, when it is only
two or three days old, if a bird be put in
the nest with it, that is too weighty for it
to lift out. In this state, it seems ever
restless and uneasy. But this disposition
for turning out its companions begins to
decline from the time it is two or three
till it is twelve days old; when, as far as I
have seen, it ceases. Indeed, the disposi
70
CUCKOO-CUCUMBER.

tion for throwing out the egg appears to
cease a few days sooner; for I have fre-
quently seen the young cuckoo, after it has
been hatched 9 or 10 days, remove a nest-
ling that had been placed in the nest with
it, when it suffered an egg, put there at
the same time, to remain unmolested.
The singularity of its shape is well adapt-
ed to these purposes; for, different from
other newly-hatched birds, its back, from
the scapula downwards, is very broad,
with a considerable depression in the
middle. This depression seems formed
by nature for the purpose of giving a
more secure lodgment to the egg of the
hedge-sparrow or its young one, when the
young cuckoo is employed in removing
either of them from the nest. When it is
about 12 days old, this cavity is quite filled
up, and then the back assumes the shape
of nestling birds in general. A young
cuckoo, that had been hatched by a hedge-
sparrow about four hours, was confined
in the nest in such a manner, that it could
not possibly turn out the young hedge-
sparrows, which were hatched at the same
time, though it was almost incessantly
making attempts to effect it. The conse-
quence was, the old birds fed the whole
alike, and appeared, in every respect, to pay
the same attention to the young cuckoo
as to their own young, until the 13th day,
when the nest was unfortunately plunder-
ed. The smallness of the cuckoo's egg,
in proportion to the size of the bird, is a
circumstance that hitherto, I believe, has
escaped the notice of the ornithologist. So
great is the disproportion, that it is, in gen-
eral, smaller than that of the house-spar-
row; whereas, the difference in the size
of the birds is nearly as five to one. I
have used the term in general, because
eggs produced at different times by the
same bird, vary very much in size. I
have found a cuckoo's egg so light, that it
weighed only 43 grains, and one so heavy,
that it weighed 55 grains. The color of
the cuckoo's eggs is extremely variable.
Some, both in ground and penciling, very
much resemble the house-sparrow's; some
are indistinctly covered with bran-colored
spots; and others are marked with lines
of black, resembling, in some measure,
the eggs of the yellow-hammer." The
cause of this singular habit of the common
cuckoo of Europe (cuculus canorus) has
been long a subject of discussion, without
having been very satisfactorily determined.
The opinion of the observer above cited
appears to be as near the truth as we may
hope to arrive. He attributes it to the
short stay made by the bird in the coun-
try where it is under the necessity of
propagating its species. Were it not to
resort to some such expedient, it would
be impossible that the species could be
continued. The cuckoo first appears in
England about the 17th of April. Its egg
is not ready for incubation sooner than
the middle of May. A fortnight is taken
up by the sitting bird in hatching the egg.
The bird generally continues three weeks
in the nest before it flies. The foster
parents feed it for more than five weeks
after this period; so that, if the cuckoo
took care of its own eggs and young, the
newly-hatched bird would not be fit to pro-
vide for itself before its parent would be
instinctively directed to seek a new resi-
dence, and be thus compelled to abandon
its young one; for the old cuckoos take
their final leave before the first week in
July. The young cuckoos forsake the
nest as soon as fully fledged, and capable
of providing for themselves. Their mi-
grations from Europe are thought to be
chiefly directed towards Africa; thence
they regularly return with the spring, and,
from some dead tree or bare bough, the
male pours forth his monotonous song,
cuckoo! cuckoo !-In America, there is
a bird of a very different genus, which
resembles the cuckoo in depositing its
egg in the nests of other birds, to be fos-
tered by them. Comprehended under
the term Emberiza.
CUCUMBER. The genus cucumis, to
which the common cucumber belongs,
contains 17 species, several of which are
of considerable importance. Cucumis co-
locynthis, producing the medicine called
coloquintida, is a native of Africa. Cucu-
mis anguria, the round, prickly cucumber,
is a native of the West Indies, where it is
used, with other vegetables, in soups. Cu-
cumis melo, the common melon, is supposed
to be a native of Persia: it was cultivated
in Europe in the 16th century. Cucumis
sativus, the common cucumber, is a native
of the East Indies. The varieties of this, as
well as of the melon, are easily produced.
Those with the smoothest rind and fewest
seeds are most esteemed. Cucumis angui-
nus, the snake cucumber, bears fruit some-
times from three to four feet long. It is
only raised as a curiosity, the flavor being
bitter. Several other species produce
fruits that are eaten by the inhabitants of
the countries of which they are natives.
The cucumber was one of the luxuries of
which Tiberius was particularly fond; and,
by the dexterous management of his beds,
he procured one every day, at all seasons
of the year -The common cucumber (cu-
CUCUMBER-CUEVA.
cumis sativus) is an oblong, rough and
cooling fruit, supposed to have been orig-
inally imported into Europe from some part
of the Levant. It belongs to the 22d class
of Linnæus, and is a trailing and climbing
plant. The fruit is generally eaten cut in
slices, with vinegar, pepper, &c. Some
people think it unwholesome. Sometimes
cucumbers are eaten stewed. When
young, they are pickled (in England under
the name of gerkins, which is connected
with the German gurken), with vinegar
and spices, or preserved in sirup as a
sweetmeat. It is better to lay the fruit on
slate or tiles than upon the bare ground.
Cucumbers are raised in England in very
great quantity. The village of Sandy, in
Bedfordshire, has been known to furnish
10,000 bushels of pickling cucumbers in
one week. In March, cucumbers have
been known to fetch, in the London mar-
ket, a guinea a dozen; in August and
September, one penny a dozen.
CUCUTA (Rosario de Cucutà), a town in
Colombia, 40 miles north of Pamplona,
known by the congress which assembled
here May 1st, 1821, and finished its sit-
tings in October of the same year. It
was this body which framed the constitu-
tion of Colombia; and it is considered as
the first Colombian congress, being the first
convened under the fundamental law for
uniting Venezuela and New Grenada into
a single republic.
CUDWORTH, Ralph, a learned English
divine and philosopher, was born at Aller,
in Somersetshire, of which parish his fa-
ther was rector, in 1617. He was admit-
ted a pensioner of Emanuel college, Cam-
bridge, at the age of 13. His diligence as
an academical student was very great;
and, in 1639, he took the degree of M. A.,
and was elected fellow of his college. He
became so eminent as a tutor, that the
number of his pupils exceeded all prece-
dent, and in due time he was presented,
by his college, to the rectory of North
Cadbury, in Somersetshire. In the year
1642, he published a Discourse concerning
the true Nature of the Lord's Supper, and
The Union of Christ and the Church shad-
owed, or in a Shadow. The first of these
productions, which maintained that the
Lord's supper is a feast upon a sacrifice,
produced considerable controversy long
after the author's death. In 1644, he took
the degree of B. D., and was chosen mas-
ter of Clare-hall, and, in the following
year, was made regius professor of He-
brew. In 1651, he was made D. D., and
in 1654, chosen master of Christ's college,
Cambridge; where, having taken a wife,
71

he spent the remainder of his days. In
1678, he published his grand work, en-
titled The true Intellectual System of the
Universe; the First Part, wherein all the
Reason and Philosophy of Atheism is
confuted, and its Impossibility demon-
strated (folio). This work, which is an
immense storehouse of ancient learning,
was intended, in the first instance, to be
an essay against the doctrine of necessity
only; but perceiving that this doctrine
was maintained by several persons upon
different principles, he distributed their
opinions under three different heads,
which he intended to treat of in three
books; but his Intellectual System relates
only to the first, viz. "The material Ne-
cessity of all Things without a God, or
absolute Atheism." It is a work of great
power and erudition, although the attach-
ment of the author to the Platonism of
the Alexandrian school has led him to
advance some opinions which border on
incomprehensibility and mysticism. The
moral as well as intellectual character of
this eminent scholar stood very high; and
he died universally respected, in 1688, in
the 71st year of his age.
CUENZA (anciently Canca); a city of
Spain, in New Castile, capital of a prov
ince; 28 leagues E. S. E. Madrid; lon.
20 16 W.; lat. 40° 10' N.; population,
6000. It is a bishop's see. It contains a
cathedral, 13 parishes, 6 monasteries, an
hospital, a seminary, and 3 colleges. It
was built by the Moors, on a high and
craggy hill, between the rivers Xucar and
Huescar, which makes it naturally strong.
Here the painter Salmeron, and the fa-
mous Jesuit Molina, were born. The
north and east part of the province is
mountainous, and fit only for sheep pas-
ture; the other parts are fertile, producing
corn, hemp, fruit, &c. Population of the
province, 296,650; square miles, 11,884.
CUENZA, or BAMBA; a town of Colom-
bia, in Quito, capital of a province; 150
miles S. Quito; lon. 79° 13′ W.; lat.
2° 55' S.; population, 15 or 20,000. The
streets are straight and broad, and the
houses mostly of adobes, or unburnt bricks
The environs are very fertile and pleasant
The town contains 3 churches, 4 con-
vents, 2 nunneries, an hospital, a chamber
of finance, &c.
CUENZA, Sierra de; a chain of moun-
tains which runs through the province of
the same name. (See Cuenza.)
CUEVA, John de la; a poet, born in Se
ville, about the middle of the 16th century
A great facility in the composition of
verses, in which Ovid was his model,
72
CUEVA-CUFIC WRITING AND CUFIC COINS.

determined him to apply himself to the
dramatic art, in which Torres Naharro
had successfully resisted the attempts of
some learned theatrical amateurs to force
the Greek and Latin drama upon the
people. In connexion with Naharro,
Lope de Ruedra, and Christopher de Cas-
tillejo, he confirmed the old division into
comedias divinas y humanas, while he
made his pieces more interesting than
those of his predecessors, by introducing
greater variety in the dramatis persona, by
more finished verses, and by the division
into three jornadas, or acts. His works,
which are now rare in Spain, may be
found in the Parnaso Español (vol. 8. 16)
The earliest of his compositions are Poe-
sias Lyricas (Seville, 1582), of the same
character with the Coro febeo de Romances
historiales (Seville, 1588). His heroic po-
em, La Conquista de la Betica, in 20 can-
tos (Seville, 1602, also in Fernandez's
collection, vols. 14-15), has beauties
enough in the execution to make amends
for the defects of the plan. The Come-
dias y Tragedias, published at Seville, in
1588, were received with applause, in their
time, in this poetical city, but offended,
even then, by the introduction of alle-
gorical personages in the action. In the
Parnaso Español there is a work of Cue-
va's, written in terzets, on the art of poetry,
which contains many interesting facts
with regard to the old Spanish drama.
Cueva died at the commencement of the
17th century.
CUFIC WRITING AND CUFIC COINS.
The written characters of which the Ara-
bians now make use, and with which we
meet in printed works, viz., the Neskhi
characters, are an invention of the 4th
century of the Hegira. Before this time,
the Cufic characters, so called from the
town of Cufa, where they are said to have
been invented, were in use. These old
characters have so much resemblance to
the ancient Syriac writing, the Estrangel,
that it hardly admits of a doubt, that the
Arabians borrowed them from the inhab-
itants of Syria. Historical traditions con-
firm this supposition. The Cufic charac-
ters, and, perhaps, others at an earlier date,
which essentially resembled them, were
probably first introduced among the Ara-
bians a short time before Mohammed.
Although we are, at present, ignorant of
the characters which were previously in
use among them, and although the imper-
fect accounts of the Mussulman writers
throw very little light upon the subject,
yet it is scarcely credible that the Arabians
remained destitute of a written character
until the 6th century of the Christian era.
Perhaps traces of the earlier character are
to be found in the Palmyrene and Pho-
nician inscriptions, and also on the coins
of the Sassanides. We find the transition
of the Cufic to the Neskhi on the ruins of
Chilminar. The influence which the
school of Cufa exerted on Islamism
caused the use of the character which
proceeded from it; and when the others
had fallen into oblivion, Cufic writing was
the name commonly applied to all kinds
of Arabic writing, previous to the change
made by Ebn Mokla. A knowledge of it is
important on account of the many monu-
ments in which it is preserved; especially
the coins inscribed with Cufic characters
and made in the first centuries of the He-
gira. Under the name of Cufic coins are
comprehended the ancient coins of the
Mohammedan princes, generally without
emblems, inscribed and circumscribed on
both sides, which have been found, in
modern times, to be important documents
for illustrating the history, languages and
religions of the East. The little art dis-
played in the impression of these coins,
is the reason why the earlier travellers
through the East too often overlooked
them. These coins are some of gold (di-
nar), others of silver (dirhem), and others
of brass (fuls). The silver coins, however,
are the most frequent, and the discovery
of large treasures of them on the shores
of the Baltic has particularly attracted to
them the attention of learned men. Their
form was borrowed by the Arabian ca-
liphs from that of the Byzantine and
Chosroean silver and copper coins. They
are to be considered as the earliest of
this class of coins, now daily increasing.
Agreeably to Adler's suggestion, who first
accurately investigated these coins (Muse-
um Cuficum Borgianum), they are divided,
according to the dynasties under which
they were made, into 12 classes, in which,
without any reference to the country to
which they belong, every thing which
ought to be connected with them is com-
bined. In the countries around the Baltic,
as well as in the central provinces of Eu-
ropean Russia, the silver coins most fre-
quently found are those of the caliphs,
the Ommiades as well as the Abbassides;
then those of the emirs of the Soffarides,
the Buwaihides, &c., but especially of
the dynasty of the Samanides, which were
struck between the middle of the 7th cen
tury of the Christian era, and the begin-
ning of the 11th. Those of the 10th cen-
tury are the most common.
This fact
has not been satisfactorily explained
CUFIC WRITING AND CUFIC COINS-CUIRASS.
Amber, girls for the haram, as well as
costly furs, which the Russians at that
time brought for sale to the Wolga, ac-
cording to Fosslan's account of a journey
at the beginning of the 10th century of the
Christian era, appear to have been most
frequently exchanged for them. Gold, in
this commerce, was used only in bars;
and, in order to make payments, in their
transactions, with greater facility, or in
order to have a medium of exchange for
things of little value, the coins were
broken, of which we have abundant evi-
dence. By accurate investigations in the
countries where this money is found, the
diligence and learning of the Orientalists
Adler, Reiske, Ol. Tychsen, Silv. de Sa-
cy, Hallenberg, Malmström, Rasmussen,
Frähn, Castiglioni (who has published a
valuable work upon the Cufic coins of the
imperial museum at Milan), Münter and
Th. Tychsen, have succeeded in arrang-
ing a tolerably perfect series of the several
dynasties. Th. Tychsen's treatise De De-
fectibus Rei Numaria Muhammedanor. (in
the 5th volume of the Comment. Soc. Gott.
recentior.), will enable the student to un-
derstand the deficiences of this science.
Frähn, of Petersburg, now counsellor of
state (author of a commentary upon the
cabinet of the Mohammedan coins in the
Asiatic museum at Petersburg), has been
reputed to be the most thorough judge of
this department, having had at his disposal
the collections of the imperial academy, as
well as those of private individuals, much
exceeding in richness any to be found
elsewhere. In connexion with these
coins are to be considered the small pieces
of glass, which were introduced, particu-
larly in Sicily, under the dominion of the
Mohammedans, instead of money, or, per-
haps, under the sanction of public author-
ity, obtained currency as standards of the
weight of coins. Among Cufic coins,
those are particularly sought for which
bear images, because the forms repre-
sented upon them appear to be opposed
to the precepts of the Koran. But their
commerce with the Greeks may, at first,
have made the engravers of the Moham-
medan coins less strict; and, in the course
of time, they ventured to give them figures
agreeable to the peculiarities of the Ori-
ental taste; in doing which, they were
aided by the armorial bearings (tamghas)
of the princes of the Turkish family.
Finally, they marked them with zodiacal
and planetary figures, to which they at-
tributed the power of amulets. (This
reminds us of the renowned Nurmahal-
rupees.) The original use of these coins is
VOL. IV.
73

made still more manifest from inscriptions
in many languages; even Russian-Arabic
coins are found in rich cabinets. Every
day adds to our information in this de-
partment. Ol. Tychsen's Introductio in
Rem Numar. Muhammedanor. (Rost., 1794),
has, therefore, ceased to be complete.
The abbé Reinaud, in the Journal Asiat-
ique (1823), has communicated many ex-
cellent observations concerning the study
of Arabic coins. A work by him, con-
cerning this branch of numismatics, with
a historical explanation of the coins in the
cabinet of the duke of Blacas, and in the
royal French collections, has also appeared.
CUIRASS; an article of defensive armor,
protecting the body both before and be-
hind. Meyrick, in his dissertation on an-
cient armor, has thus distinguished the
cuirasses of different nations:-1. Leath-
ern, with a belt of the same material, worn
by the Medes and Persians, before the
reign of Cyrus the Great. 2. Plumated
or scaled lorica of steel, of which the fore-
part covered the breast, the front of the
thighs, and foreparts of the hands and
legs; the posterior part, the back, neck,
and whole of the head; both parts being
united by fibula on the sides: these be-
longed to the Parthian cavalry. 3. Scales
made of horses' hoofs, sewed together with
the sinews of oxen, were worn by the
Sarmatians. 4. The purpa, padded with
wool, covered with flat rings or square
pieces of brass, fastened at the sides, and
cut round at the loins; the Owpas, or gor-
get; the Sworne, or girdle, to which was
appended the wua, a kind of petticoat,--
belonged to the Homeric chiefs. 5. The
Etruscans wore plain, scaled, laminated,
ringed or quilted cuishes, with straps de
pending from them, either of leather sole-
ly, or plated with metal; and these straps,
as well as the cuirasses, were adopted by
the Romans, who termed them lorice.
On the Trajan column, the lorica of the
hastati and principes (the two first ranks)
consist of several metal bands wrapped
half round the body, and fastened before
and behind, over a leathern or quilted
tunic. Sometimes the Roman cuirass was
enriched with embossed figures. The lo-
rice of the triarii (the third rank) were
of leather only. Domitian, according to
Martial, adopted the Sarmatian cuirass,
which he made of the hoofs of boars.
The Roman cavalry of the early period
did not wear lorica; but even before the
cataphractes of Constantine (who wore
flexible armor of scales and plates and
rings, held together by hooks and chains.
the lorica hamata of Virgil-Loricam con
74
CUIRASS-CULLEN.
sertam hamis auroque trilcem, En. iii.
467), we read of horsemen who were
loricati. Among the moderns, the Anglo-
Saxons wore leathern cuirasses (corieta),
which, towards the end of the 9th century,
were formed of hides fitted close to the
body, and jagged or cut into the shape of
leaves below. The leathern cuirass, cov-
ered with rings, was appropriated to the
blood royal, or chiefs of high rank: it was
borrowed from the Gauls, and called marl,
whence our coat of mail. The cuirass
appears to have been disused in England
in the time of Charles II, when bullet-
proof silk was introduced. The lance
having, of late years, again become an
offensive weapon, the cuirass has been
revived among the European cavalry.
The finest part of Napoleon's cavalry
were cuirassiers; and the weight of these
heavily-armed soldiers gave great mo-
mentum to their charge. The cuirass
.eaves many vulnerable parts exposed, but,
as it protects almost all the trunk, it mate-
rially diminishes the chance of wounds,
and gives confidence to the soldier.
CUJAS, Jacques, or CUJACIUS; son of
Cujaus, a tanner in Toulouse; born in
1520: While yet a student of law under
Arnould Ferrier, he attracted attention by
his industry and talents. After having
delivered private lectures at Toulouse, he
received an invitation to be professor of
law at Cahors in 1554; but he had been
there only a year, when Margaret de Va-
lois invited him, through her chancellor
l'Hopital, to Bourges, where he lectured
till 1567. He then went to Valence, and
gave great reputation to the university of
that place by his instructions. On ac-
count of the civil commotions in France,
he returned to Bourges in 1575, and re-
mained there, after a short stay at Paris,
as teacher of the law, notwithstanding the
most advantageous invitations to Bologna.
Cujas owed his great reputation to his
profound study of the original works on
the Roman law, of which he had collected
more than 500 manuscripts. The correc-
tions which he made in ancient works on
the law (to say nothing of a great many
Greek and Latin works on other subjects)
were remarkable for number and acute-
ness. In fact, he may be considered as
the founder of scientific jurisprudence.
He made himself popular, also, by the
interest which he took in the personal for-
tunes of his disciples, by his prudence in
regard to the theological quarrels of his
time (Nihil hoc ad edictum prætoris was
his maxim), and his faithful adherence to
the cause of Henry IV. His grief for the
D

afflictions of his country is said to have
accelerated his death (Oct. 4, 1590). He
was in the habit of studying and writing
lying on the ground. The booksellers at
Lyons purchased his manuscripts for
waste paper. The edition of his works,
which he published himself in 1577, is
correct, but incomplete; that by Fabrot
(Paris, 1658, 10 vols. folio) is complete.
The Promptuarium Operum Iac. Cujaci,
auctore Dom. Albunensi (Naples, 1763, 2
vols. folio), is of great assistance in the
study of this collection. His children by
two marriages acquired a sort of celebrity
by their immorality. (See Cujas and his
Contemporaries, by E. Spangenberg.)
CULDEES; a religious order, which, at
one period, had considerable establish-
ments in almost every part of Great
Britain and Ireland. The name is of
uncertain etymology; some derive it from
the Latin cultor Dei (a worshipper of
God), while others think they discover
its origin in the Gaelic kyldee (from cylle,
a cell, and dee, a house), a building com-
posed of cells. The history of the Cul-
dees has acquired a factitious importance
in the quarrels of the Episcopalians and
Presbyterians; the latter asserting that
they were of very great antiquity, and
were Presbyterians in their ecclesiastical
policy; the former maintaining that nei-
ther of these positions is correct, that there
is no mention of them in the early British
writers, but that they are first spoken of
subsequent to the year 854, and that they
then appear in the attitude of maintaining
their right to confirm the election of the
bishops of the several sees where they had
establishments. Their origin is, by some,
attributed to St. Columba, in the middle
of the 6th century. After having exer-
cised a great influence throughout the
country, they are said to have been over-
thrown by the increase of the papal
power, and the institution of monasteries
more congenial to the aspiring views of
the see of Rome.
CULLEN (William), a celebrated physi-
cian and medical writer, was born in the
county of Lanark, in Scotland, in 1712.
He was apprenticed to a surgeon and
apothecary at Glasgow, after which he
made some voyages to the West Indies as
surgeon to a merchant vessel. He subse-
quently settled as a medical practitioner at
Hamilton, where he formed a partnership
with William Hunter, who afterwards be-
came so distinguished. The object of
their connexion was not so much present
emolument as professional improvement.
Each, therefore, in turn, was allowed to
CULLEN-CUMA.
attend metropolitan lectures, whilst the
other prosecuted the business for their
joint benefit. In 1740, Cullen took the
degree of M. D., and, settling at Glasgow,
he was, in 1746, appointed lecturer on
chemistry at the university there. In
1751, he was chosen regius professor of
medicine. In 1756, he was invited to take
the chemical professorship in the univer-
sity of Edinburgh. In 1760, he was made
lecturer on the materia medica there, and
subsequently resigned the chemical chair
to his pupil, doctor Black. From 1766 to
1773, he gave, alternately with doctor
Gregory, annual courses of lectures on
the theory and practice of physic-an ar-
rangement which continued till the death
of doctor Gregory, in 1773, left his rival
in complete possession of the medical
chair. As a lecturer on medicine, doctor
Cullen exercised a great influence over
the state of opinion relative to the mystery
of that science. He successfully combated
the specious doctrines of Boerhaave, de-
pending on the humoral pathology; though
he has not been equally successful in es-
tablishing his own system, which is found-
ed on an enlarged view of the principles
of Frederic Hoffmann. His death took
place Feb. 5, 1790. His principal works
are Lectures on the Materia Medica;
Synopsis Nosologia Practice; and First
Lines of the Practice of Physic, which
must be considered as his magnum opus,
and which, amidst all the recent fluctua-
tions of opinion on medical theory, has
retained its value.
CULLODEN MUIR; a heath in Scotland,
4 miles east of Inverness. It is celebrated
for a victory obtained in the year 1746, by
the duke of Cumberland, over the parti-
sans of the house of Stuart. The battle
of Culloden was the last battle fought on
British soil, and the termination of the at-
tempts of the Stuart family to recover the
throne of England. (See Edward, Charles,
Great Britain, and James III.) The son
of James III, Charles Edward, in his
daring expedition in 1745, had contended,
with various success, against the English,
and, indeed, was at one time only about
100 miles from London, where terror and
consternation prevailed. But, by a com-
bination of unfavorable circumstances, he
was compelled to retreat to Scotland,
where fortune again seemed to smile on
him at the battle of Falkirk. But the
duke of Cumberland, marching against
him, baffled the whole enterprise by the
decisive victory of Culloden, April 27
(16th, O. S.), 1746. Edward's army was
deficient in subordination. Though his
75

troops were faint with fatigue and hunger
when the battle began, they fought with
spirit. The impetuous bravery of the
Highlanders, however, at length yielded
to the well-served artillery of the English.
The victors massacred the wounded Scots
on the field of battle. Charles Edward
was exposed, in his flight, to a thousand
dangers, but at length escaped. His fol-
lowers suffered the vengeance of the vic-
tors. The most distinguished of them
died on the scaffold, and the districts
which had been the theatre of the rebel-
lion were laid waste. The English gov-
ernment henceforward took measures to
prevent the recurrence of similar attempts.
Finding that the attachment of the High-
landers to the old royal line arose princi-
pally from the peculiarity of their customs
and mode of life, they resolved to abolish
their institutions. Since that period, the
primitive Scottish manners and usages
have been continually dwindling away and
disappearing.
CULM; a village in Bohemia, 3 leagues
east of the well-known watering-place of
Teplitz, and near the frontier of Saxony;
famous on account of the battle of Aug.
30, 1813, in which the French, under
Vandamme, were beaten by the Prussians
and Russians. Vandamme was taken
prisoner, with 3 generals and 10,000 men.
The battle was one of the bloodiest in the
whole war. The allies had, a few days
previous (Aug. 26), been repulsed by Na-
poleon in their attack on Dresden. On
the 29th, a bloody battle took place be-
tween Vandamme and the allies, who de-
fended the frontiers of Bohemia, to cover
the retreat of the Russians. The night
put an end to the battle. On the 30th, it
was renewed with fury, and ended with
the victory of Culm. This victory was
decisive; for the allies were enabled to
save Bohemia, on which Napoleon was
pressing with all his might. A few days
before (Aug. 26), on the same day with the
battle at Dresden, the French had been
beaten by Blücher on the Katzbach; and
from this time, the series of disasters is to
be dated, which ended with the dethrone-
ment of the French emperor.
CULMINATION, in astronomy; the pass-
ing of a star through the meridian, because
it has at that moment reached the highest
point (culmen) of its path, with reference
to the observer. Hence culmination is
used, metaphorically, for the condition of
any person or thing arrived at the most
brilliant or important point of its progress.
CUMA, or CYME; the largest and most
important city of Æolis (Asia Minor), and,
76
CUMA-CUMBERLAND.

at the same time, one of the most ancient
places on the Ægæan sea. From this
place the Cumaan Sibyl took her name.
Hesiod was born here. According to
Strabo, the inhabitants of Cuma were con-
sidered as somewhat deficient in talent.
CUMA, a very ancient city in Campa-
nia, and the oldest colony of the Greeks
in Italy, was founded about 1030 B. C. by
Chalcis of Euboea, and peopled by Asiatic
Cumæans and by Phocians. The com-
mon belief of the inhabitants made it the
residence of the Cumaan sibyl, though
her home was really in Asia. (See the
preceding article.) The Grotto of Truth
was situated in the wood sacred to the
goddess Trivia, and in its neighborhood
was the Acherusian lake. In this region
Cicero had a country-seat. Cumæ had a
considerable territory, and a naval force in
her port, Puteoli. She founded Naples
(Neapolis), and, in Sicily, Zancle or Mes-
sina. In 420 B. C., Cuma was taken by
the Campanians, and came with them
under the power of Rome (345 B. C.). It
was destroyed A. D. 1207.
CUMANA; a province of Colombia,
bounded N. and E. by the Caribbean sea,
S. by the Orinoco. In the western part,
towards the coast, the soil is tolerably fer-
tile. The eastern part is dry and sandy,
affording nothing but an inexhaustible
mine of marine and mineral salt. On the
Orinoco, the country is fit only for pas-
turage: other parts are exceedingly fertile.
In the interior is a range of mountains, of
which Tumeriquisi, the most elevated, is
5900 feet high.
CUMANA, or NEW CORDOVA; a town of
Colombia, and capital of a province of the
same name; lon. 64° 10′ W.; lat 10° 28
N.: population, estimated by Humboldt at
18 or 19,000; by Depons, at 24,000. It is
situated near the mouth of the gulf of
Cariaco, about a mile from the sea, on an
arid, sandy plain. The climate is hot,
earthquakes are frequent, and the houses
low, and lightly built. On the 14th Dec.,
1797, more than three fourths of them
were destroyed by an earthquake. The
inhabitants carry on a considerable trade
in cacao, and other productions of the
country. The road is commodious for its
depth, and of a semicircular form, which
defends it from the violence of the winds.
CUMBERLAND, duke of; second son of
George II of England; born in 1721, and
died Oct. 30, 1765. At the battle of Det-
tingen, he was wounded, when fighting at
the side of his father. At Fontenoy, he
was compelled to yield to the superior
experience of marshal Saxe; but rose in
reputation by subduing the insurrection.
in Scotland, caused by the landing of
Charles Edward Stuart (see Culloden and
Edward), 1745; which, however, was more
in consequence of the discord and irreso-
lution prevailing in the camp of his brave
antagonists, than from any distinguished
talent exhibited by him. Charles Edward,
when only two days' march from London,
commenced his retreat into Scotland from
Carlisle (January, 1746), and was com-
pletely defeated (April, 1746) at Culloden.
(q. v.) The duke obscured his fame by
the cruel abuse which he made, or suf-
fered his soldiers to make, of the victory;
which was the more dishonorable, as the
followers of the pretender, on their march
through the Scotch Lowlands and in Eng-
land, had evinced the greatest humanity
and forbearance. In 1747, Cumberland
was defeated by marshal Saxe, at Lafeld.
In 1757, he lost the battle of Hastenbeck,
against D'Estrées, and, Sept. 8, concluded
the convention at Closter-Seven, upon
which he was recalled, and Ferdinand,
duke of Brunswick, received the com-
mand of the allied army.
CUMBERLAND (Ernest Augustus), duke
of, brother to George IV, king of Eng-
land, fourth son of George III, was born
June 5, 1771. The duke has almost
always lived abroad, and is little known in
England, except for his unsuccessful at-
tempt to obtain an addition to his stipend,
after he had married Frederica Sophia
Carolina, daughter of the duke of Meck-
lenburg-Strelitz, and widow of the prince
of Solms. He generally resides at Berlin,
where he leads a dissipated life. His
son, George Frederic Alexander Charles
Ernest Augustus, was born May 27, 1819.
When the duke was in England, in 1815,
his wife was not admitted at court.
CUMBERLAND, Richard, a dramatic and
miscellaneous writer, son of the reverend
Denison Cumberland, bishop of Clonfert,
by the daughter of doctor Bentley, was
born in the master's lodge, in Trinity col-
lege, Cambridge, Feb. 19, 1732. He re-
ceived his early education at Westminster,
and, in his 14th year, was admitted of
Trinity college, where he studied very
closely, and obtained his bachelor's degree
at the age of 18, and soon after was elect-
ed fellow. He became private secretary
to lord Halifax, and made his first offering
to the press in a small poem, entitled an
Elegy written on St. Mark's Eve, which
obtained but little notice.
His tragedy
entitled the Banishment of Cicero was
rejected by Garrick, and printed by the
author in 1761. In 1769, he was married,
CUMBERLAND-CUNDINAMARCA.
77

and, his patron being made lord-lieutenant of Alleghany county, Maryland, on the
Potomac, at the junction of Will's creek,
70 miles W. Hagerstown, 130 E. S. E.
Wheeling, 150 W. by N. Baltimore. It is
a considerable town, and contains a court-
house, a jail, a market-house, a bank, and
four houses of public worship-one for
Lutherans, one for Roman Catholics, one
for Methodists, and one built jointly by
the Presbyterians and Episcopalians. The
mountains in the vicinity abound in stone-
coal, great quantities of which are trans-
ported down the Potomac in flat and keel
boats. The Cumberland or Great Western
road extends from this town to the banks
of the Ohio at Wheeling. It was made
by the government of the U. States, at the
expense of $1,800,000; and a survey has
been made from thence to the Mississippi,
600 miles farther.
of Ireland, he accompanied him to that
kingdom. When lord Halifax became
secretary of state, he procured nothing
better for Cumberland than the clerkship
of reports in the office of trade and plan-
tations. In the course of the next two or
three years, he wrote an opera, entitled
the Summer's Tale, and his comedy of
the Brothers. His West Indian, which
was brought out by Garrick in 1771, prov-
ed eminently successful. The Fashiona-
ble Lover not obtaining the success of
the West Indian, he exhibited that sore-
ness of character which exposed him to
the satire of Sheridan, in his sketch of
Sir Fretful Plagiary, and which induced
Garrick to call him the man without a skin.
The Choleric Man, the Note of Hand,
and the Battle of Hastings, were his next
productions. On the accession of lord
George Germaine to office, he was made
secretary to the board of trade. In 1780,
he was employed on a confidential mis-
sion to the courts of Lisbon and Madrid,
which, owing to some dissatisfaction on
the part of the ministry, involved him in
great distress, as they withheld the reim-
bursement of his expenses to the amount
of £5000, which rendered it necessary for
him to dispose of the whole of his hered-
itary property. To add to his misfortune,
the board of trade was broken up, and he
retired with a very inadequate pension,
and devoted himself entirely to literature.
The first works which he published, after
his return from Spain, were his entertain-
ing Anecdotes of Spanish Painters, and
the most distinguished of his collection of
essays, entitled the Observer. To these
may be added the novels of Arundel,
Henry, and John de Lancaster, the poem
of Calvary, the Exodiad (in conjunction
with sir James Bland Burgess), and, lastly,
a poem called Retrospection, and the Me-
moirs of his own Life. He also edited
the London Review, in which the critics
gave their names, and which soon expir-
ed. His latter days were chiefly spent in
London, where he died, May 7, 1811. The
comic drama was his forte; and, although
he wrote much, even of comedy, that was
very indifferent, the merit of the West
Indian, the Fashionable Lover, the Jew,
and the Wheel of Fortune, is of no com-
mon description. His Observer, since his
acknowledgment of his obligations to doc-
tor Bentley's manuscripts, no longer sup-
ports his reputation as a Greek critic; and
as a poet, he was never more than a ver-
sifier.
CUMBERLAND; a post-town, and capital
CUMBERLAND MOUNTAINS, in Tennes-
see. The range commences in the S. W.
part of Pennsylvania, and, in Virginia, it
takes the name of Laurel mountain, passes
through the S. E. part of Kentucky, and
terminates in Tennessee, 80 miles S. E.
Nashville. A considerable portion of this
mountain in Tennessee is composed of
stupendous piles of craggy rocks. It is
thinly covered with trees, and has springs
impregnated with alum. Lime-stone is
found on both sides of it.
CUMBERLAND; a river which rises in
the Cumberland mountains, Virginia, and
runs through Kentucky and Tennessee
into the Ohio, 60 miles from the Mississip-
pi. It is navigable for steam-boats to
Nashville, near 200 miles, and for boats of
15 tons, 300 miles farther. At certain
seasons, vessels of 400 tons may descend
400 miles, to the Ohio.
CUMMAZEE, or COOMASSIE; a town of
Africa, capital of Ashantee; 120 miles
N. N. W. Cape Coast Castle; lon. 2°6′ W.;
lat. 6° 30' N.: population estimated by Mr.
Bowdich, in 1818, at 15,000; stated by the
inhabitants at 100,000. It is situated in a
vale, surrounded by an unbroken mass
of the deepest verdure. Four of the prin-
cipal streets are half a mile long, and from
50 to 100 yards broad. The houses are
low and small, of a square or oblong form,
composed of canes wattled together, and
plastered with clay and sand. The town
has considerable trade. The king's harem
is said to contain 3333 women!
CUNDINAMARCA; the northern part of
New Grenada. It forms a departmen
of the republic of Colombia, and compre-
hends the provinces of Bogotá, Antioquia,
Mariquita and Neiva, with 371,000 inhabit-
ants. The chief place is Santa Fe de Bogotá
7*
78
CUNERSDORF-CUPOLA.

CUNERSDORF; a village near Frankfort
on the Oder, known on account of the
bloody battle in which Frederic the Great
was defeated, Aug. 12, 1759. It is only
about 50 miles distant from Berlin, his cap-
ital. Opposed to him were the Russians
under Soltikoff, and the Austrians under
Laudon. Victory seemed, at first, likely
to declare in favor of Frederic, but, event-
ually, he lost all his artillery and 20,000
men. (See Seven Years' War.) The king
at first gave up all hope, but soon recov-
ered his spirits, when Soltikoff, with in-
conceivable tardiness, neglected to follow
up his victory.
CUPEL; a shallow earthen vessel, some-
what resembling a cup, from which it
derives its name. It is formed of bone-
ashes, and is extremely porous. It is used
in assays, to separate the precious metals
from their alloys. The process of cupel-
lation consists in fusing an alloy of a pre-
cious metal, along with a quantity of lead,
in a cupel. The lead is extremely sus-
ceptible of oxidation, and, at the same
time, it promotes the oxidation of other
metals, and vitrifies with their oxides.
The foreign metals are thus removed;
the vitrified matter is absorbed by the
cupel, or is driven off by the blast of the
bellows, as it collects on the surface;
and the precious metal at length remains
nearly pure.
CUPELLATION. (See Cupel.)
CUPICA; a seaport and bay of Colombia,
on the S. E. side of Panama, following
the coast of the Pacific ocean, from cape
St. Miguel to cape Corrientes. This is
thought by Humboldt the most favorable
point for connecting the Atlantic and Pa-
cific oceans by a canal. From the bay of
Cupica, there is a passage of only 15 or 18
miles, over a country quite level, and
suited to a canal, to the head of naviga-
tion of the river Naipi, a branch of the
river Atrato, which flows into the Atlan-
tic. Gogueneche, a Biscayan pilot, is said
to have first pointed out this spot as almost
the only place where the chain of the
Andes is completely interrupted, and a
canal thus made practicable.
CUPID; a celebrated deity among the
ancients; the god of love, and love itself.
There are different traditions concerning
his parents. Cicero mentions three Cu-
pids; one, son of Mercury and Diana;
another, son of Mercury and Venus; and
the third, son of Mars and Venus. Plato
mentions two. Hesiod, the most ancient
theogonist, speaks only of one, who, as he
says, was produced at the same time as
Chaos and the Earth. There are, accord-
ing to the more received opinions, two
Cupids, one of whom is a lively, ingen-
ious youth, son of Jupiter and Venus,
whilst the other, son of Nox and Erebus,
is distinguished by his debauchery and
riotous disposition. Cupid is represented
as a winged infant, naked, armed with a
bow, and a quiver full of arrows. On
gems and all other antiques, he is rep-
resented as amusing himself with some
childish diversion. Sometimes he appears
driving a hoop, throwing a quoit, playing
with a nymph, catching a butterfly, or
with a lighted torch in his hand. At other
times, he plays upon a horn before his
mother, or closely embraces a swan, or,
with one foot raised in the air, he, in a
musing posture, seems to meditate some
trick. Sometimes, like a conqueror, he
marches triumphantly, with a helmet on
his head, a spear on his shoulder, and
a buckler on his arm, intimating that
even Mars himself owns the superiority
of love. His power was generally shown
by his riding on the back of a lion, or on
a dolphin, or breaking to pieces the thun-
der-bolts of Jupiter. Among the ancients,
he was worshipped with the same solem-
nity as his mother, Venus, and his influ-
ence was extended over the heavens, the
sea, and the earth, and even the empire
of the dead. His divinity was universally
acknowledged, and vows, prayers and
sacrifices were daily offered to him. Ac-
cording to some accounts, the union of
Cupid with Chaos gave birth to men,
and all the animals which inhabit the
earth; and even the gods themselves were
the offspring of love, before the founda-
tion of the world. (See Amor.)
CUPOLA (Ital.), in architecture; a hem-
ispherical roof, often used as the summit
of a building. The Italian word cupola
signifies a hemispherical roof, which cov-
ers a circular building, like the Pantheon
at Rome, and the round temple at Tivoli.
Many of the ancient Roman temples were
circular; and the most natural form for a
roof for such a building was that of a half
globe, or a cup reversed. The invention,
or at least the first use, of the cupola be-
longs to the Romans; and it has never
been used with greater effect than by
them. The greater part of modern cupo-
las (unlike those of the ancients, which
are mostly hemispherical) are semi-ellipti-
cal, cut through their shortest diameter
The ancients seldom had any other open-
ing than a large circle in the centre, called
the eye of the cupola; while the moderns
elevate lanterns on their top, and perfo-
rate them with luthern and dormant win-
CUPOLA-CURDS.
dows, and other disfigurements. The an-
cients constructed their cupolas of stone;
the moderns, of timber, covered with lead
or copper. Of cupolas, the finest, without
any comparison, ancient or modern, is that
of the Rotundo or Pantheon at Rome.
Of modern constructions, some of the
handsomest are the cupola on the bank
of England, that of St. Peter's at Rome,
those of St. Paul's, London, the Hotel des
Invalides, and the church of St. Genevieve
at Paris, Santa Maria da Fiori at Flor-
ence, and St. Sophia at Constantinople.
CURAÇAO; an island in the Caribbean
sea, about 75 miles from the continent of
South America, belonging to the Nether-
lands; 30 miles long, and 10 broad; pro-
ducing sugar and tobacco, also large and
small cattle; but not generally fertile. It
has several good ports, particularly one
on the southern coast, called St. Barbara,
where a great trade was formerly carried
on by the Dutch in African slaves. Lon.
69° 26 W.; lat. 12° N.; population, 8500.
The principal towns are Curaçao and
Williamstadt. The city of Curaçao is
well situated, and elegantly built. It is
full of storehouses, and provided with
every species of merchandise. William-
stadt is considered the capital.
CURASSOA ORANGES (aurantia curassa-
ventia), or small oranges fallen from the
tree long before their maturity, have prop-
erties similar to those of the orange-peel:
they are, however, more bitter and acrid.
They are used in the U. States and in
England for the same purposes as the
orange-peel, and also as issue peas.
CURDS; a wandering people, divided
into many tribes, and dwelling in the
country which lies between the foot of
mount Caucasus and the Black sea, and
stretches to the sources of the Tigris and
Euphrates. Their incursions into the
Russian territories have been checked by
the troops on the frontier, and they have
preferred to leave Persia rather than to
become settled and tributary to the shah.
They are Mohammedans, but neither of the
Turkish nor Persian sect. The most un-
principled part of the Curds are the Yezides,
who esteem the plunder of caravans, mur-
der, theft and incest lawful. There are
no Armenian Christians among this peo-
ple, who, in spite of the repeated demands
of the pacha, have never paid to the
Porte either poll-tax or taxes on their
property (miri). They, however, some-
They, however, some-
times propose to the Porte the persons
whom they wish as pachas and beys, and
the Porte has never failed to comply with
their request. It is said that the Curds
75

are descended from the Usbeck Tartars
or from the Mongols; but their external
appearance is very unlike that of the Tar-
tars. The Curds wear a cloak of black
goatskin, and, instead of a turban, a high,
red cap. The Turkish dress is never
worn, because they consider that it would
mark them as vassals of the sultan. The
young men wear mustachios; the old
men suffer their beards to grow. The
Curd is a good rider, and uses his lance
with skill. He is fond of music, and sings
in ballads the exploits of his nation. There
are some of this people settled in the plains
of Armenia, but no branch acknowledges
itself tributary to the Porte. If the winter
among the highlands proves too cold for
the wild mountain Curd, he descends to
these plains, and lives in low tents of dark,
coarse linen. An enclosure made of reeds.
near his tent, surrounds the place where
he keeps his cattle, which he has brought
from the mountains. This people, who
live by plunder, respect the rights of hos-
pitality, and usually make their guest
some present when he departs. The pa-
triarchal authority of parents is very great.
A son never marries without their con-
sent. Although otherwise so deficient in
moral principle, they believe that no one
can refuse the request of an unfortunate
man without being punished by God.
Mithridates, king of Pontus, took advan-
tage of this belief to supply the losses of
his army in his wars with the Romans.
The more wonderful the escapes of the
unfortunate individual, the more confident
are they that he will experience a change
of fortune. On this account, these moun-
tains are the refuge of the enemies of the
Turkish pachas; and they often return
from them more formidable than they
were before. Pottage, milk and honey
form the principal food of the Curds.
They drive annually to Constantinople
alone 1,500,000 sheep, and goats in flocks
of 1500-2000, the shepherds being from
15 to 18 months on the road, in going and
returning. Northern Curdistan produces
grain, sulphur and alum: the southern
and warmer parts of the country produce
corn, rice, sesamum, fruits, cotton, tobacco,
honey, wax, manna and gall-nuts, exported
by the way of Smyrna. Curdistan has
sangiacks at Bayazid, Mouch, Van, Jula-
merk, Amadia, Šuleihmanieh, Kara-Djio-
lan and Zahou. Of all these sangiacks,
the Porte appoints only that of Van.
Each sangiack governs a number of the
tribes of his nation, who obey his com
mands in war, but are wholly indepen-
dent of him in time of peace. The Chris
80
CURDS-CURIA.

tians, who constitute the principal popu-
lation of the plains of Armenia, suffer
every year from the incursions of the
Curds, and, the Porte being unable to pro-
tect them, they are compelled continually
to remove farther to the south, where they
are also liable to be plundered by the
Bedouins or Wechabites. Their only
hope is in the increasing power of the
Russian army on the Turkish, Curdish
and Persian frontiers, and in the expecta-
tion that the Russians will at last put an
end to the robberies of the Turks and the
oppression of the pachas.
CURETES. (See Corybantes.)
CURIA, PAPAL, is a collective appellation
of all the authorities in Rome, which exer-
cise the rights and privileges which the
pope enjoys as first bishop, superintendent
and pastor of Roman Catholic Christen-
dom. The right to grant or confirm
ecclesiastical appointments is exercised
by the dataria. (q. v.) This body receives
petitions, draws up answers, and collects
the revenues of the pope for the pallia,
spolia, benefices, annates, &c. It is a lu-
crative branch of the papal government,
and part of the receipts go to the apostolic
chamber. There is more difficulty at-
tending the business of the rota (q. v.), the
high court of appeal. In former times,
the cardinal grand penitentiary, as presi-
dent of the penitenzieria, had a very great
influence. He issues all dispensations
and absolutions in respect to vows, pen-
ances, fasts, &c., in regard to which the
pope has reserved to himself the dispens-
ing power; also with respect to marriages
within the degrees prohibited to Catholics.
Besides these authorities, whose powers
extend over all Catholic Christendom, there
are, in Rome, several others, occupied
only with the government of the Roman
state; as the sagra consulta, the chief
criminal court, in which the cardinal sec-
retary of state presides; the signatura di
giustizia, a court for civil cases, consisting
of 12 prelates, over which the cardinal-
provveditore, or minister of justice of the
pope, presides, and with which the sig-
natura di grazia concurs; the apostolic
chamber, in which 12 prelates are em-
ployed, under the cardinale camerlingo,
administering the property of the church
and the papal domains, and receiving the
revenue which belongs to the pope as
temporal and spiritual sovereign of the
Roman state; also that which he derives
from other countries which stand imme-
diately ander him, and are his fiefs. Be-
sides these, there is a number of governors,
prefects, procuratori, &c., in the different
The
branches of the administration.
drawing up of bulls, answers and decrees,
which are issued by the pope himself, or
by these authorities, is done by the papal
chancery, consisting of a vice-chancellor
and 12 abbreviatori (q. v.), assisted by sev-
eral hundred secretaries: the breves only
are excepted, and are drawn up by a par-
ticular cardinal. All these offices are
filled by clergymen; and many of them
are so lucrative, that considerable sums
are paid for them, somewhat in the same
manner as commissions are purchased in
the English army. At the death of Six-
tus V, there existed 4000 venal offices of
this kind; but this number has since been
diminished, and many abuses have been
abolished. The highest council of the
pope, corresponding, in some measure, to
the privy council of a monarch, is the col-
lege of the cardinals, convened whenever
the pope thinks fit. The sessions of this
senate, which presides over all the other
authorities in Rome, are called consistories
They are of three different kinds. The
secret consistory is held, generally, twice a
month, after the pope has given private
audience to every cardinal. In these ses-
sions, bishops are elected, pallia grant-
ed, ecclesiastical and political affairs of
importance transacted, and resolutions
adopted on the reports of the congrega-
tions delegated by the consistory: beatifi-
cations and canonizations also originate in
this body. Different from the secret con
sistories are the semi-secret ones, whose
deliberations relate principally to political
affairs, and the results of them are com-
municated to the ambassadors of foreign
powers. The public consistories are sel-
dom held, and are, principally, ceremo-
nial assemblies: in these the pope receives
ambassadors, and makes known important
resolutions, canonizations, establishments
of orders, &c. According to rule, all car-
dinals residing in Rome should take part
in the consistories; but, in point of fact,
no one appears without being especially
summoned by the pope. The pope, if
able to do so, always presides in person,
and the cardinal secretary of state (who is
minister of the interior and of foreign
affairs) is always present, as are likewise
the cardinals presidents of the authorities.
At present, there are 22 congregations of
cardinals at Rome: 1. the holy Roman
and general inquisition, or holy office (san-
to officio); 2. visita apostolica; 3. consisto-
riale; 4. vescovi regolari; 5. de concilio
(tridentino); 6. residenza di vescovi; 7. im-
munita ecclesiastica; 8. propaganda; 9. in-
dici (of prohibited books); 10. sagri rits
CURIA-CURRAN.
(of the Loly rites); 11. ceremoniale; 12. dis-
ciplina regolare (orders of monks); 13. in-
dulgenze e sagre reliquie; 14. esame dei
vescovi; 15. correzioni dei libri della chiesa
Orientale; 16. fabbrica di S. Pietro (who
have charge of the repairs of St. Pe-
ter's); 17. consulta; 18. Buongoverno;
19. Loretto; 20. hydraulic works and the
Pontine marshes; 21. economica; 22. ex-
traordinary ecclesiastical affairs. Few,
however, of these congregations, are fully
supplied with officers.
CURIE; certain divisions of the Roman
people, which Romulus is said to have
established. According to Liv. i. 13, he
divided Rome into 30 curice, and assigned
to each a separate place, where they might
celebrate their feasts, under their particu-
lar priest (curio). At the comitia, the peo-
ple assembled in curia, to vote on impor-
tant matters. The whole Roman people
were divided by Romulus (Dionys. Halic.
ii. c. 62) into three tribes, each tribe into
10 curie, each curia into 10 decuriæ. To
vote curiatim, therefore, is to vote by curia.
The division into curice was founded on
locality, and therefore contradistinguished
from the division according to tribes (a
number of families of the same descent).
Niebuhr, in his Roman History, treats this
subject with uncommon erudition and
perspicuity in vol. i, chapter The Patrician
Houses and the Curia.-Curia also signi-
fied a public building; as, curia municipa-
lis, &c.
CURIATII. (See Horatii.)
CURIUS DENTATUS, Marcus Annius; an
illustrious Roman, who was three times
consul, and twice obtained the honors of a
triumph. He vanquished the Samnites,
Sabines and Lucanians, and defeated
Pyrrhus, near Tarentum, B. C. 272. When
the deputies of the Samnites appeared
before him for the purpose of concluding
a peace, they found him on his farm, boil-
ing vegetables in an earthen pot. They
attempted to purchase his favor by offering
him vessels of gold, but the noble Roman
disdainfully refused their offers. "I pre-
fer," said he, "my earthen pots to your
vases of gold. I have no desire for wealth,
and am satisfied to live in poverty, and
rule over the rich."
CURLEW (numenius, Briss.); a genus
of birds belonging to the order gralla, or
waders, and family limicola, whose most
remarkable characteristic is, that the bill
is wholly or partially covered by a soft,
sensitive skin, which enables them to ob-
tain their food from the mud with facility,
though unable to discover it by sight.
The genus is characterized by a very long,
81

slender, almost cylindrical, compressed
and arcuated bill, having the upper man-
dible longer than the lower, furrowed for
three fourths of its length, and dilated and
rounded towards the tip. The nostrils
are situated in the furrow, at the base, and
are lateral, longitudinal and oblong. The
tongue is very short and acute. The feet
are rather long, slender, and four-toed;
the tarsus is one half longer than the mid-
dle toe. The fore toes are connected, at
the base, by a short membrane, to the first
joint. The nails are compressed, curved,
acute, and the cutting edge of the middle
one is entire. The first primary is the
longest; the tail, which is somewhat
rounded, consists of 12 feathers. The
plumage of the curlew is generally dull,
being grayish-brown, rusty-white and
blackish, in both sexes, which are similar
in size. The young bird also differs very
little from the parents, except that the bill
is much shorter and straighter. Their
favorite resorts are marshy and muddy
places, in the vicinity of water, over which
they run with great quickness. They feed
on various worms, small fishes, insects
and molluscous animals, and are very shy,
wary and vigilant of the approach of man.
They are monogamous, and pass most of
their time separate from the rest of their
species. Their nests are built on tufts or
tussocks in the marshes, and, during incu
bation, both parents assiduously devote
themselves to their charge. The eggs are
usually four, being much larger at one
end than the other, or pyriform in shape.
The young, as soon as hatched, leave the
nest to seek their own subsistence. At
the period of migration, the curlews unite
to form large flocks, and their flight is
high, rapid and protracted. They utter a
loud, whistling note, easily recognised
when once heard, but not easy to be char-
acterized by description. Three species
of curlew are inhabitants of this continent
the long-billed curlew (N. longirostris,
Wils.), the Esquimaux curlew (N. Hud-
sonicus, Lath.) and the boreal curlew (N.
borealis, Lath.). The two first are com-
mon in spring and autumn, in the Middle
States of the Union: the last is rare in the
U. States.
CURRAN, John Philpot, a celebrated
Irish advocate, of humble origin, was born
at Newmarket, near Cork, in 1750. He
was educated at Trinity college, Dublin
after which he repaired to London, and
studied at one of the inns of court. In
due time, he was called to the bar; shortly
after which he married Miss O'Dell, an
Irish lady of a very respectable family
82
CURRAN-CURRANTS.

By the influence of his talents, he gradual-
ly rose to great reputation; and, during
the administration of the duke of Portland,
he obtained a silk gown. In 1784, he was
chosen a member of the Irish house of
commons. His abilities now displayed
themselves to advantage, and he became
the most popular advocate of his age and
country. During the distracted state of
Ireland, towards the close of the last cen-
tury, it was often his lot to defend persons
accused of political offences, when Mr.
Fitzgibbon (afterwards lord Clare), then
attorney-general, was his opponent. The
professional rivalry of these gentlemen
degenerated into personal rancor, which
at length occasioned a duel, the result of
which was not fatal to either party. On
a change of ministry during the vice-roy-
alty of the duke of Bedford, Mr. Curran's
patriotism was rewarded with the office
of master of the rolls. This situation he
held till 1814, when he resigned it, and
obtained a pension of £3000 a year. With
this he retired to England, and resided
chiefly in the neighborhood of London.
He died in consequence of a paralytic
attack, at Brompton, Nov. 13, 1817, at the
age of 67.-Curran possessed talents of
the highest order: his wit, his drollery, his
eloquence, his pathos, were irresistible;
and the splendid and daring style of his
oratory formed a striking contrast with his
personal appearance, which was mean
and diminutive. As a companion, he
could be extremely agreeable; and his
conversation was often highly fascinating.
In his domestic relations, he was very
unfortunate; and he seems to have laid
himself open to censure. The infidelity
of his wife, which was established by a
legal verdict, is said to have been a subject
on which he chose to display his wit, in a
manner that betrayed a strange insensi-
bility to one of the sharpest miseries which
a man can suffer. Mr. Curran appears
never to have committed any thing to the
press, but he is said to have produced
some poetical pieces of considerable merit.
A collection of his forensic speeches was
published in 1805 (1 vol. 8vo.). Memoirs
of his life have been published by his son,
by Mr. Charles Phillips, and by Mr. O'Re-
gan.
CURRANTS. Red currants, black cur-
rants and gooseberries are the fruit of
well known shrubs, which are cultivated
in gardens, and which also grow wild, in
woods or thickets, in various parts of Eu-
rope and America. The utility of all these
fruits in domestic economy has long been
established. The juice of the red species,
if boiled with an equal weight of loaf
sugar, forms an agreeable substance,
called currant jelly, which is much em-
ployed in sauces and for other culinary
purposes, and also in the cure of sore
throats and colds. The French frequent-
ly mix it with sugar and water, and thus
form an agreeable beverage. The juice
of currants is a valuable remedy in ob-
structions of the bowels; and, in febrile
complaints, it is useful, on account of its
readily quenching thirst, and for its cool-
ing effect on the stomach. This juice,
fermented with a proper quantity of sugar,
becomes a palatable wine, which is much
improved by keeping, and which, with
care, may be kept for 20 years. The in-
ner bark of all the species, boiled with
water, is a popular remedy in jaundice,
and, by some medical men, has been ad-
ministered in dropsical complaints. White
and flesh-colored currants have, in every
respect, the same qualities as the red spe-
cies. The berries of the black currant
are larger than those of the red, and, in
some parts of Siberia, are even said to
attain the size of a hazel-nut. They are
occasionally made into wine, jelly, rob, or
sirup. The two latter are frequently em-
ployed in the cure of sore throats; and,
from the great use of black currants in
quinsies, they have sometimes been de-
nominated squinancy, or quinsy berries.
The leaves are fragrant, and have been
recommended for their medicinal virtues.
An infusion of them in the manner of tea
is very grateful, and, by many persons, is
preferred to tea. The tender leaves tinge
common spirits so as to resemble brandy;
and an infusion of the young roots is use-
ful in fevers of the eruptive kind. The
dried currants of the shops do not belong
to this family, but are a small kind of
grape. None of these fruits are so much
esteemed for the table as gooseberries.
For culinary purposes, gooseberries are
generally employed before they are ripe;
but this is founded on erroneous notions
of their chemical properties, since, either
for sauces or wine, though they are more
cool and refreshing, they do not possess
the delicate flavor and rich saccharine
qualities which belong to the ripe fruit.
Wine made of gooseberries has great
resemblance to Champagne. The skins
of the fruit, after the juice has been
expressed, afford, by distillation, a spirit
somewhat resembling brandy. Vinegar
may be made from gooseberries. Some
of the kinds are bottled while green, and
kept for winter use; and others are, for
the same purpose, preserved with sugar
CURRANTS-CURRENTS.
Gooseberries vary much in color, size anc.
quality. Some are smooth, and others
hairy. Some are red, others green, and
others yellow or amber-colored. Wild
gooseberries are greatly inferior in size to
those which are cultivated in gardens.
CURRENCY. (See Circulating Medium.)
CURRENTS, in the ocean, are continual
movements of its waters in a particular
direction. In lat. 39° N., lon. 13° 40′ W.,
we begin to feel the effects of the current
which flows from the Azores to the straits
of Gibraltar and the Canaries. Between
the tropics, from Senegal to the Caribbean
sea, the general current, and that longest
known, flows from east to west. Its
average rapidity is from 9 to 10 nautical
miles in 42 hours. It is this current
which is known by the name of equatorial
current. It appears to be caused by the
impulse which the trade-winds give to the
surface of the water. In the channel
which the Atlantic has hollowed between
Guiana and Guinea, under the meridian
of 18° or 21° W., from 8° or 9° to 2° or
30 N. lat., where the trade-winds are often
interrupted by winds which blow from
the south and south-west, the equatorial
current is less uniform in its direction.
Near the coast of Africa, vessels are often
drawn to the south-east, whilst, near the
bay of All Saints and cape St. Augus-
tine, upon the coast of America, the gen-
eral direction of the waters is interrupted
by a particular current, the effects of
which extend from cape St. Roche to
Trinity island. It flows towards the north-
west, at the rate of one foot, or one foot
five inches, a second. The equatorial cur-
rent is felt, although slightly, even be-
yond the tropic, in latitude 28° north. In
the basin of the Atlantic ocean, 6 or 700
leagues from the coast of Africa, vessels,
whose course is from Europe to the West
Indies, find their progress accelerated be-
fore they arrive at the torrid zone. Far-
ther north, between the parallels of Tene-
riffe and Ceuta, in longitude 44° to 46° W.,
no uniform motion is observed. A zone
of 140 leagues separates the equatorial
current from that great mass of water
flowing to the east, which is distinguished
by its elevated temperature, and of which
we shall now speak particularly. The
equatorial current impels the waters of
the Atlantic ocean towards the Musquito
shore and the coast of Honduras, in the
in the
Caribbean sea. The new continent op-
poses this current; the waters flow to the
north-west, and, passing into the gulf of
Mexico, by the strait which is formed by
cape Catoche (Yucatan) and cape St. An-
83

toine (Cuba), they follow the windings of
the American coast to the shallows west of
the southern extremity of Florida. Then
the current turns again to the north, flow-
ing into the Bahama channel. In the
month of May, 1804, A. von Humboldt
observed in it a rapidity of 5 feet a second,
although the north wind blew violently.
Under the parallel of cape Canaveral, the
current flows to the north-east. Its rapid
ity is then sometimes five nautical miles an
hour. This current, called the gulf stream,
is known by the elevated temperature of
its waters, by their great saltness, by their
indigo-blue color, by the train of sea-weed
which covers their surface, and by the
heat of the surrounding atmosphere, which
is very perceptible in winter. Its rapidity
diminishes towards the north, at the same
time that its breadth increases. Near the
Bahama bank, the breadth is 15 leagues;
in lat. 28° 30' N. it is 17 leagues, and, under
the parallel of Charleston, from 40 to 50
leagues. To the east of the port of Boston,
and under the meridian of Halifax, the cur-
rent is almost 80 marine leagues in breadth.
There it turns suddenly to the east, and
grazes the southern extremity of the great
bank of Newfoundland. The waters of
this bank have a temperature of from
8° 7 to 10° centigrade (7° to 8° R., 16° to
18° Fahr.), which offers a striking contrast
to the waters of the torrid zone, impelled
to the north by the gulf stream, and the
temperature of which is from 21° to 22° 5
(170 to 18° R., 38° to 40° Fahr.). The
waters of the bank are 16° 9' Fahr. colder
than those of the neighboring ocean, and
these are 5° 4' Fahr. colder than those of
the current. They cannot be equalised,
because each has a cause of heat or cold
which is peculiar to it, and of which the
influence is permanent. From the bank
of Newfoundland to the Azores, the gulf
stream flows to the E. or E. S. E.
The waters still preserve there a part of
the impulse received in the strait of Flori
da. Under the meridian of the islands
of Corvo and Flores, the current has a
breadth of 160 leagues. In lat. 33°, the
equatorial current approaches very near
the gulf stream. From the Azores, the
current flows towards Gibraltar, the island
of Madeira and the Canaries. South of
that island, the current flows to the S. E.
and S. S. E., towards the coast of Africa,
In lat. 25° and 26°, the current flows first
S., then S. W. Cape Blanc appears to
influence this direction, and in its latitude
the waters mingle with the great current
of the tropics. Blagden, Benjamin Frank-
lin and Jonathan Williams first made,
84
CURRENTS-CURRYING.

known the elevated temperature of the
gulf stream, and the coldness of the shal-
lows, where the lower strata unite with
the upper, upon the borders or edges of
the bank. A. von Humboldt collected
much information, to enable him to trace,
upon his chart of the Atlantic ocean, the
course of this current. The gulf stream
changes its place and direction according
to the season. Its force and its direction
are modified, in high latitudes, by the
variable winds of the temperate zone, and
the collection of ice at the north pole. A
drop of water of the current would take
2 years and 10 months, to return to the
place from which it should depart. A
boat, not acted on by the wind, would go
from the Canaries to the coast of Caracas
in 13 months; in 10 months, would make
the tour of the gulf of Mexico; and, in 40
or 50 days, would go from Florida to the
bank of Newfoundland. The gulf stream
furnished to Christopher Columbus indi-
cations of the existence of land to the
west. This current had carried upon the
Azores the bodies of two men of an
unknown race, and pieces of bamboo of
enormous size. In lat. 45° or 50°, near
Bonnet Flamand, an arm of the gulf
stream flows from the S. W. to the N. E.,
towards the coast of Europe. It deposits
upon the coasts of Ireland and Norway
trees and fruits belonging to the torrid
zone. Remains of a vessel (the Tilbury),
burnt at Jamaica, were found on the coast
of Scotland. It is likewise this river of
the Atlantic, which annually throws the
fruits of the West Indies upon the shore
of Norway. The causes of currents are
very numerous. The waters may be put
in motion by an external impulse, by a
difference of heat and saltness, by the in-
equality of evaporation in different lati-
tudes, and by the change in the pressure
at different points of the surface of the
ocean. The existence of cold strata, which
have been met with at great depths in low
latitudes, proves the existence of a lower
current, which runs from the pole to the
equator. It proves, likewise, that saline
substances are distributed in the ocean, in
a manner not to destroy the effect pro-
duced by different temperatures. The
polar currents, in the two hemispheres,
tend to the east, probably on account of
the uniformity of west winds in high lati-
tudes. It is very probable that there may
be, in some places, a double local current;
the one above, near the surface of the
water, the other at the bottom. Several
facts seem to confirm this hypothesis,
which was first proved by the celebrated
Halley. In the West Indian seas, there
are some places where a vessel may moor
herself in the midst of a current by drop-
ping a cable, with a sounding lead at-
tached, to a certain known depth. At
that depth, there must, unquestionably, be
a current contrary to the one at the surface
of the water. Similar circumstances have
been observed in the Sound. There is
reason to believe, that the Mediterranean
discharges its waters by an inferior or
concealed current. Such a mass of ocean
water, flowing constantly from the torrid
zone towards the northern pole, and, at
any given latitude, heated many degrees
above the temperature of the adjacent
ocean, must exert great influence on the
atmosphere. An interesting table, in Dar-
by's View of the U. States, Philadelphia,
1828 (page 364), shows this influence in a
striking way. (See Malte-Brun's Geog-
raphy, vol. i, and Humboldt's Personal
Narrative.)
CURRYING is the art of dressing cow-
hides, calves'-skins, seal-skins, &c., princi-
pally for shoes; and this is done either
upon the flesh or the grain. In dressing
leather for shoes upon the flesh, the first
operation is soaking the leather in water
until it is thoroughly wet; then the flesh
side is shaved on a beam about seven or
eight inches broad, with a knife of a pe-
culiar construction, to a proper substance,
according to the custom of the country
and the uses to which it is to be applied.
This is one of the most curious and labo-
rious operations in the whole business of
currying. The knife used for this pur-
pose is of a rectangular form, with two
handles, one at each end, and a double
edge. After the leather is properly shaved,
it is thrown into the water again, and
scoured upon a board or stone commonly
appropriated to that use. Scouring is per-
formed by rubbing the grain or hair side
with a piece of pumice stone, or with
some other stone of a good grit. These
stones force out of the leather a white
substance, called the bloom, produced by
the oak bark in tanning. The hide or
skin is then conveyed to the shade or dry-
ing place, where the oily substances are
applied, termed stuffing or dubbing. When
it is thoroughly dry, an instrument, with
teeth on the under side, called a graining-
board, is first applied to the flesh-side,
which is called graining; then to the
grain-side, called bruising. The whole
of this operation is intended to soften the
leather to which it is applied. Whiten-
ing, or paring, succeeds, which is per-
formed with a fine edge to the knife
MA
CURRYING-CUSCO.U
already described, and used in taking off
the grease from the flesh. It is then
boarded up, or grained again, by applying
the graining-board first to the grain, and
then to the flesh. It is now fit for wax-
ing, which is performed first by coloring.
This is effected by rubbing, with a brush
dipped in a composition of oil and lamp-
black, on the flesh, till it be thoroughly
black: it is then sized, called black-sizing,
with a brush or sponge, dried and tallow-
ed; and, when dry, this sort of leather,
called waxed, or black on the flesh, is cur-
ried. The currying leather on the hair or
grain side, called black on the grain, is the
same with currying on the flesh, until we
come to the operation of scouring. Then
the first black is applied to it while wet;
which black is a solution of the sulphate
of iron called copperas, in fair water, or in
the water in which the skins, as they come
from the tanner, have been soaked. This
is first put upon the grain after it has been
rubbed with a stone; then rubbed over
with a brush dipped in stale urine; the
skin is then stuffed, and, when dry, it is
seasoned, that is, rubbed over with a brush
dipped in copperas water, on the grain,
till it is perfectly black. After this, the
grain is raised with a fine graining-board.
When it is thoroughly dry, it is whitened,
bruised again, and grained in two or three
different ways, and, when oiled upon the
grain, with a mixture of oil and tallow, it
is finished.
CURRY-POWDER. (See Turmeric.)
CURTIUS, Marcus; a noble Roman
youth, known by the heroic manner in
which, according to tradition, he sacrificed
himself for the good of his country. In
the year of Rome 392 (B. C. 362), it is
said, a chasm opened in the Roman fo-
rum, from which issued pestilential vapors.
The oracle declared that the chasm would
close whenever that which constituted the
glory of Rome should be thrown into it.
Curtius asked if any thing in Rome was
more precious than arms and valor; and,
being answered in the negative, he arrayed
himself in armor, mounted a horse splen-
didly equipped, solemnly devote himself
to death, in presence of the Roman peo-
ple, and sprang into the abyss, which in-
stantly closed over him.
CURTIUS RUFUS, Quintus, the author
of a History of Alexander the Great, in
ten books, the two first of which are lost,
has been supposed to be the son of a
gladiator. He recommended himself by
his knowledge to Tiberius, and, during his
reign, received the pretorship; under Clau-
dius, the consulship, also the emperor's
VOL. IV
85

consent to celebrate a triumph, and finally
the proconsulship of Africa. He died in
Africa, A. D. 69, at an advanced age. We
should have had more complete accounts
concerning him, if the first books of his
work had been preserved. Curtius de-
serves no great praise as a historian. His
style is florid, and his narratives have
more of romance than of historical cer-
tainty. The lost parts have been supplied
by Christopher Bruno, a Bavarian monk,
in a short and dry manner; by Freinshe-
mius, in a diffuse style; and by Christopher
Cellarius, in a style which forms a medi-
um between the two. The best edition
is by Snakenburg (Leyden, 1724, 4to.).
Among the new editions are that by
Schmieder (Göttingen, 1814). Buttmann,
Hirt, and Niebuhr (the Roman historian),
have written treatises on his life. The
last named gentleman read, in 1821, be-
fore the academy of Berlin, a disquisition
on the period of Curtius-a performance
distinguished for critical acumen and eru-
dition. Niebuhr thinks that the work was
written under Severus, and not under
Vespasian. The essay is to be found in
his Kleine historische und philologische
Schriften, erste Sammlung (Bonn, 1828).
CURVES (from the Latin curvus, crooked,
bent), in geometry. The simplest objects
are the most difficult to be defined, and
mathematicians have never succeeded in
giving a definition, satisfactory to them-
selves, of a line. It is equally difficult to
give a satisfactory definition of a curve.
Perhaps the simplest explanation of it is,
a line which is not a straight line, nor made
up of straight lines. This definition, how-
ever, is deficient in mathematical precis-
ion. Since Descartes' application of al-
gebra to geometry, the theory of the curves
has received a considerable extension.
The study of the curves known to the
ancients has become much easier, and
new ones have been investigated. Curves
form, at present, one of the most interest-
ing and most important subjects of ge-
ometry. Such as have not all their parts
in the same plane, are called curves of a
double curvature. The simplest of all
curves is the circle. The spiral of Ar-
chimedes, the conchoid of Nicomedes,
the cissoid of Diocles, the quadratrix of
Dinostratus, &c., are celebrated curves.
Cusco, or Cuzco; a city of Peru, capi
tal of an intendency of the same name,
the ancient capital of the Peruvian em-
pire; 550 miles E. S. E. Lima; lon. 71°
4 W.; lat. 13° 42′ S.; population stated
from 20 to 32,000. It is a bishop's see.
It was founded, according to tradition, in
86
CUSCO--CUSTOS ROTULORUM.

1043, by Manco Capac, the first inca of
Peru, on a rough and unequal plain,
formed by the skirts of various mountains,
which are washed by the small river Gua-
tanay. The wall was of an extraordinary
height, and built of stone, with astonishing
neatness. The Spaniards, in 1534, found
the houses built of stone; among them
a temple of the sun, and a great number
of magnificent palaces, whose principal
ornaments were of gold and silver, which
glittered on the walls. Cusco is, at present,
a large city: the houses are built of stone,
and covered with red tiles; the apart-
ments are well distributed; the mould-
ings of the doors are gilt, and the furni-
ture not less magnificent. The cathedral
church is large, built of stone, and of an
elegant and noble architecture. About
three fourths of the inhabitants are Indians./
CUSHING, Thomas, was born at Boston,
in 1725, and finished his education at the
college of Cambridge (New England), in
1744. Both his grandfather and father
had spent a considerable portion of their
lives in the public service, the latter hav-
ing been, for several years previous to his
death, speaker of the house of representa-
tives in Massachusetts. He engaged early
in political life, and was sent, by the city
of Boston, as its representative to the gen-
eral court, where he displayed such quali-
fications for the despatch of business, that,
when governor Bernard, in 1763, nega-
tived James Otis, the father, as speaker,
he was chosen in his place, and continued
in the station for many consecutive years.
Whilst he was in the chair, he had fre-
quent opportunities of evincing his patri-
otism and aversion to the arbitrary course
of the English government; and, as his
name was signed to all the public docu-
ments, in consequence of his office, he
acquired great celebrity, and was generally
supposed to exert a much greater influ-
ence in affairs than he actually did. This
circumstance led doctor Johnson, in his
pamphlet Taxation no Tyranny, to make
this foolish remark-"One object of the
Americans is said to be, to adorn the
brows of Mr. Cushing with a diadem."
Though decidedly patriotic in his princi-
ples, Mr. Cushing was moderate and con-
ciliatory in his conduct, by which he was
enabled to effect a great deal of good as
a mediator between the two contending
parties. He was an active and efficient
member of the two first continental con-
gresses, and, on his return to his state,
was chosen a member of the council.
He was also appointed judge of the courts
of common pleas and of probate in the
county of Suffolk, which stations he oc-
cupied until the present constitution was
adopted, when he was elected lieutenant-
governor of the state, and continued so
until his death, which took place Feb. 19,
1788, in the 63d year of his age, in conse-
of his age,
quence of gout.
CUSTINE, Adam Philip, count of, born
at Metz, 1740, served as captain in the
seven years' war. (q. v.) Through the in-
fluence of the duke of Choiseul, he ob-
tained, in 1762, a regiment of dragoons,
which was called by his name. In 1780,
he exchanged this for the regiment of
Saintonge, which was on the point of
going to America, to the aid of the North
American colonies. On his return, he
was appointed maréchal de camp. In 1789,
he was deputy of the nobility of Metz,
and was one of the first who declared for
the popular party. He subsequently en-
tered the army of the North, and, in May,
1792, made himself master of the pass
of Porentruy. In June, he received the
command of the army of the Lower Rhine,
and opened the campaign by taking pos-
session of Spire, Sept. 29. Meeting with
feeble opposition, he took Worms, and,
Oct. 21, the fortress of Mentz capitulated.
On the 23d, he took possession of Frank-
fort on the Maine, on which he laid heavy
contributions. Thence, escaping the pur-
suit of the Prussians, he threw himself
into Mentz, which he caused to be forti-
fied. With the opening of the campaign
of 1793, he left Mentz, which the allies
were besieging, and retired to Alsace.
He was now denounced, and, in April,
received his dismission; but the conven-
tion, in May, invested him with the com-
mand of the northern army. But he had
hardly time to visit the posts. Marat and
Varennes were unceasing in their accu-
sations against him, and at last prevailed
on the committee of safety to recall him
to Paris. The revolutionary tribunal be-
gan his trial Aug. 15. He made a spirited
defence; but his death was determined
upon. He was condemned Aug. 27, and
guillotined on the 28th.
CUSTOMS. (See Revenue.)
CUSTOS ROTULORUM; an officer, in
England, who has the custody of the rolls
and records of the sessions of the peace,
and also of the commission of the peace
itself. He is usually a nobleman, and al-
ways a justice of the peace, of the quorum
in the county where he is appointed. He
may execute his office by a deputy, and
is empowered to appoint the clerk of the
peace; but he is prohibited from selling
his office under divers penalties.
CUSTRIN-CUTLERY.
CUSTRIN (in German, Küstrin); a for-
tress in the province of Brandenburg,
Prussia, at the confluence of the Warte
and Oder, containing 460 houses and 6000
inhabitants. In 1806, it was disgracefully
surrendered to the French, and garrisoned
by them until 1814, when it surrendered
to the Prussians. When it surre
CUTICLE (from cuticula, the Latin di-
minutive of cutis, skin) is a thin, pellucid,
insensible membrane, of a white color,
that covers and defends the true skin, with
which it is connected by the hairs, ex-
haling and inhaling vessels, and the rete
mucosum.
CUTLASS; a short sword used by sea-
men. The art of fencing with it is differ-
ent from that with the small sword or
broad sword. A guard over the hand is
an advantage. It is, if well understood, a
very effectual weapon in close contest: on
account of its shortness, it can be handled
easily, and yet is long enough to protect a
skilful swordsman.
CUTLER, Timothy, president of Yale
college, was the son of major John Cutler,
of Charlestown, Massachusetts. He was
graduated at Harvard college in 1701, and
in January, 1709, was ordained minister
of Stratford, Conn., where he acquired
the reputation of being the most eloquent
preacher of the province. After remain-
ing in that situation during ten years, he
was elected, in 1719, successor to Mr.
Pierson, as president of Yale college. In
the interval between the death
of his
predecessor and his own accession, the
college had been removed to New Haven.
For this station he was eminently qualified
by his profound and extensive learning,
his dignified appearance, and the high
respect which his character was calculated
to inspire. In 1722, having renounced
the communion of the Congregational
churches, the trustees of the college passed
a resolve dispensing with his services, and
requiring of future rectors satisfactory ev-
idence of their faith in opposition to Ar-
minian and prelatical corruptions. A
short time subsequently, he went to Eng-
land, where he was ordained priest, and
received the degree of doctor of divinity
from Oxford. In July, 1763, he returned
to Boston, where he soon after became
rector of Christ church, and in that sta-
tion died, Aug. 17, 1765, in the 82d year
of his age. Doctor Cutler was particularly
distinguished for his knowledge of the
Oriental languages and literature. He
also spoke Latin with great fluency, and
was well versed in moral philosophy and
theology. He published two sermons.
87

CUTLERY. Though cutlery, in the gen-
eral sense, comprises all those articles
denominated edge tools, it is more partic-
ularly confined to the manufacture of
knives, forks, scissors, penknives, razors
and swords. Damascus was anciently
famed for its razors, sabres and swords.
The latter are said to possess all the ad-
vantages of flexibility, elasticity and hard-
ness. These united distinctions are said
to have been effected by blending alter-
nate portions of iron and steel in such a
manner, that the softness and tenacity of
the former could prevent the breaking of
the latter. All those articles of cutlery
which do not require a fine polish, and
are of low price, are made from blistered
steel. Those articles which require the
edge to possess great tenacity, at the same
time that superior hardness is not re-
quired, are made from sheer steel. The
finer kinds of cutlery are made from steel
which has been in a state of fusion, and
which is termed cast steel, no other kinds
being susceptible of a fine polish. (See
the article Steel.) Table knives are
mostly made of sheer steel; forks are
made almost altogether by the aid of the
stamp and appropriate dies; the prongs
only are hardened and tempered. Almost
all razors are made of cast steel, the qual-
ity of which should be very good, the
edge of a razor requiring the combined
advantages of great hardness and tenacity.
After the razor blade is forged, it is hard-
ened, by gradually heating it to bright red
heat, and plunging it into cold water. It
is tempered by heating it afterwards till a
brightened part appears of a straw color.
Though this is generally performed by
placing them upon the open fire, it would
be more equally effected by sand, or, what
is still better, in hot oil, or fusible mixture,
consisting of 8 parts of bismuth, 5 of lead
and 3 of tin; a thermometer being placed
in the liquid at the time the razors are
immersed, for the purpose of indicating
the proper temperature, which is about
500° of Fahrenheit. Razors are ground
crosswise, upon stones from 4 to 7 inches
in diameter, a small stone being necessary
to make the sides concave. They are
afterwards smoothed and polished. The
handles of high-priced razors are made of
ivory and tortoise-shell, but in general
they are of polished horn, which is pre-
ferred on account of its cheapness and
durability. The horn is cut into pieces,
and placed between two corresponding
dies, having a recess of the shape of the
handle. The dies are previously heated
to about 500° of Fahrenheit, and placed,
88
CUTLERY-CUVIER.

with the horn, in a press of such pow-
er, that, allowing a man's strength to be
200 pounds, it will be equal to 43,000
pounds. By this process, the horn re-
ceives considerable extension. If the horn
is not previously black, the handles are
dyed black by means of a bath of logwood
and green vitriol. The clear horn handles
are sometimes stained so as to imitate the
tortoise-shell. The manufacture of pen-
knives is divided into three departments:
the first is the forging of the blades, the
spring and the iron scales; the second,
the grinding and polishing of the blades;
and the third, the handling, which consists
in fitting up all the parts, and finishing the
knife. The blades are made of the best
cast steel, and hardened and tempered to
about the same degree with that of razors.
In grinding, they are made a little more
concave on one side than the other: in
other respects, they are treated in a similar
way to razors. The handles are covered
with horn, ivory, and sometimes wood;
but the most durable covering is stag-horn.
The most general fault in penknives is
that of being too soft. The temper ought
to be not higher than a straw color, as it
seldom happens that a penknife is so hard
as to snap on the edge. The beauty and
elegance of polished steel is nowhere dis-
played to more advantage than in the
manufacture of the finer kinds of scissors.
The steel employed for the more valuable
scissors should be cast steel of the choicest
qualities: it must possess hardness and
uniformity of texture, for the sake of as-
suming a fine polish; and great tenacity
when hot, for the purpose of forming the
bow or ring of the scissors, which requires
to be extended from a solid piece, having
a hole previously punched through it.
It ought also to be very tenacious when
cold, to allow that delicacy of form ob-
served in those scissors termed ladies'
scissors. After the scissors are forged as
near to the same size as the eye of the
workman can ascertain, they are paired,
and the two sides fitted together. The
bows and, some other parts are filed to
their intended form; the blades are also
roughly ground, and the two sides prop-
erly adjusted to each other, after being
bound together with wire, and hardened
up to the bows. They are afterwards
heated till they become of a purple color,
which indicates their proper temper. Al-
most all the remaining part of the work is
performed at the grinding mill, with the
stone, the lap, the polisher and the brush.
The very large scissors are partly of iron
and partly of steel, the shanks and bows
being of the former. These, as well as
those all of steel, which are not hardened
all over, cannot be polished: an inferior
sort of lustre, however, is given to them
by means of a burnish of hardened, pol-
ished steel, which is very easily distin-
guished from the real polish by the irregu-
larity of the surface. (For swords, see
Sword.)
CUTTER; a small vessel, furnished with
one mast, and rigged as a sloop. Many
of these fast-sailing vessels are used by
smugglers, and are also employed for the
purpose of apprehending them. In the
latter case, they are called revenue cutters.
The clippers-a kind of vessels built at
Baltimore-are particularly adapted for fast
sailing, but require great skill in navigating
them, to avoid being upset. (See Boat,
Ship.)
CUTTY-STOOL; a low stool; the stool
of repentance; a small gallery in the
Scottish kirks, placed near the roof, and
painted black, in which offenders against
chastity sit during service, professing re-
pentance, and listening to the minister's
rebukes.
CUT-WATER; the sharp part of the head
of a ship below the beak, so called because
it cuts or divides the water before it comes
to the bow, that it may not come too sud-
denly to the breadth of the ship, which
would retard it.
CUVIER, George Leopold Christian
Frederic Dagobert, baron of; born Aug.
25, 1769, at Montbéliard, then belonging
to the duchy of Würtemburg. His bril-
liant talents very early excited great ex-
pectations. His father was an officer. As
the son's health was too feeble to allow
him to become a soldier, he resolved to
be a clergyman. He was obliged to pass
an examination for the stipend, by the
help of which he expected to study at
Tübingen. A malicious examiner rejected
him. The affair, however, was marked
by so much injustice, that prince Frederic,
brother of the duke, and governor of the
district, thought it his duty to compensate
Cuvier by a place in the Charles academy
at Stuttgart. Here he gave up his inten-
tion of becoming a clergyman. In Stutt
gart, he studied at first the science of law,
though he was particularly fond of natural
history. To this period of his life he is
indebted for his accurate knowledge of
the German language and literature. The
narrow circumstances of his parents com-
pelled him to accept the office of private
instructer in the family of count D'Hericy,
in Normandy. Here he was at liberty to
devote his leisure to natural science. Cu-
CUVIER-CUXHAVEN.
vier soon perceived that zoology was far
from that perfection to which Linnæus
had carried botany, and to which miner-
alogy had been carried by the united
labors of the philosophers of Germany and
France. The first desideratum was a
careful observation of all the organs of
animals, in order to ascertain their mutual
dependence, and their influence on animal
life; then a confutation of the fanciful
systems which had obscured rather than
illustrated the study. Examinations of
the marine productions, with which the
neighboring ocean abundantly supplied
him, served him as a suitable preparation.
A natural classification of the numerous
classes of vermes (Linn.) was his first labor,
and the clearness with which he gave an
account of his observations and ingenious
views, procured him an acquaintance with
all the naturalists of Paris. Geoffry St.
Hilaire invited him to Paris, opened to
him the collections of natural history, over
which he presided, took part with him in
the publication of several works on the
classification of the mammalia, and placed
him at the central school in Paris, May,
1795. The institute, being reestablished
the same year, received him as a member
of the first class. For the use of the cen-
tral school, he wrote his Tableau Élémen-
taire de l'Histoire Naturelle des Animaux
(1798), by which he laid the foundation
of his future fame. From this time, he
was considered one of the first zoologists
of Europe. He soon after displayed his
brilliant talents as professor of comparative
anatomy. His profound knowledge was
not less remarkable than his elevated
views, and the elegance with which he
illustrated them before a mixed audience.
In the lecture-room of the Lycée, where
he lectured several years on natural his-
tory, was assembled all the accomplished
society of Paris, attracted by the ingenu-
ity of his classifications, and by his exten-
sive surveys of all the kingdoms of nature.
In January, 1800, he justly received the
place formerly occupied by D'Aubenton,
in the collège de France. His merits did
not escape the sagacity of Napoleon. In
the department of public instruction, in
which, one after another, he filled the
most important offices, he exercised much
influence by his useful improvements and
indefatigable activity. He delivered a
report very honorable to Germany, in
1811, when he returned from a journey in
Holland and Germany, as superintendent
of instruction. He was accompanied, in
this journey, by Noël. In 1813, the emperor
appointed him maître des requêtes to the
80

council of state, and committed to his
care the most important affairs in Mentz.
Louis XVIII confirmed him in his former
offices, and raised him to the rank of
counsellor. As such, he belonged at first
to the committee of legislation, and after-
wards to that of the interior. As a poli-
tician, he drew upon himself the re-
proaches of the liberals. In general, the
political course of Cuvier forms such a con-
trast with his scientific one, and is, besides,
of so little importance, that we are very
willing to pass it by in silence. The meas-
ures of the abbé Frayssinous, then chan
cellor of the university of Paris, determin
ed him to resign the office of university-
counsellor, in December, 1822. Notwith-
standing his political engagements, Cuvier
devoted himself continually to the study
of natural history, which he has extend-
ed by his discoveries. We mention only
his Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles,
1821-24; 3d edition, 1826, 5 vols., 4to.,
with plates (the classical introduction
to this work is printed separately); Dis-
cours sur les Révolutions de la Surface du
Globe, et sur les Changemens qu'elles ont
produit dans le Règne animal (3d edition,
Paris, 1825); also, Le Règne animal
(1817, 4 vols.); Leçons d'Anatomie Com-
parée, recueillies par Duméril et Duvernoy
(1805, 5 vols.); Recherches anatomiques sur
les Reptiles regardés encore comme douteux
(1807, 4to.); Mémoires pour servir à l'His-
toire de l'Anatomie des Mollusques (1816,
4to.). As perpetual secretary, &c., of the
academy, in the class of physical sciences,
he has pronounced éloges on the deceased
members of the institute. The Recueil
d'Éloges Historiques (Paris, 1819, 2 vols.)
contains models worthy of imitation. The
French academy received him, in conse-
quence, among their 40 members. Almost
all the learned societies of the world have
sent him honorary diplomas. France is
indebted to him for the establishment of a
cabinet of comparative anatomy, which is
the finest osteological collection in Eu-
rope.
CUXHAVEN; a village in Rützebüttel, a
bailiwick of Hamburg, at the mouth of
the river Elbe. It is important for all
navigators going to Bremen or Hamburg.
Its lighthouse is 8° 43′ 1" E. lon., and 53°
52 51" N. lat., 61 miles W.N. W. of Ham-
burg. The harbor is large and commodi-
ous, one of the safest on the coast, and is
resorted to in cases of danger. Here ves-
sels generally take pilots to go up the
river to Hamburg, &c. These pilots are
privileged, and, by their statutes, are com
pelled always to keep a yacht out at sea,
8*
90
CUXHAVEN-CYCLE.

near the outermost buoy, called the red
buoy, with men ready to conduct any
vessel which may demand assistance.
These pilots very often go as far as the
channel, and even through it, to meet
vessels. From this village, there is a reg-
ular packet line, maintained by the Eng-
lish government, to Harwich. Here is
also à quarantine, where vessels are often
subjected to much unnecessary delay;
sent to Norway, for instance, to take an
airing, when they are bound to Hamburg.
A bathing-house has been established here,
with many other improvements, by the sen-
ator Abendroth. In the middle ages, a
family named Lappen were in the habit
of sailing from this place for the commis-
sion of piracy. Hamburg conquered it in
the 14th century. With this city, it came
under the French dominion, and, in 1814,
was again declared a province of Ham-
burg. The whole bailiwick of Rützebút-
tel is subject to, not a component part of,
Hamburg.
CUYABA, OF JESUS DE CUYABA; a town
of Brazil, capital of Matto Grosso, on the
river Cuyaba, nearly 300 miles above its
entrance into the Paraguay; 280 miles W.
Villa Rica; population, 30,000. In the
neighborhood of this town are the most
western mining stations in Brazil, long
celebrated for the quantity of gold they
produce. The town is well provided with
meat, fruits and vegetables, and the sur-
rounding country is fruitful.
CYANOGEN. (See Prussic Acid.)
CYBELE was originally a particular god-
dess of the Phrygians, like Isis, the sym-
bol of the moon, and, what is nearly con-
nected with this, of the fruitfulness of the
earth; for which reason she is confounded
with Rhea, whose worship originated in
Crete, and in whom personified nature
was revered. When the worship of Cy-
bele was introduced among the Greeks,
the goddess was already surrounded with
a cloud of mythological traditions. Ac-
cording to Diodorus, Cybele was the
daughter of the Phrygian king Mæon, and
his wife Dindyma. At her birth, her
father, vexed that the child was not a boy,
exposed her upon mount Cybelus, where
she was nursed by lions and panthers, and
afterwards found and brought up by the
wives of the herdsmen. She invented
fifes and drums, with which she cured
the diseases of beasts and children, be-
came intimate with Marsyas, and fell vio-
lently in love with Atys. (See Atys.) She
was afterwards recognised and received
by her parents. Her father, discovering
her love for Atys, had him seized and ex-
ecuted, and left his body unburied. The
grief of Cybele, on this occasion, deranged
her understanding. She wandered about,
in search of Atys, with dishevelled hair,
escorted, by the sound of the drums and
fifes which she had invented, through
various countries, even to the Hyperbore-
ans, the most distant inhabitants of the
North. During her absence, a famine
arose in Phrygia, which did not cease
until divine honors were paid to Cybele,
by the command of the oracle, and the
statue of Atys interred, as his body could
not be found. Some traditions say that
Atys, in a fit of insanity, emasculated him-
self. Other traditions give a different
account of the cause of his misfortune.
In memory of him, the priests of Cybele
were eunuchs. Her worship was cele-
brated with a violent noise of instruments,
and rambling through fields and woods.
In Crete, she was confounded with Rhea.
She was also blended with the old Latin
goddess Ops. Her original statue was
nothing but a dark, quadrangular stone.
Afterwards she was represented as a
matron, with a mural crown on her head,
in reference to the improved condition of
men, arising from agriculture, and their
union into cities. A common attribute of
the goddess is the veil about her head,
which refers to the mysterious and incom-
prehensible in nature. In her right hand
she often holds a staff, as an emblem of
her power, and, in her left, a Phrygian
drum. Sometimes a few ears of corn
stand near her. The sun, also, is some-
times represented in her right hand, and
the crescent of the moon in her left. We
sometimes see her in a chariot, drawn by
lions; or else she sits upon a lion, and, as
omnipotent nature, she holds a thunder-
bolt; or a lion lies near her. (See Ata-
lanta.) These symbols are all representa-
tions of her dominion, and of the intro-
duction of civilization, by her means, in
the period of barbarism.
a
CYCLADES, in ancient geography; &
group of islands in the Archipelago, S. E.
of Euboea and Attica, inhabited mostly by
Greeks. Nearly in the middle lies the
largest island, Naxos. (q. v.) The most
southerly is Melos. (q. v.) Paros (q. v.)
also is one of this fertile and charming
group.
CYCLE (Greek KUKλos, a circle) is used
for every uniformly returning succession
of the same events. On such successions
or cycles of years rests all chronology,
particularly the calendar. Our common
solar year, determined by the periodical
return of the sun to the same point in the
CYCLE-CYCLOID.
ecliptic, every body knows, contains 52
weeks and 1 day, and leap-year a day
more. Consequently, in different years,
the same day of the year cannot fall upon
the same day of the week; but, as, for ex-
ample, the year 1814 began with Saturday,
1815 with Sunday, 1816 with Monday;
but 1817, because preceded by a leap-
year, began, not with Tuesday, but with
Wednesday. If we count only common
years, it is manifest that, from seven years
to seven years, every year would begin
again with the same day of the week as
the seventh year before; or, to express the
same in other words, after seven years,
the dominical letter (q. v.) would return
in the same order. But as every fourth
year, instead of a common year, is a leap-
year, this can only take place after 4 X 7,
or 28 years. Such a period of 28 years is
called a solar cycle, and serves to show
the day of the week falling on the first day
of January in every year. For this pur-
pose, it is only requisite to know with
what day of the week a particular year
began, and then to prepare a table for the
first days of the 27 following years. It is
the custom now to fix the beginning of
the solar cycle at the ninth year B. C.,
which was a leap-year, and began with
Monday. If you wish to know what day
of the week the new-year's day of any
year of our reckoning is, you have only to
add nine to the number of the year, and
then, after dividing this sum by 28, the
quotient gives, of course, the number of
complete cycles, and the remainder shows
what year of the solar period the given
year is, of which the table above-mention-
ed gives the day of the week with which
it begins. But this reckoning is only
adapted to the Julian calendar. In the
Gregorian, it is interrupted by the circum-
stance that, in 400 years, the last year of
the century is three times a common year.
Hence this reckoning will not give the
day of the week for the first day of the
year; but, from 1582 (the commencement
of the Gregorian calendar) to 1700, for the
11th, from 1700 to 1800 for the 12th, in
the 19th century for the 13th day of the
year, and so on, from which we must then
reckon back to the new-year's day. Hence
it is far more convenient to prepare a
table for the beginning of a century (for
xample, for 1801, which began with
Thursday), and divide by 28 the number
of years from that to the given year, and,
with the remainder, seek in the table the
day of the week for the first day of the
year. Besides this, another cycle is neces-
sary for the determination of festival days,
91

by the aid of which the feast of Easter, by
which all the movable feasts are regulated,
is to be reckoned. Easter depends on the
first full moon after the vernal equinox.
(See Calendar.) The lunar cycle is a pe-
riod of 19 years, after which the new
moon falls again on the same day of the
month. January 2, 1813, there was a new
moon; January 2, 1832, there will be a new
moon again. As the time from one new
moon to another, as astronomy teaches, is
about 29 days, a table of the new moons
for 19 years may be very easily prepared.
It is only necessary to observe that this
lunar cycle always begins with a year, of
which the first new moon falls on the first
of January, and that this was the case the
first year B. C. Divide by 19 the num-
ber of the year plus 1, and the remainder
will show what year in the lunar period
the given year is. The number of the
year is called the golden number. (See
Calendar, and Epact.) Besides these two
cycles, which are indispensable for the
calculations of the calendar, there are
some others, several of them known by
the name of periods. (See the accounts
given under the heads Calendar and Era.)
The Germans make much use of the
word Cyclus in science, meaning by it
any series of events, works, observations,
&c., which forms a whole in itself, and
reminds us of a circle; thus they speak
of the Cyclus of works in a certain science,
and Cyclus of discoveries by a philosopher,
&c., wherever the series forms a well-con-
nected whole.
CYCLIC POETS. (See Greek Literature.)
CYCLOID; the line described by a mov-
ing wheel. Imagine a circle which is
rolled perpendicularly along a straight line,
till the point first at rest is brought to rest
again, after an entire revolution. The
curve, thus described by this point, is call-
ed a cycloid, because every point in the
circumference of a revolving wheel de-
scribes a similar curve. The circle is called
the generating circle; the line on which it
described, the base of the cycloid. The
length of the cycloid is always four times
the diameter of the generating circle, and
its area three times the area of this circle.
This line is very important in the higher
branches of mechanics. Imagine a pen-
dulum suspended by a thread, in such a
way that, in the swinging of the pendulum
between two plates, each of which is bent
in the form of a cycloid, the thread rolls
and unrolls itself. Then the longest vibra-
tions will be performed in the same time
as the shortest, producing an isochronism.
and the cycloid is hence called an
92
CYCLOID-CYMBALS.

chrone or tantochrone. The name of
brachystochrone has also been given to the
cycloid, because it is the line in which a
heavy body, falling in a direction oblique
to the horizon, would pass in the shortest
time between two points.
CYCLOPEDIA. (See Encyclopædia.)
CYCLOPEAN WORKS, in ancient archi-
tecture; masonry performed with huge
blocks of stone, much of which is to be
seen in Sicily, said, by the ignorant, to be
the works of an ancient and fabulous
gigantic race of people; as Stonehenge is
said by the country people to have been
built by the devil. Some of these works,
called Cyclopean, were the walls of Argos
and Sicyone. Near to Nauplea, in Argo-
lis, there were caverns which, according
to Strabo, were called Cyclopean. As ser-
vants of Vulcan, the Cyclops were cele-
brated in mythology and fabulous history
for their marvellous works. (See Cyclops.)
CYCLOPS; the name of celebrated giants
in the mythology of Greece. They are
of two kinds: the former are the sons of
Neptune, and the latter the sons of Ura-
nus and Gaia (Heaven and Earth). The
latter, three in number, Arges, Brontes,
Steropes (Thunder and Lightning), were
those powerful giants who forged thun-
derbolts for Jupiter, in the workshop of
Vulcan, for which Apollo killed them.
Wholly different from these are the sons
of Neptune, of whom some enumerate 7;
others, near 100. The most distinguished
of them is Polyphemus. With him is
connected the whole nation of the Cyclops,
who are described in the Odyssey (ix, 106
et seq.) as wandering savages, uncouth
giants, without agriculture or civil union,
dwelling in mountain caves, and support-
ing themselves by the breeding of cattle.
According to Homer, they resided on the
west side of Sicily, near the dark Cim-
meria. As geographical knowledge in-
creased, the region of Cimmerian dark-
ness was placed at a greater distance, and
this nation was described as dwelling on
the Riphæan mountains, rich in beds of
metal. The one-eyed people, sometimes
called Cyclops, sometimes Arimaspians,
dug up the Riphæan ores, and wrought.
them, though disturbed by the griffins
which watched the gold. From this time,
the two classes of Cyclops are confounded.
A part of these Cyclops forged Jupiter's
thunderbolts; another part went on an ad-
venture to Greece, where they left several
buildings, as monuments of Cyclopean
urt. (O. Müller understands, by the Cy-
clops, whole nations, uni'ed under an ec-
clesiastical government. This wall-build-
ing people might have been humble peas-
ants in the Pelasgian plains of Argos
(which is especially called the Cyclopean
region), tributary to the Achæans.) When
men's acquaintance with the surface of
the earth became still more increased, the
fabled Riphæan hills were carried still
farther into the undiscovered night of the
North; and here the history of the one-
eyed nation is wrapped in confusion.
Some authors place them still on the
Riphæan hills to the North: most writers,
however, treat them as dwelling again in
Sicily, engaged in the service of Vulcan,
but working under Etna, or among the
flaming crags of the Lipari islands. The
mountains emitting fire were their forges;
and the roaring within them, the sound of
their hammers. How they acquired the
character of being one-eyed is unknown,
as their name only attributes to them
round eyes. Polyphemus, in many fig-
ures, is represented with two eyes.
Among the Greek pastoral poets, we find
the Cyclops exhibited in a rustic and
natural character.-Cyclops is likewise a
name which zoologists give to a certain
minute aquatic animal.
CYDER. (See Cider.)
CYLINDER; the name of a geometrical
solid, formed by two parallel circular sur-
faces, called the superior base and the in-
ferior base, and a convex surface terminat-
ed by them. There is a distinction be-
tween rectangular cylinders and oblique
cylinders. In the first case, the axis, that
is, the straight line joining the centre of
the two opposite bases, must be perpen-
dicular; in the second, the axis must
form an angle with the inferior base. The
solidity of a cylinder is equal to the pro-
duct of the base by the altitude. Archi-
medes found that the solidity of a sphere
inscribed in an equilateral cylinder, that
is, of a sphere whose diameter is equal to
the height, and also to the diameter of the
base of the cylinder, is equal to two
thirds of the solidity of the cylinder. The
cylinder is one of those figures which are
constantly in use for the most various pur-
poses.
CYLINDER GLASS. (See Glass).
CYMBALS, among the ancients; musical
instruments consisting of two hollow ba-
sins of brass, which emitted a ringing
sound when struck together. The brazen
instruments which are now used in mili-
tary music, and have been borrowed by
Europeans from the East, seem to have
taken their rise from these. The inven-
tion of them, according to some writers,
must be referred to the worship of Cybele.
CYNICS CYPRIANS.
CYNICS. After the Greeks had explored,
with unparalleled rapidity, all the regions
of philosophy, and sects of the most va-
rious kinds had formed themselves, it was
not unnatural that a school should arise
which condemned speculation, and de-
voted itself to the moral reformation of
society. The Cynics were founded by
Antisthenes, a scholar of Socrates, at
Athens, about 380 B. C. The character
of this philosophy for the most part re-
mained true to the Socratic, particularly
in making practical morals its chief, or
rather its only object, and in despising all
speculation. There were some noble fea-
tures in the doctrines of the Cynics. They
made virtue to consist in self-denial and
independence of external circumstances,
by which, as they thought, man assimilates
himself to God. This simplicity of life,
however, was soon carried so far by the
Cynics, that it degenerated into careless-
ness, and even neglect of decency. In
their attempts at living conformably to
nature, they brought themselves down to
the level of savages, and even of brutes.
No wonder, then, that the Cynics soon
became objects of contempt. The most
famous of their number were, besides
their founder, the ingenious zealot Dioge-
nes of Sinope, Crates of Thebes, with his
wife Hipparchia, and Menippus, who was
the last of them. After him, this philoso-
phy merged in the Stoic, a more worthy
and honorable sect.--The word cynicism
is still used to mark an uncommon con-
tempt or neglect of all external things.
CYNOSURA; a nymph of mount Ida,
who educated Jupiter, and was afterwards
placed in the constellation of the Little
Bear. By this star, the Phoenicians direct-
ed their course in their voyages.-Cyno-
sure, in a figurative sense, is hence used as
synonymous with pole-star, or guide.
CYNTHIUS; a surname of Apollo, from
mount Cynthus, on the island of Delos,
at the foot of which he had a temple,
and on which he was born. Diana, his
sister, is called Cynthia, from the same
mountain, because it was also her birth-
place.
M
CYPRESS. The cypress-tree (cupressus
sempervirens is a dark-colored evergreen,
a native of the Levant, the leaves of which
are extremely small, and entirely cover
the slender branches, lying close upon
them, so as to give them a somewhat
quadrangular shape. In some of the
troes, the branches diminish gradually in
length, from the bottom to the top, in such
a manner as to form a nearly pyramidal
shape. In many of the old gardens in
93

The
Europe, cypress-trees are still to be found;
but their generally sombre and gloomy
appearance has caused them, of late years,
to be much neglected. They are, how-
ever, very valuable, on account of their
wood, which is hard, compact and dura-
ble, of a pale or reddish color, with deep
veins and a pleasant smell. We are in-
formed by Pliny, that the doors of the
famous temple of Diana, at Ephesus,
were of cypress-wood, and, though 400
years old at the time that he wrote, ap-
peared to be nearly as fresh as when new.
Indeed, this wood was so much esteemed
by the ancients, that the image of Jupiter,
in the capitol, was made of it.
gates of St. Peter's church, at Rome, are
stated to have been of cypress, and to
have lasted more than 1000 years, from
the time of the emperor Constantine until
that of pope Eugenius IV, when gates of
brass were erected in their stead. As this
wood, in addition to its other qualities,
takes a fine polish, and is not liable to the
attacks of insects, it was formerly much
esteemed for cabinet furniture. By the
Greeks, in the time of Thucydides, it was
used for the coffins of eminent warriors;
and many of the chests which enclose
Egyptian mummies are made of it. The
latter afford very decisive proof of its
almost incorruptible nature. The name
of this tree is derived from the island
of Cyprus, in the Mediterranean, where
it still grows in great luxuriance. Its
gloomy hue caused it to be consecrated,
by the ancients, to Pluto, and to be used
at the funerals of people of eminence.
Pliny states that, in his time, it was cus-
tomary to place branches of cypress-tree
before those houses in which any person
lay dead. Its perpetual verdure served
the poets as the image of eternity, as its
dark and silent leaf, unmoved by gentle
breezes, is, perhaps, a proper symbol of
melancholy. Large collections of cypress-
es, as they are often seen surrounding
Turkish minarets, have a gloomy and in
teresting appearance. In the western
parts of the U. States, upon the Mississip
pi and other rivers, the cypress constitutes
large forests of a most sombre and pe-
culiar character. The dark, dense na-
ture of their foliage, the shade, impenetra-
ble to the sun, which they form, render
them the fit abode of wild beasts and
reptiles, and almost inaccessible to man.
They cover tracts hundreds of miles in
extent, and are visited only by the travel.
ler and the wood-cutter.
CYPRIANS; a term used for courtesans,
like that of Corinthians (q. v.), because
94
CYPRIANS-ST. CYR.

Venus, the Cyprian goddess, was particu-
larly worshipped on the island of Cy-
prus.
e
CYPRIAN, St., born A. D. 200, at Car-
thage, was descended from a respectable
family, and was a teacher of rhetoric
there. In 246, he was converted to Chris-
tianity, distributed his property among the
poor, and lived in the greatest abstinence.
The church, in Carthage, soon chose him
presbyter, and, in 248, he was made bish-
op. He was the light of the clergy, and
the comfort of the people. During the
persecution under the emperor Decius, he
fled, but constantly exhorted his church
to continue firm in the Christian faith.
In 251, he summoned a council, at Car-
thage, to decide concerning those who
had abandoned their faith during the per-
secution, but desired to be reädmitted
through penance. When the persecution
of the Christians was renewed, A. D. 257,
he was banished to Curubis, 12 leagues
from Carthage. Sept. 14, 258, he was
beheaded, at Carthage, because, in oppo-
sition to the orders of the government, he
had preached the gospel in his gardens,
near Carthage. Lactantius calls him
one of the first eloquent Christian authors.
His style, however, retained something of
the hardness of his teacher, Tertullian.
We have from him an explanation of the
Lord's prayer, and 81 letters, affording
valuable illustrations of the ecclesiastical
history of his time. Baluze published his
works complete (Paris, 1726, fol.).
CYPRIS (Cypria); a surname of Venus,
from the island of Cyprus, where was her
first temple.
CYPRUS; an island in the Mediterra-
nean, between Asia Minor and Syria, fa-
mous, in antiquity, for its uncommon fer-
tility and its mild climate. It contains
7264 square miles, and 120,000 inhabi-
tants, of whom 40,000 are Greeks. Cy-
prus is the native place of the cauliflow-
er. Wine, oil, honey, wool, &c., are still,
as formerly, the principal productions.
The country is distinguished by re-
markable places and mountains; as Pa-
phos, Amathusia, Salamis and Olympus,
once adorned with a rich temple of Venus.
Venus was particularly venerated here,
because, according to tradition, the de-
lightful shores of Cyprus received her
when she emerged from the foam of the
sea. The oldest history of this island is
lost in the darkness of antiquity. When
Amasis brought it under the Egyptian
yoke, 550 B. C., Ionian and Phoenician
colonists had formed several small states
in the island. It remained an Egyptian
province till 58 B. C., when it was con
quered by the Romans. After the division
of the Roman territories, Cyprus continu-
ed subject to the Eastern empire, and was
ruled by its own governors of royal blood
of whom Comnenus I made himself in
dependent, and his family sat upon the
throne till 1191, when Richard of England
rewarded the family of Lusignan with the
sceptre. After the extinction of the legiti
mate male line of Lusignan, James, an ille
gitimate descendant, came to the govern
ment. His wife was a Venetian (Catha-
rine Cornaro, q. v.), and, as she had no
children at his death, the Venetians took
advantage of this circumstance to make
themselves masters of the island (1473).
They enjoyed the undisturbed possession
of it till 1571, when Amurath III, not-
withstanding the bravest resistance on the
part of Marco Antonio Bragadino, who
defended Famagusta 11 months, conquer-
ed Cyprus, and joined it to the empire of
Turkey. Nicosia, the chief city, is the
seat of the Turkish governor, a Greek
archbishop and an Armenian bishop
The wines of Cyprus are red when they
first come from the press; but after five
or six years, they grow pale. Only the
Muscatel wine is white at first; and even
this, as it grows older, becomes redder
till, after a few years, it attains the thick
ness of sirup. It is very sweet. The
wines of Cyprus are not equally agreeable
at all seasons of the year: they are best
in spring and summer. Excessive cold
injures them, and destroys their flavor and
color. They are put up at first in leather
bags covered with pitch, whence they ac-
quire a strong pitchy flavor which is sev-
eral years in escaping. They are brought
to the continent in casks, but cannot be
kept unless drawn off after some time into
bottles. The best is distinguished by the
name of Commandery. (See Venus).
CYR, St.; a French village in the de-
partment of the Seine-and-Oise, one league
west of Versailles (population, 1000), fa-
mous for the seminary which Louis XIV
founded here, at the persuasion of mad-
ame Maintenon, in 1686. Here 250 noble
ladies were educated, free of expense,
until their 20th year. Forty feriales of
the order of St. Augustine instructed the
scholars. Madame Maintenon gave all
her attention to this establishment. She
is buried at St. Cyr. During the revo-
lution, this institution was overturned, and
a military preparatory school was founded
by Napoleon, which survived his fall, and
educates 300 pupils. Napoleon estab-
lished la maison impériale d'Écouen, an in-
ST. CYR-CYRIL
stitution similar to the one at St. Cyr, and
placed madame Campan at the head
or it.
CYRENAICA (originally a Phoenician col-
ony), once a powerful Greek state in the
north of Africa, west of Egypt, comprising
five cities (Pentapolis), among which was
Cyrene, a Spartan colony, is at present a
vast, but unexplored field of antiquities.
The ancient site of Cyrene is now called
Grenne or Cayron, in the country of Bar-
ca, in the dominion of Tripoli. Till the
fifth century, Cyrenaïca was the seat of
the Gnostics. (q. v.) The antiquities
there are described by the physician P.
Della Cella, in his work Viaggio da Tri-
poli di Barbarie alle Frontieri Occidentali
dell' Egitto, fatto nel 1817 (Genoa, 1819,
8vo.). J. R. Pacho, who has travelled
over Africa since 1819, made many obser-
vations, likewise, in Cyrenaica, for which
he received the geographical prize of 3000
francs, on his return to Paris, in 1826.
(Voyage de M. Pacho dans la Cyrenaïque.)
Of the famous inscription found among
the ruins of Cyrene, and brought to Malta,
some account has been given by Gesenius
(Halle, 1825, 4to.), and Hamacker, pro-
fessor at Leyden (Leyden, 1825, 4to.).
At present, the country is called, by the
Arabians, Djebel Akhdar, or Green High-
land. Surrounded by sterile and dry
countries, Cyrenaïca itself is very fertile
and well watered. Its hills are covered
with wood, and exhibit many melancholy
traces of former cultivation. In ancient
times, the inhabitants suffered much from
the attacks of the people of the interior
and the Carthaginians. The ruins of Cy-
rene have given rise among the present
inhabitants, to a belief in a petrified city.
There are at present about 40,000 people
in Djebel Akhdar.
CYRENAÏCS; a philosophical sect, whose
founder was Aristippus (q. v.), born in
Cyrene, a pupil of Socrates. (See Aris-
tippus.) The most distinguished of his
followers were Hegesias, Anniceris, Theo-
dore the Atheist, who, for his denial of
the existence of virtue and the Deity, was
banished from Athens.
CYRENE. (See Cyrenaica.)
CYRIL. Ecclesiastical history mentions
three saints of this name:-1. Cyril of Je-
rusalem, born there about the year 315,
was ordained presbyter in 345, and, after
the death of St. Maximus, in 350, became
patriarch of Jerusalem. Being a zealous
Catholic, he engaged in a warm contro-
versy with Acacius, the Arian bishop of
Cæsarea. In addition to their dispute
upon doctrinal points, Acacius accused
95

him of having sold some valuable church
ornaments, which he had indeed done,
but for the laudable purpose of supporting
the needy during a famine. A council
assembled at Cæsarea, by Acacius, in 357,
deposed Cyril; but the council of Seleucia,
in 359, restored him and deposed his per-
secutor. Acacius, by his artifices, suc-
ceeded in depriving him again of his dig-
nity the next year, and, after the emperor
Constantius, on his accession to the throne,
had once more recalled him, he was a
third time deposed by the emperor Valens,
after whose death he finally returned to
Jerusalem. In 381, the council of Con-
stantinople confirmed him. He died in
386. We have 23 catecheses composed
by him, in a clear and simple style, which
are esteemed the oldest and best outline
of the Christian dogmas (Paris, 1720, folio.)
2. Cyril of Alexandria was educated by
his uncle Theophilus, patriarch of Alex-
andria; spent five years in the monaste-
ries of Nitria, where he was instructed by
the abbot Serapion. He then went to
Alexandria, where his graceful form and
pleasing delivery gained him so many
adherents, that, after his uncle's death, in
412, he succeeded him in the patriarchal
dignity. Full of zeal and ambition, he
was not satisfied with ecclesiastical honor
alone, but exercised secular dominion also.
To punish the Jews, by whom Christian
blood had been shed, during an insurrec-
tion, he assailed them, at the head of the
populace, destroyed their houses and their
furniture, and drove them out of the city.
Orestes, the prefect of Egypt, who com
plained of such lawless violence, so incon-
sistent with the character of a bishop, was
soon after attacked in the streets by 500
furious monks, one of whom, having
wounded Orestes, was apprehended, con-
demned to death, and expired under the
blows of the lictors. Cyril caused his
body to be carried in a solemn procession
to the cathedral, gave him the name of
Thaumasius, and extolled him as a man
tyr and a saint. The assassination of
Hypatia, the learned daughter of Theon,
the mathematician, who had excited the
envy of Cyril, by the applause which she
had gained by her knowledge of geome-
try and philosophy, took place at his insti-
gation. In the notorious synod of 403, in
concurrence with his uncle, he had plan-
ned the condemnation of St. Chrysostom,
and it was only after an obstinate resist-
ance, that he was persuaded to submit to
the decrees of the Catholic church, in
respect to that prelate. Still more fierce
were his disputes with Nestorius, the suc
96
CYRIL CYRUS.

cessor of Chrysostom, who distinguished
between the divine and human nature of
Christ, acknowledging Mary as the mother
of Christ, but refusing to her the appellation
of mother of God. Cyril contended long
and violently against these doctrines, and
appointed pope Celestine umpire, who
immediately condemned them. He drew
up 12 anathemas, directed against John,
patriarch of Antioch, which, in the opin-
ion even of theologians, are not wholly
free from heresy, and called upon Nesto-
rius to subscribe them. To settle the dis-
pute between these two prelates, the coun-
cil of Ephesus was summoned. Both
parties appeared with a great number of
adherents and servants, between whom
innumerable disputes arose. Cyril opened
the council before the arrival of the patri-
arch of Antioch; and, although Nestorius
refused to recognise his enemies as judges;
although 68 bishops were in his favor, and
a magistrate, in the name of the emperor,
demanded a delay of four days; yet, in a
single day, Nestorius was condemned,
deposed, and declared to be a second Ju-
das. Soon after, the patriarch of Antioch
arrived, and held a synod of 50 bishops,
who, with equal haste, condemned Cyril
as guilty of heresy, and declared him a
monster born for the ruin of the church.
Both parties rushed to arms: the streets
of the city, and the cathedral itself, became
the theatre of their fury, and were polluted
with blood. The emperor Theodosius
sent troops to Ephesus, to disperse this
pugnacious council. This measure, how-
ever, only changed the theatre of the war;
for it was continued three years longer,
between John of Antioch and Cyril.
Soon after, Nestorius, not less violent than
Cyril, obtained from the emperor a com-
mand for Cyril to appear again before a
council at Ephesus. Both parties appear-
ed, with their adherents, in arms. Cyril
was maltreated, and even imprisoned. He
escaped from his keepers, however, and
fled to Alexandria. From that place, he
contrived, by distributing bribes, to excite
an insurrection in Constantinople, which
struck terror into the timid emperor. Ne-
gotiations were begun: Cyril was prevail-
ed upon to mitigate his anathema, and,
against his will, to acknowledge a two-
fold nature in Christ. But Nestorius, as
he was determined never to renounce his
opinions, was compelled to lay down his
offices, and to retire to a monastery. He
was afterwards banished to Thebais. In
339 or 340, he died. Cyril closed his
restless career in 344. His opinions pre-
vailed both in the Eastern and Western
empire, and the church gave him a piace
among the saints. The best edition of
his works, in which there is neither clear-
ness nor accuracy of style, is that of 1638,
in folio.-3. St. Cyril, a native of Thessa-
lonica, by way of distinction, was called
Constantine, and, at Constantinople, where
he studied, received the name of the Phi-
losopher. At the recommendation of St.
Ignatius, the emperor Michael III sent
him to the Chazars-a people of the stock
of the Huns. He converted the khan,
after whose example the whole nation
were baptized. He then preached the
gospel, with Methodius, to the Bulgari-
ans, and baptized their king Bojaris, A. D.
860. They had the same success in Mo-
ravia and Bohemia. Still later, they went
to Rome, where they both died. Accord-
ing to Dobrowsky, Cyril died in 868: ac-
cording to Xav. Richter, he died in 871 or
872. The two apostles were both declar-
ed saints. The Greeks and Russians cele-
brate the festival of St. Cyril on Feb. 14.
He was the inventor of the Cyrillian
Letters (q. v.), which took their name from
him, and is probably the author of the
Apologies which bear his name.
CYRILLIAN LETTERS; characters called,
in Sclavonic, Czuraliza; one of the modes
of writing the Sclavonic language, of
which there are three:-1. Roman or Ger-
man letters, used by the people of Poland,
Bohemia and Lusatia; 2. Cyrillian, so
called from their inventor, Cyrillus. They
are much used by the Russians. 3. From
these
these Cyrillian characters, probably
through the artifices of calligraphy, a pe
culiar alphabet was formed, which is
sometimes used in printed books, but no
where in common life.
CYRUS; a celebrated conqueror. The
only two original authorities concerning
him-Herodotus and Xenophon-differ so
greatly, that they cannot be reconciled.
According to Herodotus, he was the son
of Cambyses, a distinguished Persian, and
of Mandane, daughter of the Median king
Astyages. He founded the Persian mon-
archy. (See Assyria.) A short time be-
fore his birth, the soothsayers at the court
of Astyages divined from a dream of his,
that his future grandson was to dethrone
him. Upon this, he gave orders that Cy-
rus should be destroyed immediately after
his birth. For this purpose, he was deliv-
ered to a herdsman, who, moved with
compassion, brought him up, and named
him Cyrus. His courage and spirit be-
trayed his descent to the king. On one
occasion, playing with other boys, being
chosen king by his companions, he caused
CYRUS-CZAR.
the son of one of the first men in the na-
tion to be beaten. The father of the boy
complained to Astyages, who reprimanded
young Cyrus. But he appealed to his
right as king of his companions, and
replied with so much boldness and good
sense, that Astyages became interested in
him, and instituted inquiries, which led to
the discovery of his birth. The magi
having succeeded in quieting the uneasi-
ness which the discovery occasioned him,
he sent Cyrus to his parents in Persia,
with marks of his favor. But the young
man soon drew together a formidable
army of Persians, and conquered his
grandfather, B. C. 560. A similar fate
befell Croesus, the rich and powerful king
of Lydia, and Nabonadius, king of Baby-
lon, whose capital he took, after a siege
of two years. He also subdued Phoenicia
and Palestine, to which he caused the
Jews to return from the Babylonish cap-
tivity. While Asia, from the Hellespont
to the Indies, was under his dominion, he
engaged in an unjust war against the Mas-
sagetæ a people of Scythia, north-east of
the Caspian sea, beyond the Araxes, then
ruled by a queen named Tomyris. In
the first battle, he conquered by stratagem;
but, in the second, he experienced a total
defeat, and was himself slain, B. C. 529,
after a reign of 29 years. He was suc-
ceeded by his son Cambyses. The stories
related by Xenophon (q. v.), in the Cyro-
pædia (Account of the Life and remarkable
Traits in the Character of Cyrus), that he
received a splendid education at the court
of Astyages, inherited his kingdom, and
ruled like a genuine philosopher, are
either mere romance, deserving not the
least historical credit (Xenophon's design
being to represent the model of a king,
without regard to historical truth, and, in
this way, perhaps, to exhibit to his coun-
trymen the advantages of a monarchy), or
else the two accounts are founded on dif-
ferent traditions, perhaps of two different
persons named Cyrus.-Another Cyrus
was the youngest son of Darius Nothus, or
Ochus, who lived nearly 150 years later
than the former. In the 16th year of his
age, he obtained the supreme power over
all the provinces of Asia Minor. His am-
bition early displayed itself; and when,
after his father's death, his eldest brother,
Artaxerxes Mnemon, ascended the throne,
Cyrus formed a conspiracy against him,
which was, however, discovered before it
came to maturity. Instead of causing the
sentence of death to be executed upon
him, his brother' kindly released him, and
made him governor of Asia Minor. Here
VOL. IV
9
97

Cyrus assembled a numerous army, to
make war upon Artaxerxes, and dethrone
him. Among his forces were 13,000
Greek auxiliaries, who were ignorant,
however, of the object of the expedition.
Being informed of his brother's design,
Artaxerxes marched against him with a
much larger army. In the plains of Cy-
naxa, in the province of Babylon, the two
armies encountered each other. After a
brave resistance, especially on the part of
the Greeks, the army of Cyrus was over-
come, and he himself slain by the hand of
Artaxerxes.
CYTHERA (now Cerigo; population,
8000), one of the seven Ionian islands, sep-
arated by a narrow strait from the south
shore of Laconia, was particularly celebrat-
ed for the worship of Venus Urania, whose
temple in Cythera, the chief city, was the
oldest and most splendid of her temples in
Greece. The ancient Cythera is now de-
molished, and exhibits nothing but a few
ruins. On the shore of this island, accord-
ing to one tradition, Venus first ascended
from the sea, and took possession of the
land; i. e., Phoenician navigators here first
introduced the worship of Venus into
Greece. The island is rocky and unfruit-
ful. From this place, Venus has her
name Cytherea.
CZAR, ZAR, or ZAAR; a title of the au-
tocrat of Russia. The word is of old
Sclavonic origin, and is nearly equivalent
to king. The emperor is called, in the
same language, kessar. Until the 16th
century, the rulers of the several Russian
provinces were called grand-princes (we-
liki knaes). Thus there were grand-
princes of Wladimir, Kiev, Moscow, &c.
The grand-prince Wasilie first received,
in 1505, the title of samodersheta, which is
equivalent to the Greek word autocrat.
(q. v.) The son of Wasilie, Ivan II,
adopted, in 1579, the title of Czar of
Moscow, which his descendants bore for a
long time. In 1721, the senate and clergy
conferred on Peter I, in the name of the
nation, the title of emperor of Russia, for
which, in Russia, the Latin word impera-
tor is used. Several European powers
declined to acknowledge this title, until
the middle of the last century. The eld-
est son and presumptive heir of the czar
was called czareviz (czar's son); but, with
the unfortunate Alexis, son of Peter I, this
title ceased, and all the princes of the im-
perial house have been since called grand-
princes. The emperor Paul I renewed
the title czareviz, or czarewitch, in 1799, for
his second son, Constantine. (q. v.) The
rulers of Georgia and Imiretta, now under
98
CZAR-DACH.

the Russian sceptre, called themselves
czars.
CZENSTOCHOW, or CZENSTOCHOWA; a
fortified monastery, belonging to the order
of St. Paul the Hermit, in Poland, province
of Kalisch, near the Wartha and the fron-
tiers of Silesia. In this fortification, well
provided with artillery, the monks former-
had their own garrison, and chose com-
mandants from their own number. In
the diet of 1765, however, it was deter-
mined to occupy this place with a secular
force. Frequent pilgrimages are made to
the miraculous image of the Virgin, in the
church of the monastery. At the foot of
the mountain lies New Czenstochow, with
a population of 1300, and, a few miles
distant, Old Czenstochow, with a popula-
tion of 1700. In 1812, Czenstochow was
occupied by a garrison of French soldiers,
who were compelled to surrender to the
Russians in January, 1813.
CZERNY GEORGE. (See Servia.)
CZIRKNITZ. (See Zirknitz.)
D.
D; the fourth letter in our alphabet, of
the order of mutes. (See Consonant.) Ac-
cording to M. Champollion's recent dis-
coveries, the d, in the hieroglyphic writing
of the old Egyptians, corresponding to the
dau of the Copts, is a segment of a circle,
similar to a . The Greek delta was a
triangle, A, from which the Roman D
has been borrowed. D, as an initial letter
on medals, indicates the names of coun-
tries, cities and persons, as Decius; also
the words devotus, designatus, divus, domi-
nue, &c.; D. M., diis manibus; D. O. M.,
Deo optimo maximo. The Greek A repre-
sented the number four. Among Roman
numerals, D signifies 500, but was not
used as a numerical designation until 1500
years after Christ. The Romans desig-
nated a thousand in this way,-CI). The
early printers, it is said, thought it best to
express 500 by half the character of 1000,
and therefore introduced ID, which soon
grew into D. If a line was marked over
it, it signified 5000. In inscriptions and
manuscripts, D is very often found in the
place of B and L; des for bes, dachruma for
lachruma. In dedications, D., thrice re-
peated, signifies Dat, Donat, Dicat, or Dat,
Dicat, Dedicat. As an abbreviation of the
jurists, D signifies the pandects (Digesta).
D stands for doctor in M. D.; in D. T.,
doctor of theology; LL. D., doctor of laws,
&c. D., on French coins, signifies Lyons;
on Prussian, Aurich; on Austrian, Grätz.
In music, D designates the second note in
the natural diatonic scale of C, to which
Guido applied the monosyllable re.
DA CAPO (Ital.; from the head or begin-
ning); an expression written at the end of
a movement, to acquaint the performer
that he is to return to, and end with, the
first strain. It is also a call or acclamation
to the singer or musician, in theatres or
concerts, to repeat a piece which he has
just finished-a request very often made
mercilessly by the public, without regard
to the fatigue caused by a performance.
DACCA JELALPORE; an extensive and
rich district of Bengal, situated principally
between 23° and 24° of N. lat. It is
intersected by the Ganges and Brahma-
pootra, two of the largest rivers in In-
dia, which, with their various branches,
form a complete inland navigation, extend-
ing to every part of the country; so that,
every town having its river or canal, the
general mode of travelling or conveying
goods is by water.
DACCA; a large city, capital of the above-
named district, and, for 80 years, the cap-
ital of Bengal. It is situated on the north-
ern bank of a deep and broad river, called
the Boor Gunga (Old Ganges), at the dis-
tance of 100 miles from the sea. In this
city, or its vicinity, are manufactured
beautiful muslins, which are exported to
every part of the civilized world. It has
also an extensive manufacture of shell
bracelets, much worn by the Hindoo
women. The neighborhood of the city
abounds with game of all sorts, from the
tiger to the quail, and is, on this account,
a great resort of Europeans, during the
three cold months. 180 miles from Cal-
cutta by land; lon. 90° 17′ E.; lat. 23°
42′ N. vell
DACH, Simon, a German poet of the
17th century, born at Memel, July 29,
1605, lived in an humble condition, until
he was appointed professor of poetry in
107
DACH-DACIER.
the university of Königsberg. He remain-
ed in this office until his death, April 15,
1659. His secular songs are lively and
natural. His sacred songs are distinguish-
ed for deep and quiet feeling.
DACIA. The country which anciently
bore this name, according to Ptolemy's
description, comprised the present Banat,
a part of Lower Hungary, as far as the
Carpathian mountains on the west, Tran-
sylvania, Moldavia, Walachia and Bessa-
rabia. Some include Bulgaria and Servia,
with Bosnia, or the ancient Upper and
Lower Mosia. The inhabitants of this
country, called Daci, also Davi, made
themselves, for a long time, terrible to the
Romans. When Trajan conquered Dacia,
in the second century, he divided it into,
1. Dacia Riparia or Ripensis (the present
Banat, and a part of Hungary), so called
because it was bounded on the west by
the Theiss, and on the east by the Danube;
2. Dacia Mediterranea (now Transylvania),
so called, because it was situated between
the two others; and, 3. Dacia Transalpina
(now Walachia, Moldavia and Bessarabia),
or that part of Dacia lying beyond the
Carpathian mountains. He governed each
of these three provinces by a prefect, es-
tablished colonies in them, and sent colo-
nists from other parts of the Roman em-
pire, to people them, and supply cultiva-
tors of the soil. When Constantine the
Great divided the Roman empire anew,
Dacia became a part of the Illyrian pre-
fecture, and was divided into five prov-
inces or districts. Upon the fall of the
Roman empire, it was gradually overrun
by the Goths, Huns, Gepida and Avars.
Since that time, the history of this coun-
try, which then lost the name of Dacia, is
to be sought for in that of the provinces
of which it formerly consisted.
DACIER, André, born at Castres, in
Upper Languedoc, 1651, of Protestant
parents, studied at Saumur, under Tanne-
guy-Lefèvre, whose daughter Anna was
associated in his studies. After the death
of Lefevre, in 1672, he went to Paris.
The duke of Montausier, to whom his
learning was known, intrusted him with
the editing of Pompeius Festus (in usum
delphini). The intimacy growing out of
their mutual love of literature led to a
marriage between him and Anna Lefè-
vre, in 1683, and, two years after, they
both embraced the Catholic religion.
They received from the king considerable
pensions. In 1695, Dacier was elected a
member of the academy of inscriptions,
and of the French academy: of the latter
he was afterwards perpetual secretary.
99

The care of the cabinet in the Louvre was
intrusted to him. He died in 1722. Da-
cier wrote several indifferent translations
of the Greek and Latin authors. Besides
the edition of Pompeius Festus, and the
Euvres d'Horace, en Latin, et en Fran-
çais, with the Nouveaux Éclaircissemens
sur les Œuvres d'Horace, and the Nouvelle
Traduction d'Horace, with critical annota-
tions, he prepared an edition of Valerius
Flaccus, a translation of Marcus Antoni-
nus, of Epictetus, of Aristotle's Art of Po-
etry, with annotations, of the Lives of
Plutarch, of the Edipus and Electra of
Sophocles, of the works of Hippocrates,
and of several dialogues of Plato.
DACIER, Anna Lefèvre; wife of the
preceding; born at Saumur, in 1651. Af-
ter the death of her learned father, who
had instructed her, and cultivated her tal-
ents, she went to Paris, where she dis-
played her learning by an edition of Calli-
machus (1675), which she inscribed to
Huet, the under tutor of the dauphin.
The duke of Montausier, in consequence,
intrusted her with the care of several edi-
tions of the classics (in usum delphini).
She first edited Florus (q. v.), with a com-
mentary. Her learned works were not
interrupted by her marriage. Her feeble
translation of Homer attracted a good deal
of attention, and led to a dispute between
her and Lamotte, in which it appeared
that madame Dacier understood much
less of logic, than Lamotte of the Greek
language. In her Considérations sur les
Causes de la Corruption du Goût, she de-
fended Homer with the acuteness of a
profound commentator, and Lamotte re-
plied with a great deal of wit and elegance;
on which account it was said, Lamotte
wrote like an ingenious woman, madame
Dacier like a learned man. Lamotte
introduced her to the notice of queen
Christina, who persuaded her to embrace
the Catholic religion. In her Homère de-
fendu, she showed little mercy to Hardouin,
who had written a satirical eulogy of this
poet. On this occasion, she was said to
have uttered more invectives against the
reviler of Homer, than the poet himself
had placed in the mouths of all his heroes.
She translated Terence, and three pieces
of Plautus, in the prologue of which she
treats of the origin, the cultivation and
changes of dramatic poetry with acuteness.
Her translation of the Plutus and the Clouds
of Aristophanes, deserves indulgence, as
the first translation of the Greek comic
poet. Her translation of Anacreon and
Sappho, with a defence of the latter, met
with success. She also wrote annotations
100
DACIER-DACTYLIOTHECA.

on the Bible, but did not publish them.
Her life was entirely devoted to literature,
and her domestic duties. She died in
1720. Equally estimable for her charac-
ter and her talents, she gained as many
admirers by her virtue, her constancy and
her equanimity, as by her works. She
was chosen member of several academies.
DACTYLE. (See Rhythm.)
DACTYLIOTHECA (Greek); a collection
of engraved gems. The art of engraving
gems was no where carried to greater
perfection than in Greece, where they
were worn not only in rings (from which
the name of dakritos, ring), but in seals,
and were much used for other ornamental
purposes. The Romans were far behind
the Greeks in this art; but they were the
first who made collections of precious
stones. Scaurus, the son-in-law of Sylla,
introduced the custom (Pliny, Hist. Nat.,
37, 5). Pompey the Great transferred the
collection of Mithridates to Rome, and
placed it in the capitol. A much larger
collection was exhibited by Cæsar in the
temple of Venus Genitrix, and, after
wards, under Augustus, by M. Marcellus,
in the temple of Apollo Palatinus. In
modern times, the princes of Italy vied
with each other in collecting these treas-
ures of art. The family of Gonzaga es-
tablished the first dactyliotheca, and was
followed by the family of Este at Modena,
that of Farnese, and by Lorenzo de' Me-
dici in Florence. The gems collected by
him are marked with Lor., or Lor. de' M.,
or with M. alone. His collection was di-
vided and scattered, but the Medici estab-
lished a new one, the foundation of the
present D. Florentina, the most important
existing, as it contains about 4000 gems.
In Rome, collections of no great value
were made under Julius II and Leo X.
Maria Piccolomini, a Roman prelate, had
the best in that city; and Lucio Odescal-
chi, afterwards duke of Bragiani, inherited
that of Christina queen of Sweden. Rome
afterwards received the collections of the
Vatican (formed more at random than on
any connected plan), of the Barberini, and
of the Strozzi (containing some master-
pieces of the art, now in St. Petersburg).
The D. Ludovisia, belonging to the prince
of Piombino, and that of the cardinal Borgia
at Velletri, famous for its Egyptian gems
and scarabæi, are still celebrated. Naples
has beautiful gems in the cabinet at Por-
tici and at Capo di Monte. The prince
Piscari formed a collection at Catanea, in
Sicily, consisting entirely of gems found
in Sicily. In France, the first collection
was begun by Francis I, but was dispersed
in the civil war. In the reign of Louis
XIV, Louvois laid the foundation of the
present fine collection of antiques in the
royal library. The collection of the duke
of Orleans, which ne inherited from the
Palatinate, was celebrated. Besides these,
there were several private collections of
value. The most celebrated in England
are those of the dukes of Devonshire,
Bedford and Marlborough, and the earls
of Carlisle and Desborough. Germany
also has collections. In the palace of
Sans Souci, at Potsdam, near Berlin, sev-
eral are united, among which is that of
Muzel Stosch, rendered famous by the
description of Winckelmann. Vienna has
a separate cabinet of gems. The collec-
tion of Dresden is good. The city library
of Leipsic possesses some good gems.
The collection at Cassel is extensive, but
not very valuable. Munich has some
beautiful pieces. There are also many
private collections. In the Netherlands,
the cabinet of the king is valuable. In
the royal palace at Copenhagen, there are
some vases inlaid with gems; and Peters-
burg has, besides the imperial collection,
the foundation of which was that of the
engraver Natter, the rich collection of
count Poniatowski. To multiply elegant
and ingenious or remarkable designs on
gems, engravings or casts are taken. Thus
not only single designs, but all those of
the same class, or those of a whole cabi-
net, are represented by engravings. The
impressions of various classes of gems
have been collected. Bellori collected
the portraits of philosophers and others;
Chifflet, abraxas stones (see Abraxas, and
Gnosis); Gori, gems engraved with stars;
Ficoroni, gems with inscriptions; Stosch,
gems bearing the names of the artists.
Representations of whole collections have
been given; as, by Gori, of those contained
in the Museum Florentinum; by Wicar and
Mongez, of those in the gallery of Flor-
ence; by Mariette, of the former French
collections; by Leblond and Lachaux, of
that of the duke of Orleans; by Eckhel,
of that of Vienna. We might also men-
tion the copies of the Museum d'Odescal-
chi, of the cabinets of Gravelle, Stosch,
Bossi, and the duke of Marlborough. But,
although some of these impressions are
very beautiful, the preference ought to be
given to the casts. The collections of
such casts are also called dactyliotheca;
for instance, the dactyliotheca of Lippert,
consisting of 3000 pieces. Tassie, in Lon-
don, has executed the largest collection of
casts yet known, amounting to 15,000.
These are important aids in the study of
0
000
DACTYLIOTHECA-DAENDELS.
the branch of antiquities with which they
are connected.
wa
DACTYLIOMANCY (from dakrólios, a ring,
and pavrsia, divination); the pretended art
of divining by means of rings.
DACTYLOLOGY, or DACTYLONOMY (from
dákTulos, the finger), is the art of numbering
with the fingers; or, in a wider sense, of
expressing one's thoughts in general with
the fingers. It is usually taught in insti-
tutions for the education of the deaf and
dumb.cly red syait p
od
DADUCHUS (Latin; Aadsxos, Greek); lit-
erally a torch-bearer, but applied as an
epithet to many of the ancient divinities,
who were always represented as bearing
a torch or flambeau. Daduchi were also
those persons, who, in certain ceremo-
nies and religious processions, carried the
flambeaus or sacred torches. The Dadu-
chic deities are Ceres, when represented
as searching for her lost daughter Proser-
pine; Diana, Luna, Hecate and Sol, when
in their cars, employed in the business of
lighting the earth; Venus, Cupid and Hy-
men, when bearing the torch of love;
Rhea or Cybele, and Vesta, in the temples
where the vestals guarded the sacred fire
of those goddesses; Vulcan, in whose
honor, conjointly with Prometheus and
Pallas as Daduchi, the Athenians instituted
a festival, which they called Lampadephoria,
Aapnaonpopta (see Lampadephoria); Bellona,
the Furies, Aurora, Hymen, Peace (on a
medal of Vespasian); Comus (in an an-
cient painting described by Philostratus);
Night, Sleep, and Death, or Thanatus,
* Θάνατος).
DEDALUS (Aardaλos). The name of
(Δαίδαλος).
Dadali is given to full-length figures or
images, with the feet in an advancing pos-
ture. But whence this appellation is de-
rived, is a contested point. Winckel-
mann, following Palæphatus and Diodorus,
says, "Dædalus began to separate the
lower part of the Hermes into legs; and
the first statues are said to have received
from him the name of Dadali." The
common opinion is, that Daedalus first
separated the legs of the statues in an
advancing posture, which explains the
saying that his statues moved, since all
previous sculptors formed their statues
with the arms hanging down, not di-
vided from the body, and the legs not
separated, like the mummy-shaped figures
of the Egyptians. According to Pausa-
nias, Dædalus received his name from the
statues (the name of which is said to have
been derived from dadale, to work with
skill). Böttiger (in his Lectures on Ar-
chæology, Dresden, 1806) supposes that
9*
101

Dedalus is not a proper name, but the
common appellation of all the first archi-
tects, metallurgists and sculptors in Gre-
cian antiquity; also, in general, an artist, as
dadalic signifies artificial, skilful. In early
periods, every art is confined to the family
and friends of the inventor, and the disci-
ples are called sons. Thus the ancients
speak of the Dædalian family of artists,
including Talos, Perdix, Diopœnos, Scyllis
and others. According to the common
opinion, Daedalus lived three generations
before the Trojan war, was distinguished for
his talents in architecture, sculpture and
engraving, and the inventor of many in-
struments; for instance, the axe, the saw,
the plummet, the auger; also of glue, and
masts and yards for ships. As a sculptor,
he wrought mostly in wood, and was the
first who made the eyes of his statues
open. This he did in Athens, which he
was compelled to leave on account of the
murder of his disciple Talos, of whose
skill he was jealous. He built the famous
labyrinth in Crete; executed for Ariadne a
group of male and female dancers, of
white stone, and for Pasiphaë the notorious
wooden cow. Being imprisoned with his
son Icarus, he invented instruments for
flying. The wings were composed of
linen, or, according to Ovid, of feathers,
and fastened with wax, which caused the
death of Icarus; whence the Icarian sea is
said to have received its name. Dædalus
himself reached Sicily, on the southern
coast of which a place was called, after
him, Dadalium. A festival called Dada-
la (image-festival) was celebrated in Boo-
tia, mostly at Platea. We must not con-
found this Daedalus with a later sculp-
tor, Daedalus of Sicyon. Many stories
of different artists have, probably, been
blended to form the character of Dæda-
lus.
DAENDELS, Hermann William, a Dutch
general, born in 1762, at Hattem, in Guel-
derland, took an important part in the.
troubles which began in Holland, in 1787,
on the side of the patriots, and, with many
of his countrymen of the same party, was
compelled to take refuge in France, where
he engaged in commercial speculations,
in Dunkirk. In 1793, he was appointed
colonel in the new legion of volunteers,
Frme étranger, and was of great service
to Dumouriez, in his expedition against
Holland. He rendered still greater services
to Pichegru, in the campaign of 1794,
which made the French commander mas-
ter of all Holland. Daendels now became
lieutenant-general in the service of the
Batavian republic, and took an important
10
0
D
3
0
102
DAENDELS-DAISY.TOA

part in the change of the government. is very conspicuous in the latter part of the
When Louis Bonaparte ascended the
throne, he loaded him with honors, and
appointed him governor-general of Bata-
via. After the union of Holland with
France, Napoleon recalled him. Daen-
dels arrived in Europe in the summer of
1812. He employed his leisure time in
publishing a Compte rendu of his govern-
ment in Java (4 vols., folio), in which he
throws much light on the statistics and
general condition of that country. He
was afterwards appointed, by the king of
the Netherlands, to organize the restored
colonies on the coast of Africa. Here he
displayed his usual energy; he promoted
peace between the neighboring Negro
states, encouraged the establishment of
new plantations on the West India plan,
and checked the slave-trade, until the
time of his death.
DAFFODIL. (See Narcissus.)
DAGH; a Persian word, signifying
mountain-Daghistan, land of mountains.
DAGOBERT I (called the Great on ac-
count of his military successes), king of the
Franks, of the Merovingian race, in 628
succeeded his father, Clothaire II, who
had reunited the divided members of the
French empire. He waged war with
success against the Sclavonians, Saxons,
Gascons and Bretons; but he stained the
splendor of his victories by cruelty, vio-
lence and licentiousness. After he had
conquered the Saxons, it is said that he
caused all those whose stature exceeded
the length of his sword to be put to death.
He deserves praise for his improvement
of the laws of the Franks. He died at
Epinay, 638, at the age of 32 years, and
was buried in St. Denis, which he had
founded six years before.
D'AGUESSEAU. (See Aguesseau.) oh
DAHL, John Christian, landscape paint-
er, since 1820 member of the academy of
Dresden, born Feb. 24, 1788, at Bergen,
in Norway, was first destined for theology;
but, having neither the inclination nor the
means to pursue that study, he was bound
apprentice to a painter in his native
He soon distinguished himself by
his sea-views, and enjoys, at present, the
reputation of one of the first, if not the
first, of living painters in this department.
Some of his paintings are truly grand.
He lives at present in Dresden.
DAHLIA; the name of a genus of plants
belonging to the natural order composite, or
compound flowers. The D. pinnata, within
a few years, has become common in the
gardens of the Northern and Middle States,
where it is cultivated as an ornament, and
season. The root is perennial, composed of
fascicles of tubers, which are oblong and
tapering at each end, and about 6 inches
in length. The stem is straight, branch-
ing, thick, and reaches the height of 7
feet and upwards. The leaves are oppo-
site, connate, and simply or doubly pin-
nated. The flowers are solitary, at the
extremity of long, simple branches, deep
purple, with a yellow centre: by cultiva-
tion, however, they have been doubled,
and made to assume a variety of colors.
The roots are a wholesome article of food,
much eaten by the Mexicans, though the
taste is not very agreeable. It is repro-
duced from the seed, or by the division of
the roots, which is the most approved
mode. It requires frequent watering. In
autumn, the roots should be taken out
of the ground, covered with dry sand, and
kept out of the reach of frost during the
winter. All the species are natives of
Mexico.ovolen
DAHOMEY; a kingdom in the interior of
Western Africa, behind the Slave Coast.
The country is very little known to Euro-
peans. The parts which have been visited
are very beautiful and fertile, and rise, for
about 150 miles, with a gradual slope, but
without any great elevation. The soil is
a deep, rich clay, yielding maize, millet
and Guinea corn in abundance. The
inhabitants are warlike and ferocious.
The government is an absolute despotism.
The ferocity which prevails among this
nation almost surpasses belief. Human
skulls form the favorite ornament in the
construction of the palaces and temples.
The king's sleeping-chamber has the floor
paved with the skulls, and the roof orna-
mented with the jaw-bones, of chiefs whom
he has overcome in battle.
DAIRE, or DAIRO. (See Japan.)
DAIRY (from dey, an old English word
for milk); a building appropriated to the
purpose of preserving and managing milk,
skimming cream, making butter, cheese,
&c., with sometimes the addition of pleas-
ure rooms for partaking the luxuries of
the dairy, as syllabubs, cream with fruit,
iced creams, &c. are pur
DAISY; the name of a plant which is
very familiar, and a great favorite in Eu-
rope (bellis perennis, L.). It is one of the
earliest in spring, and its elegant flowers,
appearing at intervals in the green sward,
have been compared to pearls. During
cloudy weather, and at night, they close.
It continues flowering during the whole
season, and is not used for food by any
animal. It belongs to the natural order
DAISY-DALBERG.
composite. The leaves are all radical,
spathulate, obtuse, more or less dentate,
slightly hairy, and spread upon the ground.
Its naked stem is a few inches high, and
terminated by a white flower, having a
tinge of red, and a yellow centre. In the
U. States, it is only seen cultivated in gar-
dens. One species of bellis (B. integrifo-
lia, Mx.) inhabits the U. States, but is a
rare plant, and only found in the South-
western States, in Tennessee and Arkan-
sas.
DAL; a Swedish word, signifying, like
the German THAL, valley, as in Dalecarlia.
DALAI LAMA. (See Lama.) to
DALBERG, family of the barons of; also
DALBURG. Is there no Dalberg present?'
the imperial herald was formerly obliged
to demand, at every coronation of the Ger-
man emperors; and the Dalberg present
bent his knee before the new sovereign,
and received the accolade as the first
knight of the empire. So illustrious were
the ancestors of the present Dalbergs, the
ancient chamberlains of Worms! The
family obtained the rank of barons of the
empire in the 17th century. Many Dal-
bergs have distinguished themselves as
patrons of German literature.
da
DALBERG, Charles Theodore Anthony
Maria, of the noble family of Dalberg,
barons of the German empire, was cham-
berlain of Worms, elector of Mentz, arch-
chancellor, and subsequently prince-pri-
mate of the confederation of the Rhine, and
grand-duke of Frankfort; finally archbish-
op of Ratisbon and bishop of Worms and
Constance; born Feb. 8, 1744, at Herns-
heim, near Worms. In 1772, he became
privy-counsellor and governor at Erfurt.
During many years' residence in that
place, he was distinguished for industry,
regularity and punctuality in the discharge
of his duties. An incorruptible love of
justice, and inflexible firmness in main-
taining what he considered just and pol-
itic, animated him. He encouraged sci-
ence and the arts by his patronage of
learned men and artists, and wrote sever-
al learned treatises and ingenious works.
In 1802, after the death of the elector of
Mentz, he was made elector and arch-
chancellor of the German empire. By
the new political changes in Germany in
1803, he came into possession of Ratis-
bon, Aschaffenburg and Wetzlar. In 1806,
he was made prince-primate of the con-
federation of the Rhine. At Ratisbon, he
erected the first monument to the famous
Kepler. In 1810, he resigned the princi-
pality of Ratisbon to Bavaria, and obtain-
ed, as compensation, a considerable part
103

of the principalities of Fulda and Hanau,
and was made grand-duke. In 1813, he
voluntarily resigned all his possessions
as a sovereign prince, and returned to
private life, retaining only his ecclesias-
tical dignity of archbishop. He retired to
Ratisbon. He was a member of the
French national institute. His works are
mostly philosophical. Among them are
the Reflections on the Universe (5th edi-
tion, 1805), the Principles of Esthetics
(Erlangen, 1791), and Pericles, or the In-
fluence of the Liberal Arts on Public Hap-
piness (Erfurt, 1806). He wrote several
of his works in French. He is also the
author of several legal treatises. Although
he was fond of theoretical speculations,
yet he devoted his attention more particu-
larly to practical studies, such as the phi-
losophy of the arts, mathematics, physics,
chemistry, botany, mineralogy, scientific
agriculture, &c. Dalberg died Feb. 10,
1817.mo
DALBERG, Emmerich Joseph, duke of;
peer of France, nephew of the prince-pri-
mate, and son of the well-known author
Wolfgang Heribert, baron of Dalberg; born
May 31, 1773, at Mentz. He began his
career in public life under the eyes of his
uncle, at Erfurt, and was also for a time in
the diplomatic service of Bavaria, until he
was appointed, in 1803, envoy of the mar-
grave of Baden at Paris. He formed an
intimacy with the prince of Benevento
(see Talleyrand-Perigord), who married
him, in 1807, to mlle. de Brignolles, of a
distinguished Genoese family. During the
campaign of 1809, he received the port-
folio of foreign affairs in Baden, without
resigning his office of ambassador in Paris.
After the peace, he returned to France,
where he became a citizen of France, and
was subsequently created duke and coun-
sellor of state. After the marriage of Na-
poleon with the archduchess Maria Louisa.
on which occasion Dalberg is said to have
opened the preliminary negotiations with
prince Schwarzenberg, he received a do-
nation of 4,000,000 francs on the princi
pality of Baireuth, of which France had
the disposal by the treaty of Vienna, and
the king of Bavaria paid him almost the
whole sum. When the prince of Bene-
vento fell into disgrace, Dalberg retired
with his patron. In April, 1814, Talley-
rand, at the head of the provisional gov-
ernment, made the duke one of the five
members of that government, who pro-
moted the restoration of the Bourbons.
Dalberg was present at the congress of
Vienna, as French minister plenipoten-
tiary, and signed, 1815, the declaration
104
DALBERG-DALLAS.

against his former master and benefac-
tor. Napoleon, on this account, includ-
ed him, after his return, among the
twelve whom he banished, and whose es-
tates were confiscated. After the second
restoration of the royal government, Dal-
berg recovered his property, was appoint-
ed minister of state and peer, received an
embassy to the court of Turin, and lives
now in Paris.
DALE, Richard, an American naval com-
mander, was born in Virginia, Nov. 6,
1756. At 12 years of age, he was sent to
sea, and, in 1775, he took the command
of a merchant vessel. In 1776, he enter-
ed, as a midshipman, on board of the
American brig of war Lexington, com-
manded by captain John Barry. In her
he cruised on the British coast the follow-
ing year, and was taken by a British cut-
ter. After a confinement of more than a
year in Mill prison, he effected his escape
into France, where he joined, in the char-
acter of master's mate, the celebrated Paul
Jones, then commanding the American
ship Bon Homme Richard. Jones soon
raised Dale to the rank of his first lieuten-
ant, in which character he signalized him-
self in the sanguinary and desperate
engagement between the Bon Homme
Richard and the English frigate Serapis.
He was the first man who reached the
deck of the latter when she was boarded
and taken. In 1781, he returned to Amer-
ica, and, in June of that year, was appoint-
ed to the Trumbull frigate, commanded
by captain James Nicholson, and soon af-
terwards captured. From 1790 to 1794,
he served as captain in the East India
trade. At the end of this period, the gov-
ernment of the U. States made him a cap-
tain in the navy. In 1801, he took the
command of the American squadron of
observation, which sailed, in June of that
year, from Hampton roads to the Mediter-
ranean. His broad pendant was hoisted
on board the frigate President. Efficient
protection was given by Dale to the
American trade and other interests in the
Mediterranean. In April, 1802, he reach-
ed Hampton roads again. He passed the
remainder of his life in Philadelphia, in
the enjoyment of a competent estate, and
of the esteem of all his fellow-citizens.
He died Feb. 24, 1826. Captain Dale was
a thorough, brave and intelligent seaman.
He was several times severely wounded
in battle. The adventures of his early
years were of the most romantic and
perilous cast. No man could lay claim
to a more honorable and honest char-
acter.
DALECARLIA; a province of Sweden.
(See Sweden.)
DALIN, Olof or Olaus of; the father of
modern Swedish literature, in the 18th
century. He exerted much influence by
his periodical paper, The Swedish Argus
(1733-34), and still more by his spirited
poems, particularly Satires (1729), an ex-
cellent poem on the liberty of Sweden
(1742), many songs, epigrams and fables.
The best edition of his poetical works ap-
peared at Stockholm, 1782-83, in 2 vols.
He acquired equal reputation by his able
history of Sweden (Stockholm 1777, 3
vols. 4to., translated into German by Ben-
zelstierna and Dähnert, Greifswalde, 4
vols., 4to.), on which account he was ap-
pointed historiographer of the kingdom
(1756). He also participated in the foun-
dation of the academy of belles-lettres by
Ulrica Eleonora (1753). He was born in
the district of Winberga in Halland (1708),
and died chancellor of the court of Swe-
den, in 1763.
DALLAS, Alexander James, was born,
June 1, 1759, in the island of Jamaica.
When quite young, he was sent to school
at Edinburgh, and afterwards at West-
minster. His father was an eminent and
wealthy physician in the island of Jamai-
ca. In 1781, after the death of his father,
he left England for Jamaica. It was
found that the whole of Mr. Dallas's pro-
perty was left at the disposal of his widow,
who married again, and no part of it ever
came to the rest of the family. The sub-
ject of this article left Jamaica in April,
1783, and arrived at New York June 7,
and at Philadelphia a week after. June
17, he took the oath of allegiance to the
state of Pennsylvania. In July, 1785,
he was admitted to practise in the su-
preme court of Pennsylvania, and, in the
course of four or five years, became a
practitioner in the courts of the U. States.
During this period, his practice not being
extensive, he prepared his Reports for the
press, and occupied himself in various
literary undertakings. He wrote much in
the magazines of the day. Of the Co-
lumbian Magazine he was at one time ed-
itor. His essays will bear a comparison
with those of his contemporaries; and
this is no small praise, for Franklin, Rush
and Hopkinson were of the number.
Jan. 19, 1791, he was appointed secretary
of Pennsylvania by governor Mifflin. In
December, 1793, his commission was re-
newed. Not long after, he was appoint-
ed paymaster-general of the forces that
marched to the west, and he accompanied
the expedition to Pittsburg. In Decem-
DALLAS-DALMATIA.
ber, 1796, the office of secretary was again
confided to him. While he held this of-
fice, he published an edition of the laws
of the commonwealth, with notes. Upon
the election of Mr. Jefferson, in 1801, he
was appointed attorney of the U. States
for the eastern district of Pennsylvania,
and he continued in this office until his
removal to Washington. October 6, he
was appointed secretary of the treasury
of the U. States. The circumstances un-
der which he entered this difficult situa-
tion, the boldness with which he assumed
its responsibilities, his energy of character,
and the general confidence and approba-
tion with which his career was accompa-
nied, belong to the history of the times.
March 13, 1815, he undertook the addi-
tional trust of secretary of war, and per-
formed with success the delicate task of
reducing the army of the U. States. In
November, 1816, peace being restored, the
finances arranged, the embarrassment of
the circulating medium daily diminishing,
and soon to disappear under the influence
of the national bank, which it had so long
been his effort to establish, Mr. Dallas re-
signed his honorable station, and returned
to the practice of the law in Philadel-
phia. His business was considerable, and
his talents as an advocate were employed,
not only at home, but from almost every
quarter of the Union. In the midst of his
brilliant prospects, exposure to cold, and
great professional exertions in a very im-
portant cause, brought on an attack of the
gout in his stomach, at Trenton, of which
he died, Jan. 16, 1817.
DALLAS, Robert Charles, born in Ja-
maica, studied law in the Inner Temple.
When he came of age, he married, and
went to Jamaica, where he had received
a lucrative appointment, but was obliged
to leave the island on account of the ill
health of his wife. He went to France,
then to America, with a view to settle
there, but, being disappointed, returned,
and devoted himself to literature. His
productions, including translations, are nu-
merous. His novels have been collected
and published in 7 volumes, 12mo. Lord
Byron, as appears from Moore's life of the
poet, was in the habit of consulting him,
and made him a present of the copyright
of Childe Harold and some other of his
early works, which afforded him much
pecuniary advantage.
DALMATIA; an Austrian kingdom, in-
cluding four circles-Zara, Spalatro and
Macarsca, Ragusa, Cattaro-lying on the
Adriatic sea, bounded by Croatia, Bosnia
and Albania, and having several islands
105

belonging to it. Since 1814, with the ex-
ception of the Turkish part, it has been
entirely subject to the emperor of Aus-
tria, and contains 5800 square miles,
320,000 inhabitants, in 22 towns, 33 bor-
oughs and 914 villages. Dalmatia, for-
merly an important kingdom, was, after
many unsuccessful attempts, subjected by
the Romans under Augustus. After the
decline of the Western Empire, it was first
under the dominion of the Goths, then
under that of the Eastern emperors. In
the first half of the 7th century, it was
conquered by the Sclavonians, who erect-
ed it into a kingdom, which lasted till
1030, when it was, in part, united with
Hungary, under king St. Ladislaus; an-
other part placed itself under the protec-
tion of the then powerful republic of
Venice, for security against the attacks of
the Turks, who, however, afterwards,
took a part from the Venetians. By the
peace of Campo-Formio (Oct. 17, 1797),
the Venetian part of Dalmatia, as well as
Venice itself, was made over to Austria;
but, by the treaty of Presburg, in 1805,
Austria ceded it to the French emperor,
who first united it with the kingdom of
Italy, and in 1810, with Illyria, although
he caused it to be governed by a general-
provveditore.-The causes of the small
population of this fertile but poorly culti-
vated country, are the excessive use of
spirituous liquors, the noxious exhalations
of the marshes in various districts, the
frequent emigrations, and the habit of
private revenge, which extends even to
the third and fourth generations. It con-
tains impenetrable forests, and regions
covered with marshes. The Dalmatians
are a handsome race, bold seamen, and
good soldiers if they are well commanded.
The former military power of Venice rest-
ed entirely upon this province. The Dal-
matians, in general, are accused, and prob-
ably not unjustly, of deceitfulness and ra-
pacity: the desire of independence is al-
most universal. A peculiar feature of their
character is, that many of them prefer the
heroic death (as they term it) by the spear,
to a natural and peaceful death in the
midst of their family. They speak a
Sclavonic dialect. The Morlachians, who
dwell in the interior of the country, and
among the mountains, and in the Turkish
government of Herseck, constitute but a
part of the nation. They are excellent
soldiers, but have a strong inclination for
robbery and drinking; yet they are hos-
pitable, benevolent and faithful in their
and fait
promises. Averse to every kind of re-
straint, they live in a sort of natural con
106
DALMATIA-DAMASCENUS.

dition. They have always been a good
wall against the attacks of the Turks.
The inhabitants of the islands are princi-
pally employed in fishing, and are ser-
vants on the continent, or sailors in mer-
chant-ships. The islands are not very
productive. Several have good harbors,
and afford much timber for ship-building.
The inhabitants of the continent are em-
ployed in agriculture and the breeding of
cattle. They have some commerce, and
devote themselves chiefly to the sea. As
long as their soil produces no more than
it does at present, their trade and industry
cannot be important, more particularly
since the great commons, according to the
ancient Dalmatian custom, are not sepa-
rated, and the overgrown landed estates
of individuals are not divided on their
decease. The Dalmatians export tallow,
hare-skins (which latter are brought from
Bosnia), some oil, figs, wine, brandy, wax,
and salt fish, from different ports; and re-
ceive, in exchange, linen, cloth, coffee and
sugar, but only in small quantities, so that
the money-balance is on their side. There
are gold, iron and coal mines in the coun-
try, but they remain unwrought. Zara,
the capital, and the seat of the governor,
has 5000, Spalatro 6800, inhabitants. The
district of Cattaro, which is under the do-
minion of Austria, is sometimes comprised
in Dalmatia, but properly belongs to Al-
bania, and lies, in a semicircular form,
round the gulf. The 13 famous inlets
(Bocche di Cattaro) form the safest harbors
on the Adriatic sea, and present some fine
prospects. The inhabitants of the dis-
trict are estimated at 30,000. They are
excellent seamen, and were inclined, un-
der the lax government of the Venetians,
to robbery, particularly by sea. By land,
their resolution and boldness render them
the most formidable enemies of the Turks
in that quarter. The steep, rough and
barren heights of Montenegro surround
this province in a semicircular form.-
The Turkish part of Dalmatia, which ex-
tends from Bosnia to Albania, and belongs
to Bosnia, contains the province of Herze-
govina, with the town of that name, and
the towns of Scardona and Trevigno.
See the Travels to Dalmatia and Ragusa,
by E. F. Germar (Leipsic, 1817), which is
particularly rich in natural history. The
splendid work on Dalmatia by general
Dejearo (Paris, 1825) exhibits the ento-
mological wealth of Dalmatia.
DALMATICA; a long, white gown, with
white sleeves, formerly worn by the Dal-
matians, and, since the time of pope Syl-
vester I, by the Roman Catholic deacons,
over the alba and stola.-Also, a part of
the ornamental dress formerly worn by
the German emperor at the time of his
coronation. It was kept in Nuremberg,
and put on in Frankfort.
DAL SEGNO (Italian) means from the sign.
In music, this expression denotes, that the
singer or player ought to recommence at
the former place, where the same mark
is put.
How
DALZIEL, Thomas; a Scotch officer,
taken prisoner at the battle of Worcester,
and confined in the Tower, from which he
escaped to Russia, where the czar made
him a general. At the restoration, he re-
turned to England, and Charles II made
him commander-in-chief of his forces in
Scotland. He was singular in his dress
and appearance. After the death of
Charles I, he never shaved his beard,
which grew white and bushy, and de-
scended to his middle. He generally went
to London once or twice a year to kiss the
king's hand, and the singularity of his ap-
pearance drew crowds of boys after him.
He is mentioned by Scott in his descrip-
tion of the defeat of the Covenanters in
Old Mortality.
DAM, DAMM; the end of many Ger-
man and Dutch geographical words, sig-
nifying a dam or sluice; as in Amsterdam,
the sluices of the Amstel.
DAMAGE-FEASANT. Beasts are said to
be damage-feasant, or doing damage, when
those of one person are found upon the
land of another without his permission and
without his fault; for if the owner of a
field or enclosure adjoining upon another
enclosure neglects to repair his fences, and
the beasts pass through, he cannot seize
them as damage-feasant. But if the beasts
break into a close from the highway,
where they were wrongfully left to run at
large, the owner of the close may take
them up, or distrain them as damage-
feasant, though the fence of the close on
the side next the highway was defective;
for the owner is not obliged to make a
fence against beasts where they cannot be
lawfully left at large. The owner of land
has a right to sue the owner of the beasts
in trespass for the damage done by them
to his crops, &c., but the law gives him
also the means of stopping the damage,
for he may distrain and impound the
beasts.
DAMASCENUS, John; John of Damas-
cus, afterwards called also John Chrysor-
rhoas; author of the first system of Chris-
tian theology in the Eastern church, or
the founder of scientific dogmatics. He
first endeavored to give a full system of
DAMASCENUS--DAMASKEENING.
dogmatics, founded on reason and the Bi-
ble, which had hitherto been elaborated in
the Greek church only in parts, as eccle-
siastical controversies arose. His explana-
tion of the orthodox faith, in four volumes,
enjoyed, in the Greek church, a great rep-
utation. He also wrote Dialectics, a sys-
tem of logic on the principles of Aristotle,
and prepared a collection of philosophical
passages, extracted from ancient works, in
alphabetical order, &c. The best edition
of his Greek works is that by P Mich.
Lequien (Paris, 1712, 2 vols., fol.). After
being in the service of a caliph, he became
a monk in the convent of Saba, near Je-
rusalem, and died about 760. He must
not be confounded with Nicholas of Da-
mascus.
DAMASCUS; a city of Syria, the capital
of the pachalic of the same name, situated
in a fertile plain amidst extensive gardens,
forming a circuit of between 25 and 30
miles. The streets are in general narrow,
of regular width, though not in straight
lines: they are well paved, and have ele-
vated footpaths on each side. Damascus
contains above 500 large and magnificent
houses, which are entitled to the name of
palaces: each house has a canal or foun-
tain. The mosques and chapels are also
numerous, and the grand mosque is of
great extent and magnificence. An hos-
pital for the indigent sick is attached to
the edifice. This mosque is said to have
been, originally, a Christian church, and the
cathedral of Damascus. The mosques are
mostly fronted by a court. One mosque
is beautifully adorned with all kinds of
fine marble, like mosaic pavement; and
the tower or minaret of another is entire-
y cased with pantiles. There are several
hospitals here, of which the finest is that
constructed by the sultan Selim, consisting
of a spacious quadrangle, lined by an in-
terior colonnade, which is entirely roofed
by 40 small domes, covered with lead.
On the south side of the court is a mosque,
with a magnificent portico and two fine
minarets, which is surmounted by a spa-
cious cupola. There is a Greek, Maron-
ite, Syrian and Armenian church. There
are eight synagogues of the Jews. The
The
castle, situated towards the south-west
part of the city, and about three quarters
of a mile in circuit, is a fine rustic edifice,
with three square towers in front, and five
on each side. This city is the seat of a
considerable trade. It was celebrated for
the manufacture of sabres, of such pecu-
liar quality as to be perfectly elastic and
very hard. Extensive manufactures are
carried on in silk and cotton stuffs. Leath-
107

er is likewise an article of manufacture
here, but no linen is made. A great
quantity of soap is fabricated, and export-
ed to Egypt. Dried fruits and sweet-
meats are sent to Turkey. Cotton cloths,
handkerchiefs, slippers, copper kettles,
horse-shoe nails, tobacco-pipes, and spice-
ries, shawls, and the rich fabrics of Surat,
are brought through Bagdad; iron, lead,
tin, cochineal, broadcloth, sugar, and such
other European articles as are required in
the city, come through Saida, Bairout and
Tripoli. Commerce is carried on chiefly
by caravans, of which the principal is that
in which the pilgrims annually proceed to
Mecca. Three caravans besides, each ac-
companied by above 2500 armed men, go
thrice a year to Bagdad, the journey oc-
cupying 30 days; those to Aleppo travel
twice or thrice a month; besides which,
there are many to different parts of Syria.
Damascus is a place of great antiquity
and is alluded to in the account of the time
of Abraham. The population amounts
according to Burckhardt, in his Travels
through Arabia, to 250,000, including ma.
ny Catholics and Jews; the remaining
inhabitants are Mohammedans. 136 miles
N. Jerusalem. Lon. 36° 30′ E.; lat. 38°
30' N.
DAMASK; an ingeniously manufactured
stuff, the ground of which is bright and
glossy, with vines, flowers, and figures
interwoven. At first, it was made only of
silk, but afterwards of linen and woollen,
as, for example, damask table-cloth. Ac-
cording to the opinion of some, this kind.
of weaving was derived from the Baby-
lonians; according to others, invented at a
later period, by the inhabitants of Damas-
cus, from which latter place it is thought
to have derived its name. The true
damasks are of a single color. If they
consist of variegated colors, they are
called ras de Sicile. The gauze damask
also belongs to the silk damask. In mod-
ern times, the Italians and Dutch first
made damask; and Europe was supplied,
as late as the 17th century, from Italy
alone, chiefly from Genoa. But the
French soon imitated it, and now surpass
the Italians.
the Italians. Damask is also brought
from India and China, which is very well
imitated by the English. At present,
damask is made in great quantities in
Germany, of three different kinds, Dutch,
French and Italian.
DAMASKEENING, or DAMASKING, the art
of inlaying iron or steel with other metals,
especially gold and silver, is of great an-
tiquity. It is principally used at present
for sword-blades. guards, gripes, cocks of
108
DAMASKEENING-DAMPIER. Ad

pistols, &c. Herodotus mentions a saucer
so ornamented: so also were the shields
of some of the forces of the Samnites
which fought against Rome. It was a
favorite manufacture with the ancients.
We know not at what time it so flourished
at Damascus as to have derived its name
from this city to have de
DAMIENS, Robert Francis; notorious for
his attempt to assassinate Louis XV; born
in 1715, in the village of Tieulloy, in the
former province of Artois; the son of a
poor farmer.
His vicious inclinations
early obtained him the name of Robert-le-
diable. He twice enlisted as a soldier,
and was afterwards a servant (cuistre) in
the college of the Jesuits at Paris, but, in
1738, left this service in order to marry.
He then served in different houses of the
capital, poisoned one of his masters, stole
240 louis-d'or from another, and saved
himself by flight. He then lived five
months at St. Omer, Dunkirk and Brus-
sels, and expressed himself in the most
violent manner concerning the dissensions
between the king and the parliament.
At Poperingue, a little village near Ypres,
he was heard to say, "If I return to
France, I shall die; but the first of the
land will die also, and you will hear of
me." His mind was disordered when he
returned to Paris, at the end of 1756. In
the beginning of the next year, he went
to Versailles, took opium for two or three
days, and prepared for the crime, which
he attempted January 5. As Louis XV
was on the point of getting into his car-
riage, to return from Versailles to Tria-
non, Damiens stabbed him, although he
was surrounded by his train, in the right
side, with a knife. The assassin was
seized. The most cruel tortures he bore
with resolution, and could not be induced
to confess that he had any accomplices.
He asserted that he should not have com-
mitted the act had he been bled, as he re-
quested, and that he thought it merito-
cious. He was condemned to be torn in
quarters by horses, and the sentence was
executed March 28, 1757, on the Place
de Grève at Paris.
moms
DAMIETTA, OF DAMIAT; a large city of
Lower Egypt, first built at the east mouth
of the Nile, and called Thamiatis, under
the government of the Lower Empire; 85
miles N. N. E. Cairo; lon. 31° 49' 45" E.;
lat. 31° 25 N. population, according to
Binos, 30,000; according to Savary, 80,000.
Damietta daily increased as Pelusium de-
clined. The chief disadvantage of Da-
mietta is the want of a harbor; yet it is
the emporium of commerce between
Egypt and Syria, situated on the Phat-
metic branch of the Nile. The city is
without walls, built in the form of a cres-
cent, on the winding bank of the river
six miles from the sea. It is larger and
not less agreeable than Rosetta, and has
several squares. Bazars filled with mer-
chandise, okals, or khans, under the por-
ticoes of which are Indian stuffs, silks
from mount Lebanon, sal ammoniac, and
quantities of rice, bespeak it a commer-
cial place. The houses, especially near
the river, are very high. Most of them
have pleasant saloons built on the terra-
ces; from which charming places, open
to every wind, there is a view of the
grand lake lying on the other side, and
of the Nile, which traverses a rich coun-
try between them both. Various grand
mosques, with high minarets, ornament
the city. The public baths, faced with
marble, are similar to those of Cairo.
Multitudes of boats and small vessels in-
cessantly fill the port of Damietta. Some,
named sherm, serve to load and unload
the ships that anchor in the road; others
are coasting pilot-boats. There is a great
trade between this city and Syria, Cyprus
and Turkey.
DAMON and PYTHIAS; two illustrious
Syracusans, celebrated as models of con-
stant friendship. Pythias had been un-
justly condemned to death by Dionysius,
tyrant of Sicily, but obtained permission
to arrange his affairs in a neighboring
place, on condition that his friend should
remain as a pledge of his return. Damon
surrendered himself at the prison, ready
to suffer death instead of Pythias, if he
did not return at a fixed time. Unex
pected impediments detained him. Da-
mon, still fully convinced of the faithful
ness of his friend, is already on the way
to the place of execution; already the
people begin to murmur, and to pity his
credulity, when Pythias suddenly rushes
through the crowd into the arms of his
friend. While they demand each to die
for the other, the spectators melt into
tears, and Dionysius himself approaches,
pardons them, and entreats them to admit
him a third in their friendship. Schiller
has described this adventure in an excel-
lent ballad (Die Bürgschaft), and it is the
subject of a popular English tragedy.
DAMPERS certain movable parts in
the internal frame of a piano-forte, which
are covered with cloth, and, by means of
a pedal, are brought into contact with the
wires, in order to deaden the vibration.
DAMPIER, William, a celebrated Eng
lish navigator, was born in 1652. He
DAMPIER-DAMPS.
was descended from a good family in
Somersetshire; but, losing his father when
young, he was sent to sea, and soon distin-
guished himself as an able mariner. In
1673, he served in the Dutch war, and was
subsequently an overseer to a plantation
in Jamaica. He next visited the bay
of Campeachy as a logwood-cutter, and,
after once more visiting England, engaged
in a band of privateers, as they called
themselves, although in reality pirates,
with whom he roved on the Peruvian
coasts. He next engaged, in Virginia, in
an expedition against the Spanish settle-
ments in the South seas. They accord-
ingly sailed in August, 1683, and, after
taking several prizes on the coasts of Pe-
ru and Chili, the party experienced va-
rious fortune, but no very signal success.
Dampier, wishing to obtain some knowl-
edge of the northern coast of Mexico,
joined the crew of a captain Swan, who
cruised in the hopes of meeting the an-
nual royal Manilla ship, which, however,
escaped them. Swan and Dampier were
resolved to steer for the East Indies, and
they accordingly sailed to the Piscadores,
to Bouton island, to New Holland and to
Nicobar, where Dampier and others were
left ashore to recover their health. Their
numbers gave them hopes of being able
to navigate a canoe to Achin, in which
they succeeded, after encountering a
storm, which Dampier has described with
great force and nature. After making
several trading voyages with a captain
Weldon, he entered, as a gunner, the
English factory at Bencoolen. Upon this
coast he remained until 1691, when he
found means to return home, and, being
in want of money, sold his property in
a curiously painted or tattooed Indian
prince, who was shown as a curiosity,
and who ultimately died of the small-
pox at Oxford. He is next heard of as a
commander, in the king's service, of a
sloop of war of 12 guns and 50 men,
probably fitted out for a voyage of dis-
covery. After experiencing a variety of
adventures with a discontented crew, this
vessel foundered off the Isle of Ascen-
sion, his men with difficulty reaching
land. They were released from this
island by an East India ship, in which
Dampier came to England. Here ends
his own account of his extraordinary ad-
ventures; but it seems that he afterwards
commanded a ship in the South seas, as
also that he accompanied the well-known
expedition of captain Woodes Rogers as
pilot. Dampier's Voyages, in three vol-
umes, have been many times reprinted.
10
VOL. IV.
109

They are written by himself in a strongly
descriptive style, bearing all the marks of
fidelity; and the nautical remarks display
much professional and even philosophical
knowledge. His observations on natural
objects are also extremely clear and par-
ticular; and he writes like a man of good
principles, although he kept so much in-
different company.
DAMPS are certain deleterious gases
which are extricated in mines. They are
distinguished by miners under the names
of choke-damp and fire-damp. The former
is found in the deepest parts of mines. It
extinguishes candles, and often proves
fatal when it has been suffered to accumu-
late in large quantities. It consists for the
most part of carbonic acid gas. The fire-
damp, which prevails almost exclusively
in coal mines, is a mixture of light car-
bureted hydrogen and atmospheric air,
which explodes with tremendous violence
whenever it comes in contact with flame.
The injuries which formerly occurred so
frequently, both to the machinery and the
lives of miners, arising from the fire-damp
are now almost completely obviated by
the fine invention of sir Humphrey Davy,
the safety-lamp. It consists of a cylin-
der of wire gauze, about four inches in
diameter and a foot in length, having a
double top, securely fastened by doubling
over to a brass rim, which screws on to
the lamp itself below. The whole of the
wire gauze is protected, and rendered con-
venient for carrying, by a triangular wire
frame and a ring at the top. The wire
gauze is made either of iron or copper,
the wire being at least one thirtieth of an
inch in diameter, and woven together so
as to leave 625 apertures in a square inch.
The body of the lamp is of riveted cop-
per, or of massy cast brass or cast iron,
the screws fitting so completely as to
leave no aperture into the body of the
lamp. When the lamp is lighted, it affords
the miner all the light which he requires,
and renders him perfectly secure, even
though entirely enveloped with the ex-
plosive mixture, which, with an ordinary
light, would immediately prove fatal. The
first effect of the fire-damp atmosphere is
to increase the length and size of the
flame. When the carbureted hydrogen
forms as much as one twelfth of the vol
ume of the air, the gauze cylinder be
comes filled with a feeble blue flame, but
the flame of the wick appears burning
brightly within the blue flame, and the
light of the wick augments until the in-
flammable gas increases to one sixth or one
fifth, when it is lost in the flame of the

110
DAMPS-DANCING.
fire-damp, which now fills the cylinder
with a pretty strong light. As long as
this explosive mixture of gas exists in
contact with the lamp, so long it will
give light; and when it is extinguished,
which happens when the foul air consti-
tutes as much as one third of the volume
of the atmosphere, the air is no longer
proper for respiration; for though animal
life will continue when flame is extin-
guished, yet it is always with suffering.
A coil of platinum wire being fixed above
the wick of the lamp, within the gauze
ylinder, the metal continues to glow
long after the lamp is extinguished, and
affords a sufficient light to enable the mi-
ner to make his escape. The effect of
the safety-lamp is supposed to depend on
the cooling agency of the wire gauze, ex-
erted on the portion of gas burning within
the cylinder. Hence a lamp may be se-
cure where there is no current of an ex-
plosive mixture to occasion its being
strongly heated, and yet not safe when
the current passes through it with great
rapidity. But any atmosphere, however
explosive, may be rendered harmless by
increasing the cooling surface, which may
be done either by diminishing the size
of the apertures, or by increasing their
depth, both of which are perfectly within
the power of the manufacturer of the
wire gauze.
DAN (perhaps from dominus, like the
Spanish don, and the Italian donna, from
domina); the old term of honor for men,
as we now say master. It is used by
Shakspeare, Prior, Spenser.
DAN (Hebrew; meaning judgment); one
of the 12 patriarchs, the 5th son of Jacob.
The Danites were one of the 12 tribes of
Israel.
DANAE; daughter of Acrisius, king of
Argos. She was shut up by her father in
a brazen tower, because an oracle had
declared that a son of his daughter should
put him to death. But Jupiter, inflamed
with passion for the charming virgin,
transformed himself into a golden shower,
and descended through the apertures of
the roof into her embraces. When Acri-
sius discovered that his daughter had be-
come a mother, he exposed her, with her
child, in a frail boat, to the violence of the
waves. But the sea-goddesses, anxious
for the preservation of the son of Jove,
commanded the billows to waft the skiff
safely to Seriphos, one of the Cyclades.
Polydectes, or rather Dictys, the governor
of the island, received her, and educated
he child, which he named Perseus. (q.v.)
DANAÏDES; the 50 daughters of Danaus,
who was a son of Belus, and, at first, lived
in Libya, with his brother Ægyptus, who
had 50 sons. In consequence of a quar-
rel with his brother, Danaus, with his
daughters, fled to Argos. The 50 sons of
Ægyptus followed him thither, expressed
a desire for a reconciliation, and asked
the daughters of Danaus in marriage. He
was obliged to consent to the proposal;
but, as he put no confidence in his neph-
ews, and had, moreover, been informed
by an oracle, that one of his sons-in-law
should slay him, he bound his daughters,
by a solemn oath, to murder their hus-
bands on their bridal night. They all
kept their promise except Hypermnestra,
who saved the life of her husband Lyn-
ceus. As a punishment for their crime,
the daughters of Danaus, in the infernal
world, were condemned perpetually to
draw water in sieves. Of this tradition
the ancients gave the following historical
explanation:-The daughters of Danaus
were said to have discovered fountains in
the dry country of Argolis, and constructed
cisterns there."
DANCING. The disposition to rhythm
and measured motion, is deeply implanted
in human nature. As soon as man, in a
rude state, wishes to express elevated feel-
ings, whatever be their cause-joy, devo-
tion, patriotism-he makes use of rhythm,
or measured language, and the dance, or
measured movements. This is the origin
of the symbolical dance, which, among all
nations, in the first stages of civilization,
is used as an expression of excited feeling.
The operation of the principle of imita-
tion, which led to the invention of the
drama, gave birth also to the imitative
dance-the pantomime. Dancing, in the
course of time, took the character of an
art. Grace became one of its chief ob-
jects, and it was much cultivated as an
elegant amusement in the intercourse of
society, and an elegant spectacle in public
entertainments. Its ancient character, how-
ever, of an expression of religious or patri-
otic feeling, gradually declined, as the prog-
ress of refinement and civilization produc-
ed its invariable effect of restraining the
full expression of the feelings and emotions.
This circumstance, added to the chas-
tened and didactic character of the Chris-
tian religion, probably prevented the dance
from being admitted among the rites of the
Christian religion; but it has always been
cultivated among Christians, as an agree-
able amusement and elegant exhibition
As an amusement of social assemblages,
the dance has sunk much below the charac-
ter of an art. The polite assemblies of the
DANCING-DANDOLO.
present day are too much crowded to
leave room for graceful dancing, and, in
England and the U. States, one kind of
dance, being kept up during a whole eve-
ning, of course tends to produce tedious-
ness. But national dances, as those of
the Bohemian, Polish, Hungarian, Italian,
Spanish peasantry, still retain the expres-
sion of joyous feeling, and often exhibit
much imitative power.
There is reason to suppose that the
dance had a place among the religious
rites of the Jews; to what extent, however,
is not known, and some persons deny the
fact altogether; but it appears pretty evi-
dent that this doubt is unfounded, and its
admission may be easily explained by the
origin which we have ascribed to dancing
in general. With the Greeks and Ro-
mans, regulated movements, quick or slow,
i. e., dancing, were introduced in most
religious celebrations. The Greeks, de-
veloping the element of the beautiful in
every branch of art, were also masters in
the religious dance. In the exhibitions of
the theatre, they united the dance with
many other performances, and the dances
of the ancients which commemorated the
adventures of Achilles, Alexander, the
loves of Venus and Mars, &c., are to be
understood as pantomimic performances,
the word saltare, with the Romans, hav-
ing a very extensive meaning, and doxos,
with the Greeks, including the mimic art
in general. From the Romans, the dance
was transmitted to the national theatre of
the Italians. As early as the 16th centu-
ry, several Italians (Rinaldo Corso, Fabric.
Caroso, &c.) wrote on dancing. They
and the French have cultivated the mod-
ern art of dancing to the degree of perfec-
tion in which we find it; so that the ballet
of the Parisian opera was long considered
the highest perfection of the art of danc-
ing, and, in some respects, still is. There
exist, at present, two different schools-
the Italian and French. That of the lat-
ter, who may be called, by way of emi-
nence, the graceful nation, is the more
perfect. Much is said against the modern
French ballet, and, no doubt, it sometimes
degenerates to a mere display of skill and
agility, at the expense of grace and beauty,
which ought always to remain the chief
object of dancing; yet we consider the
French ballet, as it exists at present, in a
very perfect state, and no country has
probably ever had a more finished theat-
rical dance, the foundation of which was
laid by Beauchamp, under Louis XIV.
This art owes still more to the famous
Noverre (q. v.), whose writings on this sub-
111

ject much surpass those of D'Arbeau and
Rameau. A general work on dancing,
treating the religious and secular dances
of the different nations, would be interest-
ing. As regards the European dances,
ancient and modern, and that of the Jews,
the following works are some of the best:
Bourdelot's Histoire de la Danse sacrée et
profane, ses Progrès et ses Révolutions de-
puis son Origine, &c. (Paris, 1724, 12mo.),
and Cahusac's Traité de la Danse anc. et
moderne (Paris, 1753, 3 vols., 12mo.). For
the dances of the Greeks and Romans, see
also Potter's Archæologia Græca; Zeltner
De Choreis vet. Judæorum Diss. (Altorf,
1726, 4to.), and Renz's work, De Religio-
sis Saltationibus vet. Judæorum (Leipsic,
1738, 4to.); Memoires sur les Danses Chi-
noises, in the Variétés littéraires (vol. 1 and
2); Lafiteau's Mours des Sauvages (vol. 1).
Since Noverre, few good treatises have
been written, giving instructions on the art
of dancing. We mention only the Essai
sur la Danse antique et moderne (Paris,
1823, by mad. Elise Voiart), and Baron's
Entretiens sur la Danse ancienne, moderne,
religieuse, civile et théatrale (Paris, 1825).
The only Christian sect, that has admitted
dancing among its religious ceremonies,
are the Shakers, so called.
DANCOURT, Florent Carton; a French
actor and comic poet; born in 1661, at
Fontainebleau, of a respectable family.
At the age of 23, he became enamored of
an actress, and left every other employ-
ment for the stage. Although he person-
ated the first characters in high comedy,
he succeeded best, as an author, in low
comedy. He displayed much ingenuity
and wit in introducing upon the stage
amusing subjects of real occurrence in his
time. Louis XIV was very fond of hu-
morous pieces, and Dancourt often used
to read his productions to the king before
they were played. He left the theatre in
1718, and died in 1726. A good edition
of his complete works appeared in 12
volumes, 12mo., 1760.
DANDELION. (See Leontodon.)
DANDOLO, Henry, one of the most il-
lustrious of the doges of Venice, was
chosen to that office, in 1192, at the ad-
vanced age of 84. He had a defect of
sight, approaching nearly to blindness,
but neither that circumstance nor his age
impaired the vigor of his administration,
the events of his government being among
the principal causes of the Venetian great-
ness. On the formation of the league for
the fourth crusade, under Baldwin, ear
of Flanders, Dandolo induced the senate
to join in it, and by his policy the first hos
112
DANDOLO-DANIEL.

tilities of the armament were directed
against Zara, which had revolted from
Venice. On the storming of Constantino-
ple, the aged doge, standing on the prow
of his galley, with the great standard of
St. Mark borne before him, commanded
his men to run up to the walls, and was
the first who leaped on shore. After va-
rious changes in the imperial throne, suc-
ceeded by a second siege, in which Con-
stantinople was stormed and pillaged by
the crusaders, the latter proceeded to the
election of an emperor, and Dandolo was
first nominated, although, in consequence
of his age, and the incompatible character
of doge, the choice ultimately fell on
Baldwin. In the sharing of the imperial
dominions, Venice obtained a full moiety,
and Dandolo was solemnly invested with
the title of despot of Romania. He ended
his eventful life at Constantinople, in 1205
(if the records are to be trusted), at the
advanced age of 97.
DANIEL, the prophet, a contemporary
of Ezekiel, was born of a distinguished
Hebrew family. In his youth, B. C. 600,
he was carried captive to Babylon, and
educated in the Babylonish court, for the
service of king Nebuchadnezzar. After
three years, he entered into the service of
this monarch, and discharged his employ-
ments with much credit to himself, and
without violating his conscience. A de
cree of the king, which he could not con-
scientiously obey, occasioned his being
thrown into the lions' den. Preserved by
a miraculous Providence, he lived after-
wards in happiness and honor. He was
elevated to the office of governor and
prime-minister in the court of the Persian
king Darius. Cyrus finally gave him per-
mission to return, with his people, to Pal-
estine. Daniel was a man of high mental
cultivation and strict virtue. Being well
acquainted with the government and con-
oraldition of all the great kingdoms then known
in the world, and particularly favored by
the Deity, he could foresee coming events
with the greatest accuracy, and, for this
reason, deservedly received the name of
Nabi (prophet), although most of the Jews
exclude him from the number of the
prophets. His prophecy has come down
to posterity, and is included in the He-
brew canon. Probably only the second
part of it is by him. It is wholly symbol-
ical, full of dreams and visions. The
hand-writing on the wall of Belshazzar's
palace was interpreted by Daniel.
DANDOLO, Andrew, doge of Venice, and
one of the earliest Italian historians, was
born about 1310, and made doge in 1343.
He carried on a war against the Turks with
various success, and greatly extended Vene-
tian commerce, by opening a trading con-
nexion with Egypt. The jealousy enter-
tained by the Genoese of this new trade
produced a war between the two states,
which gave rise to a correspondence be-
tween the doge and Petrarch, who exhorted
him to peace. He died in September, 1354.
To Andrew Dandolo is ascribed the compi-
lation of the sixth book of Venetian stat-
utes; but he is most distinguished for his
Chronicle of Venice, which is written in
Latin, and comprehends the history of the
republic from its commencement to 1342.
It is praised for its impartiality, and for its
judicious use of authentic documents, and
was first published by Muratori in his col-
lection of original Italian writers of history.
DANEGELT (from the Saxon gelt, mon-
ey), an ancient annual tax of the Anglo-
Saxons, to maintain forces to resist the
Danes.
DANFORTH'S SPEEDER, in cotton ma-
chinery; a roving frame, in which the
bobbins are not turned by the rotation of
their axis, but by friction applied to their
surface by small wooden cylinders, which
revolve in contact with them. By this
contrivance, the velocity of the surface of
the bobbin will always be the same, what-
ever may be its growth from the accumu-
ation of roving, so that the winding goes
on at an equable rate. The speeder re-
ceived its name from Mr. Danforth, of
Massachusetts, the inventor.
DANIEL, Gabriel; one of the French
historians, born at Rouen, in 1649. At the
age of 18, he entered the Jesuits' college,
instructed in several places with much suc-
cess, and died in 1728. "He sought," as
the German Bouterwek says of him, "in
his history of his own country, which has
earned him his reputation" (Histoire de
France, of which many editions have ap-
peared since 1713, particularly that of
Paris, 1755-1757, in 17 vols., 4to.; also
numerous abridgments, and a German
translation, Nuremberg, 1756-65, 16 vols.,
4to.), "to connect the flattery of the court,
the nobility and the clergy with the duties
of a historian." We often feel the want of
profound research and historical fidelity in
his work. He seems to have been destitute
of the art of historical description. His
thoughts on the proper mode of writing
history, he has given to the world in
the somewhat tedious introduction to his
prolix narrative. His Histoire de la Milice
Française is still known: less so is his Re-
cueil des Ouvrages Philosophiques, Théo
logiques, Apologétiques, &c. (1724, 4to.)
DANIEL-DANNECKER.
which contains his Voyage du Monde de
Descartes (first published separately, and
translated into English and Italian) a
caustic satire on the opinions of this phi-
losopher.
DANIEL, Samuel, an English historian
and poet, contemporary with Shakspeare,
was born 1562. He had an appointment
at the court of queen Elizabeth, and
also of Anne (wife of James I); but he
commonly lived in the country, employed
in literary pursuits. As a historical poet,
he seems to have taken Lucan for his
pattern. He employed his brilliant tal-
ents in writing an epic on the most re-
markable occurrences in the history of his
country. He bestowed much labor on
the poem which describes, in eight books,
the civil wars between the houses of York
and Lancaster (History of the Civil Wars
between the Houses of York and Lancas-
ter, reprinted with the Rest of the poetical
Works of this Author, and some Account
of his Life, in Anderson's British Poets, vol.
4). The poetical value of this work, as
of Lucan's, consists in a beautiful style.
Daniel contributed much to the improve-
ment of the poetical diction of Eng-
land. His stanzas, formed with a careful
attention to the Italian octave, have more
dignity and euphony than most verses of this
sort in English literature, in the first half of
the 17th century. He is not wanting in rhe-
torical beauty and force. He was also the
author of some poetical epistles, pastorals,
57 sonnets, and a few tragedies. The
first seem to have excited much attention.
During the reign of queen Elizabeth, he
wrote a sketch of the history of England,
till the time of Edward III-a work learn-
ed and clear, without ostentation, and con-
taining useful and acute views. Daniel
died in 1619.
DANISH LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND
ART. (See Denmark.)
DANISHMEND; a Turkish ecclesiastic of
low rank; also a talisman.
DANNECKER, John Henry von; pro-
fessor of sculpture at Stuttgard; one of the
most eminent of modern sculptors. He
was born at Stuttgard, Oct. 15, 1758, of
poor parents: his father was a groom of
he duke of Wirtemberg, and the son
grew up without any other education than
the condition of his parents would allow.
He early exhibited a strong inclination for
drawing, which he secretly indulged, and,
being destitute of paper, covered the ma-
terials of a neighboring stone-cutter with
his designs. Providence, however, unex-
pectedly afforded this remarkable genius
an opportunity for rising from obscurity.
13

On Easter-day, 1771, Dannecker's father
came home, and mentioned that the duke
would receive the children of his, servants
into his military school, and added, angri-
ly, that he had cast his eyes on the boy.
The child declared that he would go to
the duke that very day; and, to prevent
him, his father shut him up in a closet.
Having collected the boys in the street
before the apartment in which he was
confined, he jumped out of the window,
and, without hesitation, went with them
straightway to the castle, where the Eier-
lesen-a national feast of the people-had
assembled the court. They addressed
themselves to the servants with this re-
quest-"We should like to be received into
the Charles's school." The duke was in-
formed of their petition, and came imme-
diately forth to examine the little band.
He looked at them keenly, and, at length,
took one after the other from the crowd,
and placed him to the right of himself;
finally, there remained only Dannecker
with two others on the left. The poor
boys believed themselves rejected, and
Dannecker would willingly have sunk
into the earth. But these three were, in
fact, the selected ones, and the others
were dismissed. After an examination of
his talents, young Dannecker was des-
tined to be an artist. In his 16th year, he
obtained a prize for his Milo of Crotona.
The composition of this Milo would not
disgrace his ripened ability. In this acad-
emy, Dannecker formed an intimate friend-
ship with Schiller, then one of the most
distinguished scholars at that place, and
to whom, in later days, he erected a mon-
ument. He left the academy at the same
time with him in 1780, and was appointed
statuary to the court, by the duke, with a
yearly salary of 300 florins. Three years
afterwards, he obtained permission to
travel to Paris, yet without any further
assistance than an increase of 100 florins to
his salary during his second year in Paris.
With this small provision, Dannecker, in
1783, travelled on foot to Paris. Love for
his art enabled the young man to bear with
content the severest privations, and the
contemplation of splendid works of genius
often caused him to forget his hunger.
Dannecker found here, in the celebrated
and honest Pajou, a valuable master. In
1785, he left Paris, and proceeded on foot
to Rome. Here he became acquainted
with Canova (born in 1757), who, at that
time, was beginning to obtain distinc
tion, and was employed on Ganganel-
li's monument. Canova soon conceived
an affection for the German artist, was
10*

114
DANNECKER-DANTE.
serviceable to him in his studies, visited
nim often in his labors, and improved
him by his remarks. Dannecker com-
menced his labors in marble at Rome,
where he made a Ceres and a Bacchus.
These statues procured his admission into
the academies of Bologna and Milan. He
returned to his country in 1790, after an
abode of five years in Rome, and duke
Charles made him professor of the fine
arts in his academy. The first work
which he completed for the patron of his
youth, was a maiden mourning over a
bird. He now labored principally upon
sketches and designs for the duke. In
1796, he began again to work in marble,
and, among other things, produced a Sap-
pho (now in Monrepos); in 1797, two
priestesses of plaster (at present in the Fa-
vorite, at Louisberg); and many studies.
The elector Frederic II (afterwards king)
now employed him upon a greater work
Weeping Friendship leaning upon a Cof-
fin-for the monument of his noble friend,
the count Zeppelin. This he finished in
marble, in 1804, and it was long the object
of admiration, in the mausoleum of the
count, in the park at Louisberg. While
he was modelling this figure, the idea of
his Ariadne suggested itself to his mind.
He had, in 1797, executed a bust after
nature, and as large as life, of his friend
Schiller, during his residence in Stuttgard.
He now prepared a second, of colossal
size, of Carrara marble-an offering of love
and grief to his deceased friend. This bust
adorns the artist's study, and only casts in
plaster have been given to the world, of
which one adorns the library of the univer-
sity of Göttingen. After many other works,
he at length began, in marble, in 1809,
his Ariadne riding upon a panther, as the
bride of Bacchus; and, in 1816, this was
sent to Mr. de Bethmann, at Frankfort.
It is one of the most beautiful works of
modern times. In 1812, the artist was
again employed by king Frederic upon a
new work. This was a Cupid, the design
of which was furnished by the monarch.
The head of the little god was to be in-
clined towards the earth, in a meditating
embarrassment, with an empty quiver and
an unstrung bow. But the artist threw
into the piece a more ideal character.
Under his chisel, it became a heavenly
Cupid, represented at the moment when
Psyche has let fall the heated oil upon
his shoulder. General Murray, an Eng-
lishman, saw this exquisite specimen of
sculpture, finished in marble, in 1814, and
Wished it to be repeated for himself. In-
stead of complying with this wish, Dan-
necker offered to complete for him a pen-
dant, and executed his Psyche, a pure
being, intended to represent heavenly in-
nocence. But the favorite subject of the
artist, which for 8 years occupied his
thoughts, is his Christ, for the idea of
which he is indebted to an inspiring dream.
This colossal statue was finished in 1824,
and sent to St. Petersburg, to the empress-
mother of Russia, who made a present of
it to the emperor Alexander. Dannecker
wished, in this piece of art, to represent
the Mediator between God and man. He
was afterwards employed, in 1825, upon a
statue of the evangelist John, seven feet in
height, for the royal chapel at Rothen-
berg. Dannecker labors, unweariedly,
from morning to evening, with the activity
of youth. The openness and simplicity
of his character have gained him the love
of all who know him, and his life has
been so undisturbed, that Canova sur-
named him il beato.
DANTE (properly, Durante Alighieri),
one of the most distinguished men of
whom history makes mention, was born
in Florence, in 1265. Of the first years of
this greatest and earliest of the modern
poets of Italy, we know little more than
that (as he himself tells us, in his Inferno,
xv, 8th) he was a scholar of Brunetto La-
tini, a Florentine, distinguished as a poet,
a scholar, and a politician. His very early
love for Beatrice Portinari (who died in
1290) aroused his spirit, and afforded im-
ages and figures to his poetical mind, as long
as it created. He studied philosophy at
Florence, Bologna and Padua, and after-
wards theology at Paris. He was also
familiar with Latin literature, and wrote
the language well for that time. While
he cultivated his mind, he, at the same
time, served his country as a soldier and
a statesman. In 1289, he fought in the
memorable battle at Campaldino against
the Ghibelines of Arezzo, and, in 1290,
at Caprona, against the Pisans. He went
on several embassies from the Florentine
republic to Rome, and to the courts of
different sovereigns. In 1291, he married
Gemma, the daughter of Manetto Donati,
by whom he had several children. This
marriage was not happy, and a separation
finally ensued. In 1300, Dante was, unfor-
tunately for himself, made one of the pri-
ors, or superior magistrates, of his native
city. Florence was, at that time, divided
between two parties-the Bianchi and
Neri (the White and Black). The former,
being the weaker, sought assistance from
pope Boniface VIII; and the pope deter-
mined to send Charles of Valois, brother
DANTE.
of Philip IV of France, who was at that
time in Rome, to quiet the troubles in
Florence. Dante, as prior of the city, re-
sisted this interference, apprehending dan
gerous consequences to the state, and was
therefore banished, in 1302, together with
the leaders of the Bianchi, and his prop-
erty confiscated, because he was unable
to pay a fine of 8000 lire, which was im-
posed upon him. His life was now an
almost uninterrupted series of misfortunes.
He and his companions in adversity, ac-
cording to some writers, joined the party
of the Ghibelines, or adherents of the
emperor, through whose assistance alone
they could hope to return to their country.
The proofs of this are found in numerous
passages in his poems, which contain the
bitterest invectives against Boniface, the
head of the church, whom he places in
hell. Dante then lived some time in Arez-
zo; but, the attempt of the Bianchi, in
1304, to force their way back to Florence,
having failed, he left Tuscany, and took
refuge in Verona, with Alboin della Scala,
who had gained among his contempora-
ries the name of the Great, from the sup-
port which talent and merit always found
in him. But Dante, constantly in a state
of inquietude, and in expectation of his
recall, could not, as Petrarch relates, con-
ceal his dejection and bitterness from his
benefactors; and this seems to be the rea-
son why he nowhere found a permanent
residence. He speaks in a very touching
manner, in his Inferno, of the pain of hav-
ing to "ascend the stairs of other men,"
as he describes his state of dependence.
On this account, several cities could pre-
tend to the honor of having had the Divi-
na Commedia composed within their walls.
Besides visiting many places of Italy, Dante
likewise went to Paris. He endeavored,
at length, to effect his restoration to Flor-
ence, by means of the emperor Henry
VII, then in Italy, on which occasion, he
wrote a work on monarchy, De Monarchia,
about the year 1309 (Basil, 1559; also con-
tained in 4 vols., in the Venetian edition
of his works); but this hope was disap-
pointed. During the last years of his life,
he resided at Ravenna, with Guido Novel-
lo da Polenta, the lord of that city, who,
as a friend of the muses, willingly afforded
him protection. His death took place in
this city, Sept. 14, 1321, and he was buried
in the church of the Minorites, where, in
1483, a Venetian nobleman, Bernardo
Bembo, father of the celebrated cardinal
of that name, erected a splendid monu-
ment to his memory. The Florentines,
who had banished and persecuted their
115

great countryman, now, like the Athenians
after the execution of Socrates, endeavored
to expiate their injustice, by paying that
honor to his memory which they had de-
nied to him during his life. They caused
his portrait, painted by Giotto, to be hung
up in a public place in the city, demand-
ed, although in vain, his remains from the
inhabitants of Ravenna, and appointed
distinguished scholars to lecture on his
poem. Boccaccio, in his Vita di Dante,
describes him as a man of firm, but yet
gentle and engaging character, altogether
different from the account of Giovanni
Villani. His face, of which many por-
traits exist, is characterized by the sharp-
ness and extenuation of the features, and
the stern melancholy of the expression.
Of the six children whom Dante left,
his two eldest sons, Pietro and Jacopo,
made themselves known as scholars, and,
among other works, wrote a commentary
upon the poem of their father, which has
not, however, been published. This great
poem, since the year 1472, has passed
through nearly 60 editions, and has had a
greater number of commentators than any
other work since the revival of letters.
Early in the 17th century, an edition was
projected, in a hundred volumes, by Cio-
nacci, a Florentine noble, wherein he pur-
posed, by appropriating a volume to each
canto, to comprise, in chronological cr-
der, all the commentaries then existing,
together with a Latin translation in the
Strozzi library. Since that period, new
editions have repeatedly made their ap-
pearance. The last is that of Gabriele
Rosetti, to be completed in six volumes,
two of which (London, 1826, comprising
L'Inferno) are published. In many re-
spects, this last must be considered a sin-
gular commentary. The greatness of
Dante is very often measured by the im-
mense variety of commentators on his
work, and their declaration that they be-
lieve Dante yet imperfectly understood.
We do not think so, nor conceive that
the passages which are most unintelligible
shed the greatest lustre on the author. A
passage which has been differently under-
stood by every interpreter for centuries,
and allows every one to assign a new
meaning to it, naturally induces a doubt
whether the writer himself attached to it
any clear idea, or whether the idea was
not so distorted as not to admit of being
traced. Should we consider the Sibylline
books as containing profound treasures of
wisdom, because their obscure prophecies
admitted of any interpretation? or the Ko
ran, because it has had thousands of com
116
DANTE.

mentators? or do we think that law in a
çode the wisest, about the meaning of
which there has been most dispute? The
poem of Dante, like so many productions
of antiquity, is, on the whole, a grand ex-
hibition of genius; and, therefore, commen-
tators have felt themselves obliged to seek
perseveringly for a meaning to every pas-
sage; and a commentary, once made, was
a fruitful source of more, by stimulating
men's vanity to discover new interpreta-
tions, the human mind, as we all know,
being often much more busily employed
in displaying its ingenuity than in sin-
cerely seeking for truth. Dante describes,
in his Hell, the sufferings of the damned
with an inexhaustible ingenuity and a tru
ly poetical penetration into human life and
character. In the Purgatory, he portrays
the state of souls between heaven and hell,
and in his Heaven, the state of the happy.
The poem, like every great poetic produc-
tion, bears a decisive stamp of the most
characteristic features of the time when it
was composed. It is essentially allegori-
cal: it displays an ardent love for the learn-
ing of the ancients, and treats the Romans
as forefathers, with whom the Italians of
the author's age were in views and senti-
ments still intimately connected. Hence
arises the frequent reference to the ancient
mythology, and the constant blending of
it with the sacred writings. Why he
chose Virgil as his guide through hell and
purgatory, is easy to explain. It was be-
cause he was a Roman, and the greatest
epic poet then known (Homer being com-
paratively little read, and it being not then
understood how much Virgil copied from
Homer), and because Virgil manifests a
constant reverence for the emperor-an
important point in Dante's view, who, as
an inveterate Ghibeline, wished all power
and splendor to centre in the emperor, and
hated the Guelphs and the pope. Not a
single pope or cardinal has been admitted
into his heaven, whilst hosts of them are
to be found in the hell. Virtue and vice
are the basis upon which reward and pun-
ishment are distributed in the poem; but
the standard by which Dante measures
these, the forms in which he clothes them,
the images under which the poet repre-
sents his abstract ideas, are taken from the
character of his time, or his personal char-
acter and theological views. Dante show-
ed immense power in the composition of
an epic on an entirely imaginary subject,
and filled with learning, which yet keeps
the interest of the reader awake through-
out. Other great epics are founded on
tales or historical facts, preserved in the
es
memory of the poet's countrymen; but,
with him, the whole was fiction, at least
every thing beyond the common dogma
of hell, purgatory and heaven. At the
same time, it cannot be denied, that his
learning sometimes, though seldom, ren-
ders him unpoetical; for instance, when
he gives long astronomical descriptions.
It has often been said, and often denied,
that, in his Heaven, the interest diminishes.
We must assent to the first opinion, which
is founded, indeed, on human nature; for
evil and suffering are far more exciting,
and, on this account, more interesting than
tranquil happiness. Does not every com-
edy close as soon as the couple are united,
and the tragedy, when the wicked are
punished?-The name Commedia is deriv-
ed from Dante's idea concerning the forms
of eloquence, which were, in his opinion,
tragic, comic and elegiac, as he relates in
his work De vulgari Eloquentia, which
was probably first written in Latin. What
he called tragedy was a piece commencing
with happy and peaceful scenes, and end-
ing with events of a painful and terrible
character; and what he called comedy was
a piece which, beginning unpleasantly,
terminated happily. The qualifying word
divina was, however, added by others.
but, in the oldest editions, the poet himself
was called by the appellations of Il Divino
and Il Teologo. The poem of Dante has
been considered, by some persons, but, in
our opinion, unworthily, to have taken its
rise from the author's circumstances. We
may also mention the opinion maintained
in 1753, by Bottari, that Dante made use
of the Vision of Alberico, a monk who
lived in the first part of the 12th century,
in a monastery on Monte Cassino, in
Naples. There have been many such
visions, from the earliest ages of Chris-
tianity; as, for instance, the vision of an
English monk, which Matthew Paris men-
tions, in his history of England (in the year
1196), and which resembled Dante's poem
much more than the vision of Alberico, pub-
lished by Cancellieri, in 1814, at Rome,
with observations (Osservazioni intorno alla
Questione sopra la Originalità della Divina
Commedia di Dante); and, moreover, the
vision of a gentleman named Tundall, in
Ireland, which also falls in the first part of
the 12th century. It is, therefore, very pos-
sible that Dante here and there may have.
borrowed a thought or image from those
visions; but this is no fault: the recollec-
tions of great men are sparks which serve
to kindle mighty flames.-There is no poet
who bears so distinctly the impress of his
age, and yet rises so high above it, as
DANTE-DANTON.
Dante. The Italians justly regard him as
the creator of their poetical language, and
the father of their poetry, which, regulated
and controlled by his genius, at once as-
sumed a purer and far nobler form than it
had previously worn. The terzina first
reached its perfection in the time of Dante,
on which account he has been erroneous-
ly regarded as the inventor of it.-The best
editions of the Divina Commedia are those
of Lombardi (Rome, 1791, 3 vols., 4to.),
and the edition of Milan (in 1804, in 3
vols.). Of the former, a second and much
improved edition appeared in 1815-17,
at Rome, published by Romano de' Ro-
mani, in which the Vision of Alberico is
also contained. In 1821, Luigi Fantoni
published an edition of the Divina Comme-
dia, stated to have been printed from a
manuscript in the hand-writing of Boccac-
cio. An Italian professor at Paris, Biagio-
li, also published an edition of this poem,
from the text of the Crusca edition, in
1818, together with a good commentary,
in 3 volumes. Dante's complete works
appeared in Venice in 1757-58, published
by Zatta (in 5 vols., 4to.). His lyric po-
ems, sonnets and canzonets, of which
some are beautiful, others dull and heavy,
were written at different periods of his
life. We have yet to mention his Banquet
(Il Convito)-a prose work, worthy, says
Bouterwek, to stand by the side of the
best works of antiquity. It contains the
substance of all his knowledge and expe-
rience, and thus illustrates his poetry and
his life. The marquis Trivulzio edited a
new edition of it, in 1826, in Milan. A
work containing much valuable matter to
elucidate Dante is Del Veltro Allegorico di
Dante (Florence, 1826, 8vo., with an inter-
esting appendix), extracted from a very
old Codex Mediceus, belonging, at present,
to the Biblioteca Laurenziana, marked No.
viii, bench xxix. Among the best modern
commentaries on Dante are the treatises
of doctor Witte in the Hermes, and also in
the Silesian Provinzial-Blattern, in 1825.
There is a good English translation of the
Divina Commedia, by Mr. Carey (London,
1819, 3 vols., Svo.).-In one respect, Dante
stands unrivalled by any man, as he, we
might almost say, created the language,
which he elevated at once to its highest
perfection. Before him, very little was
written in Italian, Latin being the literary
language; but no one attempted to use the
lingua volgare for the purposes of dignified
composition. The poet, indeed, thought
it necessary to excuse himself for having
written in Italian, after having attempted
to compose his poem in Latin. Thus he
117

is to be regarded as the founder of Italian
literature. One of the strangest produc-
tions of Dante is his De Monarchia, already
mentioned. He labors, in this work, to
prove that the emperor ought to have
universal authority, and draws his argu-
ments from the Sacred Scriptures and from
profane writers, which, in this book, appear
very often with equal authority. The
dialectics of the schoolmen are here ex
hibited in a most characteristic way. The
De Monarchia is valuable as a source of
information respecting the great struggle
of the Guelphs and Ghibelines, and its
influence upon the Christian world at that
time. This struggle was a part of the
great convulsion attending the separation
of the civil power from the ecclesiastical,
with which, in the earliest ages, it is al-
ways united. On the whole, Dante's
works are important chiefly in three re-
spects-as the productions of one of the
greatest men that ever lived, as one of the
keys to the history of his time, and as ex-
hibiting the state of learning, theology and
politics in that age. To understand Dante,
it is necessary to be acquainted with the
history and spirit of his time, particularly
with the struggle of the Guelphs and Ghi-
belines, the state of the north of Italy, and
the excitement caused by the beginning of
the study of the ancients; also to have stud-
ied the Catholic theology and the history
of the court of Rome, and to keep always
in mind that Dante was an exile, deprived!
of home and happiness. The Germans,
at present, pay much attention to Dante.
They have some excellent translations, by
Kannegiesser and Streckfuss, and valuable
works on the poet by Abeken, in Berlin,
and others. Mr. Uhde, a few years ago,
delivered lectures on Dante in the univer-
sity of Berlin, which showed great study
of the poet and his time.
Pietro Vincenzio, of the family of Rai-
naldi, was surnamed Dante, because he
endeavored to imitate this great poet. He
and his whole family were celebrated for
their knowledge of mathematical science.
Giovanni Battista Dante, of Perugia,
probably belonging to the same family, is
well known by the surname of Daedalus,
which he obtained on account of his me-
chanical ingenuity. In the 15th century,
he made an attempt to fly. and is said to
have succeeded in passing the lake of
Perugia.
DANTON, George James, an advocate
by profession, was born at Árcis-sur-Aube
Oct. 26, 1759, and beheaded April 5,
1794. He played a very important part
during the first years of the French revo-
118
DANTON-DANTZIC.

lution. of which he was an active and
zealous promoter. His external appear-
ance was striking; his stature was colos-
sal; his frame athletic; his features harsh,
large and disagreeable; his voice shook
the dome of the chamber of the assembly;
his eloquence was vehement; and his
imagination was as gigantic as his person,
which made every one recoil, and "at
which," says St. Just, "Freedom herself
trembled." These qualities contributed
to extend his influence, and he became
one of the founders of the club of the
Cordeliers. (q. v.) After the imprison-
ment of Louis at Varennes, he took the
lead in the meeting of the Champ-de-Mars,
which demanded the dethronement of the
king. In November, he was appointed
assistant to the procurator of the com-
mune of Paris. His importance in the
capital increased in 1792, where he be-
came one of the instigators of the events
of June 20th, and a leader on the 10th of
August. After the fall of Louis XVI,
Danton was a member of the provisional
executive council, was made minister of
justice, and usurped the appointment of
officers in the army and departments. He
thus raised up a great number of creatures
entirely devoted to his views. Money
flowed from all sides into the hands of
the minister, and was as profusely squan-
dered on his tools and partisans. His
violent measures led to the bloody scenes
of September. He endeavored, by the
terrors of proscription, to annihilate all
hope of resistance on the part of the roy-
alists. The invasion of Champagne by
the Prussians, Sept. 3d, spread consterna-
tion through the capital, and among the
members of the government. The minis-
ters, the most distinguished deputies, and
even Robespierre himself, who was, at
that time, in fear of Brissot, now assem-
bled around Danton, who alone preserved
his courage. He assumed the adminis-
tration of the state, and prepared measures
of defence: he called on all Frenchmen,
capable of bearing arms, to march against
the enemy, and prevented the removal
of the assembly beyond the Loire. Dan-
ton showed, on this occasion, undaunted
courage. From this time forward, he was
hated by Robespierre, who could never
pardon the superiority which Danton had
shown on that occasion. Being called on
to render an account of the secret ex-
penditures during his ministry, Danton
maintained that the ministers should give
in their reports collectively; and this view
was adopted. He voted for the capital
punishment of all returning emigrants,
and undertook the defence of religious
worship. The contest between the Gi-
rondists and the Mountain daily assumed
a more serious aspect, and Danton ap-
peared to fear the consequences of these
dissensions. The 26th of November, on
the occasion of the festival of reason, in
which the adherents of Hébert acted a
conspicuous part, he declared himself
anew against the attack on the ministers
of religion, and subsequently united with
Robespierre to bring Hébert and his parti-
sans to the scaffold. But their connexion
was not of long duration, and the secret
hate which had long existed between
them soon became public. Danton wished
to overthrow the despotism of Robespierre,
and the crafty Robespierre endeavored to
undermine him, in order to get rid of a
dangerous rival. St. Just denounced him
to the committee of safety, and Danton
was arrested on the night of March 31,
together with those who were called his
accomplices. Being thrown into prison
in the Luxembourg, he maintained the
appearance of serenity. When he was
transferred into the Conciergerie, his coun-
tenance became dark, and he appeared
mortified at having been the dupe of
Robespierre. All his discourses were a
strange mixture of sorrow and pride. At
his trial, he answered, with perfect compo-
sure, "I am Danton, sufficiently known
in the revolution; I shall soon pass to
nothingness, but my name will live in the
Pantheon of history." April 5, the rev-
olutionary tribunal condemned him to
death, as an accomplice in a conspiracy
for the restoration of monarchy, and con-
fiscated his large property. He mounted
the fatal car with courage, and without
resistance; his head was elevated; his
look commanding and full of pride. Be-
fore ascending the scaffold, he was, for a
moment, softened: "O my wife, my dear
wife, shall I never see you again?" he
exclaimed; but checked himself hastily,
and, calling out, "Danton, no weakness,'
ascended the scaffold.-Danton was one
of the most remarkable characters of the
French revolution-a strange mixture of
magnanimity, ability and courage, with
cruelty, avarice and weakness. He was
35 years old at the time of his death.
DANTZIC (Danzig); a commercial city
and fortress on the west bank of the Vis-
tula, about five miles from the Baltic, in the
government of the same name, in the
Prussian province of West Prussia, and
300 miles from Berlin. It has a very
agreeable situation, in the midst of a beau-
tiful country. Exclusive of the suburbs,
DANTZIC.
it is about 2 miles in circuit, and is nei-
ther regularly nor handsomely built. In-
cluding the suburbs, it contains 5172
houses, and 54,756 inhabitants, of whom
2148 are Jews. Its fine harbor and ad-
vantageous situation have procured it an
extensive commerce by land and sea. It
was an important member of the Hanse-
atic league, and was often called the
granary of the North. As early as the 10th
century, it was called Gedance (Gedansk).
For a long period, it continued to change
masters, with the territory in which it
lies. The Danes, Swedes, Pomeranians
and Teutonic knights contended for its
possession. In 1310, it fell into the hands
of the last. The industry of the inhab-
itants soon restored its importance and
prosperity, which had been diminished
the frequent wars, and inspired the
citizens with such energy, that, in 1454,
Dantzic declared itself independent, and
was soon after recognised as such by the
republic of Poland. The city then struck
its own coins, with the image of the king
of Poland, maintained a secretary at War-
saw, and voted in the diets of the king-
'om, and at the election of king, by a
deputy. In 1772, the city was almost
surrounded by the Prussian dominions;
its trade, industry and population continu-
ally declined, and the last king of Poland
declared that he must leave Dantzic to its
fate. May 28, 1793, the Prussians took
possession of the outworks: the people
immediately flew to arms, and a short
struggle ensued, which, after a few days,
terminated with the surrender of the city.
It soon after regained its former prosperity
under the Prussian government, and con-
tinued to flourish till the breaking out of the
war between France and Prussia. March
7, 1807, Dantzic was besieged by marshal
Lefèvre, and surrendered on the 24th of
May. The marshal was afterwards re-
warded with the title of duke of Dantzic.
A military contribution of 20,000,000 of
francs, to be paid by instalments, was
levied on the city. By the peace of Tilsit,
however, Dantzic was recognised as a
free city, with a jurisdiction of leagues
in extent, which was afterwards enlarged
to 10 miles by Napoleon, under the pro-
tection of France, Prussia and Saxony;
but, being occupied by a French garrison,
it was not allowed to enjoy its indepen-
dence. A French governor, general Rapp,
continued in the garrison. In 1808, the
Code Napoléon was introduced; and, by
the continental system, its most important
branch of support, the commerce with
England, was cut off. Under such unfa-
119

vorable circumstances, the year 1812 drew
nigh, bringing the heavy burdens of the
Russian war. December 31, the city was
declared in a state of blockade. After a
very obstinate defence of nearly a year's
continuance, a capitulation was entered
into, Jan. 1, 1814. On this day, all the
Poles and Germans were dismissed, and,
on the 2d, the French marched out, to be
conducted, as prisoners of war, to the in-
terior of Russia. During this blockade
and siege, 309 houses and warehouses
were burnt, 1115 buildings damaged, and
90 men perished by hunger. Feb. 3,
1814, Dantzic fell again under the domin-
ion of Prussia. Dec. 6, 1815, great dam-
age was done by the explosion of a pow-
der magazine. There are, in this city,
important manufactures of gold and silver
lace, cloth, woollen stuffs and Cordovan
leather: the dye-houses, sugar-refineries,
brandy and other distilleries, vitriol, pot-
ash, &c. manufactories, are likewise con-
siderable. An important article of com-
merce in Dantzic is corn, which is brought
down the Vistula from Poland, and ex-
ported to England, Holland and the Hanse
towns. Other articles of export are tim-
ber, leather, wool, furs, butter, tallow, wax,
honey, potash, hemp and flax. The prin-
cipal edifices worthy of mention are, the
high church of St. Mark (in which is the
Judgment Day, by Van Eyck), the syna-
gogue, the academical gymnasium, the
marine institute, the buildings of the
society of natural history, including their
observatory. This society celebrated its
84th anniversary Jan. 2, 1826. It has
published memoirs. In 1823, there were
747 ships entered, and 758 cleared, at this
port. On the side of the city between the
Vistula and Nogat, is the fertile island of
Werder, which supports numerous herds
of cattle; and at the mouth of the former
lies the fort of Münde, which defends the
roads of Dantzic, called Neufahrwasser.
April 9, 1829, the Vistula, swollen by the
melting of the snow in the interior, and
choked by masses of ice, broke through
the dyke, which extends 25 miles up
river, overwhelming 50 villages. The
lower town of Dantzic was inundated, and
the houses filled to the roofs. The torrent
swept over the city, carrying away many
houses, and whatever they contained. On
the 12th, the waters began to abate; but,
as late as the 14th, many sufferers were
still remaining on the roofs of the houses,
unable to obtain relief, and destitute of
food. (For an account of the last siege of
this city, see the Relation de la Défense
de Dantzic en 1813, Paris, 1820; and also
the
120
DANTZIC-DAPHNIS.

the Military Annals of Austria, 1825, 8th
and 9th editions.)
DANUBE (in German, Donau, i. e. deep
water); a river, which was called by the
Romans, from its sources to Vienna, Da-
nubis, and lower down, Ister. It has three
sources, the Brege, Brigach, and a little
fountain in the yard of the castle of prince
Donaueschingin, in Baden, 2050 feet above
the level of the sea (lon. 10° 30′ 15″ E., lat.
47° 58' N.), near which the united waters
receive the name of Danube. After its
junction with the Iller, above Ulm, it be-
comes navigable, being from 8 to 12 feet
deep, runs through the kingdom of Bava-
ria, then from Engelhartszell to Orsowa
(644 miles), through Austria, and finally
through Turkey, until it falls into the
Black sea, after a course of 1547 miles,
and after having received 30 navigable
rivers and 90 other streams. It discharges
itself through five mouths, called Kili,
Suline, Kedrillo, Portessa and Islawa Bo-
gasi. The first is the chief and the deep-
est outlet, and is now within the domin-
ions of Russia, since Bessarabia (q. v.)
was ceded to this power by the Turks.
The fourth and fifth mouths are likewise
navigable. The Danube discharges so
much water into the Black sea, that the
addition is perceptible in the latter, even
at the distance of 46 miles. Its current
embraces the waters of the Schwarzwald
(the Black forest), the Böhmerwald (the
Bohemian forest), the Alps of Tyrol, Sti-
ria, Carinthia and Carniola, and the Mor-
lachian, Carpathian and Bulgarian moun-
tains. The whirlpools have been render-
ed less dangerous by the labor of man in
Germany and Hungary, but the shallows of
Orsowa, and the tyrannical restrictions of
the Turkish government, obstruct the sub
sequent navigation. Many species of fish
are taken in the river. The most known
is the sturgeon. From the times of the
Romans, through the period of the middle
ages, down to the time of Napoleon, the
shores of the Danube have been the scene
of momentous conflicts. At Ulm, the
navigation of this river begins, and is
continued to its mouth in five divisions,
occasioned by political separations-from
Ulm to Ratisbon, thence to Vienna, thence
to Pest, thence to Belgrade, thence to
Galacz and Kilianova, where the river
empties itself. The navigation is almost
entirely downwards, without the aid of
sails or oars. Such vessels as move
against the stream are drawn by horses,
five tons being allowed for each horse, if
the river is not swollen. As the greater
part of the vessels are only calculated to
float down, and then to be sold as wood,
they are, of course, little better than rafts.
The congress of Vienna, in 1815, declared
the navigation of all the German rivers
free; but this freedom does not as yet ex-
ist, and the custom lines of Würtemberg
Bavaria and Austria prevent the naviga-
tion of the Danube from attaining the ex-
tent which it would easily reach if left
free. From France, many goods are sent
to Ulm, and from thence to Turkey. At
Pest, about 8000 vessels and rafts arrive
annually. Austria subjects the navigation
of the river to very oppressive restrictions.
Thus the boatmen from Ratisbon are on-
ly allowed to go to Vienna; and they are
only allowed to take from thence wine.
In Vienna, these boatmen are incorporated.
Charlemagne entertained the grand idea
of uniting the Rhine and Danube, by a ca-
nal between the Altmühl and the Maine,
near Nuremberg. If the navigation were
free, the introduction of steam-boats would
make it increase with a rapidity equal to
that of the Mississippi. (See Devil's Wall.)
DAPHNE; a daughter of the river-god
Peneus, beloved by Apollo, by whose con-
trivance her lover, Leucippus, was slain.
The nymph, deaf to the suit of the god,
and flying from him, besought the earth
to swallow her up. According to some,
she besought her father or Jupiter to pro-
tect her. Her prayer was heard; for, at
the moment when Apollo was about to
encircle her in his arms, her flight was
suddenly arrested, her feet took root in the
earth, her arms became branches, and, in-
stead of the nymph, Apollo embraced a
laurel, which was thenceforth consecrated
to him.-Daphne was also the name of a
daughter of Tiresias. She was priestess
in the temple of Delphi.-A grove near
Antioch was likewise so called.
DAPHNIN; the bitter principle of Daph-
ne Alpina. From the alcoholic infusion
of the bark of this plant, the resin was
separated by partial evaporation, and the
remaining tincture, on being diluted with
water and filtered, afforded, on the addi-
tion of acetate of lead, a yellow precipi-
tate, from which sulphureted hydrogen
disunited the lead, and left the daphnin in
small transparent crystals. They are hard,
of a grayish color, a bitter taste; when
heated, evaporate in acrid acid vapors;
and are sparingly soluble in cold, and
but moderately so in boiling water.
DAPHNIS; the son of Mercury by a
nymph, educated among the nymphs, and
celebrated in the Sicilian traditions as the
author of Bucolic poetry, and also as a
performer on the shepherd's pipe. He
DAPHNIS-DARDANELLES.
pastured his kine upon mount Etna.
The nymph Echenais, who loved the
youth, threatened him with blindness if
he should love another; but, being intox-
icated with wine by the daughter of a Si-
cilian prince, he forgot her warnings, and
thus brought upon himself the threatened
punishment. Some say that he died of
grief; others, that the nymph transformed
him into a stone. All the nymphs be-
wailed his death, and Mercury raised him
to the heavens. On the spot where he
died flowed a fountain, at which the Si-
cilians afterwards performed yearly sacri-
fices.
DARCET, John; an eminent French
physician and chemist, born, in 1725, at
Douazit, in Guienne. He preferred the
study of medicine to that of the law; in
consequence of which, having been dis-
carded by his father, he was obliged to
teach Latin for his support, while pursu-
ing his studies at Bordeaux. He accom-
panied the celebrated Montesquieu to
Paris in 1742, and remained with him till
his death as a literary assistant. He after-
wards devoted himself to chemistry, and
went to Germany, in 1757, with the count
de Lauraguais, and visited the mines of the
Hartz, in Hanover. On the restoration
of peace, they applied themselves to tech-
nical chemistry, especially to the improve-
ment of the manufacture of porcelain.
Darcet made many experiments with this
view, of which he drew up an account in
several memoirs presented to the academy
of sciences, in 1766 and 1768. He tried
the effect of fire on the various kinds of
earths, and demonstrated the combustibil-
ity of the diamond; on which subjects he
presented memoirs to the academy in
1770. In 1774, he travelled over the Pyr-
enees, to study the geology of those
mountains, on which he delivered a dis-
course at the college of France, which
was published in 1776. On the death of
Macquer, he succeeded him as a member
of the academy of sciences, and director
of the manufactory of Sèvres. He was
afterwards appointed inspector-general of
the assay of coin, and inspector of the
Gobelin manufactory. He made several
important chemical discoveries, and con-
tributed much to the present improved
state of the science. During the reign of
terror, his life was preserved by Fourcroy,
who procured the obliteration of his name
from a list of persons destined by Robes-
pierre to destruction. He died in 1801, at
which period he was a member of the in-
stitute, and of the conservative senate.
DARCET, John Peter Joseph, an excel-
VOL. IV.
11
121

lent practical chemist, born at Paris in
1787, has very successfully applied the
discoveries in his science to the promo-
tion of French industry. His father, who
died in 1801, in the office of director-gen-
eral of the porcelain manufactory at Sèvres,
also distinguished himself as a practi-
cal chemist; and his grandfather was the
celebrated Rouelle, the restorer of chem-
istry in France. Darcet entered early
upon his career, after having laid the
foundation of his eminence by the study
of mathematics and natural philosophy.
In his 24th year, he was made assayer of
the mint; and, after introducing, among
other discoveries, a new process for the
preparation of powder on a large scale, he
made experiments on the addition of sea-
salt in the manufacture, and essentially
improved the preparation of the hydrate
of the protoxide of barytes. These exper-
iments led to new discoveries respecting
elective affinity; but the decomposition of
sea-salt was of the greatest importance,
and eventually led to the establishment
of the manufacture of artificial natron
(soda). Among his other discoveries, we
may notice the extraction of alkali from
chestnuts, and the preparation of sugar
from the same material, and the extraction
of jelly from bones by means of an acid.
The hospital of Louis at Paris is indebt-
ed to him for the excellent footing on
which he put its baths and chimneys, and
for the process which he introduced for
bleaching the linen of the hospitals. He
also made another discovery of great im-
portance, whereby he obtained the prize
of 3000 francs, which Ravrio had provid-
ed for the discovery of the means of pro-
tection against the fine dust of quicksilver,
which had been so unhealthy to the gild-
ers. Darcet's discovery completely attain-
ed the object, and this branch of French
industry has since increased greatly in
importance. He has also offered a plan
for preserving the health of those con-
cerned in the manufacture of Prussian
blue.
DARDANELLES are the four strong cas
tles built on the European and Asiatic
coasts of the Hellespont, opposite to each
other, and commanding that strait, which
is about 12 leagues long, and called, from
them, the strait of the Dardanelles, so that
they are looked upon as the key of Con-
stantinople. Their name is probably de
rived from the old city of Dardanum,
The entrance to the Hellespont is defend-
ed by two castles, which are called the
new castles, because they were built (sub-
sequently to the two others, called the oa
122
BUT DARDANELLES.C

castles), in the middle of the 17th century,
under Mohammed IV, to afford protection
to the Turkish fleets against the Vene-
tians. The distance of one from the oth-
er is about two miles and a quarter. Four
hours' sail farther to the north lie the old
castles, built by Mohammed II, immedi-
ately after the conquest of Constantinople,
which are not more than 1500 yards apart.
Farther on still, the channel becomes nar-
rower, and, at an hour and a half's sail
from the old castles, two promontories ap-
pear suddenly, about 750 yards distant one
from the other, and form that strait ren-
dered famous by Leander's nightly visit to
Hero, by Xerxes' bridge, and by Soly-
man's passage upon a bare raft. This is
not provided with fortifications. It leads
into the sea of Marmora, at the north-
eastern end of which lies Constantinople,
the capital of the Ottoman empire, up-
on another channel, which connects the
Black sea with the sea of Marmora. The
late lord Byron, in the month of March,
1810, swam from the castle of Sestos, in
Europe, to the fort of Abydos, in Asia, in
company with lieutenant Ekenhead, an
English naval officer, and mentions the feat
in his works with evident satisfaction. The
same feat has been repeatedly performed
in modern times. The negligent Turks,
confiding in the celebrity of the castles of
the Dardanelles, have taken so little care
to keep them in a state of defence, that in
1770 they were completely in ruins, and
upon the Asiatic side there was but a sin-
gle battery standing, and that half filled
with rubbish. On the 20th of July of that
year, when the squadron of the Russian
admiral Elphinstone, consisting of three
ships of the line and four frigates, in pur-
suit of two Turkish ships of the line, ap-
peared before the first castles, the Turkish
batteries, from want of ammunition, were
obliged to cease firing, after one general
discharge of their ordnance, and Elphin-
stone sailed by without receiving more
than a single shot. But, the other ships
not following him, he contented himself
with continuing his course, not minding
the Turkish batteries, and cast anchor in
the channel. From hence he returned to
his fleet, notwithstanding a contrary wind,
with drums and trumpets sounding, as
much to conceal his own fear as to deride
the weakness of the Ottomans. Warned
by this unexpected circumstance, the
Porte accepted the offer of baron De Tott
(q. v.) to restore the castles to their former
condition; and he rendered them, in a
short time, impregnable. But the Turks
were too indolent to preserve them long in
this condition; for, in 1798, Eton, an Eng-
lishman, who was for a considerable time
resident in Turkey, in a description of this
empire, declared that, at that time, a fleet
might easily pass the Dardanelles. "These
castles," he says, "may be beaten down by
batteries erected on shore, or by sea, from
situations where the great artillery cannot
bear on ships. There are, on each side
of the water, 14 great guns, which fire
granite balls. These guns are of brass,
with chambers, like mortars, 22 English
feet long, and 28 inches diameter of the
bore. A gentleman who has measured
them since I did, says they are only 23
inches in diameter: one of us must have
made a mistake. They are very near the
level of the surface of the water, in arched
port-holes or embrasures, with iron doors,
which are opened only when they are to
be fired. The balls cross the water from
side to side, as they are a little elevated.
These monstrous cannon are not mount-
ed, but lie on the paved floor, with their
breech against a wall. They cannot be
pointed, and the gunner must wait till the
vessel he intends to fire at is opposite the
mouth; and they are at least half an hour
in loading one of these guns." That this
account is accurate there is no doubt, for
it is confirmed by admiral Duckworth, an
Englishman, who, on the 19th of Febru-
ary, 1807, with eight ships of the line and
four frigates, together with fire-ships and
gun-boats, effected a passage through the
Dardanelles without loss, and appeared,
on the next day, before Constantinople,
which, till then, had never seen an ene-
my's fleet. Their presence was intended
to influence the negotiations then in prog-
ress, but was of little avail, for the Turks,
during the course of the discussions, under
the direction of the French ambassador
Sebastiani, were zealously employed in
fortifying Constantinople and repairing the
castles of the Dardanelles; so that Duck-
worth, on the 2d of March, could not re-
turn without loss, &c., according to his
own confession. If he had remained eight
days later, his return would have been al-
together impossible.-The new castles are
much less strong than the old ones, which
are generally understood when the Dar-
danelles simply are spoken of. The latter
are called Chana Kalissi (said to mean
pottery castles, from a pottery near them),
or, more elegantly, Sultanei Kalissi. The
new castle on the Asiatic side is called
Koum Kalé, or castle in the sand, from the
character of the shore in that place. In
the immediate vicinity of Koum Kalé,
the ruins of the Troad are, by the common
DARDANELLES-DARIEN.
opinion of travellers at the present day,
supposed to be found. The old castle, on
the Asiatic side, is the residence of the
governor of the four castles, and at this
place there is an ill-built but considerable
Turkish city, called Chana Kalissi. The
environs of this town are beautiful, partic-
ularly a fine promenade of plane-trees on
the banks of the Rhodius, supposed to be
one of the nine Homeric rivers which de-
scend from mount Ida. The old castle on
the Asiatic side is poorly defended on the
land quarter, and might easily be surpris-
ed by a small force disembarked above or
below. Large quantities of marble balls,
made from the ruins of the city of the
Troad, are piled up for use in the courts
of the fortress. A ponderous shot of this
kind, which struck one of the masts of
admiral Duckworth's ship, was brought
home by that officer, and made the pedes-
tal of a table. So firmly persuaded are
the Turks that these castles are impregna-
ble, that they believed the governor was
bribed by admiral Duckworth, and be-
headed him accordingly. Commodore
Bainbridge, in the American frigate George
Washington, passed the Dardanelles, under
cover of the smoke of a salute, in Februa-
ry, 1801. This is the only American ship
of war that ever passed this strait.
DARDANUS, the progenitor of the Tro-
jan kings, and the son of Jupiter and
Electra, the daughter of Atlas, emigrated
from Samothrace (according to others,
from Arcadia, Crete, &c.), and settled in
Phrygia, in the country which was after-
wards called Troas. Here he built a
city, which, from him, was called Darda-
num or Dardanus. By Bateia, the daugh-
ter of Teucer, who had previously emi-
grated hither from Attica, he had a son,
called Erichthonius. His descendants are
called, by the poets, Dardanians. It has
been lately supposed, that this is the name
of an Arcadian tribe, whose history is
related in the fable of Dardanus.
DARFUR, OF DARFOOR (Country of Foor);
a considerable kingdom of Central Africa,
occupying a large portion of the wide inter-
val between Abyssinia and Bornou, the most
eastern part of Nigritia. It is difficult to fix
its limits, as it is known to us almost solely
by the journey of Mr. Browne, one of the
most enterprising of modern travellers.
On the east, it has Kordofan, and the
country of the Shillux, which separate it
from Sennaar and Abyssinia; on the west,
Bergoo, which divides it from Begherme
and Bornou; while the regions to the
south are occupied by barbarous nations,
extending to and inhabiting the Mountains
123

of the Moon. With respect to its climate,
productions, the animals it contains, and
also the manners of its inhabitants, and
its government, it nearly resembles other
countries in Africa. The people are semi-
barbarous; their government is a despot-
ism, and their occupation chiefly agricul-
ture. The mechanical arts are at a low
ebb, and their houses are rudely con-
structed of clay, with a coating of plaster,
and with proportionably scanty accommo-
dations. Its commerce is extensive. The
grand intercourse is with Egypt, and is
carried on entirely by the African system
of caravans. There is no regular caravan,
as between Fezzan and Cairo. The mo-
tions of that from Fur are extremely un-
certain, and two, or even three years
sometimes elapse without one. The cara-
van going to Egypt consists often of 2000
camels and 1000 men. Among the ex-
ports, the most important are slaves, male
and female, taken in the Negro countries
to the south; camels, ivory, the horns,
teeth and hide of the rhinoceros and hip-
popotamus, ostrich feathers, gum, pimen-
to, parroquets in abundance, and a small
quantity of white copper. The imports
are extremely various, comprising beads
of all sorts, toys, glass, arms, light cloths
of different kinds, chiefly made in Egypt,
with some of French manufacture, red
Barbary caps, small carpets, silks, wrought
and unwrought shoes, and a considerable
quantity of writing paper. The Darfoor
people submit their daughters to excision.
They are Mohammedans, but, in spite of
the prophet, much given to intoxicate
themselves with a certain beverage called
merissah. Unlimited polygamy is allowed,
and the nearest relationship is no obstacle
to marriage. Fathers often marry their
daughters, and brothers their sisters. The
army is calculated at 70,000 men. The
soldiers endure thirst and fatigue with un-
common patience.
DARIA, or DERIA, signifies river, in the
Tartar languages; as Kizil-Daria, red-
river.
DARIEN; a post-town of Georgia, capi.
tal of M'Intosh county, on the north and
principal channel of the Alatamaha, near
its entrance into St. Simon's sound, 12
miles from the bar, 62 S. S. W. Savannah,
185 S. E. Milledgeville; lon. 81° 37' W.;
lat. 31° 23′ N.; population in 1827, ac-
cording to Sherwood, only 500. It stands
on a high, sandy bluff, and contains a
court-house, a jail, an academy, a Presby-
terian meeting-house, a bank and a print-
ing-office. It is a place of considerable
trade in cotton. At the bar, there are but
24
DARIEN-DARIUS.AC

14 feet of water, so that large vessels can-
not come up to the town; but the obstruc-
tions to the navigation are expected, before
long, to be removed, that Darien may be
accessible to large ships, and become the
emporium of the fertile country watered
by the Oakmulgee and Oconee, branches
of the Alatamaha.
DARIEN, GULF OF; on the coast of the
province of Darien; 26 leagues from N. to
S., and 9 from E. to W. Several rivers
flow into it, the largest of which is the
Atrato. The coast is full of sharp and
inaccessible shoals, and only towards the
west and south are there fit places for dis-
embarking. The limits of the gulf are
sometimes extended to the sea that washes
the shores of the provinces of Panama and
Darien.
DARIEN, ISTHMUS OF; a neck of land,
which unites North and South America,
composed of the provinces of Panama and
Veragua, which belong to the republic of
Colombia. It lies in the form of a cres-
cent, about the great bay of Panama on
the south, and having the gulf of Mexico
on the north. It is 300 miles long, and
generally about 60 wide, but, where nar-
rowest, between the ports of Porto Bello
and Panama, only 37. This part is some-
times called the isthmus of Panama. The
country here is made up of sickly valleys
and stupendous mountains, which seem
to be placed as eternal barriers between
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which
can be distinctly seen at the same time
from the summits. These mountains
here forbid the idea of a canal; but, by go-
ing to latitude 12° N., and joining the head
of the lake Nicaragua to a small river
which runs into the Pacific ocean, and
forming a canal 30 miles long, through a
low, level country, a communication be-
tween the two seas becomes practicable.
DARIUS; the name of several Persian
kings, or, according to some writers, the
royal title itself. Among the most distin-
guished individuals of this name, are-1.
Darius, the fourth king of Persia, the son
of Hystaspes, satrap of Persis. He joined
the conspiracy against the Pseudo-Smer-
dis, who had possessed himself of the Per-
sian throne. After the conspirators had
succeeded in getting rid of the usurper,
they agreed to meet early the next morn-
ing, on horseback, and to appoint him
king, whose horse should neigh first after
sunrise. The groom of Darius, apprized
of this project, led his master's horse, in
the night, with a mare, to the appointed
race, and, in consequence of this strata-
gem, the horse of Darius neighed first the
next morning. Darius was, therefore.
saluted king, and the nation approved the
choice. His reign was marked by many
important events. The city of Babylon
revolted, partly on account of burdensome
impositions of tribute, and partly because
the royal residence, under Cyrus, had been
transferred from thence to Susa. Darius
besieged the city nearly two years with-
out success, and was on the point of aban-
doning the siege, when Zopyrus, one of
his generals, by a heroic sacrifice, placed
the city in his possession. The mode was
this: he mutilated himself in the most
shocking manner, and fled to the Babylo-
nians, pretending to them that he had
suffered this cruel treatment from Darius,
and that he wished for vengeance. The
Babylonians gave him a command; and,
after many successful sallies, by which he
gained their confidence, they intrusted
to him the charge of the whole city, which
he immediately surrendered to Darius.
After the subjection of Babylon, Darius
undertook an expedition, with an army of
700,000 men, against the Scythians on the
Danube (513 B. C.), who enticed him so
far into their inhospitable country, by their
pretended flight, that he succeeded with
difficulty in extricating himself and his
army, after suffering great losses. Leav-
ing a part of his forces, under the com-
mand of Megabyzus, in Thrace, to conquer
that country and Macedonia, he returned
with the remainder to Asia, to recruit at
Sardis. He next turned his arms against
the Indians, part of whom he subjected
(508 B. C.). In the year 501 B. C., a dis-
turbance at Naxos, in which the Persians
had taken part, occasioned a revolt of the
Ionian cities, which the Athenians en-
deavored to promote, but which was sup-
pressed by the capture and punishment of
Miletus, in 496. To revenge himself
upon the Athenians, Darius sent Mardo-
nius with an army, by the way of Thrace
and Macedonia, against Greece, and pre-
pared a fleet to make a descent upon its
coasts. But his ships were scattered and
destroyed by a storm, in doubling mount
Athos, and the army was almost entirely
cut to pieces by the Thracians. Darius,
however, collected another army of 500,000
men, and fitted out a second fleet of 600
ships. Naxos was conquered, and Eretria,
in Euboea, sacked. Thence the army,
under Datis and Artaphernes, proceeded
to Attica, and was led, by Hippias, to the
plains of Marathon. The Athenians had
in vain, besought assistance from their
neighbors, and were obliged to depend
upon their own resources alone. They
DARIUS-DARMSTADT.
marched forth, 10,000 strong, under the
command of Miltiades, to meet the Per-
sian army, and, animated by the reflection
that they were fighting for freedom and
their country, obtained a complete victory
(B. C. 490). Darius now determined to
take the command of a new army in
person, but was prevented by domestic
troubles, and died B. C. 485. This prince
did much to improve the internal admin-
istration of his kingdom. In the year
508 B. C., he sent his admiral Scylax to
explore the river Indus, and he encour-
aged commerce and arts by useful institu-
tions and laws. His successor was Xerxes.
(q. v.)-2. Darius III, surnamed Codom-
anus, son of Arsanes and Sysigambis, and
great-grandson of Darius II, or Ochus
(who reigned from 424 to 404 B. C.), was
the 12th and last king of Persia. He
ascended the throne B. C. 336, when the
kingdom had been weakened by luxury,
and the tyranny of the satraps under his
predecessors, and could not resist the at-
tacks of a powerful invader. Such was Al-
exander of Macedon; and the army, which
was sent against him by Darius, was totally
routed, on the banks of the Granicus, in
Asia Minor. Darius then advanced, with
400,000 soldiers, to the plains of Mesopo-
tamia. The Grecian mercenaries advised
him to await the enemy here, as the level
country would enable him to draw out his
forces to advantage; but Darius hastened
forward to meet Alexander in the moun-
tainous Cilicia. Curtius describes the
splendor of his march. Darius was a
second time totally routed, near the Issus,
B. C. 333. He himself escaped, under
cover of the night, to the mountains. His
mother, his wife, and three of his children,
fell into the hands of the conqueror, who
treated them with great generosity. Alex-
ander loaded 7000 camels with the spoil
taken here and at Damascus. Darius was
so far from being discouraged by these de-
feats, that he wrote a haughty letter to Al-
exander, in which he offered him a ransom
for the prisoners, and invited him to a new
engagement, or, if he did not choose that,
granted him permission to retire into Ma-
cedonia. Alexander then laid siege to
Tyre, on which Darius wrote him another
letter, offering him not only the title of
king, which he had before refused to do,
but also 10,000 talents ransom, and all the
countries of Asia as far as the Euphrates,
together with his daughter Statira in mar-
riage. These propositions, however, were
unavailing. Alexander subjected Egypt,
and Darius found himself once more oblig-
ed to collect an army, which most writers
125

estimate at 1,000,000 men. He led his
forces from Babylon to Nineveh, while
Alexander was encamped on the banks of
the Tigris. The two armies met between
Arbela and Gaugamela, and, after a bloody
engagement, Darius was compelled to seek
safety in flight (331 B. C.). Alexander
took possession of his capital, Susa, cap-
tured Persepolis, and reduced all Persia.
Darius meanwhile arrived at Ecbatana, in
Media, where he had another army of
30,000 men, among whom were 4000
Greeks, who remained true to the end,
besides 4000 slingers and 3000 horse,
commanded by Bessus, the governor of
Bactria. With these he wished to march
against the conqueror, but a conspiracy
of Nabazanes and Bessus frustrated his
plan. The magnanimous prince would
not credit the report of the conspiracy,
which reached his ears, and, at the same
time, observed that his death could not be
premature, if his subjects considered him
unworthy of life. The traitors soon after
took possession of his person, and carried
him, in chains, to Bactria. Here he refused
to accompany them any farther, and they
transfixed him with their javelins, and left
him to his fate. A Macedonian, named
Polystratus, saw the chariot of Darius, and,
as he was drinking at a neighboring foun-
tain, heard the groans of a dying person.
He approached the chariot, and found the
king in the agonies of death. Darius beg-
ged for some water, on receiving which
he requested Polystratus to thank Alexan-
der, in his name, for the generosity with
which he had treated the captive prin-
cesses. Scarcely had Darius expired,
when Alexander came up. He melted into
tears at the sight of the corpse, caused it
to be embalmed, and sent it to Sysigam-
bis, that it might be deposited by the side
of the other Persian monarchs. Darius
died (330 B. C.) in the 50th year of his
age, with the reputation of a humane,
peaceful and just sovereign.
DARMSTADT, capital and residence of
the grand-duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, has
1279 houses (among which are 53 public
buildings) and 20,000 inhabitants, mostly
Lutherans, exclusive of the garrison. It is,
of course, the seat of the highest authori-
ties, and of a court of appeal; has a muse
um, library (with 90,000 volumes), drawing
school, gymnasium, an opera-house, the
atre, &c. The house in which the sol
diers are drilled is 319 feet long, 157 feet
wide, and 83 feet high; so that a travel-
ler remarked that the drilling-house was
larger than the duchy. Lat. 49° 56' 24" N.
lon. 8° 34′ 49″ E.
11*
126
DARMSTADT-DARWIN.

or HESSE-DARMSTADT.
DARMSTADT, or
(See Hesse.)
DARTMOOR; an extensive, rugged,
mountainous tract in England, in the
western part of Devonshire, usually called
the forest of Dartmoor, but at present hav-
ing no appearance of a forest, except what
is afforded by an assemblage of dwarf
oaks, intermixed with ash and willow;
reaching from Brent S., to Oakhampton
N., 20 miles, and 5 to 15 wide, and occu-
pying 53,644 acres; in all which space is
no town, and only 2 villages. Here is a
large prison, where many prisoners of war
are frequently confined.
DARTMOUTH; a seaport town of Eng-
land, county of Devon, situated near the
confluence of the river Dart with the Brit-
ish channel. It has a good harbor, with
deep water, defended by a castle and two
platforms of cannon. The chief occupa-
tion of the inhabitants consists in the
Newfoundland and other fisheries, where-
in about 350 vessels are engaged. Dart-
mouth is a borough, sending two members
to parliament. The entrance to the hár-
bor is defended by a castle. Population,
4485. 30 miles S. Exeter.
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE. (See Hanover,
N. H.)
DARU, Pierre Antoine Noël Bruno,
count, a peer of France, and one of the
ablest French statesmen of the school of the
revolution and Napoleon, was born in the
year 1767, at Montpellier. He commenced
his military career in his 16th year, after
having received an excellent education.
At the breaking out of the revolution, he
adopted its principles, like other young
men of talent. He never relinquished his
poetical and literary pursuits, even in the
camp, amidst the most uncongenial labors.
His reputation as a poet was established
by his masterly translation of Horace.
The first edition appeared in 1800. About
the same time appeared his Cléopédie, or
Theory of Literary Reputation-a poem
full of elegance and animation. The
penetrating eye of Napoleon soon distin-
guished him from the multitude, and
showed him peculiar favor, while Daru
attached himself, with unbounded zeal, to
that extraordinary man. He was intrust-
ed with the most important affairs, and
executed these trusts with fidelity to the
interest of France and the emperor, by
which he drew upon himself the hatred
of the opposite party. This is particularly
evident in his administration as general
intendant, in 1805, 1806 and 1809, in
Austria and Prussia. While in the coun-
il of state, Daru was considered the most
diligent and laborious member of that
body except the emperor. There were few
important posts in the higher departments
of the administration which he did not
fill; and the first restoration found him
in possession of the port-folio of the de-
partment of war. Blücher displayed his
enmity to him by sequestering his estate
at Meulan; but this measure was imme-
diately reversed by the allied monarchs.
In 1818, Daru was called to the chamber
of peers by Louis XVIII. In 1805, he
was chosen a member of the national in-
stitute. Not having been called to any
other public post after the restoration, Daru
devoted himself particularly to historical
studies; and we are indebted to him for
two important works-the Life of Sully
and the History of Venice. The last of
these is one of the most important pro-
ductions of modern literature in the de-
partment of history. It appeared, in
1819, in seven volumes; second edition,
in 1821, in eight volumes, and the third
edition in 1825. As a member of the
chamber of peers, Daru was one of the
most zealous defenders of the principles
introduced by the revolution. He died
near the end of 1829.
DARWIN, Erasmus, a physician and
poet, was born at Elton, near Newark,
Nottinghamshire, Dec. 12, 1721. He was
educated at Cambridge, took his doctor's
degree at Edinburgh, and commenced
his practice as a physician at Litchfield.
In 1781, he made himself known as a
poet by the publication of his Botanic
Garden. This poem consists of two
parts, in the first of which the author
treats of the economy of vegetables, and
in the second of what he calls The Loves
of the Plants, being a sort of allegorical
exposition of the sexual system of Lin-
næus. The ingenuity and novelty of
much of the personification, and still
more the brilliant and figurative diction in
which it is conveyed, rendered this pro-
duction very popular for a time; but its
unvarying polish, want of light and shade,
and of human interest, rapidly reduced its
reputation. To this result, the pleasant
ridicule of Mr. Frere's Loves of the Tri-
angles, also, in no small degree, contribu-
ted. In 1793, doctor Darwin published the
first volume of his Zoönomia, or the Laws
of Organic Life, 4to., which work excited
great expectation from the known origi-
nality of the author. It teaches that all
animated nature, as men, beasts, and
vegetables, takes its origin from single
living filaments, susceptible of irritation,
which is the agent that sets them in mo-

DARWIN-DATE.
tion. This doctrine was refuted by Brown
and several other writers, and, being found-
ed on a mere assumption, rapidly fol-
lowed the fate of all such systems. The
second volume, which completed the
author's plan, was printed in 1796. In
1801, he published his Phytologia, or Phi-
losophy of Agriculture and Gardening.
Various papers in the Philosophical Trans-
actions are likewise from the pen of doc-
tor Darwin, who died suddenly, April 18,
1802, leaving behind him the character of
an able man, of considerable eccentricity,
both in opinion and conduct. The bias
of his politics, and the tendency of his the-
ories to materialism, excited a powerful
feeling against him, which much exag-
gerated his peculiarities. His son,
DARWIN, Charles, deserves to be noticed
for discovering, while studying at Edin-
burgh, a test for distinguishing pus from
mucus, for which the gold medal was
assigned him by the university. This
promising young man died during his
studies, at Edinburgh, in May, 1778.
DASCHKOFF, Catharine Romanowna,
princess of. This celebrated lady, de-
scended from the noble family of Woron-
zoff, and the early friend and confidant of
the empress Catharine, was born in 1744,
and became a widow at 18 years of age.
She endeavored to effect the accession of
Catharine to the throne, but, at the same
time, was in favor of a constitutional
limitation of the imperial power. In a
military dress, and on horseback, she
led a body of troops to the presence of
Catharine, who placed herself at their
head, and precipitated her husband from
the throne. The request of the princess
Daschkoff to receive the command of the
imperial regiment of guards, was refused.
She did not long remain about the person
of Catharine. Study became her favorite
employment. From the Greek and Ro-
man authors she had acquired the high
spirit of antiquity. After her return from
abroad, in 1782, she was made director of
the academy of sciences, and president of
the newly established Russian academy.
She wrote much in the Russian language;
among other productions, some comedies.
She also actively promoted the publica-
tion of the dictionary of the Russian
academy. Her death took place in 1810,
at Moscow.
DATARIA; the papal chancery at Rome,
from which all bulls (q. v.) are issued. It
has its name from the common subscrip-
tion, Datum apud Sanctum Petrum, that is
in the Vatican. (See Curia, Papal.)
DATE (Latin, datum, given); that ad-
127
dition to a writing, which specifies the
time when it was executed. Under the
Roman emperors, this word was used to
signify the day on which the bearers of
the imperial despatches to the provinces
received them, or that on which they de-
livered them. It was also used in docu-
ments in the time of the French Mero-
vingian kings.
DATE; the fruit of the date palm, a tree
of the natural order palma, inhabiting
the north of Africa, from Morocco to
Egypt, Syria, Persia, the Levant and In-
dia, and which is also cultivated in Italy
and Spain. Dates form the principal
nutriment of the inhabitants of some of
the above countries, and are an important
article of commerce. This fruit is an
oval, soft, fleshy drupe, having a very
hard stone, with a longitudinal furrow on
one side, and, when fresh, possesses a de-
licious perfume and taste. Dates are su-
gary, very nourishing, wholesome, and
require no preparation; but when dried,
and a little old, as they usually are when
imported into Europe and the U. States,
they are not much esteemed, and are little
used in the countries where they grow.
The best fruits have firm flesh of a yellow
color. They are varied, however, by cul-
ture, in size and shape: some varieties are
very large, succulent, and without stones.
The inhabitants of Tunis and several
other countries, every year, journey in
crowds, into Biledulgerid to procure dates.
The bunches, weighing from 20 to 25
pounds, when of good quality, are sold at
from 60 to 80 cents each. Cattle and
grain are received in exchange. Almost
every part of this valuable tree is convert-
ed to some use. The wood is very hard,
almost incorruptible, and is used for build-
ing. The leaves, after being macerated
in water, become supple, and are manu-
factured into hats, mats and baskets. The
petioles afford fibres from which cordage
is made. The nuts, after being burnt, are
used by the Chinese, in the composition
of India ink. Palm wine is made from
the trunk. For this purpose, the leaves
are cut off, and a circular incision made a
little below the summit of the tree, then a
deep vertical fissure, and a vase is placed
below to receive the juice, which is pro-
tected from evaporation. The date palm
is a majestic tree, rising 60 feet and up-
wards; the trunk is straight, simple, scaly,
elegantly divided by rings, and crowned
at the summit by a tuft of very long pen-
dent leaves. The leaves are 10 or 12 feet
long, composed of alternate narrow foli-
oles, folded longitudinally. The male and
128
DATE-DAUN.

female flowers are upon different trees.
The fruit is disposed in 10 or 12 very long
pendent bunches. The date palm is re-
produced from the roots, or from shoots,
or by planting the axil of the leaves in
the earth, which is the most approved
mode, as female plants may be selected,
while a few males, scattered here and
there, are sufficient. Care is taken to
water them frequently, and to protect
them from the rays of the sun till they
have taken root. Plants raised by this
method will bear fruit in five or six
years, while for those raised from the seed,
15 or 20 years are required. When the
male plant is in bloom, the pollen is col-
lected and scattered over the female
flowers. Each female produces 10 or 12
bunches every year, which, when gathered,
are hung up in a dry place until so much
of their moisture is evaporated as to allow
of their being packed. Dates, in general,
are of a yellowish color; but some are black,
some white, and others brown; some, also,
are sweet, and others bitter. The time of
planting is early in the spring. Situa-
tions abounding in springs are selected, the
trees are placed 15 or 20 feet apart, and
a little trench is dug at the root of each,
which is filled with water at pleasure, by
means of channels excavated in the sand.
The Arabs pretend that they attain the
age of 200 or 300 years. This valuable
tree would undoubtedly succeed in the
southern parts of the U. States. The
wood, though of spongy texture, is em-
ployed for the beams and rafters of houses,
and for implements of husbandry, which
are said to be very durable. The pith of
the young trees is eaten, as well as the
young and tender leaves. A considera-
ble traffic is carried on in these leaves,
which, under the name of palms, are sent
to Italy, to be used in the grand religious
ceremonies of Palm Sunday. In Persia,
an ardent spirit is distilled from the fruit;
and, in many places, the stones are ground
to make oil, and the paste that is left is
given as food to cattle and sheep.
DATHOLITE; a species in mineralogy
found massive and crystallized in the
form of oblique rhombic prisms, which
are often much modified by secondary
planes. It has a shining, resinous lustre;
is of a white, greenish or yellowish-white
color, and translucent. Before the blow-
pipe, it melts with intumescence. It con-
sists, according to Klaproth, of 36.5 of si-
lex, 35 of lime, 24 of boracic acid, and 4
of water; and hence is sometimes denomi-
nated a silicious borate of lime. It is
found in small quantity in the trap rocks
of Patterson, New Jersey; also in Nor
way, where, besides the other varieties,
one is found in botryoidal masses, and
therefore called botryolite.
DAUBENTON, or D'AUBENTON, Louis
Jean Marie; a naturalist and physician,
born at Montbar, in 1716; celebrated for
his participation in the Natural History of
Quadrupeds by his early friend and compan-
ion, Buffon; the anatomical part of which
was prepared by Daubenton with great
accuracy, clearness and sagacity. He re-
fused his assistance in the latter part of
the work, offended at the publication of
an edition of the first part by Buffon, in
which the anatomical portion was omit-
ted. The cabinet of natural history, in
Paris, of which he was made keeper, in
1745, was, by the united exertions of
Daubenton and Buffon, rendered one of
the most valuable institutions in the capi-
tal. In 1744, he was chosen member of
the academy of sciences, and enriched its
publications by a number of anatomical
discoveries, and also by researches con-
cerning the species of animals and their
varieties, the improvement of wool, and
the treatment of the diseases of animals.
He threw much light upon mineralogy,
botany and agriculture, and proposed
a new method for the classification of
minerals. He contributed to the depart-
ment of natural history in the Encyclopé-
die. He is, besides, the author of nume-
rous works of general utility; for exam-
ple, Instruction pour les Bergers, third
edition, 1796 (translated into German by A
Wichmann), Mémoire sur les Indigestions
(new edition, 1798), and many others.
Unseduced by Buffon's hypotheses, he
was a most faithful observer of nature.
During the reign of terror, when every
one was required to give some evidence
of patriotic spirit, he was represented to
his section as employed in introducing
the Spanish flocks into France. He af-
terwards continued to apply himself quiet-
ly to his studies; and, though his con
stitution was naturally weak, the temper-
ance and tranquillity of his life enabled
him to reach the age of 84 years. Decem-
ber 31, 1799, he was present, for the first
time, at the sitting of the senate, and fell
senseless into the arms of his friends, from
a stroke of the apoplexy.
DAUN, Leopold Joseph Maria, count,
an Austrian general, was born in 1705,
and died in 1766. His grandfather and
father had served with distinction in
the Austrian army. He gained his first
laurels in the Turkish war, 1737 to
1739, in which he was major-general,
DAUN-DAVENANT.
and distinguished himself also in the war
of the Austrian succession. His skilful
passage of the Rhine, and his marriage
with the countess of Fux, a favorite of
Maria Theresa, procured for him the post
of master-general of the ordnance, and, in
1757, that of general field-marshal. In
this capacity, he commanded the Austrian
army during the seven years' war. He
advanced to Kolin against the king of
Prussia, who was at that time besieging
Prague (q. v.), and gave him battle, June
18, 1757, compelling the king to raise the
siege, and evacuate Bohemia. Although
he conducted with the greatest prudence
and precaution, he was defeated at Leu-
then, Torgau, and several other places.
Except the battle of Kolin, his most
memorable achievement was the surprise
at Hochkirchen, on the night of October
14, 1758. Here he would have destroyed
the whole Prussian army, had not the
prince of Durlach come up too late with
his column. At Torgau, Nov. 3, 1760,
the victory, which seemed to be within his
grasp, was snatched from him in conse-
quence of his wounds and the resolution
of Ziethen. He compelled the Prussian
general Fink to surrender, with 11,000
men, Nov. 21, 1759. Daun's plan of de-
lay, and of venturing on decisive steps
rarely, and only on great occasions, has
been unjustly censured. He could not bet-
ter resist a general like Frederic the Great,
who was not accountable to a superior,
and who, surrounded by enemies whom
he could oppose successfully only by a
rapid succession of victories over the sepa-
rate armies, was obliged to adopt the boldest
expedients. Frederic himself knew what
a dangerous antagonist he had in Daun.
Daun is more open to the charge of not
having sufficiently followed up his advan-
tages. Many improvements in the Aus-
trian infantry are ascribed to him.
DAUPHIN; the title of the eldest son of
the king of France. In 1349, Humbert
II, dauphin of Viennois, being childless,
transferred his estate, called the Dauphiny,
to Philip of Valois, on condition that the
eldest son of the king of France should,
in future, be styled the dauphin, and gov-
ern this territory. The dauphin, however,
retains only the title, the estates having
been united with the crown lands. On
the death of the dauphin, his eldest son
inherits this title; if he has no son, his
eldest brother succeeds him. If the king
has no son, then the title of dauphin is not
bestowed on any one, as was the case in
the reign of Louis XVIII; for it is never
pestowed upon the next prince of the
129

blood, and presumptive heir, even if he
is the king's brother. The wife of the
dauphin is called dauphiness (dauphine).
The editions of the classics which were
made for the use of the dauphin are
entitled in usum delphini.
DAUPHINY; one of the principal prov-
inces of France before the revolution, was
divided into Upper and Lower Dauphiné.
It forms, at present, the departments of
the Drôme, the High Alps and the Isère.
Grenoble was the capital. (See Dauphin,
and Department.)
DAVENANT, Sir William, an English
poet of the 17th century, was the son of
an innkeeper at Oxford, where he was
born, in 1605. After some previous edu-
cation at a grammar school, he became a
student at Lincoln college; but he soon
left the university, and obtained the office
of page to the duchess of Richmond, from
whose household he removed into that of
Greville, lord Brooke, a nobleman emi-
nent for his literary attainments. He was
employed in preparing several masques
for the entertainment of the court; and,
on the death of Ben Jonson, in 1637, he
succeeded to the vacant laurel. On hos-
tilities breaking out between Charles I
and the parliament, Davenant displayed
his attachment to the royal cause. Being
suspected of a conspiracy against the au-
thority of the parliament, in 1641, he was
arrested, but, making his escape, went to
France. Thence he returned, with mili-
tary stores sent by the queen, and was
made lieutenant-general of ordnance, un-
der the duke of Newcastle-a post for
which he does not appear to have been
qualified by any previous service.
the siege of Gloucester, in 1643, he was
knighted by the king; and, on the subse-
quent decline of the royal cause, he again
retired to France, where he became a Ro-
man Catholic. In 1646, he was sent to
England on a mission from the queen;
and, on his return to Paris, he began the
composition of his principal work, a
heroic poem, entitled Gondibert. An at-
tempt which he afterwards made to lead
a French colony to Virginia, had nearly
proved fatal to him. The ship, in which he
had sailed from Normandy, was captured
by a cruiser in the service of the English
parliament, and carried into the Isle of
Wight, where Davenant was imprisoned
in Cowes castle. In this forlorn captivity,
from which he had but little hope of
escaping alive, he composed the 3d book
of Gondibert. In October, 1650, he was
removed to London for trial before the
high commission court. His life is said
At
130
DAVENANT-DAVID.

to have been preserved by the interposi-
tion of Milton. There is a corresponding
tradition, that Davenant repaid the good
offices of Milton, by protecting the repub-
lican poet after the restoration. After two
years' imprisonment, sir William was set
at liberty, when, with the connivance of
those in power, he set on foot, in the
metropolis, a species of dramatic enter-
tainments. On the return of Charles II
to England, the stage was reestablished
with renewed splendor, and Davenant be-
came patentee of a theatre in Lincoln's-
Inn-Fields. He continued to employ his
pen and his talents as a theatrical writer
and manager till his death, which took
place April 17, 1668. Gondibert, the
principal production of this write, was
never finished. It contains some truly
poetical passages, but is, upon the whole,
possessed of too little interest to require
any particular notice.
DAVID, king of Israel, the youngest son
of Jesse, an inhabitant of Bethlehem, of
the tribe of Judah, distinguished himself
by his prudence, courage and exploits,
particularly by his combat with Goliath,
the gigantic Philistine; so that Samuel, the
high priest, anointed and consecrated him
as king, during the life of Saul. At home,
he tended his father's flocks, and was
instructed in the knowledge of that period,
and in music. Saul, who regarded him as
his enemy, persecuted him; and thus arose
a civil war, which continued till the death
of Saul. David then ascended the throne of
Judah, but the remaining tribes had chosen
Saul's son Ishbosheth for their king, after
whose death David came into possession
of the whole kingdom, which he governed
from 1055 till 1015 years B. C. His first
expedition was against the Jebusites, who
dwelt in the centre of Palestine. He con-
quered the citadel Zion, and made Jerusa-
lem his residence, and the citadel the
abode of the Most High. He then re-
duced the Philistines, Amalekites, Edom-
ites, Moabites, Ammonites, and especially
the Syrians. His kingdom now extended
from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean,
and from Phoenicia to the Arabian gulf,
and contained more than 5,000,000 inhab-
itants. He promoted navigation and com-
merce, and endeavored to refine his people
by the cultivation of the arts, especially
that of architecture. He built at Jerusa-
lem a palace for himself, and made the
worship of God more splendid, by the
appointment of sacred poets and singers.
The magnificent temple which he had
projected was completed by his son and
successor. He himself carried lyric po-
etry to the highest perfection, which it had
ever reached among the Israelites, by his
Psalms. (q. v.) He also improved the
military, judicial and financial systems.
The ardor of his temperament led him,
however, to the commission of several
cruelties, for which his repentance was not
able to atone; and jealousy among his
sons by different mothers, at length gave
rise to rebellion in his own family. His
son Absalom sought to dethrone him, and
made war upon him with this design, but
unsuccessfully. He left the flourishing
kingdom of Israel to his son Solomon.
The crimes of David the Scriptures do not
extenuate, but they represent him as hav-
ing endeavored to atone for them by re-
pentance. His advice to his son, on his
death-bed, seems to leave a dark stain
upon his memory, though commentators
have endeavored to put a favorable con-
struction upon it.
DAVID, Jacques Louis, the founder and
greatest painter of the modern French
school, which he brought back to the
study of nature. David was born at Paris
in 1750, and went, in 1774, to Rome,
where he devoted himself particularly to
historical painting. His talents for this
species of painting soon displayed them-
selves. He visited Rome a second time
in 1784, and finished his masterpiece,
the Oath of the Horatii, which Louis
XVI had commissioned him to design
from a scene in the Horaces of Corneille.
Connoisseurs declared that this piece was
unequalled, and breathed the spirit of
a Raphael. In the same year, he painted
his Belisarius; in 1787, the Death of Soc-
rates; and, in 1788, Paris and Helen.
His reputation was now very great in
Paris; and, having begun to be distin-
guished as a portrait painter also, he
might have enjoyed a tranquil and bril-
liant career, if he had not taken an active
part in the revolution. Seized with an
ardent zeal for liberty, he finished, in
1789, a large painting, representing Brutus
condemning his sons to death. He also
furnished the designs of the numerous
monuments and republican festivals of
that time. In 1792, he was chosen an
elector in Paris; afterwards a deputy in
the national convention; and, during the
reign of terror, he was one of the most
zealous Jacobins, and wholly devoted to
Robespierre. He proposed to erect a
colossal monument of the nation, on the
Pont-Neuf, from the materials of the
king's statue. At the trial of Louis XVI,
he voted for his death. In January, 1794,
he presided in the convention. After the

DAVID--DAVIE.
fall of Robespierre, he was in great
danger, and his reputation as a painter
alone preserved him from the guillotine.
Among the scenes of the revolution which
David strove to immortalize by his pencil,
are the murders of Marat and Lepelletier,
and particularly the oath in the tennis-
court, and the entrance of Louis into the
national assembly, February 4, which,
in 1790, he presented to the legislative
assembly. In 1799, he executed the Rape
of the Sabine Women (the masterpiece
of his genius), from the exhibition of
which he received, as it is said, 100,000
francs. In 1804, the emperor appointed
him his first painter, and directed him to
execute four pieces, among which the Coro-
nation of Napoleon was particularly dis-
tinguished. Among his finest works of
this period were many representations of
the emperor; particularly that in which
the first consul was represented on horse-
back, on mount Bernard, pointing out to
his troops the path to glory. This piece
is now in Berlin. In 1814, David painted
Leonidas, his last painting in Paris. When
Napoleon returned from Elba, he appoint-
ed David a commander of the legion of
honor. After the second restoration of
Louis XVIII, he was included in the
decree which banished all regicides from
France. He then established himself at
Brussels; and, upon the new organization
of the institute, he was excluded from
this body, in April, 1816. In Brussels, he
painted Cupid leaving the arms of Psy-
che. The latest of his productions-Ve-
nus, Cupid and the Graces disarming
Mars-which he finished at Brussels in
1824, was much admired at Paris. David
died in exile, at Brussels, Dec. 29, 1825.
The opinions of the merits of this artist
are various; but the praise of correct
delineation and happy coloring is univer-
sally conceded to him. He found, in the
history of his time, in the commotions of
which he took an active part, the materi-
als of his representations. The engraver
Moreau has immortalized the best of his
works, by his excellent engravings. The
most celebrated of his paintings, as the
Oath of the Horatii and the Rape of the
Sabine Women, have been purchased by
the French government, and placed in
the gallery of the Luxembourg.
DAVIDSON, Lucretia Maria, a remark-
able instance of early genius, was born at
Plattsburg, on lake Champlain, Sept. 27,
1808. When she was only 4 years old, a
number of her little books were found
filled with rude drawings, and accompa-
nied by a number of verses in explanation
131
of them, written in the characters of the
printed alphabet. As her parents were in
straitened circumstances, she was, from an
early age, much employed in domestic
services; but every moment of leisure
was devoted to reading. A tender heart,
a warm sensibility, an ardent and vivid
imagination, an eager desire for knowl-
edge, characterize her earlier effusions;
the later are marked with the melancholy
traces of a wasting frame, and a dejected
spirit feeling the fatal approaches of
death. We know of no instance of so
early, so ardent, and so fatal a pursuit of
intellectual advancement, except in the
cases of Chatterton and Kirke White.
In October, 1824, a gentleman, who was
informed of her ardent desire for educa
tion, placed her at a female seminary,
where her incessant application soon de-
stroyed her constitution, already debilitated
by previous disease. Her letters at this
period exhibit, in a striking manner, the
extremes of despondency and hope.
Gradually sinking under her malady, she
died August 27, 1825, before completing
her 17th year. Her person was singularly
beautiful; her prevailing expression, mel-
ancholy. Her poetical writings, which
have been collected, amount to 278 pieces,
some written at the
some written at the age of nine years; be-
sides which, she destroyed a great number
of her pieces. (See Amir Khan and other
Poems, with a Biographical Sketch, New
York, 1829.)
a
DAVIE, William Richardson, who held
high rank among the revolutionary
worthies of South Carolina, was born in
England, June 20, 1756. He was brought
to America at the age of six years, received
the rudiments of his education in North
Carolina, and was graduated at the college
of Nassau Hall, New Jersey, in the year
1776. He returned to North Carolina,
and commenced the study of the law; but
he soon yielded to the military spirit
which was excited by the war of inde-
pendence. He obtained the command of
a company attached to count Pulaski's
legion, quickly rose in rank, and greatly
distinguished himself by his zeal, courage
and talents as an officer. During the ar-
duous and sanguinary war in the South,
he was constantly useful and energetic,
and a principal favorite of generals Sump-
ter and Greene. At the end of the revo-
lutionary struggle, he devoted himself,
with signal success, to the profession of
the law. In 1787, he was chosen, by the
legislature of South Carolina, to represent
that state in the convention that met in
Philadelphia to frame a federal constitu
132
DAVIE-DAVOUST.

uon. Sickness in his family required his
presence at home before the work was
completed, and, therefore, his name is not
in the list of the signers. In the state
convention in North Carolina, assembled
to accept or reject the instrument, he was
the ablest and most ardent of its advocates.
The establishment of the university of
North Carolina is ascribed to his enlight-
ened zeal for learning. In the year 1799,
he was elected governor of that state, and,
soon after, appointed by president Adams
envoy to France, along with chief-justice
Ellsworth and Mr. Murray. On his re-
turn, he fixed his residence at Tivoli-a
beautiful estate on the Catawba river,
South Carolina. He died at Camden, in
the year 1820. General Davie possessed
a commanding figure, a noble, patriotic
spirit, masculine, ready eloquence, and
rendered a variety of valuable services to
his country.
DAVIES, Samuel, president of Nassau
hall, was born in Delaware, Nov. 3, 1724,
and educated in Pennsylvania for the
Presbyterian ministry. He labored for
some years as a pastor in Virginia, where
Episcopacy was the religion established
and supported by law, and the "act of
uniformity" was enforced with great rigor.
The "act of toleration" had been passed
in England especially for the relief of the
Protestant dissenters; but it was disputed
in Virginia, whether it was intended to
extend to the colonies. Mr. Davies main-
tained that it did, in opposition to the
king's attorney-general, Peyton Randolph,
afterwards the president of the first conti-
nental congress, and in opposition to the
general court of the colony. When he
went to England, to solicit benefactions
for Nassau hall, he obtained a declara-
tion, under authority, that the provisions
of the act of toleration did extend to the
colony of Virginia. Mr. Davies is to be
regarded as the founder of the first pres-
bytery in Virginia. In 1759, he was ap-
pointed president of Nassau hall, but he
died Feb. 4, 1762, in the 36th year of his
age, after holding the office only 18 months.
Doctor Green has written an account of
his life. His 3 volumes of posthumous ser-
mons have passed through many editions,
both in Great Britain and the U. States.
DAVILA, Arrigo Caterino, an Italian
statesman and historian, was born in 1576.
He was the son of a Cypriot of distin-
guished family. His father, who fled to
Venice after the conquest of Cyprus by
the Turks, in 1571, introduced him to the
French court, where he was made page;
he afterwards entered the French service,
in which he highly distinguished himself.
At the desire of his father, he returned
to Italy, in 1599, entered the Venetian
service, gradually rose to the post of gov-
ernor of Dalmatia, Friuli, and the island
of Candia, and was esteemed at Venice
the first man in the republic after the
doge. While travelling, in 1631, on pub-
lic business, he was shot by a man from
whom he demanded carriages to continue
his journey. He is principally celebrated
for his History of the Civil Wars of France,
from 1559 to 1598 (Storia delle Guerre
Civili di Francia, Venice, 1630). This has
been translated into several languages, and
deserves a place near the works of Guicci-
ardini and Machiavelli.
DAVIS, John; an English navigator,
born at Sandridge, in Devonshire. He
went to sea when young, and, in 1585,
was sent with two vessels to discover a
north-west passage. He was unable to
land on the southerly cape of Greeniand.
on account of the ice, and, steering a
north-west course, discovered a country
surrounded with green islands, lat. 64° 15
the inhabitants of which informed him
that there was a great sea to the north and
west. Under lat. 66° 40', he reached a
coast entirely free from ice, the most
southerly point of which he called cape
of God's Mercy. Sailing west, he entered
a strait, from 20 to 30 leagues wide,
where he expected to find the passage;
but, the weather being unfavorable, and
the wind contrary, after six days of unsuc-
cessful effort, he set sail for England.
The strait has since received and retained
his name. Davis made two more voyages
for the same purpose, but was prevented
by the ice from attaining his object, in
the prosecution of which Baffin after-
wards distinguished himself. In 1605, Da-
vis was killed by Japanese pirates in the
Indian seas.
DAVIS'S STRAITS; a narrow sea which
divides Greenland from New Britain, and
unites Baffin's bay with the Atlantic
ocean; lat. 63°-70° N. In the narrowest
part, between cape Dyer and the island
called White-Back, it is 80 leagues wide.
(See Davis.)
DAVIT, in a ship; a long beam of tim-
ber, used as a crane, whereby to hoist the
flukes of the anchor to the top of the bow
without injuring the sides of the vessel as
it ascends-an operation which is called,
by mariners, fishing the anchor.
DAVOUST, Louis Nicolas; duke of Auer-
städt and prince of Eckmühl, marshal
and peer of France; born in 1770, at An-
noux, in the former province of Burgundy
DAVOUST-DAVY.
133

of Wagram, Davoust commanded the
right wing, to the manoeuvres of which
the retreat of the Austrians was mainly
owing. After the peace, Napoleon cre-
ated him prince of Eckmühl, and, in
1811, appointed him governor-general of
the Hanseatic departments In Russia
(1812), his division was defeated on the
retreat from Moscow. In 1813, he com-
manded 50,000 men, French and Danes,
in Mecklenburg; but was soon besieged
in Hamburg, which suffered, at that time,
very severely. Davoust was in a critical
situation, and could support his army only
at the expense of the citizens. He lost,
during the siege, as many as 11,000 men.
In 1814, he published, at Paris, a defence
of himself from the charge of cruelty
towards Hamburg. On the return of Na-
poleon to Paris, in March, 1815, he was
made minister of war. When the allies
advanced to Paris, after the battle of Wa-
terloo, Davoust, as commander-in-chief,
concluded a military convention with
Blücher and Wellington, in compliance
with which he led the French army be-
yond the Loire. He submitted to Louis
XVIII, exhorting the army to follow his
example, and, in obedience to an order of
the king, surrendered the command to
marshal Macdonald.
Bonaparte marshal Macdonald. For this service,
he was afterwards employed by the court.
Davoust died June 1, 1823. Firmness of
character, personal bravery, and a military
rigor often approaching to cruelty, were
his characteristics. Davoust left two
daughters, and a son of 30 years of age,
who inherited the rank of a peer.
He was of a noble family, and studied at
the same time with Bonaparte, in the
military school at Brienne. He distin-
guished himself under Dumouriez, in the
battles of Jemappe and Neerwinden.
When Dumouriez, after the battle of
Neerwinden, treated with Coburg, Da-
voust conceived the bold design of seizing
the former in the midst of his army, and
nearly succeeded in the attempt. In June,
1793, he was made general; but the de-
cree, which removed the ex-nobles from
the service, deprived him of his command.
The 9th Thermidor restored him to the
army. He was present at the siege of
Luxembourg, and afterwards on the
Rhine, under Pichegru. He was taken
prisoner in Manheim, but was soon ex-
changed, and distinguished himself in
1797, at the passage of the Rhine, by his
prudence and courage. In the Italian
campaigns, under Bonaparte, he became
zealously attached to that general. He
accompanied him to Egypt, where he dis-
tinguished himself by his intrepidity. It
was he who, after the battle of Aboukir,
attacked and conquered the village. He
embarked for France from Alexandria,
with Desaix, after the convention of El-
Arish. They were captured by an Eng-
lish frigate, near the Hières. Bonaparte
afterwards gave him the chief command
of the cavalry in the army of Italy. After
the battle of Marengo, he was made chief
of the grenadiers of the consular guard,
which, from this battle, was called the
granite columns. When Napoleon ascend-
ed the throne (1804), he created Davoust
marshal of the empire, grand cross of the
legion of honor, and colonel-general of
the imperial guard of grenadiers. In the
campaign of 1805, he showed himself
worthy of his appointment, particularly at
the battle of Austerlitz, where he com-
manded the right wing of the army. In
1806, he marched at the head of his corps
into Saxony, and, at Auerstädt, where he
commanded the right wing, contributed
so much to the success of the day, by his
skilful manœuvres, that Napoleon created
him duke of Auerstädt. After the peace
of Tilsit, he was made commander-in-
chief of the army of the Rhine. In the
war of 1809 against Austria, his marches
through the Upper Palatinate, and the en-
gagement at Ratisbon, were hazardous
enterprises. He had an important share
in the victory at Eckmühl. In the battle
of Aspern, only one of his four divisions
was engaged, the greatest part of which,
with its general, St. Hilaire, perished on
the left bank of the Danube. In the battle
VOL. IV
12
DAVY, sir Humphrey, bart., one of the
most distinguished chemists of the age,
was born at Penzance (Cornwall), Dec.
17, 1779. After having received the rudi-
ments of a classical education, he was
placed with a surgeon and apothecary,
who pronounced him an "idle and incor-
rigible boy." He had, however, already
distinguished himself at school, and a
taste for chemistry, which he displayed in
some experiments on the air contained in
sea-weed, attracted the attention of Mr.
Gilbert (now president of the royal soci-
ety), and doctor Beddoes. The latter
who had just established a pneumatical in-
stitution at Bristol, offered him the place of
assistant in his laboratory. Here Davy dis-
covered the respirability and exhilarating
effect of the nitrous oxide. He published
the results of his experiments, under the
title of Chemical and Philosophical Re
searches, &c. (London, 1800). This work
immediately obtained him the place of
professor of chemistry in the royal institu

134
DAVY-DAY.
tion, at the age of 22. In 1803, he was
chosen a member of the royal society.
His lectures at the royal institution were
attended by crowded and brilliant audi-
ences, attracted by the novelty and variety
of his experiments, the eloquence of his
manner, and the clearness of his exposi-
tion. His discoveries with the galvanic
battery, his decomposition of the earths
and alkalies, and ascertaining their metallic
bases, his demonstration of the simple na-
ture of the oxymuriatic acid (to which
he gave the name of chlorine), &c., obtain-
ed him an extensive reputation; and, in
1810, he received the prize of the French
institute. In 1814, he was elected a cor-
responding member of that body. Hav-
ing been elected professor of chemistry to
the board of agriculture, he delivered lec-
tures on agricultural chemistry during 10
successive years, and, in 1813, published
his valuable Elements of Agricultural
Chemistry. His next discovery was of no
less importance to humanity than his for-
mer researches had been valuable to sci-
ence. The numerous accidents arising
from fire-damp in mines led him to enter
upon a series of experiments on the nature
of the explosive gas, the result of which
was the invention of his safety-lamp.
(See Damps.) In 1818 and 1819, he visit-
ed Italy, and made some unsuccessful
attempts to unrol the Herculanean man-
uscripts. In 1820, he succeeded sir J.
Banks as president of the royal society.
In 1824, he visited Norway for the pur-
pose of making some scientific investi-
gations. On this voyage, he proved the
efficacy of his plan for preserving the
copper of ships, by covering it in part with
a certain quantity of iron. At the same
time, the trigonometrical measurements of
Denmark and Hanover were connected,
under his direction, by chronometrical ob-
servations, with the measurements in
England. This distinguished philosopher
died May 29, 1829, at Geneva, whither he
had gone for the benefit of his health. Be-
sides the works already mentioned, the most
important are Electro-Chemical Research-
es; Elements of Chemical Philosophy (vol.
1, 1802); Bakerian Lectures (1807-1811);
Researches on the Oxymuriatic Acid
(1810); On the Fire-Damp (1816). He
also contributed some valuable papers to
the Philosophical Transactions, and the
journals of Nicholson and Tilloch.
DAY, properly speaking, is the time of a
revolution of the earth round its axis (si-
dereal day, see Sidereal Time), or the time
between two passages of the centre of the
sun through the same meridian (solar day,
see Solar Time)-a time a little differing
from the one first mentioned. In common
parlance, day is opposed to night, and sig-
nifies the time between sunrise and sun-
set, or the time during which the sun
remains above the horizon. This is called
the natural day. Thus we have three dif-
ferent days-the natural, the astronomical
(reckoned from one culmination to anoth-
er, or from one noon to another), and the
civil day (which is reckoned from mid-
night to midnight). The 24 hours of the
astronomical day are numbered in succes-
sion from 1 to 24, whilst the civil day, in
most countries, is divided into two por-
tions, of 12 hours each. The first hour,
therefore, after midnight, which is one
o'clock A. M. of the civil day, makes the
13th hour of the astronomical day, and
the first hour of the astronomical day is
one o'clock, P. M. of the civil day. The
abbreviations P. M. and A. M. (the first
signifying post meridiem, Latin for after-
noon; the latter, ante meridiem, forenoon) are
requisite, in consequence of our division
of the day into two periods of 12 hours
each. In this respect, the mode of num-
bering the hours from 1 to 24 consecutive-
ly has an advantage. If we take a day ac-
cording to the first definition given of it, its
length, of course, is the same throughout
the year. According to the second defini-
tion, however, the day, in consequence of
the different rapidity of the earth in its
orbit, is different at different times, and this
difference is uniform throughout the earth;
but the time of the natural day is different
at the different points of the earth, accord-
ing to their distance from the equator. The
daily apparent revolution of the sun takes
place in circles parallel to the equator.
If the equator and ecliptic coincided, the
circle bounding light and darkness would
always divide, not merely the equator, but
all its parallels, into two equal parts, and
the days and nights would be equal in all
the parallels through the year; but at the
poles, there would be no night. Owing to
the inclination of the earth's axis to the
plane of its orbit (the ecliptic), the parallel
of latitude in which the sun appears to
move is continually changing; and, there-
fore, the equator alone (being a great cir-
cle) always remains bisected by the circle
French mode, because the French introduced it
*In Italy, the latter division is called the
into that country during the wars of the revolu-
tion; but the people in the south of Italy still ad-
here to the old division of the day into 24 hours,
beginning always at sunset; so that one o'clock is
one hour after sunset, or, as the bells are tolled at
sunset, to summon the people to prayer, one hour
after Ave Maria. (q. v.)
DAY-DEACON.
dividing light from darkness; so that the
days and nights here are always equal;
while the parallels of latitude, not being
great circles, are not equally divided by
the circle separating light from dark-
ness, except at the time of the equinox,
when the sun is moving in the equa-
tor; and, of course, at this time only are
the days and nights equal in those par-
allels. As you approach the poles, the
inequality between the days and nights
becomes continually greater, till, at the
poles themselves, a day of six months
alternates with a night of equal duration.
The most distant parallel circles which
the sun describes north and south from
the equator are, as is well known, only
23° from it. The distance between the
polar circles and the poles is the same.
Therefore, as a little reflection will show,
when the sun is in one of the tropics, all
the polar circle in the same hemisphere
will be within the illuminated region (be-
cause it will be within 90° of the sun)
during the whole of a diurnal revolution,
while the other polar circle will be in
the region of darkness. These circles,
therefore, have one day of 24 hours, and
one night of the same length, in each
year. From the polar circles to the poles,
the time of the longest day increases fast,
and, in the same measure, the length of
the longest night. Notwithstanding the
inequality of the periods of light and
darkness in the different parts of the earth,
each portion of the earth's surface has the
sun above its horizon, every year, precisely
six months, and below it the same length
of time. (For information on the common
way of computing time, see Solar Time;
see also Sidereal Time.)
DAY, Thomas, an ingenious writer, of a
benevolent, independent, but eccentric
spirit, was born at London, in 1748. His
father, who was a collector of the cus-
toms, died whilst he was an infant, leav-
ing him a considerable fortune. He was
educated at the charter-house and at Ox-
ford. In 1765, he was called to the bar.
With a view to study mankind, he resid-
ed in various parts of the continent, and,
having been disappointed in an early af-
fection, took under his protection two
founding girls, with a view of educating
them on a principle of his own, in order
to make one of them his wife. His plan,
which was kindred in spirit to some of
the reveries of Rousseau, utterly failed, al-
though both of the females turned out de-
serving women. He gave them small
portions, and eligibly united them to re-
spectable tradesmen. In 1778, he mar-
135

ried miss Esther Milnes, a lady of a highly
cultivated understanding. His principles
led him to renounce most of the indul-
gences of a man of fortune, that he might
bestow his superfluities upon those who
wanted necessaries; and he also express-
ed a great contempt for forms and artifi-
cial restraint of all kinds. He wrote sev-
eral pieces, in prose and verse, on the
struggle with America, also other political
pamphlets of temporary interest, but final-
ly dedicated himself to the composition of
books for youth, of which the well-known
work entitled Sandford and Merton is an
able specimen, although it partakes too
much of the theoretical spirit of Rousseau
for general application. Mr. Day at length
became a victim to his enthusiastic benev-
olence, being killed by a fall from a young
horse, which he would not allow to be
trained in the usual manner, Sept. 28,
1789.
DAYS OF GRACE are days allowed for
the payment of a promissory note or bill
of exchange after it becomes due. The
time varies in different countries. (See
Bill of Exchange.)
DEACON (diaconus, from the Greek dia-
Kovos); a person who belongs to the infe-
rior order of ministers in the Christian
church. Seven were first instituted by
the apostles (Acts, chap. vi), which num-
ber was retained a long time in several
churches. Their duty was to serve in the
agape (q. v.), to distribute the bread and
wine to the communicants, and to dis-
pense alms. The office of the deacons,
at first, merely concerned things temporal.
Soon after the apostolic age, or perhaps
sooner, the deacons were admitted to as-
sist in the inferior parts of the church
service.-Deacon, in the Roman Catholic
church, is an inferior ecclesiastic, the sec-
ond of the sacred orders. He serves at
the altar, in the celebration of the holy
mysteries. He is also allowed to baptize
and to preach with the permission of the
bishop. Formerly, deacons were allowed
to marry, but this was prohibited to them
very early; and at present the pope dis-
penses with this prohibition only for very
important reasons. In such cases, they
re-enter the condition of laymen. There
are 18 cardinal-deacons, so called, in Rome,
who have the charge of the temporal in-
terests and the revenues of the church.
A person, to be consecrated deacon, must
be 23 years old.-In the English church,
deacons are also ecclesiastics, who can
perform all the offices of a priest, except
the consecration of the elements of the
Lord's supper, and the pronouncing of ab-
136
DEACON-DEAD SEA.

solution. In this church, also, no person
can be ordained deacon before he is 23
years old, except by dispensation from the
archbishop of Canterbury. The office of
deacons, in Presbyterian and Independ-
ent churches, is to distribute the bread
and wine to communicants. In the latter,
they are elected by the members of the
church. In Scotland, this name is given
to overseers of the poor and masters of in-
corporated companies. In German Prot-
estant churches, the assistant ministers are
generally called deacons. If there are two
assistant ministers, the first of them is
called archdeacon.
DEACONESS. This name was given to
women, in the early church, who conse-
crated themselves to the service of the
church, and rendered those offices to fe-
males which could not be decently per-
formed by men. They also had the care
of the poor, the sick, &c.
DEAD-EYE, OF DEAD MAN'S EYE; a sort
of round, flattish, wooden block, encircled
with a rope, or with an iron band, and
pierced with three holes through the flat
part, in order to receive a rope called the
laniard, which, corresponding with three
holes in another dead-eye, creates a pur-
chase, employed for various uses, but
chiefly to extend the shrouds and stays,
otherwise called the standing rigging.
DEAD RECKONING; the judgment or es-
timation which is made of the place
where a ship is situated, without any ob-
servation of the heavenly bodies. It is
obtained by keeping an account of the
distance which the ship has run by the
log, and of her course steered by the com-
pass, and by rectifying these data by the
usual allowances for drift, lee-way, &c.,
according to the ship's known trim. This
reckoning is, however, always to be cor-
rected as often as any good observation
of the sun can be obtained.
DEAD ROPES are those which do not
run in any block.
DEAD SEA, or ASPHALTITES, i. e. the
lake of Bitumen; anciently called, also, the
sea of Sodom, Salt sea, and lake Sirbon,
and now, by the Arabs, Bahheret-Laut, i. e.
the sea of Lot; a lake in Palestine, about
60 or 70 miles long from N. to S., and 10
or 15 wide; according to Mariti, 180 miles
in circuit; but its dimensions are stated
with considerable diversity. It is border-
ed on the E. by lofty hills, having rugged
and frightful precipices; on the N. by the
plain of Jericho, through which it re-
ceives the river Jordan. Other streams
flow into it; but it has no visible outlet.
Copious evaporation, caused by the sub-
terraneous heat, supplies the place of one.
The water is clear and limpid, uncom-
monly salt, and even bitter, and of greater
specific gravity than any other hitherto
discovered. The proportion of the weight
of the salts held in solution to the whole
weight of the water varies, according to
different experiments by chemical analy-
sis, from 25 to nearly 50 per cent. This
very great portion of saline matter
explains the difficulty of diving in this
lake, and the sluggish motion of the
waves, comparatively undisturbed by the
wind. From the depths of the lake rises
asphaltum or mineral pitch, or, as the
Germans call it, Jew pitch, which is melt-
ed by the heat of the bottom of the lake,
and again condensed by the water, and
of which Seetzen tells us that there are
pieces large enough for camel loads. Ac-
cording to the same traveller, it is porous,
and is thrown out only in stormy weather.
There is also another kind of pitch, dug
on the shore, where it is found mixed
with small pieces of salt, pebbles and
earth. It is used, purified, for the anti-
dote called theriaca. The whole northern
shore of the lake appears to be covered
with this substance, called anotanon. As
phaltum is used for theriaca, for embalm-
ing, calking, sculpture, and the coloring
of wool, and therefore is an important ar-
ticle of commerce. The limestone im-
pregnated with bitumen, and in which the
inflammable substance is so concealed,
that it can be brought out only by rubbing,
can be heated so as to glow like a coal
without being consumed, and has been
used for amulets since ancient times. A
great part of those found in the catacombs
at Sakkarah are made of this substance;
and large quantities of rosaries are yearly
prepared from it in Jerusalem. Accord-
ing to the Scriptures, the beautiful valley
of Siddim, with Sodom, Gomorrah, and
other places, were buried here by a vol-
canic eruption. The immediate vicinity
is destitute of vegetation, dull, cheerless,
and inanimate; hence, probably, its name
of Dead sea. Among the absurd fables
formerly circulated respecting this sea, it
was affirmed, that the pestiferous vapors
hovering over it were fatal to birds at-
tempting to fly across. But this is con-
tradicted by various recent travellers.
Clarke says, "the lake swarms with
fishes, shells abound on its shores, and
its exhalations are most insalubrious."
Madden, however, who visited it in 1827,
says, "the waters appeared to him to
contain no fish." He also says, "the sa-
line matter in the lake is 19.25 per cent."

DEAF AND DUMB-DEATH.
DEAF AND DUMB. (See Dumb.)
DEAL. (See Pine.)
DEAN; a corruption from decanus, Latin,
from decem, ten, because a decanus com-
manded ten men, as the centurio did a
hundred. This word, however, has ac-
quired a much more extended meaning.
Dean is, in England, a dignitary in most
cathedral and collegiate churches, being
usually the president of the chapter. He
is called so because supposed to preside
over ten canons or prebendaries at least.
Dean is also a title given in England to
several heads of peculiar churches or
chapters, as, the dean of the king's chapel.
Deans of colleges are, in English univer-
sities, officers appointed to superintend
the behavior of the members, and to en-
force discipline.-Rural deans, or urban
deans, were, in the early ages of the
church, ecclesiastics who presided over ten
churches or parishes, either in the coun-
try or city within which they exercised
jurisdiction. The French corruption of
decanus is doyen, and has no ecclesiastical
meaning. Doyen d'âge is the eldest of a
society. In the chamber of deputies,
the doyen d'âge presides until the cham-
ber is regularly organized. In the acade-
my of sciences, there are doyens in the
different divisions.-In Germany, the head
of each of the faculties of law, theology,
medicine and philosophy, in the univer-
sities, is called decanus, and is changed,
like the rector of the university, annually.
DEATH, in common language, is oppos-
ed to life, and considered as the cessation
of it. It is only, however, the organic life
of the individual which becomes extinct;
for neither the mind nor the matter which
constituted that individual can perish.
That view of nature which considers the
whole as pervaded throughout by the
breath of life, admits only of changes
from one mode of existence to another.
This change, which is called death, does
not take place so quickly as is generally
believed. It is usually preceded and
caused by disease or the natural decay of
old age. The state called death takes
place suddenly only when the heart or the
brain is injured in certain parts. Prob-
ably the brain and the heart are the parts
from which, properly speaking, death pro-
ceeds; but, as the cessation of their func-
tions is not so obvious as the cessation of
the breath, which depends on them, the
latter event is generally considered as
indicating the moment when death takes
place. In the organs of sense and mo-
tion, the consequences of death first be-
come apparent; the muscles become
137
stiff; coldness and paleness spread over
the whole body; the eye loses its bright-
ness, the flesh its elasticity; yet it is not
perfectly safe to conclude, from these cir-
cumstances, that death has taken place, in
any given case, because experience shows
that there may be a state of the body in
which all these circumstances may con-
cur, without the extinction of life. This
state is called asphyxia. (q. v.) The com-
mencement of putrefaction, in ordinary
cases, affords the first certain evidence of
death. This begins in the bowels and
genitals, which swell, become soft and
loose, and change color; the skin, also,
begins to change, and becomes red in
various places; blisters show themselves;
the blood becomes more fluid, and dis-
charges itself from the mouth, nose, eyes,
ears and anus. By degrees, also, the
other parts are decomposed, and, last of
all, the teeth and bones. In the begin-
ning of decomposition, azote and ammo-
nia are produced: in the progress of it,
hydrogen, compounded with carbon, sul-
phur and phosphorus, is the prevailing
product, which causes an offensive smell,
and the light which is sometimes ob-
served about putrefying bodies. At last,
only carbonic acid gas is produced, and
the putrefying body then smells like earth
newly dug. A fat, greasy earth remains,
and a slimy, soap-like substance, which
mixes with the ground, and contributes,
with the preceding decompositions, to the
fertility of it. Even in these remains of
organized existence, organic life is not
entirely extinct; and they contribute to
produce new vegetable and animal struc-
tures. Putrefaction is much influenced
by external circumstances, particularly air,
heat, and water. When the body is pro-
tected from the action of such agents, it
changes into adipocire (q. v.); but this
process requires a much longer time than
common putrefaction. In very dry situa-
tions, the body is converted into a mum-
my, in which state bodies are found in the
arid deserts of Africa, and on the moun-
tains in Peru. Some vaults are remark-
able for preserving corpses from putrefac-
tion. It is well known to every reader,
that particular substances counteract pu
trefaction; for instance, those used in tan-
ning, and in embalming mummies.
Death, Agony of, is the state which im-
mediately precedes death, and in which
life and death are considered as strug-
gling with each other. This state differs
according to the cause producing it.
Sometimes it is a complete exhaustion;
sometimes a violent struggle, and very ir-
12*
138
100 DEATH-DEATH, CIVIL.

regular activity, which, at last, after a death, however, it not unfrequently hap-
short pause, terminates in death. In pens that the countenance regains its most
some cases, consciousness is extinguished natural expression, and the saying is com-
long before death arrives; in other cases, mon-"How natural, how like himself!"
it continues during the whole period, and The mind seems for a moment to have
terminates only with life. The person in regained its influence over what it has
this condition has already somewhat the so long informed, and to shed over the
appearance of a corpse; the face is pale countenance its most beautiful light, to
and sallow, the eyes are sunken, the skin cheer the hearts of the friends who have
of the forehead is tense, the nose pointed witnessed the distortion of death, and af-
and white, the ears are relaxed, and the ford an earnest of its own immortality.
temples fallen in; a clammy sweat cov-
ers the forehead and the extremities, the
alvine discharges and that of the urine
take place involuntarily, the respiration
becomes rattling, interrupted, and, at
length, ceases entirely. At this moment,
death is considered to take place. This
state is of very different length; some-
times continuing for minutes only, some-
times for days. When the patient is in
this condition, nothing should be attempt-
ed but to comfort and soothe him by
prayer, by consoling assurances, by direct-
ing his attention to his speedy union with
departed friends, by presenting him the
crucifix, if he be a Catholic, or allowing
him to put on the gown of a religious or-
der, if he thinks it will contribute to his
salvation; but a dying fellow creature
should not be disturbed in relation to his
particular mode of belief, at a moment
when he has hardly sufficient strength to
collect all the ideas which have been long
familiar to him. The writer once saw a
dying Mohammedan (an Albanian) suffer-
ing from the mistimed zeal of a Greek
priest, who was near him, holding a cruci-
fix to his mouth, and conjuring him to
kiss it. The Mohammedan was evidently
tormented, particularly as he was unable
to resist. The writer begged the priest to
leave him, and then tried to comfort the
dying man, by presenting ideas and con-
ceptions with which he was familiar, and
a smile from his pale lips showed that the
words were not entirely in vain. Re-
markable statements are sometimes made
by dying persons, in the intervals of the
final struggle, that they have heard heav-
enly music, or seen departed friends, and
can now die quietly. As long as the dying
person is able to swallow, wine or other
cordials may be given from time to time.
It is a grateful duty to minister to the
sufferings of those we love; and, where
there is no hope, these offices have the ad-
ditional interest that they are the latest
we can pay. We have described how
the violent struggle preceding death mani-
fests itself, particularly on the human
face, that tablet of all expression. After
DEATH, CIVIL, is the entire loss of civil
rights. If a person is civilly dead, his
marriage is considered dissolved; he can-
not inherit nor bequeath; his testament
is opened, and his property distributed
among his heirs; he cannot bear witness,
&c. If he is required to do certain legal
acts, he must do them through a guardian.
Formerly, when the German empire was
still in existence, a person put under the
ban of the empire (Achtserklärung) became
civilly dead, and was declared out of the
protection of the law (corresponding, in a
civil point of view, to Catholic excommu-
nication, in regard to a man's religious
rights). The ban went so far as to de-
clare the outlaw vogelfrei (free as a bird),
which meant that any body might even
kill him, without notice being taken of it
by law. But civil death was not received
into the German law in other respects, and
therefore, has not existed since the abo-
lition of the empire. Most countries allow
a person sentenced to death to make a will,
except in particular cases, in which confis-
cation is part of the punishment. In France,
however, the institution of civil death still
exists (Code Napoléon, a. 22; Code Pénal,
a. 18), and takes effect in the case of every
one who is sentenced to death, to the gal-
leys for life (travaux forcés), or to deporta-
tion, even if the person is convicted in
contumacia, that is, in default of appear-
ance on a legal summons. In England, a
person outlawed (see Outlawry) on an in-
dictment for treason or felony, is consid-
ered to be civilly dead (civiliter mortuus),
being, in such case, considered to be
guilty of the offence with which he is
charged, as much as if a verdict had been
found against him. Anciently, an out-
lawed felon was said to have a wolf's
head (caput lupinum), and might be knock-
ed on the head by any one that should
meet him. The outlawry was decreed,
in case the accused did not appear, on
being summoned with certain forms, a
certain number of times, and in different
counties, to appear and answer to the
indictment; so that the case is the same
as the French laws denominate contumacy,
30 TDEATH, CIVIL-DEATH, IN MYTHOLOGY. A
In such case, under an indictment for
crimes of either of these descriptions, he
was considered as having renounced all
law, and was to be dealt with as in a state
of nature, when every one who found
him might slay him. But, in modern
times, it has been held that no man is
entitled to kill him wantonly and wilfully,
but in so doing is guilty of murder, unless
it be in endeavoring to apprehend him;
for any one may arrest him, on a criminal
prosecution, "either of his own head," or
on writ or warrant, in order to bring him
to execution. So a person banished the
realm or transported for life, as a punish-
ment for crime, forfeits all his civil rights
as much as if he were dead. His wife
may marry again, and his estate will be
administered upon as if he were deceased.
A will made by such a person, after incur-
ring this civil disability, is void; and so are
all acts done by him in the exercise of any
civil right. The statutes of New York
provide that a convict sentenced to the
state's prison for life shall be considered
as thereby becoming civilly dead. All
suits to which he is a party will, accord-
ingly, abate, as in case of his natural
decease (2 Johns. Ca. 408), and his wife
may marry again, his estate be adminis-
tered upon, and his heirs will succeed to
the inheritance; and, though he may be
afterwards pardoned, this will not defeat
the proceedings which took place during
his civil disability (4 Johnson's Reports,
232). The statutes passed in some of the
United States against conspirators and
absentees, at the commencement of the
revolution, stripped them of all civil rights,
and provided that their estates should be
confiscated, or partly confiscated, to the
state, and in part applied to the support
of dependent relatives, or assigned to the
wife as dower. These statutes were of a
temporary and occasional character, and
their operation has ceased with the occa-
sion which gave rise to them.
DEATH, in mythology. The representa-
tion of death, among nations in their ear-
lier stages, depends upon the ideas which
they form of the state of man after this
life, and of the disposition of their gods
towards mankind. In this respect, the
study of these representations is very in-
teresting. Of later ages the same cannot
be said, because imitations of representa-
tions previously adopted are very often
the subjects of the plastic arts in such pe-
riods. However, these representations do
not altogether depend on the causes above
mentioned, as the general disposition of a
nation (for instance, that of the Greeks,
139

who beautified every object) has also a
great influence upon them; and it is re-
markable that the Greeks, whose concep-
tions of an after-life were so gloomy, rep-
resented death as a pleasing, gentle being,
a beautiful youth, whilst the Christians,
whose religion teaches them to consider
death as a release from bondage, a change
from misery to happiness, give him the
most frightful, and even disgusting shape.
One reason of this may be, that the call
to repentance is a prominent feature in
the Christian religion; and to arm death
with terrors may have been supposed to
give weight to the summons.
The Greeks had many gods of death,
the кnpes and Oavaros; the former were the
goddesses of fate, like the Valkyria in the
Northern mythology. Untimely deaths,
in particular, were ascribed to them; the
latter, Oavaros, represented natural death.
According to Homer, Sleep and Death are
twins, and Hesiod calls them the sons of
Night. They are often portrayed together
on cameos, &c. During the most flour-
ishing period of the arts, Death was repre-
sented on tombs as a friendly genius, with
an inverted torch, and holding a wreath
in his hand; or as a sleeping child, winged,
with an inverted torch resting on his
wreath. Sleep was represented in the
same manner, except that the torch and
the wreath were omitted. According to
an idea originating in the East, death in
the bloom of youth was attributed to the
attachment of some particular deity, who
snatched his favorite to a better world. It
was ascribed, for instance, to Jupiter, or to
his eagle, if the death was occasioned by
lightning, as in the case of Ganymede;
to the nymphs, if the individual was
drowned, as in the case of Hylas; to Au-
rora, if the death happened in the morn-
ing; to Selene, if at night (Cephalus and
Endymion), &c. These representations
were more adapted to relieve the minds
of surviving friends, than the pictures of
horror drawn by later poets and artists.
(See the classical treatises of Lessing,
Sämmtl. Schriften, vol. 10, and Herder's
Wie die Alten den Tod gebildet.) Euripides,
in his Alcestis, even introduced Death on
the stage, in a black robe, with a steel
instrument in his hand, to cut off the hair
of his victims, and thus devote them to the
infernal gods. The later Roman poets rep-
resent Death under more horrible forms,
gnashing his teeth, and marking his vic-
tims with bloody nails, a monster over-
shadowing whole fields of battle. The
Hebrews, likewise, had a fearful angel of
death, called Samael, and prince of the
140
DEATH, IN MYTHOLOGY--DEATH, PUNISHMENT OF.

world, and coinciding with the devil; but
he removes with a kiss those who die in
early youth. Enoch was taken up to
heaven alive. The disgusting representa-
tions of Death common among Christians,
originated in the 14th century; for the
representation of Death as a skeleton
merely covered with skin, on the monu-
ment at Cumæ, was only an exception to
the figure commonly ascribed to him
among the ancients. In recent times,
Death has again been represented as a
beautiful youth-certainly a more Christian
image than the skeleton with the sithe.
The monument made by Canova, which
George IV erected in honor of the Stuarts,
in St. Peter's church at Rome, represents
Death as a beautiful youth. He is some-
times portrayed under the figure of a
dying lion.
DEATH, DANCE OF; an allegorical pic-
ture, in which are represented the various
figures and appearances of death in the
different relations of life, as a dance
where Death takes the lead. The idea of
such a dance appears to be originally Ger-
man, and to belong to poetry. In later
times, it was used, also, in England and
France, by poets and artists. The French
have such a dance-La Danse Macabre-
derived, it is said, from a poet called Mac-
aber, but little known. A dance of Death
was painted on the walls of the church-
yard of the Innocents, at Paris, about the
middle of the 15th century, which the
chapter of St. Paul's, in London, caused to
be copied, to adorn the walls of its monas-
tery. Gabriel Peignot, in the Recherches
sur les Danses des Morts et sur l'Origine
des Cartes à jouer (Dijon and Paris, 1826),
investigated the origin of the dance of
Death in France, and thus explained the
dancing positions of the skeletons; that,
according to the relations of old chronicles,
those who were attacked by the plague
ran from their houses, making violent
efforts to restore their rapidly-declining
strength by all kinds of morbid move-
ments. Others derive the origin of this rep-
resentation from the masquerade. These
dances are often found painted on the walls
of Catholic burial-places. The most re-
markable dance of Death was painted, in
fresco, on the walls of the church-yard, in
the suburb of St. John, at Basle, which
was injured, in early times, by being
washed over, and is now entirely de-
stroyed. This piece has been ascribed to
the celebrated Hans Holbein; but it has
long since been proved that it existed 60
years before his birth. It was painted at
Basle. in the year 1431, by an unknown
artist, in commemoration of the plague,
which prevailed there at that time; the
council was then sitting, and several of its
members were carried off by it. It repre-
sented Death as summoning to the dance
persons of all ranks, from the pope and
the emperor down to the beggar, which
was explained by edifying rhymes. That
piece contained about 60 figures as large
as life. Besides being ascribed to Hol-
bein, as was before stated, it has also been
ascribed to a painter named Glauber, but
without foundation. Holbein perhaps
conceived, from this picture, the idea of
his dance of Death, the original drawings
of which are in the cabinet of the empress
of Russia, Catharine II. Some say that
Holbein himself made the wood-cuts of it.
The latest engravings of this picture of
Holbein are in 33 plates, in the Euvres de
Jean Holbein, par Chr. de Meckel (1st voi-
ume, Basil, 1780). Similar representa-
tions were painted, in the 15th century, in
other cities of Switzerland. (See Müller's
Geschichte der Schweizer-History of Swit-
zerland-4 vols.) The dance of Death in
St. Mary's church at Lübeck, was complet-
ed in 1463. On the walls of the church-
yard of the Neustädt of Dresden, there is,
even at the present time, to be seen a
similar dance of Death. It consists of 27
basso-relievo figures, worked on sand-stone,
and includes persons of both sexes, and of
all ranks. The labor of the sculptor has
more merit than the unpoetical rhymes
which were afterwards added. (See Fio-
rillo's Geschichte der zeichnenden Künste in
Deutschland und den Niederlanden, 4 vol-
umes.)
DEATH, PUNISHMENT OF. The ques-
tions most commonly discussed by philos-
ophers and jurists under this head are,
1. as to the right of governments to inflict
the punishment of death; 2. as to the
expediency of such punishment; 3. as
to the crimes to which, if any, it may be
most properly confined and limited; 4.
as to the manner in which it should be
inflicted. A few words will be said on
each of these points.
1. As to the right of inflicting the pun-
ishment of death. This has been doubted
by some distinguished persons; and the
doubt is often the accompaniment of a
highly cultivated mind, inclined to the
indulgence of a romantic sensibility, and
believing in human perfectibility. The
right of society to punish offences against
its safety and good order will scarcely be
doubted by any considerate person. In a
state of nature, individuals have a right to
guard themselves from injury, and to
DEATH, PUNISHMENT OF.
repel all aggressions by a force or precaution
adequate to the object. This results from
the right of self-preservation. If a person
attempts to take away my life, I have,
doubtless, a right to protect myself against
the attempt by all reasonable means. If I
cannot secure myself but by taking the
life of the assailant, I have a right to take
it. It would otherwise follow, that I
must submit to a wrong, and lose my
life, rather than preserve it by the means
adequate to maintain it. It cannot, then,
be denied that, in a state of nature, men
may repel force by force, and may even
justly take away life, if necessary to pre-
serve their own. When men enter socie-
ty, the right to protect themselves from
injury and to redress wrongs is transfer-
red, generally, from the individuals to the
community. We say that it is generally
so, because it must be obvious that, in
many cases, the natural right of self-de-
fence must remain. If a robber attacks
one on the highway, or attempts to mur-
der him, it is clear that he has a right to
repel the assault, and to take the life of the
assailant, if necessary for his safety; since
society, in such a case, could not afford
him any adequate and prompt redress.
The necessity of instant relief, and of
instant application of force, justifies the
act, and is recognised in all civilized com-
munities. When the right of society is
once admitted to punish for offences, it
seems difficult to assign any limits to the
exercise of that right, short of what the
exigencies of society require. If a state
have a right to protect itself and its citizens
in the enjoyment of its privileges and its
peace, it must have a right to apply means
adequate to this object. The object of
human punishments is, or may be, three-
fold; first, to reform the offender; sec-
ondly, to deter others from offending;
and, lastly, to secure the safety of the com-
munity, by depriving the offender of the
power of doing mischief. The first
consideration rarely enters into human
legislation, because of the inadequacy of
our means to produce great moral results
by the infliction of punishment. The
two latter considerations enter largely in-
to the theory and practice of legislation.
Who is to be the judge, in such cases,
what is the adequate punishment for any
offence? Certainly, punishments ought
not to be inflicted, which are utterly dis-
proportionate to the offence, and beyond
the exigencies of society. No govern-
ment has a right to punish cruelly and
wantonly, and from mere revenge; but,
still, the discretion must be vested some-
141

where, to say what shall be the degree of
punishment to be assigned to a particular
offence. That discretion must be, from
its nature, justly a part of the legislative
power, and to be exercised according to
the actual state of society. It may, nay, it
must be differently exercised in different
ages, and in different countries; for the
same punishment which, in one age or
country, may be sufficient to suppress an
offence, or render it comparatively harm-
less, may, in another age or country,
wholly fail of the effect. If mild punish-
ments fail of effect, more severe must be
resorted to, if the offence be of a nature
which affects society in its vital principles,
or safety, or interests. The very frequen-
cy of a crime must often furnish a very
strong ground for severe punishment, not
only as it furnishes proof that the present
punishment is insufficient to deter men
from committing it, but from the increas-
ed necessity of protecting society against
dangerous crimes. But it is often said,
that life is the gift of God, and therefore
it cannot justly be taken away, either by
the party himself, or another. If he can-
not take it away, he cannot confer that
power on others. But the fallacy of this
argument is obvious. Life is no more the
gift of God than other personal endow-
ments or rights. A man has, by the gift of
God, a right to personal liberty and locomo-
tion, as well as to life; to eat and drink
and breathe at large, as well as to exist;
yet no one doubts that, by way of punish-
ment, he may be confined in a solitary
cell; that he may be perpetually impris-
oned or deprived of free air, or compelled
to live on bread and water. In short, no
one doubts that he may be restrained in
the exercise of any privileges or natural
rights short of taking his life. Yet the
reasoning, if worth any thing, extends to
all these cases in an equal degree. If, by
his crimes, a man may justly forfeit his
personal rights, why not his life? But we
have seen that it is not true, even in a
state of nature, that a man's life may not
be taken away by another, if the necessity
of the case requires it. Why, then, may
not society do the same, if its own safety
requires it? Is the safety of one person
more important than the safety of the
whole community? Then, again, as to a
man's inability to confer on others a right
which he does not himself possess. Sup-
pose it is so; the consequence which is
deduced from this does not, in fact, arise.
Blackstone, indeed, in his Commentaries
(4 Comment. 8), seems to deduce the right
of society to punish capital offences, in

142
DEATH, PUNISHMENT OF.
certain cases (that is, in cases of mala pro-
hibita, and not mala in se), from the con-
sent of the offenders. The marquis Bec-
caria, on the other hand, denies that any
such consent can confer the right, and
therefore objects to its existence. But the
notion of consent is, in nearly all cases, a
mere theory, having no foundation in fact.
If a foreigner comes into a country, and
commits a crime at his first entrance, it is
a very forced construction to say that
he consents to be bound by its laws. If a
pirate commits piracy, it is almost absurd
to say that he consents to the right of all
nations to punish him for it. The true
and rational ground on which the right
rests, is not the consent of the offender,
but the right of every society to protect its
own peace, and interests, and property,
and institutions, and the utter want of any
right, in other persons, to disturb, or de-
stroy, or subtract them. The right flows,
not from consent, but from the legitimate
institution of society. If men have a right
to form a society for mutual benefit and
security, they have a right to punish other
persons who would overthrow it. There
are many cases where a state authorizes
life to be taken away, the lawfulness of
which is not doubted. No reasonable
man doubts the right of a nation, in a just
war, especially of self-defence, to repel
force by force, and to take away the lives
of its enemies. And this right is not con-
fined to repelling present force, but it
extends to precautionary measures, which
are necessary for the ultimate safety of the
nation. In such a war, a nation may
justly insist upon the sacrifice of the lives
of its own citizens, however innocent, for
the purpose of ensuring its own safety.
Accordingly, we find that all nations enrol
militia and employ troops for war, and
require them to hazard their lives for the
preservation of the state. In these cases,
life is freely sacrificed by the nation; and
the laws enacted for such purposes are
deemed just exercises of power. If so,
why may not life be taken away by way
of punishment, if the safety of society
requires it? If a nation may authorize,
in war, the destruction of thousands, why
may it not authorize the destruction of a
single life, if self-preservation require it?
The mistake, however, is in supposing that
life cannot be taken away without the
consent of the party. If the foregoing
reasoning is correct, such consent is
neither supposed nor necessary. In truth,
the supposition of an original compact
between all the persons who are subject
to the regulations of a society, by their
of
own free consent, as the necessary and
proper basis on which all the rights
such society depend, is, at best, a gratu-
itous supposition; and it sometimes leads
to very incorrect results. It may be added,
that the Scriptures most clearly recognize
and justify the infliction of capital punish-
ments in certain cases.
2. As to the expediency of capital pun
ishment. This opens a wide field for
discussion. Some able men, who do not
doubt the right, do still deny the expedi-
ency of inflicting it. It may be admitted,
that a wise legislature ought to be slow in
affixing such a punishment to any but
very enormous and dangerous crimes.
The frequency of a crime is not, of itself,
a sufficient reason for resorting to such a
punishment. It should be a crime of
great atrocity and danger to society, and
which cannot otherwise be effectually
guarded against. In affixing punishments
to any offence, we should consider what
are the objects and ends of punishment. It
is clear that capital punishment can have
no effect to reform the offender himself.
It may have, and ordinarily does have, the
effect to deter others from committing a
like offence; but, still, human experience
shows that even this punishment, when
inflicted for small offences, which are
easily perpetrated, and to which there is
great temptation, does not always operate
as an effectual terror. Men sometimes
are hardened by the frequent spectacles
of capital punishments, and grow indiffer-
ent to them. Familiarity deprives them
of their horror. The bloodiest codes are
not those which have most effectually
suppressed offences. Besides, public opin-
ion has great weight in producing the
acquittal or condemnation of offenders.
If a punishment be grossly disproportion-
ate to the offence, if it shock human
feelings, there arises, insensibly, a sympa-
thy for the victim, and a desire to screen
him from punishment; so that, as far as
certainty of punishment operates to deter
from crimes, the object of the legislature
is often thus defeated. It may be added,
that a reasonable doubt may fairly be en-
tertained, whether any society can law-
fully exercise the power of punishing, be-
yond what the just exigencies of that so-
ciety require. On the other hand, a total
abolition of capital punishments would, in
some cases at least, expose society to the
chances of deep and vital injuries. A man
who has committed murder deliberately,
has proved himself unfit for society, and
regardless of all the duties which belong
to it. In his case, the lex talionis can
DEATH, PUNISHMENT OF.
hardly be deemed unjust. The safety
of society is most effectually guarded by
cutting him off from the power of doing
further mischief. If his life be not taken
away, the only other means left are, con-
finement for life, or transportation and
exile for life. Neither of these is a perfect
security against the commission of other
crimes, and may not always be within the
power of a nation without great inconve-
nience and great expense to itself. It is
true that the latter punishments leave open
the chance of reform to the offender,
which is, indeed, but too often a mere
delusion; but, on the other hand, they
greatly diminish the influence of another
salutary principle, the deterring of others
from committing like crimes. It seems to
us, therefore, that it is difficult to maintain
the proposition that capital punishments
are, at all times and under all circum-
stances, inexpedient. It may rather be
affirmed that, in some cases, they are
absolutely indispensable to the safety and
good order of society. We should incline
to say that, as a general rule, every nation,
in its legislation on this subject, must be
governed very much by the manners,
customs, habits of thinking, and state of
opinion, among the people upon whom it
is to operate. In a rude and barbarous
state of society, summary and almost vin-
dictive punishments seem more necessary
than in a highly polished and civilized
state of society.
3. As to the crimes to which capital
punishments may, most properly, be lim-
ited. From what has been already said,
this must depend upon the particular cir-
cumstances of every age and nation; and
much must be left to the exercise of a
sound discretion on the part of the legisla-
ture. As a general rule, humanity forbids
such punishments to be applied to any hut
crimes of very great enormity, and danger
to individuals or the state. If any crimes
can be effectually suppressed by moderate
means, these ought, certainly, to be first
resorted to. The experience, however,
of most nations, if we may judge from the
nature and extent of their criminal legis-
lation, seems to disprove the opinion so
often indulged by philanthropists, that
moderate punishments are sufficient to
suppress crimes, and that capital punish-
ments are rarely necessary. The codes
of most civilized nations abound with
capital punishments. That of Great Brit-
ain, a nation in which the public legis-
lation has a deep infusion of popular
opinion, is thought to be uncommonly
sanguinary. Blackstone, in his Commen-
143

taries (vol. iv, 18), admits that, in his time,
not less than one hundred and sixty crimes
were, by the English law, punishable with
death. In the code of the U. States, only
nine crimes are so punishable, viz., treason,
murder, arson, rape, robbery of the mail,
fraudulent casting away ships, rescue of
criminals capitally convicted during execu-
tion, and piracy, one species of which is
the African slave-trade. In the codes of
the several states of the Union, still fewer
crimes are generally punishable with
death. It remains yet to be proved,
whether the general mildness of our penal
code has afforded us any greater security
against crimes than exists in other na-
tions. Hitherto, the temptations to com-
mit them have been less here, than in
other countries less abundantly and cheap-
ly supplied with the necessaries of life.
It is still a question, fit to exercise the
solicitude and ingenuity of our statesmen
and philanthropists, whether we can safely
carry on so mild a system in a more cor-
rupt and dense state of society. If we
can, it must be by a very sparing use of
the power of pardoning; so that the cer-
tainty of absolute, unmitigated punishment
shall follow upon the offence. Beccaria,
with his characteristic humanity and sa-
gacity, has strongly urged that the certain-
ty of punishment is more important to
deter from crimes than the severity of it.
At present, there is great danger that the
pardoning power, in our free forms of
government, will, in a great measure, over-
throw this salutary principle. Its exer-
cise, therefore, ought to be watched with
the greatest jealousy and care, lest the
abuse of it should lead to the introduction
either of absolute impunity for offences,
or of more extensive capital punishments.
It will probably be found, from the expe-
rience of most nations, that capital punish..
ment ought not wholly to be dispensed
with. On the other hand, it may be safely
affirmed, that there is no positive neces-
sity to apply it to a very large number of
crimes. Treason, murder, arson, piracy,
highway robbery, burglary, rape, and
some other offences of great enormity, and
of a kindred character, are not uncom-
monly punished in this manner; but
beyond these, it is extremely questionable
whether there is any necessity or expedi-
ency of applying so great a severity. Still,
however, as has been already intimated,
nuch must depend upon the opinion and
character of the age, and the prevailing
habits of the people, and upon the sound
exercise of legislative discretion. What
may be deemed uselessly severe in one
144
PUNISHMENT OF.
DEATH,
age or country, may be positively required
by the circumstances of another age or
country.

disposal. But, generally, all the punish
ment is remitted by the crown, except the
hanging and beheading; and when it is
4. As to the manner of inflicting the not, by connivance of the officers, the
punishment of death. This has been criminal is drawn on a hurdle to the place
different in different countries, and in dif- of execution, and is not disembowelled
ferent stages of civilization in the same until actually dead. In other cases, the
countries. Barbarous nations are general- punishment is now simply by hanging, or,
ly inclined to severe and vindictive pun- in the military and naval service, by shoot-
ishments, and, where they punish with ing. In France, formerly, the punishment
death, to aggravate it by prolonging the of death was often inflicted by breaking
sufferings of the victim with ingenious the criminal on the wheel. (Damiens was
devices in cruelty. And even in civilized torn to pieces by horses, after he had been
countries, in cases of a political nature, or tormented with red-hot pincers, and had
of very great atrocity, the punishment has suffered other horrid tortures.) The usual
been sometimes inflicted with many hor- punishment now is beheading by the
rible accompaniments. Tearing the crim- guillotine. In cases of parricide, the crim-
inal to pieces, piercing his breast with a inal is conducted, barefooted, and covered
pointed pole, pinching to death with red- with a black veil, to the place of execu-
hot pincers, starving him to death, break- tion, where his right hand is cut off just
ing his limbs upon the wheel, pressing before he is beheaded. In Austria, the
him to death in a slow and lingering general mode of punishment is by hang-
manner, burning him at the stake, cruci- ing. In Prussia, hanging is rarely inflict-
fixion, sawing him to pieces, quartering ed; but the usual punishment is behead-
him alive, exposing him to be torn to ing with a heavy axe, the criminal's head
pieces by wild beasts, and other savage being first tied to a block. In other Ger-
punishments, have been sometimes resort- man states, the uncertain mode of execu-
ed to for the purposes of vengeance, or tion by the sword still exists. Sand was
public example, or public terror. Com- executed in this manner. It should be
pared with these, the infliction of death remarked, however, that, in Germany,
by drowning, by strangling, by poisoning, hanging has always been deemed the
by bleeding, by beheading, by shooting, most infamous sort of punishment; and
by hanging, is a moderate punishment. In the sentence has often been commuted for
modern times, the public opinion is strong- beheading by the sword, as a milder mode
ly disposed to discountenance the pun- of punishment. In the U. States of Amer-
ishment of death by any but simple means; ica, hanging is the universal mode of
and the infliction of torture is almost uni- capital punishment; and, indeed, the con
versally reprobated. Even in govern-
Even in govern-stitution of the U. States contains a pro-
ments where it is still countenanced by vision, declaring that "cruel and unusual
the laws, it is rarely resorted to; and the punishments shall not be inflicted." In
sentence is remitted, by the policy of the China, murderers are cut to pieces; rob-
prince, beyond the simple infliction of bers, not. In Russia, the punishment of
death. In Prussia, where atrocious crim- death has been frequently inflicted by
inals are required, by the penal code, to be the knout. In Turkey, strangling, and
broken upon the wheel, the king always sewing the criminal up in a bag, and
issues an order to the executioner to stran- throwing him into the sea, are common
gle the criminal (which is done by a small modes of punishment. In the Roman
cord not easily seen) before his limbs code, many severe and cruel punishments
are broken. So, in the same country, were prescribed. During the favored
where larceny, attended with destruction times of the republic, many of these were
of life, is punished by burning alive, the abolished or mitigated. But again, under
fagots are so arranged as to form a the emperors, they were revived with full
kind of cell, in which the criminal is suf- severity. In the ancient Grecian states,
focated by the fumes of sulphur, or other the modes of punishment were also se-
means, before the flame can reach him. vere, and often cruel. But the most gen-
In England, in high treason, the criminal eral mode of punishment, in ordinary
is sentenced to be drawn to the gallows, cases, seems, both in Greece and Rome,
to be hanged by the neck, and cut down to have been by hanging. Whether the
alive, to have his entrails taken out and ancient Greek mode of capital punish-
burned while he is yet alive, to have his ment, by taking poison at such hour as the
head cut off, and his body divided into condemned party should choose, has ever
four parts, and these to be at the king's been adopted in any modern nation, we
DEATH, PUNISHMENT OF DEBTOR AND CREDITOR.
are unable to say. As far as we have
been able to learn, it is not in use among
any Christian people; and the idea of
suicide connected with it would probably
prevent any such nation from adopting it.
Whether executions ought to be in pub-
lic or in private, has been a question much
discussed, and upon which a great diver-
sity of opinion exists among intelligent
statesmen. On the one hand, it is said
that public spectacles of this sort have a
tendency to brutalize and harden the peo-
ple, or to make them indifferent to the
punishment; and the courage and firm-
ness, with which the criminal often meets
death, have a tendency to awaken feelings
of sympathy, and even of admiration, and
to take away much of the horror of the
offence, as well as of the punishment. On
the other hand, it is said that the great
influence of punishment, in deterring
others from the like offence, cannot be
obtained in any other way. It is the only
means to bring home to the mass of the
people a salutary dread and warning;
and it is a public admonition of the cer-
tainty of punishment following upon
crimes. It is also added, that all punish-
ments ought to be subjected to the public
scrutiny, so that it may be known that all
the law requires, and no more, has been
done. If punishments were inflicted in
private, it could never be known whether
they were justly and properly inflicted
upon the persons condemned; or whether,
indeed, innocent persons might not be-
come the victims.
In England, the court before which the
trial is had, declares the sentence, and
directs the execution of it; and its war-
rant is a sufficient authority to the proper
officer to execute it. In the courts of the
U. States, there is a like authority; but
in the laws of many of the states, there is
a provision that the execution shall not
take place except by a warrant from the
governor, or other executive authority.
In cases of murder and other atrocious
crimes, the punishment in England is
usually inflicted at a very short interval
after the sentence. In America, there is
usually allowed a very considerable inter-
val, varying from one month to six months.
In England and America, there lies no
appeal from the verdict of a jury and the
sentence of a court, in capital cases. In
France, there may be a review of it in the
court of cassation. (q. v.) In Germany,
there is, in criminal as in civil cases, a right
of appeal; hence, in that country, few
innocent persons have suffered capitally
since the 16th century; and in England
13
VOL. IV.
145

and America, the very fact that the verdict
and sentence are final, produces great cau-
tion and deliberation in the administration
of criminal justice, and a strong leaning
towards the prisoner on trial. Capital
punishment cannot be inflicted, by the
general humanity of the laws of modern
nations, upon persons who are insane or
who are pregnant, until the latter are
delivered and the former become sane.
It is said that Frederic the Great required
all judgments of his courts, condemning
persons to death, to be written on blue
paper; thus he was constantly reminded
of them as they lay on his table among
other papers, from which they were
readily distinguished. He usually took a
long time to consider such cases, and thus
set an excellent example to sovereigns of
their duty.
DEATH-WATCH; a species of termes, so
called on account of an old superstition
that its beating or ticking in a sick room
is a sure sign of death.
DEBENTURE. (See Drawback.)
DEBT, NATIONAL. (See National Debt.)
DEBTOR AND CREDITOR. LAWS OF. One
of the first steps, in a community, towards
industry and wealth, is the institution of the
individual right to property. The guaran-
tee of the individual's earnings to himself
is the strongest stimulus to his exertions;
and this measure is so obvious, and the one
in which every member of a community has
so evident an interest, that it is of univer-
sal adoption among rude as well as civil-
ized nations, and even precedes the estab-
lishment of a regular government; for
men will sell, and, as far as they are able,
enforce their exclusive right to the fruits
of their own labor, before they are in a
condition to establish general laws. But,
though this principle is so obviously just,
and of so early adoption, its extension
and application to complicated affairs, and
various species of property, and divisions,
and modifications of rights to, and interest
in, possessions of all sorts, are among the
most difficult subjects of legislation. The
right of property being once established,
the conditions on which the owner will
part with and transfer it are, as a natural
and necessary consequence, left to his own
determination, with some few exceptions;
especially one usually made in favor of
the government, or, rather, of the whole
collective community, who reserve the
right of taking individual property for the
public use, without the consent of the
prietor, and upon such terms as the gov-
ernment itself shall prescribe. But, even
in this case, a debt or obligation on the
pro-
146
MOTION DEBTOR AND CREDITOR. UTANG

part of the government or community
arises in favor of the proprietor whose
property has been taken. So that we
may lay it down as a general doctrine,
that, where one parts with and transfers
to another any property, or right, of which,
by the laws of the community, he was ex-
clusively possessed, this transfer is the
basis or meritorious consideration of a
promise or obligation on the part of the
person to whom the transfer is made, to
return some equivalent, or what may be
agreed on as an equivalent by the parties.
Whether this return be stipulated for in
money, lands, goods, or personal services,
or any thing of which the value can be
estimated, is immaterial in respect to the
force of the obligation, which will be the
same in either case. The validity of the
obligation thus arising is recognised by the
laws of all civilized states. But, then, the
question arises-and it is one which has
much perplexed legislators-What degree
of force or sacredness shall be assigned to
this obligation, and by what sanctions and
penalties shall it be guarded? The per-
sonal rights of citizens are, in general,
more scrupulously guarded and vindicated
by the laws, than those of property, or
those the value of which, in money or ex-
change, admits of an exact estimate. The
lives of men, for instance, are generally
protected by inflicting the extreme pen-
alty of death for the crime of murder.
Such a punishment is only commensurate
with the crime, and its justice is univer-
sally acknowledged; but a law which
should inflict the same punishment for a
mere assault on the person, attended by
no serious injury, would excite the abhor-
rence of all men; for, though men are
under an undoubted obligation not to
commit an unprovoked assault, though
not attended by a serious wound, yet such
a penalty would be at once pronounced
to be out of all proportion to the force
and sacredness of the obligation which
it would be designed to protect. The
question then occurs-How forcible, how
binding, how sacred, is this promise and
obligation to pay a sum of money or de-
liver an article of property? Is it so sa-
cred that the debtor ought to be put to
death, sent to the galleys, put into the pil-
lory, or the stocks, or whipped, or impris-
oned, in case of his failing to fulfil it? In
one point all communities agree, namely,
as far as the property of the debtor goes,
it ought to answer to this obligation; for
the value he has received has been absorb-
ed in that which he possesses, and consti-
nutes a part of its amount, or, at least, may
be presumed to have contributed to it. In
short, the property of the debtor may be
considered to belong to his creditors, to
the extent of their demands. The laws
of different countries, accordingly, agree in
the principle that the creditor shall have
the means of getting possession and dis-
posing of the debtor's property to satisfy
his demands. The bounds prescribed for
the exercise of this well established and
universally acknowledged right, vary very
considerably in different countries and
periods. As long ago as the time of So-
lon, the necessary implements of husband-
ry were exempted from this right. The
civil law makes an exemption of necessary
implements of trade and articles of furni-
ture, and this distinction is adopted very
generally, if not universally, throughout
the civilized world. The right of the
creditor, then, according to the laws and
practice of the whole civilized world, does
not extend to the whole of the property
and possessions of the debtor; and the
exception affords a rule for measuring the
extent and force of this obligation of debt,
in the general estimation of nations; since,
in enforcing this obligation, all the laws in
this respect stop at the point where indi-
vidual suffering commences. Though the
law adopts the principle, that the goods
of the debtor, in effect, belong to the cred-
itor, yet it makes a compromise, even of
this right, between the creditor, and debtor,
and the community; for the community
may be said to be affected by, and to feel
the distresses or good fortune of every one
of its members; and, accordingly, the cred-
itor is here made to compromise his rights
as a creditor, out of regard to his obliga-
tions as a member of the community.
The law says to him, "Though you strictly
have a right to the tools your debtor uses,
the clothes he and his family wear, and
the beds they sleep upon-for they may
have been procured by the very money or
goods from which the debt arose; yet, on
the other hand, you owe some obligations
to the community, and the community has
some obligations to your debtor; you shall
not, therefore, turn him and his family
naked into the streets, even by reclaiming
the very articles you may have sold him.
Such is the limit which the laws have, by
general consent, put to the extent of the
creditor's right over the debtor's property;
and, to this extent, every code ought to
give as easy, cheap and expeditious a
remedy as can be allowed consistently
with a just settlement of the validity and
amount of the creditor's claim; and such
a remedy it is the object of legislators
LION DEBTOR AND CREDITOR. TAз
TOP
generally to give. Upon the principle
already stated, namely, that the debtor's
property belongs to his creditors, to the
amount of their claims, it should follow,
that, when his property is inadequate to
the full satisfaction of the debts, all the
creditors ought to share it proportionally;
and this has been the practical rule under
the civil law, and in all the countries
where it has been adopted as the common
law. Such is the practical rule in Eng-
land and the greater part of the U. States;
and it is a rule so obviously just, and re-
sults so directly from the universally re-
ceived principles, in relation to the rights
of creditors, that it is surprising that any
country, in the least advanced in civil pol-
ity, and having made any progress in civ-
ilization, should form an exception to such
a rule, and permit some one creditor, or
some few, no more deserving, and perhaps
much less so, than the rest, to seize upon
the whole property of the debtor, and en-
tirely defeat the claims of the others; yet
such a defect does exist in the laws of
4 out of the 25 U. States, at the time of
writing this article (1830), viz., Maine,
New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachu-
setts. These states are all eminently com-
mercial, and by no means deficient in
general intelligence and improvement,
which renders it the more remarkable that
they should, in this respect, make an ex-
ception to the practice of all the rest of
Christendom. The defect arises partly
from a deep-rooted prejudice upon this
subject, which mistakes a regulation and
reformation of this branch of law for a
weakening of the obligation of contracts,
and an impairing of the rights of creditors;
but still more from a timid spirit of legis-
lation, which fears to undertake an impor-
tant improvement of this branch of law,
although the justice and great utility of
such an improvement, among a trading
people especially, are acknowledged by
much the greater number. When the
laws provide for a proportionate distribu-
tion of an insolvent's estate in general, still
they reserve some few preferences. Thus,
in the cessio bonorum, and the various
laws of insolvency of different states, of
which that has been the model, a prefer-
ence is usually given to the government
as a creditor, which is fully satisfied for its
demands before any part of the claims of
individual creditors is paid. This prefer-
ence is just, where the claim of the gov-
ernment can be viewed in the light of a
lien on the property; and, where this is the
case, the giving it a priority to those of
creditors who have no lien, is, in fact, only
147

putting the government upon the same
footing with other creditors; for any one,
having a mortgage or pledge, is always
preferred to the extent of his pledge; but,
where the claim cannot be considered in
that light, the preference seems not to be
just. Some other claims are preferred,
from motives of humanity and general
policy, on the same principle on which
necessary articles of furniture, implements
of the debtor's trade, and the like, are ex-
empted from seizure. Thus some laws,
notwithstanding the insolvency of the es-
tate of a deceased debtor, still allow the full
payment of the expenses of his last sick-
ness and funeral, and also assign some
articles, of greater or less amount, to the
use of his widow and family. Some
codes of laws limit the claims of the cred-
itor to the debtor's property for satisfac-
tion. Others go beyond this point. The
ancient laws of Rome permitted the sell-
ing of debtors into servitude for the bene-
fit of their creditors; and such are the laws
of modern times among some of the Afri-
can tribes. Solon remarked upon the
inconsistency of laws which exempted the
implements of trade, and articles of neces-
sity of the debtor, from the creditor's de-
mand, and yet subjected his body to sale
or imprisonment; and, considering the
rights of the debtor, as a citizen of Athens,
to be paramount to those of his creditor
over his person, he provided against the
violation of a citizen's liberty on account
of his debts. But the imprisonment of the
debtor ought to be allowed as a means of
compelling him to surrender his property
for the benefit of his creditors; and, for
this purpose, the civil law, and the laws
of England and most of the U. States,
permit it, but only until he has made a
surrender of all his property, unless he is
proved to have acted fraudulently, in
which case the imprisonment is continued
as a punishment. To this rule, however,
the four of the U. States above-mentioned
form an exception; for, in those states, the
imprisonment may be inflicted by the
creditor, although the debtor has no means
of satisfying the debt, and although his
insolvency may have been occasioned by
an unforeseen and inevitable misfortune.
It is true, that, in such a case, not many
creditors will wantonly avail themselves
of such a right to inflict suffering without
any motive of interest. But it is equally
true, that, if the whole population were at
liberty to inflict any kind of suffering upon
others with impunity, not many persons
would avail themselves of the license; but
some would, and this is a reason for not
148
DEBTOR AND CREDITOR-DECANDOLLE.

giving the license. The laws of England
and France, and of most of the U. States,
now make a distinction between cases of
fraud and misfortune, and aim at punish-
ment only in the former. This is a dis-
tinction not difficult to make, and one
which does not require any extraordinary
legislative skill and sagacity. Its omission
in any code of laws, therefore, indicates a
rude and imperfect legislation in this par-
ticular.-In the article Bankrupt, the in-
terposition of the law to discharge debtors
absolutely from all liability to their credit-
ors, on their surrendering all their proper-
ty, has been treated of. This interposition
has, however, been extended only to cases
of insolvent merchants. The insolvent
laws, as distinguished from bankrupt laws,
apply to debtors who are not merchants,
and provide for a ratable distribution of
their effects among their creditors, and
exempt the person of the debtor from im-
prisonment, on the surrender of the whole
of his property, but do not discharge the
debt any further than satisfaction is made
by payment. A question very naturally
arises why this distinction is made between
traders and others. A cultivator or me-
chanic, in enterprising communities, is
scarcely less liable to the misfortunes and
disappointments which result in insolven-
cy than traders, and their future industry
and unembarrassed enterprise is of no less
importance to the community. Why should
the future earnings of a farmer, or con-
ductor of any branch of industry, whose
insolvency has been occasioned by a
drought, a change in the markets, or the
bankruptcy of a merchant whom he had
trusted, be held for the payment of his
debts, to the last farthing, any more than
those of the merchant? Is it true that, in
other pursuits than those of trade, insol-
vency is more frequently the consequence
of fraud, extravagance or imprudence?
(See Bankrupt, Capias, Insolvency.)
DEBURE, Guillaume and Guillaume
François; two cousins, distinguished bib-
liographers. The former prepared the first
division of the catalogue of the excellent
library of the duke de la Vallière (1783,
3 vols.). The latter, a bookseller, born
1731, and died 1782, opened a new path
for bibliographers, by reducing to a sys-
tem what had before been left merely to
tact, in his Bibliographie instructive, ou
Traité de la Connaissance des Livres rares
et singuliers (Paris, 1763-68, 7 vols.).
Lemercier and others attacked the work
severely; yet it must be considered of
much value. (See Ebert's Bibliographi-
sches Lexicon, vol. 1, p. 45%.) Among his
other works is to be mentioned Supplé
ment à la Bibliographie instructive, ou Cat-
alogue des Livres du Cabinet de M. Gaig-
nat (Paris, 1769, 2 vols.). To these two
works, that of Née de la Rochelle, Table
destinée à faciliter la Recherche des Livres
anonymes, etc. (1782), forms a 10th volume.
The sons of Debure, advantageously known
in the world of letters as Debure Frères,
have distinguished themselves as bibliog-
raphers by the catalogue of the rich and
valuable library of count Mac-Carthy
Reagh (1817).
DECADE (Lat. decas, from the Greek dika)
is sometimes used for the number ten, or
for an aggregate of ten, and decades for
an enumeration by tens. The books of
Livy are divided into decades. In the
French revolution, decades took the place
of weeks, in the division of the year. (See
Calendar.) In the French system of
weights and measures, the Greek word
déka is used to increase the value of the
designations ten-fold; thus decagramme
(a weight of 10 grammes), decalitre (10
litres), decamètre (10 metres), decare (10
ares).")
DECAGON (decagonum), in geometry; a
figure of 10 sides and angles.
DECALOGUE (from déka, ten, and Xoyos
the word); the ten commandments, which,
according to Exod., chap. xx. and Deut.,
chap. v., were given on two tables, by
God to Moses. The Jews call them, by
way of eminence, the ten words; hence
their name, Decalogue. Jews and Chris
tians have divided the ten commandments
differently; and, in some Catholic cate-
chisms, the second commandment has
been united, in an abridged form, with the
first, and the tenth has been divided into
two. Catechisms generally contain the
ten commandments, not verbally, as they
stand in the Bible, but abridged.
DECAMERON (Greek; from déka, ten, and
uépa, day); a book in which the author
relates the events, &c. of ten days. The
Decameron of Boccaccio (q. v.) is the his-
tory of a gay company of ten persons, who,
on ten different days, relate ten tales each
day. The Decameron of Dibdin treats
of bibliographical curiosities.n
DECANDOLLE, Augustin Pyrame, one of
the first botanists in Europe, born at Ge-
neva, in 1778, was descended from a family
distinguished, as early as the 16th century,
in the republic of letters. While professor
of botany at Montpellier, he raised the
botanical garden to its present flourishing
condition. His enemies availed them-
selves of the circumstance that he ha
retained his place after the return of Na
DECANDOLLE-DECATUR.
poleon from Elba, to render him sus-
pected by the government; and the ultras
at length obliged him to retire from his
chair. His native city established a bo-
tanical garden, in 1816, with the direction
of which he was intrusted, and a profes-
sorship of botany, which was bestowed on
him. His Théorie élémentaire de la Bota-
nique (1813). is well known. Among his
other writings are, Plantarum succulenta-
rum Historia (1799, 4 vols., folio and 4to.),
with plates by Redouté; Astragalogia,
likewise with plates (1803); Flore Fran-
çaise (1809-15, 6 vols.), in which he was
assisted by Lamarque; Catalogus Planta-
rum Horti botanici Montpelliensis (1813).
He has also published some observations
on the theory of light, which have been
confirmed by later experiments.
DECAPITATION. (See Death, Punish-
ment of)
DECANDRIA, in botany; the tenth class
of plants, with hermaphrodite flowers and
ten stamina, or male parts, in each.
DECAPOLIS, in ancient geography; a
country of Palestine, which contained ten
principal cities, some on this, some on the
other side of Jordan, whence its name.
Pliny enumerates the following:-Scy-
thopolis, Philadelphia, Raphanæ, Gadara,
Hippos, Dion, Pella, Gerasa, Canatha and
Damascus. Others reckon them differ-
ently. They were chiefly inhabited by
Gentiles, though some of them might be
within the region of Judea.
DECATUR, Stephen, a celebrated Amer-
ican naval officer, was born, Jan. 5, 1779,
on the eastern shore of Maryland, whith-
er his parents had retired while the Brit-
ish were in Philadelphia. He entered the
American navy in March, 1798, and was
soon promoted to the rank of first lieuten-
ant. While at Syracuse, attached to the
squadron of commodore Preble, he was
first informed of the fate of the American
frigate Philadelphia, which, in pursuing
a Tripolitan corsair, ran on a rock about
four and a half miles from Tripoli, and
was taken by the Tripolitans, and towed
into the harbor. Lieutenant Decatur con-
ceived the project of attempting her re-
capture or destruction. He selected, for
this purpose, a ketch, and manned her
with 70 volunteers. Feb. 16, 1804, at 7
o'clock at night, he entered the harbor of
Tripoli, boarded the frigate, though she
had all her guns mounted and charged,
and was lying within half-gun-shot of the
bashaw's castle and of his principal bat-
tery. Two Tripolitan cruisers were lying
within two cables' length, on the starboard
quarter and several gun-boats within half-
149

gun-shot on the starboard bow, and all the
batteries on shore were opened upon the
assailants. Decatur set fire to the frigate,
and continued alongside until her destruc-
tion was certain. For this exploit, the
American congress voted him thanks and
a sword, and the president immediately
sent him a captaincy. The next spring,
it being resolved to make an attack on
Tripoli, commodore Preble equipped six
gun-boats and two bombards, formed them
into two divisions, and gave the command
of one of them to captain Decatur. The
enemy's gun-boats were moored along the
mouth of the harbor, under the batteries,
and within musket shot. Captain Decatur
determined to board the enemy's eastern
division, consisting of nine. He boarded
in his own boat, and carried two of the
enemy's boats in succession. When he
boarded the second boat, he immediately
attacked her commander, who was his
superior in size and strength, and, his
sword being broken, he seized the Turk,
when a violent scuffle ensued. The Turk
threw him, and drew a dirk for the pur-
pose of stabbing him, when Decatur, hav-
ing a small pistol in his right pocket, took
hold of it, and, turning it as well as he
could, so as to take effect upon his antag-
onist, cocked it, fired through his pocket,
and killed him. When commodore Pre-
ble was superseded in the command of
the squadron, he gave the frigate Consti-
tution to Decatur, who was afterwards
removed to the Congress, and returned
home in her when peace was concluded
with Tripoli. He succeeded commodore
Barron in the command of the Chesa-
peake, after the attack made upon her by
the British man-of-war Leopard. He was
afterwards transferred to the frigate United
States. In the war between Great Britain
and the U. States, while commanding the
frigate United States, he fell in, Oct. 25,
1812, with the Macedonian, mounting 49
carriage-guns, one of the finest of the
British vessels of her class, and captured
her after an engagement of an hour and
a half. When captain Carden, the com-
mander of the Macedonian, tendered him
his sword, he observed that he could not
think of taking the sword of an officer
who had defended his ship so gallantly,
but should be happy to take him by the
hand. In a letter written five days after
the capture, he says, "I need not tell you
that I have done every thing in my power
to soothe and console captain Carden; for,
really, one half the pleasure of this little
victory is destroyed in witnessing the
mortification of a brave man, who deserv
13*
150
DECATUR-DECAZES.

ed success quite as much as we did who
obtained it." In January, 1814, commo-
dore Decatur, in the United States, with
his prize the Macedonian, then equipped
as an American frigate, was blockaded at
New London by a British squadron great-
ly superior in force. A challenge which
he sent to the commander of the British
squadron, sir Thomas Hardy, offering to
meet two of the British frigates with his
two ships, was declined. In January,
1815, he attempted to set sail from New
York, which was blockaded by four Brit-
ish ships; but the frigate under his com-
mand, the President, was injured in pass-
ing the bar, and was captured by the
whole squadron, after having maintained
a running fight of two hours and a half
with one of the frigates, the Endymion,
which was dismantled and silenced. Af-
ter the conclusion of peace, he was re-
stored to his country, in 1815. The con-
duct of the Barbary powers, and of Algiers
in particular, having been insulting to the
United States, on the ratification of peace
with Great Britain, war was declared
against Algiers, and a squadron was fitted
out, under the command of commodore
Decatur, for the purpose of obtaining re-
dress. In the spring of 1815, he set sail,
and, June 17, off cape de Gatt, captured
an Algerine frigate, after a running fight
of 25 minutes, in which the famous admi-
ral Rais Hammida, who had long been
the terror of the Mediterranean sea, fell.
The American squadron arrived at Al-
giers June 28. In less than 48 hours,
Decatur terrified the regency into his own
terms, which were, mainly, that no tribute
should ever be required, by Algiers, from
the U. States of America; that all Amer-
icans in slavery should be given up with-
out ransom; that compensation should be
made for American property seized; that
all citizens of the U. States, taken in war,
should be treated as prisoners of war are by
other nations, and not as slaves, but held
subject to an exchange without ransom.
After concluding this treaty, he proceeded
to Tunis, where he obtained indemnity
for the outrages exercised or permitted by
the bashaw. Thence he went to Tripoli,
where he made a similar demand with
like success, and procured the release of
10 captives, Danes and Neapolitans. He
arrived in the U. States Nov. 12, 1815,
was subsequently appointed one of the
board of navy commissioners, and was re-
siding at Washington, in that capacity,
when he was killed in a duel with com-
modore Barron, March 22, 1820, occasion-
ed by his animadversions on the conduct
of the latter. Courage, sagacity, energy
self-possession, and a high sense of honor
were the characteristic traits of Decatur
From his boyhood, he was remarkable for
the qualities which presage eminence in
naval warfare. He enjoyed the sea as his
element. He possessed an active, muscu-
lar frame, a quick and penetrating eye,
and a bold, adventurous and ambitious
spirit.
DECAZES, Elie, duke, peer of France,
duke of Glücksburg in Denmark, was
born at St. Martin-de-Laye, near Libourne,
in 1780, of a family ennobled by Henry
IV, and studied law in the college Ven-
dôme. In 1806, he became judge of the
tribunal of the first instance in the depart-
ment of the Seine; in 1810, counsellor of
the court of appeals; and afterwards coun-
sellor of Louis, king of Holland. After
the return of Napoleon from Elba, he
openly declared himself in favor of Louis
XVIII, and was ordered not to approach
within 40 leagues of Paris. On the re-
turn of the king, he was appointed prefect
of the police, dissolved the chamber of
representatives, and received a place in
the council of state. In his connexions
with the commanders of the allied troops
and the journalists of Paris, he showed
himself cautious and prudent, and, in the
trials of Labédoyère and Ney, and after
the dismission of Fouchè, in the capacity of
minister of the police, he was energetic in his
measures relating to the leaders of the last
revolution, and the preservation of public
order. In 1818, he was made count, and
married mlle. de St. Aulaire, granddaugh-
ter of the sister of the late duke of Hol-
stein-Glücksburg, in consequence of which
he was created duke of Glücksburg by
the king of Denmark. He had already
been created peer of France, and, in 1820,
was made duke. As minister of police,
to which place the royalists had recom-
mended him, Decazes strengthened his
influence with the king by the discov-
ery and destruction of certain papers of
the greatest importance, respecting the
king personally, so that the favor of the
king could never be entirely withdrawn.
from him. With the ultras, he made
himself unpopular by advising the king to
abolish the chambre introuvable. (q. v.) His
moderation exposed him to the attacks of
the right and the left side at once. "Roya-
liser la nation, nationaliser le royalisme," he
at that time declared to be the object of the
government. But the charter received no
legal security, and the laws of exception,
violating personal liberty and the liberty
of the press, softened as they were by De-

ANGRA DECAZES.
cazes, were a dangerous exercise of arbi-
trary power. Decazes and the minister
of war, Gouvion St. Cyr, declared them-
selves, in 1818, so warmly against the
proposition of Richelieu for the change of
the laws of election of Feb. 5, 1817, that
the latter and Lainé retired from the min-
istry. The king then appointed Decazes
to the ministry of the interior (Dec. 29,
1818), with which he continued to hold
the ministry of the police, and, at the same
time, the ministry of public instruction and
public worship. From motives of pru-
dence, he left the presidency of the min-
isterial council to the marquis Desolles.
(q. v.) This ministry acted against the
principles of the ultra opposition as much
as it thought requisite to carry its meas-
ures, and as much, perhaps, as its situa-
tion allowed. See Guizot, Du Gouverne-
ment de la France depuis la Restauration et
du Ministère actuel (Paris, 1820), and Des
Moyens de Gouvernement et de l'Opposition
dans l'État actuel de la France (Paris, Oct.
1821). The oligarchical opposition in the
chamber, to which belonged Villèle, Cor-
bières, de la Bourdonnaye, Clausel de
Coussergues, Lainé, &c., and in the cham-
ber of peers, particularly Châteaubriand
and Fitz-James, opposed in vain the in-
fluence of the minister. Decazes effect-
ed a mitigation of the ordinance of 1816
against the regicides, and frustrated the
attempts of Barthélemy to change the
election law, and introduce the system of
indirect elections, by the nomination of 70
new peers, March, 1819. His three laws
against the abuses of the press (see De
Serres) established the censorship only for
a short time. The establishment (August,
1819) of an exhibition of French indus-
try was more permanent. France is also
indebted to him for the councils of com-
merce and manufactures, for many agri-
cultural societies, and for an institution for
encouraging the mechanical arts, and ed-
ucating young farmers at the expense of
the state. The hatred of the court party
and of the ultras against the favored min-
ister, particularly since his discovery of
the white conspiracy, so called, the investi-
gation of which was suppressed, continued
to increase. His most irreconcilable ene-
my was baron Vitrolles. When the liber-
als, strengthened by the result of the elec-
tions of 1819, threatened to become too
powerful for the government, Decazes
showed himself alternately inclined to the
court and constitutional parties, and en-
deavored to check the further extension
of liberal institutions. This balancing be-
tween constitutional and absolute princi-
151
ples, the bascule system, as it was called
(see Bascule), not only threw the ultra-
liberals into the opposition, but also alien-
ated the constitutional ministers Desolles,
Gouvion St. Cyr and Louis, who resigned
their seats ... the ministry after the altera-
tion in the law of elections. The new
ministry of Nov. 19, 1819, in which Pas-
quier, Latour-Maubourg and Roy occupi-
ed the seats thus vacated, and Decazes
was named president, was not more har-
monious. De Serre prepared the projet
of a new law of elections, in which De-
cazes consented to the introduction of the
upper electoral colleges, but would not al-
low the double vote. (See Election, Laws
of.) The proposed laws respecting the
censorship of the press, and the arrest of
public disturbers, met with objections in
the ministerial council, and still more from
many members of the right side and of
the centre, whilst the liberals opposed
them entirely. The murder of the duke
of Berri (q. v.), Feb. 13, 1820, inflamed the
ultra-royalists against Decazes, who favor-
ed the liberal ideas which they accused as
the cause of that murder, and the deputy
Clausel de Coussergues openly charged
him with being an accomplice in the as-
sassination. Decazes, finding the propos-
ed law of Feb. 15 disapproved by all par-
ties, and the royal family also desirous of
his dismission,-given up by the liberals,
who could not trust him any longer, at-
tacked by the ultras, and subjected to the
basest calumnies,-resigned his place, Feb.
18, and proposed the duke of Richelieu
as his successor. The king consented,
Feb. 20, but bestowed on him the title of
duke, and appointed him ambassador at
the court of St. James, and privy-coun-
sellor. In 1820, he arrived in London,
where he resided in great splendor. The
new law of election had filled the cham-
ber with the most violent opposers of the
ministry. Decazes, apprehensive of his
own fall, gave in his resignation, and re-
turned to Paris. On the occasion of the
deliberations of the congress of Laybach,
Decazes had given lord Castlereagh the
most decided assurances of the neutrality
of France with regard to Naples; never-
theless, the French ministers at Laybach
acceded to the plans of Austria, and, after
an explanation with Castlereagh, Decazes
was informed by Pasquier that the French
ministers at Laybach had received secret
instructions. While the duke was in
Paris, the liberal party made an effort to
unite him with Talleyrand for the over-
throw of the ministry, but the attempt
was unsuccessful, on account of his con
152
DECAZES DECIPHERING.

nexion with Richelieu and De Serre. He
retired to his estates, where he devoted
himself to agriculture, the improvement
of which, in the department of the Gi-
ronde, is principally owing to him. He
also established, at Libourne, a society for
the promotion of agriculture, a museum,
and a school for mutual instruction. Mean-
while, the party of Villèle triumphed over
the friends of Decazes, in the change of
the ministry, Dec. 4, 1821. Châteaubri-
and (q. v.) succeeded him as ambassador
in London. In 1822, the duke returned
to Paris, but took little share in the debates
of the chamber of peers. During the life
of Louis XVIII, the party of Decazes,
whose organ was the Journal de Paris,
was hated as much as it was feared by the
royalists, particularly by the friends of the
minister of finance, Villèle. In the cham-
ber of peers, it consisted of Bastard de
Lestang, Lally-Tolendal, Barante, Molé,
&c.; in the chamber of deputies, of most
of the doctrinaires, and of many of the left
side. The liberals entertained anew the
hope of gaining Decazes when Talleyrand
united himself with the doctrinaires; but
the union of Talleyrand and Decazes was
prevented by the extreme caution of the
latter. As a politician, Decazes possesses
neither the profound views of a Turgot,
nor the eloquence of a De Serre. His
speeches always contain some striking
passages, but display neither that talent
for debate, nor boldness of ideas and ex-
pression, for which De Serre was distin-
guished. Decazes is, however, a man of
much talent, which is agreeably displayed
in conversation, and of captivating man-
ners. The merit of honest intentions and
fidelity towards his king, cannot be denied
him.
DECCAN, or the COUNTRY OF THE
SOUTH; an extensive country of Hindos-
tan, bounded N. by the Nerbuddah, and
S. by the Kistnah, extending across the
peninsula from sea to sea. During the
reign of the great mogul Aurungzebe, i. e.,
in the latter half of the 17th century, this
country was annexed to the kingdom of
Delhi, and divided into six governments
Candeish, Amednagur, Beeder, Golconda,
Bejapore and Berar. The capitals were
Burhampour, Aurungabad, Hulberga, Be-
japore and Hyderabad.
DECEM (Latin; ten); a word which is
found in several compound and derivative
words in English; as December, to deci-
mate, decimal fractions, &c.
DECEMBER; the twelfth month of our
year, from the Latin decem, ten, because,
in the Roman year instituted by Romulus,
it constituted the tenth month, the year
beginning with March. In December, the
sun enters the tropic of Capricorn, and
passes our winter solstice. This month
was under the protection of Vesta.
DECEMVIRS. (See Appius Claudius.)
DECIMAL ARITHMETIC; a kind of cal-
culation in which no other fractions are
used than tenths, hundredths, thousandths,
&c., which are consequently called deci-
mal fractions. Joh. Regiomontanus first
made use of it in his Tables of the Sines.
It affords great facilities in calculation.
As, in our system of notation, the values
of figures are determined by their places,
so that the figure on the left is always of
ten times more value than the next at the
right hand; so in decimal fractions, which
must be considered as an extension of the
decimal system (described in the article
Notation), the place of the numerator de-
termines the value of the denominator of
the fraction, which need not, therefore, be
expressed. The integers are separated
from the fractional numbers by a period,
so that this period, placed between sev-
eral numbers, is the characteristic sign of
a decimal fraction. For instance, 5.36 is
5 whole numbers, 3 tenths and 6 hun-
dredths, or 36 hundredths; 5.009 is 5 whole
numbers and 9 thousandths. If the divis-
ions of money and measures be in a
decimal ratio, as is the case with those
adopted during the French revolution, the
ease of calculation is greatly increased,
almost all operations being reduced to ad-
dition and subtraction.
DECIMAL MEASURE; the division of the
unit of measure (whatever it be, as a foot,
a rod, &c.) into ten equal parts. The
quadrant of a circle has also been divided
into ten equal parts. In this case, the
tenth part of such a quadrant is called a
decimal degree. The French mathemati-
cians, however, call the hundredth part of
such a quadrant a decimal degree, and the
hundredth part of such a degree a decimal
minute.
DECIMATE; to exact the tithe. The
collection or the payment of the tithe is
called decimation. In war, decimation sig-
nifies the selection of the tenth man of a
corps, by lot, for punishment, as in case
of revolt. It was early practised by the
Romans. Sometimes every tenth man is
executed; sometimes only one man of
each company, the tenth in order, as was
the case when the Saxons revolted against
Blücher, before the battle of Waterloo.
DECIPHERING, ART OF; the art of dis-
covering the contents of a writing in
which secret characters are used (often

DECIPHERING-DECOMPOSITION.
ciphers; hence the term deciphering).
First, the vowels must be determined.
This is done in the following way:-1. All
the words of two letters are selected and
written down together; then those words
are selected which are divided at the end of
a line, so that only two letters of the word
remain, one of which must necessarily be
a vowel. Then the five (or whatever may
be the number of the vowels in a lan-
guage) letters are taken which occur the
most frequently. 2. It is necessary to see
if some one of these five letters is con-
tained in every word of the secret writing.
If there is any word in which none of
tem is contained, the signs of the vowels
are not yet all discovered, and it remains
to make the attempt again. When the
vowels are found, they must, 3. be distin-
guished from each other. For this pur-
pose, it should be determined which vowel
occurs most frequently in the language in
which the manuscript is supposed to be
written. In every language, particular
rules for determining the vowels may be
laid down. All the ordinary modes of
deciphering fail in the case of those secret
writings in which dictionaries are used as
the basis, and whole words, and even
short sentences, are denoted by single
ciphers, and where, also, the order of the
ciphers, 1, 2, 3, &c., does not correspond
to the alphabetical arrangement of the
words in the dictionary, but is made as
irregular as possible, and non-valeurs, as
they are called, are made use of; that is,
ciphers without signification, which are
intermixed with the valeurs, or those ci-
phers which supply the place of words.
The old modes of secret writing have
been almost entirely superseded, and the
old modes of deciphering have been made
almost entirely useless by the modern
species of cryptography, in which, accord-
ing to a simple rule, which may be com-
municated verbally and retained in mem-
ory, the signs for the letters may be con-
tinually changed. This is the chiffre
quarré, or chiffre indéchiffrable, used, if not
universally, yet by most courts. (See
Cryptography.) eta batu
DECIUS MUS, Publius; a Roman con-
sul, who, in a war against the Latins, B.
C. 340, devoted himself to death for his
country. His example was followed by
his son and his grandson. Such acts of
self-devotion (devotiones) were not unusual
at that time, when patriotism and piety ex-
erted a powerful influence, and were per-
formed with great solemnity. He who
devoted himself, after performing certain
religious rites, rushed into the midst of the
153
enemy, clothed in splendid armor, to show
his countrymen how a brave man ought
to die for his country.-Decius was also
the name of a Roman emperor, who
reigned from A. D. 249 till December,
251. He persecuted the Christians, and
perished, with his army, in a bloody bat-
tle in Moesia against the Goths.
DECK. (See Ship.)
DECKER relates to the rate of a ship of
force; as a two-decker, a three-decker; i.e.
carrying two entire tiers or ranges of can-
non, or three such tiers.
DECLINATION OF THE SUN, OF A STAR,
or A PLANET, is its distance from the equi-
noctial, northward or southward. When
the sun is in the equinoctial, he has no
declination, and enlightens half the globe
from pole to pole. As he increases in
north declination, he gradually shines far-
ther over the north pole, and leaves the
south pole in darkness. In a similar man-
ner, when he has south declination, he
shines over the south pole, and leaves the
north pole in darkness. 23° 28' is the
sun's greatest declination north or south.
DECOMPOSITION, CHEMICAL, is the reso-
lution of a compound substance into its
constituent parts, which are exhibited
either separate, or in some new combina-
tion. The compounds which are sponta-
neously formed by organic bodies, both
vegetable and animal, are of a different
nature from those which exist in unorgan-
ized matter. They are the peculiar re-
sults of vital processes, and neither their
structure nor composition can be imitated
by art. During life, the elements of or-
ganic bodies are held together by vital af-
finities, under the influence of which they
were originally combined. But no soon-
er does life cease, than these elements be-
come subject to the laws of inert matter.
The original affinities, which had been
modified or suspended during life, are
brought into operation; the elementary
atoms react upon each other, new combi-
nations are formed, and the organized
structure passes, sooner or later, into de-
cay. The rapidity with which decompo-
sition takes place in organic bodies de-
pends upon the nature of the particular
substance, and upon the circumstances
under which it is placed. Temperature,
moisture, and the presence of decompos-
ing agents, greatly affect both the period
and extent of this process. By regulat
ing or preventing the operation of these
causes, the duration of most substances
may be prolonged, and many materials are
rendered useful, which, if left to them-
selves, would be perishable and worthless.
154
MO DECOMPOSITION-DEED.
The preservation of timber, of fibrous sub-
stances, of leather, of food, and of various
objects of art, is a subject of the highest
importance, and has received, at various
times, much attention from scientific ex-
perimentalists.
DECOY, among fowlers; a place made
for catching wild-fowl. A decoy is gene-
rally made where there is a large pond
surrounded with wood, and beyond that a
marshy and uncultivated country. If the
piece of water is not thus surrounded, it
will be subjected to noises and other ac-
cidents, which may be expected to frighten
the wild-fowl from the haunt, where they
would otherwise sleep in the day-time.
If these noises or disturbances are wilful,
it has been held that an action will lie
against the disturber. As soon as the
evening sets in, the decoy-birds rise, as the
wild-fowl feed during the night. If the
evening is still, the noise of their wings,
during their flight, is heard at a very great
distance, and is a pleasing, though rather
melancholy sound.-Decoy, in military af-
fairs; a stratagem to lure the enemy into
an ambush, &c. sol
DECREE, in general; an order, edict or
law made by a superior, as a rule to gov-
ern inferiors. It is used for a judicial
decision in the court of chancery; also for
the edicts of ecclesiastical councils. In
the civil law, it signified a determination
or judgment of the emperor on a suit be-
tween parties. The compilation of the
older papal decretals and the decrees of
the councils, made by the monk Gratia-
nus in the 11th century, is called the De-
cretum Gratiani. (See Canon Law.) In
the former German empire, the resolu-
tions of the emperor, declared to the es-
tates of the empire, were called decrees.-
The old name of royal orders, in France,
was ordonnances or lettres. The national
convention, while it possessed sovereign
power, used the expression La convention
nationale décrète. During the period of
the directory, and under the consular gov-
ernment, the expressions arrêt and arrêter
were customary; but the imperial govern-
ment used the words imperial decree, for
instance, in the famous decrees of Berlin
and of Milan.
DECREPITATION is the crackling noise,
accompanied by a violent exfoliation of
their particles, which is made by several
salts and earthy compounds, on being sud-
denly exposed to heat. It appears to be
referable to the same cause which occa-
sions the cracking of glass and cast-iron
vessels, when they are incautiously heated;
viz., the unequal expansion of the lamina

which compose them, in consequence of
their imperfect power of conducting heat.
DECRESCENDO; an Italian term in mu-
sic, which denotes the gradual weakening
of the sound.
pa-
DECRETAL; a general name for the
pal decrees, comprehending the rescripts
(answers to inquiries and petitions), de-
crees (judicial decisions by the rota Roma-
na), mandates (official instructions for ec-
clesiastical officers, courts, &c.), edicts
(papal ordinances in general), and gen-
eral resolutions of the councils. The old-
est collection was made by Isidore, arch-
bishop of Seville (who died 636), which
is yet extant in manuscript. An enlarged
collection was made in the 9th century,
probably on the Rhine (perhaps by Ben-
edictus Levita). This contained many
pieces which have since been shown to
be spurious. In modern times, it has,
therefore, been called the pseudo-Isidorian
collection. In the Corpus Juris Canonici,
the collection of decretals which Greg-
ory IX (who died 1241) caused to be
made by Raimond of Pennafort (officially
published in 1234 at Paris, 1235 at Bo-
logna), constitutes the second division,
succeeding the decretum. It is divided
into five books, and is quoted under the
name Extra, because it contains the de-
cretals not in the decretum. A sixth book
of later decretals (Liber sextus Decretalium)
was added, in 1298, by Boniface VIII.
(See Canon Law.)
DEE; a river of Scotland, county of
Aberdeen, which rises on the north side
of the mountain Cairntoul, and runs into
the German ocean, at the town of Aber-
deen, after a direct course of 90 miles.
DEE; a river of Scotland, county of
Kirkcudbright, which flows into the Sol-
way frith.
DEE; a river of Ireland, which trav-
erses the county of Louth, and runs into
the bay of Dundalk.
DEED is a written contract, sealed and
delivered. It must be written before the
sealing and delivery, otherwise it is no
deed; and, after it is once formally exe-
cuted by the parties, nothing can be add-
ed or interlined; and, therefore, if a deed
be sealed and delivered, with a blank left
for the sum, which the obligee fills up
after sealing and delivery, this will make
the deed void. A deed must be made by
parties capable of contracting, and upon a
good consideration, and the subject mat-
ter must be legally and formally set out.
The formal parts of a deed are, the prem-
ises, containing the number, names, addi-
tions and titles of the parties; the cove
OF THE FAFFIC
DEED-DEER.
nants, which are clauses of agreement
contained in the deed, whereby the con-
tracting parties stipulate for the truth of
certain facts, or bind themselves to the
performance of some specific acts; the
conclusion, which mentions the execution
and date of the deed, or the time of its
being given or executed, either expressly,
or with reference to some day and year
before mentioned. Every deed must be
founded upon good and sufficient consid-
eration; not upon an usurious contract,
nor upon fraud or collusion, either to de-
ceive bona fide purchasers, or just and
lawful creditors; any of which considera-
tions will vacate the deed, and subject the
parties to forfeiture, and in some cases to
imprisonment. A deed, also, without any
consideration is void. A deed must be exe-
cuted by the party himself, or by another for
him in his presence, or with his direction;
or, in his absence, by an agent authorized
so to do by another deed, also under seal;
and in every such case, the deed must be
made and executed in the name of the
principal. A deed takes effect only from
the day of delivery; and therefore, if it
have no date, or a date impossible, the de-
livery will, in all cases, ascertain the date
of it; and if another party seal the deed,
yet, if the party deliver it himself, he
thereby adopts the sealing and signing,
and, by such delivery, makes them both
his own. The delivery of a deed may be
alleged at any time after the date; but, un-
less it be sealed and regularly delivered,
it is no deed. Another requisite of a deed
is, that it be properly witnessed or attest-
ed: the attestation is, however, necessary
rather for preserving the evidence, than as
intrinsically essential to the validity of the
instrument. There are four principles
adopted by the courts of law for the expo-
sition of deeds, viz., 1. that they be bene-
ficial to the grantee, or person in whose
favor they are intended to operate; 2. that
where the words may be employed to
some intent, they shall not be void; 3. that
the words be construed according to the
meaning of the parties, and the intent of
the parties be carried into effect, provided
such intent can possibly stand at law;
4. that they are to be expounded conso-
nantly to the rules of law, and reasonably,
without injury to the grantor, and to the
greatest advantage of the grantee.
DEER (cervus). These beautiful and
well known quadrupeds belong to the
order pecora, or ruminating animals.
They are distinguished from the antelopes
(q.v.) by their horns, which are composed
of a bony substance, caducous, or falling
155

A
off annually, and again renewed of a
larger size than in the preceding year.
These horns or antlers always exist on the
head of the male, and sometimes on that
of the female. In their first or young
state, they are covered by a velvet-like
membrane, through which the blood cir-
culates with great freedom. At this time,
the horn is extremely sensitive, the animal
suffering much pain when it is roughly
handled or struck. After the horn has
attained its full growth, the base becomes
surrounded with an irregular, tuberculous
ring, called the burr, and the blood-vessels
gradually contract and diminish, until they
cease to convey blood to the velvet mem-
brane, which then dries, loses its sensi-
tiveness, and finally flakes off. The form
of the horns is various. Sometimes they
spread into broad palms, which send out
sharp snags around their outer edges;
sometimes they divide fantastically into
branches, some of which project over the
forehead, whilst others are reared upwards
in the air, or they may be so reclined
backwards, that the animal seems almost
forced to carry his head in a stiff, erect
posture. Yet they communicate an air
of grandeur, seeming like trees planted on
the head of a living animal. The various
species of deer, as well as the antelopes
invariably remain in their original situa-
tions, when left to themselves. Two
species are common to the north of the
old and new continents; five belong to
North America; four to America south
of the equator; four to Europe and the
continent of Asia; and fourteen to India,
China and the Asiatic archipelagos. The
writings of naturalists exhibit much con-
fusion in relation to the North American
species. This has arisen, in a great meas-
ure, from the loose manner in which
species have been proposed on the author-
ity of travellers, wholly incompetent to
distinguish between mere varieties and
those permanent characteristics indicative
of specific constitution. The following
are the only well authenticated species
inhabiting this country; all the others,
named as distinct, being mere varieties:
moose (C. alces); reindeer (C. tarandus);
American elk (C. Canadensis); common
deer (C. Virginianus); black-tailed deer
(C. macrotis); long-tailed deer (C.leucurus,;
Mexican deer (C. Mexicanus). It should
be remarked, that few American quadru-
peds have been found precisely similar to
their European representatives, and that di Defe
recent writers have doubted whether the
moose and reindeer of this country are
identical with those of Scandinavia. No
bod
pos
Violenie
to nie d
by m
156
DEER.

satisfactory comparisons of the animals
from the two continents have yet been
made, and hence the distinguishing char-
acters, if any exist, are still unknown.-
The Moose, or Orignal of the Canadians,
is, perhaps, the only deer whose general
appearance can be called ungraceful, or
whose proportions, at first sight, impress
the beholder unfavorably. Its large head
terminates in a square muzzle, having the
nostrils protruded over the sides of the
mouth; the neck, which is furnished with
a short, thick mane, is not longer than the
head, which, in the males, is rendered
still more cumbrous and unwieldy by
large palmated horns; under the throat is
an excrescence, from which issues a tuft of
long hair; the body, which is short and
thick, is mounted on tall legs, giving a
very ungainly aspect to the animal, which
is not diminished when it is in motion, as
its gait is a sort of shambling trot, very
efficient, however, from the great length
of its limbs. The moose inhabits the
northern parts of both continents. In
America, it has been found as far north as
the country has been explored; its south-
ern range, at former periods, extended to
the shores of the great lakes, and through-
out the New England States. Du Pratz
mentions that, in his time, they occurred
on the Ohio. At present, however, they
are seldom heard of to the south of the
state of Maine, where, also, they are be-
coming scarce. But in Nova Scotia,
around the bay of Fundy, and in the Hud-
son's bay company's possessions, they are
found in considerable numbers. Their
flesh is more relished by the Indians, and
persons resident in the fur countries, than
that of any other animal. It bears a
greater resemblance, in its flavor, to beef
than to venison. The large and gristly
extremity of the nose is accounted an
epicurean treat. Hearne states that the
external fat is soft, like that of a breast of
mutton, and, when put into a bladder, is
as fine as marrow. In this it differs from
all the other species of deer, of which the
external fat is hard. The moose attains a
large size, particularly the male, which
sometimes weighs eleven or twelve hun-
dred pounds. Their skins, when properly
dressed, make a soft, thick, pliable leather,
which the Indians prepare by scraping
them to an equal thickness, and removing
the hair: they are then smeared with the
brains of the animal, until they feel soft
and spongy; and, lastly, they are suspended
over a fire made of rotten wood, until they
are well impregnated with the smoke.
Reindeer. These animals inhabit the
arctic islands of Spitzbergen, and the
northern extremity of the old continent,
never having extended, according to Cu-
vier, to the southward of the Baltic. They
have long been domesticated, and their
appearance and habits are well described
by naturalists. The American reindeer or
caribou, are much less perfectly known:
they have, however, so strong a resem-
blance, in form and manners, to the Lap-
land deer, that they have always been
considered to be the same species, with-
out the fact having ever been completely
established. The American Indians have
never profited by the docility of this ani-
mal, to aid them in transporting their fami-
lies and property, though they annually
destroy great numbers for their flesh and
hides. There appear to be several varie-
ties of this useful quadruped peculiar to
the high northern regions of the American
continent, which are ably described by
doctor Richardson, one of the compan-
ions of captain Franklin in his hazardous
attempt to reach the north pole by land.
The closeness of the hair of the caribou,
and the lightness of its skin when properly
dressed, render it the most appropriate
article for winter clothing in the high lati-
tudes. The hoofs of the reindeer are
very large, and spread greatly, and thus
enable it to cross the yielding snows
without sinking. During the summer
months, this deer feeds upon every species
of green herbage; but in winter, his whole
food is the lichen or moss, which he in-
stinctively seeks under the snow. It is a
singular, but now a well established fact,
that the reindeer will eat, with avidity, the
lemming or mountain-rat, presenting one
of the few instances of a ruminating ani-
mal being, in any degree, carnivorous.
Reindeer have several times been trans-
ported to England and Scotland in large
numbers, but they have invariably died,
although they were attended by Laplan-
ders, and could procure plenty of their
natural food. Whether the failure arose,
however, from a want of proper atten-
tion to the peculiar habits of the animal,
or was the natural result of the tenacity
with which the deer tribe adhere to their
original geographical position as a law of
nature, is a question not easy to be decid-
ed.-American Elk. This stately and beau-
tiful animal was, until very recently, con-
founded with the moose, from its com
mon English name being the same as that
applied to the European moose. The
size and appearance of the elk are very
imposing; his air denotes confidence of
great strength, whilst his towering horns
DEER-DEFENDER OF THE FAITH.
exhibit weapons capable of doing much
injury. The elk, at one period, ranged
over the greater part of this continent, and
is still occasionally found in the remote
and thinly settled parts of Pennsylvania;
but the number is small. Doctor Rich-
ardson states that its northern range is
about the 56th or 57th parallel of latitude.
The elk has been sometimes domesticat-
ed to a certain degree; but, at the same
time, from its warlike disposition, it is not
likely that it could be advantageously sub-
stituted for the reindeer.-Common Deer.
This well known quadruped is found
throughout the country between Canada
and the banks of the Orinoco. In vari-
ous parts of this extensive range, it presents
considerable varieties in size and color.
Judging by the quantity of skins brought
to our markets, we may form some idea of
the aggregate number and productiveness
of these animals, which, notwithstand-
ing the extensive destruction of them,
do not appear to be very rapidly dimin-
ishing, except in the immediate vicinities
of very thickly peopled districts. The
common deer is possessed of keen senses,
especially of hearing and smelling: the
sight, though good, does not appear to
equal in power the senses just named.
It is necessary for a hunter to approach a
deer against the wind, otherwise he is
iscovered by the scent. The slightest
noise, also, appears to excite its fears
more than any other cause; while, on the
contrary, the sight of unaccustomed ob-
jects seems rather to arouse curiosity than
produce terror. The female commonly
has one or two, and sometimes three, fawns
at a birth, which are of a light cinnamon
color, spotted with white. In the latter
part of the' summer, they lose the white
spots, and in winter the hair grows longer
and grayish: this is succeeded, in the
following June, by a coat of a reddish
color, which changes, in August, to a
darkish blue, which again gradually as
sumes a gray tint. The skin is toughest
in the red, thickest in the blue, and thin-
nest in the gray state. They shed their
horns in February.-Black-tailed Deer.
This species is peculiar to the country
west of the Missouri, and in the neighbor-
hood of the Rocky mountains. The first
information of this fine animal was given
by Lewis and Clarke, and it was after-
wards fully described by Mr. Say. Its
ears are of great length, equalling that of
the head; its tail is terminated by a black
tuft, whence its common name. From
the form of its hoofs, which resemble
those of the goat, it is enabled to live
14
VOL. IV.
157
among the rocky cliffs of the mountains.
It does not run like the common deer, but
bounds along, raising all its feet from the
ground at the same time.-Long-tailed
Deer. We owe the description of this ani-
mal to Mr. Douglass, who states that it is
not found on the east side of the Rocky
mountains, except in their immediate vi-
cinity, but is the most common deer in
the districts about the Columbia river.
Its gait is two ambling steps and a bound
exceeding twice the length of the steps.
In running, the tail is erect, wagging from
side to side, and, from its unusual length
(13 to 17 inches), is the most remarkable
characteristic about the animal. It goes
in herds, from November to April and
May, when the female secretes herself to
bring forth. The young are spotted with
white until the middle of the first winter,
when they change to the same color as
the most aged. This deer, however, ap-
proaches very near to the common spe-
cies in all its characters, and may, eventu-
ally, prove to be only a variety.-Mexican
Deer. Of this species very little is known,
except that it inhabits Mexico and the
adjoining countries. It may possibly be
only a variety of the common deer, as
the differences exist principally in the
disposition of the antlers, which is an ex-
tremely fallacious guide in the discrimni-
nation of the different species of deer.
The arrangement of the teeth of the deer
is, incisors, canine & or, molars

= total, 32 or 34.
DE FACTO (Latin; in fact); a term used
in contradistinction to de jure (by right).
Thus, for instance, it is said don Miguel is
de facto ruler of Portugal. In some cases,
the distinction is clear enough, but very
often not. Napoleon's government was
called, by the English, de facto, and that
of the Bourbons de jure; yet every body
knows that Hugh Capet obtained pos-
session of the crown of France by violence.
When did his successors begin to rule de
jure? Charles XIV is called, by many,
the ruler of Sweden de facto, yet he was
chosen king by the nation; and who can
be more properly a ruler de jure than a
king chosen by the nation? This consid-
eration has led some politicians to assert
that there is no government de jure, but
only governments de facto, which may be
better or worse. On the other hand, it is
asserted that there is but one kind of gov
ernment de jure; that is, such as receives
its sanction and authority from the people
who constitute the state.
DEFAMATION. (See Slander.)
DEFENDER OF THE FAITH (Fidei Defen

DEER-DEFENDER OF THE FAITH.
exhibit weapons capable of doing much
injury. The elk, at one period, ranged
over the greater part of this continent, and
is still occasionally found in the remote
and thinly settled parts of Pennsylvania;
but the number is small. Doctor Rich-
ardson states that its northern range is
about the 56th or 57th parallel of latitude.
The elk has been sometimes domesticat-
ed to a certain degree; but, at the same
time, from its warlike disposition, it is not
likely that it could be advantageously sub-
stituted for the reindeer.-Common Deer.
This well known quadruped is found
throughout the country between Canada
and the banks of the Orinoco. In vari-
ous parts of this extensive range, it presents
considerable varieties in size and color.
Judging by the quantity of skins brought
to our markets, we may form some idea of
the aggregate number and productiveness
of these animals, which, notwithstand-
ing the extensive destruction of them,
do not appear to be very rapidly dimin-
ishing, except in the immediate vicinities
of very thickly peopled districts. The
common deer is possessed of keen senses,
especially of hearing and smelling: the
sight, though good, does not appear to
equal in power the senses just named.
It is necessary for a hunter to approach a
deer against the wind, otherwise he is
discovered by the scent. The slightest
noise, also, appears to excite its fears
more than any other cause; while, on the
contrary, the sight of unaccustomed ob-
jects seems rather to arouse curiosity than
produce terror. The female commonly
has one or two, and sometimes three, fawns
at a birth, which are of a light cinnamon
color, spotted with white. In the latter
part of the summer, they lose the white
spots, and in winter the hair grows longer
and grayish: this is succeeded, in the
following June, by a coat of a reddish
color, which changes, in August, to a
darkish blue, which again gradually as
sumes a gray tint. The skin is toughest
in the red, thickest in the blue, and thin-
nest in the gray state. They shed their
horns in February.-Black-tailed Deer.
This species is peculiar to the country
west of the Missouri, and in the neighbor-
hood of the Rocky mountains. The first
information of this fine animal was given
by Lewis and Clarke, and it was after-
wards fully described by Mr. Say. Its
ears are of great length, equalling that of
the head; its tail is terminated by a black
tuft, whence its common name. From
the form of its hoofs, which resemble
those of the goat, it is enabled to live
14
VOL. IV.
157
among the rocky cliffs of the mountains.
It does not run like the common deer, but
bounds along, raising all its feet from the
ground at the same time.-Long-tailed
Deer. We owe the description of this ani-
mal to Mr. Douglass, who states that it is
not found on the east side of the Rocky
mountains, except in their immediate vi-
cinity, but is the most common deer in
the districts about the Columbia river.
Its gait is two ambling steps and a bound
exceeding twice the length of the steps.
In running, the tail is erect, wagging from
side to side, and, from its unusual length
(13 to 17 inches), is the most remarkable
characteristic about the animal. It goes
in herds, from November to April and
May, when the female secretes herself to
bring forth. The young are spotted with
white until the middle of the first winter,
when they change to the same color as
the most aged. This deer, however, ap-
proaches very near to the common spe-
cies in all its characters, and may, eventu-
ally, prove to be only a variety.-Mexican
Deer. Of this species very little is known,
except that it inhabits Mexico and the
adjoining countries. It may possibly be
only a variety of the common deer, as
the differences exist principally in the
disposition of the antlers, which is an ex-
tremely fallacious guide in the discriini-
nation of the different species of deer.
The arrangement of the teeth of the deer
is, incisors, canine & or&, molars


total, 32 or 34.
DE FACTO (Latin; in fact); a term used
in contradistinction to de jure (by right).
Thus, for instance, it is said don Miguel is
de facto ruler of Portugal. In some cases,
the distinction is clear enough, but very
often not. Napoleon's government was
called, by the English, de facto, and that
of the Bourbons de jure; yet every body
knows that Hugh Capet obtained pos-
session of the crown of France by violence.
When did his successors begin to rule de
jure? Charles XIV is called, by many,
the ruler of Sweden de facto, yet he was
chosen king by the nation; and who can
be more properly a ruler de jure than a
king chosen by the nation? This consid-
eration has led some politicians to assert
that there is no government de jure, but
only governments de facto, which may be
better or worse. On the other hand, it is
asserted that there is but one kind of
ernment de jure; that is, such as receives
its sanction and authority from the people
who constitute the state.
gov-
DEFAMATION. (See Slander.)
DEFENDER OF THE FAITH (Fidei Defen
158
DEFENDER OF THE FAITH-DEFOE.

sor); a title belonging to the king of Eng-
land, as Catholicus to the king of Spain,
Christianissimus to the king of France,
Apostolicus to the king of Hungary, &c.
Leo X bestowed the title of Defender of
the Faith on Henry VIII on account of
his memorable book against Luther; and
the bull conferring it bears date quinto
idus Octob. 1521. Clement VII confirmed
the title. Chamberlayne says that the
title was only renewed by Leo X; as
Apostolicus, for instance, was renewed in
the case of Maria Theresa, being, in fact,
a very old title. (See Apostolicus.)
DEFFAND, Marie du; a French lady,
distinguished alike for her talents and her
intercourse with the literati of the last
century. She was born in 1696, of a no-
ble family, and received an education
suitable to her rank. Her acquirements
were very considerable, but no care seems
to have been taken to regulate her temper
and disposition, which were marked by a
degree of selfishness which was conspicu-
ous throughout her life. In 1718, she was
married to J. B. J. du Deffand, marquis de
la Lande, colonel of a regiment of dra-
goons. During the latter part of her long
life, she became the centre of a literary
coterie, which included some of the great-
est geniuses of the age. Among the fe-
males remarkable for their wit and talents
in the 18th century, madame du Deffand
claims a distinguished place, though she
left no monument of her abilities except
her epistolary correspondence, which has
been highly praised by her friend D'Alem-
bert, as affording a model of style in that
species of composition. She died in 1780,
having reached the age of 84, during the
last 30 years of which she had been af-
flicted with blindness. In 1810 was pub-
lished Correspondance inédite de Madame
da Deffand avec d'Alembert, Montesquieu,
le Président Hénault, la Duchesse du Maine;
Mesdames de Choiseul, de Staël; le Mar-
quis d'Argens, le Chevalier d'Aydie, &c.,
3 vols. 8vo. Her letters to the celebrated
Horace Walpole have likewise been
printed.
DEFILE; a narrow way, admitting only
a few persons abreast. The term is often
erroneously confined to mountain passes.
As they delay the march of troops, and
expose them to the fire of the enemy, they
must be avoided if possible, particularly by
artillery and wagons. A defile is defend-
ed in different ways. When it is formed
by heights (particularly if they are covered
with wood), it is advisable to occupy the
entrance, and station the troops en masse
behind: when this is not the case, the best
to
way will be to render the passage as im
practicable as possible, and to make a
stand behind the outlet of the defile, so
that the enemies advancing from it, may
be checked by an effectual fire, and pre-
vented from developing themselves. A
position before the defile, for the purpose
of defending it, is only to be thought of
when the passage of another division is
be covered. This method may be more
or less varied in the defence of bridges.
In passing a defile in sight of the enemy,
after the usual precautions of patrols, &c.,
the van-guard must first march rapidly
through, and take a position before the
outlet, so as to cover the developement
of the succeeding masses, the preventing
of which will be the object of the enemy.
To defile is, therefore, to pass through a
narrow passage. To march before any
one with a narrow front, that is, en colonne
or by files, is also called defiling.
DEFINITION (from the Latin definitio
of a thing signifies, in lexicography, a
concise account of its essential and char-
acteristic points. A definition should
embrace all the essential properties of the
object intended to be defined, and not ad-
mit any which do not belong to it, which
is often extremely difficult, on account of
the shades and gradations by which dif-
ferent things are blended. A strictly ac-
curate definition can be given of only a
few objects. The most simple things are
the least capable of definition, from the
difficulty of finding terms more simple
and intelligible than the one to be defined.
Of course, every large dictionary abounds
with definitions which explain nothing,
since the thing defined cannot be made
clearer by any definition. A good defini-
tion must give the mark of the genus (nota
generalis seu genus) and of the species
(nota specialis seu differentia specifica); for
instance, a barn is a building (nota gen-
eralis) for the purpose of preserving com,
&c. (nota specialis). A definition may be
analytic or synthetic.
DEFLAGRATION, and DEFLAGRATOR.
(See Galvanism.)
DEFLECTION OF THE RAYS OF LIGHT
is a property which doctor Hooke ob-
served in 1674-5. He says he found it
different from both reflection and refrac-
tion, and that it took place towards the
surface of the opacous body perpendicu
larly. This is the same property which
Newton calls inflection. It is called, by
others, diffraction.
DEFOE, Daniel, a writer of great inge-
nuity and fertility, was born at London in
1663. His father's name was simply Foe.


DEFOE-DEGRADATION.
He received his education at an academy
at Newington Green, and he is not sup-
posed to have attained to much classical
acquirement. He commenced author at
the age of 21, by a Treatise against the
Turks, joined the insurrection of the duke
of Monmouth, and had the good fortune
to escape to London, where he engaged,
first as a horse-factor, and then as a maker
of bricks at Tilbury fort. His commercial
speculations, however, failing, he became
insolvent; and it is to his credit, that, hav-
ing cleared his debts by a composition, he
subsequently paid most of them in full,
when his circumstances were amended.
In 1697, he wrote an Essay on Projects.
In 1701, appeared his satire, the True-
born Englishman, the object of which
was to show the folly of the popular ob-
jection to king William, as a foreigner, by
a people who were themselves a mixture
of so many races. In 1702, when the
high church party seemed disposed to
carry matters strongly against the Dissen-
ters, he published the Shortest Way with
the Dissenters, being an ironical recom-
mendation of persecution, so gravely cov-
ered that many persons were deceived by
it. It was, however, voted a seditious
libel by the house of commons; and, the
author avowing himself, to secure his
printer and publisher, he was prosecuted
to conviction, and sentenced to fine, im-
prisonment, and the pillory. He under-
went the latter punishment with great
equanimity, and was so far from being
ashamed of it, that he wrote a Hymn to
the Pillory, alluding to this circumstance.
In February, 1703, while in Newgate, he
commenced the Review, which is sup-
posed to have given Steele the hint for
his Tatler. He was at length liberated
from Newgate by the interposition of
Harley, and the queen herself sent money
to his wife and family. In 1706, he pub-
lished his largest poem, entitled Jure Divi-
no, a satire on the doctrine of divine
right. When the accession of the house
of Hanover became an interesting topic,
he wrote in its favor; but so obtuse was
the public to his irony, that he was im-
prisoned for his productions as libels in
favor of the pretender. The accession of
George I produced him no further patron-
age, and he began another line of compo-
sition. In 1715, he published the Fami-
ly Instructor, a work inculcating moral
and religious duties in a lively manner, by
narration and dialogue. To this work his
well-known Religious Courtship, publish-
ed in 1722, formed a third volume. In
1719, appeared the most popular of all his
159
performances-the Life and Surprising
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, the fa-
vorable reception of which was imme-
diate and universal. It is unnecessary to
dwell upon a work which every body has
read, and which has been translated into
all the languages of Europe; but it may be
proper to mention, that the imputation of
his founding it upon the papers of Alex-
ander Selkirk, the Scottish mariner, left
on the island of Juan Fernandez, appears
to be altogether untrue. The success of
Defoe in this performance induced him to
write a number of other lives and adven-
tures in character; as Moll Flanders, Cap-
tain Singleton, Roxalana, Duncan Camp-
bell, and the Adventures of a Cavalier.
In 1722, he published a Journal of the
Plague in 1665, in the person of a citizen
supposed to have been a witness of it.
The natural manner in which it is writ-
ten deceived the celebrated doctor Mead,
who thought it genuine. In 1724, he
published the Great Law of Subordina-
tion, and, in 1726, his Political History of
the Devil, to which he afterwards added,
in the same style of reasoning, wit and
ridicule, a System of Magic. He is also
author of a Tour through the Island of
Great Britain, the Complete English
Tradesman, a Plan of English Com-
merce, and various other productions.
He died in April, 1731. A work has
been lately published, called Memoirs of
the Life and Times of Daniel Defoe, by
Walter Wilson, three volumes, London,
1830.
DEFTERDAR, in the Turkish empire;
the minister of the finances, and high-
treasurer of the empire. He is different
from the kasnadar-baschi, the treasurer of
the sultan's private purse.
DEGRADATION. The ecclesiastical cen-
DEGERANDO. (See Gerando.)
sure, by which a clergyman is divested
of his holy orders, is termed degradation.
The ceremony consists chiefly in stripping
off his clerical vestments. Geliot, in his
Indice armoriel, describes the degradation
of Franget, a Gascon captain, for surren-
dering Fontarabia under Francis I. The
accusation of treason was pronounced be-
fore 20 or 30 cavaliers. The culprit was
armed at all points, and his shield, rever-
sed, was suspended on a stake before him.
By his side, twelve priests chanted the vig-
ils of the dead. At the pause after each
psalm, the officers stripped the knight of a
piece of his armor, till he was quite bare.
His shield was then broken into three
pieces, and the king at arms poured a basin
of hot water on his head. The criminal
160
DEGRADATION-DEGREE.

arcs, and by similar arcs in peripheries of
different diameters; and an angle is said
to be of so many degrees as are contained
in the arc of any circle comprehended
between the legs of the angle, and having
the angular point for its centre. Thus we
say "an angle of 90°," or "of 45° 24'." It
is also usual to say, "such a star is elevat-
was afterwards let down from the scaffold,
by ropes under his arms, and, being placed
on a bier, covered with grave-clothes, and
preceded by a priest chanting a mass for
the dead, was delivered to the civil judge
and the executioner. His life, however,
eventually was spared, since life, under
such circumstances, was considered more
bitter than death.ou stilled so many degrees above the horizon,"
DEGREE, in algebra, a term applied to
equations, to distinguish the highest pow-
er of the unknown quantity. Thus, if
the index of that power be 3 or 4, the
equation is respectively of the 3d or 4th
degree.bul' Hole
DEGREE, in geometry or trigonometry, is
the 360th part of the circumference of any
circle; every circle being considered as di-
vided into 360 parts, called degrees, which
are marked by a small near the top of
the figure; thus, 45° is 45 degrees. The
degree is subdivided into 60 smaller parts,
called minutes; the minute into 60 others,
called seconds; the second into 60 thirds,
&c. Thus 45° 12′ 20″ is 45 degrees,
12 minutes, 20 seconds. The magnitude
or quantity of angles is estimated in de-
grees; for, because of the uniform curva-
ture of a circle in all its parts, equal an-
gles at the centre are subtended by equal
or "declines so many degrees from the
equator;" or "such a town is situated in
so many degrees of latitude or longitude."
A sign of the ecliptic or zodiac contains
30 degrees.
Degree of Latitude is the space or dis-
tance, on the meridian, through which an
observer must move to vary his latitude
by one degree, or to increase or diminish
the distance of a star from the zenith by
one degree; and which, on the supposi-
tion of the perfect sphericity of the earth,
is the 360th part of the meridian. The
length of a degree of a meridian, or
other great circle, on the surface of the
earth, is variously determined by different
observers, and the methods made use of
are also various; and, therefore, without
entering into the history of all attempts
of this kind, we shall present our readers
with the following
deilding ban
Table of the different Lengths of a Degree, as measured in various Parts of the
to Earth, the Time of its Measurement, the Latitude of its middle Point, &c.

Extent in Eng-|
Date.
Latitude.
lish miles and of Measurers.
LaCountries.
decimals.
1525 49° 20
4920
1620 52
4
1635 53 15
ZZZ
N.
68.763
M. Fernel..
N.
66.091
N.
69.545
1644
75.066
Riccioli..
1669 49 22
1718)
1737 66 20
68.945
20
49 22
1740 45 00
500
Z ZZZ
Picard.
N.
69.119
N.
69.403
N.
69.121
N.
69.092
68.751
Juan and Ulloa.
1744 0 0
68.732
Bouguer.....
68.713
Condamine
1752 33 18
S.
69.076
La Caille.!.!.
Snellius ...
Norwood
Cassini...
Maupertuis, &c.
Cassini and La Caille
France.
Holland.o
England.
Italy.
France.
4208
Lapland. of
France.
od and W
Peru.you
Cape of Good dr
Hope.bs
1755 43 0
N.
68.998
Boscovich.
1764 44 44
N.
69.061
Beccaria....
Italy.
1766 47 40
N.
69.142
Liesganig
1768 39 12 N.
68.893
Germany. Du
Mason and Dixon
U. States.
1802 51 29 54 N.
69.146
68.743
1803 66 20 N. 69.292❘
12 32
N.
1808 44 523 N. 68.769
limbo of bood aid uo soto Jail to
Swanberg, &c. ...Lapland.ile
aid the to logo out of hosqun ev
Lieut.-col. Mudge..
England.
England. v
Swanberg, &c.
Lambton
Mysore.co
Biot, Arago, &c. ...
France.c
flower
Ti ho
DEGREE-DEGREES, MEASUREMENT OF.
Ellipticities of the Earth, expressed in Parts of its equatorial
Diameter.
Authors.
Ellipticities.
Principles.
Huyghens,
575
Theory of gravity.
Newton,.
230
814
Maupertuis, &c.
129
Mensuration of arcs.
ais
Swanberg,
323.065
Clairaut,
11:55
Rotatory motion.
337
Vibrations of the pendulum.
Treisnsoker,
320
Laplace,.
34
8161

306
Degree of Longitude is the space be-
tween two meridians that make an angle
of 1° with each other at the poles, the
quantity or length of which is variable,
Deg. English Deg. English Deg.
Lat. miles. Lat. miles. Lat.
Occultations of the fixed stars.
Precession, nutation, pendu-
lum, theory of the moon, &c.
according to the latitude. The following
table expresses the length of a degree of
longitude in different latitudes, supposing
the earth to possess a perfect sphericity:-
English Deg. English Deg. English
miles. Lat. miles. Lat. miles.
810
69.07
20
69.06 21
64.84 40
64.42 41
52.85
60
34.50 80
11.98
52.07
61
33.45 81
10.79
2 69.03 22
63.97 42
51.27
62
32.40 82
9.59
3 68.97 23
63.51
43
50.46
63
31.33 83
8.41
4
68.90 24
63.03
44
49.63 64
30.24 84
7.21
5
68.81
25
62.53 45
48.74 65
29.15
85
6.09
6
68.62
26
62.02 46
47.93 66
28.06
86
4.81
7 68.48
27
61.48 47
47.06
67
26.96 87
3.61
8
68.31 28
60.93
48
46.16
68
25.85
88 2.41
9
10
11
12
68.15 29
67.95 30 59.75 50
67.73 31 59.13 51
67.48 32 58.51
13 67.21 33
14 66.95 34
15 66.65 35
60.35
49
45.26
69
24.73
89 1.21
44.35 70
23.60
90 0.00
43.42 71 22.47
52
43.48 72
21.32
57.87 53
41.53 73
20.17
16 66.31 36
57.20 54
56.51 55
55.81 56
40.56 74
19.02
39.58
75 17.86
38.58
76 16.70
37.58
77
15.52
17 65.98 37 55.10 57
18 65.62 38 54.37 58 36.57 78 14.85
19 65.24 39 53.62 59 35.54 79 13.17
OF
DEGREES, MEASUREMENT OF. After
the immortal Newton had taught that the
earth, on account of its motion round its
axis, must be highest near the equator,
and that the diameter of the equator must
be longer, by one 230th part, than the
diameter from pole to pole, the French
wished to investigate the subject farther
by actual measurement. Newton gave
them warning that the difference between
a degree at Bayonne and one at Dunkirk
was so trifling that it could not be detect-
ed at all with the imperfect instruments
then in use; and was, in fact, afraid that
they might come to a result directly op-
posite to what he conceived to be correct,
and bring confusion into science. But
his warnings were of no avail. The
measurement was begun, and the fear of
the great philosopher was realized; for
the result was, that the axis of the poles
was longer than a diameter of the equator,
and that the earth was, in form, more like
a lemon than an orange. For 40 years,
disputes were maintained on this point,
without settling the question; and, at
last, the academy of sciences resolved, on
the proposition of Condamine (q. v), to
14*
162
DEGREES, MEASUREMENT OF.

have a degree measured at the equator
the expedition went to South America in
1735), and one in Lapland (Kittis and
Tornea being the extreme stations to
which the expedition was sent in 1736).
It was found that the northern degree was
greater than that under the equator, and
that Newton's conjecture was right. But
the question still remained, How great is
the flattening of our planet? The theory
said, one 230th part, if the earth had been
in a perfectly liquid state, when it began
its rotation. The calculations, however,
always gave different results, varying ac-
cording to the different measurements
adopted as the basis of them; for meas-
urements had been made, not only in
America and Lapland, but also in France,
England, Hungary, and Italy. It was
concluded, that the earth was not a regu-
lar body, but had great local inequalities.
Though this was possible, yet the conclu-
sion was too hasty, because these suppos-
ed inequalities might be caused by the
insufficiency of the instruments, and by
the smallness of the arcs measured.
When the French established their new
and admirable system of measures and
weights upon the basis of the metre,
which was to be the ten millionth part of
the distance from the equator to the pole
(39% English feet; see Measures), it
was necessary to know, with accuracy,
the circumference and the flattening of
the earth. A measurement, therefore,
took place in France, not of one degree,
but of 10 degrees, from Dunkirk to For-
mentera. (See Delambre.) In Sweden,
in 1802, the degree, which, 80 years be-
fore, had been measured by Maupertuis,
was now measured again, with better in-
struments, and thus the circumference
and flattening of the earth were pretty
well ascertained. After the peace, the
measurements of degrees, which were
made in England, under general Roy, by
lieutenant-colonel Mudge, were connected
with those in France; and thus an arc of
20 degrees, from the Balearic islands, near
the coast of Spain, over France and
England, to the Orcades, has been meas-
ured, and the flattening of the earth has
been determined as accurately as it can
be done in Europe. The flattening has
been found to be one 304th. In India,
Lambton has begun the measurement of
a degree. These measurements of de-
grees are among those enterprises which
do mankind much honor, because they
are not undertaken for the sake of imme-
diate profit, nor of bare utility, but from
En ardent desire of knowing the truth,
1000
from the same deep thirst for knowledge,
which has so often impelled men to ex-
plore the icy seas of the poles and the
burning deserts of Africa. The history
of such expeditions is better fitted to
awaken a generous spirit in youth than
the oft-repeated tale of conquest and
bloodshed.
Measurement of a Degree of Longitude.
The degrees of longitude are largest un-
der the equator, and diminish continually
towards the pole. Under the equator, a
degree of longitude contains 60 geographi-
cal, 69 statute miles. If the form of the
earth is not entirely regular, the degrees
of longitude on the same parallel of lati-
tude cannot all be of the same length;
and it has been proposed to investigate
this by actual measurement. This task is,
in the trigonometric part, as easy as the
measurement of a degree of latitude; but
in the astronomical part, it is 15 times
more difficult. The difference of the lon-
gitude of two places is determined by the
difference of the hour of the day, at the
same point of time in the two; as a place,
situated 15 degrees to the east of another,
has noon a whole hour earlier. One hour,
therefore, corresponds to 15 degrees, or
10423 statute miles under the equator, or
5,504,400 feet; a minute of time, to 91,740
feet, and a second of time, to 1529 feet. A
mistake of a second of time, therefore, in
calculating the longitude of two places,
makes a corresponding error in space. To
determine time, within two or three sec-
onds, by means of rockets, at a distance of
10423 miles, is impossible; and, whilst the
measurement of an arc, corresponding to
this distance, trigonometrically, may be at-
tended with an error to the amount of 200
feet, an astronomical measurement would
leave an uncertainty of 2000 feet. The
earlier measurements of the French were
directed, in the North, by Maupertuis; in
the South, by Bouguer. Detailed notices
on the measurements of degrees are given
by Delambre, in his Astronomie, iii, chap.
35. A popular description is given in the
excellent work, Anleitung zur Allgemeinen
Kenntniss d. Erdkugel (Introduction to a
general Knowledge of the Globe, second
edition, Berlin, 1803), by Bode. The la-
test information respecting this subject is
given by captain Edward Sabine.
made observations with the pendulum,
from lat. 13° S. to lat. 80° N. He calcu-
lates the flattening of the earth to be
He
s.; and if the measurements of Sa-
bine, Kater, and the modern French ones
by Biot, are connected, and the mean of
the whole taken, the flattening will be
DEGREES, MEASUREMENT OF-DELAMBRE.
found to be 8.
(See Sabine's Account
of Experiments to determine the Figure of
the Earth, by Means of the Pendulum vi-
brating Seconds in different Latitudes, Lon-
don, 1825, 4to.)
DEGREE, in universities, denotes a dis-
tinction conferred on the students or
members thereof, as a testimony of their
proficiency in the arts or sciences, and
entitling them to certain privileges. The
degrees are much the same in all univer-
sities; but the laws thereof, and the pre-
vious discipline or exercise, differ. The
degrees are, bachelor, master and doctor;
instead of which last, in some foreign uni-
versities, is licentiate.
DEÏDAMEA (Deidameia); daughter of
Lycomedes: she bore Pyrrhus and Onites
to Achilles, during his abode at Scyrus.
DEI GRATIA (by the grace of God); a
formula which sovereigns add to their
title. The expression is taken from an
Epistle of the apostle Paul, and was used
first by the clergy in the time of Constan-
tine the Great. In the times of the Carlo-
vingian race, the secular princes also as-
sumed it. The high clergy of the Catho-
lic church used it with an addition: "By
the grace of God and the apostolic see."
DEIOTARUS, tetrarch of Galatia, received
from the Roman senate the title of king
of that province and Armenia Minor, on
account of services rendered to the Ro-
mans in the Asiatic wars. In the civil
war, he joined the party of Pompey. Ca-
sar took from him Armenia, obliged him
to march with him against Pharnaces, and
left him nothing but the title of royalty.
He was accused of having plotted against
the life of Cæsar, from which charge
Cicero defended him in an oration yet
extant. After the murder of Cæsar, he
returned to his dominions, joined Brutus,
and afterwards Augustus. He died, at
an advanced age, 30 B. C.
DEIR; an Arabian word signifying house;
as, Deir-el-Kamar, the house of the moon.
It often occurs in geographical compounds.
DEISM (from the Latin deus), as a philo-
sophical system; that which finds in God
the cause of all things. It is, as such,
opposed to atheism. In a religious point
of view, it is used for the belief in natural
religion, contradistinguished from the belief
'n revelation, and is considered, by many
persons, almost equivalent to atheism,
though this opinion can only be caused
by ignorance. Theism has the same sig-
nification, and is derived from the Greek
Osos (god). In India, there is a sect of
pure deists, called Seiks.
DEJANIRA; daughter of Eneus, king
163

of Calydon, a city of Ætolia; according
to others, of Bacchus and Althea, who,
with her sister Gorgo, alone retained her
form, when her other sisters were trans-
formed, while mourning for their brother.
She was betrothed to Achelous, the god
of the river of the same name, who, on her
account, engaged in a combat with Her-
cules. Achelous was overcome, and the
maiden became the prize of the victor,
who, on his return to his country, was
stopped in his way by the river Evenus,
which had overflowed its banks. In this
emergency, the Centaur Nessus offered to
take Dejanira across the river on his back.
Hercules readily consented, and passed
over the river first; but, when he had
reached the opposite bank, he saw that the
Centaur was attempting to offer her vio-
lence. Enraged at the sight, he pierced
him with an arrow, which had been dip-
ped in the blood of the hydra. Nessus,
perceiving his death approaching, wished
to be revenged, and gave to Dejanira his
bloody tunic, telling her that, if her hus-
band was unfaithful, she should persuade
him to put this on, and it would reclaim
him from his unlawful passion.
credulous Dejanira accepted the present.
Hearing, subsequently, that Hercules was
captivated by the charms of Iole, the daugh-
ter of Eurytus of Euboea, she sent him the
tunic of Nessus by a young slave, named
Lichas, with the tenderest messages. Her-
cules joyfully accepted the fatal present,
and hastened to make use of it; but was
thrown into the most violent agony.
his fury, he hurled Lichas into the sea,
where, by the compassion of the gods, he
was changed into a rock. Then, having
hewed down some trees on mount Eta,
and erected a funeral pile, he ascended
the pile, and begged his friend Philoctetes
to set fire to it. When Dejanira heard of
the death of Hercules, she was so overcome
by anguish, that she destroyed herself.
The
In
DEKEN, Agathe; a Dutch authoress,
born in 1741, in the village of Amstelveen,
near Amsterdam. She wrote Dutch novels
and poems of merit; among others, Liede-
ren voor den Bærvenstand. She died in 1804.
DELAMBRE; one of the most distin-
guished astronomers of our time, born at
Amiens, in 1749; studied under the abbé
Delille, who always remained his friend.
He first applied himself to the languages,
particularly most of the living ones, and
made himself one of the best Hellenists in
France. His studies were not directed to
astronomy until his 36th year. He en-
riched the writings of Lalande with a
commentary, and became the friend and
164
ata DELAMBRE-DELAWARE.
A

pupil of the author, who proudly called
him his best work. In 1790, eight years
after the discovery of Herschel, Delambre
published the tables of that planet, although
in that period, it had performed but a small
part of its 80 years' course. He also con-
structed tables of Jupiter and Saturn, and
of the satellites of Jupiter, which, with
several treatises, procured him a reception
into the national institute. He was en-
gaged with Méchain, from 1792 till 1799,
in measuring an arc of the meridian from
Barcelona to Dunkirk for the verifica-
tion of which he measured two bases of
6000 toises, one near Melun, the other
near Perpignan. (See his Base du Sys-
tème Métrique, décimal, ou Mesure de l'Arc
du Méridien compris entre les Parallèles
de Dunkerque et Barcelonne, Paris, 3 vols.,
4to.; and Recueil d'Observat. Géodésiques
faisant Suite au 3me vol. de la Base du
Syst. Métr. rédigé par Biot et Arago). He
was made member of the bureau des lon-
gitudes. In 1802, Napoleon appointed
him inspecteur-général des études, which
post he resigned when chosen perpetual
secretary of the class of mathematical sci-
ences (1803). His first tables of the sun
were published in 1792; in 1806, appeared
his new ones. In 1807, he succeeded La-
lande in the college de France, and wrote
his Traité d'Astronomie théorique et prati-
que (3 vols., 4to., 1814), Histoire de l'Astro-
nomie du moyen âge (1819), Hist. de l'Astron.
moderne (1821, 2 vols.) and Hist. de l'Astron.
du 18me. Siècle (2 vols.); a collection of
works such as no other nation can show.
Delambre also distinguished himself, as
perpetual secretary of the institute, by
the justice and elegance of his éloges.
He died in 1822.
DELAVIGNE, Jean François Casimir; a
dramatic poet, born in 1794, at Havre.
He commenced his poetical career while
a youth, by the dithyramb on the birth
of the king of Rome (1811). His poem
on the discovery of vaccination received,
in 1814, the first of the secondary prizes
from the French academy. He then ap-
plied himself to dramatic poetry, and pub-
lished his first tragedy, Les Vepres Sicili-
ennes (1821), which was received with
general applause; and has since written a
second, Le Paria. The first piece, not-
withstanding many faults in the plan and
the delineation of most of the characters,
displayed remarkable poetic genius: the
vigorous sketch of the chief character, by
which the whole action is animated, and
his fine thoughts expressed in brilliant
language, atone for many feeble passages
and some false splendor. At the first
representation of this piece at the Odéon
(1819), some verses against arbitrary gov-
ernments and the insolence of ministers
produced so much disturbance, that the
police forbade the repetition of them; but
they were still applauded, and this strug-
gle between the police and the audience
contributed not a little to give popularity
to the production. In the second piece,
the improvement of the poet is visible:
he displays a great brilliancy of coloring,
harmony of versification, and richness of
ideas and images, though it is justly objected
that he had not studied his subject pro-
foundly, nor given it all the interest of which
it is susceptible. In his elegies, Les trois
Messéniennes, Delavigne bewailed the mis-
fortunes of France. In 1819, followed
two elegies Sur la Vie et la Mort de Jeanne
d'Arc.
d'Arc. His comedy Les Comédiens, 5
acts in verse, in the style of the Métromanie,
is directed against the principles of the
old French stage. His Nouvelles Mes-
séniennes (1822) were produced by the
Greek revolution. In 1823, his comedy
L'École des Vieillards was received with
general applause. In a new Messénienne,
Delavigne expresses the grief of Europe
at the death of lord Byron. It is in the
10th edition of his Messéniennes et Poésies
diverses (Paris, 1824, 2 vols.). In 1824,
Delavigne was made member of the
French academy, and, in 1825, was of-
fered a pension of 1200 francs from the
civil list, which, however, as well as the
cross of the legion of honor, he declined,
that he might preserve his independence.
(For his political correspondence with
Lamartine, see Lamartine.)
DELAWARE; one of the United States,
bounded N. by Pennsylvania, E. by Dela-
ware river and bay, S. and W. by Mary-
land; lon. 74° 56 to 75° 40′ W.; lat. 38°
29 to 39° 47' N.; 92 miles long, and 23
broad; square miles, 2120: population, in
1790, 59,094; in 1800, 64,272; in 1810,
72,674; in 1820, 72,749; white males,
27,904; white females, 27,377; free blacks,
12,958; slaves, 4509. It is divided into
three counties, which are subdivided into
25 hundreds. Dover is the seat of gov-
ernment. Wilmington is the largest town.
The other most considerable towns arc
Newcastle, Georgetown, Smyrna, Milford
and Lewistown. Presbyterians are the
most numerous denomination of Chris-
tians: there are, besides, a considerable
number of Methodists. The legislature
consists of a senate, chosen for three years,
and a house of representatives, chosen
annually on the first Tuesday in October
The governor is chosen by the people for
DELAWARE-DELAWARE BREAKWATER.
three years, but can hold the office only
three years in six. The principal rivers
besides the Delaware, which forms a part
of the boundary, are Brandywine creek,
Christiana creek, Duck creek, Mispillion
creek, Indian river, Choptank and Nanti-
coke. Delaware is, next to Rhode Island,
the smallest state in extent in the Union,
and the least diversified in surface. The
general aspect of the greater part is that
of an extended plain, though the north-
western part of the county of Newcastle
is hilly or uneven. The heights of Chris-
tiana are lofty and commanding, and the
hills of Brandywine are rough and stony;
but in the lower country, there is very
little diversity of level. The highest ridge
between Delaware and Chesapeake bays
passes through this state. On the summit
of the ridge, there is a chain of swamps,
from which a number of waters descend
on the west to Chesapeake bay, and on
the east to the river Delaware. Along the
Delaware river, and for about 9 miles into
the interior, the soil is generally a rich
clay, which produces large timber, and is
well adapted to the purposes of agricul-
ture; but, between this tract and the
swamps, the soil is light, sandy, and of an
inferior quality. In the county of New-
castle, the soil is a strong clay; in Kent, it
is mixed with sand; and in Sussex, the
sand greatly predominates. The principal
articles of produce are wheat, Indian corn,
rye, barley, oats, flax, buck-wheat and
potatoes. The county of Sussex contains
some excellent grazing lands; and it ex-
ports great quantities of timber, obtained
from Cypress swamp, on Indian river,
which extends about 6 miles from E. to
W., and nearly 12 from N. to S. The
staple commodity is wheat, which is of a
superior quality, and is highly esteemed
for its uncommon softness and whiteness,
and is preferred in foreign markets. Large
establishments have been erected for man-
ufacturing wheat into flour. Of these, the
Brandywine mills, in the vicinity of Wil-
mington, are the most important. These
are the finest collection of mills in the U.
States, and are celebrated both for the
excellence and the quantity of flour which
they manufacture. Delaware contains
very few minerals. In the county of Sus-
sex, and among the branches of the Nan-
ticoke, are large quantities of bog iron ore,
well adapted for casting. Before the rev-
olution, it was wrought to a great extent;
but since that event, the business has
declined. Delaware was settled by the
Swedes and Finns as early as 1627. The
colony was formed under the auspices of
165

Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, who
named the country Nova Suecia. Hoar-
kill (now Lewistown) was founded in
1630, but, the Dutch claiming the country,
it passed under their power in 1655. In
1664, the colony on the Delaware fell,
with other parts of New Amsterdam, into
the hands of the English, and was granted
by Charles II to his brother James, duke
of York, who, in 1682, conveyed it, as far
as cape Henlopen, to William Penn. In
1704, Delaware, though under the same
proprietor, became a separate colonial
establishment, and remained such until
the revolution. Its constitution was
formed in 1776. The Chesapeake and
Delaware canal crosses this state. As a
manufacturing state, Delaware holds a
rank far above its relative extent and pop-
ulation. The works near Wilmington are
extensive and highly valuable. As early
as 1810, the value of the various manufac-
tures exceeded $1,733,000.
DELAWARE; a river of the U. States,
which rises in Catskill mountains, in New
York. In its course, it separates Pennsyl-
vania from New York and New Jersey,
and loses itself in Delaware bay, about 5
miles below Newcastle. It is navigable
for a 74 gun ship to Philadelphia, 55 miles
above the head of the bay, and about 120
from the ocean; for sloops to the head of
the tide, at Trenton, 35 miles above Phila-
delphia; and for boats about 100 miles
farther, though the boat navigation above
Easton is very difficult. Its two most
important tributaries are the Schuylkill
and the Lehigh. The whole length, from
its source to the bay, is about 300 miles.
The principal towns on the Delaware,
besides Philadelphia, are Easton and Bris-
tol, Pa., Trenton, Bordentown and Bur-
lington, N. J.
DELAWARE BAY; a large bay or arm
of the sea, between the states of Delaware
and New Jersey, formed by the mouth
of the Delaware river and several other
smaller ones. It is 65 miles long, and, in
the centre, about 30 miles across, and
about 18 at its mouth, from cape Henlo-
pen, in lat. 38° 47' N., lon. 75° 6' W., to
cape May, in lat. 38° 57' N., lon. 74° 52'
W.
DELAWARE BREAKWATER. The Dela-
ware breakwater is situated at the en-
trance into the bay of Delaware, near cape
Henlopen. The anchorage ground, or
roadstead, is formed by a cove in the
southern shore, directly west of the pitch
of the cape and the seaward end of an
extensive shoal called the shears; the tail
of which makes out from the shore about
166
DELAWARE BREAKWATER-DELFT.

five miles up the bay, near the mouth of
Broadkill creek, from whence it extends
eastward, and terminates at a point about
two miles to the northward of the shore at
the cape. The breakwater consists of an
insulated dike or wall of stone, the trans-
versal section of which is a trapezium, the
base resting on the bottom, whilst the
summit line forms the top of the work.
The other sides represent the inner and
outer slopes of the work, that to the sea-
ward being much greater than the other.
The inward slope is 45 degrees; the top
is horizontal, 22 feet in breadth, and raised
5 feet above the highest spring tide; the
outward or sea slope is 39 feet in altitude,
upon a base of 1053 feet; both these di-
mensions being measured in relation to a
horizontal plane passing by a point 27 feet
below the lowest spring tide. The base
bears to the altitude nearly the same ratio
as similar lines in the profiles of the
Cherbourg and Plymouth breakwaters.
The opening or entrance from the ocean
is 650 yards in width between the north
point of the cape and the east end of the
breakwater. At this entrance, the harbor
will be accessible during all winds coming
from the sea. The dike is formed in a
straight line from E. S. E. to W. N. W.:
1200 yards is the length of this portion of
the work, which is destined to serve the
purposes of a break water. At the distance
of 350 yards from the upper or western
end of the breakwater (which space forms
the upper entrance), a similar dike, of 500
yards in length, is projected in a direct
line, W. by S. S., forming an angle of
146° 15' with the breakwater. This work
is designed more particularly as an ice-
breaker. The whole length of the two
dikes above described, which are now
partly commenced, will be 1700 yards:
they will contain, when finished, 900,000
cubic yards of stone, composed of pieces
of basaltic rock and granite, weighing from
a quarter of a ton to three tons and upwards.
The depth of water, at low tide, is from
four to six fathoms throughout the harbor,
which will be formed by these works and
the cove of the southern shore, and which
is calculated to afford a perfect shelter
over a space or water surface of seven
tenths of a square mile. The great ob-
jects to be gained by the construction of
an artificial harbor in this roadstead are,
to shelter vessels from the action of waves
caused by the winds blowing from the
E. to the N. W., round by the N., and
also to protect them against injuries arising
from floating ice descending the bay from
the N. W.
DELEGATE. (See Delegation.)
DELEGATES, COURT OF, is so called be-
cause the judges thereof are delegated, by
the king's commission under the great
seal, to hear and determine appeals in the
three following cases:-1. Where a sen-
tence is given in any ecclesiastical cause,
by the archbishop, or his official; 2.
when any sentence is given in any eccle-
siastical cause, in the places exempt; 3.
when a sentence is given in the admiral's
court, in suits civil and marine, by order
of the civil law. This commission is
usually filled with lords spiritual and tem-
poral, judges of the courts at Westminster,
and doctors of the civil law.
DELEGATION; the investing with au-
thority to act for another. Hence the
name has been given to a body of persons
thus deputed. Before the present consti-
tution of the United States was adopted,
the persons constituting the congress at
Philadelphia were called delegates, and the
body of representatives of a state in con-
gress are still called the delegation of a
state. In Maryland and Virginia, the most
numerous branch of the state legislatures,
which, in most of the other states, is
called house of representatives, has the
name of house of delegates. (See Con-
stitution.) The name of delegate is also
given to the representatives sent to the con-
gress of the U. States from territories not
yet formed into states. In Italy, branches
of government are often called delegazione,
and their members delegati. Thus there
exist in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom
nine delegazioni for Lombardy, and eight
for the Venetian part of the government,
consisting of one delegato, a vice-delegato,
and an adjunct. In the civil law, delega-
tion is that act by which a debtor transfers
to another person the duty to pay, or a
creditor transfers to another person the
right to receive payment.
DELFT; the name of some celebrated
Dutch painters, particularly of James (born
1619, died 1661) and William Delft (to-
wards the end of the sixteenth century).
Both were born at Delft, were portrait
painters, and relations to the celebrated
Mirevelt, also a native of this town.
DELFT; a considerable town of South
Holland, between Rotterdam and Leyden,
traversed by a canal which communicates
with the Maese. Delft is tolerably well
built, but dark; most of the streets are
divided by narrow, stagnant canals, except
in the centre of the town, where there are
two spacious streets, with broad canals
bordered with trees. The front of the
stadthouse is extensive and curious, and
DELFT-DELIII.
the interior contains some valuable paint-
ings. In the old church are the monu-
ments of the admirals Van Tromp and
Pieter Heyn. Not far from it is the build-
ing where William I of Orange was mur-
dered, in 1584. In the new church, which
has a celebrated set of chiming bells, is
the splendid monument erected in his hon-
or, and, also, the monument of Hugo
Grotius, who was born in Delft. The
town has 13,000 inhabitants, and contains
an artillery and engineer school. The
manufacture of a kind of earthen ware
called Delft-ware, in this place, is import-
ant. Here likewise are made several kinds
of fine cloth and carpets. Butter, and,
next to it, beer, are the principal objects
of the wholesale trade; tobacco-pipes,
also, are made in great quantities. 9 miles
N. W. Rotterdam.
wa
DELFTSHAVEN; a small, fortified town
of Holland, on the Maese; population,
2700; 2 miles S. W. Rotterdam.
DELFT-WARE is a kind of pottery cov-
ered with an enamel or white glazing,
which gives it the appearance and neat-
ness of porcelain. Some kinds of this
enamelled pottery differ much from others,
either in sustaining sudden heat without
breaking, or in the beauty and regularity
of their forms, of their enamel, and of the
painting with which they are ornamented.
In general, the fine and beautiful enamel-
led ware, which approaches the nearest
to porcelain in external appearance, is that
which least resists a brisk fire. Again,
those which sustain a sudden heat are
coarse, and resemble common pottery.
This kind of ware has its name from Delft,
in Holland, where it is made in large
quantities.
DELHI; a province of Hindostan;
bounded N. W. by Lahore, N. by the
Himaleh mountains, which separate it
from Thibet, E. by Kemaoon and Oude,
S. by Agra, and W. by Agimere and
Moultan; lying chiefly between lat. 28°
and 31° N.; about 250 miles long, and
180 broad; population estimated at about
5,000,000-Hindoos, Mohammedans, and
Seiks. The chief towns are Delhi, Se-
haurunpour, Sirhind, Tanaser, and Anop-
sheer. The principal rivers are the Gan-
ges and Jumnah. A great part of it is
sterile for want of water. It was formerly
much more wealthy and populous than
at present. Having been the seat of
various wars, it has been miserably laid
waste, and in some parts almost depopu-
lated. The most fertile parts yield good
pasture, wheat, barley, and sugar-cane.
The part east of the Jumnah, with a con-
167

siderable district round the city of Delhi,
belongs, in fact, to the British; but its rev-
enues are allotted to support the family
and establishments of the emperor, or
great mogul, now reduced to the humili-
ating state of dependence on a foreign
power. The southern part is possessed
by native chiefs in alliance with the Brit-
ish. The country north-west of the Jum-
nah, and south of the Setledge, is occupied
by a number of petty Seik chiefs.
DELHI; a city of Hindostan; capital of
the province of Delhi, and for many years
of Hindostan ; on the Jumnah; 92 N. N. W
Agra, 300 N. W. Allahabad; lon. 77° 9
E.; lat. 28° 43' N.; population variously
estimated, from 100 to 200,000. The an-
cient name was Indraput, Inderput, or In-
derprest; the Mohammedan name is Shah-
jehanabad. It was for a long time the
capital of Hindostan, the seat of the great
mogul, the boast of India; and, during the
era of its splendor, is said to have occupied
a site 20 miles in length, and the ruins
now cover nearly as great a space. It
was taken, in 1193, by the Mohammedans,
under Cuttubaddeen Khan, who fixed his
residence here; and, on his succeeding to
the throne, it became the capital of Hin-
dostan. In 1398, it was taken, pillaged,
and reduced to a heap of ruins, by Tamer-
lane. It afterwards partially recovered,
till towards the end of the 16th century,
when Akbar transferred the seat of royalty
to Agra. In 1631, the emperor Shah Jehan
founded the new city of Delhi, on the west
bank of the Jumnah, near the ruins of the
old city, and gave it the name of Shahje-
hanabad. During the reign of Aureng-
zebe, the third son of Shah Jehan, the rev-
enue of the city amounted to £3,813,594,
and its population was computed at
2,000,000-probably an exaggeration. It
continued to increase in splendor and im-
portance till the invasion of Nadir Shah,
in 1739, when 100,000 inhabitants were
massacred, and £62,000,000 sterling of
plunder are said to have been collected.
It was again pillaged and depopulated in
1756, 1759, and 1760, by Ahmed Ab-
dallah. Since 1803, it has been in re-
ality subject to the British government,
though still the residence of the emperor
or great mogul, who has a nominal author-
ity, but is virtually dependent on the Brit-
ish. Modern Delhi contains the remains
of many splendid palaces, and is adorned
with many beautiful mosques, still in good
repair, the most remarkable of which is
called Jumnah Musjeed. This mosque is
261 feet long, the whole front faced with
white marble, surrounded at top with three
168
DELHI-DELILLE.

magnificent domes of white marble, flank-
ed by two minarets. The city has two
spacious streets, leading from the palace
to the principal gates, and many good
houses built of brick. "The inhabited
part of Delhi," says bishop Heber, in
his Narrative, "is about seven miles in
circuit, seated on a rocky range of hills,
and surrounded by an embattled wall,
which the English government have put
into repair. The houses are many of
them large and high. There are a great
number of mosques, with high minarets
and gilded domes, and above all are
seen the palace, a very high and exten-
sive cluster of Gothic towers and bat-
tlements, and the Jumnah Musjeed, the
largest and handsomest place of Mussul-
man worship in India. The chief material
of all these fine buildings is red granite,
inlaid, in some of the ornamental parts,
with white marble; and the general style
of building is of a simple and impressive
character." Most of the streets are narrow
and irregular, and the houses built with-
out order, of brick, mud, bamboos and
mats, generally covered with thatch, re-
sembling a motley group of villages, rather
than an extensive town. The bazars are
but indifferently furnished. Cotton cloths
and indigo are manufactured in the town
and neighborhood. In the vicinity, on
the banks of the Jumnah, corn, rice, millet
and indigo are principally cultivated. The
Baptists have a missionary here.
DELILLE, Jacques (also Delisle, de
Lille); the most distinguished of the
French didactic poets of modern times;
born in 1738, at Aigueperse, in Auvergne.
His name after the revolution was Monta-
nier-Delille. He resembled Pope (who
was his model) in personal deformity, as
well as in exquisite versification. In the
college of Lisieux, at Paris, he distinguished
himself by his precocious talents; and in
the college of Amiens, he began his metri-
cal translation of Virgil's Georgics. He
had translated this work by the end of his
23d year, but spent many years in re-
touching it. It was published in 1770,
with a Discours préliminaire, and nume-
rous annotations, which gave him also an
honorable place among the French prose
writers. Notwithstanding the jealousy of
his rivals, Delille was invited to Paris, and
was made professor at the collége de la
Marche, and afterwards at the college de
France; and his translations were ranked
by the French among their classics. De-
lille translated, also, the Eneid of Virgil
(1803), and was received, in his 37th year,
Into the academy. Before this time, he
had produced his didactic poem, Les Jar-
dins, ou l'Art d'embellir les Paysages (Paris,
1782), in four cantos. This was consid-
ered the best didactic poem in the French
language, though inferior to his translation
of Virgil. Delille received the lower or-
dinations, to be enabled to hold a benefice,
from which, together with his salaries as
professor, and member of the academy,
and his own fortune, he derived, before
the revolution, an annual income of 30,000
livres, of which he preserved, at a later
period, only 600. He was also made a
member of the national institute. Though
an adherent of the old system, Robespierre
spared him on every occasion. At his
request, Delille wrote, in twenty-four hours,
the Dithyrambe sur l'Immortalité de l'Ame,
to be sung on the occasion of the public
acknowledgment of the Deity. This per-
formance made an impression even on the
members of the committee of safety, but
was not sung. In 1794, he withdrew from
Paris, and gave himself up to the sublime
scenery of the Vosges, to meditations on
the destiny of man, and on the laws of
poetry. In Switzerland, he finished his
Homme des Champs, a didactic poem on
the charms of rural life, called also Géor-
giques Françaises, which may be consid-
ered as a moral sequel to Virgil's Georgics.
Delille labored on it for twenty years,
principally during the reign of terror, in
the vales of the Vosges, in 1794 and 1795;
hence the deep melancholy of many pas-
sages. The sufferings of his country
produced Le Malheur et la Pitié, four
cantos (Lond. 1803), full of lovely and
touching pictures, in harmonious verse.
At London, he married (1802) mademoi-
selle Vaudchamps, for a long time the
companion of his travels. Here he trans-
lated, in 15 months, Milton's Paradise Lost,
perhaps the most poetical of all his works;
but the exertion brought on a stroke of
the apoplexy. After his return to France,
he wrote his Trois Règnes de la Nature,
and the admired poem La Conversation,
a subject of which he was master. Its
poetical character is the same as that of
his other works. Lively feeling, richness
of conception, animated descriptions, puri-
ty and great elegance of expression, har-
monious and easy versification, are its
chief excellences. Bouterwek justly re-
marks, "A didactic work, like Delille's
elegant Homme des Champs, may have
many charms of diction, without being a
poem." Delille composed in his head,
without writing, even the 30,000 verses of
his translation of the Eneid, and, like
Tasso, trusted them with more confidence
DELILLE-DELOLME.
to his memory than to his tablets. But his
bodily vigor diminished, as his mental pow-
ers increased. He grew blind, and died
the first of May, 1813. In a poem not
committed to paper, he had sung of old
age, and his approaching death; of the
vanities of the present, and the happiness
of the future life. He was universally la-
mented, on account of his amiable charac-
ter, as well as of his talents. After his death
appeared Le Départ d'Eden (Paris).
DELISLE, OF DE L'ISLE, Guillaume; a
geographer, born at Paris, in 1675. He
was instructed by Cassini, and soon con-
ceived the idea of reforming the whole
system of geography. He published, in
his 25th year, a map of the world, maps
of Europe, Asia and Africa, a celestial
and terrestrial globe of a foot in diameter.
By rejecting Ptolemy's statements of lon-
gitude, or rather by comparing them with
the astronomical observations and the
statements of modern travellers, he found-
ed the modern system of geography. The
number of his geographical maps of the
old and new world amounts to 100. His
last edition of his map of the world was
published in 1724. These maps are valu-
able even at the present day. His brother
Joseph Nicolas, born, in 1688, at Paris,
devoted himself in his earliest youth to
astronomy, under the direction of Lieu-
taud and Cassini, and was admitted into
the academy of sciences. His observa-
tions on the transit of Mercury over the
sun, in 1723, and of the eclipse of the
sun, in 1724, increased his reputation.
The empress Catharine I invited him to
Petersburg, to establish a school for astron-
omy, to which the fame of Delisle soon
gave celebrity. His leisure time was em-
ployed in travelling, for the purpose of
making interesting collections in natural
science and geography. On his return,
his collections were purchased by the
king, and Delisle himself was appointed
inspector of them. He continued his ob-
servations till his death, in 1768. Among
his pupils were Lalande and Messier.
His most important geographical work,
Mémoires sur les nouvelles Découvertes au
Nord de la Mer du Sud (1752), contains the
results of the Russian voyages to discover
a passage from the Pacific ocean into the
waters north of America. His Mémoires
pour servir à l'Histoire et aux Progrès de
Astronomie, de la Géographie et de la
Physique (1738) remain unfinished., His
Avertissement aux Astronomes sur l'Eclipse
annulaire du Soleil que l'on attend le 25
Juin, 1748, gives a complete history of all
annular eclipses of the sun.
VOL. IV.
15
169
DELLA MARIA, Dominique, a French
composer, descended from an Italian
family, was born at Marseilles, in 1778,
composed, in his 18th year, an opera
which was performed, with applause, in
his native city, and went afterwards to
Italy, where he enjoyed the instruction of
several great masters, particularly of Pae
siello, and composed six comic operas, of
which I Maestro di Cappella is the most
distinguished. After his return to Paris,
his opera Le Prisonnier increased his rep
utation, and the airs of his Opéra Comique
became national favorites. In his works,
the song is easy and agreeable, the style
pure and elegant, the expression natural,
the accompaniment easy, original, and
pleasing. He played with extraordinary
skill on the piano and the violoncello. He
died in his 29th year (1806).
DELOLME, John Louis, born at Geneva,
1740 (according to some, in 1745), was a
lawyer in his native city, and the part
which he took in its internal commotions
by a work entitled Examen des trois Points
de Droit, obliged him to repair to England,
where he passed some years in great indi-
gence. He wrote for journals, frequented
low taverns, was devoted to gaming and
pleasure, and lived in such obscurity, that,
when he became known by his work on
the English Constitution, and some people
of distinction were desirous of relieving
him, it was impossible to discover his
place of residence. His pride was gratified
by this kind of low independence, and he
rejected all assistance, excepting some aid
from the literary fund, to enable him to
return to his country. This was probably
in 1775, since, from that time, he calls
himself member of the council of the
two hundred in Geneva. Among his pe-
culiarities was this, that, although princi-
pally occupied with political law, he was
never present at a session of parliament.
At the time of his arrival in England,
aristocratical arrogance and turbulence
had reached its highest pitch in Sweden
and Poland, and it was feared, not with-
out reason, in England, that the sanie
evils threatened that country. Delolme
entered into an investigation of this sub-
ject. Hence originated his famous work,
Constitution de l'Angleterre, ou État du
Gouvernement Anglais comparé avec la
Forme républicaine et avec les autres Mo..
narchies de l'Europe (Amsterdam, 1771),
and a work in English, called A Parallel
between the English Government and
the former Government of Sweden (Lon-
don, 1772). In both, his principal object
was to illustrate the excellence and sta-



170
DELOLME-DELOS.
bility of the English constitution. Its
character of a spirited eulogium is un-
doubtedly the reason that the first politi-
cians of England, lord Chatham, the
marquis of Camden. and the author of the
celebrated Letters of Junius, spoke so
highly of this work of a foreigner. It is
not a complete system of the political
law of England, and has been reproached
as being superficial; but it contains much
ingenious reflection on the English con-
stitution, on the energy arising from a
happy union of royal power with popular
liberty, and particularly on the value of
an independent judiciary and the freedom
of the press, subjected to penal laws, but not
to a censorship. This work, translated by
the author himself into English, in 1772
(fourth English edition, 1784, with obser-
vations by doctor Charles Coote), is still
considered, in England, one of the most
ingenious works on the English constitu-
tion. Delolme also published, in English,
his History of the Flagellants, or Me-
morials of human Superstition (1783, in
quarto); An Essay on the Union with
Scotland (London, 1796, 4to.). On the
occasion of the will of Mr. Thellusson, he
wrote his Observations on the Power of
Individuals to prescribe, by testamentary
Dispositions, the particular future Uses to
be made of their Property (London, 1798,
4to.). He died in July, 1806, at a village
in Switzerland.
DELORME, Marion, born in 1612, at
Chalons, in Champagne, was the mistress
of the seditious Cinq-Mars. (See Riche-
lieu, Cardinal.) Even before the death
of her lover, she formed new connexions,
and her house was the rendezvous of the
young courtiers. She permitted herself,
in 1650, to be involved in the affair of
the discontented princes. She escaped
arrest only by a real or pretended sick-
ness, and soon afterwards spread a report
of her own death. She is said to have
seen her own funeral from a window.
She then went to England, married a rich
lord, and, while returning, a widow, with a
large fortune, was attacked by robbers,
and forced to marry their captain. After
becoming a widow a second time, she
married a man named Lebrun, in the
Franche-Comté, with whom she after-
wards went to Paris, where, after the death
of her friend, the famous Ninon de l'En-
clos, she died in 1706, in great indigence.
La Borde, in the appendix to the Letters
of Ninon, which he published (Paris, 1816,
3 vols.), has related the adventurous life
of Marion.
DELOS; the central island of the Cycla-
des, in the Egean sea, the birth-place of
Apollo, and of Diana. Delos, according
to the poets, was once a naked rock, float-
ing about in the ocean, and was accident-
ally driven by the waves into the centre of
the Cyclades. The earth had promised
Juno, with an oath, not to grant a resting-
place to the fugitive Latona (q. v.), where
she might be delivered.
The unhappy
woman wandered restlessly over the earth,
until she perceived the floating island. As
this was not stationary, it was not com-
prehended in the oath of the earth, and
offered her an asylum. She vowed to
build a temple on its rocks, to which all
nations should bring offerings. On the
rude cliffs, under a shadowing tree, Latona
bore the infant gods Apollo (who was
hence called Delios) and Diana (who was
called Delia). Both were, in after times,
particularly worshipped on the island.
Delos was thenceforward no longer the
sport of the winds; from the foundation
of the earth arose columns which support-
ed it, and the fame of the isle spread over
the world. Thus far mythological tradi-
tion.-At first, the island had kings of its
own, who also held the sacerdotal office.
In the course of time, it came under the
dominion of Athens. Nothing was tole-
rated upon it, which bore the traces of
death or war. The dead were buried in
the adjacent island Rhenea. After the
destruction of Corinth, the rich Corinthi-
ans fled hither, and made Delos the seat
of a flourishing commerce. The greatest
curiosity of the island was the temple and
oracle of Apollo. The temple, founded
by Erisichthon, son of Cecrops, and em-
bellished successively by different states
of Greece, was built of Parian marble, and
contained, besides the beautiful statue of
the god, a remarkable altar, from which
the Delian problem, as it is called, had its
name. The inhabitants, having consulted
the oracle concerning the remedy of a
plague which raged in Delos, were order-
ed to double the altar of Apollo, which
was a cube. This famous geometrical
problem of the duplication of the cube
was solved in different ways, by several
of the ancient mathematicians and philos
ophers. The oracles which Apollo ut
tered here were thought the most intelli-
gible and sure. They were delivered only
in summer; in winter, Apollo gave his
responses in Patara, in Lycia. The Gre
cians celebrated the Delian festival here
every five years; and the Athenians per-
formed annually the beautiful pilgrimage,
called theoria, with processions and dances.
Delos was hela to be a place of so great a


DELOS DELPHI.
171
sanctity, that the Persians, when they made inspiration of the Delphian god, and pro-
war against Greece, and had sent to Delos claimed the oracles (hence the proverb,
a navy of a thousand sail, out of rever- to speak ex tripode, used of obscure sen-
ence to the patron deities, forbore attack- tences, dogmatically pronounced). After
ing the island. Delos was celebrated, in having first bathed herself, and particularly
ancient times, for the number and the ex- her hair, in the neighboring fountain of
cellence of its artists, and the school which Castalia, and crowned her head with laurel,
it founded. Pliny says that its bronze she seated herself on the tripod, which
was excellent, and much esteemed. It was also crowned with a wreath of the
was also celebrated for the fineness of its same; then, shaking the laurel tree, and
silver, which the Delians used with great eating perhaps some leaves of it, she was
skill and taste, in the formation of various seized with a fit of enthusiasm. Her face
utensils, vessels, statues of their gods, of changed color, a shudder ran through her
heroes, animals. The statue of Jupiter limbs, and cries and long protracted groans
Tonans, in the Capitol, was of Delian issued from her mouth. This excite-
bronze. Cicero, in his oration for Roscius, ment soon increased to fury. Her eyes
has many eulogiums upon the fine vases sparkled, her mouth foamed, her hair
of Delos and Corinth. The temple of stood on end, and, almost suffocated by
Apollo, at Delos, was one of the most the ascending vapor, the priests were
celebrated of its time in all Greece. Delos, obliged to retain the struggling priestess
now called Ilegi, is uninhabited, or is only on her seat by force; when she began,
the haunt of pirates; but splendid ruins of with dreadful howlings, to pour forth de-
its former magnificence yet exist.
tached words, which the priests collected
with care, arranged them, and delivered
them in writing to the inquirer. At first,
the answers were given in verse, but in
later times, the authority of the oracle
being diminished, they contented them-
selves with delivering them in prose.
This oracle was always obscure and am-
biguous; yet it served, in earlier times, in
the hands of the priests, to regulate and
uphold the political, civil and religious
relations of Greece. It enjoyed the repu-
tation of infallibility for a long time; for
the Dorians, the first inhabitants of the
place, who soon settled in all parts of
Greece, spread an unbounded reverence
for it. At first, only one month in the
year was assigned for the delivery of or-
acles; afterwards, one day in each month;
but none who asked the god for counsel
dared approach him without gifts. Hence
the splendid temple possessed immense
treasures, and the city was adorned with
numerous statues and other works of art,
the offerings of gratitude. Delphi was
at the same time the bank, in which the
rich deposited their treasures, under the
protection of Apollo, though this did not
prevent it from being repeatedly plundered
by the Greeks and barbarians. The an-
cients believed Delphi to be the centre of
the earth: this, they said, was determined
by Jupiter, who let loose two eagles, the
one from the east and the other from the
west, which met here. The tomb of
Neoptolemus (or Pyrrhus), the son of
Achilles, who was killed here by Orestes,
was also at Delphi. Not far from the
tomb was the famous Lesche, adorned by
Polygnotus with the history of the Trojan
DELPHI, the seat of the most famous
oracle of ancient Greece, was situated in
Phocis, on the southern side of Parnassus.
Apollo, according to fable, having killed
the serpent Python (some call it Delphine),
and determining to build his sanctuary
here, perceived a merchant-vessel from
Crete sailing by. He immediately leaped
into the sea, in the form of an immense
dolphin (hence he is called Delphin), took
possession of the vessel, and forced it to
pass by Pylos, and to enter the harbor of
Crissa. After the Cretans had landed, he
assumed the figure of a beautiful youth,
and told them that they must not return
to their country, but should serve as
priests in his temple. Inspired, and sing-
ing hymns, the Cretans followed the god
to his sanctuary, on the rocky declivity of
Parnassus; but, discouraged by the steril-
ity of the country, they implored Apollo
to save them from famine and poverty.
The god, smiling, declared to them the ad-
vantage which they would derive from
serving as his priests. They then built
Delphi, calling the city at first Pytho,
from the serpent which Apollo had killed
at this place. The oracles were delivered
from a cave, called Pythium. Tradition
ascribes its discovery to a shepherd, who
pastured his flocks at the foot of Parnas-
sus, and was filled with prophetic inspi-
ration by the intoxicating vapor which
arose from it. Over the cave, which
was contained in a temple, was placed
the holy tripod, upon which the priestess,
called Pythia, by whose mouth Apollo
was to speak, received the vapors as-
cending from beneath, and with them the
172
DELPHI-DEMARARA.

war. (See Polygnotus.) In the plain be-
tween Delphi and Cirrha, the Pythian
games (q. v.) were celebrated, in the month
Targelion. These national games, and
the protection of the Amphictyons, gave
Delphi a lasting splendor. It is now a vil-
lage called Castri.
DELPHINI, IN USUM. (See Dauphin.)
DELTA; A, a Greek letter, answering to
D. The resemblance of the island formed
by the alluvion, between the two mouths
of the Nile, to a A, is the reason why it
was called by the Greeks Delta. It con-
tained Saïs, Pelusium, and Alexandria.
It was divided into the great and small
Delta. Islands at the mouths of other
rivers, shaped like a A, have the same
name: thus we speak of the Delta of the
Mississippi.
DELUC, Jean André, a geologist and me-
teorologist, born in 1726, at Geneva, where
his father was a watch-maker, passed his
whole life in geological investigations, for
the sake of which he made numerous jour-
neys. He enriched science with very im-
portant discoveries. His theories and hy-
potheses, which he endeavored to accom-
modate to the historical accounts con-
tained in the Holy Scriptures, have met
with violent opponents. (See Geology.)
He passed some time in England, as read-
er to the queen, and died in 1817, at
Windsor. Among his numerous writings
are his Recherches sur les Modifications de
Atmosphère (Geneva, 1772, 2 vols. 4to.);
Nouvelles Idées sur la Météorologie (Lon-
don, 1786, 2 vols.); and his Traité élémen-
taire de Géologie (Paris, 1810, 8vo.).
DELUGE (from the Latin diluvies, dilu-
vium, from diluere, to wash away); the
universal inundation, which, according to
the Mosaic history, took place to punish
the great iniquity of mankind. It was
produced, according to Genesis, by a rain
of forty days, and a breaking up of "the
fountains of the great deep," and covered
the earth fifteen cubits above the tops of the
highest mountains, and killed every living
creature, except Noah, with his family,
and the animals which entered the ark,
by the command of God. After the flood
had prevailed upon the earth a hundred
and fifty days, and had decreased for an
equal time, making its whole duration
somewhat less than a year, Noah became
convinced that the land had again emerg-
ed, by the return of a dove with an olive-
branch, and landed on mount Ararat, in
Armenia. The time when this chastise-
ment took place was, according to the
common computation, in the 1656th year
of the world; according to Petavius, 2327
B. C.; according to Müller, 3547 B. C
Many other nations mention, in the myth-
ological part of their history, inundations,
which, in their essential particulars, agree
with the scriptural account of Noah's
preservation. Hence many persons have
inferred the universality of this inundation.
Fohi in the Chinese mythology, Sottivrata
or Satyavrata in the Indian, Xisuthrus
in the Chaldæan, Ogyges and Deucalion
in the Greek, have each been recognised
by many as the Noah of the Sacred
Scriptures, under a different name. Even
the American Indians have a tradition of
a similar deluge, and a renewal of the
human race from the family of one indi-
vidual. All these individuals are said by
their respective nations to have been saved,
and to have become a second father of
mankind. The many skeletons, also,
found petrified on the tops, or in the inte-
rior of mountains, the remains of animals
of hot climates in countries now cold, have
been alleged as confirmations of a uni-
versal revolution on our planet, occasioned
by the violent action of water, as the
Mosaic relation states it to have been.
On the other hand, rationalists and deists
have objected, that such a general destruc-
tion of mankind, by which the innocent
must have been punished like the guilty,
is unworthy of the justice of God, the
Father of his creatures; that the great ad-
vancement of civilization, and large popu-
lation which history shows to have existed
a few years after Noah, is inconsistent
with such a general inundation; and that
all the information which we have of it
was written down at least 1000 years after
it took place, so as to leave the universality
of the flood a matter of great doubt.-An
interesting work on this subject has been
lately published, entitled Ueber den Mythos
der Sündfluth (2d edition, Berlin, 1819, by
Buttmann). This subject is of great in-
terest, whether considered in connexion
with sacred history and theology, with
civil history, or with natural history. The
works treating of it are far too numerous
to be mentioned here.
DEMARARA, OF DEMERARY; a province
of English Guiana, which derives its name
from the river Demarara or Demerary.
(q. v.) It originally belonged to the Dutch,
and was ceded to Great Britain in 1814.
It extends about 100 miles along the coast,
lying on the east of Essequibo, and on the
west of Berbice. The soil is very fertile,
producing abundant crops of sugar, coffee,
cotton, rice, &c. The climate resembles
that of South Carolina. For 20 miles up
the river, the country consists of extensive
DEMARARA-DEMIGODS.
meadows, and is perfectly level; then
appear some sand-hills; afterwards the
country becomes mountainous and broken.
Chief town, Stabroek. (For further in-
formation, see Guiana.)
DEMARCATION, LINE OF; every line
drawn for determining a border, which is
not to be passed by foreign powers, or by
such as are at war with each other. Thus
the pope drew a line of demarcation through
the ocean, to settle the disputes between
the Spanish and Portuguese, after the first
discoveries in the fifteenth century. Ac-
cording to a treaty between the French
republic and the king of Prussia, con-
cluded at Basle, May 17, 1795, a line of
neutrality was established, which removed
the theatre of war from northern Germa-
ny. Also in the armistice of Pleswitz
(1813), such an artificial limit was fixed
between the French and the allied troops
of Russia and Prussia.
DEMBEA; a large lake of Abyssinia, in a
province of the same name, in the west
part of that country. It is supposed to be
450 miles in circumference, and contains
many islands, one of which is a place of
confinement for state prisoners. The
Bahr-el-Azrek, the Abyssinian Nile, flows
through it.
DEMERARY, or DEMARARA; a river of
South America, in English Guiana, which,
after a course of about 200 miles, flows
into the Atlantic, lon. 58° 25 W., lat.
6° 40′ N. It is two miles wide at its
mouth, and is navigable for ships of con-
siderable burden nearly 100 miles. It
affords an excellent harbor, but the bar
will not admit vessels drawing more than
18 feet.
DEMESNE. (See Domain.)
DEMETER; the Greek name of the god-
dess called by the Romans Ceres. (q. v.)
DEMETRIUS; the name of several kings
of Macedonia and Syria. Demetrius I,
surnamed Poliorcetes (the conqueror of
cities), king of Macedonia, son of Antigo-
nus, waged several wars, in particular with
Ptolemy Lagus. He appeared before
Athens with a fleet, expelled Demetrius
Phalereus, who had been appointed gov-
ernor of the place by Cassander, and
restored to the people their ancient form
of government. Having lost the battle of
Ipsus, against Seleucus, Cassander and
Lysimachus (301 B. C.), he fled to Ephe-
sus, and thence to Athens, where he was
not permitted to enter. Passing over to
Corinth, he embarked on an expedition
against the Thracian dominions of Ly-
simachus. He then went to Asia, to be-
stow his daughter, Stratonice, in marriage
173

on Seleucus, and on his way took posses-
sion of Cilicia, by which his friendship
with Seleucus was broken off. He con-
quered Macedonia (294 B. C.), and reigned
seven years, but lost this country by his
arbitrary conduct. Deserted by his sol-
diers, he surrendered himself, at length, to
his son-in-law, who exiled him to Pella, in
Syria, where he died (284 B. C.) at the age
of 54 years. The above-mentioned Deme-
trius Phalereus, a celebrated Greek orator,
disciple of Theophrastus, devoted his first
years to rhetoric and philosophy, but, to-
wards the end of the reign of Alexander
the Great, entered into the career of politics.
He was made Macedonian governor of
Athens, and archon (309 B. Č.), and em-
bellished the city by magnificent edifices.
The gratitude of the Athenians, over whom
he ruled, erected him as many statues as
there are days in the year. But the envy
of his enemies produced an excitement
against him, and he was condemned to
death, and his statues destroyed. He fled
to Egypt, to the court of the Ptolemies,
where he is said to have promoted the es-
tablishment of the library, and of the muse-
um, the superintendence of which Ptolemy
Lagus intrusted to him. Under the follow-
ing king, Ptolemy Philadelphus, he fell into
disgrace, and was banished to a remote
fortress, where he died from the bite of
an asp. Demetrius was among the most
learned of the Peripatetics, and wrote on
several subjects of philosophical and polit-
ical science.
ical science. But the work on rhetoric,
which has come to us under his name,
belongs to a later age.
DEMIDOFF, Nicolaus, count of, a mem-
ber of the ancient family of Demidoff,
which discovered and wrought the iron,
copper, gold and silver mines in Siberia,
and thus first introduced civilization into
that country, was born in 1774, at Pe-
tersburg, was made privy-counsellor and
chamberlain of the emperor Alexander,
entered the military service at an early
age, and retired with the rank of colonel.
He visited all parts of Europe, for the
purpose of introducing the arts of civili
zation into Russia, and established many
manufactories with this view. In 1812,
he levied a regiment at his own expense,
with which he acted against the French,
till they were entirely expelled from Rus-
sia. He then devoted himself to study,
and to the improvement of his manufac-
tories. The university of Moscow having
lost all its collections of natural history by
fire, he presented to it his own rich cab-
inet.
DEMIGODS. (See Heroes.)

15*
174
DEMME-DEMOCRITUS.

DEMME, Hermann Christoph Gottfried,
was born at Mühlhausen, in 1760, and
died at Altenburg, in Saxony, in 1822.
He was one of the most practical German
theologians, and his sermons are much
esteemed. He also wrote many other
works, of a practical moral tendency.
of)
DEMOCRACY. (See Government, Forms
DEMOCRITUS, a philosopher of the new
Eleatic school, a native of Abdera, flour-
ished in the 72d Olympiad, and was born
about 494 B. C. Some Magi and Chal-
deans, whom Xerxes left on his return
from his Grecian expedition, are said to
have excited in Democritus the first incli-
nation for philosophy. After the death of
his father, he travelled to Egypt, where he
studied geometry, and probably visited
other countries, to extend his knowledge
of nature. Among the Greek philoso-
phers, he enjoyed the instruction of Leu-
cippus. He afterwards returned to his
native city, where he was placed at the
head of public affairs. Indignant at the
follies of the Abderites, he resigned his
office, and retired to solitude, to devote
himself exclusively to philosophical stu-
dies. We pass over the fables which
have been related of Democritus, such as
that he laughed continually at the follies
of mankind (in contrast to the weeping
Heraclitus), and give a short summary
of his philosophical opinions. In his sys-
tem, he developed still further the me-
chanical or atomical theory of his master,
Leucippus. Thus he explained the origin
of the world by the eternal motion of an
infinite number of invisible and indivisible
bodies, atoms, which differ from one an-
other in form, position and arrangement,
and are alternately separated and com-
bined by their motions in infinite space.
In this way the universe was formed, for-
tuitously, without the interposition of a
First Cause. The eternal existence of
atoms (of matter in general) he inferred
from the consideration, that time could be
conceived only as eternal, and without
beginning. Their indivisibility he attempt-
ed to prove in the following manner: If
bodies are infinitely divisible, it must be
allowed that their division must be per-
ceptible. After the division has been
made, there remains either something ex-
tended, or points without any extent, or
nothing. In the first case, division would
not be finished; in the second case, the
combination of points without extension
could never produce something extended,
and if there remained nothing, the material
world would also be nothing; consequent-
ly, there must exist simple, indivisible
bodies (atoms). From his position of the
eternal change of the separating and com-
bining atoms, follows also the other, that
there are numberless worlds continually
arising and perishing. In the atoms he
distinguished figure, size, gravity, and im-
penetrability. All things have the same
elementary parts, and their difference de-
pends only on the different figure, order
and situation of the atoms, of which every
thing is composed. This difference of
the atoms is infinite, like their number:
hence the variety of things is infinitely
great. Fire consists, according to him, of
active globules, and spreads, like a light
envelope, round the earth. The air is
moved by the continual rising of the atoms
from the lower regions, and becomes a
rapid stream, which carries along with it
the stars formed in its bosom. The fol-
lowing doctrines of his, concerning the
soul, deserve to be mentioned: The sou!
consists, in as far as it is a moving power,
of igneous atoms; but, since it is ac-
quainted with the other elements, and any
thing can be known only by its equal, it
must be composed in part, also, from the
other elements. The sense of feeling is
the fundamental sense, and the least de-
ceitful of all; for that alone can be true
and real in the objects, which belongs to
the atoms themselves, and this we learn
with the greatest certainty by our feeling.
The other senses show more the acci-
dental qualities of things, and are conse-
quently less to be relied upon. The im-
pressions produced on the five senses are
effected, partly by the different composi-
tion of the atoms in the organs of sense,
partly by the different influence exerted
by external bodies, which varies with the
arrangement of the atoms of which they
consist. In the act of vision, images sep-
arate from the external body, and enter
the eye. The motion of a body (for in-
stance, of the lips in speaking) divides the
air, and gives it a motion, varying accord-
ing to the direction of the moving body.
The parts of air thus put in motion arrive
at the ear, and produce hearing. In a
similar way arise the sensations of tasting
and smelling. The images of the objects
received by the eye arrive through it to
the soul, and produce within us notions.
If, therefore, no notions come to the soul
by means of the eye, its activity ceases, as
is the case in sleep. The knowledge con-
veyed by the senses is obscure and de-
ceitful, and represents mere motions of
the exterior bodies. What we know by
the way of reason has a higher degree of
DEMOCRITUS-DEMON.
certainty, yet it is not beyond doubt. The
continuation of the soul after death was
denied by Democritus, who believed it to
be composed of atoms. He divided it
into two parts; into the rational part,
which has its seat in the breast, and the
sensual part, which is diffused through
the whole body. Both constitute only
one substance. The greatest good, ac-
cording to Democritus, is a tranquil mind.
He applied his atomical theory, also, to
natural philosophy and astronomy. The
popular notions of the gods he connected
with his system, perhaps merely to ac-
commodate himself to the prevailing creed.
Even the gods he considered to have
arisen from atoms, and to be perishable
like the rest of things existing. Democri-
tus is said to have written a great deal, of
which, however, nothing has come to us.
He died 370 B. C., at an advanced age.
His school was supplanted by that of
Epicurus.
DEMOIVRE, Abraham; a mathematician
of the last century. He was a native of
Vitri, in Champagne, and was driven from
his native country by the revocation of
the edict of Nantes. He settled in Lon-
don, and gained a livelihood by becoming
a teacher of mathematics. He was par-
ticularly celebrated for his skill and accu-
racy as a calculator, whence he is thus
referred to by Pope:-
"Sure as Demoivre, without rule or line."
He died in 1754, at the age of eighty-six.
His works are, Miscellanea Analytica, 4to.;
The Doctrine of Chances, or a Method
of calculating the Probabilities of Events
at Play, 4to.; and a work on annuities;
besides papers in the Transactions of the
royal society, of which he was a fellow.
DEMON, DEMONIAC, DEMONOLOGY,
(Greek and Oriental). Good and evil,
wisdom and folly, piety and superstition,
have been connected with the belief in
spirits. The name demons (Sapóvia, Sai-
Moves, genii), by which those spirits which
are said to have some influence upon the
destiny of men are generally called, directs
us to Greece. We find demons spoken of
by Homer. He called his gods demons:
they address each other by this title, and
Capóvios is so often synonymous with god-
like, that the derivation of the word demon
from danov, intelligent, wise, is highly
probable. Hesiod uses it in a different
sense. Plutarch says, that Hesiod admit-
ted four classes of rational beings-gods,
demons, heroes and men. (HES. Op. et
Dies. 121-126.) A strict classification
was not made until the popular belief
175

had been introduced into the schools of
the philosophers. Aristotle divides the
immortals into gods and demons; the
mortals into heroes and men. In the
Greek philosophy, these demons early
played an important part. Thales and
Pythagoras, Socrates and Xenophon, Em-
pedocles and the Stoics, invented mar y
fictions concerning them, each in his own
way. The poetic Plato, however, goes
further than any of the others. In the
Banquet, the character of the demons is
thus explained: "Demons are interme-
diate between God and mortals; their
function is to interpret and convey to the
gods what comes from men, and to men
what comes from the gods; the prayers
and offerings of the one, and the com-
mands of the others. These demons are
the source of all prophecy, and of the art
of the priests, in relation to sacrifices,
consecrations, conjurations, &c.; for God
has no immediate intercourse with men,
but all the intercourse and conversation
between the gods and mortals is carried
on by means of the demons, both in
waking and in sleeping. There are many
kinds of such demons, or spirits." In
other places, he says of them, they are
clothed with air, wander over heaven,
hover over the stars, and abide on the
earth; they behold unveiled the secrets of
the time to come, and regulate events ac-
cording to their pleasure: every mortal
receives at birth a particular demon, who
accompanies him until his end, and con-
ducts his soul to the place of purification
and punishment. The people generally
understood by them the godhead, as far as
it guides the destinies of men, and divided
then, in reference to the effects ascribed
to them, into good and bad spirits-Aga-
thodemons and Cacodemons. The Ro-
mans still further developed the Greek
demonology, with less, however, of a poet-
ical character, and mixed with Etruscan
notions. We perceive in all this the ori-
ginal idea: wherever an inexplicable
power operates in nature, there exists some
demon. This idea was developed by the
philosophers, who endeavored to regulate
the popular belief, and to reconcile reason
with this belief. In order to represent the
idea of deity in its purity, they were com-
pelled to displace, by degrees, the mytho-
logical notions of the people; and this
could not be done in a less perceptible and
obnoxious way, than by the introduction
of demons. But, although Greek philos-
ophers did this for Greece, we must not
believe that these ideas, like the word
demon, are of Greek origin: it is much
176
DEMON.

more credible, that the whole doctrine of
demons was only transplanted into Greece.
We ought to look for their real origin in
the East. The Hindoos reckon, besides
the highest heing, Parama, 33,000 gods,
to which they add an infinite number of
servants of the gods. The highest rank
among these gods was ascribed to the
trinity, Brama, Vishnu, and Seeva, who,
in eternal change, create, preserve and
destroy. When the adorers of the de-
stroyer die, he sends his servants to con-
vey them to his presence, that he may
make them participators in his happiness.
The demons there are the Devetas. We
find this doctrine systematically set forth
in the religion of Zoroaster, or the Chal-
daic-Persian magic, or doctrine of the
magi, which is to be looked upon as a
chief source of demonology. In order
to explain the origin of evil, Zoroaster
adopted, besides a good principle, a bad
one also, and made the two the sources
of all good and evil, explaining his ideas
thus: There is a kingdom of light, and a
kingdom of darkness. Ormuzd, the author
of all good, resides in the first; in the
other, Ahriman, the source of all evil, moral
as well as physical. Around the throne
of Ormuzd stand the seven Amshaspands
(archangels), the princes of light. The
Izeds, the genii of all that is good, of
whatever kind, are subordinate to them;
and to these the Feruers. In the same
way the kingdom of darkness under Ahri-
man is arranged. His throne is surround-
ed by the seven superior Dives, the princes
of evil, and an innumerable multitude of
inferior Dives stand under them, like the
Izeds under the Amshaspands. The two
kingdoms carry on an everlasting war; but
Ahriman will eventually be conquered, and
the kingdom of darkness will be entirely
destroyed. Heeren endeavored to show,
that these systems are formed according to
the constitutions of the Asiatic monar-
chies, but all evidently modified according
to the place where, and the circumstances
of the time at which, the lawgiver and foun-
der of religion appeared. Zoroaster carried
his general idea of the division between
the kingdoms of good and evil into detail.
All rational and irrational, living and dead
beings, he classed under one or the other
of these kingdoms; the pure men, ani-
mals and plants belonged to Ormuzd's,
the impure (poisonous, pernicious), to Ah-
riman's kingdom. In this manner demon-
ology, in the Parsee system, had attained
an extent, and a systematical connexion,
such as it had not elsewhere. The opin-
ion of Horn (Biblische Gnosis), that the
Egyptians borrowed their notion of de-
mons from the Parsees, deserves a closer
investigation. We find, indeed, with the
Egyptians, the moon, water, earth and
air filled with demons, superintending the
elements and bodies. Stones, metals and
plants are under their influence, and hu-
man souls in their power-surely a very
extensive kingdom of demons, but not
presenting the striking dualism and par-
allelism of the system of Zoroaster. But
supposing that the Egyptian and Persico-
Chaldee demonologies are not derived from
the same source; they afterwards combined
to form together a new one. Though the
doctrine of demons came in different
ways through Western Asia into Greece,
yet Egypt was the chief source of the
higher demonology of the Greeks, among
whom it was spread by the Orphic hymns
and the mysteries, and was cultivated by
the philosophers until the birth of Christ.
The rationalists, as they are called, who
explain every thing in the Sacred Scrip-
tures in a historical or natural way, say that,
while it came in this way to the Greeks,
the Hebrews received it in two other ways.
At the time of the Babylonish captivity,
they derived it from the source of the
Chaldaic-Persian magic; and, even sup-
posing that they were previously acquaint-
ed with the Elohim, or angels (it is re-
markable that the latter are first mentioned
in the history of the Chaldee Abraham,
and that the earlier prophets do not speak
at all of them, while Daniel, on the con-
trary, mentions them frequently), yet the
doctrine of these was first systematically
developed during and after the Babylonish
captivity. The same dualism, which we
find in the system of Zoroaster, is here,
also, perceived: there are good and bad
demons: they are classified, and receive
proper names. There are also seven good
demons, composing the council of Jeho-
vah, and standing continually before his
throne. (Job xii. 15.) As for the second
source of the demonology of the Hebrews,
this nation had, during the reigns of the
Seleucides and Ptolemies, a more active
intercourse with Egypt and the Greeks,
chiefly in Alexandria; and to the notions
adopted from the system of the magi, or
the Parsees, they united Egyptico-Greek
ones; which connexion is chiefly per-
ceivable in the New Testament. It was
impossible to prevent the intermingling of
Greek speculations. The voice of the
prophets was already silent under Ezra
and Nehemiah. Study and inquiries
commenced; the popular belief and phi-
losophy separated, and even the philoso-
MDEMON-DEMOSTHENES.
phers divided themselves into several
sects. Opposed to the ancient Pharisees
we perceive the Sadducees and Essens, and
no high priest nor sanhedrim could pre-
went the nation (which was already op-
posed by the Samaritans) from dividing
itself into parties. This was the state of
things when Christ appeared. Pythago-
rean and Platonic notions, intermingled
with Oriental doctrines, had already un-
folded the germ which produced the
Hellenistic philosophy of the Jews, and a
cabalism existed (cherished by the finest
minds of the nation), in addition to the
philosophy of the rabbins.-It may be
observed, in reference to the doctrine of
spirits, that the expressions of demon and
demoniacal are more especially used to
indicate bad, tormenting spirits. This is
the origin of those ideas of demons as
spirits which enter into the bodies of
wicked men, and torment them, and of
the means to be used against them, for
instance, miraculous herbs, by means of
which we are able to expel the demons.
Thus the demons appear as inferior spirits
of a (Persian) Satan, a passionate, malicious,
tormenting spirit. The Christian authors
made this bad meaning of demons the
ruling one, so that the demons were oppo-
site to the angels. By this opposition, the
doctrine of spirits was transformed into
angelology, that is, the doctrine of good
angels, and demonology, the doctrine of
bad angels; and the Jewish and Greek
notions on the subject have been often
blended together in Christianity. As Pla-
to's mythology was an inexhaustible source
of doctrines for the new Platonist, so demo-
nology became an endless source of ingen-
ious speculation among many of the early
sects. (See Swedenborg, Angel, Genii,
and Gabalis.)
DEMONA, VAL DI; a province of Sicily,
occupying the N. E. part of the country,
extending from the straits of Messina to
Catania; about 112 miles long, and from
60 to 70 broad in its widest part; pop-
ulation, as lately stated, 521,000. The
Liparian islands are considered to belong
to this part of the country. Silk is one of
the chief productions of this valley, which
yields, likewise, hemp, flax, olives, lemons,
oranges, figs, currants and pistachio nuts.
Sulphur is found in considerable quantity
towards mount Etna. Messina, the capi-
tal of Sicily, is situated in this province.
*A book of inuch interest, as showing the firm
belief in demons at a comparatively recent peri-
od, is doctor Cotton Mather's Magnalia Christi
Americana (London, 1702). Doctor Mather was a
minister of Boston, Mass.
8177

The other principal towns on the coast
are Melazzo, Cefalu and Taormina.
DEMONSTRATION, in military language;
a movement towards any place for the
purpose of deceiving the enemy, and con-
cealing the true design.
DEMOSTHENES, the most famous orator
of antiquity, was the son of a sword-cutler
at Athens, where he was born in 381 (ac-
cording to some, in 375) B. C. His father
left him a considerable fortune, of which
his guardians attempted to defraud him:
Demosthenes, at the age of 17 years, con-
ducted a suit against them himself, and
gained his cause. He studied rhetoric
and philosophy in the schools of Callistra
tus, Isæus, Isocrates and Plato. But nature
had placed great obstacles in his way,
and his first attempts to speak in public
were attended with derision. He not only
had very weak lungs and a shrill voice,
but was unable to pronounce the letter r.
These natural defects he endeavored to
remedy by the greatest exertions. He
succeeded by the advice of the actor Saty-
rus, who advised him to recite with peb-
bles in his mouth, on the roughest and
steepest places. To strengthen his voice,
he exercised himself in speaking aloud on
the sea-shore, amidst the noise of the
waves. At other times, he shut himself
up for months in a subterranean room,
with his head half shaved, that he might
not be tempted to go out, and endeavored
to acquire dignity of manner by practising
before a mirror, and transcribed the history
of Thucydides eight times, for the purpose
of forming his style. After such a labo-
rious preparation, he composed and de-
livered his masterly speeches, of which his
enemies said that they smelt of the lamp,
but to which posterity has assigned the
first rank among the models of eloquence-
speeches in which he openly opposed the
foolish wishes of the multitude, censured
their faults, and inflamed their courage,
their sense of honor, and their patriotism.
He thundered against Philip of Macedon,
and instilled into his fellow-citizens the
hatred which animated his own bosom.
The first of those orations, so famous un-
der the name of Philippics, was delivered
when Philip took possession of the pass of
Thermopylæ. The orator insisted on the
necessity of immediately preparing a fleet
and an army; urging the Athenians to
begin the war themselves; to make Mace-
donia the theatre, and to terminate it only
by an advantageous treaty or a decisive
battle. They admired and approved his
plans, but did not execute them. The
celebrated Phocion, who knew the weak
178
DEMOSTHENES-DEMURRAGE.

ness of Athens, unceasingly advised peace.
Demosthenes went twice to the court of
Philip to negotiate, but without success.
On his return, he recommended war, and
endeavored to arm not only Athens, but
all Greece. When Philip had finally
penetrated into Phocis, through the pass
of Thermopyla, and had taken possession
of the city of Elatea, to the terror of Ath-
ens, Demosthenes obtained a decree of the
people for fitting out a fleet of 200 vessels,
marching an army to Eleusis, and sending
ambassadors to all the cities of Greece,
for the purpose of forming a universal
confederacy against Philip. He was
himself among the ambassadors, and pre-
vailed on the Thebans to receive an
Athenian army within their walls. He
also exerted himself actively throughout
Boeotia, and, by his efforts, a numerous
army was collected to act against Philip.
A battle was fought near Cheronea, and
the Greeks were vanquished. Demos-
thenes was among the first who fled.
Nevertheless, he was desirous of deliver-
ing a funeral oration over those who had
fallen in battle. Eschines, his rival, did
not fail to attack him on this account.
The hostility between the two orators was
the occasion of the speech pro corona (for
the crown), which resulted in the triumph
of Demosthenes and the exile of his ad-
versary. Philip having been, soon after,
assassinated, Demosthenes thought that
Athens would be better able to maintain its
liberty; but Alexander's dreadful chastise-
ment of Thebes filled the Athenians with
such terror that they sued for mercy. It
was with difficulty that Alexander could
be persuaded to desist from his demand
of the surrender of Demosthenes and some
other orators; for the Macedonians feared
Demosthenes more than they did the ar-
mies of Athens. He was afterward fined
50 talents for bribery, and, neglecting the
payment of it, was thrown into prison,
from which he escaped, and fled to Egina,
where he remained till the death of Alex-
ander. Then followed the war with An-
tipater. Demosthenes again appeared in
public, and endeavored to persuade the
small Grecian states to unite against Mace-
donia. The Athenians received him with
honor; but the war was unsuccessful, and
Antipater insisted upon his being surren-
dered to him. Demosthenes fled to the
temple of Neptune, in the island of Calau-
ria, on the coast of Argolis; but finding
himself not secure, he took poison, which
he always carried about with him. He
died 319 B. C. (according to some, 322
B. C.), at the age of 60 or 62 years. His
character was not entirely free from vani-
ty, ambition and avarice.
Cicero pro-
nounces him to be the most perfect of all
orators. He always spoke as circum-
stances required, and was, by turns, calm,
vehement or elevated. He carried the
Greek language to a degree of perfection
which it never before had reached. In
energy and power of persuasion, in pene-
tration and power of reasoning, in the
adaptation of the parts to the whole, in
beauty and vigor of expression, in strong
and melodious language, he surpassed all
his predecessors. Every thing in his
speeches is natural, vigorous, concise,
symmetrical. This alone can explain his
great influence over his contemporaries.
We have under his name 61 orations, 65
exordiums, and 6 letters, some of which
are not genuine. Among the oldest edi-
tions of the orations, the best is that of
Paris, 1570, in folio, with the commenta-
ries of Ulpian. The first edition of his
complete works, Greek and Latin, was
edited by Hieronymus Wolf (Basil, 1549;
reprinted 1572; and Frankfort, 1604, in
folio). His orations are also contained '
in Reiske's edition of the Greek ora-
"tors.
DEMOTIC OF ENCHORIAL ALPHABET,
from duos (the people), is the name given
by antiquarians to that alphabet which is
used by the people, in contradistinction to
an alphabet used by a certain class or caste;
as, for instance, among the Egyptians.
Thus we find on the famous Rosetta stone,
which seems to have become, by the
exertions of Young, Ackerblad, Zoega, De
Sacy and Champollion, the key to all the
hieroglyphical documents handed down
to us by the Egyptians, a Greek and two
Egyptian inscriptions, one of which is
written in the hieroglyphical, the other in
the demotic alphabet.
DEMOUSTIER, Charles Albert, a French
poet, born at Villers-Cotterets, in 1760,
was, at first, a successful lawyer. He
wrote comedies, operas and poems. They
are full of affected wit and false brilliancy.
His Letters to Emilie on mythology have
made him known in Europe. It may be
justly objected to them, that they are
superficial, affected, and written in what
the French call style de madrigal; yet
they are, at the same time, distinguished
for spirit, delicacy and ease. Of his plays,
Le Conciliateur, Les Femmes and Le Tolé-
rant have maintained a place on the
stage. He died March 2, 1801.
DEMURRAGE, in law, is the detention of
a ship; and is also, and more frequently,
used to signify the amount to be paid,
DEMURRAGE-ZODIAC OF DENDERAH.
by the charterer to the owner of a ship, for
voluntary delay beyond a specified time.
If the captain chooses to wait a longer
time than that agreed upon for a cargo,
the owner can claim demurrage only un-
til the cargo is taken on board and the
ship ready to sail, and not for the subse-
quent detention from other causes, al-
though this would not have happened but
for the detention for a cargo. Thus when
a vessel was to be loaded at St. Peters-
burg for Leith, by the 1st of September,
but the master waited until October 29 for
a cargo, when he sailed from Cronstadt,
but was soon driven back by unfavorable
winds, and the frost, setting in, detained
him there until the 11th of May following;
after much litigation in Scotland, it was
decided by the house of lords of Great
Britain, that demurrage could be claimed
only to October 29. It is to be observed,
however, in this case, that the captain was
at liberty to sail on the 1st of September,
the time limited in the charter-party. The
time of delay in port for a cargo, for con-
voy, &c., is usually stipulated in the char-
ter-party, and also the allowance to be
made in case of longer delay for those
objects; and this time is sometimes speci-
fied in working-days or lay-days, as dis-
tinguished from holydays, when no cargo
can be put on board. When a charter-
party, made in England, relates to a delay
in the river Thames, for a certain number
of days, it will, in pursuance of a particu-
lar custom, be construed to mean working-
days. But if the charter-party be made
elsewhere, or, if made in England, relating
to demurrage at any other place, if the
intention is that it should allow a certain
number of working-days, it ought to be
so expressed.
DEMURRER; a pause or stop put to the
proceedings of an action upon a point of
difficulty, which must be determined by
the court before any further proceedings
can be had therein. He that demurs in
law confesses the facts to be true, as
stated by the opposite party, but denies
that, by the law arising upon those facts,
any injury is done to the party, or that
he has made out a lawful excuse.
DEN (Saxon, valley, or woody ground),
when added to the names of places, de-
notes that they are in a valley, or near
woods.
DENARIUS; 1. a Roman silver coin,
equal, at first, to 10 asses, whence its name;
2. a weight. The libra, or Roman pound,
contained 96, the ounce 8, denarii; and
the denarius 3 scruples. In modern gov-
ernments, the denarius has also been intro-
179

duced as a weight. A French denare con-
tained 63 grains.*
DENDERAH, ZODIAC OF. Near Denderah,
a village of the Thebaïs, surrounded with
palms, and lying about a league west of
the Nile, the traveller from Cairo to
Upper Egypt first acquires a distinct no-
tion of an architecture such as no other
country can show. Denderah lies under
the 26th degree of north latitude, on the
borders of the desert, upon the last table-
land of the Lybian mountains, to which
the inundation of the Nile extends. Its
name is derived from the ancient Tentyra
or Tentyris, the magnificent remains of
which, called by the Arabians Berbé (the
ruins), are a mile or two distant from it.
We are indebted, for our knowledge of
them, to the memorable campaign of the
French in Egypt, whose enthusiastic de-
scriptions and accurate investigations have
drawn general attention to them. Through
a portal half buried by rubbish, covered
with hieroglyphics, and constructed of
The value of the denarius is given incor-
Schleusner, in his Lexicon of the New Testament;
rectly by several modern German writers, as by
by Rosenmüller, in his Scholia on the New Tes-
tament; and by Kuinol, in his Commentary on
the Historical Books of the New Testament. It
of a reichsthaler (rix dollar) or 3 groschen, that is,
is reckoned by them as equal to the eighth part
about 9 cents, American money. The mistake
may be thus accounted for: The writers men-
tioned refer to Eisenschmidius, De Ponderibus et
Mensuris veterum necnon de Valore Pecunice
veteris, published in 1708, reprinted 1737. The
author of this work (p. 136) estimates 74 denarii
as equal to an imperial or rix dollar, meaning the
author of this work (p. 136) estimates 7 denarii
old rix dollar of the empire, a coin which, by
proclamation of queen Anne, in 1704, was de-
clared equal to 4s. 6d. sterling. He thus makes the
value of the denarius 13 cents-as near an ap-
proximation as, perhaps, was to be expected from
his imperfect modes of computation. But the
writers above referred to, in following him, have
substituted the present rix dollar of account, equal
to about 72 cents, for the coin intended, and then
of a rix dollar, have thus estimated its value at
reckoning the denarius loosely as the eighth part
about 9 cents. Winer, in his Biblisches Real-
wörterbuch, and Wahl, in his Lexicon of the
New Testament, estimate its value at about 4
groschen, or 12 cents; Jahn, in his Archeologia
Biblica, at 244 creutzers, of which 90 make a rix
dollar, consequently at about 193 cents. For
these mistakes it is not easy to account. There
being no considerable difference in the estimate
of the average weight of silver in the consu-
lar denarius, all these different estimates of its
value are unfounded. That given in Arbuth
not's Tables, namely, 74d. sterling, about 141
cents, is sufficiently correct, and commonly
adopted by English writers. In Robinson's
translation of Wahl's Lexicon, the erroneous esti
mate of 93 cents is given, in addition to the cor
rect, or nearly correct one of 14 cents. Both
estimates are also given in the valuable Greek
the valuable
Lexicon of Mr. Pickering
180
НАЯ ЖО
ZODIAC OF
huge blocks of sandstone, you come in
sight of a temple, which forms the back
ground of this splendid picture. All that
you see here, say the French writers, from
the colossal figures of Isis, which sup-
port the entablature of the vestibule, to
the smallest hieroglyphic, appears to have
come from fairy land. Neither Greece
nor Rome, nor the rest of Europe, has
produced any thing similar. So universal
was this impression, that the meanest sol-
diers of the army paused to examine these
sacred relics, and declared with one voice,
that this sight alone was enough to indem-
nify them for the fatigues of the campaign.
The monuments of Thebes, with which
they afterward became acquainted, could
not efface this first impression; and the
magnificent temple of Isis still appeared
to them the most perfect monument of
Egyptian art. Of the ancient Tentyrah,
which may have existed in the times
of Strabo and Theodosius, a Typhæum,
similar to that of Edfuh, but larger, is yet
standing. It is west of the northern gate,
so buried under rubbish that the dif-
ferent sides are scarcely to be distin-
guished. But the admiration of the
French was chiefly excited by the great
temple, the whole of which is nearly in
the shape of a T. The view is obstructed
by ruins only on the eastern side. On
account of the figures of Isis, of every size,
which it contains, it is thought to have
been an Isæum. Without the aid of
drawings, any description of its vestibules,
halls and cells, which are all covered with
hieroglyphics, would be unintelligible.
On the ceiling of the portico of this Isa-
um, astronomical figures and emblems
were found nailed on the soffits: on the
two extreme soffits were the 12 signs of
the zodiac. This representation was
repeated on the ceiling of an apartment in
the upper story, on the left side of the ves-
tibule. Like the others, this room was
covered with hieroglyphics, and the plani-
sphere, on the left side as you enter, occu-
pied only half of the ceiling. It was first
observed by general Desaix, who directed
the attention of his companions to it.
This is the planisphere of which so much
has been written. Behind this large
building, towards the south, is another
temple, which was, perhaps, dedicated to
Isis and Horus. Its exterior reminds us
less forcibly than the Iscum, how many
generations must have existed, before a
nation could flourish possessed of suffi-
cient courage, knowledge and elevation
of mind for the invention of such works;
and how many centuries must have
DENDERAH, US

elapsed, before all this could have been
forgotten, and men have sunk back to the
rudeness of the present Arab inhabitants of
these ruins. But the figures on the plani-
spheres particularly attracted the attention
of the learned Europeans, on account of
their supposed connexion with the pre-
cession of the equinoxes. (See Preces-
sion.) In both, it was observed that the
lion was represented as the first sign. This
order it was supposed must have been
adopted by design; for in the larger plani-
sphere, on the ceiling of the portico, the
signs are represented on two stripes, one
of which runs in a direction toward the
interior of the temple, the other toward
the exterior; on the smaller (that of the
upper apartment, now in Paris), the signs
are represented in a spiral line, in the
order in which we now place them: Vir-
go, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn,
Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini,
Cancer. Leo appeared, consequently, to
be placed, intentionally, after the point
of intersection of the ecliptic and equator.
On the situation of those points of inter-
section, however, depends the place of the
solstice, which must be half way between
them. In the planisphere of Denderah,
it is drawn in Cancer. If this is the win-
ter solstice, as some suppose, the vernal
equinox was then in Libra. At present,
however, it is in Pisces, and consequently
7 signs, or 210°, farther back. As it is
known that 2152 years of uniform motion
are necessary for the recession of one sign,
it follows that, to recede from Libra to
Pisces, 7 times 2152, or about 15,000 years
are necessary. This would be, accord-
ingly, the minimum of the age of this
zodiac, if we suppose that it is founded on
real astronomical observations, and is not
to be considered a mere astronomical
problem. (See Rhode, Versuch über das
Alter des Thierkreises und den Ursprung der
Sternbilder, Berlin, 1809, 4to.) Other as-
tronomers, in particular Littrow (Wiener
Zeitschrift, 1822, No. 53, 54), and, yet ear-
lier, the authors of the great description
of Egypt, thought the solstice on the zo-
diac of Tentyra to be the summer solstice.
The vernal equinox would then fall be-
tween Taurus and Aries, consequently
45° farther forward than at present.
From this it would follow, that the zodiac
would be as old as 45 times 714 years, or
3228 years. This last supposition would
be justified if the constellation which is the
first in the zodiac were that which the sun
must enter first after the heliacal rise of
Sirius. There are many reasons which
induce us to believe this. The appear-
AMIZODIAC OF DENDERAH.OS
ance of Sirius followed a few days after
the summer solstice: it was a sign of the
rising of the Nile, and of the beginning
of the agricultural year in Egypt. This
reference to the beginning of the agricul-
tural year adds great force to this suppo-
sition. The accompanying hieroglyphics,
as the child on the lotus flower near Aries,
the rising sun, the point of the vernal
equinox, are additional arguments. Con-
siderations drawn from astronomy and the
progress of the arts, induced E. G. Vis-
conti to believe this planisphere and the
whole temple, which undoubtedly were
executed at the same time, to be of a far
more recent origin. He assigned this
building to the time when the uncertain
Thoth, the commencement of the uncer-
tain Egyptian year, coincided with the
sign of Leo, which was the case from the
year 12 to the year 132 of our era. (See
Notice sommaire des deux Zodiaques de
Tentyra, in the 2d volume of Larcher's
Herodote, page 567 et seq.) To this date,
belonging to the first years of the Roman
dominion, the authors of the great descrip-
tion of Egypt have opposed strong reasons.
In case this hypothesis should not be
approved, Visconti had another ready.
Proceeding on the theory of De la Nauze,
who took an Egyptian Normal year as the
basis of his calculation, he assigned these
monuments to the period of the Ptolemies.
A single Greek inscription, in an obscure
place in the Isæum, was not a very con-
clusive argument in favor of this hypothe-
sis, which, besides, is exposed to strong
objections, if we compare the architecture
of these buildings with other monuments
of that period. They are executed in so
pure an Egyptian style, that they exclude
every idea of foreign influence hostile to
the religion of the country. No one,
therefore, can think of ascribing them to
the old enemies of the Egyptian worship,
the Persians, those destroyers of temples.
There is, then, no alternative but to refer
their origin to a period when the country
was under its native kings. Putting out
of view the astronomical representations,
the authors of the description of Egypt
are inclined to assign the building of the
temple, whose execution harmonizes so
accurately with the original plan as to be
evidently the creation of the same time,
to that period when the Egyptian art
appears to have reached its highest per-
fection, the period between Necho and
Amasis, when magnificent edifices were
erected in the Delta, and Memphis was in
its splendor. The dispute concerning the
antiquity of this monument is not yet fin-
16
VOL. IV.
181

ished, and was by no means brought
nearer to a decision by mutilating the
whole, and carrying a piece of it to Europe.
Preconceived opinions have affected the
discussion of this subject. Thus an essay
of Dupuy on this zodiac was suppressed
by the police of Paris, as tending to pro-
mote infidelity (August, 1822). A young
Frenchman, S. Saulnier, whose ambition
was excited by the rich spoils carried off
by the English, conceived the idea of
pro-
curing this zodiac for his native country.
As he was prevented from going to Egypt
personally, he left the transportation of it
to his friend H. Lelorrain, who embarked,
in 1820, for Alexandria, provided with the
necessary instruments. Mohammed Ali
showed a deplorable readiness to permit
the sacred monuments of Tentyra to be
mutilated. Upon the roof of the temple
Arabians had, in earlier times, fixed their
abodes; it was necessary to remove their
deserted huts; and their rubbish, together
with that already accumulated, formed
a plane upon which the blocks of sand-
stone could slide down to the banks of the
Nile. A vehicle of the invention of M.
Lelorrain was used for this purpose. Le-
lorrain selected the small circular zodiac
in the upper apartment. As the whole
stone on which the zodiac was repre-
sented was too large to be carried off,
extending, as it did, the whole width of
the ceiling, and resting on the walls on
each side, M. Lelorrain contented himself
with the portion covered by the zodiac, a
small part of which, projecting over the
main stone, and contained on a contigu-
ous one, he left, not thinking it worth the
trouble of removing. The removal was
effected by means of chisels, saws and
gunpowder. The stone was exceedingly
well preserved, only blackened by soot,
perhaps of the time when the mysteries
and the worship of animals were solem-
nized in these sanctuaries. This smoke
may also have destroyed the colors by
which, it is probable, the hieroglyphics
were formerly distinguished. The stone
is of the same kind of sand-stone of which
all the monuments between Phyla and
Denderah are composed. Scarcely was
this work of destruction finished, when
another explorer, Mr. Salt, the English
consul, laid claims to the booty, assert-
ing prior rights to every thing dug up
at Tentyra. The bashaw of Egypt
decided for the Frenchman, because the
zodiac was taken from the roof.
lorrain at length arrived safe with his
booty at Marseilles. Here a compari-
son with the plates in the great work ou
Le
182
ZODIAC OF DENDERAH-DENINA.

Egypt showed that every thing was in its
right place, but that the drawing had been
embellished in a way which was not con-
firmed by the monument. In January,
1822, he arrived at Paris, where the pro-
prietors caused a drawing to be taken by
Gau, containing all the discernible figures.
The French government purchased the
planisphere for 150,000 francs. The dis-
putes relative to the epoch of its origin
were renewed with fresh ardor. St. Mar-
tin, in his Notice sur le Zodiaque de Den-
derah, etc., maintains that the monument
was erected as early as 569, and not ear-
lier than 990 B. C.; but his opinion is not
satisfactorily proved; nor is that of Mr.
Biot, which Jomard has controverted in
the Rev. Encycl. (1822). On the other
hand, Letronne, in his Critical and Archæ-
ological Observations on the Signs of the
Zodiac (Paris, 1823), maintains that there
is no monument among the signs of the
Egyptian, Greek and Roman zodiacs older
than the common era. With this opinion
agrees also that of the abbé Halma, in his
Examen et Explication du Zodiaque de
Denderah, etc. (3 vols., Paris, 1822, with
copper-plates). Letronne considers the
zodiacs of Esné and Denderah as astro-
logical curiosities of the times of the Ro-
man emperors. The weight of
opinion
at present is, that these figures are inscrip-
tions of about the same antiquity as the
Christian era.
DENDRITES, OF ARBORIZATIONS; an ap-
pellation given to figures of vegetables
observed in fossil substances, and which
are of two kinds, the one superficial, the
other internal. The first are chiefly found
on the surface of stones, and between the
strata and the fissures of those of a calca-
reous nature. They are mostly brown,
changing gradually to reddish-yellow.
The internal dendrites are of a deep black.
The most esteemed sorts are those found
in agates, and particularly in the sardo-
nyx, cornelian, and other precious stones
brought from the East, and which are
commonly denominated Moka stones.
DENGUE FEVER. (See Fever.)
DENHAM, Dixon, lieutenant-colonel,
well known by his expedition into Central
Africa, was born at London, in 1786, and,
after finishing his studies at school, was
placed with a solicitor, but, in 1811, en-
tered the army as a volunteer, and served
in the peninsular campaigns. After the
general peace, he was reduced to half pay
on the peace establishment, and, in 1819,
was admitted into the senior department
of the royal military college at Farnham.
In 1823--4, he was engaged, in com-
pany with captain Clapperton and doctor
Oudney, in exploring the central regions
of Africa. (For an account of their expe
ditions, see Clapperton.) His courage, ad
dress, firmness, perseverance and modera-
tion, his bold, frank, energetic disposition,
and his conciliating manners, peculiarly fit-
ted him for such an undertaking. The nar-
rative of the discoveries of the travellers
was prepared by Denham. In 1826, he
went to Sierra Leone, as superintendent
of the liberated Africans, and, in 1828, was
appointed lieutenant-governor of the colo-
ny; but, on the 9th of June of the same
year, he died of a fever, after an illness of
a few days.
DENHAM, Sir John, a poet, was born at
Dublin, in 1615, the son of sir John Den-
ham, chief baron of the exchequer in Ire-
land. He was educated in London and
at Oxford. Although dissipated and ir-
regular at the university, he passed his
examination for a bachelor's degree, and
then removed to Lincoln's Inn to study
law. In 1641, he first became known by
his tragedy of the Sophy. This piece was
so much admired, that Waller observed,
"Denham had broken out like the Irish
rebellion, 60,000 strong, when no person
suspected it." At the commencement of
the civil war, he received a military com-
mand; but, not liking a soldier's life, he
gave it up, and attended the court at
Oxford, where, in 1643, he published the
first edition of his most celebrated poem,
called Cooper's Hill. He was subsequent-
ly intrusted with several confidential com-
missions by the king's party, one of which
was to collect pecuniary aid from the
Scottish residents in Poland. He returned
to England in 1552; but how he employed
himself until the restoration, does not ap-
pear. Upon that event, he obtained the
office of surveyor of the king's buildings,
and was created a knight of the Bath, and
a fellow of the newly-formed royal society.
A second marriage, at an advanced age,
caused him much disquiet, and a tempo-
rary derangement; but he recovered, and
retained the esteem of the lettered and the
courtly until his death, in 1688, when his re-
mains were interred in Westminster abbey.
DENINA, Giacomo Carlo, a historian,
born in 1731, at Revel, in Piedmont, stud-
ied belles-lettres at Turin, and received
the professorship of humanity at the royal
school at Pignerol. When the chair of
rhetoric at the superior college of Turin
was vacant, Denina was made professor in
the college and university. He now pub-
Ished the three first volumes of his His-
tory of the Italian Revolutions (Turin,

DENINA-DENMARK.
1769, 3 vols., quarto), containing a general
history of Italy, which subjected him to
some inconveniences, by exciting the ill
will of the defenders of the privileges of
the clergy. In 1777, he travelled, on
account of his health, to Rome, made a
stay at Florence, received an invitation to
Prussia, went to Berlin in September,
1782, was presented to the king by the
marquis Lucchesini, and appointed a
member of the academy, with a salary of
1200 Prussian dollars. He had several
conversations with Frederic the Great, an
account of whose life and reign he after-
wards wrote. He also published La Prus-
se littéraire sous Frederic II (3 volumes).
In 1791, he made a journey to Piedmont,
and published, on his return to Berlin, the
Guide littéraire. As early as 1760, his
Discorso sopra le Vicende della Litteratura
appeared in Berlin. It is a valuable con-
tribution to the history of literature, and
has been translated into German and
French. Most of his works were written
at Berlin; as, for instance, his History of
Piedmont and of the other Sardinian
States; Political and Literary History of
Greece; and Letters from Brandenburg.
After the battle of Marengo, the council
of administration appointed him librarian
at the university of Turin. Before he
entered upon this office, he wrote his
Clef des Langues, ou Observations, etc.,
which he dedicated to the first consul.
He received, in return, an honorable letter
and a gold snuff-box, through Duroc.
This favor was followed by the offer of
the place of librarian to the emperor, upon
which he repaired to Paris. In 1805
appeared his Historico-statistical Picture
of Upper Italy. He died in 1813.
DENIS OF DENYS, ST., ABBEY OF; a church
celebrated in history. The saint (Dionys-
ius) to whom it is consecrated, having
been sent from Rome into Gaul to preach
the gospel, died by the hand of the public
executioner, about the end of the 3d cen-
tury. Catulla, a heathen lady, affected
by the martyr's constancy, obtained his
body, which had been thrown into the
Seine, buried it in her garden, became a
Christian, and erected a small chapel over
his tomb, which was afterwards rebuilt on
a more extensive plan, by St. Genevieve,
and became, in the 6th century, one of the
most flourishing abbeys. This large edi-
fice is still standing, a noble structure, the
oldest Christian church in France. On
the left was the principal entrance, a large
door with two small doors at the sides,
ornamented with statues of the ancient
saints and French kings, carved in stone.
183
The interior of the church was enriched
with pious offerings and works of art. In
the large vaults under the choir reposed
the remains of several kings of the first
and second races, and all the rulers of the
third race, from Hugh Capet to Louis XVI,
At present, the heads of all the saints and
kings at the entrance are wanting, and the
vaults are vacant, all the bodies having
been removed during the revolution.
Oct. 16, 1793, at the time when the queen
was beheaded in Paris, the coffin of
Louis XV was taken out of the vaults of
St. Denis, and, after a stormy debate, it
was decided to throw the remains of all the
kings, even those of Henry IV and Louis
XIV, which were yet, in a good degree, pre-
served entire, and recognised with perfect
certainty, into a pit, to melt down their
leaden coffins on the spot, and to take
away and melt into bullets whatever lead
there was besides in the church (the whole
roof, for example). Napoleon's decree of
the 20th February, 1806, made St. Denis,
again the burial-place of the reigning
family of France; the church was repair-
ed and ornamented, and marked with the
emblems of the new dynasty, particularly
the large N. Napoleon had selected a
vaulted room for the tomb of himself and
his consort. Louis XVIII obliterated from
St. Denis all traces of Napoleon's rule,
buried whatever bones of his ancestors
could be found, especially the relics of
Louis XVI and his family, in the ancient
sepulchre of the kings, and instituted
canons, whose duty it is to protect the
tombs within. These canons of St. De-
nis are the most distinguished in France,
and form a convent, the abbot of which is
a bishop.
DENIZEN. In England, a denizen is an
alien born, who has obtained letters patent
whereby he is constituted an English sub-
ject. A denizen is in a middle state be-
tween an alien and a natural born or nat-
uralized subject, partaking of the nature
of both. He may take lands by purchase,
or derive a title by descent through his pa-
rents or any ancestor, though they be aliens.
DENMARK; the smallest of the northern
European kingdoms. The oldest inhab-
itants of Denmark were Germans, brave
and spirited men, who gained their sup-
port from the sea. The Cimbri, who
derived their origin from them, dwelt in
the peninsula of Jutland, the Chersonesus
Cimbrica of the Romans. They first
struck terror into the Romans by their in-
cursion, with the Teutones, into the rich
provinces of Gaul. After this, led by the
mysterious Odin, the Goths broke into
184
SA DENMARK.

Scandinavia, and appointed chiefs from
their own nation over Denmark, Norway
and Sweden. Skiold is said to have been
the first ruler of Denmark. His history,
however, and that of his posterity, is in-
volved in fable. All we know with cer-
tainty is, that Denmark was divided, at
this time, into many small states, that the
inhabitants gained their subsistence by
piracy, and spread terror through every
sea, and along every coast to which they
came. When the power of the Romans
began to decline, the Danes and Normans
became conspicuous in the South by their
incursions upon the shores, which were
formerly protected by the guard-ships of
the Romans. The Normans (compre-
hending the people of Denmark, Sweden
and Norway) landed in England A. D.
832, and established there two kingdoms.
Under Rollo, in 911, they made a descent
on the French coasts in Normandy, occu-
pied the Faroe isles, the Orcades, the Shet-
land isles, Iceland. and a part of Ireland, and
thence proceeded to Spain, Italy and Sicily.
Wherever they came, they spread terror
by their valor, ferocity and rapacity.
These expeditions made little change in
their national government: it still contin-
ued a federative system of many clans or
tribes, each of which had its own head,
and all were united under one sovereign.
When the German kings of the Carlovin-
gian race attempted to interfere with their
domestic affairs, the tribes entered into a
closer union, and the Norwegians and
Danes formed two separate states. Gorm
the Old first subdued Jutland, in 863, and
united all the small Danish states under
his sceptre till 920. His grandson Sweyn,
a warlike prince, subdued a part of Nor-
way in 1000, and England in 1014. His
son Canute, in 1016, not only completed
the conquest of England, but also subdued
a part of Scotland, and, in 1030, all Nor-
way. Under him the power of Denmark
reached its highest pitch. Political mo-
tives led him to embrace the Christian
religion, and to introduce it into Denmark;
upon which a great change took place in
the character of the people. Canute died
in 1036, and left a powerful kingdom to
his successors, who, in 1042, lost England,
and, in 1047, Norway. The Danish king-
dom was, after this, very much weakened
by intestine broils. Sweyn Magnus Es-
tritson ascended the throne in 1047, and
established a new dynasty; but the feudal
system, introduced by the wars of Sweyn
and Canute, robbed the kingdom of all its
strength under this dynasty, which fur-
nished not a single worthy prince except
the great Waldemar, left the princes de-
pendent on the choice of the bishops and
nobility, plunged the peasants into bond-
age, caused the decay of agriculture, and
abandoned commerce to the Hanse towns
of Germany. With Waldemar III, in
1376, the male line of the family of Estrit-
son became extinct. His politic daughter
Margaret, after the death of her son Olave
IV, A. D. 1387, took the helm of the
Danish government, ascended the throne
of Sweden and Norway, and established
the union of Calmar (q. v.), in 1397. After
the extinction of the princes of the family
of Skiold, the Danes elected Christian I
count of Oldenburg, to succeed him, in
1448. This Christian was the founder of
the royal Danish family, which has, ever
since, kept possession of the throne, and
from which, in modern times, Russia,
Sweden and Oldenburg have received
their rulers. He connected Norway,
Sleswic and Holstein with the crown of
Denmark, but was so fettered by his capit-
ulations, that he seemed to be rather the
head of the royal council than a sovereign
king. His son, king John, was bound by
a still more strict capitulation, in Den-
mark, 1481. In Norway, too, his power
was more circumscribed. Holstein and
Sleswic he shared with Frederic, his
brother. King Christian II (q. v.), son of
John, a wicked and cruel, but by no
means weak, prince, attempted to throw
off his dependence on the states; but, in
doing it, he lost Sweden, which broke the
union of Calmar in 1523; and, soon after,
he was deprived of both his other crowns.
Denmark and Norway elevated his fa-
ther's brother, Frederic I, to the throne.
Under this prince, the aristocracy gained
the entire superiority; bondage was estab-
lished by law; the reformation was intro-
duced; and, in 1522, Norway was united
with Denmark. Christian III, his eldest
son, divided Sleswic and Holstein with his
brothers, John and Adolphus, the latter
of whom founded the house of Holstein-
Gottorp; but this division was the ground
of long and bitter disputes. He was suc-
ceeded, in 1559, by king Frederic II, who
conquered the Ditmars, and became in-
volved in a war with Sweden respecting
the possession of Livonia. This war was
concluded by the peace of Stettin, 1570
Christian IV, who succeeded in 1588, took
part in the thirty years' war, and twice
engaged in a war with Sweden; the last
time with such unhappy consequences,
that, by the peace of Brömsebro, in 1645,
Denmark had to cede to Sweden Jämpt-
land, Herjedalen beyond the mountains,

DENMARK.
Gothland and Oesel, provinces which it
had retained ever since the union; besides
putting Halland in her hands for 30 years.
The faults of the Danish form of govern-
ment, and the restraints on the crown, had
principally contributed to make the Dan-
ish arms unsuccessful. The same misfor-
tune attended them also in the new war,
begun with Sweden by king Frederic III,
in 1657. In the peace of Roschild, in
1658, and that of Copenhagen, in 1660, he
lost Schonen, Bleckingen, Bohus and Hal-
land. This caused the abolition, in 1660,
of the constitution of the states: the
nation itself granted the king absolute
power, and rendered the crown hereditary.
Norway did the same in 1661. The
Danish nobility, however, retained the
most important offices of state, and the
result did not answer the expectations
which had been entertained of the new
arrangement. Christian V and Frederic
IV were conquered in the war with
Charles XII. Denmark, however, after
the fall of Charles XII, gained by the
peace of 1720, at Fredericsburg, the toll
on the Sound, and maintained possession
of Sleswic. After this, the state enjoyed
a long repose; but the wounds inflicted
by its ill successes and its defective form
of government, could not be healed by the
peaceful system now adopted. Denmark,
having but few resources, can prosper only
by wise moderation and careful manage-
ment. The political machine, once dis-
ordered, requires a long time for restora-
tion. In 1726, Denmark united with the
crown the county of Ranzau; in 1761,
Holstein-Plön; and, in 1773, Holstein-Got-
torp. In return for the latter, by a treaty
with Russia, it ceded the counties of Ol-
denburg and Delmenhorst, which were
acquired in 1667. In 1730, Christian VI
succeeded Frederic IV, and left his crown,
in 1746, to his son Frederic V. Christian
VII (q. v.) received the sceptre in 1766.
He governed entirely by his ministers.
(See the article Struensee.) The present
king, Frederic VI (q. v.) was declared of
age at 16 years, and, in April 14, 1784, was
appointed regent on account of the insani-
ty of his father, whom he succeeded, after
his death, A. D. 1808. In consequence
of the defensive alliance with Russia, in
1788, a Danish auxiliary corps marched
into Sweden without opposition; but, on
the representations of England and Prus-
sia, an armistice was concluded a fortnight
after the commencement of hostilities.
Thus ended this fruitless campaign, which
imposed on the impoverished finances a
burden of 7,000,000 rix dollars. Denmark
185
maintained her neutrality with more suc-
cess, in 1792, when the allied powers
wished her to take part in the war against
France. But, by her accession to the
Northern confederacy, in 1800, she was
involved in a war with Great Britain, in
which the Danish fleet was defeated at
Copenhagen, April 2, 1801. The courage
of the Danes, however, obtained for them
a truce, upon which Denmark acceded to
the treaty of Russia with England, com-
pleted July 20, evacuated Hamburg and
Lübeck, of which she had possession, and
received back her own colonies. At
length, in 1807, this state was included in
Napoleon's continental policy. A French
army stood on the borders of Denmark,
Russia had adopted the continental sys-
tem at the peace of Tilsit, and England
thought it her duty to prevent the acces-
sion of Denmark to this alliance. A fleet
of 23 ships of the line was sent up the
Sound, August 3, which demanded of
Denmark a defensive alliance, or the sur-
render of her fleet, as a pledge of her neu-
trality. Both were denied. Upon this, a
British army landed, consisting of 25,000
men, under lord Cathcart; and, after an
unsuccessful resistance on the part of the
Danes, who were unprepared for such an
attack, Copenhagen was surrounded Au-
gust 17. As the government repeatedly
refused to yield to the British demands,
the capital was bombarded for three days,
and 400 houses laid in ashes, in the ruins
of which 1300 of the inhabitants perished.
September 7, Copenhagen capitulated, and
the whole fleet, completely equipped, and
including 18 ships of the line, 15 frigates,
&c., was delivered up to the British, and
carried off in triumph. The crews, who
had fought on those days with distinguished
bravery, were made prisoners of war.
Great Britain now offered the crown-
prince neutrality or an alliance. If he
accepted the first, the Danish fleet was to
be restored in three years after the gen
eral peace, and the island of Heligoland
was to be ceded to the British crown.
The crown-prince, however, rejected all
proposals, declared war against Great
Britain in October, 1807, and entered into
a treaty with Napoleon, at Fontainebleau,
October 31. Upon this, Bernadotte occu-
pied the Danish islands with 30,000 men,
in order to land in Sweden, against which
Denmark had declared war in April, 1808.
This plan was defeated by the war with
Austria, in 1809, and the hostilities against
Sweden in Norway ceased the same year
The demand made by the court of Stock
holm, in 1813, of a transfer of Norway to
16*
186
DENMARK.

Sweden, was followed by a new war with tinue to be attached to the soil in Den-
this crown, and a new alliance with Napo- mark Proper. The principal island, Zea-
leon, July 10, 1813. On this account, land (Dan. Sälland), is separated by the
after the battle of Leipsic, the northern Sound (q. v.) from Sweden, the island Füh-
powers, who were united against France, nen (Dan. Fyen) by the Great Belt, from
occupied Holstein and Sleswic. Glück- Zealand, and by the Little Belt from the
stadt and other fortifications were cap- peninsula of Jutland (Dan. Jylland): these
tured, and the Danish troops driven beyond three straits form the passage from the
Flensburg. Denmark now concluded a German ocean to the Baltic sea. The
peace with England and Sweden, Jan. 14, country is perfectly level, with the excep-
1814, at Kiel. She also entered into an tion of a single ridge of moderate eleva-
alliance against France, and contributed a tion, which runs through the duchies.
body of troops to the allied forces. She The coasts are low, and, for the most part,
was obliged to cede Heligoland to Great protected against the encroachments of the
Britain (receiving in exchange the West waves by flats, and require artificial dykes
India islands), and Norway to Sweden (for only on the side of the German ocean.
which she was compensated by Swedish The soil consists partly of marshes and
Pomerania and Rügen). A peace was partly of heaths, and the country is mod-
concluded with Russia in February, 1814. erately fruitful. By the improvident ex-
Jan. 14, 1815, Denmark ceded Swedish tirpation of the woods, which protected the
Pomerania and Rügen to Prussia, and northern and north-western coasts of Jut-
received for them Lauenburg and a pecu- land against the sea, vast extents of fruitful
niary compensation. June 8, 1815, the territory have become barren and sandy
king entered into the German confedera- deserts. The church at Skagen, in the
ey with Holstein and Lauenburg, and most northern parish of Jutland, at present
received in it the tenth place, and three lies almost buried in heaps of sand, driven
votes in the general assembly (the plenum); up by the sea. An attempt has lately been
after which, by the appointment of a de- made to check this devastation, by planting
cemviral commission, preliminary meas- firs, birches, &c., also certain herbs that
ures were taken to introduce a representa- flourish best in sand; by which means a
tive government into Holstein.
great part of those sandy regions have
once more put on a verdant dress. Be-
sides the Elbe, the boundary stream of the
kingdom, it has only a few rivers on the
coast. There are many lakes in the inte-
rior, as the Schall and the Ratzeburger
lakes in Lauenburg, Plöner and Selenter
lakes in Holstein; and several bays, the
most considerable of which is situated in
North Jutland, called the Limfiord. The
Cattegat or Skaggerack, between the coasts
of Jutland and Sweden, is considered by
some as a bay: it is connected with the
Baltic by the Sound and the two Belts.
The climate, for the most part, is temper-
ate, but very wet. The staple produc-
tions of Denmark are grain, rape-seed,
tobacco, &c.: 4,000,000 pounds of the last
are raised annually, and sold mostly in
foreign countries. Hemp and flax are not
raised in sufficient quantities to satisfy the
demand of the people: the same is the
case with madder (which, however, thrives
very well), and with hops. Horticulture is
neglected in Denmark Proper. Sea-weed
is used for stuffing cushions, &c., instead
of horse-hair. Forests are rare, and the
price of wood high; turf, however, is very
abundant. The breeding of cattle fur-
nishes the only important article of expor-
tation: for example, every year Denmark
Proper exports 16,000 horses and 7000
Denmark consists of the islands of Zea-
land, Fühnen, Langeland, Laaland, Fal-
ster, Bornholm and Moen, the peninsula
of Jutland and the duchy of Sleswic. To
the Danish kingdom belong also two states
of the German confederacy, the duchies
of Holstein and Lauenburg; likewise the
Faroe islands, Iceland, the western coast
of Greenland, some places in Guinea, and
the city and territory of Tranquebar, in the
East Indies. Denmark Proper and Sles-
wic contain only 17,375 square miles;
Iceland and the Faroe islands, 30,270;
the German states, 3665; and the colonies,
7173. The whole kingdom, with its de-
pendencies, contains 58,500 square miles,
of which Iceland and the coast of Green-
land compose 36,128. Denmark Proper is
estimated to contain 1,230,000 inhabitants;
Holstein and Lauenburg, 370,000; Ice-
land, in the year 1823, 49,269; the Faroe
islands, 5300; and the rest of the colonies,
101,000; so that the whole kingdom con-
tains 1,750,000, or, according to some ac-
counts, 1,864,534 inhabitants. The peo-
ple, partly Danes and partly Germans,
speak Danish in Denmark Proper, Norse
in Iceland and the Faroe islands, and
German in the high and low German and
Frisian dialects. Bondage no longer pre-
vails among the peasants, but they con-

DENMARK.
oxen. Olofsen fixes the number of horned
cattle, not including those raised in the
duchies, at 1,484,000 head: the sheep
amount to 1,338,000 head, including 20,000
merinos. Swine and poultry, too, are
raised in large numbers. The larger kinds
of game are very rare. The fisheries sup-
ply a part of North Germany with herring,
oysters, lobsters, &c. Among the miner-
als are clay, iron, copper, alum, lime (in
Segeberg), and salt (less than is wanted)
from salt-springs. The manufactures are
few, and carried on principally in Copen-
hagen and Altona: the Danish gloves,
which come from Jutland, are esteemed
in Germany. Trade, especially to the
West Indies, and navigation, have begun
to revive. The Holstein canal joins the
Baltic sea and the North sea. The char-
ter of the Asiatic company was extended,
in 1812, to 30 years after the peace; but
the shares have fallen. Denmark now
contains, without including Iceland and
the Faroe islands, 100 cities, 37 boroughs,
2305 parishes and 5500 villages. The
government is an absolute monarchy.
The crown is hereditary both in the male
and female line. The king's oldest son
is styled the crown-prince; the other prin-
ces of the blood are called princes of Den-
mark. Copenhagen is the royal residence.
The title of the sovereign, since Jan. 1,
1820, has been, king of Denmark, of the
Vandals and the Goths, duke of Sleswic,
Holstein, Stormarn, the Ditmarsh, and of
Lauenburg and Oldenburg. The orders of
knighthood are the order of the elephant
and the order of the Danebrog (order of
the royal banner). In Denmark Proper
there are no estates. The highest council
of state is the privy council, to which the
administration of domestic affairs has be-
longed since 1814. The Lutheran is the
prevailing religion, but unlimited tolera-
tion is extended to every religious sect,
not excepting the Jews. There are two
universities (at Copenhagen and Kiel).
There is also an academy of arts, a royal
society of sciences, and many private in-
stitutions and societies of learned men,
40 gymnasia, and 13 seminaries of teach-
ers. Lancastrian or monitorial schools
were first established in Denmark in 1823;
but their progress has been rapid beyond
example. In 1823, the system was intro-
duced into 244 schools: in 1824, the num-
ber was 605; in 1825, 1143; in 1826,
1543; in 1827, 2003; in 1828, 2302;
and in 1829, the additions made would
carry it to 2616. The Sound dues now
afford a revenue of more than 450,000
dollars. The public debt, it is conjec-
187
tured, amounts in silver to 10 million rix
dollars banco of foreign, and 100 millions
of domestic debt, including two recent
loans in Hamburg and London. The
value of bank-bills in circulation, in 1823,
a little exceeded 21,325,000 rix dollars
banco. Paper money is worth about 40
per cent. in comparison with specie; and
a bank dollar in silver is worth 1 Ham-
burg marks banco. The land force con-
sisted, in 1823, of 30,838 men, exclusive
of the militia. The marine is subject to
a board of admiralty, or commissariate.
In 1826, the navy consisted of 4 ships of
the line, 7 frigates, 4 corvettes, 5 brigs, 1
schooner, and 80 gun-boats.
Danish Language, Literature and Arts.
The Danish language is a daughter of the
Low German and the original Norman,
which was, in the 10th century, driven to
Iceland. It is believed by many, that the
Anglo-Saxon language is, in fact, the
Danish, and that it has been retained in
its purity by the Irish. The first culti-
vators of this language in Denmark, as in
Sweden and Norway, were the Scalds,
who wrote poems in the
pure German
dialect, and, following their princes and
generals, sung in rhymeless verse the
deities and exploits of their nation. After
the introduction of Christianity (about
1000), historical poems only continued to
be composed (till 1265). For the intro-
duction of this religion into Denmark, at
the same time with the art of writing, the
foundation was laid by the German mis-
sionary, Anschar. (See Ansgar.) Canute
the Great (1015-1036), inspired by his
wife, Emma, with zeal for Christianity,
and a liberal spirit towards the clergy,
sent Anglo-Saxon teachers to Denmark,
established the bishoprics of Schonen,
Zealand, and Fühnen, and spread Chris-
tianity through all the rest of the North.
He sought to promote trade and com-
merce, coined new money, and established
more fixed laws. Immediately after Chris-
tianity, chivalry, also, was introduced into
Scandinavia, particularly by the French
crusades, and found an easy reception
among the inhabitants, who were extreme-
ly fond of bold adventures. Tournaments
were so common at the Danish court, that
every stranger who visited it was obliged
to break a spear with some of the cour-
tiers. The Danes engaged in the first
crusade. This new spirit of chivalry had
necessarily a favorable influence on poetry
The oldest Danish poetry extant is the
epic of the Skyldingians, first published
complete by Thorkelin (De Danorum rel.
Gest. Secul. III et IV, Poema Dan. Dialect
188
DENMARK.

Anglo-Saxon, etc. Copenhagen, 1815,4to.).
Of a much later date (16th century) is the
collection of the heroic ballads and ro-
mances of love (Kjempeviser and Elskovsvi-
ser), published by Wedel and Syv, and
latest by Abrahamson, Nyerup and Rah-
beck, 1812-14, in 5 vols., which has been
translated into German by W. L. Grimm,
who has done much for the northern
poetry (Altdänische Heldenlieder, Balladen,
und Märchen, Heidelburg, 1811). Nyerup
and Rahbeck likewise published, a short
time since, a selection from the manu-
script Danish poems of the middle ages,
with valuable commentaries. Their poet-
ical value, indeed, is very unequal; but
most of them contain genuine poetry, and
much national spirit. The latest Danish
dramatists have drawn much from these
storehouses. Among the heroic poems,
many illustrate the cycle of the old Helden-
buch. (q. v.) The first Danish historians are
Sueno (Svend) Aagesen (about 1188), and
the celebrated Saxo-Grammaticus, prop-
erly Lang, of Schonen (who died in 1204),
both of whom, by the suggestion of Absa-
lon, archbishop of Lund, wrote, the former
a concise history of the Danish kings from
300 to 1186 (Suenonis Aggonis Opuscula,
ed. Stephan. Sora, 1642), the latter a com-
plete history of Denmark (Historia, Libb.
rvi. ed. Stephanius Sora, 1644; Klotzius,
1771, 4to.), to the year 1186, in 16 vols. in
a correct Latin style. The reformation,
introduced in 1527, and still more the ex-
tension of trade, had a great influence on
the intellectual progress of Denmark. In
consequence of the reformation, the Ger-
mans obtained an important influence over
the church and the literature of Denmark.
The Danes studied in Germany. German
was the language of the court, and Latin
the language of the learned. The at-
tempts of authors in their vernacular
tongue were as yet insignificant. A Da-
nish translation of the New Testament was
made in 1524, on the model of Luther's.
Danish became the language of literature,
partly in the 16th, and still more in the
17th century, and was distinguished for
its softness and euphony, and for the ex-
pressiveness of its abstract terms. The
language of poetry seems, at present, to
have left prose far in the rear. The first
Danish grammar was edited by Erich
Pontoppidan (Copenhagen, 1668). Many
useful grammars were afterwards pre-
pared by James Baden and others, and, in
the 16th century, some Danish-Latin dic-
tionaries. (See the Literatura antiquissi-
ma, of Olaf Worm, a Dane (Copenhagen,
1651), and others.) The Danish is the only
Teutonic language which has a real pas-
sive voice. In regard to prose, the Danish
language has been highly enriched by
Holberg (q. v.), who, in one view, may
justly be called the father of modern Da-
nish literature, having applied it to many
branches of literature, and particularly to
the drama. Much has been done for the
improvement of the public taste by J.
Wielandt (died 1730), J. Sch. Sneedorf
(died 1764), in their journals, and by J.
Baden (died 1804), who paid particular
attention to the purity of the language,
and discharged with success the office of
a critic. Literary institutions were, more-
over, established and supported by Fred-
eric V, and Christian VII, which greatly
promoted the native literature of the coun-
try. T. Rothe, P. F. Suhm (a Danish
historian, who died in 1799), an excellent
prose writer still living, Cnud Lyne Rah-
beck (professor, and knight of the order
of the Danebrog, who published various
literary works, 1785-93, in three parts,
consisting of dramatic works and narra-
tives, and who exerted no small influence
upon the Danish national taste, as editor
of the Northern Minerva and Danish
Spectator), J. Ch. Bastholm, Birkner, Ras-
mus, Nyerup, Anders Gamborg, Frederic
Münter, and Baggesen, have well founded
claims to the reputation of clear, strong,
and agreeable writers. In practical sci-
ence and natural philosophy, the Danes
have distinguished themselves most. We
must not omit the renowned astronormner,
Tycho de Brahe (see Tycho), and the
mineralogist, Olaf Worm, who died in
1654. Much has been done for the cause
of education in Denmark, in modern times.
by the establishment of schools, universi-
ties and literary societies. There are also
institutions for instruction in gymnastic
exercises, such as swimming, for instance,
well worthy of general imitation. Geog-
raphy and practical astronomy are under
great obligations to Thomas Bugge (q. v.),
who was invited to Paris in 1798, by the
French directory, to take part in the es-
tablishment of the new system of weights
and measures. Many learned men, whom
he drew from obscurity, have contributed
to give value to the Transactions of the
scientific society at Copenhagen (now
amounting to 24 vols.: the latest series
is called Det Kongelige Danske Vidensz
Selskaber Skrifter). The late convulsed
state of Europe excited in Denmark
much attention to the military art, and
all the foreign improvements were adopt-
ed. Denmark has always been more dis.
tinguished for its naval than its land
SIDENMARK.
189

Rahbeck, the satirical and comic poets,
Guldberg, John. Herm. Wessel (died 1786),
the next comic writer after Holberg, and
famous for his comedy, Love without
Stockings, and many comic poems. Rah-
beck published the 4th edition of his po-
ems in 1817. Other distinguished poets
are P. A. Heiberg, En. de Falsen (died
1808), the lyric and dramatic Brun, Th.
Thaarup (q. v.), who wrote much for the
stage, J. C. Tode, Ch. Lovinus, Sander,
Pram, the successful poet of the people,
Frimann, Rein-Storm (the last are Nor-
wegians), a female writer named Brun
(q. v.), who has written spirited poetry in
the German language, Jens Baggesen
(q. v.), a lyric poet, full of animation and
strength, though at times heavy, and
Oehlenschläger. (q. v.) His best pieces
are Hakon Jarl, Planatoke, Axel und Wal-
burg, Correggio, Aladdin, The Shepherd's
Boy. The last mentioned poets are to be
numbered, also, among German authors, as
they all write in that language likewise.
B. S. Ingemann (q. v.) now shares the
public favor with Oehlenschläger. Of late
years, much has been translated from the
German. An epic poem, called the Deliv-
erance of Israel, in 18 cantos, by J. M.
Herz, which obtained the prize of the
society of fine arts, notwithstanding this
honor, seems to have met but a cold re-
ception from the public. Copenhagen
could probably boast of the youngest au-
thoress in Europe. Virgilia Christ. Lund,
at the age of only ten years, published, in
1820, a piece called Two for One, and
subsequently a small dramatic piece, The
faithless Maid discovered. The irritability
of poets is nowhere more striking than in
Denmark, where they are constantly quar-
relling.
an relling. This polemical spirit is very
strong in N. F. Sev. Gruntvig, by whom
two quarto volumes of the Chronicles of
Denmark, by Saxo Grammaticus, have
been translated into Danish (Copenhagen,
1818-19), and given to the public.
forces. The Danish admiralty deserves
the general gratitude for the publication of
the charts prepared under the direction of
Paul de Löwenőrn, and greatly increased in
value by learned illustrations. Further im-
provements were made in this department
by U. S. Rosenwinge, who died in 1820.
The numerous editions of Lous's nautical
works, among a people who despise all
theory, if it cannot be reduced to practice,
bear witness to their practical excellence.
The investigation of the antiquities of the
country has received much attention from
the following scholars, some of whom are
still living-Viborg, N. E. P. Grundtvig,
Sandtvig, Thorkelin, Thorlacius, Nyerup
and Rhabeck. The two last published
Contributions to the History of Danish
Poetry (Copenhagen, 1800-8 in 4 vols.),
and, with Abrahamson, the Collection of
Poems of the Middle Ages. The poetry
of the Danes, in modern times, has been
splendid. It began with religious pieces
and national songs, of which the Danes
have a great number, and may be consid-
ered as having commenced with Andr. Chr.
Arreboe, who died in 1637. The Hexaem-
eron of Arreboe is extremely heavy. Andr.
Bording (died 1677) took Opitz for his
pattern. Poetic vigor, however, is want-
ing in him and in his successors, Jens
Steno Schestedt (died 1698), Paul Petter-
sen, the poet of the people, William Helt,
who flourished about 1703, Nicholas Kingo
(died 1703, while bishop), who celebrated
the achievements of the Danish kings in
a heroic poem, and George Lorterap (died
1722). Much improvement was intro-
duced, about the middle of the 18th cen-
tury, by the ardent enthusiasm of Louis
Holberg, a Norwegian. He deserves to
be particularly mentioned here, as an
original comic and satirical poet. (For
a further account of his works, see Hol-
herg.) The society established in 1758, for
the advancement of the fine arts, and the
improvement of taste, brought into notice
the works of men of talents, among whom
the original Ch. B. Tullin (who died in
1765) was most distinguished. In the
second half of the 18th century, a warm
literary controversy commenced, and many
estimable poets, including several Norwe-
gians, made successful attempts in various
departments of literature. Even at pres-
ent, however, they are much given to the
imitation of foreign models. Among late
poets most distinguished, are the tragedian
and lyric poet, John Ewald (q. v.), N.
Weyer (1788, a poet of much talent; he
is the author of Poet. Forsög, Copenha-
gen, 1789), the lyric poet and dramatist,
The musical productions of Denmark
have been inferior in richness and abun
dance to the literary. Thorwaldsen (q. v.)
has roused the ambition of his country to
aspire to excel in the fine arts. Under his
direction, many promising Danish youth,
as, for instance, Freund, have been and are
still receiving instruction. Lahde has pub-
lished sketches of the works of Thor-
waldsen, with poetical explanations by
Oehlenschläger. Intellectual activity is
kept up, in Denmark, by many excellent
periodicals. There are many well-ordered
literary societies; and lately the study of
the Scandinavian language and antiquities
190
DENMARK-DENNIE.

has grown so fashionable, that a Scandi-
navian literary society was instituted at
the commencement of the present cen-
tury. The Transactions of this society
amount already to 16 vols. (Copenhagen,
1819), and contain a variety of excellent
treatises. The Arnäe-Magnæan commis-
sion, and the royal society for the pre-
servation of antiquities, protect the mon-
uments of antiquity that belong to the
country; and the promotion of mental
cultivation is intrusted to the northern
society of science, the society for the
encouragement of the fine arts and of
taste, the society of medicine and rural
economy. All these attempts of the Da-
nish literati have been encouraged by the
government. The measurement of a de-
gree from Lauenburgh to Scagen has
been continued without intermission, un-
der the direction of professor Schumacher.
It is conducted on strictly scientific prin-
ciples, and the instruments are excellent,
made by Reichenbach, and furnished by
the government. This measurement will
perhaps determine, at last, whether confi-
dence ought to be placed in the French
surveyors, or the English under Mudge,
or in neither of them. The government
assist in the publication of many excellent
works, because the Danish public is so
small that they would not pay the ex-
pense of printing them. In this way the
Flora Danica, for example, is published;
also Thorlacius and Werlauf's editions of
the Norwegian History of Snorro Sturle-
son, and the Law of Lagaboter Gulething,
by king Magnus. The inquiries into the
origin of the northern languages, which
Rask (q. v.), it is well known, has sought
for on Caucasus itself, were encouraged by
the government, which also promoted the
publication of Nyerup's Catal. Librorum
Samscritanorum, quos Bibl. Univ. Hafnien-
sis vel dedit vel paravit Nath. Willich (Co-
penhagen, 1821). The collection of med-
als at Copenhagen received its present
importance from the care of the reigning
king. The fund ad usus publicos is ap-
plied to the support of distinguished young
men on scientific journeys. In the year
1829, Mr. Bowring was in Copenhagen,
collecting materials for an English trans-
lation of ancient Danish ballads, and the
most celebrated lyrical pieces of modern
Danish poets.
DENNER, Balthaser, a celebrated portrait
painter, was born at Hamburg in 1685,
and died at Rostock in 1749. He was
especially distinguished for the remarka-
ble exactness of his execution, or rather
the almost microscopic accuracy of his
paintings. He learned to draw at Altona,
and to paint in oil at Dantzic, and after-
wards travelled. All the northern princes
invited him to their courts to paint their
portraits. The emperor Charles VI paid
him 4700 florins for the head of an aged
woman. It is now in the imperial gallery
at Vienna. Denner likewise painted the
head of an old man for the same prince, a
pendant of the former, which is also a
masterpiece There are some beautiful
portraits painted by him in Münich.
DENNER, John Christian, invented the
clarinet. He was born at Leipsic in
1655, and went to Nuremberg with his
parents in his eighth year, where he was
employed in making wind instruments,
especially flutes. He died in 1707.
DENNEWITZ; a small town in the march
of Brandenburg, famous for the battle be-
tween the French and Prussians, Sept. 6,
1813, the former commanded by Ney
(under whom were Oudinot, Bertrand,
Regnier and Arrighi), the latter by Tau-
enzien and Bülow. 40,000 Prussians
maintained their ground for several hours
against 80,000 French; and, on the arrival
of the Russian and Swedish battalions,
victory declared in favor of the allies,
who, after the Russians and Swedes came
up, were far superior in numbers. The
French were defeated, and fled in disor-
der, with their auxiliaries, consisting of
Bavarians, Wurtembergians, Saxons and
Poles. This battle was a consequence of
the battle at Grosbeeren. (q. v.)
DENNIE, Joseph, born in Boston, Aug.
30, 1768, was the son of a respectable
merchant. He early evinced a decided
fondness for polite literature, and entered
Harvard college in 1787. He left this
institution in 1790, and entered the office
of a lawyer at Charleston, N. H. At the
expiration of three years, he made a suc-
cessful début at the bar. From Charles-
ton he soon removed to Walpole, where
he opened an office, but gained very litle
business, owing to his literary taste and
irregular habits. For four months, he
officiated as reader of prayers for an
Episcopalian congregation at Claremont.
In the spring of 1795, he endeavored to
establish, at Boston, a weekly paper under
the title of The Tablet. This, however,
survived but a short time. Not long after,
he returned to Walpole, to act as editor
of the Farmer's Museum, a journal in
which he published a series of essays,
with the signature of The Lay Preacher.
In 1799, he went to Philadelphia, in con-
sequence of being appointed a clerk in the
office of the secretary of state. On the

HTHAR
DENNIE-DENON. MO
dismissal of his patron, Mr. Pickering, he
left the department, and engaged in the
conduct of a literary journal, the Port
Folio, for which his name and talents
acquired considerable patronage and ce-
lebrity. His reputation, his colloquial
powers, and amiable disposition, attracted
to him a large number of literary disciples
and coadjutors. With industry and dis-
cretion, he might have gained indepen-
dence and permanent happiness; but he
was deficient in both qualities, and grad-
ually destroyed, by his imprudence, his
bodily constitution, as well as all hopes of
fortune. Jan. 7, 1812, he died-a victim
to anxiety and complicated disease. Mr.
Dennie possessed a brilliant genius, a del-
icate taste, a beautiful style, a ready pen,
a rich fund of elegant literature, an excel-
lent heart, and a captivating countenance
and manner, and, with a proper exercise
of industry and judgment, might have
acquired a lasting reputation.
DENNIS, John; an English dramatist
and critic. He was the son of a citizen of
London, where he was born in 1657.
Having completed his studies at Cam-
bridge, he made the tour of France and
Italy, and, on his return, devoted himself
to literary occupations, living upon his
fortune, which had been left him by an
uncle. In 1697, he produced a comedy,
entitled Plot and no Plot, which was fol-
lowed by several dramatic pieces and
poems of little value. He also became a
political writer for the whig party. The
irritability of his disposition, heightened,
probably, by the unprosperous state of his
finances, involved him in perpetual broils,
and made him a sort of standing jest with
the wits of his time. Having written a
tragedy entitled Liberty Asserted, which
became popular during the war with Louis
XIV, in consequence of the abuse of the
French with which it abounded, Dennis
thought that monarch would never forgive
the insult: when, therefore, the treaty of
Utrecht was about to be concluded, he
entreated the duke of Marlborough to
save him from being delivered up to the
French government, as a state criminal.
The duke told him that he thought he
might make himself easy; for though he
had, he conceived, done as much harm to
the French as Mr. Dennis, he had not
thought it necessary to seek for personal
indemnity. When his Appius and Vir-
ginia was performed, he introduced a new
method of imitating thunder, said to be
still used at the theatre. The tragedy was
soon set aside; but some time after, Dennis,
being present at the representation of Mac-
$191
beth, perceived that his new invention had.
been adopted; on which he exclaimed,
"S'death! how these rascals use me;
they will not let my play run, yet they
steal my thunder." He wrote some severe
strictures on Addison's Cato and Pope's
Rape of the Lock. Pope, in return, gave
him a place in the Dunciad, and, in con-
junction with Swift, produced a sarcastic
tract, entitled A Narrative of the deplora-
ble Frenzy of Mr. John Dennis. After
he had dissipated his fortune, the duke of
Marlborough procured him the place of
land waiter at the custom-house. This
he disposed of, reserving only a temporary
annuity; and in his old age, his necessities
were relieved by a benefit at the Hay-
market theatre, to which his former an-
tagonist, Pope, contributed a prologue.
He died soon after, January 6, 1734.
DENON, Dominique Vivant, baron de,
was born Feb. 4, 1747, at Chalons-sur-
Saône, of a noble family. He was des-
otined to study law at Paris, where he was
favorably received in society; and his talent
and inclination led him to devote himself
to the arts. A comedy which he wrote,
called the Good Father, gained him the
favor of the ladies. His amiable manners
made him a favorite of Louis XV, who
appointed him gentilhomme ordinaire about
his person. He was afterwards attached
to an embassy at St. Petersburg, where
Catharine, however, observed him with a
jealous eye. Subsequently he was intrust-
ed with a diplomatic mission to Switzer-
land. On this occasion, he drew Voltaire's
likeness (engraved by St. Aubin), and the
well known picture Le Dejeûner de Fer-
ney. He then occupied, during seven
years, a place in the French embassy at
Naples. His residence in this city, and
repeated visits to Sicily and Malta, gave
him an opportunity of exercising his talent
for drawing and engraving. Denon had
the principal direction of the artists en-
gaged in preparing the abbé St. Non's
Voyage pittoresque de Naples et de Sicile,
and the text was chiefly taken from his
journal. This elegant work appeared at
Paris, in 1788. The remainder of Denon's
journal, relating to Sicily and Malta, ap-
peared separately, in 1788. His career at
Naples was interrupted by the death of
the minister Vergennes, his patron, or,
according to some, by the displeasure of
the queen, Maria Caroline. But still his
love for the study of the great masters de-
tained him in Italy. He resided at Venice
during several years, where he shone in
the circles of the countess Albrizzi, who
was distinguished for her amiable and in
192
DENON-DENSITY OF THE EARTH.

telligent character, and loved to be sur-
rounded by men of talent. Denon was
not forgotten in her Rittratti, where she
bestows the greatest praise on his charac-
ter, his passion for the arts, his cheerful-
ness and amiable disposition, and excuses
the raillery with which he attacked the
foibles of others. The observation and
restraint, to which the revolution subjected
Frenchmen in foreign countries, compelled
him to leave Venice. After a short stay in
Florence and Switzerland, he was obliged
to return to France during the reign of
terror; but he made himself agreeable to
Robespierre, and was, in consequence, sub-
sequently accused of devotion, at that time,
to Jacobin principles. During this period,
he exercised himself in engraving. At
last, he became acquainted with Bonaparte,
and immediately united himself with him.
He accompanied the general in his cam-
paigns to Italy and Egypt, and Desaix to
Upper Egypt. The work which was the
result of this journey, was an addition to
Denon's fame, particularly the engravings
which ornament it (Paris, 1802, 2 vols.
fol., and 3 vols. 12mo., without engravings).
Denon, in this, has shown himself a very
able artist. Nature, animate and inani-
mate, the monuments of centuries, and
the Arabian flying through the Desert, are
represented with great fidelity. When he
returned to Paris with Bonaparte, he was
appointed general director of the muse-
ums, and all the works of art executed in
honor of the French successes-monu-
ments, coins, the erection of the triumphal
pillar in the Place de Vendome, &c. He
accompanied Napoleon in all his cam-
paigns, and employed himself in draw-
ing, and in selecting those masterpieces
in the conquered countries, which were
taken to Paris as trophies. In 1815, he
was compelled to witness the restoration
of the spoils. After the abdication of
the emperor, he retained his office, but
was deprived of it in 1815, in consequence
of having joined Napoleon on his return
from Elba. He retained, however, his
place in the institute. From that time
he lived retired, and the preparation of
engravings and lithographs of his splendid
collection of works of art, formed the
occupation of his last years. He died at
Paris, April, 28, 1825. His mind was
active to the last. Denon much resembled
Voltaire in his old age. In 1826 appeared
at Paris the Description des Objets d'Art
composant le Cabinet de feu M. le Bar. V.
Denon, in 3 vols. (Monumens antiques,
tableaux et estampes). The cabinet was
sold by auction.
DENSITY, strictly speaking, denotes vi-
cinity or closeness of particles; but in
mechanical science, it is used as a term of
comparison, expressing the proportion of
the number of equal molecule, or the
quantity of matter in one body to the
number of equal molecule in the same
bulk of another body. Density, therefore,
is directly as the quantity of matter, and
inversely as the magnitude of the body.
Since it may be shown experimentally,
that the quantities of matter, or the masses
in different bodies, are proportional to
their weight; of consequence, the density
of any body is directly as its weight, and
inversely as its magnitude; or the inverse
ratio of the magnitudes of two bodies,
having experimentally equal weight (in
the same place), constitutes the ratio of
their densities. No body is absolutely or
perfectly full of matter, so as to have no
vacuity or interstices: on the contrary, it
is the opinion of Newton, that even the
densest bodies, as gold, &c., contain but a
small portion of matter, and a great por-
tion of vacuity; or that they contain a
great deal more pores or empty space
than real substance.
DENSITY OF THE EARTH. The determi-
nation of the density of the earth, as com-
pared with that of water, or any other
known body, is a subject which has ex-
cited considerable interest amongst modern
mathematicians; and nothing can, at first
sight, seem more beyond the reach of hu-
man science, than the due solution of this
problem; yet this has been determined,
and on such principles, that, if it be not
correctly true, it is probably an extremely
near approximation. The first idea of
determining the density of the earth was
suggested by M. Bouguer, in consequence
of the attraction of Chimborazo, which
affected his plumb-line while engaged
with Condamine in measuring a degree
of the meridian, near Quito, in Peru.
This led to the experiments on the moun-
tain Schehallien, in Scotland, which were
carried on under the direction of doctor
Maskelyne, and afterwards submitted to
calculation by doctor Hutton, who deter
mined the density of the earth to be to that
of water as 4 to 1. But, in consequence
of the specific gravity of the mountain
being assumed rather less than it ought to
have been, the above result is less than
the true density, as has since been shown
by doctor Hutton and professor Playfair,
the former of whom makes it, in his cor-
rected paper, as 99 to 20, or nearly as 5 to 1.
The same problem has been attempted
on similar principles, but in a totally dif

DENSITY OF THE EARTH-DEODAND.
ferent manner, by the late Mr. Cavendish,
who found the density of the earth to be
to that of water, as 5.48 to 1. Taking a
mean of all these, we have the density of
the earth to that of water, as 5.24 to 1,
and which, as we before observed, is
probably an extremely near approxi-
mation.
DENTIFRICE; a preparation for clean-
ing the teeth, of which there are various
kinds: generally, however, they are made
of earthy substances mixed with alum.
Those formed of acids are very pernicious.
DEODAND (Deo dandum); a thing to
be given or dedicated to God. Persons
who have attended trials for homicide
will have observed that the indictment, in
setting forth the manner of the death,
alleges it to have been occasioned by a
blow with a certain weapon, &c., "of the
value of," &c. This allegation of the
value of the thing which caused the
death, arose from the English law of deo-
dands. It is provided in the Mosaical
law, (Exod. xxi. 28), that "If an ox gore
a man, that he die, the ox shall be stoned,
and his flesh shall not be eaten." So, by
the law of Athens, whatever was the cause
of a man's death, by falling upon him, was
destroyed, or cast out of the territory of the
republic. This, says Mr. Christian, in his
notes upon Blackstone's Commentaries,
was one of Draco's laws; and perhaps we
may think the judgment that a statue
should be thrown into the sea for having
fallen upon a man, less absurd, when we
reflect that there is sound policy in teach-
ing the mind to contemplate with horror
the privation of human life, and that
familiarity even with an insensible object,
which has been the occasion of death,
may lessen that sentiment. This reflec-
tion, suggested by Mr. Christian in refer-
ence to the Athenian law, does not seem
to be the motive for the rule of the com-
mon law of England, that whatever
chattel causes the death of a person,
shall be forfeited. It is an ancient doc-
trine mentioned by Bracton (Omnia quæ
movent ad mortem sunt Deo danda. 1. 3.
c. 5.), and its origin is attributed to the
notion, that where a man was sud-
denly cut off in his sins, expiation ought
to be made for the benefit of his soul;
and, accordingly, the chattel, which
occasioned his death, should be for-
feited to the king, to be devoted by
him to pious uses. The statute of 4 Ed-
ward I, st. 2, relating to coroners, pro-
vides that. "horses, boats, carts, mills,
&c., whereby any are slain, that properly
are called deodands, shall be valued and
17
VOL. IV
193
delivered unto the towns," which there-
upon became answerable to the king for
their value; in whose behalf the sheriff
might levy the amount upon the inhabit-
ants of the town. Accordingly, in all
indictments for homicide, in England, the
grand jury specify the instrument that
immediately caused the death, and its
value, that the king may claim the deo-
dand; for it is no deodand unless it is
so found by the jury, and hence the
practice of finding the instrument and
its value, in indictments in the United
States, or at least in some of them, al-
though they have no deodands. Though
these forfeitures were originally incur-
red to the king, yet he might grant
them away to the lord of the manor or
territory upon which the death happen-
ed, as he was accustomed to grant the
right of waifs and wrecks. The deo-
dands have been generally so granted;
and these grants may probably be the
reason that this ancient singularity has so
long remained a part of the English law;
for the right to the forfeiture has thus be-
come a subject of private property, and so
not liable to be impaired by the legislature
without compensation to the parties inter-
ested. The old books contain a good deal
of quaint and curious law on this subject.
It will be observed, that no distinction is
made, whether the death is felonious, ex-
cusable, justifiable, or purely accidental,
or whether the instrument, by which it is
occasioned, belongs to the person commit-
ting the homicide or to another; for, says
the Doctor and Student, if a man kills
another with my sword, still the sword is
forfeited; but if a person be killed by
falling from a thing standing still, as a
cart, it is not forfeited; if, on the contrary,
a horse, ox, or other animal kill a person
by its own motion, by running over him,
or otherwise, it is a deodand. It is said,
however, that if the instrument of the
death is standing still, only the part which
immediately occasioned the death is for-
feited; as, if one attempts to climb up the
wheel of a cart that is standing still, and
falls, and is thereby killed, only the wheel
is forfeited; but if it be in motion, the
entire cart is a deodand. Only chattels,
are forfeited; any thing attached to the
freehold, as the wheel of a mill, or a bell
hanging in a steeple, is not so; and no
deodand occurs, unless the death happens
within a year and a day after the accident
A sale of the article does not exempt it
from forfeiture; as if a horse strikes a
man, and is afterwards sold, and the man
dies within the year and day, the horse
194
CODEODAND-D'EON.TES

is forfeited. It is not surprising that so
whimsical a law should be very negligently
executed; the juries are very apt to miti-
gate the forfeitures by finding that only
some trivial thing, or only a part of an
entire thing, was the occasion of the death;
and the court has generally refused to
interfere in behalf of the lord of the fran-
chise, to assist him in enforcing his claim
to the whole article. There are no deo-
dands on the high seas, though it has
been said, that, if a man fall overboard from
a vessel in a fresh water river, and is
drowned, the vessel and cargo are strictly
a deodand; and the above statute of Ed-
ward I, we observe, mentions boats as one
species of deodand. But in this case the
jury would probably find the death to
have been occasioned by the winds or the
water, and would have a precedent suffi-
ciently analogous; for the books maintain
that if a man, riding over a river, is thrown
off his horse by the violence of the water,
and drowned, the horse is not a deodand,
for the death was occasioned by the cur-
rent.
D'EON (the chevalier). Eon de Beau-
mont, Charles Genevieve Louise Auguste
André Timothée d', equerry to Louis XV,
chevalier, doctor of law, parliamentary
advocate, military officer, royal censor, di-
plomatist, &c., known until 1777 by the
name of the chevalier d'Eon, was born at
Tonnerre, in 1728. His brilliant qualities
enabled him to act a conspicuous part in
the world. He gained a greater notoriety
by the mystery long kept up in regard to
his sex. While an advocate, he studied,
in his leisure hours, politics and belles-
lettres, and wrote an Essai historique sur
les différentes Situations de la France, par
Rapport aux Finances, followed by two
volumes, entitled Considérations politiques
sur l'Administration des Peuples anciens et
modernes. To these works he owed the
honor of being proposed, by the prince of
Conti, minister of Louis XV, as envoy on
a difficult mission to the Russian court.
Here his insinuating manners gained him
the favor of the empress Elizabeth, and
for five years he was the medium of a
secret correspondence between her and the
king of France. In consequence of his
services at this court, he was made succes-
sively lieutenant and captain of dragoons,
and received a pension of 2400 livres.
He returned to France in 1758, and sub-
sequently distinguished himself in the
military service. After the conclusion of
peace, he went to London as secretary of
legation, under the duke of Nivernois, and
obtained possession of some important pa-
pers.
On the return of the duke, he re
mained as resident, and afterwards as min
ister plenipotentiary in London. Every
thing seemed to favor him, when secre
intrigues suddenly disappointed his fair
prospects. France had concluded a dis-
advantageous peace with England, and
the negotiators of it were fearful of having
their conduct exposed. The chevalier
was the confidant of Louis XV, and might
make the dreaded disclosures. This was
reason enough for ruining him. He was
dismissed from his employment, and lived
14 years at London, in a kind of banish-
ment. Though the king had consented
to his disgrace, he assigned him a pen-
sion of 1200 livres. D'Eon still remained
true to his native land, and rejected several
offers of the English court.
The king
heard of his conduct, and wished to re-
store him, but the chevalier insisted on
having his innocence publicly acknowl
edged, before accepting any favors. In
the mean time, Louis XV died. During
the residence of D'Eon in England, sus-
picions arose as to his sex, which led to
several extraordinary wagers.
In July,
1777, a curious trial took place before
lord chief-justice Mansfield, on an action
brought against Mr. Jaques, a broker,
who had received several premiums of 15
guineas, to return 100, whenever it should
be proved that the chevalier was a woman.
M. Louis Legoux and M. de Morande, on
the trial, deposed to this as a fact, which
was supposed to be so well established,
that the defendant's counsel pleaded that
the plaintiff, at the time of laying the
wager, knew that the court of France,
relative to the grant of a pension, had
treated with D'Eon as a woman; and
thence inferred that the wager was unfair.
This objection was not held good, and
Hayes, the plaintiff, obtained a verdict.
It was, however, afterwards set aside, on
the ground of the illegality of the wager.
After the decision of this cause, D'Eon
put on female attire, and continued to
wear it till his death. In 1777, he returned
to France, and made his appearance at
Versailles, where the minister honorably
received him, but on condition that he
should wear in future the female dress.
D'Eon, however, went to Tonnerre, with-
out observing the command, and did not
appear as la chevalière d'Eon till his second
return to Paris. His change of dress
drew him into a quarrel at the opera, and,
for fear of the consequences, he was sent
to Dijon, where he was treated with re-
spect. In 1783, he went to London.
Meanwhile the French revolution broke

D'EON-DEPARTMENT.
out, and deprived him of his pensions;
Un which he returned to France, offered
his services to the national assembly in
1752, was rejected, went back to England,
and was put, as an absentee, on the emi-
grant list.
From this time misfortunes
crowded upon him. He lived in great
poverty, and attempted to support himself
by giving lessons in fencing, but was not
very successful, and depended in a great
measure for subsistence on the aid of his
friends. Among these was Elisée, first
surgeon of Louis XVIII, who aided him
till his death in London, in 1810, and
attended the dissection of his body. The
account of this witness, with other unde-
niable evidence, leaves it beyond doubt,
that D'Eon was of the male sex. What
political reasons could have induced a
soldier and a knight of St. Louis to assume
female attire, is not known. In 1775 ap-
peared the Loisirs du Chevalier D'Eon, in
14 vols. 8vo. L'Espion Chinois, 6 vols.
12mo., has also been ascribed to him.
DEPARTMENT; the distribution of a thing
into several parts; thus, in France, Le
département des tailles, des quartiers, &c.;
that is, a distribution of the public taxes, or
an allotment of quarters to the soldiery, &c.
Hence it is used, secondly, to denote a dis-
tribution of employments, and especially
195
the divisions of the ministry. Finally, it
is applied to territorial divisions. In this
sense, it has become important in modern
statistics. At the time of the French revo-
lution, when the former division of the
kingdom into provinces was abolished,
and succeeded by a division of it into de-
partments, this division was determined
partly by the number of inhabitants, partly
by extent of territory, and partly by the
amount of direct taxes. A decree for this
purpose was adopted November 4th, 1789,
by the constituent assembly; and the abbé
Siéyes drew up the plan, intended to ex-
tinguish the old spirit of hatred among the
provinces. The whole kingdom was at
first divided into 83 departments, which
were subsequently increased, by the grad-
ual extension of the empire, to 130, and
were reduced by the peace of 1814 to 86.
(See Prefecturate, and France.) Each
department is subdivided into cantons,
and these again into communes. This
division of territory has been adopted in
the states of Bavaria, Würtemberg, Ba-
den and others. The representatives in
the French chambers are elected by the
departments. The following list contains
the names of all the departments, and the
provinces to which they formerly be-
longed:-
Ancient Provinces.
Flanders..
Artois.
.
Région du Nord.
Departments.
Nord.
Pas-de-Calais.
Picardy.
Somme.
Seine-Inférieure...
Eure.
Total Pop.
962,648
Pop. sq. l.
3,208
Chief Places.
Lille.
·
642,969 1,978
Arras.
526,282
1,697
Amiens.
688,295 2,137
Rouen.
421,665 1,405
Évreux.
Normandy.
Calvados.
Manche..
Orne.
Seine.
1,013,373 46,062
40
Seine-et-Oise.
Ile-de-France...
Seine-et-Marne.
318,209 1,060
•
Oise..
385,124 1,266
Aisne.
Ardennes..
Marne.
Champagne..
Aube.
281,624 1,005
325,045 766
241,762 805
500,956 1,776
611,206 1,808
434,379 1,361
46,062
440,871 1,536
489,560 1,305
Caen.
Saint-Lô.
Paris.
Melun.
Beauvais.
Laon.
Mézières.
Alençon.
Versailles.
Châlons-sur-Marne.
Troyes.
Haute-Marne.
244,823 753
Meuse.
306,339 975
Moselle.
Lorraine...
Meurthe.
·
Vosges.
Chaumont.
Bar-le-Duc
409,155 1,410 Metz.
403,038 1,567 Nancy.
379,839 1,287 Épinal.

196
DEPARTMENT.
Région du Centre.
Ancient Provinces.
Departments.
Total Pop.
Pop. sq. l.
Chief Places.
Loiret...
304,228
869
Orléans.
Orléannais.....
Eure-et-Loir..
277,782
904
Chartres.
Loir-et-Cher.
230,666
688
Blois.
Touraine. . . . . | Indre-et-Loire....
290,160 892
Tours.
Indre.
237,628 644
Châteauroux.
Berry.....
Cher.
248,589 666
Bourges.
Nivernais.
Nièvre.
.
271,777
730
Nevers.
Bourbonnais.... Allier.
.
Marche....
Creuse.
285,302
252,932 848
764
Moulins.
Guéret.
S Haute-Vienne.
276,351 976
Limoges.
Limousin.
Corrèze.
284,882 961
Tulle.
Auvergne.
S Puy-de-Dôme.
566,573 1,333
Clermont-Ferrand.
Cantal....
262,013
1,027
Aurillac.
Région de l'Ouest.
Maine.
S Sarthe..
......
Mayenne.
Anjou. . . .
| Maine-et-Loire.
Bretagne..
Ille-et-Vilaine.
Côtes-du-Nord..
Finistère.
Morbihan..
Loire-Inférieure..
Vienne.
446,519
1,373
Le Mans.
354,138 1,287
Laval.
458,674 1,197
Angers.
553,453 1,541
Rennes.
581,684
1,615
St. Brieuc.
502,851 1,389
Quimper.
..
427,453 1,204
457,090 1,193
Vannes.
Nantes.
267,670 731
Poitou.
Deux Sèvres.
Vendée...
288,260 900
Poitiers.
Niort.
322,826
891
Bourbon-Vendée.
Aunis.-Saintonge S Charente Inférieure.
et Angoumois.
Charente.
424,147 1,158
353,653
1,178
La Rochelle.
Angoulême.
Région de l'Est.
Haut-Rhin..
408,741
2,043
Alsace.
Bas-Rhin...
535,467
2,231
Colmar.
Strasburg.
Haute-Saône..
327,641 1,178
Franche-Comté..
Doubs.
254,314
956
Jura..
310,282 1,146
Vesoul.
Besançon.
Lons-le-Saulnier
Yonne.
342,116
870
Auxerre.
Bourgogne
Côte-d'Or.
370,943 799
Dijon.
(Burgundy) S
Saône-et-Loire..
515,776 1,153
Macon.
Ain.
341,628 1,260
Bourg.
Lyonnais..
Rhône.
Loire.
416,575 2,833
Lyons.
369,298 1,442
Montbrison.
Région du Sud.
Haute-Loire.
285,673
1,175
Le Puy.
Ardèche.
· •
328,419
1,368
Privas.
Lozère.
Gard.
138,778 510
Mende.
Languedoc.
347,550 1,198
Nimes.
Hérault..
339,560 1,041
Montpellier.
Tarn.
327,655
1,170
Alby.
Aude..
265,991
828
Haute-Garonne.
407,016 1,312
Carcassonne.
Toulouse.
DEPARTMENT-DEPOSITION.
197

Ancient Provinces.
Roussillon.
Comté-de-Foix.
Departments.
Pyrénées-Orientales.
Ariège.
Total Pop.
Pop. sq. l.
151,372
688
247,932 1,011
.....
Dordogne.
464,074 973
Gironde..
538,151 978
Lot-et-Garonne
336,886 1,161
Agen.
Lot.
280,515 1,038
Cahors.
Guienne-et-Gas-
Tarne-et-Garonne..
241,586 1,220
Chief Places.
Perpignan.
Foix.
Périgueux.
Bordeaux.odist
Montauban.
cony...
Aveyron.
350,014
755
Rhodez.
Landes.
265,309 553
Mont-de-Marsan.
Gers.
307,601 896
Auch.
Hautes-Pyrénées.
222,059 902
Tarbes.
Béarn. ...... | Basses-Pyrénées...
412,469 1,018
Pau.
Isère.
525,984
1,160
Dauphiny.
Drôme.
285,791
850
Grenoble.
Valence.
Hautes-Alpes.
125,329 545
Gap.
Comtat-Venaissin
233,048
1,259 Avignon.
vignon.
•
153,063
560
Digne.
326,302 1,226
311,095 818
185,079 420
et Comtat d'A-Vaucluse...
Provence...
Basses-Alpes.
Bouches-du-Rhône.
Var..
Corsica. ... | Corse.
DEPHLOGISTICATED AIR. (See Oxygen.)
DEPLOY; to display, to spread out. A
column is said to deploy, when the divis-
ions open or extend to form line on any
given division.
DEPORTATION; a kind of banishment in
use even among the Romans (first intro-
duced by Augustus); by virtue of which
the condemned person was sent to a foreign
uninhabited country, usually an island,
his estate confiscated, and himself depriv-
ed of the rights of a Roman citizen. This
punishment differs from other kinds of
banishment in this, that the person thus
punished is not permitted to choose his
place of exile. During the French revo-
lution, this punishment was revived in
lieu of the guillotine. The merit of its
restoration has been at different times as-
cribed to Boulay, to the bishop of Autun,
and to Talot. For the most part, the con-
demned were transported to Cayenne
or to Port-Marat (Port-Dauphin) on the
island of Madagascar. Towards the end
of Robespierre's administration, this pun-
ishment was most frequent. According
to the French penal code of 12th Februa-
ry, 1810, deportation is even now one of
the punishments established by law in
France; but, nevertheless, it is not easily
put in execution. It is ranked as the third
degree of infamous punishments (only
capital punishment and consignment to
labor for life, together with trailing the
ball, as it is called, are ranked before it),
and gives rise to civil death. The person
Marseilles.
Draguignan.
Ajaccio.
deported loses the control of his property,
is deprived of the power of making con-
tracts, and his heirs enter into possession
of his estate in the same manner as though
he were actually deceased; yet the govern-
ment can grant him, in the place of his
banishment, which is always assigned with-
out the main land of European France,
the ordinary civil privileges, or a portion of
the same. If a person deported return to
France without the leave of the govern-
ment, he is immediately condemned to
the before-mentioned punishment of hard
labor for life. If he have fled to a foreign
country and soil, and ever comes again
into the power of the French govern-
ment, he is again remitted to the place of
his banishment. Deportation, or transpor-
tation, is also one of the legal punishments
in England. (See New South Wales.)
(For the number of persons transported to
New South Wales, see Crime, the Statistics
of, page 24.)
DEPOSITION, in law; testimony given in
court by a witness upon oath. It is also
used to signify the attested written testi-
mony of a witness by way of answer to
interrogatories. These interrogatories are
usually put in writing, and must be short
and pertinent, and not such as will lead
the witness to give a turn to his answer
favorable to one of the parties. The
witnesses are examined before magistrates,
having a general authority given them by
statute to take depositions, by commis-
sioners appointed by the court which has
17*
198
DEPOSITION-DERFLINGER.

cognizance of the case. If the witnesses
are foreigners, residing beyond sea, they
are examined upon oath, through skilful
sworn interpreters. The deposition of a
heathen, who believes in the Supreme
Being, taken by commission according to
the forms used in his country in giving
evidence, is admissible. By the practice
of some countries, the commissioners are
sworn to secrecy, and the deposition can-
not be made public till the papers con-
taining it are opened in court. After a
witness is fully examined, the examina-
tions are read over to him, and he is at
liberty to alter or annul any thing; and
then the examinations are complete.-
Depositions are frequently taken condi-
tionally, or de bene esse, as it is called; for
instance, when the parties are sick, aged,
or going abroad, depositions are taken, to
be read in court, in case of their death or
departure before the trial comes on. So
depositions in perpetuam memoriam rei, or
for the purpose of perpetuating testimony,
are taken under the direction of a court
of chancery, or, in some of the U. States,
without any application to chancery, by
magistrates authorized by statute.
DEPPING, George Bernhard; a learned
German, residing at Paris, born at Mün-
ster, in Westphalia, in 1784. He has
written various works, including several
for the instruction of youth, and has su-
perintended the publication of many oth-
ers. His Histoire générale de l'Espagne,
commenced in 1811, has not been com-
pleted. He assists in the Biographie
Universelle, in the Revue Encyclopédique,
the continuation of the chronological
work Art de vérifier les Dates, &c. We
are also indebted to him for a collection
of the best Spanish Romances; La
Suisse (Paris, 1822, 4 vols.); La Grèce
(Paris, 1823, 4 vols.); Voyage d'un Etu-
diant dans les 5 Parties du Monde (Paris,
1822, 2 vols.)
DEPTFORD; a town of England, county
of Kent, at the confluence of the Ravens-
bourne with the Thames. It is very ir-
regularly built, and contains two churches,
besides several places of worship for dis-
senters. There is a royal dock-yard here,
with fine wet docks, and numerous build-
ings for the manufacture and preservation
of naval stores. There are also several
private docks in the neighborhood, for
building and repairing merchantmen.
There are two hospitals belonging to the
society of the Trinity-house. This so-
ciety was founded in the reign of Henry
VIII, by sir Thomas Spert, for the in-
crease and encouragement of navigation,
and for the good government of the sea-
men, and the better security of merchant
ships on the coasts. Population, including
Greenwich, 40,574. 4 miles E. London.
DEPUTIES, CHAMBER OF. (See Charte
Constitutionnelle.)
DERBY; a county in the north of Eng-
land. Derbyshire is noted for its mineral
productions-lead, iron, coal, lime and
Derbyshire spar. It has extensive quarries
of grit, which afford excellent mill-stones.
A singular kind of lead ore is found in a
vertical position, which, on being probed
by a sharp-pointed instrument, emits a
crackling noise, and explodes violently in
a few minutes. A remarkable substance,
called elastic bitumen, is exclusively the
product of Derbyshire. Many chasm
and spacious caverns are found here.
DERBY; a town of England, the capital
of Derbyshire, on the Derwent, which is
crossed by a stone bridge. The church
of All Saints has a tower rising 180 feet,
in rich Gothic. Its architecture is greatly
and justly admired. Besides the parish
churches, there are places of divine wor-
ship for Presbyterians, Independents, Bap-
tists, Methodists, Roman Catholics, Qua-
kers, Swedenborgians, and Revivalists, or
Primitive Methodists. Manufactures to a
large extent are carried on in this town,
particularly in silk and cotton, porcelain
and spar. There are, besides, manufac-
tures of iron, lead pipes, lead shot, white
and red lead, tin plate, and other commod-
ities. It returns two members to parlia-
ment. Population, 17,423; 120 miles
N. W. by N. London; lon. 1° 25′ W.;
lat. 52° 58' N.
DERBYSHIRE SPAR. (See Fluate of
Lime, in article Lime.)
j
DERFLINGER, George, baron of (origin-
ally Dörfling), a field-marshal of Prussian
Brandenburg, and one of the first heroes
of the Prussian military state, founded by
Frederic William, the great elector, was
born in 1606, according to some authors
in an Austrian village near the Ens, but
according to Pauli, was the son of a Prot-
estant peasant in Bohemia. He was at
first a tailor, and wished to remove to
Berlin, on account of the disturbances in
Bohemia, to avoid the religious oppression
exercised after the battle at the Weisse-
berge. But, not being able to get ferried
across the Elbe, on account of his want
of money, he threw his bundle into the
stream, and betook himself to the sword.
He served a long time as a soldier under
general Thurn, and, while yet only a
dragoon, indulged the hope of becoming
a general. He then entered the Swedish

DERFLINGER-DERVISE.
service, under Gustavus Adolphus, and
afterwards served under Baner (q. v.) and
Torstensohn. Having carried queen Chris-
tina intelligence of the victory at Leipsic
(1642), to which his regiment of horse had
greatly contributed, he was appointed by
her a major-general. After the peace, he
was dismissed, as a foreigner, from the
Swedish army, went to Brandenburg, and
entered the service of the elector, Fred-
eric William, in 1654, as major-general of
the cavalry. He distinguished himself in all
the campaigns of the great elector against
the Poles, Swedes and French, by his
sagacity, activity and valor. He was also
employed in embassies; and the emperor
Leopold, at the request of his sovereign,
raised him, in 1674, to the rank of baron
of the empire. He died in 1695.
DERSCHAWIN, Gabriel Romanowich,
born in 1743, at Kasan, belongs, with the
lately deceased Cheraskoff and the tragic
poet Oseroff, among the most eminent
poets of Russia. In 1760, he entered a
corps of engineers, as a common soldier,
and distinguished himself in the field, par-
ticularly in 1774, against the rebel Pugat-
scheff. Even at this time, his poetic gen-
ius began to dawn. Under Catharine, he
rose, in 1800, to be treasurer of the empire,
and, in 1802, became minister of justice.
But he soon retired from business, and
devoted his life to the muses. His Ode
to God is much celebrated, and was trans-
lated into Latin by Czersky, at Wilna, in
1819. The emperor of China caused it
to be translated into Chinese, and hung
up in an apartment of his palace, printed
on silk, in letters of gold. His Waterfall
has also great merit. In other poems, his
loftiness sometimes degenerates into bom-
bast. Some of his poems have been trans-
lated into English by Bowring. (See his
Specimens of Russian Poetry.) Derscha-
win's poems appeared in 1808, in four
volumes. He also wrote political and to-
pographical works. Derschawin died July
8, 1819.
DERVISE (Persian; poor); the name of
a certain class of religious persons in
Asia. It denotes the same amongst Mo-
hammedans as monk with the Christians.
The observance of strict forms, fasting, and
acts of piety, give them a character of
sanctity amongst the people. They live
partly together, in monasteries, partly alone,
and from their number the Imans (q. v.)
are generally chosen. Throughout Tur-
key, they are freely received, even at the
tables of persons of the highest rank.
Among the Hindoos, these monks are
called fakirs. There are, throughout Asia,
199
multitudes of these devotees, monastic and
ascetic, not only among the Mohamme-
dans, but also among the followers of Bra-
ma. There are thirty-two religious orders
now existing in the Turkish empire, many
of which are scarcely known beyond its
limits; but others, such as the Nacshben-
dies and Mevlevies, are common in Persia
and India. All these communities are
properly stationary, though some of them
send out a portion of their members to
collect alms. The regularly itinerant der-
vises in Turkey are all foreigners, or out-
casts, who, though expelled from their
orders for misconduct, find their profes-
sion too agreeable and profitable to be
abandoned, and therefore set up for them-
selves, and, under color of sanctity, fleece
honest people. All these orders, except
the Nacshbendies, are considered as liv-
ing in seclusion from the world; but that
order is entirely composed of persons who,
without quitting the world, bind them-
selves to a strict observance of certain
forms of devotion, and meet once a week
to perform them together. Each order
has its peculiar statutes, exercises and
habits. Most of them impose a novitiate,
the length of which depends upon the
spiritual state of the candidate, who is
sometimes kept for a whole year under
this kind of discipline. In the order of
the Mevlevies, the novice perfects his
spiritual knowledge in the kitchen of
the convent. Dancing, or something like
it, forms an essential part of the duties of
some of the orders. The dances of the
greater number are called devr (circle),
because they consist in a movement
forwards of the right foot, accompanied
with violent contortions of the body,
all the performers joining hand in hand,
and standing in a circle. The longer the
dance, and the louder the shout of Ya Hu,
or Ya Allah, the greater is the merit: these
exercises are therefore often persevered in
till a fainting fit or spitting of blood con-
cludes the exhibition. The exhibitions
of the Rufaries are the longest, and most
comprehensive of all. Towards the close
of them, the performers are worked up into
a sort of frenzy. Previous to this time,
two of the dervises put spits, swords, dag-
gers, &c., into the fire, that they may be
presented red hot to the sheikh or chief,
when the excitement reaches its highest
pitch. The sheikh blows upon them,
just touches them with his mouth, and
delivers them to the most eager of the fra-
ternity: they are seized, licked, gnawed,
and held in the mouth till the glow disap-
pears. Others of the fraternity seize the
200
DERVISE-DESAULT.

swords, cutlasses, &c., which are hanging
on the walls of the room, and slash their
sides, arms and legs unmercifully. The
sheikh concludes the whole by going
round, examining the wounds, blowing
upon them, and anointing them with his
saliva, which, together with a few prayers,
effects a cure in twenty-four hours! The
sheikhs of all orders have the credit of
possessing miraculous powers. The in-
terpretation of dreams, the cure of dis-
eases, and the removal of barrenness, are
the gifts for which the dervises are most
in repute.
DERWENT WATER, or the Lake of Kes-
wick; a beautiful lake in the county of
Cumberland, England, in the vale of Kes-
wick, lying between the mountain of
Skiddaw on the north, and the craggy
hills of Borrowdale on the south, whence
it derives its chief supplies of water.
DESAIX DE VOYGOUX, Louis Charles
Antoine, a French general, born in 1768,
at St. Hilaire d'Ayat, of a noble family,
entered the regiment of Bretagne, in 1784,
as under-lieutenant. He contributed, Dec.
1793, to the capture of the Haguenau lines,
which the left wing, where he was sta-
tioned, first broke through. He served, in
1794, in the northern army, under Piche-
gru, and repeatedly distinguished himself.
Attached to the army of the Rhine, under
Moreau, 1796, he defended the bridge of
Kehl in November of that year. In 1797,
he accompanied Bonaparte to Egypt, con-
tributed to his first victory, and was thence
sent to the conquest of Upper Egypt,
where Murad Bey, notwithstanding his
defeat, incessantly harassed his conqueror.
Bonaparte soon returned to Europe, as
did Desaix himself, after the treaty of El-
Arish, concluded by him with the Turks
and English. On his arrival in France,
he learned that Bonaparte had departed
for Italy, hastened to join him, and took
command of the corps of reserve. A third
part of the French army was already dis-
abled, when Desaix's corps arrived (June
14, 1800) on the field of Marengo. (q. v.)
He immediately advanced to the charge,
but fell, mortally wounded by a cannon-
ball, just as victory declared for the French.
His body was carried to Milan, embalmed,
and conveyed to the hospitium on the St.
Bernard, where a monument is erected to
him. (See Bernard, St.) Another monu-
ment, erected to him on the plains of Ma-
rengo, where he fell, was destroyed by
the Austrians, in 1814. Desaix was as
just and disinterested as he was brave.
The inhabitants of Cairo gave him the title
of the just sultan.
DESATIR is a lately discovered collec
tion of sixteen sacred books, consisting
of the fifteen old Persian prophets, togeth-
er with a book of Zoroaster. This, at least,
is what the book itself pretends to be.
The collection is written in a language
not spoken at present any where, and
equally different from the Zend, the Pelvi
and modern Persian. The last of the
fifteen prophets, Sasan, who lived at the
time of the downfall of the Sassanides,
when the Arabians conquered the coun-
try, literally translated the Desatir, and
accompanied it with commentaries. This
work was afterwards, until the 17th cen-
tury, one of the chief sources of the an-
cient Persian religious doctrines, inter-
woven with astrology and demonology;
and, after having been forgotten for about
a century and a half, a learned Parsee
discovered it at Ispahan. His son, Molla
Firuz, was induced by the marquis of
Hastings to publish an edition of the De-
satir at Bombay, in 1820, to which Erskine
added an English translation. Erskine,
however, considers the collection as spu-
rious; and Sylvester de Sacy (Journal des
Savants, Feb., 1821) believes that the De-
satir is the work of a Parsee in the 4th
century of the Hegira, who, as he thinks,
invented the language, in order to give to
the collection, which is itself an assemblage
of old traditions and significant mysteries,
an air of genuineness. Joseph von Ham-
mer, on the contrary, is said to consider it
as genuine. At all events, it is interesting
to learn from this work, with greater ac-
curacy, an old religious system of the
East, in which are to be found, with pan-
dæmonism and the metempsychosis, the
elements of the worship of the stars, of
astrology, the theurgy, the doctrine of
amulets, as well as the elements of the
Hindoo religion, particularly the system
of castes, and many elements of the Chris-
tian religion. Yet no trace of any connex-
ion with the Zendavesta and the magic of
the Parsees has been found in the Desatir.
DESAULT, Peter Joseph; one of the
most celebrated surgeons of France; born
Feb. 6, 1744, at Magny-Vernais, in the
former Franche-Comté. He was de-
signed for the church, early studied math-
ematics and philosophy, and was led by
his inclination to the surgical profession;
in consequence of which he entered the
military hospital at Béfort, where his dili-
gence and talent for observation supplied
the defects of a suitable instruction; and
his situation was favorable for obtaining a
knowledge of the treatment of wounds
from fire-arms, in which department he
7
1
DESAULT-DESCARTES.
afterwards rose to great eminence. He
went to Paris in 1764, and was one of the
numerous scholars of the celebrated Petit.
Two years afterwards, he became a lec-
turer, and, though his delivery was bad,
1 he soon became celebrated by introducing
a new method of teaching anatomy.
While lecturing on the parts of the hu-
man body, he treated of the diseases inci-
dent to each. After having been several
years principal surgeon of the hospital de
la charité, where he increased his reputa-
tion by introducing new methods of treat-
ment, or by improving and simplifying
those already in use, he was put at the
head of the great Hôtel-Dieu in Paris, in
1788. Here he founded a surgical school,
in which have been educated many of
the most eminent surgeons of Europe.
His principal merits were, that he brought
accuracy and method into the study of
surgery; improved the treatment of frac-
tured bones, by adopting improved ban-
dages; first introduced into France the
clinical method of instruction in surgery,
and infused into his scholars a generous
attachment to their profession. He was
distinguished for the skill and boldness
with which he performed operations.
This happy natural talent, this surgical
instinct, that guided him in the most diffi-
cult cases, compensated for his want of
professional learning, to which he was so
indifferent, that, in his later years, he read
very little; and, as he was entirely igno-
rant of internal diseases, he was indignant,
when, at the foundation of the école de
santé, in which he became professor of
clinical surgery, the study of medicine
and surgery were connected. He died,
while attending upon the son of Louis
XVI, in the Temple, of a violent fever,
June 1, 1795. Desault wrote only two
small treatises; but the Journal de Chirur-
gie, in which his scholars published his
lectures delivered in the Hôtel-Dieu, and
the Euvres Chirurgicales, edited by Bichat
under Desault's name, contain his whole
system.
DESCARTES, René (Renatus Cartesius),
an original thinker, and reformer of phi-
losophy, with whom the modern or new
philosophy is often considered as com-
mencing, was born in 1596, at La Haye,
in Touraine, and died at Stockholm, in
1650. While pursuing his education in
the Jesuits' school at La Fleche, where
be studied philology, mathematics and
astronomy, his superior intellect manifest-
ed itself. After having read much, with-
out coming to any certain conclusions, he
travelled. Both his birth and inclination
201

led him to embrace the military profession,
and he fought as a volunteer at the siege
of Rochelle, and in Holland under prince
Maurice. While he served in Holland,
a mathematical problem in Dutch, pasted
up in the streets of Breda, met his eye.
Not being acquainted with the language, he
asked a man who stood near him to trans-
late the problem to him. This man hap-
pened to be professor Beecman, principal
of the university of Dort, and himself a
mathematician. He smiled at the ques-
tion of the young officer, and was greatly
surprised, the next morning, to find that
he had solved it. From hence Descartes
went to Germany, and entered the Bava-
rian service. His situation, however, af-
fording him little opportunity for pursuing
his favorite studies, he left the army in
1621, and visited Moravia, Silesia, Poland,
Pomerania, and the shores of the Baltic.
In order to see West Friesland with ad-
vantage, he purchased a boat, and em-
barked with a single valet. The sailors,
thinking him a foreign merchant, with
much money in his baggage, resolved to
kill him. Imagining him ignorant of their
language, they conversed of their plan
openly. Descartes, seeing his danger,
drew his sword, addressed them in their
own tongue, and threatened to stab the
first man that should offer him violence.
The sailors were overawed, and gave up
their design. After a variety of travels,
he remained in Holland, where he com-
posed most of his writings, from 1629 to
1649, drew about him many scholars, and
was engaged in many learned controver-
sies, especially with theologians.
celebrated system abounds in singularities
and originalities; but a spirit of indepen-
dent thought prevails throughout it, and
has contributed to excite the same spirit
in others. It has done much to give to
philosophical inquiries a new direction,
and found many adherents, especially in
England, France and Germany. Des-
cartes founds his belief of the existence of
a thinking being on the consciousness of
thought: "I think, therefore I exist"
(cogito, ergo sum). He developed his sys-
tem with much ingenuity, in opposition to
the empiric philosophy of the English,
and the Aristotelian scholastics, and adopt-
ed the rigorous, systematic or mathematical
method of reasoning. From his system
originated the notion among the moderns,
that the very existence and certainty of
philosophy consists in definitions, argu-
ments, and a methodical arrangement of
them. The thinking being, says Des-
cartes, or the soul, evidently differs from
His
202
DESCARTES-DESCENT.

the body, whose existence consists in
space or extension, by its simplicity and
immateriality (whence, also, its immortal-
ity), and by the freedom that pertains to
it. But every perception of the soul is
not clear and distinct; it is in a great
degree involved in doubt, and is so far
an imperfect, finite being. This imper-
fection of its own leads it to the idea of
an absolutely perfect being. (He, there-
fore, here makes use of the (so called)
ontological proof of the existence of God,
in a different manner from that in which
Anselm of Canterbury had, somewhat
earlier, employed the same; and hence
the name of the "Cartesian proof".) He
placed at the head of his system the idea
of an absolutely perfect being, which he
considers as an innate idea, and deduces
from it all further knowledge of truth.
The principal problems of metaphysics he
conceived to be substantiality and causality.
He contributed greatly to the advancement
of mathematics and physics. He made
use of the discoveries and observations of
others, defining them accurately, and as-
signing them their place in his system.
The higher departments of geometry (to
which he successfully applied analysis),
as well as optics, dioptrics and mechanics,
were greatly extended by him, their method
simplified, and thereby the way prepared
for the great discoveries made in the sci-
ences by Newton and Leibnitz; for in-
stance, he contributed much to define and
illustrate the true law of refraction. His
system of the universe attracted great at-
tention in his time, but has been long
since exploded. It rests on the strange
hypothesis of the heavenly vortices, im-
mense currents of ethereal matter, with
which space is filled, and by which he
accounted for the motion of the planets.
He labored much to extend the Coper-
nican system of astronomy. Descartes
loved independence; he nevertheless suf-
fered himself to be persuaded to go to
Stockholm, upon the invitation of queen
Christina, who was very desirous of his
society. He died at that place, 4 months
after his arrival. His body was carried to
Paris in 1666, and interred anew in the
church of St. Genevieve du Mont. Des-
cartes was never married, but had one
natural daughter, Francina, who died in
his arms, in her fifth year, and whose loss
he felt acutely. His works have at vari-
ous times been published, singly and to-
gether; as, for instance, at Amsterdam,
1692, 9 vols. 4to. Baille and Tarpelius
have written his life. (See his letters;
also the eulogies on him by Gaillard,
Thomas and Mercier, and Leibnitz's ac-
count of him in his letters.)
DESCENT, in law, is the transmission of
the right and title to lands to the heir, on
the decease of the proprietor, by the mere
operation of law. A title by descent is
distinguished from a title by purchase,
which latter includes title by devise, as
well as by grant. The law of descent is,
accordingly, the law relating to and regu-
lating the inheritance of estates. Wherev-
er there is an exclusive property in lands
possessed by individuals, or, in other
words, wherever the soil is held by dis-
tinct, permanent proprietaries, the law
provides for the disposition of the posses-
sion in case of the death of the proprietor,
without any designation of heirs by him-
self. It is a theory of all states, that the
title to lands is originally in the govern-
ment. Thus, in all the American states,
the government granted the title originally;
and, in case of a vacant possession, the
title now reverts, by escheat, to this ori-
ginal grantor. The government considers
itself to be the heir to all its subjects or
citizens, who leave no other heir. In
some countries, as in Egypt, particularly,
the government is the perpetual and prac-
tical owner of the soil, and stands in the
relation of landlord to all the cultivators,
who are its tenants, and pay regular rents.
It is a theory of the tenures of lands in
England, that they are generally held, di-
rectly or indirectly, of the king, as superior
lord. This is only the theoretical rem-
nant of the principle, that the property in
the soil belongs originally to the sovereign;
and the title is held by the subject in
England upon certain conditions; for the
lands of a traitor are forfeited, which
makes allegiance one of the conditions of
the tenure. Though there are countries
in which the sovereign is the sole landed
proprietor, while in others he is the heir
of the landed proprietors, whose estates
are accordingly for life, yet most countries
provide for the transmission or descent of
property in lands to the heirs of the pro-
prietor; one distinction in the different
laws being, that some codes, or the pro-
visions relating to some particular kinds
of estate, do not permit the occupant or
proprietor, for the time being, to alter the
disposition made by the law. Thus, be-
fore the conquest, lands were devisable in
England, and the proprietor could appoint
by will who should inherit them after his
death; but it was one part of the policy
of the feudal law, which was introduced
into England after the conquest, to take
away this power, and make lands descend

DESCENT.
only according to a prescribed rule. But
expedients have been resorted to in Eng-
land to break entails, and give the present
proprietor the power of disposing of the
lands during his lifetime. These expe-
dients are denominated a fine and a com-
mon recovery. In the case of entailed es-
tates, the successive possessors do not, in
fact, come in as inheritors to the preceding
occupiers, but in virtue of the grant or
original constitution of the estate; and
these grants make the law for these
particular species of estates. Estates of
this description were formerly much
more numerous in the U. States than at
present. But they were never much fa-
vored, and after the revolution, the laws
leaned still more against them, so that at
present they are but few. But in Great
Britain and the continent of Europe, a
very large part of the soil is held by this
species of title. The rule determining
to whom an estate belongs, on the decease
of the proprietor, is that of consanguinity,
or relationship by blood, though with some
exceptions, as in the case of the portion
or the use of a portion of a man's prop-
erty, given, by the laws of England and
the United States, to his widow. The
rules of descent, designating what rela-
tions shall inherit, and their respective
shares, will be determined by the genius
and policy of the government and institu-
tions. Hence the practice of entailments
in the feudal system. And wherever the
government is founded in family privi-
leges, or very intimately connected with
them, as is the case in all governments
where the hereditarily aristocratical part
of the community have a great prepon-
derance, the sustaining of families will
very probably be a characteristic feature
in the code of laws. Thus, in England,
all the lands of the father, unless otherwise
directed by will, go to the eldest son; and
accordingly all the eldest sons, who re-
ceive any benefit from this law of descent,
are naturally the supporters of aristocrat-
ical privileges. It has accordingly been
predicted, that the provision introduced
into the French laws, since the revolution,
for equalizing inheritances, and thus di-
viding estates, and forming a numerous
body of small proprietors, will have a rapid
and powerful influence in giving a popular
character to the government and institu-
tions of the country. Some remnant of
this family policy, which prevails so gen-
erally in Europe, appears in the early
laws of the American colonies and prov-
inces, in the preference given to eldest
sons, by assigning them a double portion
203
of the inheritance. This distinction prob-
ably resulted very much from the mere
force of habit and custom. It is, how-
ever, not improbable that a reverence for
the Levitical code might have led some
of the colonies to this distinction in favor
of the first-born. This is an argument
made use of in the pragmatic sanction,
published by the Spanish king, March
29, 1830, annulling the rule of the Salic
law, which excludes females from the
succession. In this decree, an argument
is cited from the petition of the cortes of
1789, in favor of the right of the eldest,
which is vindicated, 1. from the order of
nature; 2. from the Old Testament; 3.
from usage; from all which the petition
infers, that "the advantage of being the
first-born is a particular mark of the love
of God." But the distinction in favor of
the eldest son, which existed in the colo-
nies now constituting the U. States, has
been abolished since the establishment of
independence. A compendious notice of
the various laws of the several U. States
on the subject of the descent of real es-
tate, will be found in the first volume of
the American Jurist and Law Magazine.
These laws are founded upon the princi-
ple of equal distribution, both of real and
personal estates, among heirs of the nearest
surviving degree, and the representatives
of deceased heirs of the same degree; the
representatives of a deceased heir who,
when alive, was of the same degree with the
nearest that survive, being entitled collect-
ively to the share which would have come
to such deceased heir, had he been living.
This general principle is adopted from the
English statutes of the 22d and 23d of
Charles II, relating to the distribution of per-
sonal property; for the English law makes
a great distinction as to the descent of real
and personal estate, whereas, in the U.
States, they descend and are distributed
upon the same general principle, though
there are some differences in the particu-
lar provisions. But this right of taking
by representation is very variously modi-
fied in the different states. To make the
subject better understood, a word ought
to be sad on the subject of affinity, or
degrees of consanguinity, which is very
lucidly treated in Blackstone's Commen..
taries. Kindred in blood are divided into
three general classes, viz. 1. descendants;
2. ancestors; 3. collateral relatives, that
is, those who have descended from the
same common ancestor. The civil law
computes the degrees by counting the
generations up to the common ancestor, as
father, grandfather, great grandfather; or

204
DESCENT-DE SERRE.
mother, grandmother, great grandmother;
and from him or her down to the collat-
eral relative, as brother, cousin, &c., mak-
ing the degree of relationship the sum of
these two series of generations. Every
person has two sets of ancestors, the pa-
ternal and maternal, and therefore two
sets of collateral relatives. There is also
a distinction of collateral kindred, into
those of the whole blood, and those of the
half blood. Our limits will not allow us
to state the various regulations in England
and the U. States, as to the rules of inher-
itance among kindred of these different
kinds; they are thus generally noticed,
merely for the purpose of intimating some
general diversities in the rules of descent.
Thus in England and France, it is a rule,
that real estate cannot ascend, that is, can-
not go to father, grandfather, &c. on the
decease of the son, grandson, &c.; for
which the quaint reason is given by Brac-
ton, that the weight of the inheritance
makes it descend. Notwithstanding this
supposed downward tendency of an in-
heritance in land, it is, in defect of de-
scendants, made by the American laws to
ascend, as well as to pass off collaterally;
and this is the rule respecting personal
estate, both in England and the U. States.
Another distinction is made by the English
laws, between collateral relatives of the
whole and half blood, as the latter cannot
inherit real estate; but in respect to per-
sonal estate in England, and both personal
and real estate in the U. States, no distinc-
tion of this sort is made. Another diver-
sity in the laws of inheritance relates to
the distinction of male and female heirs.
The Jewish law preferred the male heirs,
and the present laws of Vermont (1830)
give a similar preference. But the laws
of the U. States generally, in regard both to
real and personal estate, and those of Eng-
land respecting the latter, make no dis-
tinction on account of the sex of the heirs.
DESEADA, DESIRADA, or DESIDERADA;
the first of the Caribbee islands discovered
by Columbus in the year 1494; belonging
to France, about 10 miles long, and hardly
5 broad. The soil is, in some places,
black and good; in others, sandy and un-
productive; 16 miles E. Guadaloupe;
lon. 61° 15 W.; lat. 16° 30' N.; popula-
16° 30′ N.;
tion, about 1000.
DE SERRE, Hercule, count, a French
minister of state, who, in 1822, was ap-
pointed ambassador at the court of Naples,
was born at Metz, in 1774, of a noble
family of Lorraine. In 1791, he emi-
grated, and served in several campaigns,
in the army of the prince of Condé. He
then lived a long time in Germany, in
Biberach, a small place in Suabia, as a
schoolmaster. Here he acquired his per-
fect knowledge of the German language
and literature. He afterward obtained
permission to return to France, and be-
came a lawyer. Napoleon appointed him
avocat-général to the court of appeal at
Metz, and first president of the court of
appeal at Hamburg, where he acquired
esteem by his integrity, talents and mode-
ration. He left Hamburg just before the
siege, in 1813. In 1814, Louis XVIII
appointed him first president of the court
of appeal at Colmar. During the hundred
days, he resided with the king in Ghent.
Being chosen a deputy by the department
of the Upper Rhine, in 1815, the energy
with which he opposed the ultra-royalist
majority attracted the attention of the
ministry, and gained him the confidence
of the nation. From 1816 to 1818, he
filled the chair of president of the cham-
ber of deputies with dignity and impar-
tiality; at the same time he was a mem-
ber of the committee of legislation in the
council of state. In December, 1818, the
king appointed him keeper of the seals,
and minister of justice. He pursued the
policy of Decazes, and distinguished him-
self, in 1819, by his defence of the three
laws proposed for the regulation of the
press, 17th May, 26th May, 9th June,
which took the place of the censorship
then existing. He also opposed, with
vigor, the change of the law of elections.
In his speech, March 23, 1819, he de-
nounced the party spirit of the ultras as
the cause that the crimes committed in the
south of France, in 1815, had remained
unpunished. He opposed, however, the
demands of the liberals for the restoration
of the regicides, by his famous Jamais
(17th May, 1819). He afterwards sepa-
rated himself from the doctrinaires, whose
principles he had hitherto maintained, and
supported the proposal of Decazes, of
February, 1820, to change the law of
election of 1817. When the excitement
of parties in regard to the three projects
of the late premier had reached its height,
he completed the triumph of the ministry
and the moderate right side, by advocating
the amendments of the proposed new law
of election (9th June, 1820). As the prin-
cipal supporter of the new law of election,
in 1820, he was of the greatest service to
the royalists, but lost the favor of the lib-
erals. The king created him a count,
and bestowed on his son an income of
20,000 francs per annum. De Serre him-
self had no fortune and a numerous family.

DE SERRE-DESHOULIERES.
The new elections of 1820 and 1821
brought a great number of ultra-royalists
into the chamber of deputies, and a strong
opposition was formed, on the part of the
right side, against the ministry. The
leaders, Corbière and Villèle, endeavored
to obtain seats in the ministry, and their
influence finally effected the change of the
14th Dec., 1821; De Serre, Pasquier, La-
tour-Maubourg, Siméon, Portal and Roy
left the ministry, and Peyronnet succeeded
De Serre as minister of justice and keeper
of the seals. De Serre is said to have con-
tributed, himself, to the nomination of the
latter. He did not join the opposition,
though he was adverse to the plan of the
new ministry for abolishing the jury in
trials for abuses of the press; and he de-
clared, in the chamber of deputies (Feb-
ruary, 1822), through his friend Froc de la
Boulaye, that he was more fully convinced
than ever of the expediency of a jury.
The ministry, however, succeeded in its
object. Infirm health prevented count
De Serre from taking part in the discus-
sions on this occasion. In May, 1822, he
was sent ambassador to Naples, where he
died July 21, 1824.
DESERTER; a soldier who quits his
regiment without leave. If an armed
soldier deserts a post where he is placed
on duty, the offence, we believe, in all
armies, is punished with death; but sim-
ple desertion, not. In the English army,
however, death is the punishment for de-
sertion in any shape. In the U. States, the
same law exists, but it will, probably, soon
be changed.
DESEZE, Raymond, the advocate who
defended Louis XVI before the bar of the
national convention, belongs to an ancient
family. His father was a celebrated par-
liamentary advocate at Bordeaux, in which
town Raymond was born, in 1750. Ray-
mond Deseze studied the law from incli-
nation, and displayed uncommon talents
in his profession. He made himself
known to the minister De Vergennes, by
his defence of the marchioness D'Anglure,
and was induced by this minister to settle
in Paris. His fame was already estab-
lished, when he was associated with Males-
herbes and Tronchet, in the responsible
office of defending Louis XVI. He had
only four nights for drawing up the articles
of defence. The days were occupied in
examining the papers connected with the
cause, and in the necessary conversations
with his colleagues. Notwithstanding
this, his defence was a masterpiece, and
the only reproach which can be cast upon
Deseze is, that he did not overstep the
18
VOL. IV.
205
limits of the advocate, and take the higher
ground of a statesman. It was evident
that the result would not reward his exer-
tions. He survived the reign of terror.
On the return of the Bourbons, Deseze
was crowned with marks of honor, and
appointed first president of the court of
cassation and grand-treasurer of the royal
order. In 1815, he followed the court to
Ghent, and was made a peer of France
and member of the academy.
DESFONTAINES, Pierre François Guyot,
abbé, born at Rouen, in 1685, died at
Paris, in 1745, was one of those French
literati who are known to us more from
their controversies with Voltaire, and his
biting attacks, than from their own pro-
ductions. Voltaire, by the superiority of
his wit, succeeded in gaining many to his
opinions; but impartial judges have long
agreed, that he was not altogether correct,
and that the criticisms of the abbé Desfon-
taines, though severe, are by no means
unjust. One of the works of the abbé,
which had the misfortune to excite the
particular displeasure of the poet, was the
well known Dictionnaire Néologique, of
which the 6th edition appeared in 1750
(Amsterdam and Leipsic), and which was
intended to guard the purity of the French
language, as the great writers of the 17th
century had formed it; and, in this respect,
it has certainly proved of much service.
DESHOULIÈRES, Antoinette; a French
lady of much literary reputation. Her
maiden name was Du Ligier de Lagarde.
She lived at Paris from 1638 till 1694.
With a prepossessing appearance she
combined a distinguished talent for light
and agreeable poetry, which she cultivated
under the direction of the poet Hainault.
She was acquainted with the Latin, Span-
ish and Italian languages, and studied
philosophy in her later years, during which
she had to endure continual sickness.
Voltaire was of opinion, that of all the
French poets of her sex, she had the
greatest merit. Several learned societies
elected her a member, and her agreeable
manner, her animation and wit, which
sometimes, but rarely, gave way to a gen-
tle melancholy, made her the centre of
attraction in the best societies at that
period. For reasons unknown to us, she
was imprisoned, in February, 1658, at
Brussels, by the Spaniards; but her hus-
band, an officer, procured her deliverance.
Her works appeared, together with those
of her daughter Antoinette Therese (died
1718),-who also devoted herself to poetry,
but with less success, at Paris, in 1753,
2 vols., 12mo., and at Brussels, in 1740,

206
DESHOULIERES-DESNOYERS.
2 vols., under the title Euvres de Madame
et de Mademoiselle Deshoulières. They
contain, 1. pastoral poems, which may still
be numbered amongst the best French
works of the kind (the finest of these,
however, Les Moutons, is taken, nearly
word for word, from a poem of Antoine
Cotel or Coutel, and madame Deshoulières
has only the merit of having modernized
the old style and expressions); 2. odes,
which are, in general, very poor; 3. a
tragedy, Genserich, in which so little talent
was displayed, that she was advised, ac-
cording to the French proverb, revenir à
ses Moutons; 4. poetical letters; 5. mad-
rigals, epigrams and small poems, of which
some are full of excellent and witty re-
marks, which have become proverbial
from their truth. Frederic II had a
selection of her poems published together
with Chalieu's, under the title Choix des
meilleures Pièces de Madame Deshoulières et
de l'Abbé de Chaulieu (Berlin, 1777). This
selection is little known.
DESIGN, in painting; the first plan of a
large work, drawn roughly, and on a small
scale, with the intention of being executed
and finished in large. (See Drawing.)
-In music, design means the invention
and execution of the subject, in all its
parts, agreeably to the general order of the
whole. In manufactures, design expresses
the figures with which the workman en-
riches his stuff or silk, and which he
copies after his own drawing, or the
sketches of some artist.-In building, the
term ichnography may be used, when by
design is only meant the plan of a building,
or a flat figure drawn on paper; when
some side or face of the building is
raised from the ground, we may use the
term orthography; and when both front
and sides are seen in perspective, it may
be termed scenography.
DESMOLOGY (from the Greek Scopòs, a
ligament, and Moyos); that branch of anat-
omy which treats of the ligaments and
sinews. (See Anatomy.)
DESMOULINS, Bénoit Camille, born in
1762, was conspicuous during the first
period of the French revolution. His
exterior was mean; he was of a dark
complexion and repulsive expression.
From the commencement of the revolu-
tion, he was connected with Robespierre,
with whom he had studied at college.
From the secret meetings which he had at
Mousseaux with the duke of Orleans, it
may be inferred that he was, at first, only
the agent of this prince. He chose the
palais royal for the usual scene of his
citizen-apostleship, and was constantly
seen there surrounded by many orators,
who, with him, prepared the plan for the
taking of the Bastile. After this first
triumph, he endeavored to excite the
minds of the people by his orations or his
publications, and called himself procureur-
général de la lanterne. He then became
one of the founders of the club of the
Cordeliers, connected himself intimately
with Danton, and remained faithful to him.
On the flight of Louis XVI to Varennes,
he was one of the instigators of the assem-
bly of the champ de Mars. He was par-
ticularly active in the tumult of June 20,
1792, and on the 10th of August. About
this time, he was secretary to the minister
of justice, Danton, and prepared with him
the scenes of September. As deputy of
Paris, in the national convention, he de-
fended the duke of Orleans, December 16.
Jan. 16, 1793, he gave his vote for the
death of Louis XVI. His friendship for
Danton was the cause of his fall. Robes-
pierre, at the head of the committee of
public safety, was making rapid progress
towards tyranny. Danton, assisted by the
leaders of the Cordeliers, intended to re-
sist this committee, and Camille com-
menced the attack in his journal Le Vieux
Cordelier, in which he declared himself
against the terrorists, and even made use
of the word clemency (clemence). Upon
this, he was, at the instigation of St. Just,
whom Camille had also attacked in his
journal, imprisoned on the night of the
31st of May, 1794, together with those
who were called his accomplices, brought
before the revolutionary tribunal, June 4,
and condemned to death, "because he had
dishonored the revolutionary system, and
had attempted to reestablish monarchy."
June 5, he was taken, after a violent strug-
gle, to the place of execution. His wife,
whom he adored, and who returned his
affection,-a beautiful, courageous and
spirited woman,-desired to share her hus-
band's fate. Robespierre ordered her to
the scaffold ten days after Desmoulins'
death. During her trial, she evinced a
wonderful tranquillity, and died with
much greater firmness than her husband.
DESNOYERS, Auguste-Boucher, an en-
graver, member of the institute, honorary
member of the academies at Vienna and
Geneva, born in 1779, at Paris, where his
father was castellan in the service of Louis
XVI, commenced his career as a historical
painter, and studied in Rome, where he
copied many paintings in water-colors.
After this, his taste was directed towards
engraving, in which art Tardieu was his
instructer. His first great attempt, in 1805,

DESNOYERS-DESSALINES.
La Vierge, dite la belle Jardinière, of Rapha-
el, the plate of which he executed in a
year, succeeded remarkably, and laid the
foundation of his fame. His engraving
of Napoleon, in his coronation costume, a
full length figure, from Gerard's painting,
in 1805, is equally grand and highly fin-
ished. It is now seldom to be met with.
It is 2 French feet high, and 18 in-
ches wide. The emperor gave Desno-
yers the order for it, and paid him 50,000
francs for the plate, which he left to the
artist, after having received a thousand
copies. Desnoyers likewise engraved the
likeness of the young king of Rome, from
Guerin's painting. We owe to him, also, the
two excellent engravings of Phèdre et Hip
polyte and the Vierge au linge. Desno-
yers is an industrious artist: he himself
makes the drawings for his plates. His
style is noble and simple, and he is fortu-
nate in his choice of subjects. Amongst
his best works, besides the portrait of the
emperor, are his Belisaire, engraved in
1806, from Gerard's painting, his Vierge
aux Rochers, from Leonardo da Vinci, and
his Madonna da Foligno, from Raphael.
Some are of opinion, that the Vierge aux
Rochers is his best production; others prefer
the Madonna da Foligno. A more recent
work of his, which appeared in 1822, is
the Madonna del Pesce, from Raphael's
picture in the Escurial.
207
cribed the affair to the machinations of
Bonaparte, who shortly after declared war
against England.
DESPOT (from the Greek deonórns); orig-
inally, a master, a lord: at a later period,
it became an honorary title, which the
Greek emperors gave to their sons and
sons-in-law, when governors of provinces.
Alexis III, surnamed Angelus, towards
the end of the 12th century, is said to
have first introduced this title, and to have
made it the first in rank after that of em-
peror. Thus there was a despot of the
Morea, of Servia, &c. The Turkish
designation of the princes of Moldavia
and Walachia (hospodar) is a remnant of
this title. At present, despot means an
absolute ruler, as the emperor of Russia;
but, in a narrower sense, it conveys the
idea of tyranny, as, in fact, the possession
of absolute power and the abuse of it are
two things bordering very closely on each
other. bre
DESSAIX, Joseph-Marie, count (who
must not be confounded with Desaix),
was born in Savoy, in 1764, and was pur-
suing his medical studies in Paris, when,
in consequence of the events of 1789, he
joined the national guard of that city. In
1792, he proposed the raising of the free
legion of the Allobroges, composed of
foreigners in France, and soon became
colonel of that corps. He distinguished
DESPARD, Edward Marcus, an officer himself particularly at the siege of Tou-
in the English army, was an Irishman by lon, and was offered the command of a
birth, and, in the American war, served in brigade, which he declined. After having
the troops of the line. In 1779, he went served in Italy, he was chosen (1798)
to Jamaica, where he acted as an engi- member of the five hundred, from the de-
neer. He afterwards assisted in the cap- partment of Mont Blanc. He was appoint-
ture of the Spanish establishments on the ed general of division in 1809, and grand
Mosquito shore, of which he was sub- officer of the legion of honor in 1811. In
sequently appointed superintendent. In 1814, he commanded the levy en masse
1786, some disputes arose in the colony, in the department of Mont Blanc, and
and he was suspended from his functions. delivered the country from the invading
He arrived in Europe in 1790, bringing forces. In the same year, he was named
with him the most honorable testimonies chevalier of St. Louis, but, in the hundred
to his conduct. His applications to gov- days, accepted the command of a division,
ernment for redress, and for the payment and has since lived in retirement at Ferney.
of sums which he claimed as due to him,
were unavailing; and the disappointment
probably soured his mind. In November,
1802, he was arrested, as the head of a
conspiracy to kill the king and overthrow
the government. All the conspirators, ex-
cept Despard, were persons of the lowest
classes, and many of them common sol-
diers. Their leader and seven of his
accomplices were executed. The scheme
of Despard was so absurdly arranged, and
his means so utterly inadequate to the suc-
cess of the plot, that some supposed him
to be deranged; while others absurdly as-
DESSALINES, Jean-Jacques, emperor of
Hayti, was a slave in 1791, when the in-
surrection of the blacks occurred in that
island. His master was a shingler of
houses, and Jean Jacques was bred to the
same trade. His talents for war, his enter
prise, courage, and unscrupulous conduct,
raised him to command among the insur-
gent Negroes; and, when Le Clerc in
vaded the island, in 1802, Dessalines and
Christophe stood next in reputation and
rank to Toussaint-Louverture.
(See
Toussaint.) After the deportation of the
latter, Dessalines, Christophe and Cler

208
DESSALINES-DESSOLES.
vaux took the command, and maintained
a desperate and sanguinary warfare against
the French, until the latter evacuated the
island. This happened in November,
1893. The black chiefs immediately pro-
ceeded to proclaim the island independent,
restoring its Indian name of Hayti, and
nominated Dessalines governor-general for
life, with absolute power. Dessalines now
gave full scope to his savage character.
He began by ordering a general massacre
of the white French, without distinction
of age or sex, stimulating the Negroes to
glut their vengeance for the wrongs they
had undergone. In October, 1804, he
assumed the title and state of emperor of
Hayti; and, in May ensuing, he promul-
gated a new constitution, containing pro-
vision for permanently organizing the im-
perial government. His reign, however,
was brief; for the people, aided by the
troops, sick of his atrocities, and wearied
out by his suspicious and vindictive con-
duct, conspired against his life, and he
was killed by one of his soldiers, Oct.
17, 1806, who thus ended a despotism
stained by every barbarous enormity. (Ma-
lo's Hist. d'Hayti, published in 1825, pp.
270-304; Franklin's Hayti, ch. 6 and 7.)
DESSAU, Anhalt; one of the three prin-
cipalities of the German house of Anhalt.
It contains 360 square miles, and 56,000
inhabitants. The revenue is estimated at
510,000 guilders. Since 1807, the princes
have borne the title of duke. The capital
is Dessau, on the Mulda, with 9400 inhab-
itants, fine parks, &c. Four miles and a
half from this city is Wörlitz, distinguished
by its beautiful park, belonging to the
duke. (See Anhalt.)
DESSOLES, Jean-Joseph-Paul-Augustin,
marquis, lieutenant-general and peer of
France, minister of state, &c., is descend-
ed from a noble family in Gascony. He
was born at Auch, in the department
of Gers, July 3, 1767, and received a care-
ful education. At the commencement of
the revolution, he enrolled himself among
the volunteers, served, in 1792, as captain
in the western army of the Pyrenees, was
made adjutant to general Reynier, and
placed on the general staff. In 1796, he
was adjutant-general and chef of battal-
ion in the army of Italy, under Bona-
parte, and carried to Paris the news of the
preliminaries of peace concluded at Leo-
ben in 1796. Upon this, he was appointed
general of brigade, defeated the Austri-
ans in the Valteline, near Santa Maria, and
became (April, 1799) general of division
and chief of the general staff under Sche-
rer, in the army of Italy, where he gained
Moreau's esteem and friendship. Des-
soles particularly distinguished himself, to-
gether with his friend Gouvion St. Cyr, by
his heroic conduct in the battle of Novi.
When Moreau commanded the army on the
Rhine, in the spring of 1800, Dessoles was
appointed, at his request, chief of his gen-
eral staff. This famous campaign, and the
battle of Hohenlinden, established the mili-
tary fame of Dessoles, whose reports must
still be considered as models. In 1803,
after Mortier's departure, he commanded,
for a time, the army of Hanover, in which
country he gained general esteem by his
disinterestedness and moderation. On
Bernadotte's arrival, he returned to Paris,
and, together with Macdonald and Le-
courbe, warmly defended Moreau on the
occasion of his trial. He soon after re-
tired to his estate at Auch. In 1808, the
emperor intrusted him with the command
of the army in Spain-an office which he
discharged with equal bravery and hu-
manity. From 1810 to 1812, he again
lived as a private individual in France, for
his opinions did not agree with the empe-
ror's plans. Notwithstanding this, Bona-
parte appointed him, in 1812, chief of the
general staff, in the corps commanded by
the viceroy; but, on the conquest of Smo-
lensk, disapproving the invasion of Russia,
he retired to reestablish his health, and
returned to Paris, where he was connected
with Talleyrand. March 31, 1814, the pro-
visional government gave him the command
of the Parisian national guard. He declared
himself, with Talleyrand, on the night of
6th April, before the emperor Alexander,
opposed to the regency of the empress
Maria-Louisa, proposed by Bonaparte as a
condition of his abdication, and in favor
of the reestablishment of the Bourbons.
Soon after, he was nominated military
commandant of the department of the
Seine, and chief of the general staff of the
national guard of France, commanded
by Monsieur, the king's brother. Louis
XVIII made him peer and minister of
state. During the hundred days, he lived
retired on his estate. July 7, 1815, he re-
entered the chamber of peers, and Louis
XVIII appointed him a member of the
privy council. But, disapproving the sys-
tem of the ultras, and expressing himself
in favor of constitutional principles in the
chamber of peers, he was compelled to
renounce the command of the national
guard, October, 1815, which was then con-
ferred on the duke of Reggio. He divided
his time between his estates and Paris,
where he was active in the committees of
the chamber of peers. Dec. 29, 1818, ho

DESSOLES DETROIT.
was appointed to the department of foreign
affairs, in the ministry formed by Decazes,
and received the presidency of the minis-
try, taking the place of Richelieu. At the
same time, the king made him marquis.
He still remained true to constitutional
principles, and warmly opposed any
change in the law of election of 1817;
this was the cause why he and his col-
leagues, St. Cyr and Louis, left the minis-
try of the count Decazes (q. v.), Nov. 17,
1819. The baron Pasquier took his place.
Dessoles at that time was called, by the
nation, in honor of his firmness, le minis-
tre honnête homme. The king, who had
conferred upon him, in 1814, the grand
cross of the legion of honor, in 1818 the
command of the order of St. Louis, and,
in 1820, the command of the order of the
Holy Ghost, retained him as minister of
state, and often requested his opinion as a
member of the privy council. These sit-
uations he, however, lost (1822), partly in
consequence of the principles which he
expressed on the occasion of the election
of the deputies in the month of May, part-
ly from his connexion with the present
opposition. Dessoles is distinguished as
a statesman by his candor, firmness and
frankness.
DESULTORES (from desilio, I vault); the
Latin name for vaulters or leapers, who
jumped from one horse to another. The
Scythian, Indian and Numidian cavalry
were very expert desultores, and each man
carried at least two horses to the field.
When one was weary, he jumped with
great agility upon another, which he led
by his hand. The Greeks and Romans
introduced the same practice in their
games, races, and funeral solemnities, but
never, as far as we know, in war. Homer
describes a vaulter of this sort, who per-
formed his feats on four horses at once
(Iliad, xv. 673.); and Livy (xxiii. 29) de-
scribes a kind of Numidian cavalry, in
Asdrubal's army, in Spain, in which the
soldiers had two horses each, and, in the
heat of an engagement, frequently leaped,
fully armed, from one to another. Elian
gives a similar account of a tribe dwell-
ing not far from the Danube, who, on this
account, were called Amphippi.
DESTOUCHES, Philippe Nericault, one of
the best French comic poets, was born at
Tours, in 1680. According to the general
opinion, he left his father's house when
young, and joined a company of strolling
players, among whom he distinguished
himself by the propriety of his conduct.
Having delivered a harangue at the head
of his troop, before M. de Puysieux, then
209
In
ambassador in Switzerland, this statesman
was struck with the talent which he dis-
played, took him into his service, and
formed him for diplomacy. According to
the account given by the relations of
Destouches, who considered the profes-
sion of a player dishonorable, he studied
with success at Paris, where he devoted
himself to poetry; and, at the age of 20,
entered the army as a volunteer, and was
present in several engagements. Having
written the comedy called Curieux Imper-
tinent, while in winter quarters, and read
it in several societies, M. Puysieux was
struck with it, and persuaded the author
to turn his talents to diplomacy.
Switzerland, he wrote several plays, which
met with great applause. By his knowl-
edge of diplomacy, he likewise gained the
favor of the regent, who sent him to
England, in 1717, as an assistant to the
abbé Dubois. When Dubois returned to
France, Destouches remained in England,
where he married. He acquitted himself
so well in the business intrusted him, that
the regent promised to give him a proof
of his satisfaction which would surprise
all France; but upon the death of this
prince, he lost his protector and his expec-
tations. He retired to his country seat at
Fort-Oiseau, near Melun, and endeavored
to forget the caprice of fortune in the
study of philosenhy and devotion to the
muses. Cardinal Fleury wished to send
him to St. Petersburg as ambassador, but
he declined the offer. He died in 1754,
leaving a son, who, by order of Louis XV,
superintended the publication of his works.
After Molière and Regnard, Destouches is
considered the best French writer in the
department of comedy. His comedies Le
Glorieux and Le Philosophe marié are con-
sidered among the best French works of
their class. But, as he made the comic
effect subordinate to the moral, his pro-
ductions have something of the character
of sentimental comedy (la comedie larmoy-
ante). He excels most in the drawing of
character, and exhibits a fertile imagina-
tion, pleasing wit, elegance, vivacity and
decorum. His numerous epigrams are
poor. An elegant edition of his works
appeared, in 1750, in 4 vols., 4to.
DETONATION; a sudden combustion
and explosion.
DETROIT; a city, port of entry, and
capital of Michigan, in Wayne county, on
the west side of the river Detroit, between
lakes St. Clair and Erie, 18 miles N. of the
west end of the latter, and 9 S. of the for
mer; 300 S. by E. Michilimackinac ; 302
W. by S. Buffalo; lon. 82° 58′ W.; lat.
18*

210
DETROIT-DEUX-PONTS.
42° 24' N. population, in 1810, 770; in
1820, 1422, exclusive of the garrison. It
is finely situated, regularly laid out in a
square three quarters of a mile on each
side, with spacious streets, having an ele-
vation of about 40 feet above the river, of
which it commands beautiful views. It
contains a handsome Catholic church of
stone, besides several other public build-
ings. The town is defended by fort Shel-
by, which is a regular work of an oblong
form, covering an acre of ground; and the
barracks adjoining are capable of quar-
tering several regiments. It is advan-
tageously situated, and has a consider-
able and growing commerce, and is a
place of importance in the fur trade. In
1825, as it appears from the custom-house
books, there were 270 arrivals, and the
same number of clearances of vessels, at
and from this port. It was wholly de-
stroyed by fire in 1805; but the streets have
been since laid out regular and wide, and
the town built in an improved style. De-
troit was settled by the French from
Canada as early as 1683. In August,
1812, it was taken by the British, under
general Brock, but it did not long remain
in their possession.
DETROIT RIVER, or STRAIT OF ST.
CLAIR; a river or strait of North America,
which runs from lake St. Clair to lake
Erie. Detroit is the French word for
straits; and the name was given by the
French, the first white men who settled
here. Its course is nearly S., with a gen-
tle current, and sufficient depth of water
for the navigation of large vessels; the
banks are covered with settlements, and
the country is exceedingly fertile. Near
the banks of the river are many fine or-
chards of apple-trees, pear-trees and cher-
ry-trees, producing as fine fruit as any in
the U.States, and presenting a very agree-
able view as one sails up the river. It is 27
miles long, and three quarters of a mile wide
opposite to Detroit, enlarging as it descends.
DEUCALION, father of Hellen, ancestor
of the Hellenes, was the son of Prome-
theus and Pandora. He led a colony
from Asia into Greece, and established
himself in Lycorea on mount Parnassus,
from whence he afterwards made an in-
cursion into Thessaly, and expelled the
Pelasgi. In his time was the celebrated
flood (the deluge of Deucalion, in the
16th century B. C.). It was caused by
the river Peneus, and is thus described in
fable:-Jupiter, determining to destroy
mankind by water, on account of their
impiety, brought a flood upon the earth,
by means of a violent rain; Deucalion
saved himself, and his wife Pyrrha, on the
top of mount Parnassus. After the flood
had subsided, they consulted the oracle
of Themis, to know what they must do to
repair the loss of mankind; and were
directed to throw behind them the bones
of their mother. Understanding their
mother to signify the earth, and her bones
the stones, they did as the oracle directed.
The stones thrown by Deucalion became
men, and those thrown by Pyrrha became
women. Many other circumstances are
related by the ancient writers concerning
this deluge, which bear a resemblance to
those related in the Scriptures of the del-
uge of Noah. (See Deluge.)
DEUSE, or DUSE; an evil spirit. This
word is only used as an exclamation; as,
"What the deuse is the matter?" It is
generally derived from dusius, a Latinized
term of the Gauls. St. Augustine (De
Civitate Dei, 15, 23) has the words Quos-
dam dæmones quos dusios Galli nuncupant.
Isidorus, in his glossary annexed to Mar-
tinius, suggests that dusius may be a cor-
ruption of the name of Drusus, son of
Tiberius, notorious for his German victo-
ries, whose name may have been perpet-
uated as a term of terror among the con-
quered people. Isidorus also suspects that
the word droes, used among the Dutch as
we use deuse, has the same origin. An-
other derivation, also, might be suggested.
Teut or Deut was the name of a deity
among the ancient Germans. May not
the Saxons have continued to swear by
this name, even after their baptism, and
have carried it with them to England?
Their continuing to use the word would
not be more surprising than the practice
of the Italians, who still retain the excla-
mations per Bacco (by Bacchus)! per
Venere (by Venus)! &c.
νόμος,
DEUTERONOMY; the last of the books
of Moses. The word is derived from the
Greek deurEpos, second, and vopos, the rule,
or law, because the book of Deuteronomy
is a repetition which the legislator made
to the Israelites, just before his death, of
the law which he had before delivered
to them at large.
DEUX-PONTS; the French name for the
German city Zweibrücken, in Latin Bi-
pons, all which names signify Two-
Bridges. In English, the French name is
used. Deux-Ponts belongs at present to
the circle of the Rhine, of the kingdom
of Bavaria, and was formerly the capital
of the duchy of Deux-Ponts. (See Ba-
varia.) By the peace of Luneville, the
duchy was ceded, with all the left bank
of the Rhine, to France, and afterwards
DEUX-PONTS DEVEREUX.
composed a part of the department of the
Donnersberg. It contains 70,000 inhab-
itants, on 763 square miles. By the peace
of May 30, 1814, it was restored to Ger-
many. Madder and hops are important
articles of agriculture in this district. The
city of Deux-Ponts is small, and agreea-
bly situated, in lon. 7° 25' E., lat. 49° 16′
N.; and contained, in 1822, 800 houses,
and 6332 inhabitants, exclusive of the
suburbs, which contained 826 inhabitants.
Here is a high school, and a court of ap-
peal for the Bavarian circle of the Rhine.
The manufactures are of cloth, leather
and tobacco. The well-known editions
of Greek, Roman and French classics,
called Bipont editions, were published here
by a society of learned men. The pub-
lication commenced in 1779.
DEVA; a Sanscrit word, meaning God.
It occurs in various geographical com-
pounds.
DEVEREUX, Robert, earl of Essex, was
born in 1567, and educated at Cambridge.
In his 17th year, he was introduced at
court; in 1586, distinguished himself at
the battle of Zutphen, so as to be created
a knight banneret, and on his return be-
came master of the horse. The queen
assembling her army at Tilbury, to resist
the Spanish invasion, Essex was appoint-
ed general of the horse, and received the
order of the garter. In 1591, he was sent,
with 4000 men, to the assistance of Henry
IV, then fighting against the league, but
effected nothing of consequence. He,
however, retained the queen's favor, was
soon after created a privy counsellor, in
1596 was appointed joint commander with
lord Howard, in a successful expedition
to the coast of Spain, and on his return
was made master-general of the ordnance.
In 1597, he was created earl marshal of
England. On the breaking out of the
rebellion of Tyrone, Essex was appointed
governor of Ireland. He attempted to
quell a rebellion at Munster, before he
proceeded against Tyrone, which so much
reduced his army, that, not being able to
meet the Irish leader, he entered into a
negotiation. These transactions displeased
the queen, and several sharp letters passed,
which determined him to confront his
enemies at home. He accordingly left
Ireland, contrary to orders, and hastened
to the court, without changing his dress,
where, finding the queen in her bed-cham-
ber, he fell upon his knees, and was re-
ceived better than he expected. He was,
however, soon after strictly examined by
the council, and deprived of all his em-
ployments but that of master of the horse.
211

He might, however, have regained the
queen's favor, had not her refusal to renew
to him a monopoly of sweet wines so irri-
tated him, that he indulged himself in
freedoms of speech concerning her, which
she could never forget. He also carried
on a secret correspondence with the king
of Scotland, the object of which was, to
procure a public declaration of his right
of succession to the English throne; and
he would have engaged his friend, lord
Mountjoy, deputy of Ireland, to bring over
troops to compel this measure. He then
entered into a conspiracy to seize on the
queen's person, remove his enemies, and
settle a new plan of government. Believ-
ing that this was discovered, he endeav-
ored to raise the city of London in his
favor: here, however, he was disappoint-
ed; for, instead of meeting with friends, be
was proclaimed a traitor, and the streets
were barricadoed against his return. He
was soon invested by the queen's forces,
and obliged to surrender at discretion. He
was committed to the Tower, with the earl
of Southampton, his chief adherent, and
a jury of peers was appointed for their
trial. Being found guilty, he received his
sentence like a man prepared for his fate.
The queen long hesitated as to signing
the warrant for his execution, but, being
persuaded by his enemies that he wished
to die, and interpreting his silence into
obstinacy, at length signed it; and the earl
was executed within the Tower, on the
25th of February, 1601. In the height of
his favor, he had received a ring from the
queen, as a pledge, on the return of which
she would pardon any offence he might
commit. This ring he is said to have
intrusted to the countess of Nottingham,
his relation, but the wife of his enemy,
the admiral, who would not suffer her to
deliver it to the queen, and thereby the
proffered clemency was frustrated. The
countess, on her death-bed, having con-
fessed the secret to the queen, the latter
was greatly agitated, and told her "that
God might forgive her, but she never
could." Essex was rash, violent and pre-
sumptuous, but at the same time brave,
generous and affectionate. He was the
friend and patron of literature, and wrote
well himself in prose, and attempted verse,
though without much success. He erect-
ed a monument to Spenser, gave an estate
to Bacon, and encouraged Wotton and
other men of learning. His fate has
formed the subject of four tragedies.
DEVEREUX, Robert, earl of Essex, sou
of the preceding, was born in 1592. He
was entered at Merton college, in his 10th

212
DEVEREUX-DEVIL.C
year, and, in 1603, king James restored
him to his hereditary honors. He was
betrothed, at the age of 14, to lady Fran-
ces Howard, but the marriage was not
consummated until his return from his
travels. The affections of the young
countess had, in the mean time, been
gained by James's unworthy favorite, Carr,
earl of Somerset; the consequence of
which was, a scandalous suit against the
earl of Essex for impotency. A divorce
followed, and the lady married Somerset.
In 1620, Essex joined the earl of Oxford,
in an expedition to the Palatinate, and, in
1624, commanded one of the English regi-
ments raised for the United Provinces.
On the accession of Charles I, he was
employed as vice-admiral in an expedi-
tion against Spain; and after a second
marriage, in which the conduct of the
lady rendered a divorce necessary, he
dedicated himself solely to public life.
In 1635, he was second in command of a
fleet equipped against France and Hol-
land, and, in 1639, was made lieutenant-
general of the army sent against the
Scottish rebels. His services were coldly
received, until, in 1641, popular measures
being thought necessary, he was made
lord chamberlain. At this time, such was
his popularity, both parties strenuously
sought to gain him: the king made him
lieutenant-general of all his armies south
of the Trent, the house of lords made him
chairman of their standing committee, and,
when the people became tumultuous, the
house of commons requested a guard un-
der his command. When the king re-
tired from the capital, he required his
household nobles to attend him, which
Essex declining to do, was deprived of
his employments. This step fixed him in
opposition, and, in 1642, he accepted the
command of the parliamentary army. He
probably imagined the contest might be
terminated without any radical change of
government, as he always seemed attached
to the principles of the constitution. He
commanded at the battle of Edgehill, cap-
tured Reading, raised the siege of Glouces-
ter, and fought the first battle of Newbury.
His want of success, in 1644, in the west,
and the inclination he showed for peace,
began at length to lower his interest with
the parliamentary party; and, the self-
denying ordinance throwing him out of
command, he resigned his commission
with visible discontent. He died sud-
denly, in September, 1646, and was buried
in Westminster abbey, with a public fu-
neral.
DEVIATION. In the law of marine in-
surance, deviation is an unnecessary de-
parture from the usual course of the
voyage insured. Necessary causes of de-
parture from the customary line, are stress
of weather, want of repair, joining con-
voy, danger from an enemy, mutiny, &c.;
and, even in these cases, the shortest and
easiest courses must be taken, or a devi-
ation will be incurred. Deviation, from
the moment at which it commences, dis-
charges the insurer from all subsequent
responsibility, and entitles him to retain
and entitles him to r
the premium.
DEVICE, OF BADGE, in heraldry; a name
common to all figures, ciphers, charac-
ters, rebuses, mottoes, &c., which, by their
allusions to the names of persons, of fam-
ilies, &c., denote their qualities, nobility,
or the like. Device, in this sense, is of a
much older standing than heraldry itself;
being that which first gave rise to armorial
ensigns. Thus the eagle was the device
of the Roman empire. S. P. Q. R. was
the device of the Roman people, and
still continues to be what is called the
escutcheon of the city of Rome. The
first devices were mere letters placed
on the borders of liveries, housings and
banners, and at length on shields. Thus
the K was the device of the French kings
of the name of Charles, from Charles V
to Charles IX. Badges, impresses and
devices were greatly in vogue in England,
from the reign of king Edward I until
that of queen Elizabeth, when they sunk
into disuse. Device is now taken, in a
more limited sense, for an emblem, or a
representation of some natural body, with
a motto, or sentence, applied in a figura-
tive sense. Thus a young nobleman, of
great courage and ambition, bore for his
device, in a carousal at the court of France,
a rocket mounted in the air, with this
Italian motto, Poco duri, purchè m'innalza
(May I continue but a short time, provided
I mount high). A device is, therefore, a
painted metaphor. Devices are used on
coins, counters, seals, shields, triumphal
arches, artificial fire-works, &c. The
French have distinguished themselves in
the invention of devices, especially since
the time of cardinal Mazarin, who had a
great fondness for them. The Italians
have reduced the making of devices to an
art, and laid down laws and rules for this
purpose.
DEVIL. Most of the old religions of
the East acknowledged a host of demons,
who, like their gods, were not original-
ly considered, in a moral point of view,
as good or bad, but merely as exercis-
ing a salutary or injurious influence. In

DEVIL.
the latter case, they were looked upon as
punishing spirits, without inimical or
wicked purpose. Seeva, the judging and
destroying god of the Indian mythology,
is a symbol of the great power of nature,
which is alternately beneficial and injuri-
ous, but in itself neither good nor evil.
The doctrine of Zoroaster, who adopted
an evil principle, called Ahriman, opposed
to the good principle, and served by sev-
eral orders of inferior spirits (in order to
explain the existence of evil in this world),
spread the belief in such spirits among
the people. The Greek mythology did
not distinguish with the same precision
between the good and bad spirits. The
Titans, it is true, struggled against the
gods, but not for any merely moral rea-
son, and the gods are not represented as
patterns of pure morality. The caco-
demons of the Greek mythology, as, for
instance, the Furies, always appear more
in the character of punishing than of ma-
lignant spirits. On the contrary, Hecate,
the goddess of the lower world and of
enchantment, and the Lamiæ, correspond-
ing to the witches of the modern popular
belief, have more of what we understand
under the diabolical character. Typhon,
who partakes in the fate of the Titans,
properly belongs to the Egyptian mythol-
ogy, in which he appears as the origin of
evil, under the figure of a horrid monster.
Similar to him is Beelzebub, or Beelzebul,
who, from the mythology of Western
Asia, was introduced into the belief of
the Hebrews. But as the captivity of the
Hebrews in Babylon had in many respects
a decisive influence upon their way of
thinking and prevailing notions, by the
acquaintance which they there acquired
with the ideas of the Chaldeans, the idea
of the devil, as the principle of evil, re-
sembling Ahriman, first appeared among
the Jews after that captivity. He is called
Satanas, in Greek, diabolos, the fiend, de-
stroyer, antagonist. The word devil is
derived from diabolos. This Satan, how-
διάβολος.
ever, is to be distinguished from the one
in the book of Job. The latter is no
fiend, but the accuser before the throne of
the Almighty, and belongs to the heavenly
servants of God. All the conceptions of evil
spirits, which had been entertained before
the Christian era-the impure Beelzebub,
whose breath scattered pestilence; Belial,
the prince of hell; Samael, the seducer
and destroyer; Lucifer (the Phosphoros
of the Greeks), who lives in the fire; As-
modeus, the devil of marriage-were now
amalgamated with that idea of the evil
principle, which the Jews had acquired
213
in Babylon. Thus the Jewish doctrine
of evil spirits and their chief was devel-
oped. Insane persons, and patients suf-
fering from nervous diseases, which man
ifest themselves by epileptic fits, were con
sidered as subject to his influence; and
people suffering under such diseases were
said to "have a devil." The founder
of the Christian religion not only did not
contradict this doctrine, but made use of
it in the instruction of the people, ac-
cording to several passages of the New
Testament. Yet the whole doctrine re-
ceived from the New Testament a new
character; for the devil and his auxiliary
spirits are represented there as originally
created good, but as having fallen from
virtue, and the favor of God, owing to
ambition, or other evil dispositions. The
Satan of the New Testament is a rebel
against God. Endowed with the intel-
lect and power of angels, he uses them
since his fall to entangle men in sin, and
obtain power over them. He is "the
prince of the world" (St. John, xii. 31), the
Antichrist, because he constantly opposes
the great work of salvation. But, though
he succeeds in effecting the perdition of
individuals, yet his own damnation, and
the eternal victory of good over evil, are
certain. The same is taught in Zoroas-
ter's doctrine; yet his devil was evil from
eternity. Some early sects, as the Ma-
nichæans, likewise gave to Satan exist-
ence from eternity; yet this idea was never
adopted by the Christians at large. The
doctrine of the New Testament, however,
soon became blended with numerous fic-
tions of human imagination, with the va
rious superstitions of different countries,
and the mythology of the pagans. In
Italy, Greece and Germany, this last el-
ement was, and to a certain degree still
is, blended with the idea of the devil.
The gods of the ancients became evil
spirits, seeking every opportunity to injure
mankind. The excited imagination of
hermits, in their lonely retreats, sunk as
they were in ignorance, and unable to
account for natural appearances, frequent-
ly led them to suppose Satan visibly pres-
ent; and innumerable stories were told of
his appearance, and his attributes dis-
tinctly described. Among these were
horns, a tail, a cloven foot, &c. The
writings of the fathers of the church, also,
contain several passages respecting the
appearance of the devil. The sign of the
cross was considered as a safeguard
against him, and crucifixes were erected
on many spots, as, for instance, cross-
ways, where he was supposed to be most
214
DEVIL-DEVIL-FISH.

likely to present himself. In most works
or appearances of an extraordinary char-
acter, the devil was supposed to be con-
cerned. How many a dam, bridge, &c.,
has been built in one night, with his as-
sistance! and every one knows that the
monks made the people believe that Faus-
tus invented the art of printing by the help
of Satan. In consequence of the cures
which Christ and his apostles performed
on the possessed, the early church believed
in a power, connected with the consecra-
tion of priests, to drive out evil spirits;
and as early as the third century, particu-
lar officers of the church were appointed
for this purpose; they were called exorcists,
and are to this day the second of the lower
orders in the Latin church. The Catho-
lies say, the church employed such infe-
rior ministers for this business, in order
to show the contempt which it entertained
towards demons (see Dictionnaire de Thé-
ologie, Toulouse, 1817, article Exorciste);
but this does not agree with the num-
berless legends of the power of the devil.
(See Exorcism.) The belief in evil spirits,
witches, &c., was, in the 17th century, so
common, that they became the objects of
judicial process. (See Witches.) It can-
not be said that the reformation directly
overturned this belief. Luther once threw
an ink-stand at the devil, who interrupted
him when he was engaged in translating
the Bible; and, even to this day, the black
spot is shown on the wall in his room in
the Wartburg. The trials of witches, in
the 17th century, took place in Protest-
ant countries, as well as in Catholic ones.
With the progress of the natural sciences,
however, in the 18th century, many won-
derful phenomena became explained, and
less was heard of the devil. Our limits
will not allow us to give a statement of
the opinions of different Christian sects
respecting evil spirits.
DEVIL-FISH; the popular name of a
large species of ray (q. v.), which is occa-
sionally captured on the coasts of the U.
States. During gales of wind, or from
strong currents, these immense fish are
driven into shoal water, and, being unable
to extricate themselves, fall an easy prey
to the vigilance of the fishermen, who ob-
tain considerable quantities of oil from
their livers. The peculiar arrangement
of the two lateral appendages to the head,
has induced naturalists to erect a sub-
genus, expressly for the reception of these
marine monsters, which has been called
cephaloptera, in allusion to the wings, or
processes. In size, the species of this
sub-genus exceed all others of the family,
individuals frequently measuring sixteen
feet, from the angles of the body. Cepha-
loptera giorna, the devil-fish, sea-devil,
&c., is recognised by the following char-
acters: "Jaws terminal, inferior one ad-
vanced; mouth with a movable flabelli-
form appendage on each side; eyes prom-
inent, lateral; tail longer than the body,
and armed with one or two spines, very
distinct from the dorsal fin, which is situ-
ated between the ventrals;" teeth very
minute and numerous, arranged in rows.
The skin of this fish is not covered with
spinous protuberances, like that of most
others of the ray species, but is merely
rough to the touch, like that of many
sharks. In preparing the specimen now
deposited in the Philadelphia museun,
this roughness of the skin produced most
disagreeable effects on the hands of the
operators. Color above, blackish; be-
neath, white, varied with dusky. The
measurements of the individual just men-
tioned, made him in breadth between fif-
teen and sixteen feet, and seven feet ten
inches in length, exclusive of the tail,
which was somewhat longer than the
body. A similar specimen was exhibited in
New York, under the title of "the Vam-
pyre of the ocean," and described as such
by doctor Samuel L. Mitchell. Others
have been observed on various parts of
our coast, generally in small families, and
are believed to visit sandy bottoms, for the
purpose of breeding, arriving in July, and
seldom remaining later than the end of
September. The great size of the speci-
men purchased by Mr. Peale rendered it
necessary to divide the body, transversely,
into two equal portions, in which state
the process of stuffing was more easy.
The pieces were afterwards joined to-
gether, and the animal exhibited in the
museum, where it now remains. In dry-
ing, the skin, of course, contracted consid-
erably, and the measurements now would
be much less than those taken from the
recent animal. Pyroligneous acid being
used to counteract putrefaction, during
several hot days in which it was exhibited,
prevented any experiment being made, to
determine the flavor of the flesh, and its
utility as an article of food. It is not
improbable, that most of the stories rela-
tive to sea-serpents, which have so long
been a theme of wonder, are in truth to
be referred to numbers of these or other
marine fishes of extraordinary size and
uncommon form. It is to be regretted,
that more perfect examinations have not
been made, particularly in relation to the
anatomical structure of the cephaloptera,

DEW
DEVIL-FISH-DEVONSHIRE.
but it is to be hoped that our naturalists,
in subsequent researches, may supply the
desired information.
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE (advocatus diaboli)
is the person appointed to raise doubts
against the genuineness of the miracles of
a candidate for canonization (q. v.), to
expose any want of formality in the in-
vestigation of the miracles, and to assail
the general merits of the candidate. Af-
ter every thing is said pro and contra, and
three papal advocates of the consistory
have found the whole course of proceed-
ings legal and formal, the canonization
follows. It is said that in the beginning
of the 17th century, the canonization of
the cardinal Charles Borromeo was al-
most prevented by the accusations of the
devil's advocate.s
DEVIL'S BRIDGE; a famous bridge in
Switzerland, over the Reuss, built of stone,
from mountain to mountain, 75 feet in
length, on the road over St. Gothard,
from Germany to Italy. It owes its name
principally to its antiquity, for there are
higher, longer and wider bridges in Swit-
zerland. The Devil's Bridge is a very
common subject of prints and paintings,
and is situated in a most romantic country.
DEVIL'S WALL, in the south of Germa-
ny. It was very common for gigantic
works of art, or peculiar formations of
nature, to receive, in the middle ages, the
name of the devil. This wall was origi-
nally a Roman ditch, with palisades behind
it, to which, under the reign of the empe-
ror Probus, a wall with towers was added.
It was intended to protect the Roman
settlements on the left bank of the Dan-
ube, and on the right bank of the Rhine,
against the inroads of the Teutonic and
other tribes. The wall extended for about
368 miles, over mountains, through val-
leys, and over rivers, running towards the
Danube. Remains of it are found at
present only from Abensberg, in Bavaria, to
Cologne, on the Rhine. Sometimes these
remains form elevated roads and paths
through woods, sometimes tall oaks grow
upon them, sometimes buildings stand up-
on the imperishable structure. A. Buchner
has shown, in his Journey along the Devil's
Wall (Ratisbon, 1821), that it was the
work of nearly two centuries, commenc-
ing in the time of Adrian, and was at first
a niere wall of earth, but was afterwards
inade a substantial stone wall, of from
six to eight feet in width. Buchner fol-
lowed the traces of this wall for two sum-
He points out, also, the course of
the Roman road behind it. The same
book contains a plan of the canal by
215
which Charlemagne intended to unite the
Danube and the Rhine, and of which a
dry ditch, called the Fossa Carolina, is the
only remains. (See Carolina.) Buchner
says, that six million guilders would be
sufficient to complete this great plan, e
which others doubt. (See Danube.)
DEVISE, in law, is the disposition of
real estate by will. It is distinguished
from a bequest of personal estate by will,
the personal estate so disposed of being
called a legacy. The word devise is also
sometimes applied to any gift by will,
whether of real or personal estate. The
person to whom a devise is made is called
devisee.
DEVOLUTION. By the rule of devolution,
the right of presentation to a vacant place,
especially a clerical one, reverts, in case
of neglect in exercising it, to a superior
(bishop, prince or consistory).
DEVONPORT; a market-town of Eng-
land, at the confluence of the Tamar with
the sea in Plymouth sound. It is the seat
of the naval and military government of
the port, and contains the dock-yard and
naval arsenal. Hence it was, until lately,
called Plymouth dock, and viewed only as
an appendage to the town of Plymouth.
In the year 1824, it received the name of
Devonport, which it has since borne. The
dock-yard is well worthy of notice. It
extends on the eastern bank of the Tamar,
in a circular sweep along the shore, 3500
feet in length, with a width at the middle,
where it is greatest, of 1600 feet, and at each
extremity 1000, thus including an area of
96 acres. The harbor of Hamoaze, which
bounds the dock-yard on the western side,
is a commodious basin, formed by the
estuary of the Tamar, half a mile wide,
and extending four miles in length. Dev-
onport, within the lines, contains about
20,000 inhabitants.
DEVONSHIRE; 1. Georgiana Cavendish,
duchess of; famous for her beauty and
poetical talents, and the patriotic friend of
Fox. She was born in London, 1757,
celebrated the passage of St. Gothard
(translated into French by Delille, with
the original, Paris, 1802), and died in 1806.
2. Elizabeth Hervey, duchess of Devon-
shire, lived, from 1815, in Rome, where
she died, March 30, 1824. In Rome, she
was surrounded by distinguished men,
especially artists. She was the friend
of cardinal Gonsalvi, Canova, Camuccini,
Thorwaldsen and others. She published
Virgil's poems, in the translation of Han-
nibal Caro, with engravings, from the de-
signs of the first painters of Rome. This
edition consisted of only 150 copies, which

216
DEVONSHIRE--DEW.
the duchess distributed to the European
sovereigns, the principal libraries, and her
particular friends. She caused an edition
of the fifth satire of Horace to be pub-
lished on the same plan, and was about
to undertake an edition of Dante, when
she died. Her house in Rome was the
resort of the most cultivated society.
DEVONSHIRE, William, duke of. (See
Cavendish.)
DEW is a deposition of water from the
atmosphere upon the surface of the earth.
The conditions under which the phenom-
ena of dew take place are the following:
The most plentiful deposit occurs when
the weather is clear and serene; very
little is ever deposited under opposite cir-
cumstances. It is never seen on nights
both cloudy and windy. It is well known,
likewise, that a reduction in the tempera-
ture of the air, and of the surface of the
earth, always accompanies the falling of
dew, the surface on which it is depos-
ited being, however, colder than the air
above. These phenomena admit of an
easy and elegant explanation from the
well known effect of the radiation of calor-
ic from bodies. This radiation constantly
taking place in all bodies, it is obvious
that the temperature of any body can
remain the same only by its receiving
from another source as many rays as it
emits. In the case of the earth's surface,
so long as the sun remains above the
horizon, it continues to receive as well as
to emit heat; but when the sun sinks
below the horizon, no object is present in
the atmosphere to exchange rays with the
earth, which, still emitting heat into free
space, must, consequently, experience a
diminution in its temperature. It thus
becomes not only many degrees cooler
than in the day time, but also cooler than
the superincumbent air; and, as the at-
mosphere always contains watery vapor,
this vapor becomes condensed on the cold
surface; hence the origin of dew, and, if
the temperature of the earth is below 320,
of hoar frost. And since the projection
of heat into free space takes place most
readily in a clear atmosphere, and is im-
peded by a cloudy atmosphere, it is under
the former condition that dew and hoar
frost are formed; for if the radiant caloric,
proceeding from the earth, is intercepted
by the clouds, an interchange is estab-
lished, and the ground retains nearly, if
not quite, the same temperature as the
adjacent portions of air. Whatever cir-
cumstances favor radiation favor also the
production of dew; and, accordingly, un-
der the same exposure, dew is much
more copiously deposited on some sur-
faces than on others. Gravel walks and
pavements project heat and acquire dew
less readily than a grassy surface. Rough
and porous surfaces, as shavings of wood,
take more dew than smooth and solid
wood. Glass projects heat rapidly, and is
as rapidly coated with dew. But bright
metals attract dew much less powerfully
than other bodies. Water, which stands
at the head of radiating substances, is seen
to condense the vapor of the superincum-
bent air in such a manner as to create
thick mists and fogs over its surface. The
unusual abundance of precipitated mois-
ture over ponds and streams is attributa-
ble, however, not merely to the inferior
temperature of heir waters to the air,
arising from radiation, but to the circum-
stance that more moisture is ordinarily
contained in such air, since the sheltered
situation it enjoys prevents its being borne
away by those aerial currents prevailing
elsewhere. An acquaintance with the
cause which produces dew and hoar-frost
enables us to understand the rationale of
the process resorted to by gardeners to
protect tender plants from cold, which
consists simply in spreading over them a
thin mat or some flimsy substance. In
this way, the radiation of their heat to the
heavens is prevented, or, rather, the heat
which they emit is returned to them from
the awning above, and they are preserved
at a temperature considerably higher than
that of the surrounding atmosphere. To
ensure the full advantage of this kind of
protection from the chill of the air, the
coverings should not touch the bodies they
are intended to defend. Garden walls
operate, in part, upon the same principle.
In warm climates, the deposition of dewy
moisture on animal substances hastens
their putrefaction. As this usually hap-
pens only in clear nights, it was anciently
supposed that bright moonshine favored
animal corruption. This rapid emission
of heat from the surface of the ground
enables us to explain the artificial forma-
tion of ice, during the night, in Bengal,
while the temperature of the air is above
32. The nights most favorable for this
effect are those which are the calmest
and most serene, and in which the air is
so dry as to deposit little dew after mid-
night. Clouds and frequent changes of
wind never fail to interrupt the congela-
tion. 300 persons are employed in this
operation at one place. The enclosures
formed on the ground are four or five feet
wide, and have walls only four inches
high. In these enclosures, previously
DEW-DE WITT.
bedded with dry straw, broad, shallow,
unglazed pans are set, containing water.
Wind, which so greatly promotes evapo-
ration, prevents the freezing altogether;
and dew forms, in a greater or less de-
gree, during the whole of the nights most
productive of ice. The straw is carefully
preserved dry, since if, by accident, it be-
comes moistened by the spilling of water,
it conducts heat, and raises vapor from the
ground, so as greatly to impede the con-
gelation. The radiation from the earth's
surface is one of those happy provisions
for the necessities of living beings, with
which nature every where abounds. The
heavy dews which fall in tropical regions
are, in the highest degree, beneficial to
vegetation, which, but for this supply
of moisture, would, in countries where
scarcely any rain falls for months, be soon
scorched and withered. But, after the
high temperature of the day, the ground
radiates under these clear skies with great
rapidity; the surface is quickly cooled,
even to a great extent, and, as soon as this
refreshing cold is produced, the watery
vapor, which, from the great daily evapo-
ration, exists in large quantities in the
atmosphere, is deposited abundantly. This
deposition is more plentiful, also, on plants,
from their greater radiating power; while,
on hard, bare ground and stones, where it
is less wanted, it is comparatively trifling.
In cold climates, the earth, being cold
and sufficiently moist, requires little dew;
accordingly the clouds, which are so com-
mon in damp and chilly regions, prevent
the radiation of heat: the surface is thus
preserved warm, and the deposition of
dew is, in a great measure, prevented.
217
states-general. One party was anxious,
during the war between England and
Holland, to have all power and honors
conferred on prince William III; the
other, with De Witt at its head, endeavored
to withdraw all authority from this prince,
and entirely to abolish the stadtholdership.
The war with England, sometimes fortu-
nate, sometimes adverse, was injurious to
commerce, and excited the displeasure of
the nation against the latter party, of which
excitement the Orange party took advan-
tage to effect their purposes, until, in 1654,
the former concluded a peace with Crom-
well, with the secret condition that the
house of Orange should be excluded from
all situations of authority. Thus the
republican party was victorious, and De
Witt, as grand-pensioner, employed the
time of peace in healing the wounds un-
der which the state was suffering. When
Charles II again took possession of the
crown of England, De Witt inclined to
the side of France, which inclination be-
came more powerful when, in 1665, the
war recommenced between England and
the states-general. The bishop of Mün-
ster, likewise, taking arms against the
latter, the discontent of the people against
De Witt became so great, that he was
compelled, in order to pacify them, to give
up some privileges to the prince of Orange,
and to conclude peace with England, in
1667. To increase the danger of De
Witt's situation, Louis XIV now began
to manifest his intentions with regard to
the Spanish Netherlands. The Orange
party insisted on elevating prince William
to the dignity of his ancestors. De Witt
succeeded in separating the offices of
stadtholder and captain-general, and pro-
vided that, in Holland at least, he should
be entirely excluded from the latter. The
number of De Witt's enemies increased.
He was obliged to conclude an alliance
with England and Sweden against France,
which produced the peace of Aix-la-
Chapelle, and was as quickly dissolved
as it had been formed. Louis XIV, now
united with England, invaded the Span-
ish Netherlands (1672). William's friends
succeeded in procuring for him the post
of commander-in-chief. The first cam-
paign was unfortunate in its results, which
were imputed to De Witt and his friends.
The life of the former was endangered.
William was nominated stadtholder by
universal consent, and De Witt resigned
his employments. But the disposition of
the people was little changed by this volun-
tary act, nor was the hatred of the Orange
party satisfied.
raged in the party satisfied. His brother Cornelius

DE WETTE. (See Wette.)
DE WITT, John, grand-pensioner of
Holland, celebrated as a statesman and
for his tragical end, was the son of Ja-
cob De Witt, burgomaster of Dort, and
was born in 1625. His father was im-
prisoned for some time on account of
his opposition to prince William II of
Orange. John De Witt inherited from
his father republican principles and a
hatred to the house of Orange. After
having carefully cultivated his talents, he
entered into the service of his country, and
was one of the deputies sent by the states
of Holland to Zealand, in 1652, to dis-
suade this province from conferring the
office of captain-general on the young
prince of Orange, William III, who was
but two years old. His eloquence procured
him universal confidence; but to pre-
serve this was almost impossible during
the dissensions which raged in the
VOL IV.
19
218
DE WITT-DEY.
was accused of having attempted to assas-
sinate the prince. He was imprisoned and
put to the rack; but, as he would not con-
fess any such design, he was banished from
the country, and his property confiscated.
Hearing that bis brother wished to speak
to him while in prison, John de Witt
hastened thither, when a tumult suddenly
arose among the people at the Hague.
The militia could not disperse the mob,
the greater nu.nber of the officers being
devoted to the prince. The people broke
into the prison, and both brothers fell vic-
tims to their rage (Aug. 20, 1672). The
states demanded an investigation of this
affair, and the punishment of the mur-
derers, from the stadtholder, which, how-
ever, never took place. That the opinions
of De Witt's contemporaries respecting him
did not agree, may well be supposed; but
all acquitted him of treason against his
country. He was simple and modest in
all his relations. He fell a victim to party
spirit, nor could the friends of the house
of Orange accuse him of any other crime
than that of not belonging to their party,
and of aiming to elevate his own party
at their expense. De Witt was an ac-
tive political writer, and has left many
excellent observations on the events of
his time.
DEXTER, Samuel, an eminent American
lawyer and statesman, was born at Boston,
in 1761. His father was a distinguished
merchant, and a benefactor of Harvard
college. The son was graduated at that
institution, in 1781, with its first honors.
He then engaged in the study of the law.
He had not been long at the bar before he
was elected to the state legislature, from
which he was transferred to congress, first
to the house of representatives, and then
to the senate. He was in congress dur-
ing a period of strong party excitement,
and succeeded in gaining much influence
and honor by the force of his talents and
character, proving himself an enlightened
politician and superior orator. President
Adams made him, successively, secretary
of war and of the treasury. He dis-
charged these offices in a masterly man-
ner. Towards the end of Mr. Adams's
administration, he was offered a foreign
embassy, but declined it. When Mr.
Jefferson became president, he resigned
his public employments, and returned to
the practice of the law. In 1815, president
Madison requested him to accept an ex-
traordinary mission to the court of Spain,
but he declined the offer. For many
years, he continued to display extraordi-
nary powers in his profession, having no
superior, and scarcely a rival, before the
supreme court at Washington, in which
he appeared every winter, in cases of the
highest importance. On his return from
that capital, in the spring of 1816, he
fell sick at Athens, in the state of New
York, and died there May 4, aged 55.
Mr. Dexter was tall and well formed, with
strong features and a muscular frame.
His eloquence was that of clear exposition,
and cogent, philosophical reasoning; his
delivery in general simple, and his enun-
ciation monotonous; but he often expressed
himself with signal energy and beauty,
and always gave evidence of uncommon
power. He devoted much of his leisure
to theological studies, and died a zealous.
Christian. In the party divisions of the
American republic, he held, at first, the
post of an acknowledged leader among
the federalists: eventually, however, he
separated himself from his colleagues, on
some questions of primary interest and
magnitude. In the fine sketch of his life
and character, drawn by judge Story, it is
truly said of him, "He considered the
union of the states as the main security
of their liberties; whatever might be his
opinion of any measures, he never breathed
a doubt to shake public or private confi-
dence in the excellence of the constitu-
tion itself."
DEY; the chief of Algiers, which is a
military aristocratic state. In Tunis and
Tripoli, the same officer in these similarly
regulated military republics, is named bey.
The bey of Tripoli is, however, assisted
by a pacha. Since 1520, Algiers has
recognised the authority of the Turkish
sultan. Turkish soldiers, under the com-
mand of a pacha, sent to Algiers by the
sultan, once governed there, and, not re-
ceiving their pay from the pacha, they
prayed permission of the Porte, at the
commencement of the 17th century, to
choose a chief from their number, with
the title of dey. The pacha was to remain,
but to have no share in the government.
This was agreed to by the Porte. In the
year 1710, the dey banished the pacha
from Algiers, and obtained permission of
the Porte to enjoy both titles. Since that
period, every dey chosen by the soldiers
must apply to the sultan for confirmation
and for appointment as pacha. The sul-
tan, therefore, reckons Algiers amongst
his possessions, and sends orders to the
pacha and the divan. In time of war, the
people of Algiers must assist the Porte, if
required, with soldiers and ships.
money coined here bears the stamp of the
sultan, and public prayers are offered for


All
DEY-DIAL.
him, as through the whole of Turkey.
The dey sends an annual tribute to Con-
stantinople. The highest authority is with
the divan, or the council of state; but "the
greater and lesser members of the invin-
cible militia of Algiers" make decrees
according to the majority of votes, in all
things which concern the government.
DHIOLIBA. (See Niger, and Timbuctoo.)
DIADEM; a band of silk or woollen,
invented, according to some, by Bacchus,
to relieve the headache produced by ex-
cessive drinking. It more probably be-
longed to him as coming from the East
(the Indies). It afterwards became the
distinguishing ornament of royalty. The
diadem of the Egyptian deities and kings
bore the symbol of the sacred serpent.
Among the Persians, it was twined about
the tiara of the kings, and was purple and
white. The diadem of Bacchus, particu-
larly of the Indian Bacchus, as seen in
very old representations, consisted of a
broad, plaited band, encircling the fore-
head and temples, and tied behind, with
the ends hanging down. When unfolded,
it formed, in fact, a veil; and, for this rea-
son, it was often called, by the Greeks,
calyptra, i. e., a veil. It was afterwards
attributed to other deities, and finally
became the badge of kings. In the ear-
liest times, it was very narrow. Alexan-
der the Great adopted the broad diadem
of the Persian kings, the ends of which
hung over his shoulders; and this mark
of regal dignity was retained by his suc-
cessors. On coins we see queens, also,
with the diadem, with the addition of a
veil. The early Roman emperors ab-
stained from this ornament, to avoid giving
offence to the people. Constantine the
Great was the first who used it, and he
added new ornaments to it. After his
time, it was set with a single or double
row of pearls and other precious stones, so
that it was somewhat similar to a Turkish
turban.
DIECIOUS, in botany; plants which
have their stamens on one individual and
their pistils on another. The willow, the
ash, the poplar, &c., are diæcious. On
this account, the weeping willow and
several other trees never produce seeds in
the U. States, as the male plants only have
been introduced.
DIAGLYPHON (Lat.; diayupov, Gr.); in
ancient sculpture; the name by which the
Greeks designated works in sculpture
when sunk in with the chisel. Among
the most celebrated of these were the
buckler and pedestal of a colossal statue of
Minerva at Athens. When it was in re-
219

lief, the work was called anaglyphic.
(See Anaglyphic.) bon
DIAGNOSIS, in medicine; the distinc-
tion of one disease from others resembling
it, by means of a collected view of the
symptoms. W
DIAGNOSTIC Symptoms are the leading
symptoms, or those which are most char-
acteristic of any particular form or seat
of disease.
DIAGONAL, DIAGONAL LINE; a straight
line, joining two angles not adjacent, in a
rectilinear figure, having more than three
sides. Every rectilinear figure may be
divided by diagonals into as many tri-
angles as it has sides, minus two.
DIAGRAM; a figure or geometrical delin-
eation, applied to the illustration or solu
tion of geometrical problems, or a de-
scription or sketch in general. Anciently,
it signified a musical scale. Among the
Gnostics, the name diagram was given to a
figure formed by the superposition of one
triangle on another, and inscribed with
some mystical name of the Deity, and
worn as an amulet.
DIAL SUN. This instrument has been
known from the earliest times: the Egyp-
tians, Chaldeans and Hebrews (Isaiah
xxxvii. 8) were acquainted with the uses
of it. The Greeks derived it from their
eastern neighbors, and it was introduced
into Rome during the first Punic war. A
dial constructed for the latitude of Catana
was carried off from that city and placed
in the forum by Valerius Messana; but,
as there was a difference of 4° of latitude
between the two cities, it could not, of
course, indicate the true time at Rome.
Before this period, the Romans ascertain-
ed the hour by the rude method of ob-
serving the lengths of shadows, or, in the
absence of the sun, by the clepsydra (q. v.),
which a slave was employed in tending.-
Sun-dials have lost much of their value
in modern times, by the general introduc-
tion of instruments which indicate the
time at any period of the day or might;
but clocks and watches require to be
regulated, and the shadows projected by
the sun are the most convenient standard
for this purpose. Dials are of various
kinds; but the horizontal and vertical are
most commonly used. In this place, we
can give only the general rules of construc-
tion applicable to all of them. Suppose 12
planes, making with each other angles of
15°, passing through the axis of the earth
and dividing the sphere into 24 equal
parts, one of these planes being the me-
ridian of the place of the observer: start
from the meridian, and, moving towards
220
DIAL DIALECT.

the west number these planes respectively
1, 2, 3, and so on up to 12, which will be
the lower meridian of the place; starting
from this point, number as before, 1, 2, 3,
&c., again to 12, which will now fall on
the upper meridian. We shall thus have
a series of horary circles, in passing from
one of which to the next, the sun will oc-
cupy one hour. At noon, he will be on
the meridian, which is numbered 12; it is
then 12 o'clock; an hour before, he was
on the last horary circle preceding (to the
east), numbered 11, and it was 11 o'clock.
Twelve hours from the time of passing
the upper meridian, he will pass the lower,
also numbered 12, and it will be midnight.
Suppose, now, an opaque plane passing
through the centre of the earth, and inter-
sected by the 12 planes in as many diverg-
ing straight lines, and mark these lines with
the numbers belonging to their respective
planes. This opaque plane will represent
the face of a dial, the straight lines will form
the horary lines marked on its surface,
and the style will represent the axis of the
earth, and will project its shadow succes-
sively on each of the hour lines, the num-
ber affixed to which will show the hour
of the day; that is, at 10 o'clock the
shadow will fall on the line numbered 10,
&c. We shall thus have a dial construct-
ed at the centre of the earth; but the
radius of the earth, or the distance from its
centre to its surface, is so small, in com-
parison with the distance of the earth from
the sun, that it may be considered as
nothing: we may therefore transport our
central dial to any given place, keeping
the style and surface always parallel to the
positions in which we supposed them at
first, and we shall have a dial for that
place. This is the theory of dials. It fol-
lows, from this explanation, 1. that a sun-
dial, calculated for any given place,will also
serve for any other place under the same
meridian, provided its position in the latter
place be parallel to its position in the for-
mer place. 2. The style of a dial is parallel
to the axis of the earth; the meridian line
is the intersection of the plane of the dial
and the meridian of the place; the style is
in the meridian, and inclines to the rational
horizon in the same manner as the terres-
trial axis, that is, by an angle equal to the
latitude of the place. 3. The hour lines are
the intersections of the face of the dial by
12 planes, inclined to each other by an
angle of 15°, drawn from the meridian,
and passing through the style. If it is
required to mark shorter intervals of time,
as half hours, it is only necessary to con-
ceive 24 planes, at an angle of 73° with
each other, and so on for any subdivisions
4. The hour lines of a dial drawn on a
plane are straight lines meeting in the
centre of the dial, where the face is pene-
trated by the style. The forenoon and
afternoon hour lines of the same number
are given by the intersection of the same
horary plane, on the opposite sides of the
style. Sometimes the hour is indicated
by means of a plate, placed before the
dial, having a hole through which the
light passes. It is only necessary that this
hole should be one of the points of the
style; the light will then fall upon that
part of the dial where the shadow of the
corresponding point of the style would be
projected.
DIALECT; a variety of a language.
This definition is certainly vague, but is
necessarily so from the nature of the sub-
ject, as it is impossible to determine nicely
the line where dialects begin to become
distinct languages. For instance, in some
respects, German, Danish, Swedish, Ice-
landish, may be called dialects of the com-
mon Teutonic stock; yet a German is no
more able to understand Swedish than
Hebrew, if he has not studied it. It
would not be correct, however, to lay it
down as a rule, that dialects are such
forms of the common language, as may
be understood, if not entirely, yet in gen-
eral, by all who speak one of the vari-
eties of the common language, because a
person who never heard or spoke any
thing but High-German cannot under-
stand the people of Lower Germany,
speaking to each other in their dialect: a
Portuguese, indeed, is generally able to
understand Spanish, without having learn-
ed the language systematically. The
common meaning of the term dialect, in
modern times, is the language of a part of
a country or a distant colony, deviating,
either in its grammar, words or pronun-
ciation, from the language of that part of
the common country whose idiom has
been adopted as the literary language, and
the medium of intercourse between well-
educated people. In ancient times, when
the great difficulties in the way of inter-
course and communication between dif-
ferent parts of a country prevented, or at
least impeded, the formation of a general
language, each dialect was developed
independently of the others, until son.e
event gave to one the ascendency. In
Greece, we find four distinct dialects; the
Ionic, Attic, Doric and Æolic; each of
which gave birth to literary productions
still extant, until at last the greater refine-
ment, and the cultivation of arts and sci-

DIALECT--DIALOGUE.
ences in Athens, gave the Attic dialect the
superiority. It is a great mistake to con-
sider dialects as something to be rooted
out like noxious weeds; for, if they are
independent varieties of a common lan-
guage, not mere corruptions of a language
already settled, they always retain many
beauties, which would not exist without
them; many peculiarities, which often
afford a great insight into the language, to
a judicious philologist. No one, who has
studied the peculiarities of the Provençal,
the Low-German, or the Allemannic dia-
lects, or the Neapolitan, with its many rem-
nants of the Greek, would wish to put an
end to their existence. Dialects resemble
rebels against lawful authority, until the
stamp of legitimacy is impressed upon
them by a great man or great event. Ital-
ian was once the vulgar dialect; and, even
now, to translate into Italian is called vol-
garizzare. It was corrupt Latin mixed
with barbarous words derived from the
idioms of the conquerors of the country,
and was used at first only by the lower
classes; it then became the general dia-
lect of common life; and, at last, the giant
mind of Dante dared to sing in the "vul-
gar dialect," and to stamp it as a legitimate
language. Portuguese was a corrupted
dialect of Spanish, until Portugal separated
from Spain, and dared to uphold its dialect
as an independent language. In Germa-
ny, no dialect has ever obtained entire
ascendency. Much was once written in
Low-German, and the activity of the
Hanseatic league, and the wide extent to
which it was spoken, gave it much influ-
ence. Charles V, born at Ghent, spoke
Low-German; but Luther's translation of
the Bible, like Dante's Divina Commedia,
made High-German the literary language.
Since that time, it has changed very much,
and has acquired, in many respects, a de-
velopement of its own. It is a great mis-
take, common among foreigners, to con-
sider Saxon as the Castilian or Tuscan
dialect of Germany, because Luther was
born in Saxony. On the contrary, the
Saxon dialect is one of the most disa-
greeable to a German ear, and deviates
much from the modern High-German.
Only the fundamental characteristics of
the language of Upper-Germany have re-
mained in High-German. In other re-
spects, it has developed itself independent-
ly of any provincial dialect. In England,
there are but two great dialects, English
*It must be observed, that Neapolitan was
written even before Tuscan; but Dante's great-
ness made the Tuscan at once the standard dia-
lect.
221
and Scotch; yet it has often been observ-
ed that no country has more variations from
the common literary language. Every
county has its peculiarities, which are
sometimes striking and difficult to be un-
derstood. On the other hand, there never
has existed a country so vast, and a popu-
lation so large as that of the U. States,
with so little variety of dialect, which is
owing to the quick and constant commu-
nication between the different parts of the
country, and the roving spirit of the
people, the great mass of whom, be-
sides, derive their descent from the same
stock.
DIALECTICS; the old name of logic, or
the art of reasoning (from dialéysolat, to
speak), because thought and reasoning are
expressed by speech, and thus were first
manifested, and the mind naturally pro-
ceeds from the obvious to the remote,
from the particular to the general. Logic
(q. v.) was early denominated, in confor-
mity with this name, the art of speaking
or disputing. By dialectician, we under-
stand a teacher of dialectics, or one who
understands the art of logical disputation.
DIALOGUE; a conversation or conference
between two or more persons. The word
is particularly used in reference to theat-
rical performances and to written conver-
sations, or a composition in which two or
more persons are represented as inter-
changing ideas on a given topic. The
ancient philosophers, especially the Greeks,
from their peculiar vivacity, were fond of
this form; they used it for the communi-
cation of their investigations on scientific
subjects. The dialogues of Plato are a
sort of philosophical dramas. The Socrat-
ic dialogue (so called) consists of questions
and answers, and the person questioned
is obliged, by successively assenting to
the interrogatories put to him, to come
to the conclusions which the questioner
wishes to produce. This dialogue sup-
poses in the interrogator a thorough knowl-
edge of human nature in general, and of
the person questioned in particular. The
dialogue is now much used for verbal in-
struction. The philosophical dialogue
seems but little adapted to our manners
and the present improved state of the sci-
ences; and, being written, of course, with
the view of establishing certain positions,
the objections raised are only such as can
be readily answered, and thereby assist in
establishing the desired conclusions; but
are not always such as present themselves
to the reader, who is often dissatisfied
with the result, because his own doubts
are not settled. Erasmus of Rotterdam,
19*

222
DIALOGUE-DIAMOND.
and subsequently, among the Germans,
Lessing, Moses Mendelssohn, Engel, Her-
der, Jacobi, Solger, have written in this
form. In comic and satiric dialogue,
Wieland has imitated the satirist Lu-
cian. Among the most distinguished
Italian writers of dialogue are Petrarca
(De vera Sapientia), Machiavelli, Gelli,
Algarotti and Gozzi; and among the
French, Sarrasin, Malebranche, Fénélon:
Fontenelle and St. Mard imitated Lucian,
and, among the English, bishop Berkeley
and Hurd have imitated Plato, and Harris,
Cicero. Lord Lyttelton's dialogues of the
dead, and Addison's dialogues on medals,
are well known. Landor's imaginary con-
versations of literary men and statesmen
(London, 1826) attracted some attention.
If the conversation gives rise to action,
then the drama is produced. In the dra-
ma, the dialogue, in a narrower sense, is
opposed to monologue or soliloquy; in the
opera, it is that which is spoken, in opposi-
tion to that which is sung. (See Drama.)
DIAMETER; the straight line drawn
through the centre of a circle, and touch-
ing the two opposite points of the circum-
ference. It thus divides the circle into
two equal parts, and is the greatest chord.
The radius is half this diameter, and con-
sequently the space comprehended be-
tween the centre and circumference of a
circle. (For the magnitude of the diame-
ter, in comparison with the circumference,
see Circle.)
DIAMOND; the hardest and most valua-
ble of all the gems. To the account of
the diamond already given in the article
Carbon, we will only add at present, that
diamonds are of various colors; but the
colorless, which is the sort mostly used in
the arts, is, when pure, perfectly clear,
and pellucid as the purest water. Hence
the phrases, the water of a diamond, a
diamond of the finest water, &c. The
colorless diamonds are not, however, the
most common. The rarest colors are
blue, pink, and dark brown; but yellow
diamonds, when the color is clear and
equal throughout, are very beautiful and
much valued. Pale blue diamonds are also
very fine and rare, but deep blue still
more rare. The largest diamond hitherto
found is in the possession of the rajah of
Mattan, in the island of Borneo, where it
was found about eighty years since. It
weighs three hundred and sixty-seven
carats. It is described as having the
shape of an egg, with an indentation near
the smaller end. Many years ago, the
governor of Batavia tried to purchase it,
and offered in exchange one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, two large brigs of
war, with their guns and ammunition, and
other cannon, with powder and shot. But
the rajah refused to part with a jewel, to
which the Malays attach miraculous pow-
ers, and which they imagine to be con-
nected with the fate of his family. This
diamond is mentioned in the memoirs of
the Batavian society. The diamond is the
hardest of all known substances. Nothing
will scratch it, nor can it be cut but by
itself. By cutting, it acquires a brilliancy
and play of lustre that much augment its
price. The hardness of the diamond was
well known to the ancients; its name,
both in Greek and Latin (adápas, adamas),
implying invincible hardness. The an-
cients did not confine the word adamas to
indicate the diamond alone, but applied it
to other hard and adamantine substances.
They were unacquainted with the art of
cutting the diamond, satisfying themselves
with those which were polished naturally;
but knew of the property of its powder or
dust for cutting, engraving, and polishing
other stones. The art of cutting and pol-
ishing the diamond was unknown in Eu-
rope till the fifteenth century. Before
that period, rough and unpolished ones
were set as ornaments, and valued accord-
ing to the beauty and perfection of their
crystallization and transparency. This
art is said to have been invented and first
practised in 1456, by Louis de Berquen, a
native of Bruges. Charles the Bold, duke
of Burgundy, was one of the first princes
of modern times who affected a great
splendor in diamonds. Among engraved
or sculptured diamonds is one with a
head, which Gori falsely imagined to be
antique, and called it a portrait of Posido-
nius. It belonged to the duke of Bedford.
Lessing thinks that many of the engraved
antique gems, which are called diamonds.
are nothing but amethysts, sapphires and
emeralds, deprived of their color by the
operation of fire. Diamonds are valuable
for many purposes. Their powder is the
best for the lapidary and gem engraver,
and more economical than any other mate-
rial for cutting, engraving and polishing
hard stones. Glaziers cut glass with them;
glass cutters looking-glasses, and other ar-
ticles of window and plate glass. The
glazier's diamond is set in a steel socket,
and attached to a wooden handle about
the size of a thick pencil. It is very re-
markable, that only the point of a natural
crystal can be used; cut or split diamonds
scratch, but the glass will not break along
the scratch, as it does when a natural crys-
tal is used. An application of the diamond

DIAMOND-DIAMOND DISTRICT.
of great importance in the art of engrav-
ing, has been also made within a few years
by the late Wilson Lowry, to the purpose
of drawing or ruling lines, which are af-
terwards to be deepened by aqua fortis.
Formerly steel points, called etching nee-
dles, were used for that purpose; but they
soon became blunt by the friction against
the copper, so that it has always been im-
practicable to make what are called flat or
even tints with them: such as the azure
parts of skies, large architectural subjects,
and the sea in maps; but the diamond,
being turned to a conical point, or other-
wise cut to a proper form, is not worn
away by the friction of the copper, and,
consequently, the lines drawn by it are all
of equal thickness. The diamond etching
points of Mr. Lowry are turned in a lathe,
by holding a thin splinter of diamond
against them, as a chisel.
DIAMOND DISTRICT, in Brazil. That part
of Brazil where the government collects
diamonds is not far from Villa di Principe,
and extends about sixteen leagues from
north to south, and about eight from east
to west, in the district of Cerro do Frio,
which consists of rugged mountains, gen-
erally considered the highest in Brazil.
The first diamonds found here were used
by the governor of Villa di Principe as
card counters, and considered by him as
curious bright crystals. They were sent
to Lisbon, where the Dutch consul recog-
nised their value, and sent them to Hol-
land, then the market of precious stones.
Holland immediately concluded a com-
mercial treaty with Portugal, and it is said
that the weight of the diamonds intro-
duced during the next twenty years into
Europe, exceeded a thousand ounces.
This diminished their value, and diamonds
were exported profitably even to India, the
only country whence, till then, these stones
had come.
An interesting account of the
proceedings in the Diamond district, into
which few visitors are ever admitted, is
contained in the excellent work called
Travels in Brazil, in the Years 1817-1820,
undertaken by Command of H. M. the
King of Bavaria, by the late Dr. John
Bapt. von Spix, and Dr. C. F. Phil. von
Martius, 2 vols., written and edited by the
survivor, Dr. Martius, Munich, 1828, 4to.,
translated into English 1829. From this
work the following account is extracted:
The travellers reached Villa di Principe,
a town of some size, lying near the edge
of the Diamond district, into which they
were admitted by virtue of an order
from the king. This tract of country is
entirely occupied by the government, for
223
the sake of its mineral treasures. In 1730,
diamonds were declared the property of
the crown; and this district, abounding
particularly in them, has been subjected
to a most curious system of exclusion.
Lines of demarcation are drawn around it,
guarded as strictly as those of an infected
city. No person is permitted to pass these,
in either direction, without an order from
the intendant of the mines. Every one,
on going out, is subjected, with his horses
and baggage, to a most minute examina-
tion, and, in case of suspicion that a dia-
mond has been swallowed, may be detain-
ed for twenty-four hours. The intendant
is head judge in all cases, and chief of the
police; he may send any inhabitant out
of the district on bare suspicion; nor is
there any appeal from him and his coun-
cil, the junta diamantina, except to the
mercy of the king. Every member of this
board, if he knows of any person having
diamonds in his possession, is bound to
give notice to the intendant, who imme-
diately issues his search-warrant, though,
in cases of emergency, the soldiers are per
mitted to search without such authority.
There are also strict rules with regard to
the registering of the inhabitants, the ad.
mission of settlers, the erection of new
inns or shops, and the hiring of slaves.
The members of the expedition being ac-
quainted with the intendant, who, though
a native Brazilian, had studied mineralo-
gy under Werner, in Germany, were in-
vited to a sitting of the junta. The order
of proceedings was as follows. First, the
whole stock of diamonds was laid before
the meeting. It amounted to 9396 carats
2 grains, and was divided into twelve class-
es (lotes), enclosed in bags of red silk.-
The division was made by means of a
brass box, in which there were eleven
sieves of different sizes, so arranged that
the smallest diamonds were collected in
the lowest, the largest in the upper sieve.
There were eleven stones of more than
eight carats in weight. Some spurious
diamonds were rejected by the junta, and
given, for the sake of accurate examination,
to the travellers. These are now preserved
at Munich, and were found to be several
beautiful varieties of chrysoberyls (chiefly
those called in Brazil green aqua-marines)
and sapphires, white and blue topazes,
rubies, quartzes, and other stones. After
the whole collection of the year had been
examined and a list made, they were, in
the presence of all the members, packed
up in bags, and deposited in a small red mo-
rocco box. This was fastened by two locks,
of which the intendant and the officer

224
DIAMOND DISTRICT-DIANA I
of the crown revenue had each a key, and
then given in charge, together with the min-
utes of the proceedings, to a detachment of
dragoons, and addressed to the king, to be
forwarded by the governor of Villa Rica,
to Rio Janeiro. The diamond-washing is
performed by slaves, who are hired by the
government from private proprietors, at
the rate of 300 to 600 rees a week. They
are under the control of certain inspectors,
named feitores, of whom there were, in
1818, one hundred. These persons have
the more immediate care of the slaves, and
receive from them the diamonds. The
feitores, again, are under the control of
ten surveyors (administradores), who weigh
the diamonds, deliver them to the junta,
and have the management of the works,
machinery, &c. The government formerly
prohibited the washing for gold in the
Diamond district; it is, however, now per-
mitted, as a favor to individuals; but if
any precious stones are found, they are
given up to the junta. The most formi-
dable enemy to the government, are the
wamond smugglers, or grimpeiros. These
persons, who are frequently runaway
slaves, being well acquainted with the
country, are able by night to elude the
vigilance of the royal guards. The dia-
monds smuggled are generally procured
from the slaves, who are able, in the pres-
ence of the inspectors, to secrete them in
various ways between their fingers and
toes, in their ears, mouth or hair; or they
swallow the stones, or throw them over
their heads, so that they can find them
again by night. When the guards are
once past, the smugglers sell the stones to
traders, who easily conceal them in bales
of cotton and other similar commodities,
and send them down to the coast. Such
is the necessary and natural consequence
of the system adopted by the Brazilian
government. "It is," as doctor Martius re-
marks, "the only instance in which a tract
of country has been isolated, and all civil
relations made subordinate to a monopoly
of the crown." The happiness and con-
venience of both the inhabitants and neigh-
bors are obviously sacrificed to maintain a
mercantile speculation, of which the prof-
its cannot be very great.*
DIAMOND, in technical language, is the
rhomboid, that is, a quadrangle with equal
sides, and two acute and two obtuse an-
gles; for instance, in patterns of calico.
Diamonds have been lately brought by Alex.
von Humboldt from the Ural mountains, where,
from some passages in ancient writers, they ap-
pear to have been found in ancient times. Not
far from the Rhiphaean mountains," says Dionysius
66
DIANA; the Roman name of the Arte
mis of the Greeks; the daughter of Jupiter
and Latona, twin sister of Apollo. (See
Apollo, and Delos.) While yet a child, as
Callimachus relates in his hymn, she en-
treated her father to suffer her to continue
a virgin, because her mother's sufferings
had rendered her averse from love. She
desired him, at the same time, to give her
a bow and arrows, a city, and rule over
the hills, 60 Oceanides and 20 river-
nymphs, and to permit her to bear a torch
and hunt in the forests. Jupiter gave her
more than she asked. He caused 30
cities to be devoted exclusively to her
worship, and appointed many others where
she was venerated in common with other
deities. Diana then retired to the woods
of Leucus, in Crete; thence she went to
the ocean, where she selected a numerous
retinue of nymphs, nine years old. Her
next journey was to the Cyclops, on the
island Lipara, of whom she asked a Cy-
donian bow, and a quiver and arrows.
They executed the commands of the god-
dess, and she now appeared with her arms
in the Arcadian territory of Pan, who pre-
sented her with some beautiful hunting-
dogs. Thus equipped, at the foot of
mount Parrhasius, she took four beautiful
stags, with gold antlers, yoked them to her
chariot, and proceeded with them first to
the Thracian Hamus. On Olympus, in
Mysia, she cut a torch from a tree, and
kindled it with the lightning of Jove.
When she returned to the palace of the
gods, loaded with game, Mercury and
Apollo met her in the vestibule; the for-
mer took her weapons, and the latter the
fruits of the chase. The river-nymphs
unyoked the stags from her chariot, fed
them in Juno's meadows, and gave them
water from golden vessels. Diana then
went into the palace of the gods, and sat
by the side of Apollo. As he directs the
chariot of the sun, she guides that of the
moon. Cupid and Venus sought to con-
quer her in vain. Hunting, music and
dancing alone had charms for her. She
punished without mercy those of her vir-
gins who violated their vows of chastity.
Actæon, the grandson of Cadmus, who
secretly watched her as she was bathing,
she changed into a stag, and his own dogs
tore him in pieces. The beautiful En-,
dymion, however, at length made her feel
the power of love. While enlightening
Periegetes, "among the cold Agathyrsi, spark-;
ling diamonds are collected;" and Ainmianus,
Marcellinus agrees with him when he mentions'
"Agathyrsi apud quos adamantis est copia
lapidis."

DIANA-DIAPASON.
the earth as Luna (the moon), she beheld
the hunter, fatigued with the chase, slum-
bering in the woods. She descended
from her ethereal course, and kissed the
lips of the youth, who enjoyed a favor
never before granted to mortal or immor-
tal. Notwithstanding her aversion to love,
she afforded aid to women who called
upon her in travail. She was also the
goddess of death. She aims her darts es-
pecially at the female sex, and brings the
old, who are satisfied with life, to a gentle
death, to make way for the vigorous and
blooming. When she is angry, she de-
stroys with pestilence and disease, like her
brother Apollo. When offended, she re-
venges without compassion. Thus she
slew Orion, the hunter, from jealousy, be-
cause Aurora had fallen in love with him;
so also the daughters of Niobe, because
their mother preferred herself above La-
tona, &c. In the Trojan war, both Diana
and Apollo aided the Trojans; and in the
war with the giants and Titans, she proved
her valor. The worship of Diana was
spread through all Greece. She received
many surnames, particularly from the
places where her worship was established,
and from the functions over which she
presided. She was called Lucina, Ilythia,
or Juno Pronuba, when invoked by women
in child-bed, and Trivia when worshipped
in the cross-ways where her statues were
generally erected. She was supposed to
be the same as the moon and Proserpine or
Hecate, and from that circumstance she was
called Triformis; and some of her statues
represented her with three heads, that of a
horse, a dog, and a boar. She was also
called Agroteta, Orthia, Taurica, Delia,
Cynthia, Aricia, &c. She was supposed
to be the same as the Isis of the Egyp-
tians, whose worship was introduced into
Greece with that of Osiris, under the
name of Apollo. The Artemisia was a
The Artemisia was a
festival celebrated in honor of her at
Delphi. At first she was represented with
a diadem, afterwards with the crescent
upon her head, with bow and arrows, a
quiver over her shoulders, and a light
hunting dress, together with her hounds.
Her most famous temple was at Ephesus
q. v.), and was considered one of the
wonders of the world. She was worship-
ped there as the symbol of fruitful nature,
and represented with many breasts, en-
circled with numerous bands.
DIANA of Poitiers, duchess of Valenti-
nois, born in 1499. She was the mistress
of king Henry II of France, and de-
scended from the noble family of Poitiers,
in Dauphiny. At an early age, she mar-
225
ried the grand-seneschal of Normandy,
Louis de Brezé, became a widow at 31,
and, some time after, the mistress of the
young duke of Orleans. When the duke
became dauphin, a violent hostility arose
between Diana and the duchess of Etam-
pes, mistress of Francis I, who taunted
her rival with her age. Diana satisfied her
revenge by banishing the duchess on the
accession of Henry II to the throne, in
1547, in whose name she ruled with un-
limited power. Till his death, in 1559,
she exercised such an absolute empire
over the king, by the charms of her wit
and grace, that her superstitious contem-
poraries ascribed her power to magic.
Upon his death, she retired to her castle
Anet, where she established a charitable
institution for the support of 12 widows,
and died in 1566. Medals are still to be
seen bearing her image, trampling under
foot the god of love, with the inscription,
Omnium victorem vici (I have conquered
the universal conqueror).
DIANA'S TREE (arbor Diana, or silver
tree) is formed from a solution of silver in
nitrous acid, precipitated by quicksilver,
and crystallized in prismatic needles, which
are grouped together in the form of a tree.
To make this beautiful process of crystalli-
zation visible to the eye, let a quantity of
pure silver be dissolved in nitrous acid;
then dilute the saturated solution with
20 or 30 parts of water, and put in an
amalgam of 8 parts mercury and 1 part
silver leaf, upon which, after some days,
crystals are formed. A little mercury, in
fine linen, is suspended in this solution by
a silk thread, and the tree may then be
withdrawn from the solution, and pre-
served under a glass bell. Copper filings
dropped into a solution of silver in aqua
fortis produce the same effect; and such
trees are often found in working silver
ore, on the removal of the quicksilver.
Since the invention of the voltaic pile,
scientific men have succeeded in produc-
ing the tree of Diana by its influence on
the union of metals with acids. If the
electric current, for example, is transmitted
through nitrate of silver, the needles of
silver arrange themselves in the same way
on the wire of the pile.
DIAPASON. By the term diapason, the
ancient Greeks expressed the interval of
the octave. And certain musica! instru-
ment-makers have a kind of rule or scale,
called the diapason, by which they deter-
mine the measures of the pipes, or other
parts of their instruments. There is a
diapason for trumpets and serpents. Bell
founders have also a diapason. for the

226
DIAPASON--DIBDIN.
regulation of the size, thickness, weight,
&c., of their bells. Diapason is likewise
the appellation given to certain stops in an
organ. (See Stop.)
DIAPER (French, diapre); so called from
Ypres (d'Ypres); linen cloth woven in
flowers and other figures; the finest spe-
cies of figured linen after damask. Hence,
as a verb, it signifies to diversify or
variegate with flowers, or to imitate
diaper.
DIAPHRAGM, in anatomy; a large, ro-
bust, muscular membrane or skin, placed
transversely in the trunk, and dividing the
chest from the belly. In its natural situa-
tion, the diaphragm is convex on the up-
per side towards the breast, and concave
on its lower side towards the belly; there-
fore, when its fibres swell and contract,
it must become plain on each side; and
consequently the cavity of the breast is
enlarged, to give liberty to the lungs to
receive air in inspiration; and the stom-
ach and intestines are pressed for the dis-
tribution of their contents; hence the use
of this muscle is very considerable. It is
the principal agent in respiration, particu-
larly in inspiration; for, when it is in
action, the cavity of the chest is enlarged,
particularly at the sides, where the lungs
are chiefly situated; and, as the lungs
must always be contiguous to the inside
of the chest and upper side of the dia-
phragm, the air rushes into them, in order
to fill up the increased space. In expira-
tion, it is relaxed, and pushed up by the
pressure of the abdominal muscles upon
the viscera of the abdomen; and, at the
same time that they press it upwards,
they pull down the ribs, by which the
cavity of the chest is diminished, and the
air suddenly pushed out of the lungs.
DIATONIC (from the Greek); a term in
music, applied by the Greeks to that one
of their three genera, which consisted, like
the modern system of intervals, of major
tones and semitones. The diatonic genus
has long since been considered as more
natural than either the chromatic or en-
harmonic. Aristoxenus asserts it to have
been the first, and informs us that the
other two were formed from the division
of its intervals.
DIATONUM INTENSUM, or SHARP DIA-
TONIC; the name given by musical theo-
rists to those famous proportions of the
intervals proposed by Ptolemy, in his sys-
tem of that name; a system which, long
after the time of this ancient speculative
usician, was received in our counter-
point, and is pronounced by doctor Wallis,
doctor Smith, and the most learned writers
on harmonics, to be the best division of
the scale.
DIAZ; 1. Michael, an Arragonese, com-
panion of Christopher Columbus. In
1495, he discovered the gold mines of St.
Christopher, in the new world, and con-
tributed much to the founding of New
Isabella, afterwards St. Domingo. He
died in 1512.-2. Bartholomew; a Portu-
guese. In 1486, he was commissioned
by his government, during the reign of
John II, to seek a new way to the East
Indies. He advanced boldly to the south,
and reached the southern extremity of
Africa; but the mutinous spirit of his
crew, and the dangerous tempests that
raged there, compelled him to return to
Lisbon. Diaz called the southern cape
of Africa Cabo de todos los tormentos; but
his king, John II, gave it the name of the
cape of Good Hope, convinced that the
expected way to India was now found.
DIB, or DIV, signifying island; the final
syllable of several Hindoo names, as, Mal-
dives, Laccadives, Serendib (Ceylon).
DIBDIN, Charles, born 1748; an Eng-
lish dramatic manager and poet, com-
poser and actor. At the age of 15, he
made his appearance on the stage, and
was early distinguished as a composer.
He excited uncommon admiration, and
soon gained friends and a sufficient sup-
port. He invented a new kind of enter-
tainment, consisting of music, songs and
public declamations, which he wrote, sung,
composed and performed himself, and, by
this means, succeeded in amusing the
public for 20 years. His patriotic songs
were very popular, and his sea songs are
still the favorites of the British navy.
Their favorable influence on the lower
classes obtained him a pension of £200
from government. Improvidence, how-
ever, kept him constantly poor. He
died in 1814. His son, Charles Dibdin,
has composed and written many small
pieces and occasional songs. His second
son, Thomas Dibdin, is likewise a fruitful
writer of theatrical and occasional pieces.
DIBDIN, Thomas Frognall; a distin-
guished bibliographer. He is a clergy-
man, member of the society of antiquities
in London, and librarian of earl Spencer,
and, in this office, has the care of one of
the richest and most valuable private li-
braries in the world. We have from him
many estimable works, bibliographical and
bibliomanical, of which we will mention
the most important:-Introduction to a
Knowledge of rare and valuable Editions
of the Greek and Roman Classics (London,
3d edit., 1808, 2 vols.); the Billiomania,
DADIBDIN-DICKINSON.
bliographical Romance (London, 2d edit.,
1811); Bibliography, a Poem (London,
1812); the Bibliotheca Spenceriana, or a de-
scriptive Catalogue of the Books printed
in the 15th Century, and of many valuable
first Editions, in the Library of George John
Earl Spencer (3 vols., 1814), the only book
of its kind in existence; Bibliographical
Decameron, or Ten Days' pleasant Dis-
course upon illuminated Manuscripts, and
Subjects connected with early Engraving,
Typography and Bibliography (London,
1817, 3 vols.): this is ornamented with a
great variety of fine wood cuts and engrav-
ings, and is one of the master-pieces of the
art of printing. He has described his travels
through France and the south of Germany
(1818), in the following work: A Bib-
liographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque
Tour in France and Germany (London,
1821, 3 vols., with numerous engravings
and wood cuts). It is executed with simi-
lar typographical splendor, but the con-
tents are inferior to the beauty of the
exterior. The author has made his col-
lections without choice, and often without
taste, and, in all that is not immediately
bibliographical, he is a mere copyist; even
his bibliographical notices are not always
new or fully worthy of credit. His Edes
Althorpiana is of more value. It contains
a supplement to his Bibliotheca Spenceria-
na, and a catalogue of the pictures in the
Spencer gallery.
DICE; cubical pieces of bone or ivory,
marked with dots on each of their six
faces, from one to six, according to the
number of faces. Sharpers have several
ways of falsifying dice: 1. By sticking a
hog's bristle in them so as to make them
run high or low, as they please; 2. by
drilling and loading them with quicksilver,
which cheat is found out by holding them
gently by two diagonal corners; for, if
false, the heavy sides will turn always
down; 3. by filing and rounding them.
But all these ways fall far short of the
art of the dice-makers, some of whom
are so dexterous this way, that sharping
gamesters will give any money for their
assistance. Dice are very old. The Ro-
man word tessera is derived from the
Greek Técσepes, Ionic for réocapes, four; be-
cause it is, on every side, square. Nu-
merous passages in the ancient writers,
and very many representations in marble
or paintings, show how frequent dice-
playing was among them. Different from
the tessere, which were precisely like our
dice, were the tali (which means, origi-
nally, the pastern bone of a beast-Greek,
dorçáyalos). These were almost of a cubic
227

form, and had numbers only on four sides,
lengthwise. Three tessera and four tal
were often used together; and the game
with dice was properly called alea, though
alea afterwards came to signify any game
at hazard, and aleator, a gambler. Dice-
playing, and all games of chance, were
prohibited by several laws of the Romans,
except in December, yet the laws were
not strictly observed.
DICKINSON, John, an eminent political
writer, was born in Maryland, in Decem-
ber, 1732, and educated in Delaware, to
which province his parents removed soon
after his birth. He read law in Philadel-
phia, and resided three years in the Tem-
ple, London. After his return to America,
he practised law with success in Phila
delphia. He was soon elected to the
legislature of Pennsylvania, in which his
superior qualifications as a speaker and a
man of business gave him considerable
influence. The attempts of the mother
country upon the liberties of the colonies
early awakened his attention. His first
elaborate publication against the new pol-
icy of the British cabinet was printed at
Philadelphia, in 1765, and entitled, The late
Regulations respecting the British Coicies
on the Continent of America considered.
In that year he was deputed, by Pennsyl-
vania, to attend the first congress, held at
New York, and prepared the draft of the
bold resolutions of that congress. In 1766,
he published a spirited address on the
same questions, to a committee of corre-
spondence in Barbadoes. He next issued
in Philadelphia, in 1767, his celebrated
Farmer's Letters to the Inhabitants of the
British Colonies-a production which had
a great influence in enlightening the
American people on the subject of their
rights, and preparing them for resistance.
They were reprinted in London, with a
preface by doctor Franklin, and published
in French, at Paris. In 1774, Mr. Dickin-
son wrote the resolves of the committee
of Pennsylvania, and their instructions to
their representatives. These instructions
formed a profound and extensive essay on
the constitutional power of Great Britain
over the colonies in America, and in that
shape they were published by the com-
mittee. While in congress, he wrote the
Address to the Inhabitants of Quebec.
the first Petition to the King; the Address
to the Armies; the second Petition to the
King, and the Address to the several
States; all among the ablest state-papers
of the time. As an orator, he had few
superiors in that body. He penned the
famous Declaration of the United Colonies

228
DICKINSON-DICTATOR.
of North America (July 6, 1775); but he
opposed the declaration of independence,
believing that compromise was still prac-
ticable, and that his countrymen were not
yet ripe for a complete separation from
Great Britain. This rendered him for a
time so unpopular, that he withdrew from
the public councils, and did not recover his
seat in congress until about two years
afterwards. He then returned, earnest in
the cause of independence. His zeal was
shown in the ardent address of congress
to the several states, of May, 1779, which
he wrote and reported. He was after-
wards president of the states of Pennsyl-
vania and Delaware, successively; and, in
the beginning of 1788, being alarmed by
the hesitation of some states to ratify the
constitution proposed by the federal con-
vention the year before, he published, for
the purpose of promoting its adoption,
nine very able letters, under the signature
of Fabius. This signature he again used
in fourteen letters, published in 1797,
the object of which was to produce a
favorable feeling in the U. States towards
France, whose revolution he believed to be
then at an end. Before the period last
mentioned, he had withdrawn to private
life, at Wilmington, in the state of Dela-
ware, where he died, Feb. 14, 1808. His
retirement was spent in literary studies,
in charitable offices and the exercise of an
elegant hospitality. His conversation and
manners were very attractive; his coun-
tenance and person, uncommonly fine. His
public services were eminent: his writings
have been justly described as copious, forci-
ble and correct; sometimes eloquently rhe-
torical and vehement, and generally rich in
historical references and classical quota-
tions.
DICKINSON COLLEGE. (See Carlisle.)
DICTATOR. We shall state first the
opinions commonly entertained respecting
the Roman dictator, and afterwards some
of the views of Niebuhr respecting this
officer, as given in his Roman History.
This magistrate, the highest in the Roman
republic, was appointed only in extraordi-
nary emergencies, which demanded the
fullest power in the executive. The au-
thority of the dictator was, therefore, al-
most without restrictions in the administra-
tion of the state and of the army, and from
it there was no appeal. It continued only
six months. In fact, the dictators common-
ly resigned their office as soon as the ob-
ject was accomplished for which they had
been appointed. There are only a few
instances of their continuing a longer
time; for example, in the cases of Sylla
and of Cæsar. The authority of all civi
magistrates, except that of tribunes of the
people, immediately ceased on the ap-
pointment of a dictator. The consuls, in-
deed, continued in the discharge of their
office; but they were subject to the orders
of the dictator, and in his presence had
no badges of power. The dictator, on the
contrary, both within and without the
city, was attended by 24 lictors, with their
fasces and axes.
He had the power of
life and death, and was only restrained in
not being permitted to spend the public
money arbitrarily, or to leave Italy, or to
enter the city on horseback. He might
also be compelled to account for his con-
duct, when he laid down his office. The
choice of dictator was not, as in the case
of other magistrates, decided by the pop-
ular voice, but one of the consuls appoint-
ed him, at the command of the senate.
The dictator then selected a master of the
horse (magister equitum). In the sequel,
dictators were also appointed to officiate
in certain public solemnities; for example,
to summon the comitia for the choice of
new consuls, to arrange the festivals, and
the like.-The remainder of this article
contains Niebuhr's views. The name of
dictator, says Niebuhr, was of Latin ori-
gin. The Latins elected dictators in their
several cities, and also over the whole
nation. If Rome and Latium were con-
federate states, on a footing of equality, in
the room of that supremacy which lasted
but for a brief space after the revolution,
they must have possessed the chief com-
mand alternately; and this would explain
why the Roman dictators were appointed
for only six months, and why they came
to have twenty-four lictors. These were
a symbol that the governments of the
two states were united under the same
head; the consuls had only twelve lictors
between them, which served them in turn.
The dictator, at first, therefore, could have
had to take cognizance only of foreign
affairs; and the continuance of the con-
suls along with the dictator is accounted
for. The object aimed at in the institu-
tion of the dictatorship, was incontestably
to evade the Valerian laws, and to re-
establish unlimited authority over the ple-
beians; for the appeal to the commonalty
granted by the law, was from the sentence
of the consuls, and not from that of this
new magistrate. Even the members of the
legislative bodies, at first, had not the right
of appealing against the dictator, to their
comitia. This is expressly asserted by
Festus; but he adds that they afterwards
obtained it. This is confirmed by the ex-

DICTATOR--DICTIONARY.
ample of M. Fabius, who, when his son
was persecuted by the dictator, appealed
in his behalf to the populus; to his peers,
the patricians in the curie. The later
Romans had only an indistinct knowledge
of the dictatorship, derived from their
earlier history. As applied to the tyranny
of Sylla, and the monarchy of Cæsar, the
term dictatorship was merely a name,
without any ground for such a use in the
ancient constitution. This last application
of the term enables us to account for the
error of Dion Cassius, when, overlooking
the freedom of the patricians, he expressly
asserts, that in no instance was there a
right of appealing from the dictator, and
that he might condemn knights and sen-
ators to death without a trial; also for the
error of Dionysius, in fancying that he
decided on every measure at will, even
the determination of peace and war. Such
notions, out of which the moderns have
drawn their phrase, dictatorial power, are
suitable, indeed, to Sylla and Cæsar, but
do not apply to the genuine dictatorship.
The statement generally contained in the
books on Roman antiquities, that the ap-
pointment of the dictator, in all cases,
rested with one of the consuls, designated
by the senate, is incorrect. Such might
possibly be the case, if the dictator was
restricted to the charge of presiding over
the elections; but the disposal of kingly
power could never have been intrusted to
the discretion of a single elector. The
pontifical law-books have preserved the
true account, that a citizen whom the
senate should nominate, and the people
approve of, should govern for six months.
The dictator, after his appointment, had
to obtain the imperium from the curia.
As late as in 444, the bestowal of the im-
perium was something more than an
empty form; but it became such by the
Mænian law: thenceforward it was only
necessary that the consul should consent
to proclaim the person named by the sen-
ate. Thus, after that time, in the ad-
vanced state of popular freedom, the dic-
tatorship could occur but seldom, except
for trivial purposes: if, on such occasions,
the appointment was left to the consuls,
they would likewise advance pretensions
to exercise it in the solitary instances
where the office still had any real impor-
tance. However, when P. Claudius mis-
used his privilege in mockery, the remem-
brance of the ancient procedure was still
fresh enough for the senate to annul the
scandalous appointment.
DICTIONARY (from the Latin dictio, a
saying, expression, word); a book con-
229
taining the words, or subjects, which it
treats, arranged in alphabetical order. At
least, this should be the general principle
of the arrangement; thus an etymological
dictionary contains the roots of the words
in a language in this order. By dictionary
is generally understood a vocabulary, a
collection of the words in a language,
with their definitions; and Johnson's and
Webster's definitions of the word apply
only to this use of it. But in modern
times, when the various branches of sci-
ence have become so much extended, and
the desire of general knowledge is daily in-
creasing, works of very various kinds have
been prepared on the principle of alpha-
betical arrangement, and are termed dic-
tionaries. Among the Greek dictionaries,
the Onomastikon, written B. C. 120, by
Julius Pollux, is one of the oldest, but
more of a dictionary of things, or an en-
cyclopædia, than a verbal dictionary. He-
sychius of Alexandria, of whom we know
little more than that he lived at the begin-
ning of the third century, was the first
Christian who wrote a Greek dictionary,
which he called Glossarium. After the
revival of learning, Johannes Crestonus
(Crastonus, Johannes Placentinus, because
he was a native of Placenza) wrote, in
1480, the first Greek and Latin dictionary.
M. Terentius Varro, born in the year of
Rome 638, wrote the first Latin diction-
ary. A similar one is that called Papius,
prepared by Solomon, abbot of St. Gall,
bishop of Constance, who lived about
1409. John Balbus (de Balbis ; de Janua;
Januensis; died 1298) compiled a Latin
dictionary, printed at Mentz in 1460, under
the title Catholicon. John Reuchlin was
the first German who wrote a Latin dic-
tionary. The first Hebrew dictionary is by
Rabbi Menachem Ben Saruck (Ben Jakob),
in the ninth century. Rabbi Ben Jechiel
(died in 1106) published the first Talmudic
dictionary. The first Arabic dictionary,
written by a Christian, was published by
Peter de Alcala, in 1505, at Grenada, with
definitions in the Spanish language; an
other, by Franciscus Raphelengius (born
1539, died 1597), was printed at Leyden,
in 1613. The first Syriac dictionary was
written by Andrew Masius, in 1571, at
Antwerp; the first Ethiopian and Am-
haric, by Job Ludolf, in the 16th century,
London; the first Japanese, by John
Ferdinand; the first German, by the arch
bishop Rabanus Maurus, of Mentz (died
859); the first German printed dictionary
under the title Theutonista, was prepared
by Gerhard von der Schüren, Cologne,
1477; the first Hebrew, Greek and Latin
VOL. IV.
20

230
DICTIONARY-DIDASCALIA.
dictionary, by Sebastian Munster, 1530,
at Basle. The dictionary of the Italian
language, which has the highest authority,
is that of the Crusca. The best French
dictionary is that of the academy; but,
since the revolution, the language has
been increased by the addition of many
new words, and has received from several
of its first writers a new turn. The Span-
iards have also a dictionary of the acad-
emy. The Portuguese academy has pub-
lished one volume only of its dictionary.
In German, no work of such authority
exists. Adelung is excellent for etymolo-
gy, but not of much authority as a stand-
ard of language. In this respect, Campe's
Wörterbuch (Brunswick, 1813, 6 vols. 4to.)
is more complete. For Latin, Forcellini
is still the best, and James Bailey's edition
(London, 1828, 2 vols. 4to.) is very excel-
lent and complete. In English, Johnson's
Dictionary was published in 1755, in 2 vols.
fol. An Abridgment by the author ap-
peared in 1756, in which many of the words
were omitted. Mr. Todd has added, in
his second edition of Johnson's Dictionary
(1827), more than 15,000 words. A very
useful edition of the Abridgment, contain-
ing all the words of doctor Johnson's large
dictionary, with the additions of Mr. Todd,
and some words which have been consid-
ered as Americanisms, was published in
Boston (N. E.), in 1828. The other Eng-
lish dictionaries are of little comparative
value, in respect to language. Walker's
Critical Pronouncing Dictionary (which is
incorporated with the Boston edition of the
Abridgment of Todd's Johnson) is impor-
tant, as affording the most general standard
of polite pronunciation. The American
Dictionary of the English Language, in-
tended to exhibit the origin, affinities and
primary signification of words, the genuine
orthography and pronunciation of words,
and accurate and discriminating defini-
tions, by Noah Webster, 2 vols. 4to., New
York, 1828, republished in London, 1829
(Abridgment, 8vo., Boston, 1829), is a work
of merit, and of great labor. It contains
between 60,000 and 70,000 words. (For
Geographical Dictionaries, see Gazetteer.)
DIDACTIC POETRY. The word didactic
is derived from Sidaoke, to teach; and a
didactic poem is one of some length, the
object of which is to impart instruction in
the form of poetry. It is a matter of ques-
tion, whether didactic poetry really deserves
to be classed with lyric, epic and dramatic,
because either the chief object of the poem
is to give instruction on a certain sub-
ject, in which case the elevation, inven-
tion and freedom of poetry are excluded;
or, if this is not the prominent object, then
every poem is more or less didactic. If
there are any poems really deserving the
name, that ought to be called didactic, it
is those which veil the purpose of in-
struction under the universally admitted
forms of poetic composition, as in the
case of Lessing's drama of Nathan the
Wise; or clothe the lessons of wisdom
in a symbolical or allegorical garb, as in
the case of many visions, &c. Many of
the early sacred poems of the different
nations are, in this sense, didactic, and
most, perhaps all, of these didactic poems
partake of the symbolical character. Even
Dante's grand poem (see Dante) would,
in this point of view, be justly called
didactic. Also fables, parables, poetic
epistles and descriptive poems are num-
bered, in this sense, among those of the
didactic kind.-There is hardly a subject,
however prosaic, which has not, at some
time, been treated in a didactic poem, so
called. The writer recollects having seen
a long poem on book-binding. Didactic
poetry, taking the phrase in its narrower
sense, will always be a meager and poor
kind of composition; but, when it passes
into poetic description, it may attain an
animated and elevated character. Lively
and beautiful descriptions, for instance,
exist, of hunting, fishing, husbandry; but
it is not to be denied, that they lose in
didactic, as they gain in poetical character.
Even the poem of Lucretius, De Rerum
Natura, on the system of Epicurus, and
the Georgics of Virgil, on husbandry,
though containing poetical episodes and
masterly passages, can hardly be regarded,
on the whole, as great poems. Didactic
poetry is most cultivated in periods when
the nobler kinds of poetry are declining,
and the want of poetical genius and noble
conceptions is attempted to be supplied
by an incongruous mixture of poetry and
reflection. Ovid's Art of Love partakes
of the comic character. The Ars poetica
of Horace is of the didactic kind. Among
the English didactic poets are Davies,
Akenside, Dryden, Pope, Young, Cow-
per, Darwin; among the French, Racine,
Boileau, Dorat, Lacombe, Delille; among
the Germans, Opitz, Haller, Hagedorn,
Cronegk, Lichtwer, Tiedge, &c.
objections to didactic poetry apply to it
only if it is intended to make a class sep-
arate from epic, lyric or dramatic, and has
for its great object, to impart instruction
on a particular subject, and not where the
established forms of poetic composition are
employed as vehicles of instruction.
Our
DIDASCALIA, among the Greeks; some
DIDASCALIA-DIDEROT.
úmes the exhibition of a play itself, and
sometimes a written addition, in which
information is given of the authors and
contents of the plays, of the time, place
and success of the representation; whether
the pieces were exhibited or not; whether
they were the work of the poet to whom
they were attributed, &c. Many old au-
thors have written didascalia; and these
contain, not merely theatrical information,
but also dramatic criticisms, the analysis
of the plan, developement of the beauties
and faults, &c. (See Drama.)
DIDEROT, Denis; born 1713, at Lan-
gres, in Champagne, and educated in the
school of the Jesuits, who designed to
make him one of their order. His father
intended that he should pursue the pro-
fession of law, and committed him to the
instruction of a Paris attorney; but the
youth found greater attractions in litera-
ture. Neither the indignation of his father,
nor his consequent want of means, could
deter him from his favorite pursuit ; and he
found resources in his own talents. He
applied himself zealously to mathematics,
physics, metaphysics and the belles-lettres,
and soon became distinguished among the
wits of the capital. He laid the foundation
of his fame by his Pensées Philosophiques
(1746)-a pamphlet against the Christian
religion, which found many readers, and in
consequence of which he was imprisoned
at Vincennes: the parliament caused it to
be burned by the public executioner. The
applause which this pamphlet received
encouraged him to continue in the same
course; he was not bold enough, however,
to continue this particular work. His Let-
tres sur les Aveugles, à l'Usage de ceux qui
voyent (London, 1749), contain attacks upon
the Christian religion. In his Lettres sur
Sourds et Muets, à l'Usage de ceux qui
entendent et qui parlent, he treats of the
origin of our perceptions. In conjunction
with Eidous and Toussaint, he published
the Dictionnaire universel de Médecine (6
vols. folio). The success of this work, not-
withstanding its deficiencies, determined
him to undertake an encyclopædia. He
prepared the plan, and was assisted in the
execution by D'Aubenton, Rousseau, Mar-
montel, Le Blond, Le Monnier, and par-
ticularly D'Alembert, who, next to him,
had the largest share in this great under-
taking. Diderot took upon himself the
preparation of the articles relating to the
arts and trades, and, by his care as editor,
supplied many of the deficiencies of his
coadjutors. (See Encyclopædia.) The
profit of his 20 years' labor, owing to his
bad management, was so trifling, that he
231

found himself compelled to sacrifice his
library. The empress of Russia pur-
chased it for 50,000 livres, and allowed
him the use of it for life. After this, Dide-
rot visited Petersburg; but, having offend-
ed the empress by an equivocal quatrain,
he soon returned to France. While en-
gaged in the encyclopedia, and obliged
to encounter many obstacles, which de-
layed the printing for several years, he
published a lively but licentious romance,
Les Bijoux indiscrets; and two sentiment-
al comedies, Le Fils naturel and Le Père
de Famille. They are often printed under
the title Théatre de Diderot, and accom-
panied with a treatise on the dramatic art,
which contains many ingenious observa-
tions. Diderot died in 1784. His char-
acter has been very differently represented.
His friends describe him as open, disin-
terested and honest; his enemies, on the
contrary, accuse him of cunning and self-
ishness. Towards the end of his life, he
had a quarrel with Rousseau, by whom
he thought himself calumniated, in which
much weakness was displayed on both
sides. Several excellent productions of
his have been published since his death.
Among them are his Essai sur la Peinture;
likewise a dithyrambic poem, written in
1772, Abdication d'un Roi de la Fève, which
contains democratical opinions; and two
lively tales, La Religieuse (Paris, 1796),
and Jacques le Fataliste et son Maître
(Paris). Of Diderot was first said, what
has been often repeated, that he had writ-
ten some fine pages, but had never made
a good book. Diderot was a man of bril-
liant talent and warm imagination, but
has not established a lasting reputation,
either as a writer or as a philosopher.
His works are deficient in plan and con-
nexion, and disfigured with pretension,
obscurity and arrogance, but, neverthe-
less, are characterized by energy, and
sometimes even by eloquence. They
contain many happy passages, and truths
which would be more effectual if more
simply stated. As a philosopher, he fol-
lowed the dictates of an intemperate im-
agination, rather than those of a sound
reason. He is always enthusiastic, and
oversteps the bounds of discretion. The
general opinion entertained respecting
him at present is, that he had much talent,
and was capable of warmth and elevation
of feeling, but that he was deficient in
judgment and in taste. He adopted a des
olating system of philosophy, and dishon-
ored his cause by the excess to which he
carried some of his principles, and by the
licentiousness of his productions. He

232
DIDEROT-DIDOT.
was distinguished for fluency and richness
of conversation. A complete edition of his
works appeared at London, 1773, 5 parts;
in 6 vols., Paris, 1819.
DIDO; the founder of Carthage. Ac-
cording to some, she was the daughter
of Agenor (Belus); according to others, of
Carchedon of Tyre, from whom Carthage
received its name. Others call her father
Mutgo or Muttinus. Her brother was
Pygmalion, king of Tyre. Her father
married her to Sichæus or Sicharbas, one
of the richest Phoenicians, who was also
the priest of Hercules, and to whom she
was strongly attached. He was murdered
before the altar, by her brother, who was
instigated by the desire of making himself
master of his wealth. The spirit of her
husband appeared to her in a dream, dis-
closed the crime, besought her to flee, and
informed her where she could find his
treasures, which Pygmalion had sought
in vain. She therefore set sail for Africa,
with all her wealth and her faithful com-
panions, taking on board a number of
young women at Cyprus, who were ne-
cessary for the establishment of a new col-
ony. They landed on the coast of Africa,
not far from Utica, a Tyrian colony, the
inhabitants of which received her with
the greatest kindness, and advised her to
settle in the place where she first landed.
She purchased of the natives a piece of
land, and first built the citadel of Byrsa,
and afterwards Carthage (q. v.), about
888 B. C., which soon became an impor-
tant place. Iarbas, a neighboring prince,
paid his addresses to her. Unwilling to
accept, and unable to refuse the proposal,
she sacrificed her life on the funeral pile.
Virgil attributes her death to the faithless-
ness of Æneas; but the story of the meet-
ing of Æneas and Dido is a poetical fic-
tion, as she lived more than 200 years
later than the hero of the Æneid.
DIDOT. This family of printers and
booksellers at Paris have distinguished
themselves by their liberality and skill in
their art, and by their many fine works,
so that they may be justly ranked with the
Elzevirs.-1. François-Ambrose, son of
the printer and bookseller François Didot,
born in 1730, invented many of the machines
and instruments now commonly used in the
typographic art. From his foundery came
the most beautiful types that, up to that
period, had been used in France, and he was
the first person in France who printed on
vellum paper. He took the greatest care
to have his editions correct. By the di-
rection of Louis XVI, he printed a collec-
to of the French classics, for the use of
the dauphin. The count d'Artois em-
ployed him to print a similar collection.
He died in 1804.-2. Pierre-François Di-
dot, brother of the former, succeeded his
father in the bookselling business, and
distinguished himself by his bibliographi-
cal knowledge. He also became printer to
Monsieur, since Louis XVIII. He had a
great share in the changes made in the
character of types, and contributed to the
advancement of his art. He published
some very fine editions; among them the
Voyages d'Anacharsis. He died in 1795.-
3. Pierre Didot the elder, who has carried
his art to perfection, son of François-Am-
brose, born in 1761, succeeded his father
in the printing business in 1789. His first
work was to finish the collection for the
dauphin, begun by the latter. But he was
not satisfied with accomplishing this. In
the universal impulse which the arts re-
ceived from the revolution, he aimed at
becoming the Bodoni of France, and con-
ceived the plan of a splendid edition of the
classic authors in folio, which should ex-
cel, if possible, the best editions extant.
He spared no expense to adorn them with
all the splendor and elegance of the arts
of design, and availed himself of the aid
of the first masters. He even sacrificed a
part of his property to this favorite object.
His Virgil (1798) was worthy of these
endeavors, and still more so his Racine of
1801, which the French regard as the
first typographical production of any age
or country. Only 250 copies of these
works were struck off. Among the
ductions of his press, Visconti's Iconog-
raphy is particularly distinguished. Didot
devoted the efforts of 10 years to the im-
provement of the types, and caused 18
different sorts, with new proportions, to
be cut, with which he printed Boileau and
the Henriade in 1819. Didot paid no less
attention to correctness and purity of text,
and perfect consistency of orthography,
than to typographical beauty. He is also
known as an author. He has written
prefaces, in Latin, to Virgil and Horace,
and is the author of several works in
French, poetry as well as prose. He has
received marks of honor from the repub-
lic, from Napoleon, and from Louis XVIII;
the latter conferred on him the order of
St. Michael.-4. Firmin Didot, brother of
the preceding, printer and type-founder.
He is the inventor of a new sort of writing
and of stereotype printing. (See Print-
ing). In 1826, he published Notes d'un
Voyage dans le Levant, en 1816 et 1817
of which he is the author.-5. Henry
Didot, son of Pierre-François, and nephew
pro-

DIDOT-DIEMEN'S LAND.
of the two preceding, early distinguished
himself as a type-engraver. He then ap-
plied himself particularly to improve the
method of founding types, in which he
succeeded by the invention of a new
founding apparatus. He calls his process
fonderie polyamatype. It is more expedi-
tious than the former mode, and the types
are much cheaper.
DIDYMEUS; a surname of Apollo, either
because he was the twin-brother of Diana,
or from the double light of the sun and
moon, which he lends to men. Under
this name, Apollo had one of the most
famous of his temples and an oracle at
Didyma, among the Milesians. Pindar
Pindar
calls Diana Didyma.
box
DIE. (See Architecture, page 338, right
column.)
DIEBITSCH, Sabal Kanski, count. (See
Turkey, and Russia, towards the end.)
DIEMEN, Anthony van; governor-gen-
eral of the Dutch East Indies; born 1593,
at Cuylenburg. Having been unsuccess-
ful as a merchant, and pressed by his
creditors, he went to India, where his
excellent penmanship procured him the
place of a clerk, and he speedily rose to
the highest dignity. He administered the
government with much ability, and con-
tributed much to the establishment of the
Dutch commerce in India. Abel Tasman,
whom he sent with a vessel to the South
seas, in 1642, gave the name of Van Die-
men's Land to a country long regarded as
a part of New Holland, but since found to
be an island; he likewise discovered New
Zealand. Another navigator, whom he
sent out, made discoveries in the ocean
north of Japan, which have been con-
firmed by voyages in our days. A part
of the north-western portion of New
Holland, which is also called Van Die-
men's Land, was probably discovered
later; perhaps, also, by Tasman. Van
Diemen died in 1645.
DIEMEN'S (VAN) LAND; an island in the
Southern ocean, separated from New
Holland by a navigable canal called Bass's
straits. The country was first discovered
in 1633, by Abel Janson Tasman, a Dutch
navigator, who called it Van Diemen's
Land, after the governor of Batavia, Van
Diemen (see Diemen). In 1773, it was vis-
ited by captain Furneaux, and by captain
Cook in 1777; since which period it has
been visited by different navigators. Sev-
eral colonies have been sent from the
original establishment made by the British
at Port Jackson, to this island. In 1804,
Hobart's Town was founded on this island
by the English, about 9 miles up the Der-
233
went; and another settlement, namely,
Launceston, was founded about 30 miles
from the mouth of Port Dalrymple, and
130 miles, in a straight line, from Hobart's
Town. Van Diemen's Land is situated
between 40° 42′ and 43° S. lat., and be-
tween 145° 31' and 148° 22′ E. lon. It
contains 23,437 square miles, and had, in
1829, 20,000 inhabitants. The island is
divided into two counties, Cornwall and
Buckingham. It has not so discouraging
and repulsive an appearance from the
coast as New Holland. Many fine tracts
of land are found on the very borders of
the sea, and the interior is almost invari-
ably possessed of soil adapted to all the
purposes of civilized man. This island
is, upon the whole, mountainous, with
some peaks of considerable elevation,
and consequently abounds in streams.
Of these, the Derwent, Huon and Tamar
rank in the first class. There is, perhaps,
no island in the world, of the same size,
which can boast of more fine harbors:
the best are the Derwent, Port Davy,
Macquarie harbor, Port Dalrymple and
Oyster bay. There is almost a perfect
resemblance between the animals and
vegetables found here and in New Hol-
land. In the animals, in particular, there
is scarcely any variation. The native dog,
indeed, is unknown here; but there is an
animal of the panther tribe in its stead,
which, though not found in such numbers
as the native dog is in New Holland, com-
mits dreadful havoc among the flocks.
Kangaroos are most abundant. In the
feathered tribes of the two islands, there
is scarcely any diversity; of this the wat-
tle bird, which is about the size of a snipe,
and considered a very great delicacy, is
the only instance that can be cited. The
climate is equally healthy, and much more
congenial to the European constitution
than that of Port Jackson. In this island,
as in New Holland, there is every diversity
of soil; but, in proportion to the surface
of the two countries, this contains, com-
paratively, much less of an indifferent
quality. Barley and oats arrive at great per-
fection. The wheat, too, is of a superior
description, not subject to the weevil, and
generally yields from 60 to 65 pounds a
bushel. It is frequently exported to Syd-
ney, Isle de France, Cape of Good Hope
and Rio Janeiro. The fruits raised here
are the apple, currant, gooseberry, and,
indeed, all the fruits not requiring a warm
climate. The settlements have been in-
fested, for many years, by banditti com-
posed of runaway convicts, known by the
name of bush-rangers. The aborigines
20*

234
DIEMEN'S LAND-DIES IRE.
are but few, and have much more resem-
blance to the Negro race than to the abo-
rigines of New South Wales: they have
woolly hair, are not quite black, paint
themselves all over with grease and char-
coal, are tall, and both the sexes go quite
naked, or covered only with a kangaroo
skin. The English colony, one of those
to which convicts are exported, has grown
rapidly within a few years, and the settle-
ments have increased to a considerable
number. This colony has, of late, at-
tracted much attention; and, from its
natural advantages, must become a very
important commercial settlement. The
following particulars respecting it are ex-
tracted from the Hobart's Town Almanac,
for the year 1829, printed at Hobart's
Town: The island is under a lieutenant-
governor, assisted by an executive and
legislative council, a supreme court, hav-
ing civil, criminal and ecclesiastical juris-
diction, a court of requests, &c. There is
a grammar school at Hobart's Town, the
seat of government, and several king's
schools, for the education of all classes of
children. The government have herds
here. Cattle thrive excellently, and the
wool of the island promises to be very fine
and very abundant: great quantities have
been already exported to England. In
1829, the island contained 500,000 sheep
and 70,000 horned cattle. We were struck
with finding, in the statistical statements
respecting this new and thinly settled
colony, a characteristic trait of English
usages, in the shape of a list of annual
pensions. The amount is by no means
small, being £1972 10s., divided among
14 people, among whom are a retired
lieutenant-governor, with £500; a deputy
judge-advocate, with £400; some retired
pilots, with £25 each; retired constables
with £10, &c., annually! The following
numbers are drawn from the most authen-
tic sources, as statistics of Van Diemen's
Land, Jan. 1, 1829:
Inhabitants of Hobart's Town,
Launceston,
settled districts and
townships,
Circular Head,
Total number of inhabitants,
Of whom there are male adults,
Female adults,
Children at school,
Children classically educated,
Aborigines in the woods,
Total territory, in acres,
Pasture,
Arable land,
£300,000
£100,000
£170,000
£100,000
1,500,000
Rocky and thickly-wooded hills, 7,500,000
Total amount of acres granted, 1,121,548
Acres not yet granted, 13,378,452
Total amount of acres cultivated, 30,150
Total of imports in 1828,
Total of exports in 1828,
Expenditure of government,
Total circulating medium,
Colonial interest, 10 per cent.; insurance
to or from England, 3 guineas per cent.
The mail-bag is mostly carried on foot.
The coins of England, the East Indies
and Spain are current. Attempts have
been made to introduce steam navigation
on the Derwent. There are several libra-
ries, and nine newspapers and other
periodicals. Some of the highest moun-
tains are the Southern mountains, near
Port Davy, 5000 feet high; Quamby's
bluff, 3500 feet; Table mountain, 3800
feet; peak Teneriffe, or Wylde's craig,
4500 feet; mount Wellington, 4000 feet.
DIEPPE; a seaport town of France, in
Upper Normandy, in the department of
Seine-Inférieure, at the mouth of the river
Arques or Bethune, on the Channel; lat.
49° 55' 34" N.; lon. 1° 4' 44" E.; with
20,000 inhabitants. Its streets are toler-
ably regular: the principal public build-
ings are the parish church of St. James,
and the old castle on the west side of the
town. There are here several small
squares, and the ramparts form a pleasant
promenade. The harbor, though tolerably
commodious, is narrow. Here is a nav-
igation school. 12 leagues N. W. Rou-
en; 34 N. Paris. The commerce of Di-
eppe is considerable, and employs 80 ves-
sels. It was founded by fishermen, in the
14th century. Canada was discovered by
the inhabitants of Dieppe, and the first
French settlers on the coast of Africa were
also from this place.
DIES IRE; the first words of a Latin
hymn, describing the final judgment of the
world. It is ascribed to Thomas de Co-
5,700 lano, a Minorite, who lived in the 13th
1,000 century. It is a beautiful poem, belonging
to those early Christian songs, which com-
bine the smoothness of rhyme with the
13,000
300 gravity of Latin verse. This powerful
poem makes a part of the requiem (the
20,000
mass for the souls of the dead); and it is
12,000 one of the highest and most difficult tasks
4,800 for the composer to compose music adapt-
ed to the awful solemnity of the subject
Who ever has heard Mozart's Tuba mirum
spargens sonum, without being reminded
of the trump which shall echo through the
15,000,000 tombs on the judgment-day? Göthe has
6,000,000 happily introduced a few stanzas of this
1,200
120
600

DIES IRE-DIETSCH.
poem in his Faust. As this hymn consti-
tutes the chief part of the requiem, and is,
at the same time, a fine example of a
whole class of poetry, little known in this
young and Protestant country, we have
quoted it at length.
Dies iræ, dies illa
Solvet sæclum in favilla,
Teste David cum Sibylla.
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Quando Judex est venturus,
Cuncta stricte discussurus'
Tuba mirum spargens sonum
Per sepulchra regionum,
Coget omnes ante thronum.
Mors stupebit, et natura,
Cum resurget creatura,
Judicanti responsura.
Liber scriptus proferetur,
In quo totum continetur,
Unde mundus judicetur.
Judex ergo cum sedebit
Quidquid latet apparebit,
Nil inultum remanebit.
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus,
Cum vix justus sit securus?
Rex tremendæ majestatis,
Qui salvandos salvas gratis,
Salva me, fons pietatis.
Recordare, Jesu pie,
Quod sum causa tuæ viæ,
Ne me perdas illa die.
Quærens me sedisti lassus,
Redemisti crucem passus,
Tantus labor non sit cassus.
Juste judex ultionis,
Donum fac remissionis,
Ante diem rationis.
Ingemisco tanquam reus,
Culpa rubet vultus meus:
Supplicanti parce, Deus.
Qui Mariam absolvisti,
Et latronem exaudisti,
Mihi quoque spem dedisti.
Preces meæ non sunt dignæ,
Sed tu, bone, fac benigne,
Ne perenni cremer igne.
Inter oves locum præsta,
Et ab hædis me sequestra,
Statuens in parte dextra.
Confutatis maledictis,
Flammis acribus addictis
Voca me cum benedictis.
Oro supplex, et acclinis,
Cor contritum quasi cinis,
Gere curam mei finis.
Lacrymosa dies illa
Qua resurget ex favilla.
Judicandus homo reus,
Huic ergo parce Deus.
Pie Jesu, Domine, dona eis requiem. Amen.
235
DIET, GERMAN. (See Germany and
German Confederacy.)
DIET OF HUNGARY. (See Hungary.)
DIET OF POLAND. (See Poland.)
DIET (dieta). The dietetic part of medi-
cine is an important branch, and seems to
require a much greater share of attention
than it commonly meets with. A great
variety of diseases might be removed by
the observance of a proper diet and regi-
men, without the assistance of medicine,
were it not for the impatience of the suf-
ferers. It may, however, on all occasions,
come in as a proper assistant to the cure.
That food is, in general, thought the best
and most conducive to long life, which is
most simple, pure, and free from irritating
qualities, and is capable of being most
easily converted into the substance of the
body after it has been duly prepared by the
art of cookery; but the nature, composition,
virtues, and uses of particular aliments can
never be learnt to satisfaction, without the
assistance of practical chemistry.
DIET DRINK; an alterative decoction
employed daily in considerable quantities,
at least from a pint to a quart. The de-
coction of sarsaparilla and mezereon, the
Lisbon diet drink, is the most common
and most useful.
DIETALIA ACTA; the records of the
Hungarian diet, written in Latin, in which
language the discussions of the diet take
place. The discussions are not public,
and the records are only given to members
of the diet, and a few other persons
through them.
DIETRICH, John William Ernst (who,
from eccentricity, often wrote his name
Dietericy); a famous German painter of
the 18th century. He was born in 1712.
His father, John George, was also a skil-
ful painter, and instructed his son till he
was 12 years old, when he sent him to
Dresden, and placed him under the care
of Alexander Thiele. The picture of a
peasant drinking, in the Dutch style, exe-
cuted by Dietrich while a boy, is in the
royal cabinet of engravings at Dresden.
He successfully imitated Raphael and
Mieris, Correggio and Ostade. His paint-
ings are scattered through almost all Eu-
rope. In the Dresden gallery there are 34 of
them. Some of his designs are in the cabi-
net of engravings in that place, and some
in private collections. He died in 1774.
DIETSCH, Barbara Regina; a distin-
guished female painter of the celebrated
family of artists of that name. She was
born at Nuremburg in 1716, and died in
1783. Notwithstanding many invitations
to different courts, which her talents pro
236
DIETSCH-DIGBY.

cured her, she preferred to remain in the
modest obscurity of private life. Her sis-
ter, Margaret Barbara, was born in 1726,
and died in 1795. She painted flowers,
birds, &c.
DIEU ET MON DROIT (French; signify-
ing, God and my right); the motto of the
arms of England, first assumed by Rich-
ard I, to intimate that he did not hold his
empire in vassalage of any mortal. It
was afterwards taken by Edward III, and
was continued without interruption to the
time of William III, who used the motto Je
maintiendray, though the former was still
retained upon the great seal. After him,
queen Anne used the motto Semper eadem,
which had been before used by queen
Elizabeth; but ever since the time of
queen Anne, Dieu et mon droit has been
the royal motto.
DIEZ, Juan, or John Martin; a Spanish
partisan officer, distinguished for his con-
duct during the French invasions of his
native country. He was the son of a
peasant, and born in the district of Valla-
dolid, in Old Castile, in 1775. On the
proclamation of war against France, after
the revolution, he again entered the army,
as a private, in the Spanish dragoons. He
served till the restoration of peace, when
he returned home, married, and resumed
his agricultural employment. Patriotism
and a love of enterprise drew him from his
peaceful labors on the invasion of the ter-
ritory of Spain by Napoleon. In 1808, he
placed himself at the head of a party of
four or five of his neighbors, and com-
menced hostilities against the enemy, kill-
ing their couriers, and thus obtaining a
supply of horses, arms, and ammunition.
After the atrocities committed by the
French at Madrid May 2, a spirit of resent-
ment was excited in the country, and
Martin, procuring associates, prosecuted
his system of annoyance and extermina-
tion against the French. At this period,
he acquired the appellation of el Empeci-
nado, from the darkness of his complexion.
With the increase of his band, he extended
his operations, and, besetting the roads,
intercepted the couriers of the enemy,
seized their convoys, and harassed their
small parties. At first, he neither gave
nor expected quarter; but at length, find-
ing himself at the head of forty-eight well-
armed men, he no longer pursued that
barbarous practice. In September, 1809,
with 170 men, all mounted, he passed
into the province of Guadalaxara to check
the inroads of the enemy. He was after-
wards employed under the orders of the
commander-in-chief of the second army;
and, the value of his services being appre
ciated, he was at length made a brigadier-
general of cavalry. The French troops
sent against him were almost uniformly
defeated; but, on one occasion, he was
overpowered, and only escaped falling
into their hands, by leaping down a dan-
gerous precipice. He attended the duke
of Wellington in triumph to Madrid, after
the expulsion of the French, and, some
time after, received his commands to join
the second army in the neighborhood of
Tortosa, at the head of 4850 men, horse
and foot. All the services of this brave
officer, during the war which preceded
the restoration of Ferdinand, could not
atone for the crime of opposing the inva-
sion of the liberties of Spain, after the re-
turn of that prince. The Empecinado had
laid down his arms on the faith of a treaty;
notwithstanding which, he was seized and
executed at Rueda, August 19, 1825, with
circumstances of insulting cruelty highly
disgraceful to his persecutors. As the
originator of that system of desultory war-
fare which contributed much to the ex-
pulsion of the invading army from Spain,
Diez has strong claims to notice. His
natural talents were not assisted by educa-
tion, as he could write no more than his
name; his manners were rude, and his
temper violent; yet he was partial to the
society of well-informed persons, and dis-
posed to attend to their advice; while, with
the greatness of mind which characterizes
conscious worth, he never scrupled to
acknowledge his humble origin, or the
limited sphere of his information.
DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS. (See Cal-
culus.)
DIGAMMA, in the Greek language. In
addition to the smooth and rough breath-
ings, the ancient Greek language had an-
other, which remained longest among the
Eolians. This is most commonly called,
from the appearance of the character used
to denote it, a digamma, that is, double г.
It was a true consonant, and appears to
have had the force off or v. It was at-
tached to several words, which, in the
more familiar dialect, had the smooth or
rough breathing. The whole doctrine,
however, of the digamma, for want of
literary monuments, remaining from the
period when it was most in use, is ex-
ceedingly obscure. (See Buttmann's Greek
Grammar, from the German, by Ed. Ev-
erett, 2d edit. Boston, 1826.)
DIGBY, sir Kenelm, the eldest son of
the unfortunate sir Everard Digby, was
born at Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, in
1603. He was educated in the Protestant

DIGBY-DIGESTION.
religion, and entered at Gloucester hall,
Oxford. On his return from his travels,
he brought back with him a recipe for
making a sympathetic powder for the cure
of wounds, being much addicted to the
philosophy which employed itself in al-
chymy and occult qualities. On the ac-
cession of Charles I, he was created a
gentleman of the bed-chamber, a commis-
sioner of the navy, and a governor of the
Trinity house. He soon after fitted out
a small squadron at his own expense, to
cruise against the Algerines and Venetians,
and obtained some advantages over the
shipping of both these powers. He re-
turned with a great increase of reputation,
and, having a good address and a grace-
ful elocution, with a fine person and an
imposing manner, he made a considerable
figure. On a visit to France, he was
converted to the Catholic religion. On
the breaking out of the civil war, he was
committed prisoner to Winchester house,
where he amused himself by writing ob-
servations on the Religio Medici of sir
Thomas Browne, and on the ninth canto
of the Fairy Queen, in which Spenser
has introduced some mysterious matter in
regard to numbers. Being liberated, he
passed into France, and visited Descartes.
In 1646, he printed at Paris his own philo-
sophical system, in two works, entitled a
Treatise on the Nature of Bodies, and a
Treatise on the Nature and Operation of
the Soul. In 1651, he also published In-
stitutionum Peripateticarum, cum Appendice
theologica de Origine Mundi. All these
treatises are written in the spirit of the
corpuscular philosophy, which they sup-
port with more learning and ingenuity
than solidity or force. After the ruin of
the royal cause, he returned to England to
compound for his estate, but was not al-
lowed to remain. He resided in the south
of France in 1656 and 1657, and produced
at Montpellier, a Discourse on the Cure of
Wounds by Sympathy. On the restora-
tion, he returned to England, became a
member of the royal society, and was
much visited by men of science. He mar-
ried a lady who was highly distinguished
for beauty, and, in other respects, almost as
singular as himself. Of this lady, Venetia
Digby, a great many pictures and busts
are extant; but she died while still young.
Sir Kenelm died in 1665, at the age of 62.
DIGBY, lord George, son of John, earl
of Bristol, was born during his father's
embassy to Madrid in 1612. He distin-
guished himself much while at Magdalen
college, Oxford, and, in the beginning of
the long parliament, opposed the court, but
237
seceded from the opposition, on the meas-
ures against the earl of Strafford. He
then distinguished himself as warmly on
the side of the king, and was made secre-
tary of state in 1643. After the death of
Charles, he was excepted from pardon by
the parliament, and was obliged to live in
exile until the restoration, when he was
made knight of the garter. He wrote a
comedy called Elvira, and also letters to
his cousin, sir Kenelm Digby, against po-
pery, although he ended by becoming a
Catholic himself.
DIGEST. (See Civil Law.)
DIGESTER; an instrument invented by
Mr. Papin. It consists of a strong vessel
of copper or iron, with a cover adapted to
screw on, with pieces of felt or pasteboard
interposed. A valve with a small aperture
is made in the cover, the stopper of which
valve may be more or less loaded, either
by actual weights, or by pressure from an
apparatus on the principle of the steelyard.
The purpose of this instrument is to pre-
vent the loss of heat by evaporation.
Water may be thus heated to 400° Fahr.;
at which temperature its solvent power is
greatly increased.
DIGESTION is that process in the animal
body, by which the aliments are dissolved,
and the nutritive parts are separated from
those which cannot afford nourishment to
the body. The organs effecting this pro-
cess are divided into the digestive organs,
properly so called, and the auxiliary or-
gans. The former are composed of the
divisions of the intestinal canal, which in-
cludes the stomach, the great and small
intestines, &c. To the latter belong the
liver, the pancreas and the spleen. The
first process of digestion is the solution of
the aliments. When the aliments, after
being properly prepared, and mixed with
saliva by mastication, have reached the
stomach, they are intimately united with
a liquid substance called the gastric juice,
by the motion of the stomach. By this
motion, the aliments are mechanically sep-
arated into their smallest parts, penetrated
by the gastric juice, and transformed into
a uniform pulpy or fluid mass. At the
same time, a solution of the aliments into
their simple elements, and a mixture of
them so as to form other products, takes
place, effected partly by the peculiar power
of the stomach and the liquid generated in
it, partly by the warmth of this organ.
This pulpy mass, called chyme (q. v.), pro-
ceeds from the stomach, through the pylo
rus, into the part of the intestinal canal call-
ed the large intestines (q. v.), where it is
mixed with the pancreatic juice and the
238
DIGESTION-DIJON.

bile. (See Bile, and Pancreas.) Both these
liquids operate most powerfully on the
chyme, yet in very different ways. The
mild juice of the pancreas attracts the milk-
like liquid of the chyme, and forms with it
the chyle,which is absorbed by the capillary
vessels called lacteals. On the other hand,
the bitter matter called bile, formed by the
liver from the blood, attracts the coarser
parts, which are not fitted to be absorbed
into the fine animal organization, and ex-
cites the intestinal canal to the motion
which carries it off. (For further informa-
tion on the subject of digestion, particu-
larly of diseased digestion, see the article
Dyspepsia.)
Digestion, with chemists and apothe-
caries; the maceration of any substance
which is to be softened or dissolved, com-
monly pulverized, in a solvent liquid. It
is enclosed in a tight vessel, and exposed to
a gentle heat for a longer or shorter time.
By this process essences, elixirs and tinc-
tures are made.
DIGGING, among miners; the operation
of freeing ore from the stratum in which
it lies, where every stroke of their tools
turns to account; in contradistinction to
the openings made in search of such ore,
which are called hatches or essay-hatches,
and the operation itself, tracing of mines,
or hatching.
DIGIT, in arithmetic, signifies any one
of the ten numerals, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
9, 0. The word comes from digitus, a
finger; thus indicating the humble means
originally employed in computations. Di-
git is also a measure equal to three fourths
of an inch.
Digit, in astronomy, is the measure by
which we estimate the quantity of an
eclipse. The diameter of the sun or
moon's disc is conceived to be divided
into 12 equal parts, called digits; and
According to the number of those parts or
digits which are obscured, so many digits
are said to be eclipsed. When the lumi-
nary is wholly covered, the digits eclipsed
are precisely 12; and when it is more than
covered, as is frequently the case in lunar
eclipses, then more than 12 digits are said
to be eclipsed.
DIGITALINE is the active principle of
the digitalis purpurea, or foxglove, and
is a very powerful poison, possessing all
the properties of digitalis (q. v.) in a very
concentrated state. To prepare it, the
leaves are digested in ether, the solution
filtered and evaporated, and the residue
dissolved in water: this solution is heated
with oxide of lead, filtered and evaporated,
and the residuum digested in ether, which
affords digitaline, on evaporation. It is
a brown-colored substance, deliquescent,
and extremely bitter. It restores the color
of reddened litmus, and combines with
acids. (See Digitalis.)
DIGITALIS; a genus of plants, including,
among other species, the purple foxglove
(D. purpurea), a vegetable possessing im-
portant medicinal properties, inhabiting the
temperate and southern parts of Europe,
and frequently cultivated for ornament in
the U. States. The stem is simple, her-
baceous, glabrous, or slightly pubescent,
and attains the height of two or three
feet; the leaves oval lanceolate, soft to
the touch, and dentate on the borders;
the flowers are large, purple, spotted
within, pendent, and disposed in a long,
simple and terminal raceme. The plant,
when fresh, possesses a bitter, nauseous
taste, and is violently emetic and cathar-
tic. When prepared, and administered
medicinally, it has the remarkable prop-
erty of diminishing the strength and fre-
quency of the pulse, and is, at the same
time, diuretic.flas
DIGRAPH (from the Greek dis and yoa-
pw, to write; double-written); a union of
two vowels, of which one only is pro-
nounced; as in head, breath. This is
the meaning which Mr. Sheridan gives to
the word. Mr. Webster, in his American
Dictionary of the English Language, fol-
lows this meaning. Thus siege, deceive,
mean, hear, esteem, deem, need, contain
digraphs. It is well known how much
the English idiom abounds in digraphs.
They are essentially different from diph-
thongs, which consist of two vowels, also,
but produce a sound which neither of the
vowels have separately.
DIJON (Divio), the ancient capital of the
duchy of Burgundy, at present the chief
place of the department Côte-d'Or (see
Department), 648 French feet above the
level of the sea, at the confluence of the
Ouche and Suzon, 100 miles N. Lyons,
175 S. E. Paris, lat. 47° 19' 25'' N., lon.
5°2′ 5″ E., contains 22,000 inhabitants, and
is the seat of a suffragan bishop, several
courts and branches of government. In
1725, the academy of sciences and belles-
lettres was erected here, and confirmed
by the king in 1740. (See Academy.)
There is also a school for the fine arts,
two libraries (one of which contains
36,000 volumes), collections in natural his-
tory, an observatory, a botanical garden,
&c. There are many old and interesting
buildings here. There is now a canal
building from this city to the Saône, near
Saint-Jean-de-Lorne, which will be of

DIJON-DIMINUTIVES.
great advantage to the place. Many of
the most celebrated Frenchmen have been
born at Dijon, among whom are Bossuet,
Crébillon, Piron, Saumaise. A fortified
camp, constructed by Cæsar, gave origin
to Dijon. Marcus Aurelius caused the
place to be surrounded by walls.
DIKE, or DYKE (in German, deich); a
ditch or drain, and also a work of stone,
timber or fascines, raised to oppose the pas-
sage of the waters of the sea, a lake, river,
or the like. In no country has the art of
building dikes and taking care of them been
carried to so much perfection as in Holland
and the north-west of Germany, where
the construction and superintendence of
them, the draining of land and guarding
against inundations, and the distribution
of taxes for the maintenance of the dikes,
form an important branch of government.
DILAPIDATION is where an incumbent
of a church living suffers the parsonage-
house or out-houses to fall down, or be
in decay for want of necessary repairs;
or it is the pulling down or destroying
any of the houses or buildings belong-
ing to a spiritual living, or destroying of
the woods, trees, &c. appertaining to the
same; it is said to extend to committing
or suffering any wilful waste in or upon
the inheritance of the church.
DILEMMA (from dis, twice, and Xepua, an
assumption), in logic; an argument con-
sisting of two or more propositions, so dis-
posed that, grant which you will, you will
be pressed by the conclusion.
DILETTANTE; an Italian expression,
signifying a lover of the arts and sciences,
who devotes his leisure to them, as a
means of amusemet and gratification.
DILLENIUS, John James; a botanist,
born in 1687, at Darmstadt, and distin-
guished for his investigations into the
propagation of plants, particularly cryp-
togamous plants. In compliance with the
invitation of a rich botanist, William
Sherard, in 1721, he went to England,
where he spent part of his time in Lon-
don, and part at his friend's country-seat,
in Eltham. Here he published several
works, and particu arly that splendid pro-
duction which appeared in 1732, Hortus
Elthamensis, in which the drawings, pre-
pared by himself, are distinguished by the
greatest faithfulness. His last work, on the
inosses (Historia Muscorum), added much
to his reputation. Sherard founded a
professorship of botany in the university
of Oxford, for his friend, who died there,
in 1747.
DILL-SEED (anethum graveolens, Lin.)
is of an oval form, convex on one side,
239
flat on the other, having three striæ on
the outside, and surrounded with a small,
membranous border. Its taste is slightly
acrid, and its odor stronger, but less
pleasant, than fennel-seed.
DIME; the legal term for the tenth part
of a dollar in the U. States. (See Coin.)
DIMINUTIVE, in grammar (from the
Latin diminutivum); an affix, which con-
veys the idea of littleness, and all other
ideas connected with this, as tenderness,
affection, contempt, &c. The opposite of
diminutive is augmentative. Prefixes and
affixes belong to those delicate beauties
of language, which enable us to express
fine shades of meaning with conciseness
and liveliness, and which are almost al-
ways beyond the power of translation, if
the language, into which we intend to
translate, does not possess the correspond-
ing prefixes and affixes.-In Latin, dimin-
utives almost always ended in lus, la, or
lum; as, Tulliola, meum corculum, little
Tullia, my dear or little heart. This syl-
lable was sometimes preceded by an-
other one, not belonging to the original
word; as, homunculus. A few words form-
ed their diminutives in other ways.-No
European language has so many and
so expressive diminutives, augmentatives
and affixes, as the Tuscan: ino, etto, ello,
convey the idea of smallness, dearness,
&c.; one, of largeness; uccio sometimes
of smallness, with reproach, but often
without it: accio signifies that the thing
is disgusting, unpleasing, &c.; for exam-
ple, casa is a house; casetta, casina, casella,
a small house, nice little house; casone,
a large house; casuccia, a sinall, insig-
nificant house; casaccia, an ugly house.
That expressive tongue can compound two
or three of these endearing affixes; and
the writer has frequently heard little Ital-
ian children form almost endless words,
as if overflowing with tenderness; for in-
stance, fratellinucciettinetto. Adjectives,
also, can receive the diminutive termina-
tion; as, carino, carinuccio, from caro. It
must be remarked, that very many Italian
words are the diminutives of the original
Latin ones; as fratello, from frater, sorella,
&c. The reason is, that the Italian was
originally the corrupted Latin of the
lower classes. These always have many
points of resemblance to children, and
among them this, that they make much
more use of diminutives than the educated
classes, who are more reserved in the ex-
pression of their feelings. Thus, in the
south of Germany, they will say, wo das
Bäumche vor der Thüre steht (where the
little tree stands before the door), how

240
DIMINUTIVES.
ever large the tree (Baum) may be.-In
Spanish, there are similar diminutives,
augmentatives and other affixes. The
augmentatives in Spanish are as follows:
from hombre, a man, are formed hombron,
hombrazo, hombronazo, hombrachon; and
from muger, a woman, mugerona, muger-
aza, mugeronaza. Adjectives, also, take
similar forms; as, from grande, great, or
large, are formed grandon, grandote, gran-
dazo, grandonazo. Sometimes these aug-
mentatives are used by way of commen-
dation, as, hombron, a man of great wis-
dom; at other times, to denote contempt
or worthlessness, as, from caballo, a horse,
we have caballazo, a miserable horse; and
sometimes they denote merely greatness
of bulk, as moceton, mocetonazo, a large
youth or boy. Augmentatives in azo, in
some instances, also denote two different
things; as, zapatazo, a large shoe, or a blow
given with a shoe. The Spanish dimin-
utives are these: from hombre, a man,
hombrecito, hombrecico, hombrecillo, hombre-
zuelo; from muger, a woman, mugercita,
mugercica, mugercilla, mugerzuela; from
chico, small, chiquito, chiquillo, chicuelo,
chiquituelo. Diminutives in ito and ico
usually denote endearment or tenderness,
as those in illo do sometimes; those in
elo always denote contempt; from libro,
a book, are formed librillo, librito, librico,
librete, libruelo, librejo.-In Portuguese, the
diminutives and augmentatives correspond
to those of the Spanish language.
Diminutives.
from cabra, a goat, is formed
In ito, cabrito, a kid, or little goat; mos-
ca, a fly, mosquito, a little fly.
homem, a man, homemzinho, a
little man; irmao, a brother, ir-
maozinho, little brother; filho, a
son, filhinho, a little son.
inho,
fem.
mao, a hand, maozinha, little
inha, hand; rapariga, a girl, rapari-
guinha, a little girl.
Adjectives also take the diminutive form;
as, coitado, poor fellow, poor thing; coita-
dinho, poor little fellow, &c.; redondo,
redondinho, round; bonito, bonitinho, pret-
ty; pequeno, pequenino, small, whence is
corrupted the negro word pickaninny,
used on the coast of Africa, for a child,
a little boy or girl.-Augmentatives. Tolo,
a fool, toleirao, a great fool; homem, a man,
homemzarao, a big or huge man; mulher,
a woman, mulherona, a masculine or large
woman.-In French, there are many di-
minutives formed from other words; as,
tablette, of table, charette of char; but there
is no general affix, which can be added
to every substantive. The syllable âtre
(from the Latin aster), as in noirâtre, from
noire, cannot be called properly a dimin-
utive; neither can vieillot, he who begins
to look old, be called precisely a diminu-
tive of vieille.-The German has the sylla-
bles chen (in Low-German, ken, which
has remained in English in manikin, and
some other words), lein and el, for sub-
stantives; lich, &c. for adjectives; (lich
corresponds to the English ish or like; for
instance, rundlich, roundish or roundlike
(from rund, round)); and eln for verbs, as
from bitten (to pray), they form betteln (to
beg, the action of a beggar), klingeln from
klingen, to sound. The bonhomie of the
Germans even adds the diminutive to pro-
nouns, and nurses sometimes will say du-
chen, from du, thou; nay, the writer once
heard (in Erfurth) a nurse use the dative of
du, dir, with the diminutive, gefällt es dir-
chen?-The English language affords ex-
amples of diminutives, but has no affix
which can be used at pleasure to convey this
idea. Among English diminutives are-
cockerel, a little cock;
In el, kernel, a little corn;
pickerel, a little pike.
manikin, a little man;
lambkin a little lamb;
kin, napkin, from nape, French for
cloth;
pipkin, a little pipe.
chickling, a little chicken;
gosling, a little goose;
darling, i.e.dearling, or little dear;
bing, authorling, an inferior author;
willing, a person of small under-
standing.
et,
armlet, from arm;
bracelet, from bras, French for
arm;
cocket, a little cock;
pocket, from poke, a bag or pouch
tablet, a little table.
Diminutives of proper names are also
formed, in colloquial and familiar lan-
guage, by adding y to the names; as,
Charley, Johnny, &c.; and coachy is used
colloquially for coachman.-The aboriginal
languages of America, also, have their
diminutives. In the Delaware language
(according to Mr. Zeisberger's Grammar,
published by Mr. Duponceau), diminutives
of nouns denoting animate objects are
formed by adding the syllable tit; as, lenni,
a man, lennotit, a little man; ochqueu, a
woman, ochquetit, a little girl; tsholens, a
bird, tsholentit, a little bird. In speaking
of a pretty little animal, the form is shis
or tshis; as, in playing with a little kitten

DIMINUTIVES-DIODORUS.
or other young animal, they would say,
kuligatshis, thy pretty little paw. In
nouns denoting inanimate objects, dimin-
utives are formed by the termination es;
as, wikwam, a house, wikwames, a small
house; amokhol (kh guttural), a canoe,
amokholes, a small canoe. In the ancient
language of the Massachusetts Indians,
which is a dialect of the Delaware stock,
diminutives were formed (according to
Eliot's Grammar) by adding es or emes,
with a euphonic vowel or syllable; as,
nunkomp, a youth, nunkompaes or nun-
kompaemes, a little youth; hassun, a stone,
hassunemes, a little stone; and, of these
two affixes, emes denotes the smallest size,
&c.
DIOCESE, OF DIOCESS (Stoiknots); 1. a pre-
fecture. According to Strabo, the division
of the Roman empire into dioceses, at
least in Asia, was customary as early as
the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. The
whole empire was afterward divided into
dioceses by Constantine and his success-
ors; at first into 4, and afterwards into 13:
these comprehended 120 provinces, and
were governed by 12 vicars or sub-pre-
fects. Rome and its neighborhood had
one of these officers to itself, exclusive of
the one appropriated to Italy at large.
2. An ecclesiastical division in the Chris-
tian church; in the Catholic church, a
territory over which the jurisdiction of an
archbishop or bishop extends. With the
Protestants in Germany, a diocese sig-
nifies all the parishes which are under the
inspection of one superintendent. This
arrangement is derived from the times of
the emperor Constantine (4th cent., A.D.),
who made Christianity the religion of the
state. In the Episcopal Protestant coun-
tries, diocese signifies the jurisdiction of a
bishop. Thus, in England, the province
of Canterbury contains 21 dioceses, and
the province of York, 3: each diocese is
divided into archdeaconries, each arch-
deaconry into rural deaneries, and each
deanery into parishes.
DIOCLETIAN, C. Valerius, surnamed Jo-
vius, was a man of mean birth, a native of
Dalmatia. He was proclaimed emperor
by the army, 284 A. D. He was success-
ful against his enemies, defeated Carinus
in Moesia (286), conquered the Allemanni,
and was generally beloved for the good-
ness of his disposition. But new troubles
and attacks disturbed the Roman empire,
and compelled him to share the burthen
of government with colleagues; at first,
with M. Aurel. Valerius Maximian (286),
an ambitious, rude and cruel soldier, who
defeated the Gauls. Diocletian, at the
21
VOL. IV.
241
same time, was successful against the Per-
sians in the East, and afterwards penetra-
ted to the sources of the Danube, in Ger-
many. He subsequently, in 292, named
C. Galerius, Caesar, and Maximian raised
Constantius Chlorus to the same dignity.
Thus the empire was divided into four
parts. Diocletian recovered Egypt, and,
as long as he preserved his influence, the
unanimity continued; but he resigned the
imperial dignity at Nicomedia (305), as
did Maximian at Milan, at the same time.
Diocletian retired to Salona in Dalmatia,
where he found happiness in the cultiva-
tion of his garden, and lived in tranquillity
until the year 313. He founded the abso-
lute power,
which was more firmly estab-
lished by the family of Constantine.
DIODATI, John, an eminent divine, was
born at Lucca, about the year 1589, of a
noble Catholic family; but, embracing the
Protestant faith early in life, he removed
to Geneva, where he made such progress
in his studies, that, at the age of 19, he
was appointed professor of Hebrew in
that city. Some time afterwards, he
was made professor of theology, and, in
1619, was deputed, with his colleague,
Theodore Tronchin, to represent the Ge-
nevan clergy at the synod of Dort; and
his abilities were so much respected by
that synod, that he was one of the six
ministers appointed to draw up the Belgic
confession of faith, which was intended to
secure the professors of the reformed re-
ligion in Holland within the pale of pure
and unadulterated Calvinism. Diodati is
most celebrated for a translation of the
Bible into Italian, faithful and elegant, but
perhaps too paraphrastical; and father
Simon maintains that his notes are rather
the serious meditations of a divine, than
the judicious reflections of a critic. He
also translated the Bible into French, but
is not thought to have succeeded so well
in this as in the Italian. He was the first
translator into French of father Paul's
History of the Council of Trent, which is
faithful, but not very elegant. Diodati
died in 1649, at Geneva.
DIODORUS of Argyrium, in Sicily, and
therefore called Siculus; a celebrated his-
torian in the time of Julius Cæsar and
Augustus. In order to render his history
as complete and exact as possible, he
travelled through a great part of Europe
and Asia. It is very much to be regretted,
that the greater part of this history, which
the author called the Historical Library, in
the composition of which he combined
the ornaments of rhetoric with the detail
of facts, after the example of Theopompus

242
DIODORUS-DIOGENES.
and Ephorus, and on which he had be-
stowed the labor of 30 years, has not
reached our times. It consisted of 40
books, was written with the greatest fidel-
ity, and comprised the history of almost
all nations. Only the books 1-5 and
16-20 are now extant. Among the best
editions are those of Wesseling and Eich-
städt, with Heyne's commentary (Bipont
and Strasburg, 1793-1807, 11 vols.).
DIOGENES of Sinope (a city of Pontus)
flourished in the 4th century B. C., and
was the most famous of the Cynic phi-
losophers. (See Cynics.) Having been
banished from his native place with his
father, who had been accused of coining
false money, he went to Athens, and re-
quested Antisthenes to admit him among
his disciples. That philosopher in vain
attempted to repel the importunate sup-
plicant, even by blows, and finally granted
his request. Diogenes devoted himself,
with the greatest diligence, to the lessons
of his master, whose doctrines he extend-
ed still further. He not only, like Antis-
thenes, despised all philosophical specula-
tions, and opposed the corrupt morals of
his time, but also carried the application
of his doctrines, in his own person, to the
extreme. The stern austerity of Antis-
thenes was repulsive; but Diogenes ex-
posed the follies of his contemporaries
with wit and good humor, and was, there-
fore, better adapted to be the censor and
instructer of the people, though he really
accomplished little in the way of reform-
ing them. At the same time, he applied,
in its fullest extent, his principle of divest-
ing himself of all superfluities. He taught
that a wise inan, in order to be happy,
must endeavor to preserve himself inde-
pendent of fortune, of men, and of him-
self: in order to do this, he must despise
riches, power, honor, arts and sciences,
and all the enjoyments of life. He en-
deavored to exhibit, in his own person, a
model of Cynic virtue. For this purpose,
he subjected himself to the severest trials,
and disregarded all the forms of polite
society. He often struggled to overcome
his appetite, or satisfied it with the coarsest
food; practised the most rigid temperance,
even at feasts, in the midst of the greatest
abundance, and did not even consider it
beneath his dignity to ask alms. By day,
he walked through the streets of Athens
barefoot, without any coat, with a long
beard, a stick in his hand, and a wallet on
his shoulders; by night, he slept in a tub,
though this has been doubted. He defied
the inclemency of the weather, and bore
the scoffs and insults of the people with
the greatest equanimity. Seeing a boy
draw water with his hand, he threw away
his wooden goblet as an unnecessary uten-
sil. He never spared the follies of men,
but openly and loudly inveighed against
vice and corruption, attacking them with
satire and irony. The people, and even
the higher classes, heard him with pleas-
ure, and tried their wit upon him. When
he made them feel his superiority, they
often had recourse to abuse, by which,
however, he was little moved. He rebuked
them for expressions and actions which
violated decency and modesty, and there-
fore it is not credible that he was guilty
of the excesses with which his enemies
have reproached him. His rudeness of-
fended the laws of good breeding rather
than the principles of morality. Many
anecdotes, however, related of this sin-
gular person, are mere fictions. On a
voyage to the island of Ægina, he fell into
the hands of pirates, who sold him as a
slave to the Corinthian Xeniades in Crete.
The latter emancipated him, and intrusted
him with the education of his children.
He attended to the duties of his new em-
ployment with the greatest care, com-
monly living in summer at Corinth,
and in winter at Athens. It was at the
former place that Alexander found him
on the road-side, basking in the sun, and,
astonished at the indifference with which
the ragged beggar regarded him, entered
into conversation with him, and finally
gave him permission to ask for a boon.
"I ask nothing," answered the philosopher,
"but that thou wouldst get out of my sun-
shine." Surprised at this proof of content,
the king is said to have exclaimed, "Were
I not Alexander, I would be Diogenes."
At another time, he was carrying a lantern
through the streets of Athens, in the day-
time: on being asked what he was looking
for, he answered, "I am seeking a man."
Thinking he had found, in the Spartans,
the greatest capacity for becoming such
men as he wished, he said, "Men I have
found nowhere; but children, at least, I
have seen at Lacedæmon." Being asked,
"What is the most dangerous animal ?"
his answer was, "Among wild animals,
the slanderer; among tanie, the flatterer."
He died 324 B. C., at a great age. When
he felt death approaching, he seated him-
self on the road leading to Olympia, where
he died with philosophical calmness, in
the presence of a great number of people,
who were collected around him.-Another
philosopher of the same name, who lived
earlier, and belonged to the Ionian school,
was Diogenes of Apollonia. He consid-

DIOGENES-DIONEA MUSCIPULA.
ered air as the element of all things. He
ived at Athens, in the 5th century B. C.
DIOMEDES; 1. a king of the Bistones,
who fed his horses on human flesh, and
used to throw all strangers, who entered
his territory, to those animals to be de-
voured. He was killed by Hercules, who
carried off the horses.-2. One of the
heroes at the siege of Troy, the son of
Tydeus and Deiphyle, and king of Argos.
He early lost his father, who was slain
before Thebes, took part in the second
expedition to Thebes, and became one of
the suitors of Helen. After she was car-
ried off, the Grecian chiefs resolved on an
expedition to Troy, to avenge this outrage
against Greece, and Diomedes engaged in
the expedition, at the head of the Argives,
Tyrinthians, and several other nations.
His daring courage rendered him one of
the most distinguished heroes, and, ac-
cording to the testimony of Nestor, supe-
rior to all his contemporaries. Protected
by Pallas, he not only encountered the
most valiant of the enemies, many of
whom he killed, but even ventured to
attack the immortals. When Venus has-
tened to the rescue of her son Æneas,
whom he was on the point of putting to
death, he wounded the goddess in her
hand with his spear, and would have torn
Eneas from her arms but for the inter-
ference of Apollo. He thrice assailed
even Apollo himself, nor did he desist till
terrified by the threats of the god. Ani-
mated by Pallas, he then turned his arms
against Mars, wounded him in his belly,
and compelled him to return to Olympus.
He was equally distinguished in the coun-
cil. He boldly opposed the proposal of
Agamemnon to leave the plains of Troy
without having gained the object of the
expedition, and prevailed; he even ad-
hered to his opinion, after Achilles had
rejected the proffered reconciliation. By
carrying off the horses of Rhoesus from
the enemies' tents, he fulfilled one of the
conditions on which alone Troy could be
conquered. With Ulysses, he removed
Philoctetes, who had the arrows of Her-
cules, from Lemnos, which was another
condition of the fall of Troy. Finally, he
was one of the heroes who were con-
cealed in the wooden horse, by whom the
capture of Troy was at length accom-
plished. Though he reached home in
safety, the vengeance of Venus awaited
him. During his absence, that goddess had
inspired his wife, Ægiale, with a criminal
passion for Cometes; and Diomedes, on
his arrival, was compelled to leave Argos,
and promise never to return, under pain
243
of death. Accompanied by his most
faithful friends, he set sail for Italy. Of his
residence there, the accounts are contra-
dictory and fabulous: some say that he
died there at a great age; others, that he
was slain by king Daunus; others, that he
suddenly disappeared on the islands that
have been called after his name. After his
death, he was worshipped as a demi-god
DION of Syracuse, who acquired immor-
tal glory in the history of that state, lived
in the times of the two kings who bore the
name of Dionysius. He was related to
them, and long exercised great influence
over them. He attempted to reform the
tyrannical disposition of the younger Dio-
nysius by the precepts of philosophy; but
his enemies succeeded in rendering him
suspected by the king, and in effecting his
banishment. Dion went over to Greece,
where the beauty of his person, and, still
more, the excellent qualities of his mind
and heart, gained him so many friends,
that he resolved to employ force to deliver
his country from a prince who had closed
his ears to remonstrances. With this de-
sign, he embarked with 800 valiant war-
riors, landed in Sicily, and, hearing that
Dionysius had set out a few days before
for Italy, hastened to Syracuse, and en-
tered the city amidst the acclamations of
the people. After some ineffectual at-
tempts to recover his authority, Dionysius
was at length obliged to abandon the
crown, and fled, with his treasures, to Italy.
Dion was also, soon after, obliged to leave
the city, on account of the unjust suspi-
cions of his fellow citizens. New troubles
having broken out in Syracuse, he was
recalled, and was about to restore the
republican government, when he was as-
sassinated by his treacherous friend, Calip-
pus of Athens, 354 B. C. Thus perished
a man of noble sentiments, great courage,
and inflexible patriotism. He was the
intimate friend of Plato. His life has been
written by Plutarch and Corn. Nepos.
DIONEA MUSCIPULA (Venus's fly-trap)
is a remarkable plant, inhabiting the basin
of Cape Fear river, in North Carolina.
The leaves are radical, spreading upon the
ground, and terminated by an orbicular
appendage, composed of two hemispher-
ical lobes, which are fringed with hairs.
when the inside of this appendage is
touched, the lobes close suddenly, and thus
imprison flies and other small insects.
These, having no outlet, must necessarily
perish, unless delivered by tearing the leaf.
It is not until the insect is dead, and, of
course, no longer affects the parts of the
leaf by its motions, that the leaf opens,
244
DIONEA MUSCIPULA--DIONYSIUS.

and lets the body of the animal fall. The
insects seem to be allured by a sweet
moisture on the surface of the leaf. In
Europe, the seed of this plant has not been
brought to ripen. The stem is 8 or 10
inches high, and bears a corymb of white
flowers, analogous in their structure to
those of the sun-dew.
DION CASSIUS, born about A. D. 155, at
Nice, in Bithynia, is sometimes called a Ro-
man, because he was made a Roman citizen,
and filled many honorable offices in Rome
under Pertinax and his three successors.
He wrote the Roman history in 80 books,
of which only those from the 36th to the
54th are extant complete: the remainder
we have only in the epitome of Xiphi-
linus. It began with the arrival of Æneas
in Italy, and extended to A. D. 228. He
devoted 22 years to this work, in which
the events are arranged chronologically,
and gives an impartial account of those
occurrences of which he was himself a
witness. He often exhibits, however, a
spirit of jealousy towards great men, and
appears superstitious, flattering and servile.
His style is too rhetorical for history.
DIONE; the mother of Venus, who
therefore bears the surname of Dionaea,
or is called by this name alone.
DIONYSIA; the same as Bacchanalia,
from Dionysos or Bacchus. (See Bac-
chus.)
DIONYSIUS the Elder raised himself
from a low condition to the rank of gen-
eral, and afterwards to that of tyrant (i. e.,
ruler) of Syracuse (about 406 B. C.).
The Agrigentines, who had escaped when
Agrigentum was taken by the Carthagin-
ians, accused the Syracusan generals of
treachery. Dionysius supported their com-
plaints, and contrived that the enraged
people should choose other leaders, of
whom he was one. He soon found means
to render his colleagues suspected also,
and to have himself appointed command-
er-in-chief. In this post, it was no diffi-
cult task for him, by the assistance of the
troops, whom he had drawn over to his
interest, to make himself master of the
citadel of Syracuse, together with all the
arms and provisions contained in it, and
finally to declare himself king, at the age
of 25 years. The more firmly to establish
his power, he married the daughter of Her-
mocrates, whose family was the most dis-
tinguished in Syracuse. After having
finished a short war against the Cartha-
ginians, and successfully quelled several
seditions, in which he reduced some other
cities on the island under his authority, he
made preparations for a great war against
Carthage. The fortune of arms, which
in the beginning, had favored him, soon
turned against him. The Carthaginians
had already laid siege to Syracuse, when
the plague made great ravages among
them. Dionysius, having just received
a reinforcement of 30 ships, took advan-
tage of the discouraged state of the ene-
mies, attacked them at once by land and
water, and gained a complete victory
which was soon followed by an advan-
tageous peace. In his expeditions into
Lower Italy, he reduced the city of Rhe-
gium by famine. After another short
war with Carthage, he lived some time in
peace, occupied with making verses, and
imagining himself, in spite of the poorness
of his productions, as great a luminary in
the poetical as in the political world. Nay,
he even ventured to contend for the prize
in the Olympic games, and sent for that
purpose a solemn embassy, accompanied
by a number of the best declaimers, to
read his poems; but, with all their art,
they were not able to prevent the tents of
Dionysius from being torn down and plun-
dered by the multitude. A second em-
bassy, which he sent four years afterwards,
was received still more unfavorably. He
became almost distracted at these dis-
graces, yet would not relinquish the high
opinion which he had conceived of his
own genius, and used to torture the poets
and philosophers of his time with reading
his verses before them. In his bad humor,
he commenced a new war against the Car-
thaginians, intending to drive them en-
tirely out of Sicily. He did not, however,
succeed in this attempt, and was obliged
to conclude a disadvantageous peace. For
this misfortune, he was indemnified by the
success of one of his tragedies at Athens.
The news of this event filled him with
such immoderate joy, that he fell sick.
At the instigation of his son, the physicians
administered to him a fatal potion. Thus
perished Dionysius, after a reign of 25
years.
DIONYSIUS the Younger succeeded his
father, Dionysius the Elder. For the
purpose of recalling him from the ex-
cesses to which he was addicted, Dion
(q. v.) directed his attention to the doc-
trines of Plato, representing to him that
this great philosopher alone was able to
teach him the art of government, and the
means of rendering his subjects happy.
In consequence of this advice, Dionysius
invited Plato to his court. The latter,
complying with his urgent invitations, suc-
ceeded in tempting him into the path of
virtue and knowledge, and in giving a new
DIONYSIUS.
character to his whole court. An oppo-
site party, however, headed by the histo-
rian Philistus, awakened the king's sus-
picious against Dion, and caused his ban-
ishment.
Plato in vain endeavored to
effect his recall, and, after having been
long retained by force, finally left Syra-
cuse himself, when Dionysius was en-
gaged in a war in another part of the
island. After the restoration of peace,
Plato, at the repeated request of the king,
returned to his court, and again endeav-
ored, though in vain, to effect Dion's
recall. He therefore insisted upon his own
dismissal. Dionysius at last appeased him
by promising to restore Dion his fortune,
on condition that he would undertake
nothing against the throne. But he vio-
lated his promise, and Plato, after experi-
encing many mortifications, finally left
him. Dion then appeared, and made him-
self master of the city of Syracuse, to
which Dionysius did not return until after
the murder of Dion. His misfortunes,
however, had no other effect than to ren-
der him more cruel. The first families
of the city fled from his tyranny, Mean-
time, the Carthaginians commenced a new
war with Syracuse, and entered into a
secret union with Icetas, whose intention
it was to make himself master of the city.
He, however, disguised his purpose, and
even approved of the measure of calling
upon Corinth for assistance. Timoleon
appeared with a fleet before Syracuse, and
expelled not only the enemies, but also
the tyrant. Dionysius, who had surren-
dered himself, was carried to Corinth,
where he gained a scanty living by giving
lessons in grammar, and died in the con-
tempt which he had brought upon him-
self by his excesses.
DIONYSIUS of Halicarnassus, in Caria, a
learned critic and teacher of eloquence,
went to Rome about 30 B. C., where, for
the instruction of his countrymen, he
wrote his Roman Antiquities, in 20 books,
in which he relates the early history of
Rome, and its government up to the times
of the first Punic war. We have the 11
first books of this work, and some frag-
ments of the others. His residence in
Rome during 22 years, his intercourse with
the most learned Romans, and his knowl-
edge of the ancient annalists, render him
very important to the critical historian,
though he has given his own coloring to
the Roman traditions. Dionysius is also
valuable as a critical and rhetorical writer.
It is difficult to pronounce, however, on
the genuineness of the writings attributed
to him in this department, without a crit-
245

ical examination. The Rhetoric (Schott,
Leps., 1804), for instance, belongs only in
part to Dionysius, and probably received
its present form in the 3d century, A. D.
DIONYSIUS the Areopagite (i. e., one of
the judges of the Areopagus, at Athens),
converted to Christianity by the apostle
Paul, about the middle of the 1st century,
and first bishop at Athens, where he suf
fered martyrdom, is remarkable for the
Greek works which have been ascribed to
him, and for being considered the patron-
saint of France. These writings, com-
posed in an obscure style, and hardly
intelligible on account of their mysti-
cism, are, Of the heavenly Hierarchy,
Of the Names of God, Of the eccle-
siastical Hierarchy, and Of the mys-
tic Theology, with a number of letters,
which, by their style, contents and histor-
ical allusions, betray an author who could
not have lived before the middle of the
4th century. They appeared, in a very
equivocal manner, as the works of Dio-
nysius, as late as the 6th century. Fantastic
descriptions of the Deity, and of the orders
of angels and blessed spirits, borrowed
from the New Platonic philosophy; bril-
liant representations of the Catholic cere-
monies; exaltations of the hierarchy;
praises of the monastic life, and mystic
interpretations of the doctrines of the
church, gave them such charms, that the
absurdities in which they abound did not
prevent the ignorant clergy of the 7th
century from reading them with delight,
and finding in them the clearest proofs of
the apostolic origin of many ecclesiastical
observances and institutions, which are of
a much later date; for they had no doubt
of their genuineness. In France, where
a certain Dionysius established the first
Christian community at Paris, in the 3d
century, they were readily received in the
9th century; and this Dionysius, without
further inquiry, was taken for the Areopa-
gite, because the origin of the Gallican
church could thus be carried back to the
1st century; and France gained a patron
who was a martyr and the immediate
disciple of an apostle.
disciple of an apostle. The monastic
life, in the Western church, gained new
support from these writings, which were to
frequently translated into Latin; and mys-
tic theology received its first impulse from
them. The convent of St. Denis, which
was originally dedicated to the first apos-
tle of Christianity at Paris, but is now
consecrated to Dionysius the Areopagite,hich
had a remarkable dispute with the con-to
vent of St. Emmeran, at Ratisbon, in the
11th century, concerning the possession
21 *
246
DIONYSIUS-DIPLOMACY
of the genuine bones of the saint. Each
maintained that it possessed his earthly
remains, and each had its claims confirm-
ed by the infallible authority of the pope.
In the 14th century, another church in
Paris claimed the third head of the saint.
The writings attributed to Dionysius the
Areopagite are as spurious as the relics.
The pretended author of them neither left
such writings, nor ever taught in France,
as was put beyond all doubt by the
French critics Daille, Sirmond and Lau-
noi, in the 17th century.
DIONYSIUS the Little (so called on
account of his short stature); a Scythian
monk, who was abbot of a monastery at
Rome in the beginning of the 6th century,
and died about the year 545, celebrated as
the author of the computation of time
from the Christian era. He calculated an
Easter cycle in 526, and fixed the birth
of Christ, agreeably to the most certain
data, in the year 753 after the foundation
of Rome. The computation of time from
the birth of Christ thus established, and
now universal among Christians, was not
publicly used until the 8th century. His
collection of ecclesiastical laws, viz. the
(so called) apostolical canons, decrees of
councils favorable to the pretensions of
the Roman bishops, and official letters
written by the Roman bishops since the
4th century, which were called decretals,
had a more rapid success. The placing
of the latter by the side of the decrees of
councils, and thus attributing to them
equal authority, was so flattering to the
pride of the Roman bishops, and the let-
ters of their predecessors afforded so fa-
vorable an opportunity for renewing their
ancient pretensions, that the collection
soon obtained the authority of an ac-
knowledged source of canon law. Dio-
nysius was, as his friend Cassiodorus says
of him, a good Latin writer, and well ac-
quainted with the Greek language, from
which he translated much. Nothing more
is known of him, except that he favored
the superstition of the Theopaschites.
DIOPTRICS; the science which treats
of the refraction of the rays of light, or
the laws of vision when the rays, before
reaching the eye, pass through different
refracting mediums; for instance, from
the air through the glasses of a telescope.
Dioptrics, consequently, is a branch of
optics, i. e. the science of vision in general.
It demonstrates the different directions in
which the rays move, according as they
are broken on plane or curved surfaces.
The principles deduced from these obser-
vations determine the nature of the vari-
ous lenses, explain the manner in which
the light is refracted in the human eye,
teach the manner of seeing through
lenses, and the composition of them, con-
sequently the theory of telescopes, mag-
nifying glasses, &c. The ancients were
not acquainted with this science. Natural
science, in modern times, has been greatly
indebted to it. By its aid, or rather by
the aid of the glasses which it has taught
how to construct, the human eye has been
enabled to reach objects previously un-
known. Kepler, Snellius of Leyden, Des-
cartes, Newton, &c., not only extended
this science, but founded a great part of
their discoveries on it. In modern times,
the science of dioptrics has been very
much enriched by the important inven-
tions of Dollond in London. (See Ach-
romatic, Refraction of Light, Telescope,
Lenses; also Dioptrica Auctore Leonhardo
Eulero, Petersburg, 1769-71, 3 vols., 4to.)
DIORAMA. (See Panorama.)
DIOSCORIDES, Pedanius; born at Ana-
zarbus (Cæsarea Augusta), in Cilicia, in
the 1st century of the Christian era, a
Greek physician, author of a celebrated
work on materia medica, in five books.
It is particularly valuable in regard to bot-
any, as most of the medicines which the
author mentions are taken from the veg-
etable kingdom. Two other works are
also attributed to him; the Alexipharmaca,
which was united with the Materia Medi-
ca, forming the three last books of it, and
treating of the poisons in the three king-
doms of nature, and their antidotes; and
the Euporista, which treats of remedies
that are easily procured. The best edi-
tion of Dioscorides is that of Saracenus
(Frankfort, 1598, fol.); the best commen-
tary is by Matthiolus (Venice, 1565, fol.).
DIOSCURI; Castor and Pollux, twin-
sons of Jupiter, and tutelary deities of
wrestlers, horsemen and navigators. (See
Castor and Pollux.)
DIP of the horizon is an allowance
made in all astronomical observations of
altitude for the height of the eye above
the level of the sea.
DIPLOMA (from dinλów, I fold up); liter-
ally, a letter folded but once, and there-
fore divided into two parts. It is used to
signify a document signed and sealed, in
which certain rights, privileges, digniues,
&c., are conferred. Thus a letter or writ-
ing of a university conferring a degree is
called a diploma. (See Diplomatics.)
DIPLOMACY. The precise time at which
the word diplomacy began to be applied to
the management of the mutual relations
of independent states through accredited





DIPLOMACY.
247
amicable relations, and to weaken the
means of attack and of defence on the
part of the foreign state; to extend com-
mercial intercourse in a manner profitable
to the country of the ambassador (for
centuries were to pass before sounder
views in political economy could prevail);
to protect the subjects of the ambassador's
sovereign, and to give a great idea of his
power and resources, by all possible
means;-such were, as we see, from the
instructions given by Machiavelli to his
friend, the cardinal points recommended
to a diplomatic agent early in the 16th
century; and they will, with few altera-
tions, serve to guide ambassadors, minis-
ters and chargés d'affaires, yet in the womb
of time. Still there are differences, pro-
duced by the progress of civilization and
the improvement of public morals, that
must be noticed. Wherever diplomacy may
have had its origin, be it in Italy, France or
Spain, the manners of these countries and
of the times, left politics infinitely less
restrained by the curb of honesty and good
feeling, than if it had sprung up among
German nations, or at later epochs. Thus
intrigue, falsehood, plots and murder, or
connivance, at least, in such detestable ex-
pedients, were sometimes resorted to, by
the earliest diplomatists, and contributed to
render diplomacy, in the eyes of the indis-
criminating, almost a byword of reproach.
The marquis de Bedmar, in Real's con-
spiracy of Venice, is a mere fancy figure.
The cardinal d'Ossat and president Henin
are, on the contrary, unquestionable mod-
els of excellent men and ambassadors.
General ignorance, the laxity of morals
which degraded the greater part of Europe
till the middle of the 18th century, and the
deficiency of that censorship, which, since
the triumph of the press, in some coun-
tries, spreads itself over all, serve to ac-
count for the want of honest principle
which formerly disgraced public minis
ters. Few treaties were as yet concluded.
War, brutal force, was the sole umpire of
right. Except in the Germanic confede-
racy, law was hardly ever brought to bear
upon international relations. It was not
till the independence of Holland, and the
subsequent developement of maritime
power, that political questions were exam-
ined by the learned, in consequence, prob-
ably, of having become connected with
great public grievances and judicial inves
tigations. From that time, and chiefly
from the conclusion of the treaty of West-
phalia-the most remarkable epoch in the
history of international intercourse-diplo-
macy assumed a more legitimate, a higher
agents, cannot be easily ascertained. In
remote antiquity, embassies are spoken of.
Rome received ambassadors from nations
seeking peace or alliance and protection.
After the establishment of the senate, such
messengers of rival or dependent countries
delivered their commissions to the senato-
rial body, and commonly in set orations.
At Athens and at Sparta, ambassadors
were obliged to harangue the sovereign
people from the tribunal of the orators.
We have no authentic accounts respecting
the privileges of these foreign emissaries,
nor relics of their correspondence with
their own government, or with those to
which they were deputed. The term
ambascia is found in the Salic law. But the
cardinal de Richelieu is generally consid-
ered as the founder of that regular and un-
interrupted intercourse between govern-
ments, which exists at present between
almost all the Christian powers. The
private dissensions between Philip II and
Elizabeth de Valois furnished a convenient
pretence for attaining the ends, which may
well be supposed to have guided that sa-
gacious statesman, and which went un-
doubtedly further than to protect the un-
fortunate queen of Spain. Raymond de
Beccaria thus commences the line of reg-
ular ambassadors in Europe. However,
the instructions given by Machiavelli to
one of his friends, who was sent by the
Florentine republic to Charles V (Charles
I of Spain), show that Richelieu was not
the first person who conceived all the ad-
vantages that might be derived to a gov-
ernment from the correspondence of an
intelligent agent, accredited at the seat of
a foreign government. Machiavelli's own
negotiations with Cæsar Borgia, with the
cardinal de Rouen, at Rome, in Germany,
and wherever he was employed, prove
that diplomacy had its present meaning
long before Richelieu's ascendency in
France. We recommend to our readers
Machiavelli's diplomatic correspondence
(Legazioni) not only as the earliest, but as
the finest specimens of diplomatic de-
spatches; and we do it the more willingly,
as this portion of his works is generally
little referred to. It is probable, that, from
the beginning, the duties of diplomatic
agents were at least as great as at present,
as far as the art of diplomacy alone was
concerned. To study the character of the
prince and the disposition of his ministers;
to observe with a vigilant eye the passing
events; to investigate the strong and weak
points of a state; to establish relations
which might become useful, either in
peace or in war; to strengthen the existing

248
DIPLOMACY.
and really useful character. Ambassadors
ceased gradually to seek their greatest
lustre in their numerous retinue, and the
Russian ministers at Constantinople and
Warsaw were the last to appear with such
a display of armed followers as made a
governor of Bordeaux refuse admission
into the city to the duke of Feria, who
came, in the name of the king of Spain, to
compliment Louis XIII on his accession
to the throne. There were no longer (to
quote the noble language of Shakspeare)
"loving embassies to embrace sovereigns,
as it were, from the ends of opposed
winds;"* and, from that time, high breed-
ing, an agreeable figure, the display of
wealth, fascinating and prepossessing man-
ners, an unblemished character, discretion,
knowledge of mankind, natural parts,
nay, upright intentions and noble views,
ceased to be sufficient for the fulfilment of
duties so much enlarged by the improving
condition of general society, through the
advancement and diffusion of knowledge.
-To be a perfect diplomatist, in the pres-
ent state of the Christian world, it would be
necessary that a man should be a sound
lawyer, well acquainted with the munici-
pal laws of more than one country, versed
in the sciences, from which industry and
arts derive their splendor, and a state
its strength, and equal to any of the
tasks to which those with whom he is
brought into contact might put his learn-
ing and sagacity. The present political
system of the world can no longer be split
into partial and solitary interests: each par-
ty to it is a party in a common concern,
and usually suffers or gains by every im-
portant change. There is really now a
Christian commonwealth, a unity of rights
and interests, more real, more worthy of
consideration and confidence, than the
dream of political balance. This whole
system is in a constant state of develope-
ment; and to step out of its path, is to re-
main behind it in its career. The tone of
political correspondence at present must
correspond with the elevated state of the
diplomatic character.-In times not very
we distant, it was sufficient to entertain a royal
master by the gossip of a capital, the in-
trigues of ladies and gentlemen of the bed-
chamber, and the cabals of rival ministers.
Now, the political correspondent of a cab-
inet is compelled to inquire into the
working of the complex machinery of
modern society; to observe constantly the
pulse of the whole body politic; to keep in
view the moral and physical resources of
nations; to defend the rights of his coun-
*Winter's Tale.
try, on the grounds of law and reason; to
give information to the minister, from
whom he holds his instructions, and to en-
able his government to profit by the intel-
ligence he imparts, not only in the manage-
ment of its foreign concerns, but likewise
of its internal resources. For the accom-
plishment of duties so great and so various,
no school can be established, or particular
study traced. Humani nihil a me alienum
puto, must be the device of the modern di-
plomatist; and much application, much
good fortune, many favorable opportuni-
ties, and a long experience, are necessary
to enable him to perform well the duties
of his office.-At the earliest period of the
French monarchy, a number of persons
were joined together in an embassy. Re-
cently, a diplomatic mission has commonly
been intrusted to a single personage of
high rank or distinguished talents, assisted
by one or several secretaries. In the late
congresses, and in some late negotiations,
several plenipotentiaries were, however,
joined together for a particular object. In
the U. States, diplomatic commissions, or
embassies composed of several individuals,
will probably remain in use as long as
their present political system subsists.-
The diplomacy of each state is under the
direction of a minister, who generally ad-
ministers at the same time some other
branches of the public service, as, for in-
stance, in the U. States, where the secre-
tary of state is at the head of the patent
office, and superintends the publication
of the laws, &c. In Spain, the Secretario
de Estado y del Despacho Universal, or
minister of foreign relations, has also the
direction of post-offices, public roads, acad-
emies, and some other inferior branches
of government. In some states, as, for
example, in Portugal and Piedmont, the
departments of war and of foreign rela-
tions are intrusted to the same hands. In
Russia, Austria and Prussia, the chancel-
lor or vice-chancellor is, ipso facto, min-
ister of the foreign department.-Diplo-
matic agents are of several degrees: 1.
ambassadors; 2. envoys extraordinary
and ministers plenipotentiary; 3. minis-
ters resident; 4. chargés d'affaires; 5. sec-
retaries of legation and attachés.-Their
rank has been regulated in Europe in the
above order, by the congress assembled at
Vienna in 1814; and many such quarrels
as formerly arose from questions of pre-
cedence, are now obviated, by the agree-
ment of the European powers, that, among
ministers of the same rank, he who arrives
first shall have the precedence over his
colleagues. The most ancient relics of

DIPLOMACY-DIPLOMATICS.
diplomatic correspondence, perhaps, which
have been preserved, are those in the
Excerpta Legationum, volume 1st of the
Byzantine historians, or the 53d book
of the great historical compilation made
by order of the emperor Constantine
VI, Porphyrogenitus. Among them will
be found the Relation of an Embassy
sent by the emperor Theodosius the
Younger to Attila, in the year 449.
The account here given of court cere-
monies, international courtesies, personal
pretensions of diplomatists, and the means
by which, in barbarous ages, and at the
court of a half-savage prince, political ends
were pursued, remarkably illustrates the
truth of the old proverb, "There is nothing
new under the sun." The same petty
quarrels and rivalry among associate diplo-
matists; the same disregard to that moral
principle which prohibits the placing of
temptations in the way of human virtue;
the same want of confidence, on the part of
the sovereign, towards the agents intrusted
with the care of his greatest interests; the
same keen attention to every word falling
from the lips of a foreign agent, affecting,
however remotely, the honor of a sove-
reign (though this sovereign be Attila);
the same petty intrigues which have been
the disgrace of modern diplomacy,
seem to have equally characterized that
which prevailed 14 centuries since.*-
We recommend the following works as
useful manuals for the study of diploma-
cy: Traité de Droit politique et de Diplo-
* The expenses of the diplomatic departments,
in the various states, are, of course, very different;
but, in general, it is correct to say that, in all the
European states, they are by far too great, and
an unnecessary burden to the country; whilst the
ministers of the U. States receive a salary in
most cases entirely inadequate to their expenses.
A mistaken idea of dignity, on the part of the
courts represented, induces governments to spend
immense sums abroad; and the ministers often go
far beyond their means. How many ambassadors
have ruined themselves! Napoleon, according to
Las Cases' journal, once had in consideration the
abolition of resident ministers. An official state-
ment has been lately published of the expenses in-
curred for the English diplomatic service abroad,
from 1821 to 1829 inclusive, from which it appears
they were as follows:
In 1821,
£296,769 In 1826, £459,538
305,772
1822,
1823,
332,453
1824,
361,728
1827,
412,859
1828, 407,117
1829,
366,004
1825,
418,637
249
matie, by Battus, Paris, 1821; Manuel di-
plomatique de Charles Martens, 1822; Cours
diplomatique, 3 vols. par le Baron de Mar-
tens, 1801; Précis du Droit des Gens mo-
dernes de l'Europe, par le Baron de Martens,
1821; Heeren, Manuel de l'Histoire du
Système Politique de l'Europe, 1822, abrégé
de l'Histoire des Traités de Paix entre les Pu-
issances de l'Europe depuis la Paix de West-
phalie, par Koch, 4 vols. See also Diplo-
macy of the U. States, by Theodore Ly-
man, jun., 2d edition, Boston, 1828; and
Diplomatic Correspondence of the Ameri-
can Revolution, &c., edited by Jared
Sparks, Boston, 1829, 30. German litera-
ture has lately been enriched by some
works on diplomacy which might be
translated into English, with some advan-
tage to American statesmen. whit
DIPLOMATICS. The ancient acceptation
of diploma is the record of a transaction
performed through the agency, or under
the eyes of the public authority. The
charters of gifts made by sovereigns to in-
dividuals and to incorporated bodies, in
the earliest ages of civilization, are thus
named diplomas; and as the materials on
which they were inscribed, the manner of
writing, the characters, the ink, and all the
other external forms, as well as their
style, differed in different centuries, their
interpretation, and the ascertaining of their
authenticity, have become a science the
more complicated, as the clergy of former
ages had abundant inducements and means
to counterfeit charters, giving them an in-
ancient diplomas which have, as yet, been
crease of power and wealth.-The most
saved from oblivion and destruction, do
not go back farther than the 5th century;
and they are on parchment. Those of an
earlier date were written on the thin
leaves of papyrus, or biblum Egyptiacum,
so called from its Egyptian origin. The
ink used consisted, at first, of soot; but
when parchment came into use, tincture
of vermilion, red lead, or a purple coloring
substance, and sometimes gold and silver,
were used instead of the black liquid.-
Till the year 602, Latin seems to have
been the general and official language
throughout the Roman empire. After
that epoch, the Greek became its substi-
The English ambassador at Paris receives £12,000*
Petersburg,
Vienna,
Madrid,
13,000
13.000
13,100
13,000
The expenses of the missions to the new Ameri-
an states were,
In 1823,
£5,177 In 1827,
1824,
16,368 1828,
£36,450
26,732
1825,
27,009
1829,
20,593
1826,
56,108
the Hague,
The expenditures of the U. States, for the diplo
matic department, in 1827, were $659,211.
* Besides this, the British government bought a splen
did mansion' at Paris for their embassy
250
DIPLOMATICS-DIPTYCHA.

tute in the East, and was still in use in the
kingdom of Naples and Sicily, during the
11th and 12th centuries.-The characters,
the direction in which the lines are writ-
ten, the abbreviations, the signs which
supplied the places of whole words, the
flourishes, varied considerably from one
century to another. On some of the di-
plomas, the signature is a cipher or mono-
gram; and, as it is often in the form of a
cross, it is called chrismon. Seals of
white wax are found, either imprinted on,
or pending from diplomas, in small cases:
at a later period, they were stamped on
metal, and affixed in the same manner.
In the conquered provinces of the Roman
empire, and chiefly those which compose,
at present, Great Britain and Germany,
the Latin language at length gave way to
the idioms of the natives; and various lan-
guages, therefore, must be learned by the
students of diplomatics to enable them-
selves to distinguish the genuine docu-
ments from the spurious, and to bring to
light such facts as can increase historical
knowledge, and clear up points of private
or public right. Since the reformation, the
science can be of little service in the latter
respect, but it still promises valuable assist-
ance in the study of antiquity. (See Char-
ters.) In this point of view, diplomas are
considered as literary documents; and
much diligence and research have been
bestowed, by men not less distinguished by
learning than by industry, in the investiga-
tion of their contents and the examination
of their authenticity. The Benedictine
monks have done much in this department
of learning: among them Mabillon, Tous-
saint and Tassin hold a distinguished place,
and their works will long be the most valu-
able manuals for the study of diplomatics.
A Jesuit named Papebroeck was the first,
perhaps, who gave an example of the ap-
plication which can be made of them to
historical researches. The celebrated
count Maffei, the most distinguished anti-
quary of modern Italy, is the author of a
supplement to Mabillon's Code Diploma-
tique. Gatterer and Schöneman have, in
times still more recent, treated the science
in the most systematic manner. Walter's
Lexicon Dipl. Göttingen, 1745, is an ex-
cellent guide for abbreviations, and Car-
pentier's Alphabetum Tironianum, Paris,
1747, for characters representing whole
words, in ancient diplomacy. See, also,
Henselii, Synopsis Universe Philologie,
and Kapp's Alphabet.
DIPPING, among miners, signifies the
interruption of a vein of ore-an accident
nat often gives them a great deal of
trouble before they can discover the ore
again.
DIPPING NEEDLE, or INCLINATORY NEE-
DLE; a magnetical needle, so hung, that,
instead of playing horizontally, and point-
ing north and south, one end dips or
inclines to the horizon, and the other
points to a certain height above it. The
inventor of this instrument was one Robert
Norman, a compass-maker, of Wapping,
about the year 1576.-Some persons have
endeavored to find the latitude and longi-
tude of places by means of the dipping
needle; but nothing of importance has fol-
lowed from their attempts. The following
general rule, however, may be adopted in
order to find the longitude or latitude by
the dipping needle. If the lines of equal
dip, below the horizon, be drawn on maps,
or sea-charts, from good observations, it
will be easy, from the longitude known,
to find the latitude, and from the latitude
known, to find the longitude. Suppose,
for example, you were travelling or sailing
along the meridian of London, and found
the angle of dip, with a needle of one foot,
to be 75°, the chart will show, that this
meridian and the line of dip meet in the
latitude of 53° 11', which therefore is the
latitude sought. Or suppose you were
travelling or sailing along the parallel
of London, i. e., in 51° 32′ N. lat., and you
find the angle of dip to be 74°. This
parallel, and the line of this dip, will meet
in the map in 1° 46' of E. lon. from
London, which is therefore the longitude
sought.
DIPTYCHA (Greek) originally signifies
the same as diploma, something folded.
The Greeks and Romans, among other
materials for writing, used tablets of metal,
ivory or wood, of equal size, fastened to-
gether by a hinge or little ring which went
through them, that they might be more
easily carried or passed from one hand
into the other. Such double tablets were
originally called diplomata or diptycha.
Both terms, however, afterwards received
different significations. The diptycha be-
came important in the Christian church,
and were of three sorts, containing the
names of the bishops, of the living, and of
the dead. The first contained the names
and lives of deserving bishops. It was
customary to read them at festivals, which
gave rise afterwards to the custom of can-
onization. In the diptycha of the living,
the names of popes, patriarchs, bishops and
other ecclesiastics, then the names of the
emperors, kings, princes, and other distin-
guished persons, who had deserved wel
of the church, though still alive, were
DIPTYCHA-DISCUS.
written down, to be mentioned in the
church prayers. The diptycha of the
dead, finally, comprised the names of
those who had departed in the Lord,
which were also mentioned in the church
prayers. There was also another species
of diptycha, containing the names of the
baptized. Casaubon, in his observations
on Athenæus, lib. vi. cap. 14, supposes the
Christians to have borrowed the custom
of writing names in a book, and rehears-
ing them at mass, from the heathens, who
entered the names of persons to whom
they would do any signal honor in the
verses of the Salii, as was done to Ger-
manicus and Verus, sons of the emperor
Marcus Aurelius, and a long time before,
during the period of the republic. (See
Tacitus, lib. ii.) The profane diptycha
were frequently sent as presents to prin-
ces, &c., on which occasions they were
finely gilt and embellished. Those pre-
sented were usually made of ivory.
DIRE, OF EUMENIDES. (See Furies.)
DIRECTORY; a guide, a rule to direct.
This name was given to five officers, to
whom the executive authority in France
was committed by the constitution of the
year III. This regulation was imitated in
other states over which France exercised
an immediate influence, as in Switzer-
land, Holland, &c. The two legislative
bodies, called the councils, elected the
members of the directory: one of them
was obliged to retire yearly, and his place
was supplied by election. This body was
invested with the authority, which, by the
constitution of 1791, had been granted to
the king. The seven ministers of state
were immediately under, and were ap-
pointed and removed by, the directory. By
the revolution of the 18th Brumaire, this
body, and the constitution of the year III,
were abolished. (For the history of the
directory and of the 18th Brumaire, see the
Mémoires de Louis Jérome Gohier (Paris,
1824, 2 vols.), the last president of this
body. See Napoleon.)
DIRECT TAX. Taxes are distinguished
into direct and indirect. A tax is direct
when it is paid by the persons who per-
manently own, or use, or consume the
subject of the tax. An indirect tax falls
ultimately on a different person from the
one who immediately pays it to the gov-
ernment. Thus the importer of goods
pays a duty on them to the government,
but reimburses himself by charging the
amount of this duty in the price of the
goods, so that the retailer who takes them
of him refunds the duty, and the con-
sumer who takes them of the retailer
251

again reimburses the latter. On the con-
trary, a land-tax, a capitation-tax, an annu-
al excise on watches, coaches, &c., or
an excise collected on articles as they are
distributed by the retail dealer among his
customers for consumption, is a direct
tax; for the party really taxed is the one
who pays the tax to the government. (See
Taxes, and Revenue.)
Dis; among the Romans, a name of
Pluto (q. v.) and Hades.
DISCORD. A discord is a dissonant or
inharmonious combination of sounds, so
called in opposition to the concord, the ef-
fects of which the discord is calculated to
relieve and sweeten. Among various other
discords, are those formed by the union
of the fifth with the sixth, the fourth with
the fifth, the seventh with the eighth, and
the third with the ninth and seventh, all
which require to be introduced by certain
preparatives, and to be succeeded by
concords to which they have some rela-
tion.
DISCOUNT, or REBATE, is an allowance
made on a bill, or any other debt not yet
become due, in consideration of present
payment. Bankers, merchants, &c., allow
for discount a sum equal to the interest of
the bill for the time before it becomes
due, which, however, is not just; for, as
the true value of the discount is equal to
the difference between the debt and its
present worth, it is equal only to the in-
terest of that present worth, instead of
the interest on the whole debt. And,
therefore, the rule for finding the true dis-
count is this: As the amount of £1 and
interest for the given rate and time is to
the given sum or debt, so is the interest
of £1 for the given rate and time to the
discount of the debt. Thus, if the interest
or discount of money were five per cent.,
then the allowance on a bill of £100
would be found thus: As 21s.: £100 ::
1s.: £4 15s. 21 d.
DISCUS, DISC, or DISK; among the
Greeks and Romans, a quoit of stone or
metal, convex on both its sides, perfo-
rated in the middle, and fastened to the
hand by strings. Throwing the discus
was one of the gymnastic exercises; and
in the Olympic and other games, it was
considered a great honor to conquer in
the contest. Perseus is said to have in-
vented' this instrument, and Apollo killed
his favorite, Hyacinth, with it. In some
places, the plate which contains the host
during the act of consecration, is called
disk.--Disk, in astronomy, means the face
of the sun and moon, as they appear to
observers on the earth.
252
DISEASES-DISMOUNTING.

DISEASES, HEREDITARY. The influence
of the parents on the organization of the
child is so great, that even the individual
peculiarities which distinguish one man
from another are, in part at least, trans-
mitted to his children; hence the similar-
ity, in person and looks, of the child to its
parents. The internal organs, too, as well
as the external form, have the same re-
semblance; so that the peculiar constitu-
tion, the greater or less activity and devel-
opement of these organs, are found to
pass from parent to child. Now, as it is
the particular state of the several organs
and functions, in which a very great part
of diseases have their foundation, it fol-
lows that these diseases may be inherited;
and, in fact, it has been observed, that the
son is not unfrequently attacked by a dis-
ease at the same period of life in which
his father was. These diseases are called
hereditary; but it is only the predisposi-
tion to them that is, properly speaking,
inherited. Hence the actual develope-
ment of hereditary diseases requires certain
co-operating circumstances. Constitu-
tional diseases are very often not hered-
itary, but depend on circumstances which
affect the foetus during pregnancy. The
father has no influence on the child, be-
yond the act of generation; the mother
operates upon it during pregnancy, and it
is possible that hereby occasion may be
given to hereditary diseases. Among the
diseases which are most frequently hered-
itary, are scrofula, bleeding (especially at
the lungs) and hemorrhoids, consumption,
gout, the gravel and stone, scirrhus and
cancer, disorders of the mind and spirits,
hysterical and hypochondriac affections,
apoplexy, epilepsy, and organic diseases
of particular parts, especially of the heart.
They have this peculiarity, that they are
produced, and appear as constitutional
diseases, more from the action of internal
than of external, of predisposing than of
occasional causes. Such diseases are
much more difficult to reach and to cure,
than those which originate in accidental,
external causes. Hence it is especially
necessary to prevent in season their growth
and developement. The means of doing
this are the following: 1. Whoever has
a hereditary predisposition to any dis-
ease, should not marry one who has the
same constitution. For this reason, mar-
riages between near relations are not ad-
visable, as tending to perpetuate such
hereditary diseases. This, too, appears
to be the reason why attachments are
generally formed between persons of op-
posite constitution and different tempera-
ment. 2. We ought to order all the cir-
cumstances, in which the child grows up,
in such a way, that the inherited predis-
position may not only not be favored, but
counteracted. 3. The accidental occa
sions which favor the growth of the
disease should be avoided, especially at
the time of life in which the father was
attacked by it. The medical treatment
of hereditary diseases is not essentially
different from that which is requisite in
the same diseases, arising under different
circumstances.
DISHING WHEELS. Wheels should be
exactly cylindrical, if roads were, in all
cases, level and smooth; but since the
unequal surface of most roads exposes
carriages to frequent and sudden changes
of position, it is found advantageous to
make the wheels a little conical, or, as it
is commonly called, dishing, so that the
spokes may all diverge with their extrem-
ities from the carriage.
DISMAL SWAMP; a large tract of marshy
land, beginning a little south of Norfolk,
in Virginia, and extending into North
Carolina, containing 150,000 acres; 30
miles long, from north to south, and 10
broad. This tract is entirely covered with
trees, some of which grow to a very large
size; and between them the brushwood
springs up so thick, that many parts are
utterly impervious. In the midst of the
swamp is a lake, called Drummond's
pond, seven miles in length. The Pas-
quotank flows from this lake south, and
the Nansemond flows from it north.
Dismal Swamp Canal, or Chesapeake
and Albemarle Canal, passes through this
swamp, beginning at Deep creek, a branch
of Elizabeth river, seven miles above
Norfolk, and terminating at Joyce's creek,
a branch of the Pasquotank, 30 miles
from its entrance into Albemarle sound.
It is 224 miles long, 38 feet broad at the
surface, and 5 feet deep. (See Canals.)
DISMOUNTING, in the military art, is ren-
dering the enemy's cannon unfit for further
service, by breaking their carriages and
axle-trees; also, shattering the parapet of a
retrenchment, or of a wall, by balls, so that
it cannot be defended, particularly so that
cannons cannot be worked behind it. Dis-
mounting batteries are such as are intend-
ed to throw down the parapets of fortifi-
cations, and disable the enemy's cannons.
They are placed generally in the second,
often in the third parallel. If they are on
the glacis, in the salient angles of the bas-
tions, and fire against the flanks of the
adjacent bulwark, they are called counter-
batteries. They are erected exactly op-
DISMOUNTING-DISSIDENTS.
posite the front to be battered, and consist
of from four to eight cannons, mostly 12
pounders. These cannons are generally
aimed, at the same time, at the same em-
brasure, whilst the others occupy the
other cannon of the enemy: when one of
the enemy's cannon is silenced, the fire
is directed to another, and so on. Some
mortars and howitzers, which may be
placed either within the dismounting bat-
tery or by themselves, support its fire, by
bombarding the attacked embrasures: the
fire of both must be slow, and well aimed.
The distance of the dismounting battery
from the work attacked, is usually from
3 to 400 paces, according to the distance
of the second parallel. It has been pro-
posed, in modern times, to shoot grenades,
instead of balls, from the cannons, into the
works which are to be dismounted, to
produce an effect, by their bursting, simi-
lar to that of mines.
DISPENSARY; a charitable institution,
common in large towns of Britain and the
U. States. Dispensaries are supported by
voluntary subscriptions, and each has one
or more physicians, surgeons and apoth-
ecaries, who attend, or ought to attend, at
stated times, in order to prescribe for the
poor, and, if necessary, to visit them at
their own habitations. The poor are
supplied with medicines gratis. Where
these institutions are managed with care,
they are of the utmost importance to so-
ciety, it being unquestionably more for
the comfort of the sick, to be attended at
their own houses, than to be taken from
their families to an hospital.
DISPENSATORY; a book in which all
the medicines are registered, that are to
be kept in an apothecary's shop, and the
apothecaries directed how to compose
them. Almost every country in Europe,
and many large cities, have their own
dispensatories, which the apothecaries are
bound to follow. lende mulang sa
DISSEIZIN, OF DISSEISIN, is the dispos-
sessing one of a freehold estate, or inter-
rupting his seizin. Under the feudal law,
when a vassal was admitted to an estate,
by the ceremony of investiture, he was
said to be seized of it. The disseizing of
him was the turning him out of his fee.
The entry into a vacant estate is not a
disseizin. In regard to incorporeal here-
ditaments, as of a certain office, or the
right to receive a certain rent out of land,
without that of possession, there could be
only a constructive disseizin. The person
disseizing another is called the disseizor,
and the person whose estate is disseized,
the disseizee. By a freehold is meant an
VOL. IV.
22
.
253

estate for life, or some larger estate; and an
estate for years, or a lease, though it be for
a hundred years, is not a freehold. Of
freeholds, only, can a seizin be had, or a
disseizin done. Whether an entry upon
lands is or is not a disseizin, will depend
partly upon the circumstances of the
entry, and partly upon the intention of
the party, as made known by his words or
acts. Thus, if one enters another's house
without claiming any thing, it is not a dis-
seizin. So, if one enters wrongfully upon
another's land, and the owner afterwards
receives rent of him, it will not be a
disseizin; so, if a lessee at will makes a
lease for years, it is a disseizin; so, if one
enters upon lands of an infant, though
with his consent, it is a disseizin, if the
infant chooses afterwards so to consider
it; so, if one commands another to make
a disseizin, the person giving the com-
mand is a disseizor; and so it is a dis-
seizin to prevent the owner from entering
on his land, &c. Between joint-tenants
and tenants in common, and coparceners,
the entry of one, being construed to be
made in behalf of all, is not a disseizin,
which, in these cases, must be the actual
ouster of the co-tenant; that is, putting or
keeping him out of possession: thus, if
one co-tenant, after entering, makes a
feoffment of the whole, this is a disseizin;
for it shows the intention of the entry:
so if one, being in possession, claims the
whole, and refuses to pay rent, &c.
DISSENTERS. (See Non Conformists.)
DISSIDENTS, in its more extensive mean-
ing, denotes those who differ from the
established religion of a country. It has
been used in a more particular sense in
Poland, since 1736, to denote all those
who, though they do not belong to the
established (Catholic) religion, are yet
allowed the free exercise of their respect-
ive modes of worship, including Luther-
ans, Calvinists, Greeks and Arminians,
and excluding Anabaptists, Socinians and
Quakers. As early as the time of Luther,
the reformation was introduced into Po-
land. During the reign of Sigismund
Augustus (1548-72), great numbers of
the people, and even half of the members
of the diet, and more than half of the
nobility, were Lutherans or Calvinists.
The convention of Sandomir, concluded
in 1570, united the Lutherans, Calvinists
and Bohemian brethren into one church
a union which had also a political ten-
dency, and whose members obtained the
same rights with the Catholics, by the
religious peace (pax dissidentium) sworn
to by the king in 1573.
to by the king in 1573. But the great inis

254
DISSIDENTS-DISTILLATION.
take committed in not settling the mutual
relations of the two religious parties, gave
rise to bloody contests. Although the
rights of the dissidents were afterwards re-
peatedly confirmed, they were gradually
repealed, particularly in 1717 and 1718, in
the reign of Augustus II, when they were
deprived of the right of voting in the
diet. They lost still more, some years
afterwards (1733), under Augustus III;
and in the diet of pacification, as it was
called (1736), an old statute, requiring
every Polish king to be of the Catholic
church, was revived. After the accession
of the last king, Stanislaus Poniatowski,
the dissidents brought their grievances
before the diet held in 1766, and were
supported in their claims by Russia, Den-
mark, Prussia and England. Russia, in
particular, profited by the occasion, to ex-
tend her influence in the affairs of Poland,
supported them strongly, and succeeded,
by her mediation, in bringing about a
new convention, in 1767, by which they
were again placed on an equal footing
with the Catholics. The diet of 1768 re-
pealed the decrees which had been for-
merly passed against them. The war
against the confederates breaking out,
however, and the kingdom being dis-
membered, nothing was accomplished, un-
til the year 1775, when the dissidents
regained all their privileges, excepting the
right of being elected senators or ministers
of state. Later events in Poland have
again placed the dissidents on an equal
footing with the Catholics.
DISSONANCE; that effect which results
from the union of two sounds not in ac-
cord with each other. The ancients con-
sidered thirds and sixths as dissonances;
and, in fact, every chord, except the
perfect concord, is a dissonant chord.
The old theories include an infinity of
dissonances, but the present received sys-
tem reduces them to a comparatively
small number. One rule, admitted both
by the ancients and the moderns, is, that
of two notes, dissonant between them-
selves, the dissonance appertains to that
one of the two which is most remote
from the concord.
DISTICH; a couplet of verses, especially
one consisting of a hexameter and pen-
tameter; as,
"Turpe quidem dictu: sed, si modo vera fa-
temur,
Vulgus amicitias utilitate probat."
The hexameter, which flows on in an
uninterrupted course, being adapted to the
expression of feeling, and the pentameter,
which is broken by two nearly equal di-
visions, expressing subdued emotion, this
disposition is undoubtedly best suited to
the elegy (q. v.), and for this reason was
called the elegiac measure. At the same
time, no form is more suitable for maxims
or sentences than
or sentences than the distich. The
Greeks, therefore, composed their epi-
grams almost exclusively in this form,
and the Germans have followed their ex-
ample. Other nations, who do not possess
this measure, frequently call every piece
of poetry in two lines, a distich.
DISTILLATION is an art founded upon
the different tendencies which bodies have
to pass into vapor, and to be condensed
again by cold, and is performed in order
to separate them from each other, when
combined, or when they become prod-
ucts of chemical action. Its use is very
important in obtaining spirits, essences,
volatile oils, &c. The most common
method of conducting this process con-
sists in placing the liquid to be distilled
in a vessel called a still, made of copper,
having a movable head, with a swan-like
neck, which is so formed as to fit a coiled
tube, packed away in a tub of water con-
stantly kept cold, and which is termed a
refrigeratory. The fire is applied either
immediately to the still, or mediately,
by means of a water or sand-bath. The
liquid to be obtained rises, in vapor, into
the head of the still, and, passing down
the curved tube, or worm, becomes con-
densed, and makes its exit in a liquid
state. The still should be constructed
with a diameter considerably greater than
its height, in order to expose a larger sur-
face to the fire; and the tube should not
be so narrow as to impede the passage of
the vapor into the worm. An improve-
ment made by Mr. Tennant in this appa-
ratus, consists in introducing the spiral
tube into the body of a second still, so
that the heat from the condensation of the
steam, passing through the tube, is applied
to the distillation of liquor in the second.
The pressure of the atmosphere is re-
moved from the latter, by connecting it
with an air-tight receiver, kept cool. The
air in this receiver is allowed to escape
at the commencement of the operation;
its place is occupied by the steam from the
liquor, which being condensed, a vacuumi
is kept up, whence the distillation proceeds,
without any further heat being directly
applied to the second still. This form of
distilling apparatus is called the double
still. The process introduced by Mr. Bar-
ry, for preparing vegetable extracts and in-
spissated juices, by evaporation in vacuo,
is of a somewhat similar nature. The

DISTILLATION-DISTRESS.
apparatus consists of a hemispherical still,
made of cast iron, and polished within.
It is closed by an air-tight, flat cover,
through which rises a wide tube, which
is then bent downwards, and terminates
in a large copper globe, of a capacity three
or four times greater than that of the still.
In this tube there is a stop-cock, between
the still and the globe. When evapora-
tion is to be performed, the vegetable
juice or infusion is poured into the pol-
ished iron still, through an opening, which
is then closed, made air-tight, and covered
with water. In order to produce a vac-
uum, the connexion between the still and
copper receiver is interrupted, by shutting
the stop-cock, and steam from a boiler is
introduced by a pipe into the latter, till
the whole of the air is expelled from it.
This takes usually about five minutes, and
is known by the steam issuing from the
globe uncondensed. The copper sphere
is then closed, and the communication
restored between it and the still, by open-
ing the stop-cock, when the greater part
of the air in the latter rushes into the
former. The stop-cock is again closed,
and the globe again filled with steam as
before. By the condensation of this steam
a vacuum is again produced, which, on
opening the stop-cock, extracts the greater
portion of the air remaining in the still:
in short, by repeating these exhaustions
five or six times, an almost perfect vacuum
is obtained, both in the still and receiver.
Heat is then applied to the water bath,
in which the still is placed, until the juice
within begins to boil, which is ascertained
by inspection through a piece of thick
glass, fixed firmly in the upper part of the
apparatus. As, in a vacuum, fluids boil
nearly 124 degrees below their usual
boiling temperature, water passes into
ebullition, in such circumstances, at 90°
Fahr., or a little above it; and it is never
found necessary to heat the juice above
a temperature of 100°. The evaporation
is continued till the fluid is inspissated to
the proper extent, which is judged of by
its appearance through the glass. Ex-
tracts prepared in this way are found to
be greatly preferable to those obtained by
evaporation at a high temperature: they
are considerably stronger, as the active
principles in the juices are not decom-
posed by reaction between their elements,
favored by heat; and they are free from
all burnt flavor, or empyreuma. There
are many operations, however, in which
liquids are employed, that would corrode
metallic vessels: in such cases, vessels
are employed, constructed either of glass,
255
platinum, or stone ware. They are of
various forms, generally consisting of two
parts, one called a retort, and the other a
receiver. The receiver is sometimes tu-
bulated, with a stopper adapted to the
tubulature. In some cases of distillation,
the product is not entirely a vapor which
may be condensed; but there is disen-
gaged an elastic fluid, which is inconden-
sable. This gas is allowed to pass off by a
tube from the tubulature; the tube termina-
ting in a vessel of water, and thus enabling
us to collect the gas in an inverted jar. In
certain cases, the product designed to be ob-
tained by distillation is an elastic fluid, not
condensable by itself, but capable of being
condensed by being transmitted through
water. A contrivance called Wolfe's ap-
paratus is used for this purpose, a descrip-
tion of which may be found in most of
the chemical treatises. A liquid obtained
by distillation is sometimes not perfectly
pure, or it is dilute, from the intermixture
of water, that has been elevated in vapor
along with it. By repeating the distilla-
tion of it a second or a third time, it is
rendered more pure and strong. This
latter process is named rectification, or
sometimes concentration.
DISTRESS, in law (from the Latin dis-
tringo, to distrain), is the taking of a per-
sonal chattel of a wrong-doer, or a tenant,
in order to obtain satisfaction for the
wrong done, or for rent or service due.
The thing taken is also called a distress.
A distress may be taken for homage, fealty,
or any other service, of which there were
many descriptions under the old feudal
tenures, due from the tenant to the lord,
or person of whom the estate was holden,
the rendering or payment of which was
the consideration or condition on which
the land was held. So a distress is, by
the English and American law, allowed
to be made of cattle or goods damage-
feasant (see Damage-Feasant), both for the
purpose of preventing further damage, and
obtaining satisfaction for that already
done. If the party whose goods or cattle
are seized, disputes the injury, service,
duty or rent, on account of which the
distress is taken, he may replevy the
things taken, giving bends, at the same
time, to return them or pay damage, in
case the party making the distress shows
that the wrong has been done, or the ser-
vice or rent is due, on account of which the
distress was taken. Another description
of distress is that of attachment (see At-
tachment), to compel a party to appear be-
fore a court when summoned for this
purpose. The distresses most frequently

256
DISTRESS DIVERGENT.
made in England and the U. States, are
on account of damage-feasance and rent;
though the ordinary attachments on mesne
process, that is, on a writ before judgment,
that the judgment may be satisfied out of
the property so seized, coincides in princi-
ple with the right of distress. But this right
of previous attachment, though permitted
in most cases of claims for debts or damage,
in some few of the U. States, seems to be
peculiar to them, whereas the right of
distress, strictly so called, is very general.
The reason for giving a right of distress
in cases of damage-feasance is obvious,
but it is by no means so evident why a
landlord should have a right to distrain
for his rent, any more than a grocer for a
debt accruing on account of articles sup-
plied for the use of his debtor's family.
The power with which the great body of
landholders is vested, all over Europe,
where a vast proportion of the soil is
under lease, will sufficiently account for
the prevalence of this rule there; but this
will not account for the adoption of a
similar rule in the U. States, where, in
general, the cultivators occupy their own
soil, and contracts for rent, except in the
considerable towns, form but a small part
of the whole mass of contracts. It may
be said, indeed, that the chattels on the
farm are usually, in part, at least, the
growth of the farm itself, and so far the
landlord may, without injustice, have a
sort of lien on them for his rent. No
other reason occurs to us, why a special
remedy should be provided for this par-
ticular species of debts, and this reason
may not appear entirely satisfactory. This
preference is not without exception in the
U. States; for in some of the states, where
the right of attaching in mesne processes
is extended to most claims for debt or
damages, the demand for rent has no
better remedy than others. As to the
things that may be distrained, the English
law allows any chattel of the lessee, on
the premises, to be so taken. The law also
prescribes particularly the time and mode
of making the distress, and the manner
of treating the things, especially beasts,
distrained.
DITHYRAMBUS; a surname of Bacchus,
because he was said to have been born
twice-once of his mother, Semele, and
the second time out of the thigh of his
father Jupiter; or because several mothers
have been ascribed to him. The word
means, also, a poem, sung in honor of the
god, at his festivals. Since these festivals
were celebrated with all the extravagance
which could please the intoxicated deity,
the dithyrambus employed in his wor-
ship naturally breathed the same frenzy.
The character of the dithyrambus, there-
fore, requires bold images and lofty
periods. The more apparent disorder it
contains, the more it partakes of the fire
of intoxication, the better it sustains the
true dithyrambic character. In the wild
Phrygian music, it was sung in choirs.
Arion of Methymne, on the island of
Lesbos, is considered as the inventor of
it. In public games, it was first made use
of by Lasos of Hermione. The expres-
sion dithyrambic poem denotes, also, every
lyric poem, filled with a wild and impet-
uous enthusiasm, as is the case with many
odes of Pindar.
DITTERS VON DITTERSDORF, Charles,
born at Vienna, in 1739, is particularly
distinguished in comic compositions, and
perhaps unrivalled, in this branch of
music, among the German composers.
Several of his operas are represented with
great applause, even in Italy. The em-
peror of Germany raised him to the rank
of nobility. He died in 1799.
DITTO (usually written do.) signifies the
aforementioned, and is a corruption of the
Italian detto, from the Latin dictum, the said.
DIVAN; 1. with the Turks, the highest
council of state; the Turkish ministry.
(See Ottoman Empire.) Every pacha has
also a divan. 2. In Turkey, a kind of
stage, raised about a foot from the floor,
which is found in all the halls of the pal-
aces, as well as in the apartments of pri-
vate persons. It is covered with costly
tapestry, and a number of embroidered
cushions, leaning against the wall. This
divan is the seat of the master of the
house, and reclining on it, he receives
visitors. From this, a kind of sofa has
obtained the name of divan. 3. Divan,
with the Arabs, Persians and Turks, is
used to denote a complete collection of
lyric poems, which they call gazelles, and
through each of which one single rhyme
extends: they never exceed the length of
14 strophes. Such a collection is com-
plete if there are as many divisions as
there are letters in the alphabet of the
respective languages; and each division
contains at least one poem, the rhymes
of which terminate with the letter under
which the division falls; some letters are
excluded, as few or no words end in them.
DIVER. (See Pearl-Fishery.)
DIVER, a bird. (See Loon.)
DIVERGENT; tending to various parts
from one point; thus we say, divergent
lines, rays, &c., meaning those lines or
rays which, issuing from one common

DIVERGENT-DIVINATION.
point, go off from that point in various di-
rections. Concave glasses render the rays
divergent, and convex ones convergent.
Concave mirrors make the rays converge,
and convex ones make them diverge.
DIVERGING SERIES, in analysis, are those
series, the terms of which increase more
and more, the further they are continued.
DIVERSION, in military affairs, is an
attack on an enemy, in a place where he
is weak and unprovided, in order to draw
off his forces from another place, where
they have made, or intend to make, an
irruption. Thus the Romans had no
other way in their power of driving Han-
nibal out of Italy, but by making a diver-
sion in attacking Carthage.
DIVIDEND OF STOCKS is a share or
proportion of the interest of stocks, divided
among, and paid to, the proprietors.
Dividend, in arithmetic, is that number
which is to be divided.
DIVINATION (from the Latin divinatio);
the foreseeing or predicting of future
events (in Greek, pavreía, pavrikn). Cicero
has treated this subject in his book De
Divinatione. Man is so dependent upon
external things and influences; he is so
conscious of this influence; he is so per-
fectly aware of the uncertain issue of his
best calculations, and is so often obliged
to act, when the reasons for and against
a measure seem to be almost equally
balanced, that it is natural for him to
cherish an ardent desire to pry into futu-
rity, and to inform himself about things
which are happening in distant regions,
by some process out of the ordinary
course of nature. If we take into view,
besides this natural desire, the belief which
nations, in an early stage of their progress,
entertain of the immediate dispensations
of Providence, of a constant interference
of the Deity in the course of things, rather
than of the existence of eternal and all-
wise laws, we shall have the reason why
the belief in divination of some kind or
other, in signs given from above, to warn
or to alarm, and in the power of particular
individuals to lift the veil of futurity, has
been so general. We need not suppose
divination to have had its origin in fraud:
the disposition of men to deceive them-
selves, and form conclusions as to future
events from unmeaning signs, will suf-
ficiently account for its existence. In
the sequel, indeed, it became a fruitful
source of imposition. Moses prohibited
divination expressly. (Deut. xviii, 11.)
Saul expelled "those that had familiar spir-
its, and the wizards," from his kingdom,
vet he was weak enough to consult the
257
famous witch of Endor, shortly before the
decisive battle in which he fell. The
Egyptians and Greeks had their oracles.
(q. v.) With the Romans, divination and
witchcraft were brought into a kind of
system, and constituted part of their reli-
gion, of which the generals and chiefs
of parties often availed themselves, with
much effect. (See Augur, and Aruspices.)
All the ancient Asiatic tribes had modes
of divination; and sorcerers are common
among the Indians of America. In fact,
we believe that there has hardly been a
nation discovered, which had advanced
beyond the lowest barbarism, that did not
practise some kind of divination; and even
in the ages in which reason has most pre-
vailed over feeling, the belief in the power
of foreseeing future events has been enter-
tained; even men of the greatest intel-
ligence have not been able to rid them-
selves of it entirely. Without going into
the question of the degree to which the
human mind is capable of looking into
futurity, or considering the numerous ex-
traordinary stories afloat in the world, of
presentiments and predictions, we shall
confine ourselves to a few remarks on the
systems of divination which have existed.
The ancient Germans had consecrated
white horses, from whose snorting and
neighing they drew favorable or unfavor-
able signs. They also followed the guid-
ance of prophetesses, whom they called
Alrunes. The Greeks had their sortes
Homerice, the Romans their sortes Vir-
giliana; and, in imitation of these, many
Christians, from the period of the 3d cen-
tury, adopted the sortes sanctorum-a mode
of judging of the future by opening the
Sacred Scriptures at random, and forming
an opinion from the passage on which
the eye happened to fall. (See Biblioman-
cy.) This usage was early disapproved
by the councils. Some popes forbad it
under penalty of excommunication. The
capitularies of Charlemagne, of 789 A. D.,
also prohibit this mode of consulting the
Psalms and the Gospels; yet the sortes
sanctorum continued until the 14th century,
and is not, even now, altogether obsolete.
In most countries of Europe, many of the
old forms of divination continue to be
practised, sometimes from superstition,
sometimes for amusement. In fact, the
love of having one's fortune told is not
confined to the ignorant and the supersti-
tious. People who are above believing
the predictions are still fond of prying, in
sport, into the mysteries of futurity. There
are many names for the different modes
of prognosticating the future by means of
22*

258
DIVINATION-DIVISIBILITY.
the various appearances which nature and
art present, from the revolutions of the
stars down to the grounds of a coffee-
cup; as, astrology, aeromancy, meteoromancy,
pyromancy, hydromancy, geomancy, hiero-
mancy, rhabdomancy, physiognomancy, nec-
romancy, bibliomancy, &c. Very lately, a
lady at Paris, mademoiselle Lenormand,
attracted much attention by telling for-
tunes to persons of high rank; and Müller,
in Suabia, was a celebrated prophet in the
time of Napoleon. It has been often ob-
served, that great politicians, men who
have risen above many of the prejudices
of their age, and have even disregarded
important truths, have yet given them-
selves up to a superstitious trust in signs
and divination. One reason may be, that
they have peculiar opportunities of seeing
how many things are out of the reach of
human power, and must be left to fortune;
and an ambitious spirit refuses to doubt
what it strongly wishes. The works on
this subject are very numerous, including,
as they do, the mystical productions of the
East, the Cabala (q. v.), the treatises on as-
trology (q. v.), witchcraft, &c., in the middle
ages, and all that modern times have pro-
duced, as Jung Stilling's Theorie der Geis-
terkunde (Theory of Demonology), sir W.
Scott's History of Demonology, &c. (See
the articles Astrology, Gipsies, Witch, &c.)
DIVING-BELL. To illustrate the princi-
ple of this machine, take a glass tumbler,
plunge it into water with the mouth
perpendicularly downwards; you will
find that very little water will rise into the
tumbler, which will be evident if you lay
a piece of cork upon the surface of the
water, and put the tumbler over it; for
you will see, that, though the cork should
be carried far below the surface of the
water, yet its upper side is not wetted, the
air which was in the tumbler having pre-
vented the entrance of the water; but, as
air is compressible, it could not entirely
exclude the water, which, by its pressure,
condensed the air a little. The first div-
ing-bell we read of in Europe was tried
at Cadiz, by two Greeks, in the presence
of Charles V and 10,000 spectators. It
resembled a large kettle inverted. The
first of any note was made by Dr. Halley.
It is most commonly made in the form of
a truncated cone, the smallest end being
closed, and the larger one open. It is so
suspended that it may sink full of air, with
its open base downwards, and as near as
may be parallel to the horizon, so as to
close with the surface of the water. Mr.
Smeaton's diving-bell, made in 1788, was a
square chest of cast iron, 43 feet in height,
4 feet in length, and 3 feet wide, and
afforded room for two men to work in it.
It was supplied with fresh air by a forcing
pump. This was used with great succest
at Ramsgate. Other contrivances have
been used for diving-bells. Within the
last 30 years, the diving-bell has been
much employed to assist in laying the
foundations of buildings under water. A
diving-bell, on an improved principle, was
constructed, in 1812, by the late Mr. Ren-
nie, and employed in Ramsgate harbor,
where it answered so well, that the ma-
sonry was laid with the utmost precision.
From this period must be dated a new
era in the construction of masonry under
water, the use of coffer dams being, in a
considerable degree, superseded. The
diving-bell was, thenceforward, employed
by Mr. Rennie in the construction of all
the great harbors which he projected.
Round bells of cast iron and copper have
been occasionally made, for the pearl and
coral fisheries of South America, and have
been supplied by the Messrs. Rennie for
most of the royal dock-yards in England,
and several of those in the colonies, for the
pearl fishery at Ceylon, for the repair of
the works at Cronstadt, for many places in
Great Britain and Ireland, &c.
DIVINING ROD (virgula mercurialis) is a
rod made with certain superstitious cere-
monies, either single and curved, or with
two branches, like a fork, of wood, brass
or other metal. The rod is held in a par-
ticular way, and if it bends towards one
side, those who use the rod believe it to
be an indication that there is treasure
under the spot. Some publications re-
specting a man who, in quite recent times,
pretended to be able to discover water and
metals under the ground by his feelings,
attracted much attention. (See Campetti.)
DIVISIBILITY. The actual subdivision
of bodies has, in many cases, been carried to
a prodigious extent. A slip of ivory, of an
inch in length, is frequently divided into
a hundred equal parts, which are distinct-
ly visible. But, by the application of a
very fine screw, 5000 equidistant lines, in
the space of a quarter of an inch, can be
traced on a surface of steel or glass with
the fine point of a diamond, producing
delicate iridescent colors. Common writ-
ing paper has a thickness of about the
500th part of an inch; but the pellicle
separated from ox-gut, and then doubled
to form gold-beaters' skin, is six times
thinner. A single pound of cotton has
been spun into a thread 76 miles in length;
and the same quantity of wool has been
extended into a thread of 95 miles; the

P
a
DIVISIBILITY. via
diameters of those threads being hence
only the 350th and 400th parts of an inch.
But the ductility of some metals far ex-
ceeds that of any other substance. The
gold-beaters begin with a riband an inch
broad and 150 inches long, which has
been reduced, by passing through rollers,
to about the 800th part of an inch in thick-
ness. This riband is cut into squares,
which are disposed between leaves of vel-
lum, and beat by a heavy hammer, till
they acquire a breadth of more than three
inches, and are therefore extended ten
times. These are again quartered, and
placed between the folds of gold-beaters'
skin, and stretched out, by the operation
of a lighter hammer, to the breadth of five
inches. The same process is repeated,
sometimes more than once, by a succes-
sion of lighter hammers; so that 376
grains of gold are thus finally extended
into 2000 leaves of 3.3 inches square, mak-
ing in all 80 books, containing each 25
leaves. The metal is, consequently, re-
duced to the thinness of the 282,000th part
of an inch, and every leaf weighs rather
less than the 5th part of a grain. Silver
is likewise capable of being laminated,
but will scarcely bear an extension above
half that of gold, or the 150,000th part of
an inch thick. Copper and tin have still
inferior degrees of ductility, and cannot,
perhaps, be beat thinner than the 20,000th
part of an inch. These form what is
called Dutch leaf. In the gilding of but-
tons, five grains of gold, which is applied
as an amalgam with mercury, is allowed
to each gross; so that the coating left
must amount to the 110,000th part of an
inch in thickness. If a piece of ivory or
white satin be immersed in a nitro-muriate
solution of gold, and then plunged into a
jar of hydrogen gas, it will become cov-
ered with a surface of gold hardly ex-
ceeding in thickness the 10,000,000th part
of an inch. The gilt wire used in em-
broidery is formed by extending gold
over a surface of silver. A silver rod,
about two feet long and an inch and a
half in diameter, and therefore weighing
nearly 20 pounds, is richly coated with
about 800 grains of pure gold. In Eng-
land, the lowest proportion allowed is 100
grains of gold to a pound of silver. This
gilt rod is then drawn through a series of
diminishing holes, till it has stretched to
the vast length o 240 miles, when the
gold has, consequently, become attenuated
800 times, each grain covering a surface
of 9600 square inches. This wire being
now flatted, the golden film suffers a fur-
ther extension, and has its thickness re-
259
duced to the four or five millionth part of
an inch. It has been asserted, that wires
of pure gold can be drawn of only the
4000th part of an inch in diameter. But
doctor W. H. Wollaston, by an ingenious
process, has lately advanced much further.
Taking a short cylinder of silver, about
the third part of an inch in diameter, he
drilled a fine hole through its axis, and in-
serted a wire of platinum, only the 100th
part of an inch thick. This silver mould
was now drawn through the successive
holes of a steel plate, till its diameter was
brought to near the 1500th part of an inch,
and, consequently, the internal wire, be-
ing diminished in the same proportion,
was reduced to between the four and
five thousandth part of an inch. The
compound wire was then dipped in warm
nitric acid, which dissolved the silver, and
left its core, or the wire of platinum. By
passing the incrusted platinum through a
greater number of holes, wires still finer
were obtained, some of them only the
30,000th part of an inch in diameter. The
tenacity of the metal, before reaching that
limit, was considerable; a platinum wire
of the 18,000th part of an inch in diame-
ter, supporting the weight of one grain
and a third. Such excessive fineness is
hardly surpassed by the filamentous pro-
ductions of nature. Human hair varies
in thickness, from the 250th to the 600th
part of an inch. The fibre of the coarsest
wool is about the 500th part of an inch in
diameter, and that of the finest only the
1500th part. The silk line, as spun by
the worm, is about the 5000th part of an
inch thick; but a spider's line is, perhaps,
six times finer, or only the 30,000th part
of an inch in diameter; insomuch, that a
single pound of this attenuated substance
might be sufficient to encompass our
globe. The red globules of the human
blood have an irregular, roundish shape,
from the 2500th to the 3300th of an inch
in diameter, with a dark central spot.
The trituration and levigation of powders,
and the perennial abrasion and waste of
the surface of solid bodies, occasion a dis-
integration of particles, almost exceeding
the powers of computation. Emery, after
it has been ground, is thrown into a vat
filled with water, and the fineness of the
powder is distinguished by the time of its
subsidence. In very dry situations, the
dust lodged near the corners and crevices
of ancient buildings is, by the continual
agitation of the air, made to give a glossy
polish to the interior side of the pillars, and
the less prominent parts of those venera-
ble remains. So fine is the sand on the

260
DIVISIBILITY-DIVORCE.
adust plains of Arabia, that it is carried
sometimes 300 miles over the Mediterra-
nean, by the sweeping sirocco. Along
the shores of that sea, the rocks are peo-
pled by the pholas, a testaceous and edible
worm, which, though very soft, yet, by un-
wearied perseverance, works a cylindrical
hole into the heart of the hardest stone. The
marble steps of the great churches in Italy
are worn by the incessant crawling of
abject devotees; nay, the hands and feet
of bronze statues are, in the lapse of ages,
wasted away by the ardent kisses of in-
numerable pilgrims that resort to those
shrines. What an evanescent pellicle of
the metal must be abraded at each suc-
cessive contact! The solutions of certain
saline bodies, and of other colored sub-
stances, exhibit a prodigious subdivision
and dissemination of matter. A single
grain of the sulphate of copper, or blue
vitriol, will communicate a fine azure tint
to five gallons of water. In this case, the
copper must be attenuated at least ten
million times; yet each drop of the liquid
may contain as many colored particles,
distinguishable by our unassisted vision.
A still minuter portion of cochineal, dis-
solved in deliquiate potash, will strike a
bright purple color through an equal mass
of water. Odors are capable of a much
wider diffusion. A single grain of musk
has been known to perfume a large room
for the space of 20 years. Consider how
often, during that time, the air of the apart-
ment must have been renewed, and have
become charged with fresh odor! At the
lowest computation, the musk had been
subdivided into 320 quadrillions of parti-
cles, each of them capable of affecting the
olfactory organs. The vast diffusion of
odorous effluvia may be conceived from
the fact, that a lump of assafoetida, ex-
posed to the open air, lost only a grain in
seven weeks. Yet, since dogs hunt by
the scent alone, the effluvia emitted from
the several species of animals, and from
different individuals of the same race,
must be essentially distinct. The vapor
of pestilence conveys its poison in a still
more subtile and attenuated form. The
seeds of contagion are known to lurk, for
years, in various absorbent substances,
which scatter death on exposure to the
air. But the diffusion of the particles of
light defies all powers of calculation. A
small taper will, in a twinkling, illuminate
the atmosphere to the distance of four
miles; yet the luminous particles which
fill that wide concavity cannot amount to
the 5000th part of a grain, which may be
the whole consumption of the wax in
light, smoke and ashes. Animated mat-
ter likewise exhibits, in many instances, a
wonderful subdivision. The milt of a
codfish, when it begins to putrefy, has been
computed to contain a billion of perfect
insects; so that thousands of these living
creatures could be lifted on the point of a
needle. But the infusory animalcules dis-
play, in their structure and functions, the
most transcendent attenuation of matter.
The vibrio undula, found in duck-weed, is
computed to be ten thousand million
times smaller than a hemp seed. The
vibrio lineola occurs in vegetable infusions,
every drop containing myriads of those
oblong points. Of the monas gelatinosa,
discovered in ditch water, millions appear
in the field of a microscope, playing, like
the sunbeams, in a single drop of liquid.
Insects have been discovered so small as
not to exceed the 10,000th part of an inch,
so that 1,000,000,000,000 of them might be
contained within the space of one cubic
inch; yet each animalcule must consist of
parts connected with each other, with ves-
sels, with fluids, and with organs neces-
sary for its motions, for its increase, for
its propagation, &c. How inconceivably
small must those organs be! and yet they
are, unquestionably, composed of other
parts still smaller, and still farther re-
moved from the perception of our senses.
DIVORCE is a separation, by law, of hus-
band and wife, and is either a divorce
a vinculo matrimonii, that is, a complete
dissolution of the marriage bonds, whereby
the parties become as entirely disconnected
as those who have not been joined in wed-
lock, or a divorce a mensa et thoro (from
bed and board), whereby the parties are
legally separated, but not unmarried. The
causes admitted by different codes of laws
as grounds for the modification or entire
dissolution of the marriage contract, as
well as the description of tribunal which
has jurisdiction of the proceedings, and the
form of the proceedings, are quite various.
According to the law of Moses (Deut.
xxiv. 1), "when a man hath taken a wife,
and married her, and it come to pass that
she find no favor in his eyes, because he
hath found some uncleanness in her; then
let him write her a bill of divorcement,
and give it in her hand, and send her out
of his house." This was a very sum-
mary proceeding, and the provision seems
scarcely to recognise the force of a mar-
riage contract, as binding upon the hus-
band, who, according to the prevalent in-
terpretation of this law among the Jews,
might be his own judge of the sufficiency
of the cause for repudiating his wife; and

P
a
DIVORCE.
one school of doctors, whose interpreta-
tions were had in respect, considered it to
be sufficient cause if he preferred another
woman, or if his wife did not dress his
victuals to his satisfaction. This law is
said (Matt. xix.) to have been a concession
to the hardness of heart of the Jews, who
were not prepared to receive a better doc-
trine. The wife, on receiving her bill of
divorce, was at liberty to marry again,
after waiting 90 days, in order to avoid
doubts as to the paternity of her next born
child. This law, like those of the Eastern
countries generally, pays very little respect
to the rights of the wife as a party to
a matrimonial contract. The husband
might marry another wife immediately.
The wife could not divorce the husband.
The Mohammedan law of divorce,
founded upon some passages in the Koran,
allows of a separation by mutual consent,
giving the wife the right of retaining her
marriage portion, unless she agrees to
relinquish a part of it as the price of the
separation. The parties are permitted to
separate and reunite twice, if they can so
agree, without any particular conditions;
but after the third divorce, the husband is
not permitted to receive his wife again,
until she shall have previously married
another husband. The act of divorce is a
judicial proceeding before the cadi, who
does not decree it until three months after
the application, which delay is made in
order to determine whether the wife is
pregnant; and if she be so, the divorce is
delayed until after her delivery. The ma-
gistrates throw obstacles in the way of
divorce, so that the expenses of the pro-
ceedings, and the necessity of allowing the
wife her marriage portion back again, in
case of divorce, sometimes discourage the
husband from prosecuting the affair, and
induce him to make a composition. But
here, according to D'Arvieux's Memoirs,
the magistrate interposes, and will not
permit a reconciliation and discontinuance
of the proceedings, until the wife is first
married to another person; for which pur-
pose some youth is agreed with to act the
part of second husband, so far as may be
necessary in order to afford a ground for
the discontinuance of the proceedings, and
the relenting husband must be a spectator
of this second marriage and its incidents.
A cadi informed this traveller that this
condition was rigidly enforced, in order to
prevent the tribunals from being overbur-
thened with applications for divorce.
The Hindoo laws pay still less respect
to the women, who are considered very
much in the light of slaves to their hus-
bands. According to a maxim of these
261
laws, "prudent husbands instantly forsake
a wife who speaks unkindly." Barren-
ness, the bearing of daughters only, eating
in her husband's presence, any incurable
disease, or quarrelsomeness, is each a suf-
ficient cause of divorce. The same law
inculcates upon the wife the obligation to
revere her husband as a god, although he
is devoid of all good qualities, or enam-
ored of another woman. If the wife is
superseded by the husband's taking anoth-
er, he must still maintain her. The wife
is, however, so far protected, that the hus-
band is not allowed to put her to death, or
to mutilate her person, unless in case of an
amour with one of a lower caste.
The Chinese laws of divorce are very
similar to the Hindoo, but add some other
sufficient causes, such as disregard to the
husband's parents, loquaciousness, and
jealousy of temper. But the husband
cannot divorce a wife who has mourned
three years for his parents, or if his family
has become rich subsequently to his mar-
riage, or if the wife have no parents living
to receive her back again. A woman
who has been deserted three years by her
husband, may marry another.
The different Grecian states had each
their respective laws of divorce. At Spar-
ta, they do not seem to have greatly
regarded the delicacy of the marriage bed,
when the interest of the republic was in
question; but divorces appear to have
been rare, since the ephori fined Lysander
for repudiating his wife. At Athens, either
the husband or wife might procure a di-
vorce, by exhibiting a bill for this purpose
to the archon, and obtaining the verdict
or consent of a jury, to whom the question
was referred. But the party applying
must, it seems, have made application per-
sonally; and Alcibiades, according to Plu-
tarch, took advantage of his authority as a
husband, to prevent his wife from making
the application personally; for, when she
was going from her brother's house, where
she had taken refuge, to the archon's, to
sue for a divorce, he forcibly scized upon
her, and confined her to his own house.
The early laws of Rome permitted the
husband to divorce his wife for poisoning
his children, counterfeiting his keys, or
adultery. But other causes were after-
wards added; for the first divorce recorded
was for the sterility of the wife. This was
by Sp. C. Ruga, in the year 523 after the
building of the city. Divorces afterwards
became very frequent, and a law was, on
this account, made by Augustus, requiring
additional ceremonies in a divorce; among
other things, the presence of seven wit
nesses to the act of dissolution of the mar
262
DIVORCE-DJEZZAR.

riage. By the Theodosian code, the hus-
band could divorce the wife for adultery,
or if she was a witch or a murderess, had
sold a freeborn person into slavery, vio-
lated a sepulchre, committed sacrilege,
been accessary to theft or robbery, was
given to feeding with strangers without
the knowledge or against the wishes of
the husband, lodging abroad without good
reason, or frequented theatres and shows,
her husband forbidding, or was aiding and
abetting in plots against the state, or dealt
falsely, or offered blows. The wife had
equivalent rights in this respect, for she
could procure a divorce on similar charges
against her husband. He could be married
again immediately; she, not within a year.
The facility of divorce continued, without
restriction, under the Roman emperors, not-
withstanding the doctrine promulgated on
the subject in the New Testament; but,
as the modern nations of Europe emerged
from the ruins of the Roman empire, they
adopted the doctrine of the New Testa-
ment (Matt. xix.), "what God hath joined
together, let not man put asunder." Mar-
riage, under the Roman church, instead
of a civil contract, came to be considered
a sacrament of the church, and subject to
the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and so it is,
at this time, in England; and the canonists
founded upon this text the doctrine of the
unlawfulness of dissolving this contract,
the dissolution of which they considered
to be a violation of a sacred institution.
If parties were once legally married, they
could not be unmarried, though they
might be separated. But though mar-
riage was thus held to be a sacrament,
still the ceremony of union might pass
between those who could not lawfully be
joined in "holy" wedlock, in which case
the marriage might be annulled, or rather
declared, by the competent tribunals, to
have been null from the first. Divorces
a vinculo are, accordingly, decreed by the
ecclesiastical courts in England, for prior
contract, impotency, too near an affinity or
consanguinity, and other causes, existing
at the time of the marriage, but not for any
subsequent cause. For any cause what-
ever, arising after the marriage, the eccle-
siastical courts can only decree divorce
a mensa et thoro, which does not leave
either of the parties at liberty to marry
again. To obtain a divorce a vinculo mat-
rimonii, for any cause whatever, arising
after the marriage of the parties, to whose
union no legal impediment existed at the
time of the marriage, the omnipotence, as
it is called, of parliament, must be resort-
ed to.
In the U. States, marriage, though it
may be celebrated before clergymen as
well as civil magistrates, is considered to
be a civil contract. The causes of divorce,
and the facility or difficulty of obtaining
it, are by no means the same in the sev-
eral states; and the diversity in this respect
is so great, that instances have heretofore
not been unfrequent, of one of the parties
removing into a neighboring state for the
express purpose of obtaining a divorce
a vinculo. The more general causes of
such a divorce are, former marriage, phys-
ical incapacity, or fraudulent contract, ac-
cording to the expression in the Connecti-
cut law, to include these and other causes;
consanguinity; and the New York code
particularly enumerates idiocy and insan-
ity, and the circumstance of either party
being under the age of consent. Adul-
tery is also a cause of divorce a vinculo;
but the laws of some of the states pro-
hibit the guilty party from marrying
again. If the husband or wife is absent
seven years, or, by the laws of some states,
three years, and not heard from, the
other is at liberty to marry again; and
in some states, if the husband desert
the wife, and make no provision for her
support during three years, being able to
make such provision, the wife can obtain
a divorce. Extreme cruelty in either
party is also, generally, a cause of divorce,
either a vinculo or a mensa. In many of
the states, applications to the legislature
for divorce, in cases not provided for by
the statutes, are very frequent. In New
York and New Jersey, divorce is a subject
of chancery jurisdiction, from which, as in
other cases, questions of law may be
referred to a jury for trial. But, in most
of the states, the courts of law have cogni-
zance of divorce. The laws prescribe
the provision to be made for the wife in
case of divorce, confiding to the courts,
however, some degree of discretion in
fixing the amount of alimony.
DJEBEL is an Arabian word, signifying
mountain, as Djebel-el-Mousa, the mountain
of Moses; Djebel-el-Tarik (Gibraltar), the
mountain of Tarik.
DJEZZAR, Achmet, pacha of Acre, who
checked the victorious career of Bonaparte
in Egypt and Syria, was born in Bosnia,
and is said to have sold himself as a slave
to Ali Bey, in Egypt. There he ingra-
tiated himself with his master to such a
degree, that he rose from the low state of
a mameluke to that of governor of Cairo.
For his future success, he was not less
indebted to his faithlessness and ingrati
tude, than to his courage and talents. As
pacha of Acre, he rendered himself so
formidable to the rebels, that he was
DJEZZAR-DOCKS.
raised to the dignity of a pacha of three
tails. Differences soon arose between him
and the Porte, which is jealous of every
pacha of spirit and enterprise. Obeying
the commands received from Constanti-
nople no farther than they coincided with
his own plans, he maintained himself by
force and cunning. On Bonaparte's inva-
sion of Syria, in 1799, he broke out into
the most ungovernable fury, that Chris-
tians from Europe should dare to attempt
the conquest of his province. Assisted
by the French engineer, Philippeaux, who
conducted the defence with great ability,
and by sir Sidney Smith, who supported
him with several English men-of-war,
Djezzar could boast of repelling the man
before whom Europe trembled. He after-
wards had several bloody struggles with
the grand-vizier and the pacha of Jaffa,
and died in 1804. He received the name
of Djezzar (butcher) from his bloodthirsty
disposition.
DJIDDA. (See Jidda.)
DNIEPER, or DNEPER, or NIEPER (an-
ciently, Borysthenes); a river of Russia,
which rises in the west part of the gov-
ernment of Tver, passes by Smolensk,
Mogilev, Kiev, Ekaterinoslav, &c., and
runs into the Black sea, near Otchakov.
It begins to be navigable a little above
Smolensk. Notwithstanding the course
of this river is so extensive, its navigation
is only once interrupted by a series of cat-
aracts, which commence about 200 miles
from its mouth, and continue 30 or 40
miles; these, however, are not very dan-
gerous, and may be passed in the spring
by loaded barks. Length, 1000 miles.
The lower part of the river has been the
theatre of many conflicts between the
Russians and Turks.
DNIESTER, OF DNIESTR (the ancient Ty-
ras or Danaster); a large river of Europe,
which has its source in a lake in the
Carpathian mountains, in Austrian Galicia,
and empties itself into the Black sea, be-
tween Ovidiopol and Akerman, after a
course of between 500 and 600 miles,
mostly through Russia, the government of
which has done much towards improving
its navigation.
DOBBERAN; a castle and borough
(210 houses and 1400 inhabitants), under
the jurisdiction of a bailiff, between two
and three miles from the Baltic, in the
duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. About
a mile from the place is the Heilige
Damm, or Holy Dam, a high natural
mound of stones, curiously formed and
colored, stretching far into the Baltic.
Tradition says, that the sea threw up these
263

stones in one night: it was, perhaps, the
effect of an earthquake. Three miles dis-
tant from Dobberan is a bathing-house,
the oldest establishment for sea-bathing in
Germany. It was founded by the duke
in 1793; and to it Dobberan has been
chiefly indebted for its celebrity.
DOBROWSKY, Joseph, abbé, born in 1754,
doctor of philosophy, member of the royal
Bohemian society of sciences, and several
other societies, lives at Prague, in the fam-
ily of count Nostitz. He is the most
learned Sclavonian in the Austrian empire.
Beside other works, he has written a His-
tory of the Language and ancient Litera-
ture of Bohemia (revised edition, Prague,
1818); and a work entitled Methodius and
Cyrillus, the apostles of the Sclavonians.
He is now preparing a critical edition of
Jornandes, for the society of ancient Ger-
man history at Frankfort.
Dock; a name applied to different spe-
cies of the genus rumer. These are large
herbaceous plants, with stout roots, alter-
nate and often entire leaves, and bearing
panicles of small greenish flowers. Sev-
eral species have been introduced into our p
gardens from Europe, and have become
troublesome weeds. Their roots have an
austere taste, are astringent and styptic,
and the seeds are sometimes employed in
hemorrhage. The root of the water-dock
(R. aquaticus) strikes a black color in a
solution of sulphate of iron. About 60
species of this genus are known, five or
six of which are really natives of the U.
States. The term dock is frequently ap-
plied to other large weeds.
Docks. The word dock was formerly
applied to the slip or excavation made for
the purpose of building or repairing a
vessel; and was distinguished as a dry
dock when furnished with flood-gates to
prevent the influx of the tide, if required;
and as a wet dock when, having no flood-
gates, the vessel could only be cleaned or
repaired during the period in which the
tide left her accessible. These slips or
docks are still used. At present, the name
of graving or building dock is more gen-
erally given to what we have termed dry
dock, which latter term is applied to those
docks or basins left dry by the tide;
while the appellation slip is confined to
the narrow inlet for building or repairing,
unprotected by gates. During the growth
of the maritime power and the commerce
of Europe, it was found highly inconve-
nient to load and unload vessels in a tide-
river or in a harbor not entirely land-
locked; for either the ships could not
be brought close to the wharves, or, when

264
DOCKS.
conducted there at the flood of the tide,
they were left dry at the ebb, and suffered
continual damage by straining, by delay
from neap tides, and other accidents and
inconveniences. To obviate these incon-
veniences, improvements in the existing
docks or slips were made from time to
time, until England, taking the lead, intro-
duced a system of floating docks, which
have greatly contributed to her advance-
ment and prosperity. Many of the prin-
cipal maritime ports of Europe are pro-
vided with dry docks for building and
repairing vessels; and of these Toulon,
Havre and Brest have the most remark-
able, Most seaport towns are provided
with graving docks for the repairing of
ships; but it is only in the British islands
that the system has been carried to any
extent of forming large basins or floating
docks, furnished with flood-gates for the
reception of shipping to load and unload,
wherein the vessel remains safe at the
quay-side. The docks of Liverpool were
the first constructed in England; and many
other maritime towns have been induced
to follow her example. It is scarcely 30
years since nearly the whole of the vessels
that entered the port of London were
obliged to remain moored in the open
stream of the Thames. The example
whica Liverpool had set for nearly a cen-
tury pointed out the remedy for the exist-
ing evils, and the construction of floating
docks in the port of London was resolv-
ed on. The first constructed, and those
nearest the trading part of the metropo-
lis, are called the London docks. They
are just below the site of the Tower, and
on the left bank of the Thames; were be-
gun in 1800, and completed in 1805. The
dock, properly so called, is 420 yards in
length, 276 yards in breadth, and 29 feet
in depth; its superficies is equal to 25
acres; that of the basin communicating
with it is above 2 acres; and, including
the ground occupied by warehouses, sheds
and quays, the whole premises contain a
superficies of 110 acres. Excepting those
ships that trade to the East and West In-
dies, every vessel, whether English or
foreign, may enter the London dock upon
paying the duties, to unship her cargo or
take in a new lading. For the conve-
nience of business, ranges of sheds, low,
and of a very simple construction, have
been erected along the sides of the dock
and near the edges of the quays, into
which cargoes are removed. Behind
these sheds, and in a parallel direction to
them, stands a line of magnificent ware-
houses, four stories high, with spacious
vaults, into which the casks are conveyed
by inclined planes. These buildings oc-
cupy a superficies of 120,000 square yards.
The cellars are appropriated to wines and
brandies, and railways, or rather tramways,
running in all directions, facilitate labor.
The London docks have their several
parts perfectly adapted to each other, and
are of the most admirable construction.
The gates, like all those whose size
much exceeds 20 feet, instead of being
straight, are curved on the side on which
the water presses. The West India docks
are on the left bank of the Thames,
at the distance of about one mile and a
half below the London docks. They are
situated on the base of a tongue of land
of the Isle of Dogs-a sort of peninsula
formed by a long circuit of the river.
The West India docks are much superior
to the London, both in extent and regu-
larity. These vast works were under-
taken and executed by an association of
private individuals, and by means of a
mere subscription. 27 months sufficed to
accomplish the whole. The excavations
of the West India docks were begun on
the 12th of July, 1800; and as early as the
month of September, 1802, vessels entered
the import dock! At the highest tides,
the depth of water in the two docks is 24
feet; they are formed parallel to each
other; their common length is about 890
yards. The largest, which has a super-
ficies of above 30 acres, is destined for
those vessels returning to the West Indies,
which deposit their cargoes in the ware-
houses of this artificial port. The second,
the superficies of which is about 25 acres,
receives the vessels laid up in ordinary, or
taking the outward-bound cargoes. These
docks, with their basins, and the locks
which connect them with the river, pre-
sent an area of 68 acres of ground, exca-
vated by human hands, for the reception
and moorage of vessels. The total super-
ficies, including that of the quays and
warehouses, is 140 acres. During the
busy season, this establishment employs
about 2600 workmen. It can admit, at
the same time, 204 vessels in the import,
and 195 in the export dock, forming a
total of 120,000 tons. During the first 15
years, 7260 vessels entered them. Upon
the quays, under the sheds, and in the
warehouses, there have been deposited, at
the same time, 148,563 barrels or casks of
sugar, 70,875 barrels and 433,648 bags of
coffee, 35,158 pipes of rum and Madeira
wine, 14,021 logs of mahogany, 21,350
tons of logwood, &c. At the upper and
lower entrances of the two docks, a basin
DOCKS-DODD.
265
presents three locks of communication. continent of Europe, the order of rank is
this doctor of theology, of law, of medi-
cine, and of philosophy; but in England
and the U. States of America, the doctor
of laws ranks first, and the doctor of di-
vinity next. Doctor of medicine is a pro-
fessional title.-The degree of doctor of
music is conferred at the universities of
Oxford and Cambridge (England). The
great Haydn and Romberg received this
title from the university of Oxford.
The first communicates with the Thames;
the water is kept in it by means of double
gates. The second and third locks lead
respectively into the export and import
docks; they have also double gates. By
this means, the vessels are able to come in
and go out independently of the state of
the tide; they may remain in the basin as
long as is judged convenient. The water
of the docks being but very little higher
than that of the basins, it does not press
violently on the gates of the locks. It
should be also observed, that this water,
having had time to settle in its previous
passage through the basin, hardly deposits
any sediment when introduced into the
docks. The East India docks, belonging
to the East India company, are inferior to
the West India docks in magnitude, but
equal in point of construction and secu-
rity of property. Having to receive vessels
of 2500 tons, they are deeper than the
West India docks, and have never less
than 23 or 24 feet water.
DOCK-YARDS; arsenals containing all
sorts of naval stores, and timber for ship-
building. In England, the royal dock-
yards are at Chatham, Portsmouth, Plym-
outh, Deptford, Woolwich, and Sheer-
ness, where the king's ships and vessels
of war are generally moored during peace,
and such as want repairing are taken into
the docks, examined, and refitted for ser-


vice.
DOCTOR. The title of doctor originated
at the same time with the establishment
of the universities. The dignity con-
nected with it first received public sanc-
tion at the law university in Bologna,
between 1128 and 1137, where the cele-
brated Irnerius (Werner) began to give
instructions in law, in 1128, and was con-
firmed by the emperor as professor of
law. He is said to have prevailed on the
emperor Lothaire II, whose chancellor
he was, to introduce the dignity of doctor.
From the faculty of law, this title passed
to that of theology. The faculty in Paris
first conferred the degree of doctor of di-
rinity on Peter Lombard, who, in 1159,
became bishop of Paris. William Gorde-
nio, of the college at Asti, in 1329, was the
first person who was promoted to the dig-
uity of doctor artium et medicina. The
doctorate of philosophy was established
last, because the faculty of philosophy was
formed the latest. The title of magister
was more common among the members
of this faculty. The degree of doctor
is either conferred publicly, with cer-
tain ceremonies, or by diploma. On the
VOL. IV.
23
DOCTORS' COMMONS. (See College of
Civilians.)
DOCTRINAIRES. Since the second res-
toration of the Bourbons, a small number
of deputies in the French chamber would
neither rank themselves among the friends
of absolute power, nor among the de-
fenders of the revolution. They supported
Decazes, while he was minister; and sev-
eral of them held offices in the ministry,
as, for instance, the counsellors of state
Camille Jordan and Royer-Collard. Their
system embraced a constitutional mon-
archy, allowing the government more
power than the ultra-liberals would admit,
and, on the other hand, restricting the
royal power more, and admitting less ap-
proach towards the old form of govern-
ment, than the ultra-royalists demanded.
They retired with Decazes, and after-
wards joined the liberal opposition. The
first orator among them was Royer-Col-
lard, and their most distinguished writer
out of the chamber, Guizot. (See Cham-
bers.)
DODD, William, an English clergyman,
born in 1729, the son of a clergyman, was
educated at Cambridge. In 1750, he
married without the means of support;
in 1753, took orders, and soon became one
of the most popular preachers in London.
An expensive mode of living rendered his
circumstances embarrassed, and he be-
came the author or editor of several works
which afforded him large profits. In
1764, he was chosen one of his majesty's
chaplains, and was active in the formation
of a society for the relief of persons con-
fined for small debts. Being now much
involved in debt, he disgraced his station,
and violated the rules of common honesty,
by offering a bribe to the lord chancellor's
lady if she would procure his nomination
to a vacant rectory. The lady was indig
nant, and informed the chancellor of the
offer, who procured Dodd's name to be
struck from the list of the king's chaplains.
To escape from the disgrace which at-
tended the knowledge of his conduct, he
went to Geneva, where he met with the
earl of Chesterfield, to whom he had been


266
DODD-DODINGTON.
tutor. This nobleman afterwards pre-
sented him with a living. In 1777, he
committed a forgery upon his patron, by
which he obtained a large sum of money,
which he probably hoped to replace, and
thereby avoid detection. But the offence
was scarcely committed before the crimi-
nal was discovered. He was imprisoned,
tried, convicted, and executed at Tyburn,
notwithstanding great efforts to procure
his pardon. He died with all the marks
of sincere contrition for the crimes he had
committed and the scandal he had brought
upon his profession. His works were
numerous.
DODD, Ralph, a civil engineer, the ori-
ginal projector of a tunnel under the
Thames, and various other public works
of importance. In 1795, he published an
Account of the principal Canals in the
known World, with Reflections on the great
Utility of Canals. In 1798, he laid before
the public his plan for a tunnel under the
Thames, which was approved by govern-
ment; but the scheme was abandoned
soon after its commencement. He had
also a share in the improvement of steam-
vessels; and the first impetus to the
scheme for navigating by steam in Eng-
land was given by a patent which he ob-
tained for a steam-boat on the Thames,
from London to Gravesend, which, how-
ever, was not carried into effect. He
afterwards navigated, in a steam-vessel,
round the coasts of England and Ireland.
In 1822, he was severely wounded by an
explosion of the boiler of a steam-packet,
and, after lingering a few months, died at
Cheltenham, in April of that year.
DODDRIDGE, Philip; an eminent dis-
senting divine. His father was a trades-
man in London, and he was born there in
1702. After some previous education, he
became the pupil of Mr. John Jennings,
who kept a theological academy. On the
death of his tutor, he succeeded to the sit-
uation, but removed the seminary, in 1729,
to Northampton. There he resided nearly
22 years, filling his station as a minister
and academical preceptor with great credit.
He died Oct. 26, 1751, at Lisbon, whither
he had gone in the hope of deriving bene-
fit from the change of air, in a pulmon-
ic complaint. Doctor Doddridge distin-
guished himself by a commentary on the
New Testament, published under the title
of the Family Expositor, which became
deservedly popular, and has gone through
inany editions. After his death appeared
a Course of Lectures on the principal
Subjects of Pneumatology, Ethics and
Divinity, with References to the most con-
siderable Authors on each of those sub-
jects (4to., 1763; republished, with im-
provements, by doctor Kippis, in 1794,
2 vols., 8vo.). Doctor Doddridge was also
the author of sermons, hymns, devotional
treatises, &c.
DODECANDRIA (from dudeka, twelve, and
amp, man); the 12th class of Linnæus, in
botany, because it comprises plants with
hermaphrodite flowers, that have 12 male
organs. It is, however, not limited to this
number: several genera of this class have
16, 18, and even 19 stamens. The essen-
tial character is, that the stamens, how-
ever numerous, are inserted into the recep-
tacle.
DODINGTON, George Bubb (lord Mel-
combe Regis), was the son of a gentleman
of fortune; or, as others say, of an apothe-
cary, named Bubb, who married into a
wealthy family, in Dorsetshire. He was
born in 1691, was elected member of paf-
liament for Winchelsea, in 1715, and was
soon after appointed envoy to the court of
Spain. In 1720, by the death of his ma-
ternal uncle, he came into possession of
a large estate, and took the surname of
Dodington. In 1724, having closely con-
nected himself with sir Robert Walpole,
he was appointed a lord of the treasury,
and became clerk of the pells in Ireland.
He afterwards joined the opposition, and,
on the fall of Walpole, became treasurer
of the navy. This party he also quitted,
in order to lead the opposition under
Frederic, prince of Wales, whose death
for some time arrested his career. In 1755,
he accepted his former post of treasurer
of the navy, under the duke of Newcas-
tle, but lost it the following year. On
the accession of George III, he was early
received into the confidence of lord Bute;
and, in 1761, was advanced to the peer-
age by the title of lord Melcombe, and died
the following year. This versatile poli-
tician was generous, magnificent and con-
vivial in private life, and the patron or
friend of Young, Thomson, Glover, Field-
ing, Bentley, Voltaire, Lyttelton and Ches-
terfield, who, with many of meaner pre-
tensions, mingled at his hospitable table.
He is best known by his celebrated Diary,
published in 1784, by Henry Penruddock
Wyndham, Esq. A more curious exposi-
tion of avarice, vanity, servility and selfish-
ness, as a place-hunter and trading poli-
tician, has seldom been exhibited. It is a
most extraordinary instance of a self-re-
corded and seemingly unconscious pros-
tration of honorable and manly feelings to
the acquirement of place, emolument and
court favor.





DODONA-DODWELL.
DODONA; a celebrated place in Epirus,
built, according to tradition, by Deucalion,
containing one of the most ancient oracles
in Greece. The oracle belonged to Jupi-
ter, and near the splendid temple was a
sacred grove, in which there was a pro-
phetic oak. Jupiter, says the fable, had
presented to his daughter Thebe two
doves, which possessed the faculty of
speaking. One day they left Thebes in
Egypt, taking their course, the one to
Libya, where it founded the oracle of
Jupiter Ammon, the other to Epirus,
where, alighting on an oak tree, it an-
nounced, in a loud voice, to the inhabitants,
that it was the will of Jupiter to establish
there an oracle. The prophetic priestesses
announced the divine communications in
different ways. They approached the
sacred tree, and listened to the rustling of
its leaves, or, standing by the fountain at
the foot of the tree, observed the murmur-
ing of the water which gushed forth from
the earth. They also prophesied from the
sounds issuing from brazen vessels, which
were suspended from the pillars of the
temple, &c.
DODSLEY, Robert, an ingenious poet and
dramatist, was born of parents in humble
life, at Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, in
1703. He was apprenticed to a stocking-
weaver, but left that employment, became
footman to the honorable Mrs. Lowther,
and published by subscription a volume
of poems, entitled the Muse in Livery,
which attracted public favor less from its
intrinsic merit than from the situation of
the author. His next effort was the Toy-
shop, a dramatic satire on the fashionable
follies of the time. Pope patronised this
piece, and, through his influence, it was
brought upon the stage in 1735. Dodsley
was enabled, by his profits as an author,
to set up a bookseller's shop in Pall-Mall,
which ultimately proved a very prosper-
ous concern. He next wrote the farce of
the King and the Miller of Mansfield,
founded on an old ballad; which succeed-
ed so well, that he produced a sequel to it,
called Sir John Cockle at Court. In
1741, he brought out a musical piece, en-
titled the Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green;
and, in 1745, he made an attempt to intro-
duce on the stage a new species of panto-
mime, in Rex et Pontifex. A loyal masque
in honor of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle,
appeared in 1749. His next work was the
Economy of Human Life, a well known
collection of moral maxims. He wrote a
tragedy, entitled Cleone, which had some
success on the stage, but possesses no
extraordinary merit. A selection of Fables
267
in prose, with an Essay on Fable prefixed,
was one of his latest productions. Hav-
ing acquired a competent fortune by his
double occupation of author and booksel-
ler, he retired from business. He died at
Durham, in 1764. He planned the Pre-
ceptor; the Collection of Old Plays, 12
vols., 12mo.; and the Collection of Poems
by different Hands, 6 vols., 12mo.

Re-
DODWELL, Henry, a critic and theolog-
ical writer of distinction, was born at Dub-
lin, in 1641, and, owing to family misfor-
tunes during the Irish rebellion, and the
death of his father, was early subjected to
a life of want and dependence. Sir Henry
Slingsby, his mother's brother, at length
enabled him to obtain some education.
In 1656, he became a student of Trinity
college, Dublin, where he distinguished
himself by his application, and was chosen
to a fellowship. This station he resigned
in 1666, because he had scruples relative
to the lawfulness of taking orders in the
church, as enjoined by the statutes of the
college. He then visited England, and
for some time resided at Oxford.
turning to Ireland, he began his career of
authorship with a preface to a theological
tract of his tutor, doctor Stearn. His next
production was entitled Two Letters of
Advice; 1. for the Susception of Holy
Orders; 2. for Studies Theological, espe-
cially such as are rational. To the second
edition of this work (1681) was annexed
a Discourse on the Phoenician History of
Sanchoniathon, which he deemed spuri-
ous. In 1674, he came again to England,
and settled in London, where he continued
to employ his pen. In 1688, he was
chosen Camden professor of history at
Oxford. After the revolution, his high-
church principles inducing him to espouse
the cause of the nonjurors, he was de-
prived of his office. He died in 1711.
He produced a multitude of works relat-
ing to theological and classical literature.
Of these, the most valuable is entitled
De veteribus Græcorum, Romanorumque
Cyclis, obiterque de Cyclo Judæorum Etate
Christi, Dissertationes X. cum Tabulis ne-
cessariis, &c. (folio); and another, entitled
An Epistolary Discourse, proving from the
Scriptures and the first Fathers, that the
Soul is a Principle naturally mortal, but
immortalized actually by the Pleasure of
God, to Punishment or to Reward, by its
Union with the divine baptismal Spirit;
where it is proved that none have the Pow
er of giving this divine immortalizing Spirit
since the Apostles, but only the Bishops.
This work gave rise to a warm controversy,
and subjected the author to much obloquy.
268
DOE, JOHN, and RICHARD ROE.
Bail, and Writ.)
DOE-DOG.
(See
genus
Linnæus has asserted that the tail of this
animal, in all its species and varieties, in-
variably bends to the left; but, although
such is very often the case, it is by no
means universal, as the slightest observa-
tion will demonstrate. Desmarest, how-
ever, has remarked a peculiarity as re-
spects the tail of dogs, which appears much
better entitled to rank as a specific char-
acter; that, whenever this member is of
white united with any other color, the
white is always terminal. The same re-
mark applies to other species of this
equally with the dogs. Naturalists have
divided dogs into several classes: 1. mas-
tiffs, including the dog of New Holland,
the mastiff, (particularly so called), the
Danish dog, and the varieties of grey-
hound; 2. the spaniels, including the
spaniel and its varieties, the water-dog,
the hound, the terrier, the shepherd's dog,
the wolf-dog, the Siberian dog, the Es-
quimaux dog, and the alco or Peruvi-
an dog; 3. bull-dogs, consisting of the
bull-dog and its varieties, the house-
dog, the turnspit, the pug, &c. The
sagacity and attention of the dog are so
great, that it is not difficult to teach him
to hunt, dance, and exhibit a thousand
tricks. The mode in which he is taught
to point out different cards that are placed
near him is this:-He is first taught, by
repeated trials, to know something by a
certain mark, and then to distinguish one
ace from another; food is frequently offer-
ed him on a card he is unacquainted with,
after which he is sent to search it out from
the pack; and, after a little experience, he
never mistakes. Profiting by the discove-
ry of receiving food and caresses for his
docility, he soon becomes able to know
each particular card, which, when it is
called for, he brings with an air of gayety,
and without confusion. But of the attain-
ments by which the dog has been distin-
guished, that of learning to speak is the
most extraordinary. The celebrated Leib-
nitz communicated a fact of this nature to
the royal academy of France; and were it
not that he asserts, that he himself was a
witness of the phenomenon, we should
scarcely have dared to report the circum-
stance. The dog, from his account, could
articulate about thirty words, but it was
necessary that they should be first pro-
nounced to him.-Dogs are found in all
parts of the world, with the exception of a
few groups of islands in the southern
Pacific ocean. It is only in temperate
climates that they preserve their ardor,
courage, sagacity and other talents. When
transported to very hot countries, they lose
those qualiti63 for which we admire them.
Dog (canis familiaris). To no animal is
mankind more indebted for faithful and
unswerving affection than to the dog.
His incorruptible fidelity, his forbearing
and enduring attachment, his inexhausti-
ble diligence, ardor and obedience, have
been noticed and eulogized from the ear-
liest times. This valuable quadruped may
be emphatically termed the friend of man;
as, unlike other animals, his attachment
is purely personal, and uninfluenced by
changes of time or place. The dog seems
to remember only the benefits which he
may have received, and, instead of discov-
ering resentment when he is chastised,
exposes himself to torture, and even licks
the hand from which it proceeds. With-
out the aid of this almost reasoning animal,
how could man have resisted the attacks
of the savage and ferocious tenants of the
forest, or have procured sustenance in
those ages of the world when agriculture
was unknown!-When we attempt to
trace the source or origin of the species, it
will be found that the changes and varie-
ties, which the influence of domestication
and the intermixture of races have pro-
duced, are so multifarious and intermina-
ble as to baffle all research. Pennant is
of opinion that the original stock of dogs
in the old world is with great reason sup-
posed to be the jackal; that from their
tamed offspring, casually crossed with the
wolf, the fox, and even the hyæna, have
arisen the numberless forms and sizes of
the canine race. Buffon, with much in-
genuity, has traced out a genealogical
table of all the known dogs, deducing all
the other varieties from the shepherd's
dog, variously affected by climate, and
other casual circumstances. From the
recent observations of travellers in the
high northern parts of this continent,
where, although dogs have been employed
for an incalculable length of time, they
still retain much of the external appear-
ance and general carriage of a wild ani-
mal, it would seem that Pennant's sugges-
tion is worthy of attention. But, at the
same time, it should be remarked, that the
breed of dogs, produced from the wolf and
varieties of the domestic dog, during a
long succession of generations, still retains
marked characteristics of the predomi-
nance of the savage qualities derived from
its untamed progenitors, in the keen and
vivid expression of the eye, ferocity of dis-
position and severity of bite. It is also a
singular fact, that the race of European
dogs evince as great an antipathy to the
Esquimaux species as they do to a wolf.


serves,
DOC DOG-DOG-FISH.
These animals form an important article
of food among many nations. In China,
the Society islands, &c., young puppies are
considered a great delicacy, and are al-
lowed by Europeans, who have overcome
their prejudices, to be very sweet and pal-
atable. This taste for dog's flesh is of very
early origin. The ancients regarded a
young
and fat dog as excellent food; and
Hippocrates placed it on a footing with
mutton and pork, and, in another place, ob-
that the flesh of a grown dog is
wholesome and nourishing. The Romans
admired sucking puppies, and sacrificed
them to the gods, as the most acceptable
offering. Virgil has not thought the praise
of dogs a subject unworthy of his pen.
He recommends it to the husbandmen of
Italy to pay particular attention to the
rearing and training of dogs. The dog
is born with its eyes closed; they do not
become opened until the tenth or twelfth
day; its teeth begin to change about the
fourth month, and its growth is perfected
in two years. The female generally has a
litter of from six to twelve pups. The dog
seldom lives beyond fifteen years. (See
Bloodhound, Bull-Dog, Greyhound, Hound,
Mastiff, Pointer, Spaniel, Shepherd's Dog.)
DOG-BANE (apocynum androsæmifoli-
um, Lin.), a perennial American plant
found from Canada to Carolina, has an
erect smooth stem from three to five feet
high, and leaves acute, entire, and two or
three inches long.-The whole plant is
lactescent: the root is intensely bitter and
nauseous. It is considered as containing
a bitter extractive principle, soluble in
water and alcohol, a coloring principle
soluble in water only, a very large quantity
of caoutchouc, and a volatile oil. It is a
very active plant, highly valued by our
southern Indians. The root is the most
powerful part, and is much employed by
our country physicians instead of ipecacu-
anha. Thirty grains of the recently pow-
dered root evacuate the stomach as effectu-
ally as two thirds of this quantity of ipe-
cacuanha, by which name it is known in
various parts of the Eastern States. Its
power is diminished by keeping, and de-
stroyed by age. Doctor Bigelow remarks,
that we have very few indigenous vegeta-
bles which exceed this apocynum in bit-
terness, and thinks the sensible and chem-
ical properties of the root promise a good
effect, when given in small doses as a
tonic medicine.
DOG-DAYS. This name is applied to the
*Nec tibi cura canum fuerit postrema; sed una
Velocis Sparta catulos, acremque molossum,
Parce sero pingui, &c.-Georg. lib. iii. v. 404.
OF
269

period between the 24th July and 24th
August, because the dog-star (Sirius), dur-
ing this period, rises with the sun. The
heat, which is usually most oppressive at
this season, was formerly ascribed to the
conjunction of this star with the sun.
DOGE; formerly the title of the first mag-
istrates in the Italian republics of Venice
and Genoa. (q. v.) He was chosen from
the nobility, who governed the state, and
formed a tyrannical aristocracy. In Ven
ice, he held his dignity for life; in Genoa,
for two years. His power became, by de-
grees, very limited. In rank he was con-
sidered only equal to a duke, though the re-
public of Venice was in dignity equal to a
kingdom. (See Ceremonial.)
DOG-FISH; the popular name of sev-
eral species of the genus squalus, or shark,
which are arranged by Cuvier under his
sub-genus scyllium. S. canicula and S. ca-
tulus are the two most common species,
and those in particular to which the trivial
name is given. In their general anatomy,
they differ but little from the other sub-gen-
era of the great shark family, so well known
for their ferocious and savage habits. The
dog-fishes, though among the smallest of the
tribe, manifest propensities equally cruel.
with those which have rendered the white
shark and others so justly dreaded. Al-
though seldom or never injurious to man,
they commit great ravages in the fisheries,
and, where they abound, constitute one of
the greatest nuisances of the fishermen.
Exceedingly voracious, and devouring
almost every thing they encounter, the
mischief they occasion by taking the baits,
and very often the hooks, of the deep sea
lines, is very considerable, and not at all
compensated for by the flesh of those
which are captured. The sub-genus is
characterized by having a short, obtuse
snout; the nostrils situated near the mouth,
and in a sinus, or groove, which runs along
the edge of the upper lip, partially covered
by two lobes or productions of the skin;
teeth with a large triangular point, and a
smaller one on each side. The larger
species, S. canicula, is distinguished by
the following characters: blackish brown,
marked with numerous small blackish
spots; length 3 to 5 feet; inhabits the seas
of almost every portion of the globe;
swift, voracious, and very powerful; fol-
lows ships to feed upon the refuse which
is thrown overboard; feeds on small fish
mollusca, and destroys great numbers of
the young of its own species; breeds sev-
eral times a year, and brings forth nume
rous individuals at a birth. The young
are hatched from the egg, in the compli
23*
270
DOG-FISH-DOGMAS, HISTORY OF.

cated oviducts of the female, and are born
alive. The eggs are similar to others of
the family, and covered by a tough mem-
branaceous integument. The skin of these
fish is beset with numerous small asperi-
ties, which render it, when dried, well
calculated for polishing wood, and for
other mechanical purposes. When alive,
it has a strong musky smell.-S. catulus,
the lesser dog-fish, or rock shark, resem-
bles the former in its general appearance
and habits, but the spots with which it is
marked are larger and more scattered. It
has very frequently been confounded with
it, and by some authors described as the
male; color gray-brown, spots blackish,
unequal, rounded; dorsal fins equal, nos-
trils bilobate; inhabits rocky bottoms, and
preys principally on crustacea and shell
fish; produces eighteen or twenty at a
time. The young evince their ferocious
propensities very soon after birth, and are
destroyed by the larger individuals of their
own species.-The flesh of all the species is
hard, dry and unpalatable, requiring to be
well-soaked before it is eaten. Oil, in con-
siderable quantity, is obtained from the
liver. Poisonous effects are, at certain
times, observed in consequence of eating
the livers of dog-fish; and some cases are
recorded, in which the most distressing
illness has been occasioned, followed by a
heavy, torpid stupor of two or three days.
The patients were afterwards affected by
an erythrematous eruption,which extended
all over the body, and which was termi-
nated by a general peeling off of the skin.
-M. Cuvier has divided the genus squalus
into numerous sub-genera, which include
many new and extraordinary species. The
sub-genus scyllium is now divided into
two sections:-Sect. 1. anal fin situated
under tlfe interval between the two dor-
sals; sect. 2. anal fin placed posterior
to the second dorsal.-The first division
includes S. canicula, S. catulus, &c.; the
second, S. africanum, S. tuberculatum, &c.
DOGGER; a Dutch vessel navigated in
the German ocean; it is equipped with
two masts, a main and a mizzen-mast,
and somewhat resembles a ketch. It is
principally used for fishing on the Dogger
bank.
DOG-GRASS (radix graminis; gramen
caninum; triticum repens, Lin.); a peren-
nial plant, very common in uncultivated
grounds; root repent; stems straight,
about two feet high; leaves soft and
green; spike elongate, compressed; spike-
lets distichous, unarmed, and formed of
from four to five flowers. Dog-grass root
is long, cylindrical, thin, knotty, white in-
ternally, yellowish and skinny externally
modorous, of a farinaceous and sweet
taste. This root is used in medicine.
Among the demulcent substances, dog-
grass is one of the most frequently em-
ployed in France. It is used in most of
the inflammatory and febrile diseases, and
especially in those of the urinary passages.
It was formerly recommended as a pow-
erful diuretic, and was employed as such
in dropsies; but we know, at present, this
opinion to be erroneous.
DOGMAS, HISTORY OF ; a branch of the-
ology, more attended to in the universities
of the north of Germany, than any where
else. Its object is to exhibit, in a histor-
ical way, the origin and the changes of
the various Christian systems of belief,
showing what opinions were received by
the various sects, in different ages of
Christianity, the sources of the different
creeds, by what arguments they were
attacked and supported, what degrees of
importance were attached to them in dif-
ferent ages, the circumstances by which
they were affected, and the mode in which
the dogmas were combined into systems.
The sources of this branch of history are
the public creeds, the acts of councils, and
other ecclesiastical assemblies, letters and
decrees of the heads of churches, liturgies
and books of rituals, the works of the
fathers of the church, and of later eccle-
siastical writers, as well as the narrations
of contemporary historians. It is easily
seen how important and interesting a
study this is, teaching, as it does, modesty
and forbearance in the support of particu-
lar opinions, by showing the vast variety
of those which have afforded subjects of
bitter controversy at particular periods,
and have then passed away into oblivion;
and how much learning, industry, and crit-
ical acuteness, are often required, to make a
thorough investigation of contested points
of doctrine. The distinction between this
branch of history and ecclesiastical his-
tory is obvious. It is the same as exists
between political history and the history
of politics. Lectures on this subject are
delivered in all the German universities.
It is evident that the views taken of the
history of dogmas must vary according to
the sect to which the writer belongs; be-
cause it does not consist of a series of
facts, but of the representation of the de-
velopement of certain ideas, which must
appear different, according to the idea
which is considered by the writer as the
most important. This is more or less the
case with all history, in proportion as the
writer abandons mere relation for an



DOGMAS, HISTORY OF-DOGWOOD.
analysis of the nature, the causes and con-
sequences of what he describes. Thus a
republican would give a very different
history of politics from a royalist; and a
writer of the nineteenth century a differ-
ent history of civilization from that which
would be given by a writer of the seven-
teenth. One division of dogmatical his-
tory, by a Protestant professor, is the fol-
lowing:-1st period; from the foundation
of Christianity, to the beginning of gnos-
ticism (about 125, A. D.). The 2d period
(from 125 to 325, A. D.) is that of the
dawn of speculation, and the rise of the
desire for settled creeds, and systems of
Christianity, which appeared very strongly
in the council of Nice, in 325. The 3d
period (from 325 to 604) is that of the
increasing authority of councils, and the
heads of the church. Able men, as Atha-
nasius, the great Basil, the two Gregories,
Jerome, Augustine, and the popes Leo I
and Gregory I, exercised great influence
in settling the dogmas during this period.
4th period; from the death of Gregory, in
604, to Gregory VII, in 1073; character-
ized by the rapid growth of the papal
power.
In this period, the first system
of dogmatics was settled by the influence
of John of Damascus (died in 754), found-
ed on a systematical revision of the dog-
mas of the church. 5th period; from
Gregory VII, in 1073, to Luther, in 1517;
in which the power of the popes attained
its highest point, and, at the same time, a
new spirit of philosophy arose, which,
influenced by mistaken notions of the
Greek philosophy, gave rise to the scho-
lastic theology, the opposition to which
gave birth to mysticism. 6th period; that
of the reformation, the period since which,
of course, admits of many divisions, ac-
cording to the different views which may
be taken of the subject.
DOGMATICS; a systematic arrangement
of the articles of Christian faith (dogmas).
It is the duty of the compiler of such a
system, to collect the religious ideas,
which are scattered through the Holy
Scriptures, to explain, establish and com-
bine them. No one can successfully
treat this important but difficult subject,
who is not well acquainted both with ex-
egesis and philosophy. The first attempt
to furnish a complete and coherent sys-
tem of Christian dogmas was made by
Origen in the 3d century, who was suc-
ceeded by Aur. Augustine in the 4th, by
Isidore of Seville in the 6th, and by John
of Damascus (see Damascenus) in the 8th
century. In the middle ages, ingenious
examinations of the Christian doctrines
271
were made by the schoolmen; but, agi-
tating as they did subtle questions of little
practical importance, they loaded the sci-
ence with useless refinements. Among
the Protestants, Melancthon was the first
who wrote a compendium of the Christian
doctrine, which is still justly esteemed.
This science has been successfully culti-
vated by the Protestant theologians since
the last century.
DOGS, ISLE OF; in England, in the
county of Middlesex, opposite Greenwich.
In this island are magnificent docks, with
large and convenient warehouses for the
accommodation of the West India mer-
chants. (See Docks.) One of the largest
canals ever attempted in England has
been cut nearly one mile and a quarter
in length, 142 feet wide at top, and 24 feet
deep, across the Isle of Dogs, for the pur-
pose of shortening the passage of vessels
to and from the pool, and avoiding the
long circuit by Greenwich and Deptford.
DOG-STAR; Sirius; the star that gives
their name to the dog-days. (q. v.)
DOGWOOD (cornus florida) is a small
tree, inhabiting the U. States from the 43d
parallel of latitude to Florida, and ex-
tending westward beyond the Mississippi.
The leaves are oval, entire, pointed, and
whitish beneath; the flowers small, yel-
lowish, and surrounded with an involucre
composed of four large white leaves;
the berries are red, and remain on the
tree during a great part of the winter.
Throughout a great part of the U. States,
the large white involucres of the dogwood,
together with the rose-colored flowers of
the Judas tree (cercis Canadensis) make a
beautiful appearance in the spring. The
dogwood attains the height of 20 or 30
feet, and has a trunk 8 or 10 inches in di-
ameter; the wood is white, hard, of a fine
texture, and much esteemed; it is used
by cabinet-makers for inlaying, &c. dif-
ferent ornamental works; for the handles
of tools, plane-stocks, &c., it is considered
little inferior to box. The bark of this
tree, as well as that of several other spe-
cies of cornus inhabiting Canada and the
Northern States, possesses similar proper-
ties with the Peruvian bark, and is em-
ployed successfully in the cure of inter-
mittent fevers. The bark of the root,
stem and branches tastes very much like
this famous bark; it is bitter, astringent,
and slightly aromatic. Its astringency is,
however, stronger than that of the Peru.
vian bark. This bark is, without doubt,
one of our most valuable native articles.
As a substitute for the Peruvian bark, much
has been written in commendation of it



272
DOGWOOD-DOLL.

The resemblance extends to its chemical
and physical, as well as therapeutical prop-
erties. The bark of the dogwood is ex-
tensively employed by country practition-
ers in intermittent fevers, and the report
they give of it is very favorable and satis-
factory. It is remarked that, in its recent
state, it is apt to disagree with the stomach,
and to produce pains in the bowels; but,
in order to prevent this effect, it is simply
needful to add to it, when used, a few
drops of laudanum, or to use the bark
after it has been collected for some time.
This bark may be used with still greater
advantage in intermittents, if combined
with serpentaria. The C. sericea and C.
circinata, Linn. (swamp and round-leaved
dogwood), seem to possess the same prop-
erties as the preceding. Some other plants
have received the name of dogwood in
the U. States, particularly the poisonous
sumach (rhus vernix).
Dонм, Christian William von; a states-
man and scholar, distinguished for his prin-
ciples, genius and merits; born at Lemgo,
Dec. 11, 1751. He was the son of a Lu-
theran minister in that city, and cultivated
his taste by the study of ancient literature
and the English classics. He lived for
some time in a private condition at Berlin,
where he made himself known by his
writings. He was then employed by the
Prussian government, and, during the
reign of the two last kings and the pres-
ent, gradually rose from one post to an-
other. He was Prussian ambassador at
the congress of Rastadt, in 1797, and, in
the name of the whole diplomatic corps,
made a report concerning the murder of
the two French envoys. He remained in
Westphalia while the country was occu-
pied by Napoleon; for, as his estates were
in this part of the Prussian dominions, he
was compelled to continue his residence
there, after they had been separated from
Prussia by the peace of Tilsit in 1807.
By the command of the French intendant
general, he went to Paris in September,
1807, at the head of a delegation of the
states of the province and the administra-
tive authorities. After his return, in De-
cember of the same year, he was made a
member of the council of state; and in
February, 1808, he was appointed by the
king ambassador to the court of Dresden.
A dangerous inflammation of the lungs
forced him to retire in April, 1810. He
was permitted to reside on his estate of
Pustleben, in the county of Hohenstein,
till he should be able to take his place
again in the council of state. From that
time he devoted himself exclusively to his-
torical pursuits. His work Denkwürdigke
ten meiner Zeit, oder Beiträge zur Geschichte
von 1778 bis 1806, Lemgo and Hanover,
1814-19, 5 vols. (which extend to the
death of Frederic the Great) gives much
information respecting the most memorable
persons and events since 1778, drawn part-
ly from his own observation and experi
ence, partly from other sources. It is es
teemed also on account of its clearness, cor-
rect spirit, and impartiality. Dohm died
at his estate of Pustleben, May 29, 1820.
DoIT was the ancient Scottish penny
piece, of which twelve were equal to a
penny sterling. Two of them were equal
to the bodle, six to the baubee, and eight to
the acheson. There was also in Lower
Germany a small coin called deut (pro-
nounced like doit) and dütchen, the dimin
utive of deut. In the Netherlands, the coin
is called dayt, and Frisch believes that these
words took their origin from the French
tête, head; the piece of 20 kreuzer is still
called, in Germany, kopfstück (head-piece).
DOLCE, Carlo (also Carlino Dolce), a
celebrated painter, of the Florentine school,
born at Florence, in 1616, and died there
in 1686, was a disciple of Jacopo Vigniali;
and his works, in Fiorillo's opinion, bear
the character which his name implies.
His subjects are principally heads of ma-
donnas and saints, so mild and soft that
they have been reproached with want of
character. In minuteness and accuracy
of finish, he approaches the Dutch school
It must be confessed, however, that in
his madonnas we discover frequent rep-
etitions, and that his paintings betray
that timidity and melancholy to which
he was subject. His works are spread
over all Europe; many of them are in
Florence. Three of his best pieces are in
the gallery at Dresden-namely, Cecilia,
or the Organ-Player, Christ blessing the
Bread and Wine (which has been very
frequently engraved), and Herodias with
the Head of John the Baptist. Among
his chief productions, also, is Christ on
the Mount of Olives, now at Paris.
DÖLL, Frederic William; professor of
the art of sculpture in Gotha, born at Hild-
burghausen in 1750; a distinguished Ger-
man artist. His first important work was
the monument of Winkelmann, which
was honored with a place in the Pantheon
at Rome. His best works are the Reliefs
in the riding-academy at Dessau: a large
group representing Faith, Hope, and
Charity, for the principal church at Lu-
nenburg; the monument of Leibnitz at
Hanover, and Kepler's at Ratisbon. He
died at Gotha, March 30, 1816.


DOLLAR-DOLOMIEU.
DOLLAR; a coin of different value. (See
Coins.) This word corresponds to the Ger-
man thaler, the Low-German dahler, the
Danish daler, the Italian tallero. All these
words, together with our dollar, are deriv-
ed from the name of the Bohemian town
Joachims-Thal (Joachim's Valley), where,
in 1518, the count of Schlick coined silver
pieces of an ounce weight. These, indeed,
were not the first of the kind coined; yet,
as they were numerous and very good,
they became generally known by the name
of Joachims-thaler, which is the Ger-
man adjective of Joachims-thal, and also
Schlickenthaler, from the name of the
counts. As these coins were in good re-
pute, thalers were also coined in other
countries, but of different value: thus orig-
inated the laub-thaler (leaf-dollar) Philipps-
thaler, the Swedish copper dollar, &c. In
Russia, a dollar is called jephimock, from
Joachim.
DOLLOND, John, an eminent optician
of French descent, was born in Spitalfields
in 1706. He was brought up a silk-weaver,
and carried on that business for many
years; but, finding it little congenial to his
taste, he devoted himself to the study of
mathematics, optics, and astronomy, and at
last commenced optician, in conjunction
with his eldest son, Peter. His first atten-
tion was directed to the improvement of
refracting telescopes, an account of which
was printed in the Philosophical Transac-
tions, vol. xlviii; and he soon after com-
municated his discovery of the micrometer,
as applied to the reflecting telescope. Mr.
Dollond then engaged in a defence of New-
ton's doctrine of refraction, against Euler,
which correspondence was also published
in the Philosophical Transactions. He
next constructed object-glasses, in which
the different refrangibility of the rays of
light was corrected, to which the name
of achromatic was given by doctor Bevis,
on account of their being free from the
prismatic colors. In 1761, Mr. Dollond
was elected F.R. S., and appointed optician
to the king; but died of apoplexy in the
same year.
DOLLOND, Peter, eldest son of the pre-
ceding, was born in 1730. In 1765, he
communicated a paper to the royal so-
ciety, upon his improvement of telescopes,
and another in 1772, on his additions to,
and alterations of, Hadley's quadrant. He
also gave a description of his equatorial
instrument for correcting the errors arising
in altitude from refraction. In 1789, he
published Some Account of the Discovery
made by his Father in refracting Teles-
copes. He died in 1820.
273
DOLOMIEU, Déodat Guy Silvain Tan-
crède Gratet de, a geologist and mineral-
ogist, born June 24, 1750, at Dolomieu, in
Dauphiny, was received into the order of
the knights of Malta while yet a child,
and began his novitiate in his 18th year.
On his first cruise in the Mediterranean, he
killed one of the officers of his galley in
a quarrel. He was tried at Malta, and
condemned to lose the robe of the order;
but the grand-master, considering his great
youth, reprieved him; and the pope was at
last prevailed on to give his consent to a
full pardon. Dolomieu was in prison nine
months, and, during his confinement, ac-
quired a taste for poetry. He continued
his studies at Metz, whither he was trans-
ferred as an officer of a regiment of car-
bineers, in garrison at that place. The
duke de la Rochefoucault became ac-
quainted with him there, and, through his
influence, Dolomieu was made a corre-
sponding member of the academy of sci-
ences. In order to devote himself entirely
to his studies, Dolomieu left the military
service, and returned to Malta, whence he
went to Portugal in 1777, in the retinue
of the bailli de Rohan. He examined
this country, visited Sicily and the neigh-
boring islands, Naples and mount Vesu-
vius in 1781, travelled over the Pyrenees
in 1782, and in 1783 passed through Cala-
bria, which had just been desolated by an
earthquake. In consequence of some se-
cret communications, which he made to
the grand-master on his return, being be-
trayed to the court of Naples, which was
interested in them, he was forbidden to
enter that kingdom, and experienced ma-
ny difficulties in Malta. Leaving this
island again, he visited the mountains of
Italy, the Tyrol, and the country of the
Grisons. He returned once more to
Malta, for the purpose of bringing off his
collection, and thence went to France, in
May, 1791, where he resided at Roche-
Guyon, the estate of his friend the duke
de la Rochefoucault, who had fallen a
victim to the revolutionary fury. After
the 9th Thermidor, he renewed his geo-
logical excursions through France, always
on foot, with a hammer in his hand, and
a bag on his back. In 1796, he was ap-
pointed engineer and professor, and, at the
establishment of the institute, was made
a member of that society. In these capa-
cities, he published several works relative
to the theory of the earth and the nature
of minerals. He eagerly seized the oppor-
tunity of visiting Egypt, offered to him by
the French expedition to that country
But the occupation of Malta on the way

17274
DOLOMIEU-DOLPHIN.
made him dissatisfied with the whole un-
dertaking, and the situation of the army in
Egypt soon condemned him to inactivity.
In March, 1799, he embarked for Europe.
On the passage, the vessel sprung a leak,
and only succeeded, after great efforts, in
reaching the harbor of Tarentum. There
the crew were treated as prisoners of war;
and, when the rest were set at liberty, Do-
lomieu was recognised and detained as a
prisoner. During twenty-one months, he
suffered hardships and privations of every
kind. Even books and writing materials
were denied him. His firmness, howev-
er, sustained him. On the margins of
two or three books, which he had contriv-
ed to conceal from the eyes of his senti-
nel, he wrote his treatise on mineralogical
philosophy: his pen was a piece of wood,
and the soot of his lamp supplied him with
ink. In consequence of the peace con-
cluded between France and Naples, March
15, 1801, he obtained his liberty, and re-
ceived the professorship of mineralogy in
the museum of natural history, which had
become vacant by the death of Daubenton.
His health, however, having been already
undermined by his captivity, was entirely
destroyed by a journey to Switzerland, Sa-
voy and Dauphiny, in 1801, and he died
at Chateauneuf, Nov. 28 of the same year.
With a passionate love for geology, Dolo-
mieu united all the qualities, physical and
moral, necessary for the successful study
of this science; and it is therefore much to
be regretted, that he was prevented from
combining and systematizing his views
and observations.
DOLOMITE; a mineral species, speci-
mens of which occur under considerably
diversified aspects. A variety called bitter
spar, and sometimes rhomb spar, is found
in crystals, having the form of a rhomboid,
with angles varying from 106° 15' to 107°
20' and 73° 45′ to 72° 40'. It cleaves with
ease parallel to this form. Color grayish,
yellowish or reddish brown; hardness a
little above that of calcareous spar, but is
easily scratched with the knife; semitrans-
parent and very brittle. It is found in
steatite or soapstone, disseminated in crys-
tals, varying in size, from three-fourths to
one-fourth of an inch in diameter. It has
numerous localities in the U. States, one
of the most remarkable of which is at
Marlborough, in Vermont, where it exists
in a soapstone quarry. It is also found
abundantly in other countries. A second
variety of this species is denominated
pearl spar. It differs from bitter spar
chiefly in the slightly curvilinear faces of
its crystals, and in possessing a more shin-
ing, pearly lustre, and usually lighter
shades of color, being sometimes quite
white. It is found principally in metallic
veins accompanying the ores of lead and
tin. It occurs abundantly, however, in
cavities along with calcareous spar and
selenite, in the secondary limestone of
Lockport, N. Y. The most abundant va-
riety of the present species goes by the
name of dolomite. It is massive, or con-
sists of fine crystalline grains, but slightly
coherent, and of various shades of white,
It constitutes beds of very great extent,
and therefore belongs to the class of
rocks; and, as such, comes under the
division of primitive rocks. It exists in
great abundance in Litchfield county, in
Connecticut, and in the south-western
towns of Massachusetts. It abounds in
the Apennines, the Tyrol, Switzerland
and Tuscany. It is frequently employed
as a marble, both in the U. States and Eu-
rope. It is composed of carbonate of
lime and carbonate of magnesia; but the
relative quantity of the two seems not to
be exactly the same in all varieties. Its
decomposition is conceived to form a good
soil for agriculture.
DOLPHIN (delphinus). A cetaceous ani-
mal, the name of which is improperly
applied to a fish, the coryphaena hippuris,
or dolphin of navigators, so celebrated for
the beautiful changes of color which it
exhibits when dying. The real dolphin
has been rendered famous by the tales re-
lated of it by the ancient writers; one of
the most familiar of which is the fable
of the musician Arion, (q. v.) There are
several species of dolphins enumerated by
naturalists. Those which occur common-
ly are D. delphis, or common dolphin., D.
rostratus, and D. tursio. Dolphins are
cosmopolite animals, inhabiting every sea,
from the equator to the poles, enduring
equally well the extremes of heat or cold;
they are gregarious, and swim with extra-
ordinary velocity, outstripping in their
course the fleetest vessels. During the
electrical excitement of the atmosphere
previous to changes of weather, they are
observed to be very active and vivacious,
leaping considerable distances out of the
water, and displaying, in their rapid
movements, their uncommon muscular
powers. The characters distinctive of
the common dolphin are--black, beneath
white; snout porrect, depressed; jaws
with forty or forty-two curved, pointed
teeth on each side; length eight or ten
feet; flesh coarse, rank, and disagree-
able (used by the Laplanders, and the in-
habitants of Greenland, as food, but is apt

DOLPHIN-DOMAIN.
to produce sickness in persons who eat
it for the first time); skin smooth, soft,
with a layer of very white fat or blubber
under it; liver large, yielding a larger
quantity of oil than the blubber. The ori-
fice from whence the water, inspired by the
mouth, is ejected, is of a semilunar form,
with a kind of valvular apparatus, and
opens on the vertex, nearly over the eyes.
The volume and developement of the brain
have induced naturalists to consider the
dolphin an animal of unusual intelligence,
and capable of feeling an attachment to
man. Many stories are related of its do-
cility, but, unfortunately, want confirma-
tion. The skeleton presents a modifica-
tion of the principal bones of the higher
mammifera, and the absence of many of
minor importance. The structure of the
ear renders the sense of hearing very
acute, and the animal is observed to be at-
tracted by regular or harmonious sounds.
Owing to the flattened form of the cervi-
cal vertebræ, which amount to seven, the
neck is very short, and, the two first be-
ing immovably connected, the motion is
very limited. A single bone, composed
of or replacing those of the arm, is the
support of the pectoral fins: it articulates
with a peculiar shaped scapula, and the
muscular arrangement is such as to give
the fin great force. The whole number
of vertebræ amounts to fifty-three, the
sacrum being produced to support the
tail. Compactness and strength are the
characteristics of the genus, and the mus-
cular powers of the tail are proverbial.
The food of the dolphin consists of fish,
mollusca, &c.; and shoals of dolphins are
observed to hover round the herring and
other fisheries, in pursuit of their prey.
When one of a shoal is struck, the rest
are observed to pursue it immediately,
probably for the purpose of devouring the
wounded animal. One or two young are
produced by the female, who suckles and
watches them, with great care and anxie-
ty, long after they have acquired consid-
erable size. It is stated by some authors,
that they cease growing at ten years of
age, and live eighty or a hundred years.
The dolphin respiring by lungs, and not
in the manner of fishes, it is compelled to
rise to the surface, at short intervals, to
breathe, throwing out the water from the
blow-hole, or aperture on the head, like a
cloud of steam. The color varies in dif-
ferent individuals: some are black, olive
or gray, and others mottled, or even quite
white. The inhabitants of ancient By-
zantium and Thrace pursued a regular
fishery of the dolphin, destroying them
275
with a kind of trident attached to a long
line. Figures of this animal are found on
antique coins, and very good representa
tions of it occur on the Corinthian medals.
DOLPHIN of navigators; a fish, the co-
ryphaena hippuris of authors; celebrated
by travellers and poets in their marvellous
recitals of its changes of color when ex-
piring. Such changes do occur, and are
curious, but by no means so much so as
romantic travellers would have us believe.
The color of the dolphin is silvery white,
spotted with yellowish. Body compress-
ed, elongate, gradually decreasing from
the front (which is very obtuse) to the
tail; dorsal fin extending from the nape
nearly to the caudal; caudal fin large, fur-
cate; anal nearly reaching the base of the
caudal; pectorals somewhat falciform;
length usually four or five feet, though
specimens of six feet in length are occa-
sionally taken. Few fish are more agile,
or swim with greater velocity. They
abound within the tropics, and are found
in all temperate latitudes. In the neigh-
borhood of the equator, they commit great
havoc in the immense shoals of flying fish
which inhabit those regions, and which
constitute the principal food of the cory-
phana. It is remarkable that, in swal-
lowing their prey, the position of the cap
tured fish is reversed, and it passes down
the throat head foremost: by this mancu-
vre the fins are prevented from impeding
its passage. The flesh of the dolphin is
coarse and dry, but, to those who have
subsisted for a long while on salted pro-
visions, is very acceptable. At certain
times, and in particular localities, the flesh
acquires a deleterious quality, which has
often proved fatal to persons who have
eaten of it. The best antidote to its poi-
sonous effect is a copious emetic, admin-
istered as soon as any symptom of poison
is apparent. The dolphin bites freely at
a hook baited with a piece of salted meat,
or better with a flying fish, and, from its
great strength, affords fine sport to the
fisherman.
DOMAIN, OF DEMAIN, or DEMESNE (in
French domaine), in its popular sense, de-
notes the lord's manor-place, with the
lands thereto belonging, which he and
his ancestors have from time to time kept
in their own occupation. In England
the domains of the crown (terræ dominica-
les regis) denote either the share reserved
to the crown, in the distribution of landed
property at the time of the conquest, or
such as came to it afterwards, by forfeit-
ures or other means. They are, at pres-
ent, contracted within a very narrow com-

276
DOMAIN-DOMENICHINO.
pass, having been almost entirely granted
to private subjects; and though this was
often done in a most injudicious manner,
it has been of great benefit to the Eng-
lish nation, by diminishing the power of
the crown, and making it dependent on
the grants of parliament; whilst, in many
other countries, the wealth of the crown
has rendered it independent, and strong
enough to oppress the subjects, and un-
dertake wars injurious to the public wel-
fare. The rents and profits of the de-
mesne lands of the crown constitute, at
present, one branch of the king of Eng-
land's ordinary revenue. (For more in-
formation respecting the history of crown
lands in England, see the article Civil
List.) By Sense
In France, there are several different
kinds of domains:-1. Domaine de l'état,
or public domains, comprising highways,
harbors, rivers, canals, sea-coasts, banks
of rivers, fortifications, &c. (Code Na-
poleon, a. 538-541), to which the estates
of the emigrants were also added (Charte
Const., a. 9). 2. Domaine or dotation de
la couronne (Senatus Cons. of January 30,
1810, and law of Nov. 8, 1814). To this
class belong the palaces, gardens, forests,
farms, crown jewels, &c., of the sove-
reign, which are all inalienable, and not
chargeable with debts, and pass thus from
each king to his successor. 3. Domaine
privé consists of such estates as the king
acquires as a private person, and over
which he exercises an entire control. But
whatever portion of this the king does
not dispose of by testament becomes, at
his death, a part of the public domains;
so, also, whatever a prince possesses, be-
fore he ascends the throne, becomes a
part of the public domain at the moment
he becomes king, and his debts, at the
same time, become charges on the public
treasury. 4. Napoleon had also a domaine
extraordinaire (law of Jan. 30, 1810), which
consisted of his acquisitions by conquests,
and were kept entirely at his disposal:
these supplied the means of donations to
his generals, &c. The domaine extraordi-
naire has been also retained by the Bour-
bons (law of May 22, 1816). The admin-
istration of these donations was conducted
with great wisdom; and Napoleon, as Las
Cases relates, dwelt with pleasure on this
branch of his government. (See Dota-
tions of Napoleon.) There also existed,
formerly, domains which were inalienable
in the ruling family, but did not belong
to the state; and in some countries there
are still such. The question, what part
of the domain a sovereign may alienate,
what are public domains, and what the
private property of the ruling family, &c.,
is extremely difficult to be decided, in
states in which the origin of the domains
goes back to periods when few political
subjects were distinctly settled, and par
ticularly in countries in which there is no
constitution binding the sovereign, and
settling the distinction between these
different kinds of property. Power will
generally decide, instead of justice, when-
ever it is for the advantage of the sove-
reign, as has often been the case in Ger-
many. An important question arose in
Germany, in regard to the sale of the
domains in the kingdom of Westphalia,
during the reign of Jerome. The elector
of Hesse-Cassel and the duke of Bruns-
wick, having resumed possession of their
countries, which had been included in
that kingdom, declared the sales void,
because, as they said, they never had
acknowledged the king of Westphalia.
Prussia, which received back a part of the
territory which constituted the kingdom
of Westphalia, acknowledged the validity
of the sale, because it had recognised
Jerome Bonaparte as king. Much dis-
cussion took place respecting these sales.
Austria, as well as Prussia, showed a dis-
position to favor the purchasers. The
diet of the Germanic confederacy showed
its weakness on this occasion, as it could
effect nothing against the elector and the
duke. (Whoever wishes to read a full
account of these transactions, is referred
to the article Domainenverkauf, in the
German Conversations-Lexikon.)
For the public lands of the U. States,
see the article United States.
DOMAT, John; an eminent French law-
yer, who was born in the province of
Auvergne, in 1625. He was king's advo-
cate in the presidial court of Clermont,
for thirty years. He died at Paris, in
1696. His treatise, entitled Les Loix
civiles, dans leur Ordre naturel, was pub-
lished in 1694, 3 vols. 4to.; and after his
death appeared three volumes more, on
public law, &c. An improved edition of
his works was published in 1777, and
there is an English translation of them,
1720, 2 vols. folio.
DOME. (See Architecture, vol. i. page
336, right column; also the article Cupola.)
DOMENICHINO; the name, among artists,
of Domenico Zampieri, a painter of great
eminence, of the Lombard school, born
at Bologna, in 1581. He was sent to study
first with Calvart, and afterwards with
the Carracci. From the slowness of his
performance, he was named, by his fellow-

66
DOMENICHINO-ST. DOMINIC DE GUZMAN.
students, the ox of painting; but Annibal
Carracci predicted that the ox would
plough a fruitful field." Having con-
tracted a great friendship for Albano, he
joined him at Rome, and his former mas-
ter, Annibal Carracci, jealous of Guido,
procured for him the execution of one of
the pictures for a Roman church, which
had been promised to that great painter.
It was a custom with Domenichino to as-
sume, for a time, the passion he was
depicturing; so that, while working by
himself, he was often heard to laugh,
weep and talk aloud, in a manner that
would have induced a stranger to suppose
him a lunatic. The effect was, however,
such, that few painters have surpassed
him in lively representation. His Com-
munion of St. Jerome has been considered,
by some connoisseurs, inferior only to the
Transfiguration of Raphael; and the His-
tory of Apollo, which he painted in ten
frescoes, for cardinal Aldobrandini, is also
much admired. Although a modest and
inoffensive man, his merit excited so
much envy, that he retired to his native
city, where he married, and employed
himself two years on his famous picture
of the Rosary. He was afterwards re-
called to Rome, by Gregory XV, who
created him his first painter, and architect
of the Vatican. Losing this post after
the pope's death, he accepted an invita-
tion to Naples, to paint the chapel of St.
Januarius. But here he encountered a
jealousy so rancorous, that his life became
altogether imbittered by it; and so great
was his dread of poison, that he prepared
all his eatables with his own hand. He
died in 1641, at the age of sixty. Dome-
nichino, who understood every branch of
his art, produced nothing excellent with-
out study and labor; but, in consequence
of his great premeditation, no painter has
given his pieces more of the properties be-
longing to the subject. At the same time,
his designs are correct; and he succeeded
equally in the grand and the tender. Near-
ly fifty of his pieces have been engraved.
DOMESDAY OF DOOMSDAY BOOK, a very
ancient record, made in the time of Wil-
liam the Conqueror, which now remains
in the exchequer, and consists of two
volumes; the greater contains a survey
of all the lands in most of the counties in
England, and the less comprehends some
counties that were not at first surveyed.
The Book of Domesday was begun by
five justices, assigned for that purpose, in
each county, in the year 1081, and fin
ished in 1086. It was of such authority,
that the Conqueror himself submitted, in
VOL. IV.
24
277
some cases wherein he was concerned, to
be governed by it. Camden calls this
book the Tax-Book of king William; and
it was further called Magna Rolla. There
is likewise a third Book of Domesday,
made by command of the Conqueror; and
also a fourth, being an abridgment of the
other books.
DOMICIL. The dwelling had peculiar
privileges among the Romans; it was re-
garded as inviolable; for example, no
debtor could be arrested in his domicil;
no officer of the police or court could
pass the threshold of a private house, to
arrest even a person who did not dwell
there. These rights and privileges still
belong to the dwelling-house in England,
the Netherlands and the U. States of
America. The name domicil implies, in
general, a place of residence; in a nar-
rower sense, the place where one lives,
in opposition to that where he only re-
mains for a time. (See Appendix.)
DOMINGO, St. (See Hayti.)
DOMINIC DE GUZMAN, St., founder of
the Dominican order, born in 1170, at
Calahorra, in Old Castile, applied himself,
in his early years, with zeal and ability, to
the acquisition of knowledge, was made
canon and archdeacon at Osma, in Cas-
tile, and was employed with others by
pope Innocent III, to discover, confute,
and punish heretics, especially the Albi-
genses in France. This was the origin of
the court of the inquisition, and St. Dom-
inic is considered as the first inquisite-
general. As he prescribed to the members
of his order a certain number of Pater
Nosters and Ave-Marias daily, he is sup-
posed to have introduced the rosary. He
died at Bologna, in 1221, and in 1233 was
canonized by Gregory IX. In the exami-
nation, previous to the canonization, it was
proved that he had converted more than
100,000 souls to the true faith. An inter-
esting comparison might be made between
St. Dominicus and St. Franciscus, cer
tainly two of the most powerful minds
among the saints. St. Franciscus labored
all his life to relieve the poor and perse-
cuted, to propagate the gospel among the
lower classes, who, in those convulsed
periods, were almost entirely excluded, in
most countries, from education and in-
struction in Christianity; whilst St. Do-
minicus strove to spread Christianity by
persecution. The character of the two
founders is deeply imprinted on the two
orders-the humble Franciscans and the
zealous Dominicans. Dante speaks of
these two saints, in one of the most beau..
tiful passages in his Paradise.

278
MAMNUDDOMINICA DOMINICANS. MOⱭ
DOMINICA; one of the Caribbee islands
in the West Indies, belonging to Great
Britain; situated between Guadaloupe
and Martinico; about 29 miles in length,
and 16 in breadth, containing 186,436 acres
of land. Colquhoun estimated the pop-
ulation, in 1812, at 26,500. An article on
the state of the English colonies, in the
Edinburgh Review, gives it, in 1823, as
only 16,554. This same article gives the
imports from this island into Great Brit-
ain, in 1823, at 39,013 quintals of sugar,
17,136 quintals of coffee, and 14,310 gal-
lons of rum. It was discovered by Co-
lumbus, Nov. 3, 1493, on Sunday-hence
its name. It contains many high and
rugged mountains, among which are vol-
canoes, that frequently discharge erup-
tions. From some of these mountains
issue springs of hot water, whose medi-
cinal virtues are much commended. Do-
minica is well watered, there being up-
wards of 30 rivers in the island, besides a
great number of rivulets. The soil, in
most of the interior country, is a light,
brown-colored mould, and appears to
have been washed from the mountains.
Towards the sea-coast, and in many of
the valleys, it is a deep, black, and rich
native earth, which seems well adapted
to the cultivation of all the articles of
West Indian produce. The principal
towns are Portsmouth and Roseau or
Charlotte's Town. Lon. 61° 23′ W.; lat.
15° 32′ N.
DOMINICAL LETTER, in chronology;
properly called Sunday letter; one of the
seven letters of the alphabet, A BCD
EFG, used in almanacs, ephemerides,
&c., to designate the Sundays throughout
the year. In our almanacs, the first seven
letters of the alphabet are commonly
placed to show on what days of the week
the days of the month fall throughout the
year.
And because one of those seven
letters must necessarily stand against Sun-
day, it is printed in a capital form, and
called the dominical letter; the other six
being inserted in different characters, to
denote the other six days of the week.
Now, since a common Julian year con-
tains 365 days, if this number be divided
by 7 (the number of days in a week), there
will remain one day. If there had been
no remainder, it is obvious the year would
constantly begin on the same day of the
week; but, since one remains, it is plain
that the year must begin and end on the
same day of the week; and therefore the
next year will begin on the day following.
Hence, when January begins on Sunday,
A is the dominical or Sunday letter for
that year: then, because the next year
begins on Monday, the Sunday will fall
on the seventh day, to which is annexed
the seventh letter, G, which, therefore,
will be the dominical letter for all that
year: and, as the third year will begin ou
Tuesday, the Sunday will fall on the sixt
day; therefore F will be the Sunday let
ter for that year. Whence it is evident
that the Sunday letters will go annually
in retrograde order, thus, G, F, E, D, C
B, A; and, in the course of seven years,
if they were all common ones, the same
days of the week and dominical letters
would return to the same days of the
months. But, because there are 366 days
in a leap-year, if the number be divided
by 7, there will remain two days over and
above the 52 weeks, of which the year
consists. And, therefore, if the leap-year
begins on Sunday, it will end on Monday;
and, as the year will begin on Tuesday,
the first Sunday thereof must fall on the
6th of January, to which is annexed the
letter F, and not G, as in common years.
By this means, the leap-year returning
every fourth year, the order of the domin-
ical letters is interrupted, and the series
cannot return to its first state till after four
times seven, or 28 years; and then the
same days of the months return in order,
to the same days of the week as before.
The dominical letter may be found uni-
versally, for any year of any century, thus:
Divide the centuries by 4, and take twice
what remains from 6; then add the re-
mainder to the odd years, above the even
centuries, and their 4th. Divide their
sum by 7, and the remainder taken from
7 will leave the number answering to the
letter required. Thus, for the year 1878,
the letter is F. For the centuries, 18, di-
vided by 4, leave 2; the double of which,
taken from 6, leaves 2 again; to which
add the odd years, 78, and their 4th part,
19, the sum, 99, divided by 7, leaves 1,
which, taken from 7, leaves 6, answering
to F, the sixth letter in the alphabet.
(See Cycle, and Calendar.)
DOMINICANS, called also predicants or
preaching friars (prædicatores), derived
their name from their founder, Dominic.
At their origin (1215, at Toulouse), they
were governed by the rule of St. Augus-
tine; and the principal object of their in-
stitution was to preach against heretics.
They retained these rules and regulations
after they had adopted a white habit, sim-
ilar to that of the Carthusians, and the
character of monks, in 1219. They were
called Jacobins in France, because their
first convent at Paris was in the rue St

DOMINICANS-DOMINO.
Jaques. The Dominican nuns were es-
tablished, in 1206, by St. Dominic, and
increased in numbers after 1218, when he
founded a nunnery in Rome. They fol-
low the same rules; they are required,
also, to labor, which is not expected of
the friars, on account of their higher du-
ties. A third establishment of St. Dom-
inic was the military order of Christ,
originally composed of knights and no-
blemen, whose duty it was to wage war
against heretics. After the death of the
founder, this became the order of the
penitence of St. Dominic, for both sexes,
and constituted the third order of Domin-
icans. These Tertiarians, without making
any solemn vows, enjoy great spiritual
privileges, for the observance of a few
fasts and prayers; they continue, also,
in the enjoyment of their civil and domes-
tic relations. Some few companies of
Dominican sisters of the third order, par-
ticularly in Italy, united in a monastic
life, and became regular nuns; the most
celebrated of whom is St. Catharine of
Sienna. That they might devote them-
selves with success to the promulgation
and establishment of the Catholic faith,
which was, in fact, the object of their
institution, and the first proof of their zeal
for which they gave in the extirpation of
the Albigenses, the Dominicans received,
in 1272, the privileges of a mendicant or-
der, which contributed greatly to their
rapid increase. They filled not only
Europe, but the coasts of Asia, Africa
and America, with their monasteries and
missionaries. Their strictly monarchical
constitution, which connected all the prov-
inces and congregations of their order
under one general, secured their perma-
nent existence, and a unity in their suc-
cessful efforts to obtain influence in
church and state. They made themselves
useful by preaching, which was much
neglected at the period of their establish-
ment, and by their missions; respectable
and serviceable to the church by the dis-
tinguished scholars they produced, such
ras Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aqui-
nas; and formidable as managers of the
t inquisition, which was committed exclu-
t sively to them, in Spain, Portugal and
s Italy. After they had obtained permission
to receive donations, in 1425, notwith-
a standing their original vow of absolute
I poverty, they ceased to belong to the
1. mendicants, and, in the enjoyment of rich
C benefices, superior to other orders, they
c paid more attention to politics and theo-
blogical science. They gave to kings
father-confessors, to universities instruct-
279
ers, and to the pious rosaries; and for all
they were richly rewarded. From their
establishment they found dangerous rivals
in the Franciscans (q. v.), and engaged in
contests with them, the heat and bitter-
ness of which have been perpetuated by
the hostilities of the Thomists and Scot-
ists (see Duns, and Schoolmen), and have
continued even to modern times. These
two orders divided the honor of ruling in
church and state till the 16th century,
when the Jesuits gradually superseded
them in the schools and courts, and they
fell back again to their original destina-
tion. They obtained new importance by
the censorship of books, which was com-
mitted, in 1620, to the master of the sacred
palace at Rome, who is always a Domin-
ican. What the reformation took from
them in Europe, the activity of their mis-
sions in America and the East Indies
restored. In the 18th century, the order
comprised more than 1000 monasteries,
divided into 45 provinces and 12 congre-
gations. To the latter belonged the nuns
of the holy sacrament, in Marseilles, es-
tablished by Le Quien, in 1636, under
the strictest rules. They dress in black,
with white mantles and veils, while the
Dominican nuns wear white, with black
mantles and veils. The Dominican order
is now flourishing only in Spain, Portugal,
Sicily and America: they have hopes of
a revival in Italy. The good Las Casas
(q. v.) belonged to this order.
DOMINIQUE LE PÈRE, harlequin of the
Italian theatre (properly, Gius. Dominico
Biancolelli), born at Bologna, in 1640,
was invited, in 1660, to Paris, by cardinal
Mazarin, where he played the harlequin
with the greatest applause, till his death,
in 1688. The French comedians wished
to prevent the Italians from bringing
French pieces on their stage, and Louis
XIV gave both parties an audience.
Baron and Dominique were ordered to
appear as their deputies. The former
having spoken, in the name of the French,
it was Dominique's turn to plead his
cause; and he asked the king how he
should speak. "Speak as you please,"
answered the king. "That is all I want,"
rejoined the harlequin; "I have won."
The king received this sally with a laugh,
and from that time the Italian theatre
represented French pieces without oppo-
sition.
DOMINO; formerly a dress worn by
priests, in the winter, which, reaching no
lower than the shoulders, served to pro
tect the face and head from the weather
At present, it is a masquerade dress, wori

280
DOMINO-DONATISTS.
by gentlemen and ladies, consisting of a
long silk mantle, with a cap and wide
sleeves.
DOMITIAN, Titus Flavius Sabinus, son
of Vespasian, and brother of Titus, born
A. D. 51, made himself odious, even in
youth, by his indolence and voluptuous-
ness, by his cruel, malignant and suspi-
cious temper, and Rome trembled when,
on his brother's death, he obtained the
diadem (A. D. 81). At first, indeed,
he deceived the people by acts of kind-
ness, good laws and a show of justice, so
that their fears vanished; but he soon
returned to his former excesses and cruel-
ty. He first caused his kinsman, Flavius
Sabinus, to be put to death, though en-
tirely innocent. No less vain than cruel,
while his general, Agricola, was victorious
over the Caledonians, in Britain, he made
a ridiculous expedition against the Catti,
returned speedily to Rome, without having
effected any thing, and carried a multi-
tude of slaves, dressed like Germans, in
triumph to the city. Agricola's victories
exciting his jealousy, he recalled that
general to Rome, and kept him in total
inactivity. At the same time, he spread
terror through Rome by the execution of
a great number of the first citizens. He
gave himself up to every excess, and to
the meanest avarice. He at last conceived
the mad idea of arrogating divine honors
to himself, assumed the titles of Lord and
God, and claimed to be a son of Minerva.
His principal amusement consisted in the
shows of the circus. In the year 86,
the bloody war with the Dacians began,
which was carried on with various suc-
cess, and terminated (A. D. 90) by a
peace bought by the promise of paying
a certain tribute. Notwithstanding this,
Domitian celebrated a grand triumph on
the occasion. The misery of the people
was, meanwhile, continually increasing;
and, after the revival of the law against
high treason, no one was secure of his
property or his life. The tyrant once
made a feast, on purpose to terrify the
senators and knights. They were assem-
bled in a dark hall, in which were coffins,
with the names of the individuals invited
inscribed upon them suddenly the doors
opened, and a troop of naked men, paint-
ed black, with drawn swords and blazing
torches, rushed in, and danced about the
guests, until the emperor had sufficiently
enjoyed their terror, when he dismissed
the supposed executioners. The fears of
the tyrant increased his cruelty. A paper
fell into the hands of his wife, the infa-
mous Domitia, in which she found her
own name, and those of the two com-
manders of the pretorian guards, noted
down by the emperor, with many others,
to be sacrificed. This discovery induced
her to conspire against him, and to mur-
der him in his chamber, A. D. 96. He
had reigned 15 years, and was 45 years
old. Domitian built the most magnificent
temple in Rome.
DOMREMY LA PUCELLE; the birth-place
of Joan of Arc (q. v.); a small village in
the department of the Vosges, in France,
not far from Vaucouleurs, in the depart-
ment of the Meuse, in a fruitful region.
The house is still shown here in which
the heroine was born. In the neighbor-
hood is the monument erected to her
memory by the prefect of the department
of the Vosges, with her marble bust,
which was solemnly consecrated, Sept.
10, 1820. A free school is established
there, for the instruction of girls. (See
the description, in the Hist. abrégée de la
Vie et des Exploits de Jeanne d'Arc, par
Jollois (with engravings, 1821, folio).
DON, the Tanais of the ancients, a river
of European Russia, rising in the small
lake of Ivan Ozero, in the government of
Toula, has a course of about 880 miles,
generally from north to south, passes
Azoph, and falls into the sea, two leagues
below this place. Many large rivers
empty into the Don, and its valley is one
of the most extensive in Europe. A
canal, dug by Peter the Great, in 1707,
connects the Volga and the Don, by the
help of intermediate rivers. It is intended
to dig another canal between the Don and
Volga, which, in the 49th parallel of lat-
itude, are distant from each other 33
leagues only; and thus a communication
would be easy between the sea of Azoph
and the Caspian. (For information re-
specting the Cossacks of the Don, see the
article Cossacks.)
DON (Spanish, from the Latin dominus).
In Naples, however, the Spanish fashion
of giving every gentleman the title of
don became common during the time
when that country was under the govern-
ment of Spain. In the north of Italy, it is
given only to ecclesiastics.
DONATISTS; the followers of Donatus,
a Numidian bishop, who, with his friends,
refusing, in 311, in a contested election
of a bishop, to recognise the Traditors
(i. e. the ecclesiastics who had given up
the sacred books to the heathen magis-
trates, during the periods of persecution)
as eligible to office in the church, quitted
the Roman church, with his friends, and
founded a peculiar sect, which refused to

DONATISTS-DOPPELMAYR.
receive Christians of other sects, without
a second baptism. These schismatics
prevailed in the Christian provinces of
northern Africa, and, in 330, numbered
172 bishops of their persuasion. Their
strictness was increased by the adoption
of the Novatian principle of excommuni-
cating apostates, or gross offenders, and
declaring the most perfect blamelessness
of life and doctrine essential to the mem-
bers of the true church-a principle after-
wards adopted by the Catholics. The
Donatists made themselves formidable,
when swarms of fanatical peasants, in-
flamed by their doctrines, in 348, under
the name of Circumcelliones, attacked the
imperial army, sent to convert them by
force, and, in Mauritania and Numidia,
for 13 years after, desolated the land with
pillage and murder. Martyrdom was
eagerly sought by them, and they volun-
tarily gave themselves up to the Catholics,
to be executed. This sect, which flour-
ished in the fourth and fifth centuries,
was finally extinguished when the coun-
try was conquered by the Saracens.
DONATUS, Elius; a Roman gramma-
rian and commentator (e. g., on Terence),
who lived in the 4th century. He wrote
an elementary work on the Latin language
(De octo Partibus Orationis), which served
as a guide to the learning of Latin in the
middle ages. It was not till a recent pe-
riod that it was superseded by more judi-
cious grammars. It was one of the first
books printed by Guttenberg.
DONAU. (See Danube.)
DO GRATUIT; a free gift, bestowed by
the subject on the sovereign, in extraordi-
nary cases, especially in countries where
the prince can levy no new tax without
the consent of the estates. For example,
the ancient French provinces, in which the
representation of the estates existed, viz.,
Burgundy, Provence, Languedoc, Britta-
ny, Artois, and the kingdom of Navarre,
granted the king a tax as a don gratuit.
This used to be the case, formerly, in the
Austrian Netherlands, and in the German
ecclesiastical principalities having similar
representative governments.
DONJON, in fortification, signifies a strong
tower or redoubt, in old fortresses, whither
the garrison could retreat in case of neces-
sity.
DONNE, John, D. D., a celebrated poet
and divine, was the son of a merchant of
London, in which city he was born in
1573. He studied both at Oxford and
Cambridge, and was then entered at Lin-
coln's Inn. His parents were Catholics;
but, in his 19th year, he abjured the Cath-
281
olic religion, and became secretary to the
lord chancellor Ellesmere. He continued
in that capacity five years; but finally lost
his office by a clandestine marriage with
his patron's niece. The young couple
were, in consequence, reduced to great
distress. At length, his father-in-law re-
lented so far as to give his daughter a
moderate portion; and they were lodged
in the house of sir Robert Drury, in Lon-
don, whom Donne accompanied in his
embassy to Paris. On his return, he com-
plied with James's wish, by taking orders,
and was soon after made one of his
chaplains. He immediately received four-
teen offers of benefices from persons of
rank, but preferred settling in London,
and was made preacher of Lincoln's Inn.
In 1619, he accompanied the earl of Don-
caster in his embassy to the German
princes. He was chosen prolocutor to
the convocation in 1623-4; and, in con-
sequence of a dangerous illness, soon after
wrote a religious work, entitled Devotions
upon emergent Occasions. He died in
March, 1631, and was interred in St. Paul's.
As a poet, and the precursor of Cowley,
Donne may be deemed the founder of
what doctor Johnson calls the metaphysical
class of poets: abounding in thought, this
school generally neglected versification,
and that of doctor Donne was peculiarly
harsh and unmusical. He wrote Latin
verse with much elegance, of which a col-
lection was published in 1633. Of his
prose works, one of the most remarkable is
that entitled Biathanatos, to prove that
suicide is not necessarily sinful, which he
never published himself, but which found
its way to the press after his death. His
style is quaint and pedantic; but he dis-
plays sound learning, deep thinking, and
originality of manner. Besides the works
already mentioned, he wrote the Pseudo
Martyr (4to., 1610), Letters, Sermons, Es-
says on Divinity, and other pieces.
DONNER, George Raphael; a sculptor,
born in Lower Austria, 1680. He was, at
first, a goldsmith. He received his ear
liest instructions in art from John Giuliani,
a sculptor of the neighborhood, and, from
1726, devoted himself entirely to sculp-
ture. Donner's works, in many Austrian
churches and palaces, are masterpieces.
The beautiful statues, which form one of
the finest ornaments of the fountain in the
new market-place at Vienna, and the statue
of Charles VI, at Breitenfurt, are particu
larly admired. He died at Vienna, Feb.
16, 1741.
DON QUIXOTE. (See Cervantes.,
DOPPELMAYR, John Gabriel; a mathe
24*

282
DOPPELMAYR-DORIC.
matician, born in 1671, at Nuremberg.
He travelled through Holland and Eng-
land, and received a mathematical profes-
sorship at Nuremberg, which he held 46
years. He published mathematical, geo-
graphical and astronomical works, among
which his celestial atlas has spread his
name the farthest (Atlas cælestis, with
30 astronomical tables, Nuremberg, 1743,
folio). He gained the esteem of Leibnitz,
was received into several learned societies,
and died in 1759; or, according to some
accounts, in 1750. In Will's Nuremberg
Literary Lexicon, there is a catalogue of his
works on dialling, experimental physics,
astronomy, &c. Doppelmayr's Account
of the Nuremberg Mathematicians and
Artists (Nuremberg, 1730, folio), is an im-
portant work in respect to literary history.
It contains interesting notices of the geo-
graphical discoveries of Martin Behaim.
(See Behaim.)
DORAT, Claude Joseph; a poet, born in
1734, at Paris. He renounced the study
of law, and afterwards the military ser-
vice, into which he had entered as a mus-
keteer, and devoted himself entirely to
poetry. Among his earlier works are his
tragedies and heroides. Though the lat-
ter were received with much applause, he
was little fitted for this sort of poetry.
His dramatical works were unsuccessful.
He has succeeded better in songs, tales
and poetical epistles, and in these depart-
ments he is still in high estimation. Ow-
ing to his vanity in causing his works to
be published with the greatest splendor,
he wasted a considerable part of his
property. He died at Paris, April 24,
1780. His works appeared at Paris com-
plete in 20 vols. His Euvres choisies
were published in 1786, 3 vols., 12mo.
For several years he was editor of the
Journal des Dames.
DOREE. (See Dory.)
DORF; a very common syllable at the
end of German names, signifying village;
as, Altdorf, Düsseldorf.
DORIA; one of the oldest and most
powerful families of Genoa. The annals
of this republic do not reach further back
than the year 1100; but, even at this
period, we find the Doria family in the
highest offices of the state. Four of them
were distinguished admirals before the
14th century. The most celebrated of the
whole family was Andrew Doria, born at
Oneglia, in 1468. He gained renown
when but a youth, by his heroic conduct
against the pirates and Corsicans, and, in
1524, was made admiral of the French
galleys by Francis I. Receiving some
mag-
offence from the French, he went over to
the Spanish-Austrian party, and thereby
prevented the progress of the French
arms in Italy. This great naval hero was
the deliverer of his country. Since 1339,
Genoa had been governed by a chief
istrate, called the doge, whose office lasted
for life; but the constitution was so dis-
ordered, and party spirit so violent, that
sometimes the state, sometimes one of the
parties in it, was compelled to seek pro-
tection from a foreign power, which usu-
ally became the oppressor of the whole.
Thus Genoa was, at one time, under the
yoke of Milan or Austria; at another time,
of France. In 1528, France had posses-
sion of Genoa, when Doria surprised the
city, drove out the French without blood-
shed, received the title ofther and deliv-
erer of his country, and established an
improved constitution. Only 28 noble
families were allowed to be eligible to the
highest offices, which were annually filled
anew. The doge and his council presided
over the affairs of state, and were chosen
at the end of every two years. The great
Doria, however, failed in remedying the
oppressions and evils of aristocracy; and
many of his institutions were changed by
a statute, in 1576, on which the future
constitution was based. Notwithstanding
Doria held the office of doge for life, he
again entered the naval service of Charles
V, contended with brilliant success against
the Turks and Corsairs, and died in 1560,
at the age of 93. Noble as was the char-
acter of this great man, and honored as he
was by the Genoese, several conspiracies
were yet formed against him, of which
that of Fiesco (q. v.) was the most dan-
gerous; but they were suppressed by his
address and decision.
DORIC; belonging to the Dorian race,
or of a quality or style common in that
race. The Dorians, one of the four great
branches of the Greek nation, derive their
name from Dorus, the son of Hellen.
They dwelt first in Estiæotis, were then
driven by the Perrhæbi into Macedonia,
forced their way into Crete, where the
lawgiver Minos sprang from them, built
the four Dorian towns (Dorica Tetrapolis)
at the foot of mount Eta, between Thes-
saly, Etolia, Locris and Phocis, and sub-
sequently, together with the Heraclidæ,
made a settlement in the Peloponnesus,
where they ruled in Sparta. Colonies
emigrated from them to Italy, Sicily and
Asia Minor. The four chief cities of the
Greek race were distinguished from each
other by marked peculiarities of dialect,
manners and government; and the Dori-

DORIC-DORMANT.
ans were the reverse of the Ionians. The
Doric manner always retained the antique
style, and with it something solid and
grave, but, at the same time, hard and
rough. The Doric dialect was broad and
rough; the Ionic, delicate and smooth;
yet there was something venerable and
dignified in the antique style of the for-
mer; for which reason it was often made
use of in solemn odes, e. g., in hymns and
in choruses, which belonged to the liturgy
of the Greeks. The Cretan and Spartan
legislative codes of Minos and Lycurgus
were much more rigid than the mild
Athenian institutions of Solon. The
Spartan women wore the light, tucked up
hunting dress, while the Ionian females
arrayed themselves in long, sweeping gar-
ments. Both have been idealized by art-
ists; the one in Diana and her nymphs,
the other in Pallas Athene and the Ca-
nephora. The same contrast appears no
less strikingly in their architecture, in the
strong, unadorned Doric, and the slender,
elegant Ionian columns. (See Orders of
Architecture.) In the music of the an-
cients there was also a Dorian mode.
(See Music.)
DORIGNY; the name of several cele-
brated engravers and painters:-1. Michael
Dorigny, born at St. Quentin, in 1618, a
scholar of Simon Vouet, whose works he
etched, and whose faults in drawing he
copied. His style of execution is bold,
and his management of light and shade
good. He died while professor of the
academy at Paris, in 1665.-2. His son
Louis, born in 1654, entered the school of
Lebrun, and made a journey to Italy,
where he copied the great masters. From
Venice he went to Verona, where he set-
tled, and died in 1742.-3. Nicholas, the
brother of the latter, born in 1657, at Paris,
is the most celebrated engraver of the
three here noticed. He spent 28 years in
Italy, in studying the most illustrious mas-
ters, and 8 in engraving the famous cartoons
of Raphael, at Hampton court, for which he
received the honor of knighthood from
king George I. In 1725, he became a
member of the academy at Paris, and
died in 1746. One of his best engravings,
besides his cartoons, is the Transfigura-
tion, from Raphael, and the Apotheosis
of St. Petronilla, after Guercino. His
His
engraving is easy and strong, and the
work of the needle and the graver happily
united.
DORIS. (See Nereus.)
DORMANT state of animals. We are all
accustomed to see a large part of creation,
during summer, in great activity, and in
283
winter returning to an apparently inani-
mate state: we mean the plants; but this
phenomenon is not common in the case
of animals. There is, however, a small
number of animals, which, besides the
daily rest that they have in common with
most other animals, remain, during some
months in the year, in an apparently life-
less state; at least, in utter inactivity.
Except the hedgehog and the bat, all the
mammalia subject to this dormant state,
belong to the class of digitated animals.
They are found not only in cold climates,
but in very warm ones; for instance, the
jerboa in Arabia, and the taurick in Mada-
gascar. The period of long sleep generally
begins when the food of the animal begins
to become scarce, and inactivity spreads
over the vegetable kingdom. Instinct, at
this time, impels the animals to seek a safe
place for their period of rest. The bat
hides itself in dark caves, or in walls of
decayed buildings. The hedgehog en-
velopes himself in leaves, and generally
conceals himself in fern-brakes. Ham-
sters and marmots bury themselves in the
ground, and the jumping-mouse of Can-
ada and the U. States encloses itself in a
ball of clay. At the same time, these
singular animals roll themselves together
in such a way that the extremities are
protected against cold, and the abdominal
intestines, and even the windpipe, are com-
pressed, so that the circulation of the blood
is checked. Many of them, especially the
gnawers, as the hamster and Norway rat,
collect, previously to their period of sleep,
considerable stores of food, on which they
probably live until sleep overpowers them.
In this period we observe in the animals,
first, a decrease of animal heat, which,
in the case of some, is diminished 20°,
with others, 40° to 50° Fahrenheit; yet
it is always higher than the tempera-
ture of the atmosphere in the winter
months. If these animals are waked dur-
ing winter, they soon recover their natural
warmth, and this artificial awaking does
not injure them. Secondly, animals in
the dormant state breathe much slower
and more interruptedly than at other times.
Some will remain even a quarter of an
hour without any respiration; and animals
in this state seldom breathe more than
once in a minute. Hence they cor-
rupt the surrounding air much less
than if their respiration was free. Of
course, the heart moves proportionally
slow. With the hamster, it only beats 15
times a minute, whilst, in a waking state,
it beats 115 times a minute. The irrita
bility of the animals is very low; an
284
DORMANT DORMOUSE.

hamsters in this state have been dissected,
which only now and then gasped for air,
or, at least, opened the mouth; and on
which sulphuric acid, put on their intes-
tines, had little or no effect. Marmots
can be awakened only by powerful elec-
tric shocks. The digestion is also dimin-
ished; the stomach and intestines are
usually empty; and, even if the animals
are awakened, they do not manifest symp-
toms of appetite, except in heated rooms.
The causes of the dormant state of ani-
mals have generally been sought in a
peculiar construction of the organs. It is
true, that the veins in such animals are usu-
ally much wider and larger than in others;
hence the arteries can exert comparatively
little activity. The great vena cava also
not merely opens into the right auricle of
the heart, but divides itself into two con-
siderable branches; and the thymus gland,
which, in the foetus, is so large, is also very
extensive in this species of animals. The
immediate cause, however, producing this
1 rpidity, is mostly, if not entirely, the
cold. The animals of this species fall into
this sleep in the middle of summer, if they
are exposed to a cold temperature; on the
other hand, they remain awake during
winter, if they are brought, towards au-
tumn, into a warm room. Yet they fall
asleep if the heating of the room is discon-
tinued for some time. In the case of some
of them, confined air produces the sleep;
thus a hamster may be made to sleep very
easily if it is put into a vessel which is
buried deep under ground. Among the
birds, some of the swallows are subject to
a similar sleep. The swift (hirundo apus)
is not only found in the crevices of walls,
but also in morasses, in a dormant state,
during winter; and many have concluded
from this that all swallows pass the winter
in this state, which is incorrect, as they
are known to be birds of passage. Most
probably those swallows which have been
found in a dormant state, were prevented
from emigrating by accident, and became
torpid in their retreat, through cold. In a
similar way, young cuckoos have been
found torpid in the water, though this
state is by no means natural to them. With
frogs and other amphibious reptiles, the
dormant state is very common. As soon
as the temperature of the atmosphere
sinks under 50° Fahrenheit, the number
of pulsations of the heart is diminished
from 30 to 12 in a minute. If, in this
state, food is put into the stomach by force,
it remains undigested for a long time.
Frogs, serpents and lizards, kept in arti-
ficial cold, may remain for years in this
state: hence they have been sometimes
found enclosed in stones, in which they
have been, perhaps, for centuries. The
other lower animals, as snails, insects, &c.,
are also subject to a similar torpidity. A
state of partial torpor takes place in the
case of the common bear and the raccoon.
The bear begins to be drowsy in Novem-
ber, when he is particularly fat, and retires
into his den, which he has lined with
moss, and where he but rarely awakes in
winter. When he does awake, he is ac-
customed to lick his paws, which are
without hair, and full of small glands;
hence the belief that he draws his nour-
ishment only from them. The badger
also sleeps the greater part of the winter.
DORMOUSE (myoxus, Gm. Cuv.); a ge-
nus of mammiferous quadrupeds, of the
order glires (L.). These little animals,
which appear to be intermediate between
the squirrels and the mice, inhabit tem-
perate and warm countries, and subsist
entirely on vegetable food. They have
not the activity and sprightliness of the
squirrel, but, like that animal, can ascend
trees in search of their food, which they
carefully store up for their winter con-
sumption. This, however, is not great,
as, during the rigor of winter, they retire
to their retreats, and, rolling themselves up,
fall into a torpid or lethargic state, which
lasts, with little interruption, throughout
that gloomy season.
Tota mihi dormitur hyems, et pinguior illo
Tempore sum, quo me nil nisi somnus alit.
Mart. Lib. xiii. Ep. 39.
Sometimes they experience a short revival,
in a warm, sunny day, when they take a
little food, and then relapse into their for-
mer condition. During this torpidity,
their natural heat is considerably dimin-
ished. They make their nests of grass,
moss and dried leaves, about six inches in
diameter, and open only from above. The
number of young is generally three or
four.
Their pace is a kind of leap, in
which, it is said, they are assisted by their
tails. Like the jerboa, whilst feeding,
they sit upright, and carry the food to
their mouth with their paws. When they
are thirsty, they do not lap, like most other
quadrupeds, but dip their fore feet, with
the toes bent, into the water, and thus
carry it to their mouths. They are distin-
guished from all the rest of the gnawers,
by the want of the cæcum, and large
intestines. They were esteemed a great
delicacy by the Romans, who had their
gliraria, or places in which they were kept
and fattened for the table.

208.109/DORPAT-DORT.
DORPAT, DORPT (in Esthonian, Tart-
Lin); a city on the Embach, formerly an
important commercial place, at present the
chief town of the government of Riga
(764 houses and 8450 inhabitants), about
175 miles S. W. of St. Petersburgh; lat.
58° 23′ N.; lon. 26° 46′ 15" E. The
transit trade of Dorpat, in products of the
interior, is still considerable, and will be
increased when the Alexander canal is
finished. The emperor Alexander estab-
lished here, in 1802, a university for Fin-
land, Esthonia, Livonia and Courland.
The students (about 400) wear a uniform,
and, after finishing their studies, have the
rank of a commissioned officer. The
library contains 40,000 vols. There are,
besides, many scientific institutions. Dor-
pat is situated on the road from Peters-
burg to Germany. Its environs are agree-
able and fertile.
DORSEY, John Syng, an eminent physi-
cian, was born in Philadelphia, Dec. 23,
1783, and received an excellent classical
education, at a school in Philadelphia, of
the society of Friends. He here mani-
fested the same vivacity of genius, and
mild and amiable disposition, for which he
was subsequently conspicuous. At the
age of 15 years, he applied himself to the
study of medicine; and, in the spring of
1802, being then in his 19th year, was
graduated doctor in physic, having previ-
ously defended an inaugural dissertation
On the Powers of the Gastric Liquor as a
Solvent of urinary Calculi. This work
exhibits some original views, illustrated
by a number of well conducted experi-
ments. Not long after he received his de-
gree, the yellow fever appeared in Phila-
delphia, and prevailed so extensively that
an hospital was opened for those sick
with this malady, to which he was 2-
pointed resident physician. He improved
this opportunity of investigating the dis-
ease, elucidated some of the more intricate
parts of its pathology, and aided in the
establishment of a better system of prac-
tice. At the close of the same season, he
visited Europe. He returned home in
December, 1804, and entered on the prac-
tice of his profession. His reputation,
amiable temper, popular manners, and
fidelity and attention, soon introduced him
to a large share of business. In 1807, he
was elected adjunct professor of surgery,
and held the office till he succeeded to
the chair of materia medica. He delivered
two courses of lectures on this subject,
when, the chair of anatomy becoming
vacant by the death of doctor Wistar, he
was raised to that professorship. He
285
opened the session by one of the finest
exhibitions of eloquence ever heard within
the walls of the university. But, on the
evening of the same day, he was attacked
with a fever, which in one week closed
his existence. He had cultivated every
department of medicine assiduously, but
for surgery he evinced a decided predilec-
tion, and in this made the greatest pro-
ficiency. He was one of the most accom-
plished surgeons of this country, equally
distinguished for the number, variety and
difficulty of his operations, and the skill
and boldness with which they were per-
formed. As a teacher of medicine, his
merits were great, and he was constantly
resorted to in cases of emergency in the
school. He has been known, in the same
day, to lecture on surgery and the mate-
ria medica, the details of the anatomical
structure and the laws of the animal econ-
omy. He contributed many valuable pa-
pers to the journals, and his Elements of
Surgery (2 vols., 8vo.) is probably the best
work on the subject. It embraces, in a
narrow compass, a digest of surgery, with
all the recent improvements which it had
received in Europe and this country. It
has been adopted as a text-book in the
university of Edinburgh, and was the first
American work on medicine reprinted in
Europe.
DORT; a pleasant commercial town in
South Holland (18,000 inhabitants, 3900
houses), on the Merwe and Biesbosch,
situated on an island, which was formed
by the inundation of 1421, when 72 vil-
lages and 100,000 persons were destroyed.
Lat. 51° 48' 54" N.; lon. 4° 39′ 42″ E.
Its great church is a fine building. Its
harbor is spacious, and its commerce in
Rhenish wines and lumber (which is
brought down in rafts, and exported to
Spain, England and Portugal) is impor-
tant. Ship-building, the manufacture of
salt, bleaching, and the salmon fisheries,
are extensively carried on. Dort has an
artillery and engineer school. It was
formerly the residence of the counts of
Holland, and is the native place of De
Witt (q. v.), John Gerhard Vossius, the
painter Varestag, and other distinguished
persons. In 1618 and 1619, the Protes-
tants held here the famous synod of Dort,
the resolutions of which still constitute the
laws of the Dutch reformed church. The
synod declared the Arminians heretics, and
confirmed the Belgic confession with the
Heidelberg catechism. Since the navi-
gation of the Rhine has not yet been regu
lated according to the promise of the con
gress of Vienna, Dort is still in possession

286
DORT DOTATIONS OF NAPOLEON
of its ancient and unjust right of staple.
(For a more particular account of the sy-
nod of Dort, see Arminians, and Arminius.)
DORTMUND; a city on the Ems, in
Prussian Westphalia (900 houses and 4500
inhabitants); lat. 51° 31' 24" N.; lon. 52°
26′ 41″ E. It was formerly a free, impe-
rial and Hanseatic city. In 1803, it was
bestowed on the prince of Orange; in
1808, Napoleon gave it to the grand-duke
of Berg; in 1815, it was ceded to Prussia.
Its archives contain interesting manu-
scripts and documents of the time when
the chief tribunal of the Vehme (q. v.) was
here.
DORTRECHT. (See Dort.)
DORY, OF JOHN DORY; a fish belonging
to the genus zeus of Linnæus, and cele-
brated for the delicacy of its flesh. The
species is distinguished by having the
spinous portions of the dorsal and anal
fins separated by a deep emargination from
the soft-rayed portion, and having the
base of all the vertical fins, and the carina
of the belly anterior to the anal fin, fur-
nished with spines or serratures; color, yel-
lowish-green, with a blackish spot on each
side; dorsal and anal with furcate spines,
and a long filament produced from behind
each dorsal spinous ray. Tradition has
rendered this fish famous on several ac-
counts. First, it is said to derive the mark
on each side of its body, from the im-
pression of the fore finger and thumb of
the apostle Peter. There is a schism
among the superstitious in relation to this
story, as the haddock also enjoys a similar
distinction, it is affirmed, from the same
cause. Another fable is, that the impres-
sion was produced by the foot of St.
Christopher, which, it is fair to say, is
equally probable. The dory obtains its
food very much by stratagem, and its ex-
ceedingly protractile jaws enable it to cap-
ture small fish, &c., in its vicinity with
ease, when lying concealed in the ooze or
weeds. Torbay, in England, is distin-
guished as the locality from whence the
greatest number of these fish is obtained.
They are also found on the coasts of
France, on the Atlantic shores of Europe,
and in the Mediterranean.
Dosso Dossi; a painter of Ferrara,
much honored by duke Alfonso, and im-
mortalized by Ariosto (whose portrait he
executed in a masterly manner) in his Or-
lando, canto 23. His manner approaches
to that of Titian, with whom he painted
some apartments in the ducal castle. His
paintings there represent bacchanalians,
fauns, satyrs and nymphs. In other paint-
ings he imitated Raphael. Among eight
of Dossi's pictures in Dresden, the Dispute
of the four Fathers of the Church is dis-
tinguished as a masterpiece by accurate
delineation and peculiar power of coloring,
and is entirely in the style of Titian. His
brothers are less celebrated. He was born
1479, and died 1560.
DOTATIONS OF NAPOLEON; gifts from
the national domains, which Napoleon
bestowed on his generals in the conquered
countries, as the ancient Lombard kings
made grants to their vassals, on the di-
vision of the countries which they sub-
dued. These gifts, sometimes connected
with a title of nobility, formed a sort of
fief, and, both in respect to possession and
inheritance, had the character of majorats
(q. v.); and the donees stood, as such,
under the general superintendents of the
extraordinary domains, so called, to whom
was committed the care of all those por-
tions of land, capitals, or other sources of
revenue, which the emperor was accus-
tomed to reserve to himself (chiefly with a
view to making such dotations), in the con-
quered countries, and those transferred by
him to other princes. It was the duty of
the above-mentioned officers of state to see
that all who had received from the em-
peror dotations in foreign countries, should
sell their estates, one half within the first
20 years, and the remainder within a
second period of the same length; so that,
in the course of 40 years, all these estates
were to be alienated and changed, either
into landed or other property, in France.
Deeds of investiture were prepared for
these donees, by the arch-chancellor of the
kingdom, as president of the conseil du
sceau des titres; but within three months
after the death of the donee, documents
of confirmation must be applied for by
the heirs. By this officer, many dotations
owned by the same man might be thrown
into one mass, or the amount might be
augmented out of the other property of
the donee, if the dotation alone did not
afford income enough to enable it to be
raised to a majorat, with the title of knight,
baron, count or duke annexed. If the at-
torney-general of the council was inform-
ed of the extinction of the male line of
the descendants of the owner of a majo-
rat, received wholly or in part from the
emperor, he was obliged to make a re-
port of it to the superintendent of the
extraordinary imperial domains, or of
the imperial private domains, according
as the estate had been granted from one
or the other; upon which the intendant
immediately took possession, in order to
secure the property to the treasury. A
DOTATIONS OF NAPOLEON-DOUGLAS.
decree of May 13, 1809, established in
Countries not belonging to the French
imperial states, where the emperor had
raised such grants to majorats, particular
officers (agens conservateurs), whose prin-
cipal duty was to see that the owners of
the majorats managed them well, and that,
if any lapse of such property took place,
it should be united again, entirely and
without delay, to the French crown. All
gifts of this sort, so far as they had not
been alienated, became null and void on
the death of the giver.
DOUANE; in France, the name given to
the custom-houses on the borders.-DOUA-
NIERS; the officers who received the cus-
toms. During the wars of France with Eng-
land (1793-1814), and particularly while
the continental system was in operation,
the French douaniers were of much po-
litical importance. They were divided
into bodies of six men each, had a military
organization, and were well armed. Thus
they guarded, in three lines, the bounda-
ries of France, against the introduction of
all prohibited articles, including not only
English produce and manufactures, but
also those of nearly all other countries.
They likewise collected the export duties.
Their number, in 1812, was 80,000, and
the expense to the French government
amounted, in 1809, to 50,000,000 francs.
The severity with which the French reve-
nue system was executed; the interrup-
tions it caused to almost all classes, partic-
ularly in the conquered provinces, and the
arbitrary extortions of the douaniers, ex-
asperated the people, especially in the
newly acquired provinces. In the insur-
rections, in 1813, in Germany and Hol-
land, against the French, the people at-
tacked, in the first instance, the custom-
officers and custom-houses, tearing down
and burning the latter, in Hamburg and
Amsterdam.
DOUBLE ENTENTE (French). Mots à
double entente are words which have two
different meanings; entente being, prop-
erly, the interpretation given to a word.
Double entendre is often used for a phrase
which has a covert as well as an obvious
meaning.
DOUBLING a cape is to sail round or
pass beyond it, so that the point of land
shall separate the ship from her former
situation, or lie between her and any dis-
tant observer.
DOUBLING upon, in a naval engage-
ment; the act of enclosing any part of a
hostile fleet between two fires, or of can-
nonading it on both sides. It is usually
performed by the van or rear of the fleet
287
which is superior in number, taking the ad-
vantage of the wind, or of its situation and
circumstances, and tacking or running
round the van or rear of the enemy, who
are thereby exposed to great danger.
DOUBLOON; a Spanish coin of the value
of two pistoles. (See Coin.)
DOUGLAS, Gawin; an early Scottish
poet of eminence. He was the son of
Archibald, earl of Angus, and was born at
Brechin, in 1474-5. He received a lib-
eral education, commenced at home, and
completed at the university of Paris. On
returning to Scotland, he took orders in
the church, and was made provost of the
church of St. Giles's, at Edinburgh, af-
terwards abbot of Aberbrothick, and, at
length, bishop of Dunkeld. Political
commotions, after a time, obliged him to
seek a retreat in England, where he was
liberally treated by Henry VIII. He died
of the plague, in London, in 1522, and was
interred in the Savoy church. Gawin
Douglas translated the poem of Ovid, De
Remedio Amoris; also, the Eneid of Vir-
gil, and the supplementary book of Ma-
phæus, in heroic verse. This work, in
the Scottish dialect of the English lan-
guage, is executed with great spirit; and,
considering the age of the author, with
extraordinary elegance of diction, far sur-
passing, in that respect, the succeeding
productions of Phaer, Swyne, and even
of lord Surrey. It was written about 1512,
and is said to have been completed in 16
months. To each book is prefixed a
highly poetical prologue. It was first
published in 1553 (London, 4to.); and
reprinted at Edinburgh (1710, folio).
DOUGLAS, John, a learned divine and
critic, was born in Scotland in 1721. Af-
ter some education at a grammar-school
in his native country, he was sent to the
university of Oxford in 1736, and in 1743
he took the degree of M. A. Soon after,
he was appointed chaplain to the 3d regi-
ment of foot-guards. He was afterwards
a travelling tutor to lord Pulteney, with
whom he visited several parts of the con-
tinent, but quitted him and returned to
England in 1749, when his patron, the
earl of Bath, presented him with several
benefices. His first literary production
was a letter to the earl of Bath, entitled
Milton vindicated from the Charge of
Plagiarism, brought against him by Mr.
Lauder (1751, 8vo.). (See Lauder, W.)
In 1754, he published a tract, entitled the
Criterion, or a Discourse on Miracles. In
1762, he was made canon of Windsor
which benefice he exchanged with doctor
Barrington for a residentiary canonry of

288
DOUGLAS-DOVER.

St. Paul's. His next preferment was the
deanery of Windsor. In 1777, he was
employed in preparing for the press the
journal of captain Cook's second voyage,
to which he prefixed a well-written intro-
duction, and added notes. He assisted
lord Hardwicke in arranging and pub-
lishing his Miscellaneous Papers, which
appeared the following year. In 1778, he
was elected a fellow of the royal and
antiquarian societies; and, in 1781, he
edited the account of captain Cook's third
voyage. In 1787, he was raised to the
see of Carlisle, and, in 1792, was made
bishop of Salisbury. He died May 18,
1807.
DOUSA, or VAN DER DOES; born 1545,
at Noordwyk, in Holland; a statesman,
philologist, historian and poet. He stud-
ied at Delft and Louvain, resided some
time at Paris, and then lived in domestic
retirement, devoted to literary pursuits, till
1572, when he went ambassador to England
to obtain the support of queen Elizabeth
for the cause of the Dutch. As chief com-
mander, during the siege of Leyden by the
Spaniards, he conducted with prudence
and unshaken courage, in the midst of the
horrors of famine, plague and civil dissen-
sions. He kept up an intercourse with the
expected deliverers by means of trained
pigeons; and to these faithful messengers
he has expressed his gratitude in some of
his poems. The stadtholder, William I,
compensated the city for its sufferings, by
the establishment of the university, of
which Dousa was the first curator. His
extensive connexions with the literary
men of other countries enabled him to
procure for the new institution that most
distinguished instructer, Joseph Scaliger.
After the assassination of William I, Dou-
sa secretly visited London to seek the pro-
tection of queen Elizabeth, for the freedom
of his country, of which he was always the
faithful defender; and during the period
when the government of the earl of
Leicester proved oppressive to the Dutch
nation (see Dudley), he conducted with
prudence and moderation. Domestic
misfortunes, particularly the death of
his eldest son, Janus Dousa, a youth of
great promise, afflicted the last years of
his life, and he died 1604. The many
works which he left show how true he
to his motto-Dulces ante omnia
Musa. His best known work is Batavia
Hollandiæque Annales, extending to 1606,
which had been commenced by his son.
It was published both in verse and in
prose.
Docw, Gerard. (See Dow.)
DOVE. (See Turtle Dove, and Pigeon.)
DOVER; a post-town of New Hamp-
shire, capital of Strafford county, 12 miles
N. W. by N. Portsmouth, 40 E. Concord,
50 S. W. Portland, 60 N. Boston; lon.
70° 54′ W.; lat. 43° 13′ N.; population.
in 1820, 2871; in 1826, 4160. It is situ
ated on the west side of the Piscataqua, and
the Cochecho flows through it.
This
river has several falls, the largest of which,
upwards of 40 feet perpendicular, are at
the centre of the town, and afford water-
power equal to any in New England,
The supply of water is abundant, and the
river never rises so high as to endanger
the buildings on it. These falls are 15
miles from the sea, at the head of tide
water. Gondolas come up to the mills,
and sloops within a quarter of a mile.
Large iron and cotton manufactories have
been erected on these falls, and others two
miles higher up the river. Dover is one
of the most considerable and flourishing
towns in the state. It contains a court-
house, a jail, a bank, a printing-office, an
academy, and three houses of public wor-
ship. The greatest part of the timber
exported from the state, is brought to
this town. Considerable shipping is also
owned here. Dover is the oldest town in
New Hampshire, having been settled in
1623, by Edward and William Hilton.
The part first settled is in the south of
Dover, an elevated and beautiful neck of
land, called by the Indians Winnichahan-
nat, and by the first settler's Northam.
DOVER; a post-town of Delaware, the
seat of the government of the state, in the
county of Kent, on Jones's creek, 7 miles
above its entrance into Delaware bay;
36 S. Newcastle; lon. 75° 30′ W.; lat.
39° 10′ N. It contains a handsome state-
house, a jail, an academy, a bank, &c.
The town is well built, chiefly of brick,
and carries on a considerable trade with
Philadelphia in flour.
DOVER; a seaport of England, in the
county of Kent, situated on a small stream
which falls into the harbor. It consists
chiefly of three long streets, converging to
one point. Dover is defended by a strong
and spacious castle, and all the neighbor-
ing heights are fortified. The castle oc-
cupies a lofty eminence, steep and rugged
towards the town and harbor, and presents
a precipitous cliff, 320 feet higher than
the sea. Subterraneous works and case-
mates have been added, since the alarm.
of French invasion, capable of accomme
dating 2000 men. Dover is one of the
Cinque ports, and a borough returning two
members to parliament, who are elected

DOVER-DOWER.
289
by aboit 2000 voters. The harbor can wood which is put into the other, goes
receive vessels of 400 or 500 tons, and is widening to the
end, so that it cannot be
It is the drawn out again.
defended by strong batteries.
principal place of embarkation to France,
and steam-packets ply daily to Calais and
Boulogne. Population, 10,327; 8 miles
from Deal, 72 E. S. E. London; lon.
1° 19′ E.; lat. 51° 6 N.

DOVER, STRAITS OF; the narrow chan-
nel between Dover and Calais, which sepa-
rates Great Britain from the French coast.
Britain is supposed by many to have
been once a peninsula, the present straits
occupying the site of the isthmus, which
joined it to Gaul. "The correspondency
of strata," says Mr. Pennant, in his Arct.
Zoology, "on part of the opposite shores
of Britain and France, leaves no room to
doubt that they were once united. The
chalky cliffs of Blancnez, between Calais
and Boulogne, and those to the westward
of Dover, exactly tally: the last are vast
and continued, the former short, and the
termination of the immense bed. Between
Bologne and Folkstone (about six miles
from the latter) is another memorial of
the junction of the two countries-a nar-
row submarine hill, called the Rip-raps,
about a quarter of a mile broad, and ten
miles long, extending eastward, towards
the Goodwin sands. Its materials are
boulder-stones, adventitious to many strata.
The depth of water on it, in very low
spring tides, is only 14 feet. The fisher-
men from Folkstone have often touched
it with a 15 feet oar; so that it is justly
the dread of navigators. Many a tall ship
has struck on it, and sunk instantly into
21 fathoms of water." In July, 1782, the
Belleisle, of 64 guns, struck and lay on it
during three hours; but, by starting her
beer and water, got clear off. These cel-
ebrated straits are only 21 miles wide, in
the narrowest part; from the pier at Dover
to that of Calais, 24 miles. It is said
that their breadth is diminishing, and that
they are two miles narrower than they
were in ancient times. An accurate ob-
server for fifty years remarks that the in-
creased height of water, from a decrease
of breadth, has been apparent, even in
that space. The depth of the channel, at
a medium, in the highest spring tides, is
about 25 fathoms; the bottom is either
coarse sand or rugged sears, which have,
for ages unknown, resisted the attrition
of the currents.
DOVE-TAILING, in carpentry, is the fast-
ening boards together, by letting one piece
into another, in the form of the tail of a
dove. The dove-tail is the strongest of
joinangs, because the tenon, or piece of
VOL. IV.
25
Dow (also written Douw), Gerard; born
at Leyden, 1613, son of a glazier. He
studied under Rembrandt, and was distin-
guished for the excellence of his coloring
and chiaro scuro. He surpassed his mas-
ter in diligence, and nothing can be more
finished than his small pieces. They are
so delicate that a magnifying glass is ne-
cessary to see distinctly the work in them.
His softest figures are full of life, and he
never neglected, in his representations,
the almost invisible minutiae of nature.
Still, his paintings do not appear artificial
nor forced. He is regarded as the inventor
of the ingenious mode of painting large
pictures on a reduced scale, by covering
the original with a frame, including a
space divided into small quadrangular
parts, by means of threads, and then trans-
ferring the parts into an equal number of
similar divisions, drawn on the canvass.
He made use of the convex mirror, to
represent objects on a reduced scale.
Dow died in 1680, leaving a large proper-
ty. His works brought high prices, and
are still among the dearest of the Dutch
school. In 1809, a picture, painted by
him for the royal museum of Holland,
was sold for 17,000 guilders; and at the
auction of Peter de Smith in Amsterdam,
in 1810, Dow's pictures brought from 5 to
10,000 guilders. His scholars, Metzű,
Schalken and Mieris, are worthy of their
master.
DOWER is the portion which a widow
has in the lands of her husband, after his
decease, by the operation of law, and
without any special provision, by will or
marriage settlement. There are three
species of dower enumerated in the bool:s
of the common law, which are now obso-
lete. A fourth kind of dower, in Eng-
land, includes several sorts. It is dower
by custom, as distinguished from dower at
common law. In some particular manors
and districts in England, the widow is
endowed, not according to common right,
but according to the practice or custom
in that particular district or manor; as of
half her husband's lands, by the custom
of gavel-kind, or of the whole of them, for
her life, where she is entitled to her free
bench.
But the general kind of dower, or that
by the common law, is the third part, for
life, of the lands or tenements whereof
the husband was seized, in fee simple or
fee tail, during the time of the marriage.
If the parties have been divorced from

200
DOWER.
the bonds of marriage, the woman is not
entitled to dower. But if the divorce be
from bed and board only, her dower is not
barred. The common law of England
and the U. States respects the laws of
other countries, so that a marriage, valid
where it is contracted, is considered as
valid by the common law, and entitles
the wife to dower, in the countries just
named. The wife of an idiot is not en-
titled to dower, because the marriage was
not valid, from the want of the power of
consent in the husband. By the ancient
English law, the wife of a traitor was not
entitled to dower. Some say the reason
was, that the wife was presumed to be privy
to the treason; others say, that it was in-
tended to secure the loyalty of the subject,
by an appeal to his affection for his wife and
children. The statute of 1 Edward VI, c.
12, abated the rigor of the law, and allowed
the widow of a traitor dower; a subsequent
statute, however, passed five or six years
afterwards, restored the old law in respect
to most kinds of treason. According to
an opinion, supported by very respectable
authorities, the death of the husband is
not necessary, in all cases, to entitle the
wife to dower; as, if he is outlawed, ban-
ished, or transported for life, she is, ac-
cording to this opinion, entitled to dower.
So, in New York, the wife is endowed, if
the husband is condemned to imprison-
ment for life. In one of Mr. Hargrave's
notes to Coke's Littleton, it is said that an
act of parliament of 8 Henry V, provides,
that where an Englishman marries a
foreigner, "by license of the king," she
shall be endowed; and statutes of many
of the U. States contain a similar pro-
vision, allowing to alien widows, who
have resided in the U. States, the same
rights of dower as if they had been born
in the country. A seizin (q. v.) in law,
no less than a seizin with actual posses-
sion, entitles the widow to dower. But
if the husband is only seized for an in-
stant, and the same transaction which
gives him the fee passes it to another, the
wife does not thereby gain the right of
lower. This right of the wife is an in-
separable incident to an estate in fee or in
tail, so that, if such an estate be conveyed
upon condition that it shall not be subject
to this right, the condition will be void.
A woman is not, by the common law,
entitled to dower in lands held in trust
for her husband; and, as a large part of
the lands of England are so held, joint-
ures were introduced instead, and, as it
is usually expressed, in bar of dower.
The statutes of some of the U. States, as
Pennsylvania, Virginia, Mississippi, pro.
vide for the wife's dower in trust estates
In England, the wife is barred of her
dower by a jointure, although she may
be married under the age of 21, and so
within the age requisite to make a valid
contract to most other purposes. But,
after her marriage, her acts are void, as
she is then supposed to be under the
authority, and subject to the coercion of
her husband, and, accordingly, cannot re-
lease her right of dower, except by a fine
or common recovery, which are acts
done in court. (See Fine.) But, in the
U. States, although the general rule as
to the wife's inability to contract is the
same as in England, yet one exception is
made, in respect to the right of dower, in
all those states which borrow this right
from the common law of England; for
the wife may, in all those states, release
her right of dower, by joining her husband
in the conveyance, or by endorsing upon
the deed, or subjoining to it, an agreement
to that effect; or, in a number of the
states, by making a distinct agreement to
this effect. But, to satisfy the rule that
the wife cannot bind herself by any con-
tract made by her during her coverture,
and as a substitute for the English fine
and common recovery, as far as the right
of dower is concerned, the laws of many
of the states, as Rhode Island, New York,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Illinois,
Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi,
Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and New
Jersey, require that the wife shall be ex-
amined by a magistrate, separately from
her husband, to ascertain whether she
signs the deed freely, and without com-
pulsion; and, on her acknowledging that
it is a free act on her part, the inagistrate
certifies accordingly, and her right of
dower is released. The rule of the Eng-
lish law, as to a married woman's inca-
pacity to bind herself, would be exceed-
ingly troublesome in the U. States, if
applied to her right of dower, by embar-
rassing the conveyance of lands; and so
the statutes or usages avoid the incon-
venience, by this formality of a private
examination, which, if the rule be literally
well founded, is a very unsatisfactory
compliance with it, or excuse for deviating
from it; for if the wife be, in fact, under
the coercion supposed by the rule, she
would hardly be liberated from it by
merely going into an adjoining room, or
into open court; so that, if the theory of
the law were true, she would be com-
pelled to make a false declaration, as well
as to lose her dower. But the theory




DOWER-DOXOLOGY.
of the common law is by no means true;
that of the civil law is much more just,
namely, that the wife is capable of voli-
tion, and of making contracts, as far as
her own rights are concerned; and so
is the rule as to the conveyance of real
estate in some of the U. Štates; for in
Maine, New Hampshire and Massachu-
setts, although, in general, the law sup-
poses a married woman to have no dis-
cretion or liberty as to contracting about
other things, yet it allows her to release
her dower in her husband's lands, and to
convey those which she holds in her own
right, by merely joining in the deed with
the husband, and without any private ex-
amination as to her being under compul-
sion. In other states, the difficulty is
avoided by altering the law of dower, and
giving it only in the lands of which the
husband "dies seized." This is the law
of Vermont, Connecticut, N. Carolina,
S. Carolina and Tennessee. The civil
law being the common law of Louisiana,
the wife is there a partner of the husband,
and, accordingly, instead of being entitled
to dower, she is, on the dissolution of the
copartnership, by his decease, entitled to
her share of the joint stock. The laws
of the other U. States, generally, agree
with the English in giving the wife, for
dower, a life estate in one third part of
the lands and tenements of which the
husband was seized, in fee simple or fee
tail, during the coverture, or, in some of
the states, as before mentioned, at the
time of his decease. In some states, as
Alabama and Tennessee, the widow has
the right to occupy the principal man-
sion-house of her husband during her
life, unless, in the opinion of the court,
this would be too great a share; and
much discretion appears to be given to
the court in judging whether this is an ex-
cessive proportion of the husband's estate.
As to the particular modes of proceeding
in assigning or setting off the widow's
dower, in England and the different U.
States, it would too much extend this ar-
ticle to go into the detail of them. Be-
sides dower, the widow is generally en-
titled to a greater or smaller portion of
her husband's personal property, not, as
in case of the dower, merely to receive
the income of it for her life, but she has it
absolutely. The laws of some of the U.
States provide, that lands sold by the
sheriff, to pay the debts of the husband,
shall be discharged of the wife's dower;
in others, it is set off to the creditor, or
sold under a judgment obtained by him,
subject to this right, and is, accordingly,
291
set off at a lower appraisement, or sold
at a lower price.
DOWNING STREET, Westminster, Lon-
don; a street from which many important
state papers are dated, because here are
the offices of the ministers of the foreign
and home departments. Business with
foreign ministers is generally transacted
in Downing street. The two offices are
not far from Westminster abbey and St.
Stephen's, where parliament assembles.
Downs; banks or elevations of sand,
which the sea gathers and forms along
its shores, and which serve it as a barrier.
The term is also applied to large tracts
of naked, poor land, on which sheep
usually graze.
Downs; a celebrated road for ships,
extending six miles along the east coast
of Kent, in England, between North and
South Foreland, where both the outward
and homeward bound ships frequently
make some stay, and squadrons of men-
of-war rendezvous in time of war. It
affords excellent anchorage, and is de-
fended by the castles of Deal, Dover and
Sandwich, as well as by Goodwin sands.
DOXOLOGY (from doğa, praise, glory, and
oyos, the word). This name is given to
hymns in praise of the Almighty, distin-
guished by the title of greater and lesser.
Both the doxologies have a place in the
church of England, the former being re-
peated after every psalm, and the latter
used in the communion service. Doxol-
ogy the greater, or the angelic hymn, was
of great rote in the ancient church. It
began with the words which the angels
sung at our Savior's birth, "Glory be to
God on high," &c. It was chiefly used
in the communion service, and in private
devotions. Doxology the lesser was an-
ciently only a single sentence, without
response, in these words "Glory be to
the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Ghost, world without end; amen."
Part of the latter clause, " as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be," was
inserted some time after the first compo
sition. Some read this ancient hymn,
"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
with the Holy Ghost"; others, "Glory be
to the Father, in or by the Son, and by
the Holy Ghost." This difference of ex
pression occasioned no disputes in the
church, till the followers of Arius began
to make use of the latter as a distinguishing
characteristic of their party, when it was
entirely laid aside by the Catholics, and
the use of it was sufficient to bring any
one under suspicion of heterodoxy. The
doxology was used at the close of every

292
DOXOLOGY-DRACUNCULI.
solemn office. The Western church re-
peated it at the end of every psalm.
Many of the prayers were also concluded
with it, particularly the solemn thanksgiv-
ing or consecration prayer, at the celebra-
tion of the eucharist. It was also the or-
dinary conclusion of the sermons.
six oboli (silver). The tetradrachm (of
four drachms) was called the stater. These
coins differed much in value in different
countries in Greece, and in different ages
in the same country. The Attic drachm
and stater occur most frequently. Those
coined previous to the time of Pericles
were worth about 17.05 cents, the talents
(silver), of course, $1023; the value of
the later drachms (during the two centu-
ries before and after the Christian era),
was 15.20 cents; of the talents, $912.50.
The stater, in the former period, was
worth 68.2 cents; in the latter, 60.8 cents.
Besides these silver coins, there were also
the stater of gold, equal in value to 20
drachms, and the talent of gold, which
was used sometimes to designate a quan-
tity of gold equal in value, sometimes a
quantity of gold equal in weight, to the
silver talent. It sometimes, also, desig-
nates a gold coin, weighing six drachms.
In the time of Solon, a sheep could be
bought for one drachm, an ox for five.
In the time of Demosthenes, a fat ox cost
80 drachms, a lamb, 10.
DOYEN, Gabriel François, born at Paris,
in 1726, a pupil of the painter Vanloo.
At the age of 20, he gained the first prize
for painting. He went to Rome, in 1748,
where the works of those painters, who
were distinguished for boldness of design
and strength of expression, as Annibal
Carracci, Pietro di Cortona, Giulio Roma-
no, Polidore, and Michael Angelo, were
the particular objects of his study and en-
thusiastic emulation. After his return to
Paris, he remained a long time without
employment, occupied solely with his art.
He spent two years in the execution of
his Virginia, which procured him admis-
sion into the academy of painting, in
1758. The picture La Peste des Ardents,
for the church of St. Roch, increased his
reputation. To give his works more truth,
he visited the hospitals, and studied the DRACO; an archon and legislator of
expression and appearances of the sick Athens, about 600 B. C., celebrated for
and dying. He executed several works the extraordinary severity of his laws.
for the court. In the beginning of the The slightest offence, such as stealing
revolution, Catharine II invited him to fruit, and even idleness, he punished with
Russia, gave him a pension of 1200 rubles, death, no less than sacrilege, murder or
with a residence in one of the palaces, treason. Hence his laws were said to be
and appointed him professor in the acad- written in blood. Nothing was more natu-
emy of painting at Petersburg. After ral than that this rigor should render them
the death of the empress, Paul II con- odious, and prevent their execution, espe-
tinued to treat him with equal favor. He cially as the people became more civilized
painted much for the imperial palaces, and refined. Solon was therefore com-
and died at Petersburg, June 5, 1806.missioned to compose a new code. (See
DRACHM (Spax), the unit of weight Attica.) Tradition relates that Draco, on
and of money among the ancient Greeks, his appearance in the theatre at gina,
both as a weight and a coin, contained six where he is said to have carried his laws,
oboli (Bolor), and was itself the 100th part was suffocated amidst the applauses of
of a mina (uva), and the 6000th part of a the people, who, according to their custom,
talent (ráλavrov). 1. According to the cal- threw their garments and caps upon him.
culations of Wurm (De Pond. Nummorum- He was buried under the theatre.
que rat., Stuttgard, 1821), the weight of
the Attic drachm is 67.383 grains English
Troy weight, and the Attic talent 70 lbs.
63 oz.
The calculation of M. Letronne
differs slightly from this. There were
several other kinds of drachm and talent
in use: those of gina were the heaviest,
the Æginetic talent being equal to 10,000
Attic drachms; the Euboic talent was
nearly the same as the Attic; the Rhodian
and Egyptian talents were each about
one third of the Attic. Whenever no
particular kind is designated, the Attic
talent is meant. 2. The principal Gre-
cian coin was the drachm: it was of sil-
ver: it was divided, like the weight, into
DRACUNCULI, in medicine; small, long
worms, which breed in the muscular parts
of the arms and legs, called Guinea-
worms, common among the natives of
Guinea. The worm is white, round and
uniform, resembling white, round tape.
It is lodged between the interstices and
membranes of the muscles, where it in-
sinuates itself, sometimes exceeding five
ells in length. It occasions no great pain
in the beginning; but, at such times as it
is ready to go out, the part adjoining to the
extremity of the worm, where it attempts
its exit, begins to swell, throb, and become
inflamed: this generally happens about
the ankle, leg, or thigh, and rarely higher

DRACUNCULI-DRAGON.
The countries where this distemper is ob-
served are hot and sultry, subject to great
droughts, and the inhabitants make use of
stagnating and corrupted water, in which
it is very probable that the ova of these an-
imalculæ may be contained; for the white
people who drink this water are liable to
the disease as well as the Negroes.
DRAG; a machine consisting of a sharp,
square frame of iron, encircled with a
net, and commonly used to rake the mud
off from the platform or bottom of the
docks, or to clean rivers.
DRAGGING THE ANCHOR; the act of
trailing it along the bottom, after it is
loosened from the ground, by the effort
of the wind or current.
DRAGOMAN; an interpreter, employed
in the East, and especially at the Turkish
court. The dragoman of the Porte, who
is in the service of the court, and through
whom the sultan receives the communi-
cations of the Christian ambassadors, was
formerly a Christian, by birth a Greek,
and often attained the rank of a prince
(hospodar) of Moldavia or Wallachia.
DRAGON; 1. One of the northern con-
stellations. Fable says that Juno trans-
lated to the heavens the dragon which
kept the golden apples in the chamber of
the Hesperides, and was slain by Hercules.
2. The dragon of fable. The fabulous
stories of this monster reach back almost
as far as history. His form is described
as most terrible, and his residence has
been assigned to almost all countries,
particularly that part of India and Africa
that was formerly unknown. His length
is represented from 20 to 70 ells. Of
the latter sort was the dragon which
lived in India, according to Elian, in the
time of Alexander the Great, and was
venerated as a god. The dragon is de-
scribed as having no feet, but as crawling
like a serpent, his body covered with
scales, and his neck, according to some
accounts, adorned with a mane. These
relations are almost all contradictory, and
agree only in this-that the dragon had
very acute senses, especially a piercing
vision. His strength was so great that he
could easily strangle an elephant. His
food consisted of the blood and flesh of
all sorts of animals, and of various fruits.
Notwithstanding his ferocity, however, the
dragon might be confined and tamed,
which the old authors represent as having
happened in various cases. The animal
which gave occasion to these fables is
probably no other than the great boa
constrictor. (See Boa.) The fabled drag-
on of the middle ages had four lion's
293
feet, a long, thick, serpent's tail, and an
immense throat, from which streamed
flames of fire. This dragon played a
distinguished part in the ages of chivalry:
he is one of those monsters whom it was
the business of the heroes of romance to
destroy. The idea of the dragon of the
middle ages probably grew out of indis-
tinct and exaggerated accounts of the
crocodile of the Nile, which were brought
to Europe by means of the crusades,
and from similar descriptions of the larg-
est land serpents. Even at the present
day, the existence of dragons is fully be-
lieved in by the inhabitants of certain
countries. 3. The researches of modern
naturalists have served to explode this
and many other fictions connected with
the history of animals; and, at the present
day, the curious inquirer, who seeks for
the celebrated dragon, will be disappoint-
ed in discovering that the animal to which
the name properly belongs, is not an un-
tamable and ferocious monster, but an
inoffensive lizard, a few inches long, for-
midable to nothing but the small insects
on which it feeds. The love of gain often
makes the natives of warm climates guilty
of the most ingenious frauds on the credu-
lity of strangers, for whom they prepare,
with great art, fictitious animals, which
are purchased by the ignorant, as genuine
dragons, mermaids, &c. In this way,
ill-informed travellers are led occasionally
to revive the fable of the existence of the
dragon. Two species of dragon-lizard
are described by naturalists, but it is most
probable that the second is merely a
variety of the first (D. volans), which is
said to inhabit Asia, Africa, and South
America. Length, seldom exceeding 12
inches; body lacertiform; sides furnished
with peculiar productions of the skin,
supported by internal cartilaginous rays,
which, when expanded, enable it to sup-
port itself in the air for a few seconds, in
springing from branch to branch, among
the lofty trees in which it resides; body
and wings covered by small scales; back
slightly carinate; throat with the skin
produced into a pouch-shaped expansion,
which is inflated with air, at the pleasure
of the animal. The food consists almost
exclusively of insects. Color varied with
blackish, brown and whitish. The pro-
portions of the animal are delicate, and it is
very active. Dried specimens, preserved
in the cabinets of the curious, do not give
a good idea of the animal, as the process
of drying destroys the proportions; and it
is also to be regretted that few engraved
figures are commendable for their fidelity
25*

294
DRAGON'S BLOOD-DRAKE.
DRAGON'S BLOOD; a resinous juice ob-
tained by incision from several different
plants, found between the tropics;-from
the trunk of the pterocarpus draco, a tree of
the natural order leguminosa, growing in the
East Indies, which yields Oriental dragon's
blood; from the pterocarpus santalinus,
inhabiting tropical America, which affords
it in less quantity and more impure; from
the calamus draco, a palm of the East
Indies, from which it is obtained, accord-
ing to Kämpfer, by boiling the fruit; from
a dalbergia in Guiana, and a croton in
South America; from the dracena draco,
the native country of which is not known
with certainty, but is supposed to be Afri-
ca. A single tree of this last species,
which was introduced into the Canaries
at the time of the conquest, acquired
enormous dimensions, and has been vis-
ited and celebrated by every traveller, but
was destroyed by a storm, in 1822. Drag-
on's blood is obtained, in commerce, in
three principal forms-in that of oval
masses, of the size of a pigeon's egg, en-
veloped with leaves of the pandanus; in
cylinders, covered with palm leaves; and
in irregular masses, marked with impres-
sions of leaves: that in oval masses is the
most esteemed. It is often very much
adulterated, and other substances are sub-
stituted; particularly gum Arabic and gum
Senegal, colored with logwood, &c. Sev-
eral of these substances may be detected
by their dissolving in water, while drag-
on's blood is nearly insoluble; others re-
quire to be submitted to some chemical
tests. Madagascar furnishes this resin of
a good quality, but so much mixed with
foreign substances, that it is little used.
Dragon's blood is opaque, of a deep red-
dish-brown color, brittle, and has a smooth
and shining conchoidal fracture; when in
thin laminæ, it is sometimes transparent;
when burnt, it gives out an odor somewhat
analogous to benzoin; its taste is a little
astringent; it is soluble in alcohol, and the
solution will permanently stain heated
marble, for which purpose it is often used,
as well as for staining leather and wood.
It is also soluble in oil, and enters into
the composition of a very brilliant var-
nish, which is much esteemed by artists.
Its quality may be proved by making
marks on paper: the best leaves a fine red
trace, and commands a pretty high price.
It was formerly in high repute as a med-
icine, but at the present time is very little
used. An astringent resin, obtained from
the eucalyptus resinifera of New Holland,
bears the name of dragon's blood in the
English settlements in that country.
DRAGON-SHELL, in natural history; a
name given to a species of concamera-
ted patella or limpet. It has a top very
much bent, and is of an ash-color on the
outside, but of an elegant and bright flesh-
color within. It has been found sticking
to the back of a tortoise, as the common
limpets do to the sides of rocks, and some
have been affixed to large shells of the
pinna marina.
DRAGOON; a kind of light-horseman,
of French origin, trained to fight either in
or out of the line, in a body, or singly,
chiefly on horseback, but, if necessary, on
foot also. The dragoons were mounted,
armed and exercised as these objects
require. They probably took the name
of dragoons from the Roman draconarii,
whose lances were adorned with figures
of dragons. Experience proving that they
did not answer the end designed, they
were hardly ever used in infantry service,
and now form a useful kind of cavalry,
mounted on horses too heavy for the
hussars, and too light for the cuirassiers.
-Dragoonades, dragoon-conversions; i. e.
conversions which are compelled by force
of arms; forced conversions. Louis XIV,
for instance, sent dragoons for this pur-
pose to the Cevennes, in 1684, to chastise
the Huguenots.
DRAKE, sir Francis, a distinguished
English navigator, was born at Tavistock,
in Devonshire, 1545, and served as a
sailor in a coasting-vessel, which some-
times made voyages to France and Ire-
land. He gained the favor of his master,
who, on his death, left his vessel to him.
Sir John Hawkins, one of his relations,
then took him under his care, and, at the
age of 18, he served as purser of a ship
which traded to Biscay. At 20, he made
a voyage to the coast of Guinea; at 22,
received the command of a ship, and dis-
tinguished himself by his valor in the
unfortunate expedition of sir John Haw-
kins against the Spaniards, in the harbor
of Vera Cruz. In this affair, however, he
lost all which he possessed. Hereupon
he conceived an inveterate hatred against
the Spaniards, and projected new expe-
ditions against them. He had no sooner
made his plans known in England, than
a multitude of adventurers joined him.
He now made two cruises to the West
Indies, but avoided an engagement with
the Spaniards. The result of these voy-
ages, however, was so successful, that he
received the command of two vessels, in
1572, for the purpose of attacking the
commercial ports of Spanish America.
One of them was commanded by his

DRAKE-DRAMA.
brother. He captured the cities of Nom-
bre de Dios and Vera Cruz, lying on the
eastern coast of the isthmus of Darien,
and took a rich booty. After his return,
he equipped three frigates at his own ex-
pense, with which he served as a volun-
teer, in an expedition to Ireland, under
the command of the earl of Essex, father
of queen Elizabeth's favorite. On the
death of his protector, he returned to
England. Sir Christopher Hatton, vice-
chamberlain and privy-counsellor of queen
Elizabeth, introduced him to this princess.
Drake disclosed to her his plan, which
was to pass through the straits of Magel-
lan to the South seas, and there to attack
the Spaniards. The queen furnished him
with means for equipping a fleet of five
ships for this purpose. Drake sailed from
Plymouth Nov. 13, 1577, and arrived at
the straits of Magellan Aug. 20, 1578.
Nov. 6, he succeeded in leaving the straits,
but was overtaken by a storm the day
after, which compelled him to steer to
the south. Returning to the extremity
of the straits, he called the bay in which
he anchored The Parting of Friends, on
account of the separation of one of his
ships. New storms again drove him to
the south. He now found himself be-
tween the islands which geographers, in
later charts, have laid down as 200 leagues
west of America. But Fleurieu has prov-
ed that they belong to those numerous isl-
ands, as yet but little known, which com-
pose the south-western part of the Archi-
pelago of the Terra del Fuego: he has
shown, likewise, that Drake then saw
cape Horn, and has, therefore, the honor
of the discovery. November 20, Drake
came in sight of the island of Mocha,
south of Chile, where he had appointed a
rendezvous for his fleet. As none of his
vessels arrived, he continued his course
to the north, along the coast of Chile and
Peru, in search of Spanish ships, and
suitable places for making incursions into
the country. When his crew was suffi-
ciently enriched with booty, he followed
the coast of North America, to 48° north
latitude, hoping to find a passage into the
Atlantic. Deceived in his expectations,
and compelled by the cold to return to
38°, he named the place where he re-
paired his vessels New Albion, and took
possession of it in the name of queen
Elizabeth. Sept. 29, 1579, he directed
his course to the Moluccas, and anchored
at Ternate, Nov. 4. He narrowly escaped
being lost near the Celebes. Nov. 3, 1580,
he arrived at Plymouth; April 4, 1581,
Elizabeth herself went on board Drake's
295
vessel, then at anchor at Deptford, dined
with him, knighted him, and approved of
what he had done. In 1585, Drake dis-
turbed the Spaniards anew in the Cape
Verd islands, and in the West Indies. In
1587, he commanded a fleet of 30 sail,
which burned a part of the celebrated
armada in the harbor of Cadiz, and, in
1588, commanded, as vice-admiral, under
lord Howard, high-admiral of England, in
the conflict with the Spanish armada. A
rich galleon surrendered to him at the
mere sound of his name, and he distin-
guished himself in the pursuit of the en-
emy. In 1589, he commanded the fleet f
intended to restore don Antonio to the
throne of Portugal. But this enterprise
failed on account of a misunderstanding
between Drake and the general of the
land forces. The war with Spain still
continued. Drake and Hawkins proposed
to Elizabeth a new expedition against the
Spaniards in the West Indies, which
should surpass all that had preceded it.
They were willing to bear a part of the
expense, and the queen furnished ships.
The expedition, however, was unfortu-
nate. Nov. 12, 1595, the day of sir John
Hawkins's death, Drake's vessel, in sailing
from the port of Porto Rico, was struck
by a cannon-ball, which carried away the
chair in which he sat, without doing him
any injury. The next day, the Spanish
vessels were attacked before Porto Rico
with great violence, but without success.
He then sailed to the continent, and set
fire to Rio de la Hacha and Nombre de
Dios; but, having undertake an expedi-
tion against Panama, some days after,
which entirely failed, the disappointment
threw him into a slow fever, which ter-
minated his life, Dec. 30, 1596, O. S. (Jan.
9, 1597). Among the honorable uses of
his wealth must be mentioned his pro-
viding Plymouth with water, which he
brought from the distance of 20 miles.
To him Europe is indebted for the intro-
duction of the potato. (See The famous
Voyage of Sir Francis Drake into the South
Sea, and hence about the whole Globe of the
Earth, London 1600, 12mo., edited by
Francis Pretty, who served under Drake.)
δράω, Ι
DRAMA (the Greek Spapa, from Spaw,
act); a class of writings in which the
author does not appear as such, either
reasoning or relating, but persons are
represented as acting and speaking, and
the course of the story and the feelings
of the parties are to be gathered from
what they say. In epic poetry, the per-
sons of the poem are also often introduced
speaking, but description is the prevailing

296
DRAMA.
characteristic of the epopee, whilst, in the
drama, every thing is represented as actu-
ally happening. The drama, therefore,
represents action and its motives directly,
not in the way of description. Taking
the word in its most general sense, we
also call an epic poem or a novel dra-
matic, when a quick succession of inter-
esting events is rapidly developed; when,
in a word, action prevails over descrip-
tion or reasoning. The French, however,
designate by drame only something inter-
mediate between tragedy and comedy.
The origin of the drama must be sought
for in that powerful agent in human nature
-the love of imitation. The rude war-
dance of a savage tribe is a beginning
of the drama, because it represents an ac-
tion for the entertainment of the spectators
or performers, and the dance is found
among all early religious rites. (See
Dance.) So dramatic performances, that
is to say, imitative representations of im-
portant events, in religious history, are
found among the rites or religious ser-
vices of all nations in their early period.
With many they are always preserved; as
the Catholics, both Greek and Roman, to
this day, at the celebration of their various
festivals, bring forward exhibitions, which
represent, with more or less accuracy, the
chief particulars of that event which is to
be commemorated. These religious per-
formances are connected with or give rise
to the symbolical performances in the
different rites. Thus the Catholic priest,
by moving from one end of the altar to
the other. while reading mass, indicates
the flight of Joseph and Mary to Egypt.
The elements of the dramatic art, as has
already been said, are found among all na-
tions; and every people, which has made
progress in civilization, has, at the same
time, developed this art. The Chinese
and the Indians have their dramatic per-
formances; but the Europeans are indebt-
ed for the drama, as for so many other
productions of civilization, to the Greeks.
From them it passed to the Romans,
whose acquisitions in civilization were in
part preserved, and in part revived by the
Italians, though the latter never cultivated
this species of poetry, at least the tragic
branch of it, so much as the epic and
lyric. The gifted Machiavelli, inspired
by the productions of the ancients, may
be said to have commenced a new era
of the drama, though the art had been in
some measure cultivated by the Italians
before his time. But the dramatic genius
who has surpassed all ancient and modern
writers, in universality of conception and
knowledge of human nature, appeared
among the English. The drama began
with action; that is to say, with panto-
mimic dances. No art, useful or orna-
mental, is, in its origin, clearly defined.
The dramatic art, in its origin among the
Greeks, was by no means so distinctly
separated from epic and lyric poetry as
we find it at a later period. The Greek
comedy commenced about 580 B. C., with
Susarion, the contemporary of Thespis,
who travelled from place to place, holding
up to ridicule, on a small movable stage,
the follies and vices of his age. The old
comedy of the Greeks consisted of dra-
matic-epic songs connected with dancing
by which travelling actors entertained the
people; hence the name comedy (kwpedia),
signifying, originally, village-song. The
contents of these songs were mirthful,
ludicrous, often indecent. By degrees,
tragedy became a distinct branch of the
art, and its graver scenes served as an en-
tertainment for the inhabitants of the cities,
whilst the comedy retained its gay charac-
ter, and chiefly served to amuse the coun-
try people of Attica. Regular companies
of comedians were at length established
at Athens, where they were only tolerated
by the government. A chief, a dancing
and singing chorus, together with several
actors, appeared on a convenient stage.
Epicharmus, about 485 B. C., introduced
unity of action, and modeled his come-
dies after the tragedies. His comedies
were popular in Greece, and among his
followers are distinguished Phormes, Mag-
nes, Crates, Cratinus, Eupolis, Pherecra-
tes and Aristophanes. With all these,
personal satire was the chief object, and
magistrates, as well as private persons,were
called by name and exhibited on the stage.
The old comedy of the Greeks was thor-
oughly national, with somewhat of a polit-
ical tendency. It was in vain prohibited
by laws and decrees of the people. At
the end of the Peloponnesian war, comedy
received a new character and form. The
middle comedy, so called, now began. The
new oligarchy deprived the people of the
privilege of ridiculing the measures of
government. It was strictly prohibited
to bring living persons by name on the
stage, and the chorus, till then the chief
instrument of vituperation, was abolished;
whilst, with the representations of gen-
eral characters, corresponding masks were
introduced, instead of those imitating the
countenances of particular individuals.
Even Aristophanes was obliged to submit
to these regulations in his last produc-
tions, and thus comparative decorum was
DRAMA.
introduced into the representations. The
The
subjects of comedy continued to be taken
from mythology and history; but the de-
scriptions of the ridiculous were more
general than formerly, when they were
often entirely individual. The chorus
The chorus
rarely appeared. To the new comedy
of the Greeks belongs Menander, about
300 B. C., who, by the keenness of his
wit, and the regularity of his pieces, began
a new period of the Greek comedy. Of
him and Philemon fragments only have
come down to us. (For a particular ac-
count of the character of the Greek com-
edy, as distinguished from the tragedy,
we refer the reader to the excellent Lec-
tures on Dramatic Literature, by A. W.
Schlegel.) Tragedy consisted, originally,
of lyric and epic songs, sung in honor of
Bacchus, at the festival of the vintage.
The traces of its origin are lost. (See
Greek Literature.) The invention of tra-
gedy is generally ascribed to Thespis
q. v.), who was followed by Phrynichus.
The true creator of the tragedy was Es-
chylus (q. v.); Thespis had only one
actor, who from time to time relieved
the chorus by declamation. Eschylus
changed this representation into real ac-
tion, by making use of two, sometimes
three or four actors, and inventing the
dialogue. Being assisted by the liberality
of the government, he increased the num-
ber of his actors, who now became the
principal object of interest with the spec-
tators: the chorus, on the other hand,
became less prominent; its songs were
shortened, though they still remained very
long, and were always written in a tone
of the highest lyrical elevation, which
sometimes appears even in the dialogue.
Eschylus aimed more at sublimity than
beauty. There are many traces of rude-
ness in his plays, yet they are wonderfully
grand. The action is simple in the ex-
treme. The chorus no longer chants
songs which have no connexion with the
play, but it forms a part of one whole, is
the adviser of kings, the confidant of the
persons of the action, the comforter of the
unhappy, the terror of tyrants. Instead
of wine lees, with which the actors of
Thespis had besmeared their faces, As-
chylus introduced masks; and, by means
of a long gown and the cothurnus (q. v.),
the lofty stature of the heroes was imi-
tated. The accommodations for the spec-
tators were improved, and machinery and
scenery were introduced. Eschylus gen-
erally instructed his actors himself, in the
declamation of his pieces. Sophocles
(q. v.) followed him, and showed himself
297
go
a master of the tragic art: he knew better
than his predecessor how to excite com-
passion, and to move the human heart.
Euripides (q. v.) was superior to both in
this respect, but he is not so happy in the
plan and execution of his plays. These
three great poets carried the Greek
tragedy to its perfection. Many poets
followed them, but only the three just
named have left works which have come
down to us. (See Böckh Ueber die griech-
ischen Tragiker-On the Greek Tragedi-
ans.) The Romans, a practical nation, and
not possessing that keen sense of beauty
which we find in ancient Greece, never
accomplished much in this branch. The
earliest specimens of the drama in Italy
were the Fabula Atellana, so called from
Atella, a city of the Oscians, whence the
performers in these entertainments came
to Rome. Plautus and Terence were
imitators of the new Greek comedy. Of
the Roman tragedy, the dramas which
under the name of Seneca are the only
specimens extant. (See Seneca, and En-
nius.) When the enormous accumulation
of wealth in Rome, and the total depravity
of morals, had corrupted almost every
thing which ancient Rome and Greece
had produced, the theatre became little
better than a show-place, where spectacles
were exhibited, rather than plays per-
formed. In the beginning of the middle
ages, when every thing noble was buried
under the deluge of barbarism, the dra-
matic art was lost, or existed only among
the lowest classes of the people, in plays
improvisated at certain festivals, for in-
stance, the carnival. These were attacked
as heathenish, immoral, and indecent ex-
hibitions; but the favor which they en-
joyed among the people, and the spirit of
the times, induced the clergy to encourage
theatrical exhibitions of subjects from
sacred history. These were called mys-
teries (q. v.), and, in all the southern coun-
tries of Europe, as well as in Germany
and England, preceded the rise of the
national drama. (See Ancient Mysteries,
especially the English Miracle-Plays, by
William Hone, London, 1823.) Of this
kind were the ridiculous Festa Asinaria, in
which mass was read by persons dressed
like asses, and every means taken to divert
the people in churches, on the occurrence
of the festival of Easter.
So popular
were these extravagances, that even the
decrees of popes against them were for a
long time of little avail. With Albertino
Mussati (born 1260) a better kind of drama
arose. He wrote some tragedies, and the
drama, in Italy, was divided into the eru

298
DRAMA.
dita and the commedia dell' arte, which
last is supposed to be derived from the an-
cient Fabula Atellana and the mimi. Car-
dinal Bibbiena wrote the first genuine Ital-
ian comedy-the Calandria-an account
of which would startle the reader, who
should be told that it was performed for
the amusement of the holy fathers of the
church, and the principal clergy, in the
presence of the ladies of the court. Ari-
osto and Machiavelli wrote dramas; and
of the Mandragola of the latter, Voltaire
says, that it is worth all the comedies
of Aristophanes; which shows, at least,
that it is a truly valuable performance.
The comedy was cultivated by many
Italians, including numerous ecclesiastics.
Leo X was a great patron of the theatre.
Alfieri is the most important of the dra-
matic writers of Italy; yet his comedies
are to be considered rather as bitter sa-
tires. His comedies are more tragic
than his tragedies. (See Alfieri, and
Goldoni.) The other European nations
cultivated the dramatic art much later
than the Italians. The
The English and
Spaniards devoted their attention to it
almost at the same time; the former
reaching their acme in Shakspeare, the
latter in Lope de Vega. The history of
the English theatre and the drama is nat-
urally divided into two parts, the first of
which begins with Elizabeth, and ends
with the reign of Charles I. The Puri-
tans then prohibited all kinds of plays,
and the theatres were shut up for 13
years. With Charles II the drama reäp-
peared, and exhibited a licentiousness
hardly equalled by that of any other
Christian nation. No species of literature
was more admired and more debased than
this. From the close of the 17th to that
of the 18th century, British comedy was
cultivated with much success by Cibber,
Farquhar, Congreve, Sheridan and others.
In tragedy, during the same period, the
British have little to boast of, and at pres-
ent the theatre of Britain is at a very low
ebb. The French drama was in a mis-
erable state before Corneille. "It was,"
says Schlegel, "in its childhood, and that
not a healthy and promising childhood,
but a crippled one." Corneille, Racine,
Voltaire, Molière, Scarron, Boursault,
&c., are some of the most distinguished
dramatists. The theory of the unities,
to which the French have so tenaciously
adhered, is so opposed to what the Eng-
lish and Germans call true, elevated
poetry, that the latter have been little
satisfied with the French tragic muse,
whom they consider cold, stiff and un-
poetical; but French comedy is univer
sally admired. So much has been said
about the difference between tragedy and
comedy-a difference greater than exists
between any other species of poetry that
fall under the same general class-and the
explanations of what constitutes this dif
ference are often so unsatisfactory, that
we may be excused for introducing, at
some length, the remarks of Schlegel on
this subject, in his work above mentioned:
"Tragedy and comedy bear the same
relation to one another as earnestness and
mirth. Both these states of mind bear
the stamp of our common nature; but
earnestness belongs more to the moral,
and mirth to the sensual side. The crea
tures destitute of reason are incapable of
either. Earnestness, in the most exten-
sive signification, is the direction of our
mental powers to some aim. But as soon
as we begin to call ourselves to account
for our actions, reason compels us to fix
this aim higher and higher, till we come
at last to the highest end of our existence,
and here the desire for what is infinite,
which dwells in our being, is thwarted
by the limits of the finite, by which we
are fettered. All that we do, all that we
effect, is vain and perishable; Death stands
every where in the back ground, and
every good or ill spent moment brings us
in closer contact with him. And even if
a man has been so singularly successful
as to reach the utmost term of life without
misfortune, he must still submit to leave
all that is dear to him on earth. There is
no bond of love without separation, no
enjoyment without grief for its loss.
When we contemplate, however, all the
relations of our existence; when we re-
flect on its dependence on an endless
chain of causes and effects; when we
consider that we are exposed in our
weakness to struggle with the immeas-
urable powers of nature, and with con-
flicting desires on the shores of an un-
known world; that we are subject to all
manner of errors and deceptions, every
one of which is capable of undoing us;
that, in our passions, we carry our own
enemy in our bosoms; that every mo-
ment demands from us the sacrifice of
our dearest inclinations, in the name of
the most sacred duties, and that we may,
at one blow, be robbed of all that we
have acquired by toils and difficulties;
that, with every extension of possession,
the danger of loss is proportionally in-
creased, and we are the more exposed to
the snares of hostile attack, then every
feeling mind must be filled by melancholy,




DRAMA.
against which there is no other protection
than the consciousness of a destiny above
this earthly life. This is the tragic tone;
and when the mind dwells on the consid-
eration of the possible, as an existing real-
ity; when that tone is inspired by the
most striking examples of violent revolu-
tions in hunian destiny, either from dejec-
tion of soul, or after powerful but inef-
fectual struggles, then tragic poetry has
its origin. We thus see that tragic poetry
has its foundation in our nature, and, to a
certain extent, we have answered the
question, why we are fond of mournful
representations, and even find something
consoling and elevating in them? As
earnestness, in the highest degree, is the
essence of the tragic tone, the essence of
the comic is mirth. The disposition to
mirth is a forgetfulness of all gloomy con-
siderations, in the pleasant feeling of pres-
ent happiness. We are then inclined to
view every thing in a sportive light, and
to admit no impressions calculated to
disturb or ruffle us. The imperfections
of men, and the incongruities in their
conduct and relations, are no longer an
object of dislike and compassion, but
serve to entertain the mind. The comic
poet must, therefore, carefully abstain
from whatever is calculated to excite
moral disgust with the conduct of men,
or sympathy with their situation, because
this would bring us back to a tone of
carnest feeling. He must paint their
irregularities as arising out of the pre-
dominance of the sensual part of their
nature, and as constituting a mere ludi-
crous infirmity, which can be attended
with no ruinous consequences. This is
uniformly what takes place in what we
call comedy, in which, however, there is
still a mixture of seriousness, as I shall
show in the sequel. The oldest com-
edy of the Greeks was, however, en-
tirely gay, and, in that respect, formed
the most complete contrast with their
tragedy. Not only the characters and
situations of individuals were worked
up into a picture of the true comic, but
the state, the constitution, the gods, and
nature, were all fantastically painted, in
the most extravagantly ridiculous and
laughable colors."
We shall now ay a few words respect-
ing the so much talked of unities in the
drama. In consequence of a passage in
the Poetics of Aristotle, the French, prin-
cipally through the influence of Boi-
leau, adopted the theory of the three
unities in a drama,-those of action, place
and tine,--and this theory has recom-
299
mended itself so strongly to the national
taste, that a strict observance of the uni-
ties is considered, by the French, one of
the chief merits of a dramatic production.
The reader who wishes to form a correct
idea of the theory of Aristotle, may con-
sult with advantage the work of Schlegel,
above mentioned. The French have
construed it to mean, in substance, as
follows: 1st, that the action of the drama
must be one; the interest or attention
must not be distracted by several plots,
but every thing must be subservient to
the main action; 2dly, all the actions
must take place on the same spot, or very
nearly so, in order that the illusion may
not be disturbed; and, 3dly, every thing
ought to happen on the same day, for the
same reason. These three rules are all
true to a certain degree. The unity of
action is as necessary in a drama as in
any production of the fine arts; the whole
must be essentially one; but the Ger-
mans and English think it absurd to con-
fine unity of action within such narrow
limits as the French do. On the contra-
ry, as, in a picture of Raphael, many groups
exist, all interesting, yet all contributing
to form one great picture, and subservient
to the main object of the work; so they
think it not only allowable, but an excel-
lence, to introduce a number of actions in
a drama, if they are so connected as all
to make but one whole. What a variety
of character and action is to be found in
Romeo and Juliet! and yet how closely
is every thing connected! how directly
every scene draws towards the great tragic
end! The grandeur of a lofty dome is
not diminished by the statues and bas-
reliefs which it may contain. The two
other unities-those of place and time-
may also be too servilely followed. As for
disturbing the illusion, Schiller very truly
says, that every thing on the stage is
different from reality. Who thinks that
the light of the lamps is daylight? Who,
we ask, ever found such a precise square
as the stage in a forest? or who ever saw
people in real life turning their faces all
to one point, as the actors necessarily do,
that their action may be seen.
French consider it a great fault if an actor
turns his back towards the audience. Is
not this inconsistent? Besides, is not the
very theory of unity of time, which requires
all the events in a drama to happen on one
day, entirely at variance with nature? and
which is easier, to consider all the events
represented in a drama, all the develope
ments of the actions, as happening in one
day, or to transport ourselves, in imagina



The
300
DRAMA-DRAWING.
tion, from one place to another, and sup-
pose weeks and months to pass between
the falling and rising of the curtain? Yet
there is no doubt that the performance
may make too great claims on our imagi-
nation. It is impossible to settle precisely
the limits within which the dramatic
writer should confine himself. As long
as he can avoid offending the imagination
by the abruptness of his transitions, he
may be considered as not having over-
stepped the just bounds. The liberties
allowed in the drama, as in all the higher
branches of art, must depend very much
on the genius of the artist. Since the
revolution, particularly since 1814, a new
dramatic school has been formed in France,
which, departing from the ancient strict-
ness of the classic drama, so called, ap-
proaches more and more to the German
and English, or the romantic drama, so
called. Madame de Staël, in her L'Alle-
magne, treats this subject at some length.
We must refer the reader, for further in-
formation on this interesting subject, to
Augustus William Schlegel's work, Ueber
dramatische Kunst und Litteratur, Heidel-
berg, 1809 (On dramatic Art and Litera-
ture; translated into English, by John
Black, London, 1815), which may be con-
sidered at once as a model of the higher
species of criticism, and a specimen of
German erudition and philosophy.
DRAMATURGY; the science which treats
of the rules for composing a drama and
representing it on the stage, as far as the
subject can be brought under general
rules. It comprehends the whole poetry
of the drama, and the theory of dramatic
representation. No work embracing the
subject in its whole extent has yet been
published. The splendid lectures of Schle-
gel on dramatic art and literature approach
nearest to it. The first who published
a work under this name was Lessing.
Tieck's Dramaturgical Essays deserve to
be mentioned here.
DRAPERY. (See Costume.)
DRAUGHT; the depth of a body of wa-
ter necessary to float a ship; hence a ship
is said to draw so many feet of water,
when she is borne up by a column of
water of that particular depth; for in-
stance, if it requires a body of water
whose depth is equal to 12 feet, to float or
buoy un a ship on its surface, she is said
to draw 12 feet water; and, that this
draught may be more readily known, the
feet are marked on the stem and stern-
post from the keel upwards.
DRAUGHTS; a game played on a check-
ered board, like the chess-board, with 24
pieces, which, by angular movements, are
enabled to take each other, according to
certain rules, until one of the parties has
lost all his men, or is placed in a situa-
tion to lose them all, when the game is ar
an end.
DRAWBACK, in commerce; an allowance
made to merchants on the re-exportation
of certain goods, which in some cases
consists of the whole, in others of a part,
of the duties which had been paid upon
the importation. A still more equitable
arrangement than that of drawbacks, is,
to allow the merchant, who imports any
commodity which he may probably wish
to export again, to deposit it in the public
warehouses, giving a bond for the pay-
ment of the duties, should he dispose of
it for home consumption. This is called
bonding, and is allowed to a considerable
extent in England.
DRAWING, considered as a distinct
branch of art, is the elder sister of paint-
ing, and, in the course of time, became
connected with geometry. It is the art
of representing, by means of lines, upon a
flat surface, the forms of objects, and their
positions and relations. The attempt to
imitate, by lines, the forms which we see
in nature, is the commencement of all
drawing. According to a Greek tradition,
drawing and sculpture took their rise to-
gether, when the daughter of Dibutades
drew the outline of the shadow of her
lover upon the wall, which her father cut
out and modelled in clay. We can distin-
guish, in the earliest attempts at drawing,
different epochs, which are found in al-
most all nations:-1. Objects were deline-
ated only with rude, shapeless lines; e. g.,
an oval represented a head. 2. In order
to make such drawings more striking to
the eye, the sketch was filled up with
black, or some other color, and then the
eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth and hair
were marked with white upon the dark
surface. To all these figures the name
was attached, and, in general, explanatory
words, such as we find upon all the old
vases. This custom was continued by
the Greeks, even in the most flourishing
period of the art of drawing among them;
for the figures of the great picture of
Polygnotus, at Delphi, were designated
by such inscriptions. Ithe 3d epoch, an
attempt was made to give animation to
pictures, by representing the different col-
ors of the drapery; but, as yet, there was
no attempt at perspective. In this man-
ner Helen and Andromache embroidered
tapestry, as described in the poems of
Homer. In the 4th period, the want of



DRAWING.
prominence in the figures was remarked.
Ardices and Telephanes (probably ficti-
tious names) began, by drawing lines in
the back ground, to produce the appear-
ance of shadow, and to give prominence
to their figures. In later times, Polido-
ro di Caravaggio delineated in this way
many frescoes in Rome, where he used
only a single color, but produced the
shading by lines drawn thus, in the man-
ner called hatching. These works are
called al sgrafito or peintures hachées. This
manner of drawing, however, was very
hard. Philocles and Cleanthes invented
the monochrome, or picture with one color.
In the monochrome, the color used was
mixed with white, so that this resembled
the manner that is now called en camayeu.
This was the first step from drawing to
proper painting, which is distinguished by
having the back ground of the picture
filled. The Greeks were very careful and
particular in their instruction in drawing.
Pamphilus, the teacher of Apelles, wish-
ed his pupils to remain with him 10 years.
There were three stages of instruction:
in the first, firmness of hand and of stroke
was obtained, and the learners drew with
styles upon tablets covered with wax; in
the second, fineness and delicacy of stroke
was studied, while the learner labored
with the style upon smooth tablets, made
of boxwood, and sometimes upon mem-
branes, or upon the skins of wild beasts,
properly prepared, and covered with wax.
In the third stage, freedom and ease were
to be acquired; here the pencil was used
instead of the style, and with it black or
red sketches were drawn upon white tab-
lets, or white sketches upon black tablets.
The tablets used were covered either with
chalk or gypsum. Line-drawing was
Line-drawing was
carried to the highest perfection, and was
the glory of the greatest masters. The
rivalship of Apelles and Protogenes in
such lines, drawn with distinguished deli-
cacy and skill, and displaying a master's
hand, is well known. This fineness and
clearness of outline is also the chief merit
of the celebrated vase painters. Some-
thing hard and dry was found in the pic-
tures executed on such outlines, and it
may well be maintained that this manner
of drawing, through the influence of the
Byzantine school on the west of Europe,
gave rise to the dry and meager style of
the old Italian as well as of the old Dutch
school.
When we consider the art of drawing
as it exists at the present time, we per-
ceive that the kinds of drawing are three
with the pen, with crayons, and with Indian
VOL. IV.
26
301

ink, or similar substances. Artists some-
times employ colored and sometimes white
paper; in the former case, the lights are pro-
duced by white crayons; but in the latter
case, they are produced by leaving the paper
uncovered. The drawings with the pen
have always something hard and disagree-
able, yet they give steadiness and ease to
the hand, and are peculiarly serviceable to
landscape painters. There are two differ-
ent ways of drawing with the
pen; either
the drawing is darkened on the shaded
side with lines, or the outline only is given
by the pen, and the shades are delicately
touched in with India ink. This mode is
peculiarly adapted to architectural draw-
ings. The crayon drawings are the most
common, and the most suitable for begin-
ners, because any faults can be effaced or
covered over. Artists make use of black,
as well as of red crayons; and, when the
ground is colored, they produce the light
by means of white crayons. If the crayon
is scraped, and the powder rubbed in with
little rolls of paper or leather, the drawing
becomes exceedingly delicate and agreea-
ble, though its outline is deficient in strict
precision. This manner, which, from the
French name of the rolls used, is also
called à l'estompe, is peculiarly suitable
for large masses, and shades, and chiaro-
scuro, and for producing a harmonious
effect of light.
effect of light. There are also crayon
drawings, where the principal colors of
the objects painted are delicately sketched
with colored pencils. These are pecu-
liarly suitable for portraits. To this kind
of drawings belong likewise those made
with lead and silver pencils, upon paper
and parchment, which are suitable for
the delicate delineation of small objects.
In some cases, drawings of this descrip-
tion are softly touched with dry colors.
There is another style of drawing, in
which India ink, or sepia and bistre inter-
mingled with carmine and indigo, are
used. The lights are produced by leaving
the white surface uncovered. This mode
produces the finest effect, and is very
much used in the representation of all
kinds of subjects. There are various
classes of drawings, as sketches, studies,
academy figures, cartoons, &c. Sketches
are the first ideas of the subject of a pic-
ture, thrown off hastily, to serve as the
basis of a future drawing. They are
made with charcoal, with the pen or the
pencil. To the rapidity of their execu-
tion may be ascribed the animation per-
ceptible in the sketches of great masters,
of which there are rich collections. Stud
ies are copies of single parts of subjects.



802
DRAWING.
made cither after life or from models; as
heads, hands, feet, sometimes also whole
figures. Drawings from skeletons and
anatomical preparations, those of drapery,
animals, plants, flowers, scenery, &c., are
also called by this name. Academy fig-
ures are drawn from living models, who
stand in academies of fine arts and other
establishments, intended for the education
of artists. The models, male and female,
of all ages, are placed in different situa-
tions and attitudes, on an elevated spot,
by lamp light. The pupils stand round
and draw, under the direction of profess-
ors. Experienced painters and sculptors
likewise continue to draw from living
models, either in private or in company.
The most perfect figures, of course, are
selected. In order to study drapery, a lit-
tle figure of wood, with movable limbs, is
placed so that the student can draw from
it. The drapery is often put on wet, that
it may follow more closely the form of
the body, and that the folds may be more
marked and expressive. Cartoons (q. v.)
are drawings on gray paper, of the same
size as the paintings which are to be copied
from them. These are, for instance, large
oil paintings, fresco pictures, &c. Artists
make use, also, of other means, in order to
transfer the outlines of a painting upon
another canvass, if they wish to copy very
faithfully. If the copy is to be on a
larger or a smaller scale than the original,
it is customary to place on each canvass
frames of wood, the space enclosed by
which is divided, by means of threads,
into quadrangular compartments. The
compartments on the original are larger
or smaller than the others, as the case
may be. The artist then draws in each
square of his canvass what he finds in the
corresponding square in the original. If
the copy is intended to be precisely of the
same size with the original, the outlines
are often traced through a black gauze,
from which they are afterwards transfer-
red by pressure to the canvass of the copy.
This, it is true, does not give any distinct
forms, but it indicates precisely the spot
where every object is to be placed, which
saves much time. If the intention is to
copy the outlines of the original exactly, it
is necessary to make a calque, that is, a
paper saturated with varnish, and quite
transparent, which is put on the painting;
the outlines are drawn; then the paper is
blackened with crayons on one side, put
on the new canvass, and the outlines are
followed by some pointed instrument, and
thus transferred to the canvass. It is evi-
dent that it is never allowable to take a
copy in this way from very valuable pic-
tures. The sketches of great masters are
always valued very highly, because they
show most distinctly the fire and boldnes
of their first conceptions. But for this
very reason, because their excellence de-
pends on the freedom with which they
are thrown off, it is far more difficult to
make copies from them than from finished
paintings. The great schools in painting
differ quite as much in respect to drawing
as in respect to coloring. The style of
drawing of the old Italian school is as
hard, dry and meager as that of the old
German school. The defects of the for-
mer are more often redeemed by beautiful
forms and just proportions, whilst in the
latter a meaning is frequently expressed
which inclines more to poetry than to art.
At a later period, the Roman school be-
came, in Italy, through the influence of
Raphael's exquisite sense of the beautiful
and expressive in form, and through the
study of the antique, the true model of
beautiful drawing. The Florentine school
strove to excel the Roman in this
respect,
and lost, by exaggeration, the superiority
which it might, perhaps, otherwise have
gained from its anatomical correctness and
deep study of the art. The masters of the
Florentine school often foreshorten too
boldly. In the Lombard school, delicate
drawing appears through enchanting col-
oring; but perhaps it is more true to nature
and feeling than to scientific rules. The
Venetian school, in reference to the other
schools of Italy, has many points of resem-
blance, good and bad, with the Dutch
school, in reference to Germany. In the
Venetian school, the drawing is often lost
in the glow and power of the coloring;
and it is very often not the nobleness of
the figures and ideas in the drawing, but
the richness, boldness and glowing nature
of the painting, which delight us. The
French school was, in Poussin's time,
very correct in drawing; and he was
justly called the French Raphael. At a
later period, the style of this school be-
came maniéré.
David introduced again
a purer taste in drawing, and a deep study
of the antique. This study of the antique,
together with the precision of their draw-
ing, are the distinguishing characteristics
of the modern French school. In Ger-
many, there cannot be said to be any gen-
eral style of drawing peculiar to her artists.
The many distinguished artists of that
country have formed themselves individu-
ally, by the study of nature and works of
art; and whilst some of the most cele-
brated painters are distinguished for cor

DRAWING-DREBBEL.
rect drawing, others are reproached for
the want of it, in some of their finest pic-
On the whole, their drawing is not
so correct as that of the French. Many
young German artists unfortunately con-
sider the naïveté of the ancient masters of
their country as beauty, and strive to imi-
tate it.
DRAWING SLATE, sometimes called
black chalk, is a fine-grained, soft stone,
pretty nearly allied to clay slate or argillite,
a rock along with which it always occurs.
It adheres slightly to the tongue, and feels
fine and rather meager. It soils more or
less, and writes; hence its use as a mark-
ing or drawing material. The best kind
comes from Italy, Spain and France.
DRAYTON, William Henry, a states-
man of the American revolution, and an
able political writer, was born in South
Carolina, in September, 1742. In 1753,
he went to England, and was placed in
Westminster school; thence he removed,
in 1761, to Oxford, where he continued
nearly three years, when he returned to
South Carolina. In 1771, he was ap-
pointed, by the British government, privy
counsellor for the province, and became
conspicuous by his defence of the rights
of his country against the encroachments
and irregularities of the crown officers
and judges. In 1774, he accepted the
office of an assistant judge of the prov-
ince. When the continental congress
was about to sit at Philadelphia, he wrote
and published a pamphlet under the sig-
nature of Freeman, a production, of
which Ramsay, in his History of South
Carolina, observes, that "it substantially
chalked out the line of conduct adopted
by the congress." The lieutenant-gov-
ernor suspended him from his place in
the king's council, in consequence of his
representation of American grievances,
and the "bill of American rights," which
he submitted to the congress in his
pamphlet. As soon as the revolution be-
gan, he became an efficient leader, and,
in 1775, was chosen president of the pro-
vincial congress. In March of the next
year, he was elected chief justice of the
colony, in which character he delivered
to the grand jury political charges of the
most energetic character. He published,
besides, a pamphlet, refuting the sugges-
tions in favor of lord Howe's plan of a
reconciliation with the mother country.
Independence-unqualified independence
was his constant advice. In the year
1777, Mr. Drayton was invested with full
powers, as president of South Carolina,
and, early in the following year, was elect-
303

ed a delegate to the continental congress.
In this body he took a prominent part. His
speeches and writings against the propo
sitions of the three British commissioners
were particularly celebrated. The congress
employed him on various important mis-
sions. The censure which he pronoun-
ced upon major-general Charles Lee's
conduct at the battle of Monmouth, caused
that officer to challenge him. The rea-
sons which he assigned for declining the
duel are such as became a true patriot
and honorable man.-Mr. Drayton con-
tinued in congress until September, 1779,
when he died suddenly at Philadelphia,
in the thirty-sixth year of his age. His
political resolution and sagacity, his lite-
rary attainments, his domestic virtues,
and his polished manners, rendered him
valuable to his country, and dear to all his
associates. He left behind a considerable
body of historical materials, which his
only son, John Drayton, revised and di-
gested, and published at Charleston, in
1821, in two octavo volumes, under the
title of Memoirs of the American Revolu-
tion, from its Commencement to the Year
1776, inclusive, as relating to the State of
South Carolina, and occasionally referring
to the States of North Carolina and Geor-
gia. The work is much esteemed.
DREBBEL, Cornelius; a natural philoso-
pher and philosophical instrument maker,
born at Alkmaer, in North Holland, in
1572, possessed a great spirit of observa-
tion, and a sufficient fortune to enable him
to perform his mechanical and optical
experiments. He soon became so famous,
that the emperor of Germany, Ferdinand
II, intrusted to him the instruction of his
sons, and appointed him imperial coun-
sellor. In the troubles of 1620, he was
made prisoner by the troops of Frederic
V, elector palatine, and plundered of his
property. He was liberated by the inter-
ference of James I of England, the father-
in-law of Frederic, who delighted in the
conversation of learned men, and to whose
court he repaired. From this time, he
lived in London, constantly occupied in
scientific pursuits, and died there in 1634.
The accounts which his contemporaries
give of his experiments are not to be
trusted, on account of the ignorance and
credulity of the time. It is certain that,
in mechanics and optics, he possessed
great knowledge for the age. He invent-
ed several mathematical instruments, and
the thermometer (about 1630), which Hal-
ley, Fahrenheit and Réaumur afterward
brought to perfection. The invention of
telescopes, which has been also attributed
Dres
304
DREBBEL-DRESDEN.

to him, probably belongs to Zachariah
Janson (1590). His Tractatus de Natura
Elementorum et Quinta Essentia, published
by Joh. Ernst Burggrav, Leyden, 1608,
passed through several editions. His
Epistola de Machina Astronomica perpetuo
mobili, was published at Leyden, 1620, by
Joach. Morsius. A letter in German to
the emperor Rodolph II, in which he
describes an instrument of his called Ma-
china musica perpetuo mobilis, is contained
in Harsdörffer's Delicia physico-mathemat
ica, 2d vol.
DRESDEN, one of the finest places of
Germany, the residence of the kings of
Saxony, is situated in the circle of Meis-
sen, on the Elbe, which separates Dresden
Proper from the Neustadt (New Town).
Dresden has more than 55,000 inhabitants.
It consists of the Royal Residence or Dres-
den Proper, and the Neustadt (so called
since 1732, and handsomely built since
the time of Augustus II, formerly Old
Dresden), and of Friederichstadt (formerly
Ostra, laid out since 1670). Among the
objects worthy of notice are, the stone
bridge across the Elbe, 552 feet long, con-
sisting of 16 arches, with a raised foot-
path of flag stones, round stone seats and an
iron railing; the equestrian statue of Au-
gustus II, erected in 1736, in the Neustadt,
made of gilt bronze; the Catholic church
for the court, and several pictures; among
others, the Ascension of Christ, by Mengs;
the famous gallery of pictures; the royal
library, and the cabinet of antiques, to-
gether with a collection of porcelain, and
the first attempts of Böttcher; the gallery
of the casts of Mengs (besides the an-
tiques); the cabinet of natural history; the
arsenal, and the cabinet of works of art;
the great garden; the garden of Brühl,
with a small collection of pictures. In
the vicinity of Dresden, the Plauensche
Grund (valley of Plauen) and the vale of
Seifersdorf are well known to the lovers
of nature. Besides these, may be men-
tioned the royal summer residence, Pilnitz;
the fortress of Königstein; the Sonnen-
stein (at present an insane hospital); the
Saxon Switzerland (q. v.); and the heights
of Kesselsdorf, rendered famous by a bat-
tle in the seven years' war. The city suf-
fered much in this war. In 1760, it was
bombarded by Frederic the Great nine days,
and has been frequently exposed to the
devastations of war. The importance of
its situation occasioned the building of a
fort, probably as early as the 9th century.
The Austrians occupied the city in 1809
without injuring it. In the following
years, they commenced pulling down the
fortifications, but desisted from it on the
breaking out of the Russian war. Mar-
shal Davoust caused a pier and two arches
of the bridge to be blown up (March 19,
1813), which the Russian government
rebuilt in 1814. The campaign of 1813
was most ruinous for the city and its
environs. After nine years of war and suf-
fering, on the 7th of June, 1815, peace
and industry returned to the German Flo-
rence, as Herder calls Dresden. Since.
parks have taken the place of the former
that time, dwelling-houses, gardens and
that time,
fortifications. The city is also distin-
guished for its excellent literary institu-
tions, among which are the surgical and
medical academy, and a veterinary school,
which is connected with it; the military
academy; the academy for noblemen,
established since 1725; the academy of fine
arts, with a school for architecture. The
last academy, enlarged since 1763, has a
branch in Leipsic, and an exhibition year-
ly (3d of August).-We may here say a
few words on the collections of art. The
gallery of pictures, one of the finest in the
world, was begun very early, but first be-
came of much importance under Augus-
tus II, king of Poland and elector of Sax-
ony. It owes its most valuable treasures,
however, to Augustus III, a prodigal
monarch, who exhausted his country by
his extravagances. He purchased the
gallery of pictures of Modena for $912,000,
and many single pictures; among them
Raphael's masterpiece, the Madonna di
Sisto. The gallery is rich in pictures of
the different schools, with the exception
of the old German. From the Dutch
school there are, among others, 30 Ru-
bens, 18 Van Dykes, many Rembrandts,
Ostades, Gerard Dows, Tenniers, Wou-
vermanns, &c. Of the old German school,
Holbein's Madonna, a sublime work, is
particularly distinguished. Of the French
school, there are many Claude Lorraines,
Poussins, Le Bruns and others.
the Italian school, the gallery is rich in
pictures of Correggio, including his fa-
mous Night; of Raphael, the Madonna
di Sisto, the Madonna della Seggiola and
others. There are also works of Leonar
do da Vinci, Giulio Romano, Andrea del
Sarto Battoni, Titian (his famous Venus),
Garofalo, Paul Veronese, Guido Reni, Car-
racci, Carlo Dolce, and every distinguished
Italian painter. There are 150 pieces in
pastel. This collection is liberally open
every day to all visitors. Six pieces of
tapestry, from designs by Raphael, a pres-
ent from pope Leo X, which were lost,
have lately been found again. The gal-
Of
DRESDEN IN 1813.
lery of pictures in the garden of Brühl is
likewise valuable. The Augusteum, or
collection of antiques, was commenced as
early as the 16th century. It contains
some excellent statues, among which are
distinguished three female figures from
Herculaneum. The cabinet of engravings
is one of the richest in the world. It con-
tains 200,000 pieces, and the rarest pro-
ductions of the art. The cabinet of casts
contains copies of all the most important
antiques, made under the direction of Ra-
phael Mengs, in Italy. The collection of
porcelain is valued at several millions.
Dresden being thus rich in treasures of art,
and favored by a beautiful natural situa-
tion, is the summer resort of many for-
eigners, especially since the artificial min-
eral waters have been prepared in the
beautiful garden of Struve.-Dresden was
the centre of operations in the contest of
1813, when almost all the powers of Eu-
rope were arrayed against Napoleon. Be-
sides the political importance of Dresden
as a capital, the possession of the Elbe, by
means of the fortresses of Torgau, Witten-
berg and Magdeburg, was another motive
which induced Napoleon to place himself
with his whole army à cheval (that is, on
both sides) of the river; and the whole
neighborhood resembled a great fortified
camp, from which he could pour out his
columns, with equal ease, on Prague,
Breslau, or Berlin. The king of Saxony
had left his capital Feb. 7, 1813. March 7,
a division of French and Saxons, consist-
ing of only 3500 men, pursued on their
retreat from Poland by the Russian light
troops, entered Dresden. The 12th, mar-
shal Davoust, with 12,000 men and 20
cannon, marched from Meissen, where he
had burnt the bridge, to Dresden. The
Cossacks kept up a continual skirmishing
before the Neustadt. The 19th, marshal
Davoust left Dresden with his corps, with
the exception of a garrison of 3000 men,
under general Durutte. The Neustadt
was surrendered the 22d, to a division of
Cossacks. A few days after, several hun-
dred Cossacks swam across the Elbe, and
Durutte left Dresden to the Russians, un-
der Winzingerode, who was followed by
the army of Blücher, which passed the
Elbe April 16th, at Dresden. The second
Russian army, under Miloradowitsch, fol-
lowed, and, after the entry of the emperor
Alexander and the king of Prussia, another
division of 16,000 men. May 2d was
fought the bloody battle of Lützen (q. v.),
after which the two sovereigns returned to
Dresden, and their troops crossed, without
interruption, to the right bank of the Elbe,
305
by Meissen and Dresden. May 8th, the
Russians occupied only the Neustadt, and
the French army, under Napoleon, en-
tered Dresden. On this and the following
day, a violent firing was begun from the
walls and houses. On the morning of the
10th, the allies retreated to Bautzen, close-
ly followed by the French. The coun-
try was devastated, and many villages
burnt down. The king of Saxony re-
turned May 12. The French were ac-
tively employed in fortifying the Neustadt.
After the battles of Bautzen, Wurschen
and Hochkirch (19th, 20th, and 21st of
May), there were more than 20,000 wound-
ed men to be provided for in Dres-
den: the slightly wounded, and many of
the sick, were distributed in the houses of
the citizens. The distress of the city was
increased during the armistice of ten weeks,
during which nearly 30,000 soldiers had
to be provided for. A fortified camp, con-
nected, by two bridges, with the fortress
of Königstein, and capable of containing
60,000 men, was laid out at the foot of the
Lilienstein. On the right bank, the works
round the Neustadt covered the roads to
Berlin, Warsaw and Bautzen; another ex-
tensive line of retrenchments surrounded
the suburbs of the old city, round which
large bodies of troops encamped on both
banks. At this time, Metternich and Bubna
came to Dresden, but the negotiations were
broken off, and the war was renewed the
17th of August. Dresden was the centre
of operations of the French army. Au-
gust 15th, Napoleon passed through Baut-
zen to Silesia; and Vandamme, with 40,000
men from the Lower Elbe, passed to the
right bank of the Elbe, between the 17th
and 19th, and moved, with Poniatowski,
towards Rumburg and Gabel on the fron-
tiers of Bohemia. But the grand army of
the allies, under prince Schwarzenberg,
unexpectedly advanced, in four divisions,
from the passes of the Bohemian moun-
tains, on the left bank of the Elbe. The
Russians, under Wittgenstein, drove mar-
shal St. Cyr, with his 20,000 men, from
the strong positions of Giesshubel and
Pirna.
Pirna. Whilst Blücher occupied Napo-
leon on the frontiers of Silesia, the princi-
pal force of the allies advanced to the
great line of communication of the French
in Saxony; and it was resolved to take
Dresden. The Russians and Prussians,
under Wittgenstein and Kleist, now ad-
vanced from Pirna; but the Austrians
were obliged to take a longer route, upon
the road of Commotau. Couriers were
despatched with the information to Napo-
leon, who immediately returned to Dres



26*
306
DRESDEN IN 1813
den. The 25th, the allies surrounded the
city. On this day, the allied army was
wholly united before Dresden, and, in-
cluding the reserve, consisted of 120,000
men. Napoleon advanced, with the flow-
er of his army, by forced marches, and
entered the city on the 26th, with part of
his guards, after having despatched Van-
damme in the direction of Pirna. Be-
tween noon and evening, more than
60,000 men had marched from the Baut-
zen road, through the city, to the field of
battle. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon,
after the whole body of the guard, and
the cavalry under Latour-Maubourg, had
passed the Elbe, the allies advanced to
the city in six columns. The Prussians
drove the young guard to the walls of
Anton's garden, where the latter were
driven back by the balls of their own
comrades, and obliged to renew the com-
bat. At the same time, the city was bom-
barded. In the evening, the French un-
dertook a general attack. The guards,
supported by 16 cannon, drove the Prus-
sians out of the suburbs, and the allies
perceived the impossibility of taking a
city defended by 100,000 men, and strong-
ly fortified. At night, they withdrew their
forces into their former position upon the
heights. August 27, the French were re-
enforced by the corps of Marmont and
Victor. Napoleon made several ineffect-
ual attacks on the centre of the allies; and
here Moreau (q. v.) was mortally wounded
by a cannon ball, at no great distance from
the emperor Alexander. About noon, the
king of Naples (Murat), with the columns
under Victor, and the French and Saxon
cavalry under Latour-Maubourg, succeed-
ed in surrounding and overpowering the
Austrians. More than 10,000 men, with
general Mesko, were made prisoners.
Meanwhile the commander of the allies,
hearing that Vandamme had passed the
Elbe, near Königstein, on the 25th, and
was advancing towards Pirna, decided on
a retreat, which was accomplished in the
night. The king of Naples pursued only
to Marienburg. The allies lost, in killed,
wounded and prisoners, 30,000 men. The
French, in these two bloody days, had
more than 10,000 men wounded: the
number of killed was considerable, but
cannot be given exactly. There were
now 24 hospitals in the city. After the
27th August, the star of Napoleon de-
clined. The news of Oudinot's defeat
near Grossbeeren (q. v.), of the defeat of
Macdonald on the Katzbach (q. v.), and
of the defeat of Vandamme, near Culm
q. v.), rapidly followed each other. The
marches and countermarches of the
French army now caused great injury in
the vicinity of Dresden. Three new re-
trenchments were thrown up before the
Altstadt, Meissen was to form an outwork
of Dresden, and the French army seemed
to be able to bid defiance to the allies from
this strong position. The allied army ad-
vanced anew from Bohemia. The defeat
of Ney at Dennewitz (q. v.), September 6th,
and the advance of Blücher, on the 10th,
towards Herrnhut, compelled the French
emperor to retire from the frontiers of Bo-
hemia to Dresden, and to turn upon the
right bank of the Elbe. These marches
devastated the country, and turned it into
a desert. The 14th, Napoleon advanced
again towards the frontiers of Bohemia,
and penetrated, on the 15th, to Culm; but
his guards were driven back at Nollendorf,
with considerable loss, by Colloredo, on
the 16th: on the 21st, he returned to
Dresden. The Austrians occupied Frey-
berg on the 17th: detachments from the
army of the crown prince of Sweden
advanced to Leipsic, and Blücher formed
a junction with Bubna. Napoleon drove
back the Prussians to Bautzen, but was,
on the 24th, again in Dresden. He now
entirely abandoned the right bank of the
Elbe, and concentrated his forces on the
left.
The 28th and 29th, the allies at-
tacked the bridge at Meissen without suc-
cess. The forces of Napoleon marched
through Freyburg towards Chemnitz, and
through Rossen towards Leipsic. The
unexpected passage of Blücher over the
Elbe, at Wartenburg (3d of October), de-
cided the march of Napoleon from Dres-
den (October 7). The king of Saxony
followed him. (See Leipsic, Battle of)
About 30,000 men, under St. Cyr and the
count von der Lobau, remained in the vicin-
ity of Dresden. Bubna stormed, on the 8th,
the bridge of Pirna, and the allies attacked
the outworks of the Neustadt. At the
same time, 16,000 Russians under Tolstoi,
Iwanoff and Markoff, approached Dresden,
to cover the march of Benningsen towards
Leipsic. On the 17th, St. Cyr drove Tol-
stoi back to Dohna, with a loss of six can-
nons and some hundred men on the side
of the Russians; but, on the 20th, the Rus-
sians obliged the marshal to retreat to-
wards Dresden, which was now entirely
surrounded, as the Austrian generals
Chasteler and Klenau had joined Tolstoi
on the 20th. The city, which was cut
off from all supplies, suffered more and
more from want of provisions. St. Cyr.
however, prepared for the most obstinate
resistance: he barricaded the suburbs,






DRESDEN IN 1813-DROITS REUNIS.
converted a number of dwelling-houses
into block-houses, and destroyed most of
the gardens round the city. November 6,
10,000 infantry and 1000 cavalry, under the
count von der Lobau, with 200 wagons,
marched out from the Neustadt, on their
way towards Torgau; but they were driven
back, near Reichenberg, by the prince of
Wied-Runkel, and returned to the city in
the evening. Famine and disease raged
among the soldiers and inhabitants. More
than 200 corpses were daily carried from
the hospitals, and from 200 to 300 deaths
occurred every week in the city. No-
vember 11, articles of capitulation were
agreed to by Klenau, but not ratified by
prince Schwarzenberg. The garrison
were made prisoners of war. 6000 sick
remained in the hospitals. Dresden re-
ceived a strong Russian garrison, and be-
came the seat of the Russian administra-
tion, under the prince Repnin. The ex-
cellence of Napoleon's tactics was never,
perhaps, displayed to greater advantage
than in the battle of Dresden, a master-
piece of military skill.
DRESS. (See Clothing.)
307
and so faithful was his memory, that
the members of his family never heard
him tell the same story twice, but to dif-
ferent persons and in different companies
His eye-sight failed him many years be-
fore his death, but his hearing was per-
fect. His appetite was good till within a
few days before his death; but he had
lost all his teeth thirty years previous to
that event, in consequence, it was said, of
drawing excessively hot smoke of tobacco
into his mouth. He had been the subject
of seven successive sovereigns, and saw
Penn conclude his treaty with the In-
dians.
DROIT D'AUBAINE. (See Aubaine, Droit
d'.) A work has lately been published un-
der the title of Droit d'Aubaine de la Grande-
Bretagne, par C. H. Okey, Avocat Anglais,
which explains, in a concise form, the
rights of foreigners in England.
DROITS RÉUNIS (French); united im-
posts; the name given, in France, to an
indirect tax imposed on wine, cider, beer,
spirits, salt, tobacco, playing-cards, stage-
coaches, &c. The name originated from
the circumstance, that these and similar
DRINKER, Edward, a man remarkable taxes were united into one administration
for longevity, was born Dec. 24, 1680, in générale des droits réunis (general admin-
a small cabin, near the present corner of istration of the united imposts). It affords
Walnut and Second streets, in the city of annually from 120 to 150 millions of
Philadelphia, and died Nov. 17, 1782, in francs, and, of course, forms a very im-
the 103d year of his age. The banks portant branch of the French administra-
of the Delaware, on which the city of tion, with which, however, the inconven-
Philadelphia now stands, were inhab- iences are connected, which always attend
ited, at the time of his birth, by In- indirect taxes, if they are high, and it be-
dians, and a few Swedes and Hollanders. comes an object to evade them; because
He often talked to his companions of pick- not only many officers are required to
ing whortleberries and catching rabbits watch the persons from whom the taxes
on spots now the most improved and pop- are to be obtained; but a strict observation
ulous in the city. He recollected the must also be kept over the officers them-
second time William Penn came to Penn- selves, that they may not connive at frauds
sylvania, and used to point out the place upon government. In 1812 and 1813, all
where he had been told the cabin stood, the laws respecting the droits réunis were
in which Penn and his friends that ac- collected by order of the director-gen-
companied him were accommodated upon eral, since their number had increased
their first arrival. At twelve years of age, so much, that neither the officers nor the
he went to Boston, where he served his people could know them all. The gen-
apprenticeship to a cabinet-maker. In eral direction of the whole is, in Paris,
the year 1745, he returned to Philadel- under a counsellor of state: he and five
phia with his family, where he lived until administrators form the general council,
the time of his death. He was four times which decides all doubtful cases.
married, and had eighteen children, all each department is a director, under
of whom were by his first wife. Not whom are the inspectors and other infe-
long before his death, he heard of the rior officers. The director sends every
birth of a grand-child to one of his grand- fortnight the amount which he has col-
children, the fifth in succession to himself. lected to Paris. The directors make a
-He retained his mental faculties till the journey every three months through their
last year of his life. Even his memory district, close their accounts, and make
was but little impaired. He not only re- three copies of a statement of their reports
membered the incidents of his childhood and expenditures, of which one copy re..
and youth, but the events of latter years; mains in the hands of the inspector, one
In

308
EM DROITS REUNIS-DROPSY.Я0
goes to Paris, and one to the director of
the department. This system tends to
prevent the enormous abuses which pre-
vailed in the whole tax department before
the revolution.
DROME; a river of France, in the east-
ern part of the kingdom. It rises near
Valdrome, and falls into the Rhone about
eleven miles south of Valence. The river
gives its name to a department. (See De-
partment.) to vis
DROMEDARY. (See Camel.)
DROPSY; a preternatural collection of
serous or watery fluid in the cellular
substance, or different cavities of the
body. It receives different appellations,
according to the particular situation of
the fluid.-When it is diffused through
the cellular membrane, either generally
or partially, it is called anasarca; when
it is deposited in the cavity of the cra-
nium, it is called hydrocephalus; when
in the chest, hydrothorax, or hydrops pecto-
ris; when in the abdomen, ascites; in
the uterus, hydrometra; and within the
scrotum, hydrocele.-The causes of these
diseases are a family disposition thereto,
frequent salivations, excessive and long-
continued evacuations, a free use of spir-
ituous liquors (which never fail to de-
stroy the digestive powers,) scirrhosities
of the liver, spleen, pancreas, mesentery,
and other abdominal viscera; preceding
diseases, as the jaundice, diarrhoea, dysen-
tery, phthisis, asthma, gout, intermittents
of long duration, scarlet fever, and some
of the exanthemata; a suppression of ac-
customed evacuations, the sudden striking
in of eruptive humors, ossification of the
valves of the heart, polypi in the right
ventricle, aneurism in the arteries, tumors
making a considerable pressure on the
neighboring parts, permanent obstruction
in the lungs, rupture of the thoracic duct,
exposure for a length of time to a moist
atmosphere, laxity of the exhalants, defect
in the absorbents, topical weakness, and
general debility. The first of these spe-
cies which we shall describe is ascites
(from arròs, a sack or bottle; so called
from its bottle-like protuberancy), or dropsy
of the belly, a tense, but scarcely elastic,
swelling of the abdomen from accumu-
lation of water. Ascites is often pre-
ceded by loss of appetite, sluggishness,
dryness of the skin, oppression at the
chest, cough, diminution of the natural
discharge of urine, and costiveness. After
the swelling has commenced, it increases
until the whole belly becomes uniformly
swelled and tense. The distension and
sense of weight vary somewhat with the
-
position of the body, being greatest on the
side on which the patient lies. As the
collection of water becomes more consid-
erable, the difficulty of breathing is much
increased, the countenance exhibits a pale
and bloated appearance, an immoderate
thirst comes on, the skin is dry and parch-
ed, and the urine is very scanty, thick,
and high-colored, and deposites a lacteri-
tious sediment. The pulse is variable,
being sometimes considerably quicker,
sometimes slower than is natural. The
operation of tapping should be performed
only where the distension is very great,
and the respiration or other important
functions impeded; and it will often be
best not to draw off the whole fluid at
once. Great care must be taken, also, to
keep up a sufficient pressure, by a broad
bandage over the abdomen, as even fatal
syncope has arisen from the neglect of
this. The contraction of the muscles will
be promoted by friction. The remedies
for this disease are cathartics, diuretics,
gentle friction of the abdomen with oil,
&c. Tonic medicines, a nutritious diet,
and, if the complaint appears giving way,
such exercise as the patient can take
without fatigue, with other means of im-
proving the general health, ought not to
be neglected.-Another species of dropsy
is called anasarca (from ava, through, and
caps, flesh). It is occasioned by a serous
humor, spread between the skin and
flesh, or rather by a general accumula-
tion of lymph in the cellular system.-
This species of dropsy shows itself at
first by a swelling of the feet and ankles
towards the evening, which, for a time,
disappears again in the morning. The
tumefaction is soft and inelastic, and,
when pressed upon by the finger, re-
tains its mark for some time, the skin
becoming much paler than usual.
degrees, the swelling ascends, and occu-
pies the trunk of the body; and, at last,
even the face and eyelids appear full and
bloated: the breathing then becomes dif-
ficult, the urine is small in quantity, high-
colored, and deposits a reddish sediment;
the belly is costive, the perspiration much
obstructed, the countenance yellow, and a
considerable degree of thirst, with ema-
ciation of the whole body, prevails. To
these symptoms succeed torpor, heaviness,
a troublesome cough, and a slow fever.
In some cases, the water oozes out through
the pores of the cuticle; in others, being
too gross to pass through them, it raises the
cuticle in small blisters; and sometimes
the skin, not allowing the water to escape
through it, is compressed and hardened.
By

DROPSY-DROSOMETER.
and is, at the same time, so much dis-
tended as to give the tumor a considerable
degree of firmness. In some few cases,
the disease goes off by a spontaneous cri-
sis, by vomiting, purging, &c. Where the
quantity of fluid collected is such as to
disturb the more important functions, the
best mode of relieving the patient is to
make a few small incisions with a lancet,
not too near each other, through the in-
teguments on the fore and upper part of
each thigh; the discharge may be assisted
by pressure. In the use of issues or blis-
ters, there is some risk of inducing gan-
grene, especially if applied to the legs;
and the same has happened from scari-
fications with the cupping instrument.
Absorption may be promoted by friction,
and bandaging the parts, which will, at
the same time, obviate further effusion;
but most powerfully by the use of differ-
ent evacuating remedies, especially those
which occasion a sudden considerable
discharge of fluids. Emetics have been
often employed with advantage; but it is
necessary to guard against weakening the
stomach by the frequent repetition of
those which produce much nausea.
Cathartics are of much greater and more
general utility. Diuretics are universally
proper. Digitalis is often a very powerful
remedy. Opium, and some other narcot-
ics, have been occasionally useful. In the
use of diuretics, the patient should not be
restricted from drinking freely. It is very
desirable to promote evacuation by the
skin. Sometimes much relief is obtain-
ed by promoting perspiration, locally, by
means of the vapor bath. Mercury has
been much employed. Regular exercise,
such as the patient can bear (the limbs
being properly supported, especially by
a well-contrived laced stocking), ought
to be enjoined, or diligent friction of the
skin, particularly of the affected parts, em-
ployed when the tumefaction is usually
least, namely, in the morning. The cold
bath, duly regulated, may also, when the
patient is convalescent, materially con-
tribute to obviate a relapse.-The next
species of dropsy which we shall consider
is hydrocephalus (from two, water, and
Kepan, the head); hydrocephalum, hydren-
cephalus; dropsy of the brain, dropsy of
the head. It is sometimes of a chronic
nature, when the water has been known
to increase to an enormous quantity, ef-
fecting a separation of the bones of the
head, and an absorption of the brain.
Pain in the head, particularly across the
brow, stupor, dilatation of the pupils, nau-
sea, vomiting, preternatural slowness of
309
the pulse, and convulsions, are symptoms
of this disease. Hydrocephalus is almost
peculiar to children, being rarely known
to extend beyond the age of twelve or
fourteen; and it seems more frequently
to arise in those of a scrofulous and
ricketty habit than in others. It is an af-
fection which has been observed to per-
vade families, affecting all or the greater
part of the children at a certain period of
their life; which seems to show that, in
many cases, it depends more on the gen-
eral habit, than on any local affection, or
accidental cause. The disease has gen
erally been supposed to arise in conse-
quence either of injuries done to the brain
itself, by blows, falls, &c., from scirrhous
tumors or excrescences within the skull,
from original laxity or weakness in the
brain, or from general debility and an im-
poverished state of the blood. With re-
spect to its proximate cause, very opposite
opinions are still entertained by medical
writers, which, in conjunction with the
equivocal nature of its symptoms, prove a
source of considerable embarrassment to
the young practitioner. When recoveries
have taken place in hydrocephalus, we
ought, probably, to attribute more to the
efforts of nature than to the interference
of art. It is always to be regarded as of
difficult cure. The treatment should be
prompt and active. The inflammatory
action should be lessened, and then ab-
sorption promoted. After taking some
blood by bleeding or by leeches, the tor-
pid bowels are to be evacuated by some
active cathartic, and their activity kept up,
in the progress of the complaint, by calo-
mel or some other mercurial preparation.
Mercury also contributes powerfully to
rouse the absorbents. After the bow-
els are cleared, some evaporating lotion
is to be applied to the shaved scalp,
and the antiphlogistic regimen observed.
Sudorific medicines will generally be
proper, assisted by the warm bath. Blis-
ters may be applied to the temples, behind
the ears, or to the nape of the neck. If
the progress of the disease is arrested, the
strength is to be established by a nutri-
tious diet and tonic medicines.
DROSKY; a kind of light, four-wheeled
carriage, used by the Russians. It is not
covered, and its side seats contain a
greater or less number of persons. The
lower wheels are covered with wings,
which keep off the mud.
DROSOMETER; an instrument for ascer
taining the quantity of dew which falls. It
consists of a balance, one end of which is
furnished with a plate fitted to receive the

310
DROSOMETER-DROWNING.
dew, the other contaming a weight pro-
tected from it.
DROUAIS, John Germain, born at Paris,
1763, the most distinguished painter of the
school of David. His desire of going to
Rome to study the great works of art, in-
duced him to enter the lists for the great
prize, which consisted of a pension for
four years; but, being dissatisfied with his
work, he destroyed it, and left the prize to
another. When reproached for this by
his master, who saw with surprise the
remains of his picture, he said, "Are you
satisfied with me?" "Perfectly," answer-
ed David. "Well, then, I have gained
the prize," returned Drouais; "this was
my aim; the prize of the academy be-
longs to another, to whom it may be more
useful than it would have been to me;
the next year I hope to deserve it by a
better work." In 1784, Drouais again
entered the lists. The Canaanitish woman
at the feet of Jesus was the fruit of his
study. He was publicly crowned, and
led in triumph, by his fellow students, to
their master. He accompanied him as a
pensioner to Rome, where he studied and
copied the greatest masters. His Dying
Gladiator, and, particularly, his Marius at
Minturnæ, on being exhibited in Paris,
gained him and David's school a new
triumph. He now sketched his Philoc-
tetes at Lemnos; but his career was sud-
lenly checked by an inflammatory fever,
which put an end to his life before he had
completed his 25th year, and while he
was engaged on a picture of Caius Grac-
chus. His rivals and his friends united
in erecting a monument to him in St.
Mary's church (in the Via Lata).
DROUET, Jean Baptiste; post-master at
St. Ménéhould; born 1763. It was he
who recognised Louis XVI, in his flight
through St. Ménéhould, and caused him
to be arrested at Varennes. In Septem-
ber, 1792, he was chosen member of the
convention from the department of the
Marne, and voted for the death of Louis.
In September, 1793, he was sent to the
northern army. In October of this year,
he was taken prisoner, and carried to Mo-
ravia. Having attempted to make his
escape by springing from a window, he
broke his leg, and was retaken. In Nov.,
1795, he was exchanged at Basle, with
Camus, Beurnonville, and others, for the
laughter of Louis XVI, and entered the
council of the five hundred, as an old
member of the convention. Dissatisfied
with the moderate system which at that
time prevailed in France, he became, with
Baboeuf, one of the leaders of the Jacobin
conspiracy; and, on this account, was ar
rested (May 11, 1796), but made his escape,
and fled to Switzerland. He was finally
acquitted, and returned to France. In
1799, he was sub-prefect at St. Ménéhould.
During the hundred days (see Cent Jours),
he was a member of the chamber of
deputies. In 1816, he was banished from
France as a regicide.
DROWNING is a sort of death caused by
immersing the exterior opening of the
respiratory tube in a liquid. Actual death
is often preceded by apparent death (as-
phyxia, q. v.); and it is possible, if this state
has not continued too long, to resuscitate
a person apparently drowned. This cir-
cumstance has led to careful investigations
of the nature of drowning, and also, in
the neighborhood of seas and large rivers,
to the erection of public institutions for
the resuscitation of persons apparently
drowned. This kind of death furnishes,
likewise, a difficult subject for medical
jurisprudence, and gives occasion to the
inquiry, whether a body found in the
water was actually drowned, or whether
life was lost in some other way; and
great attention has been paid to the marks
of this sort of death, which are to be
found upon the body. But, notwith-
standing all this pains, much uncertainty
still hangs over the subject. This re-
mark is true, as well of the manner in
which death is the consequence of im
mersion, as of the signs of having been
drowned, and the means of resuscitating
from apparent death. If a person volun.
tarily immerses his head in water, he per-
ceives a roaring in his ears, a tickling in
his nose, a pressure upon his breast, and
a kind of stupid feeling. If a man, unable
to swim, falls into the water, he instinc.
tively makes every exertion to escape from
it; he holds his breath, moves his head
up and backwards, lays hold of every
solid body which presents itself, and even
grapples at the bottom of the water.
These struggles continue a longer or
shorter time, according to the strength
and presence of mind of the unhappy
subject: at last, he sinks, exhausted, be-
comes unconscious, strives to breathe,
draws in water, and life is gone. If the
body is taken from the water, it is com-
monly found to be very cold; the limbs
are stiff, the countenance distorted, livic,
and often pale, the eyes half open, the pu
pils enlarged, the mouth filled with foam
the breast and region of the upper stomac
expanded. Sometimes the body is stil
warm, though it cannot be reanimated, the
countenance blue and distorted, the veins
DRURY
DROWNING.
of the neck much swollen. This takes
place when one is drowned in alcohol, or
in marshy or warm water, or when a per-
son, in a state of intoxication, or with a full
stomach, or a heated body, falls overboard.
On opening the body of a person who has
been drowned, the epiglottis is found to be
raised, bloody foam appears in the wind-
pipe and bronchial passages, the lungs
are soft and distended, a large quantity
of black fluid blood is collected in the
right, and less in the left cavity of the
heart, a little water is in the stomach, and
the vessels of the brain are swelled with
blood. Death is sometimes caused by
suffocation and want of air, and some-
times as in apoplexy: in the latter case,
it happens very speedily, and a little
water is sufficient to produce it, if the
person falls upon his face. In this case,
when the body is opened, the foam in the
wind-pipe is wanting, and the vessels of
the head are fuller. The various con-
stituents of the water, such as irrespirable
gases, contribute also to modify and com-
plicate the mode of death.
311

ever, suspend the use of the other means
at the same time. In order to restore
breathing, introduce the pipe of a com-
mon bellows (where the apparatus of the
society is not at hand) into one nostril,
carefully closing the other and the mouth;
at the same time drawing downwards, and
pushing gently backwards, the upper part
of the windpipe, to allow a more free
admission of air; blow the bellows gently,
in order to inflate the lungs, till the breast
be a little raised; the mouth and nostrils
should then be set free, and a moderate
pressure made with the hand upon the
chest. Repeat this process till life ap-
pears. Electricity to be employed early by
a medical assistant. Inject into the stoni-
ach, by means of an elastic tube or syringe,
half a pint of warm brandy and water, or
wine and water. Apply sal volatile o
hartshorn to the nostrils.-If apparently
dead from intense cold, rub the body over
with snow, ice or cold water. Restore
warmth by slow degrees; and after some
time, if necessary, employ the means rec-
ommended for the drowned. In these
accidents, it is highly dangerous to apply
heat too early.-If apparently dead from
hanging, in addition to the means recom-
mended for the drowned, bleeding should
early be employed by a medical assistant.
The following are the methods of treat-
ment recommended by the London Hu-
mane Society for the Recovery of Persons
in a State of Suspended Animation. As
drowning is, probably, the most frequent
accident by which animation is suspend--If
ed, we give all the rules of the society here,
and shall refer from Freezing, Hanging,
&c., to this article.
Cautions. Lose no time. Avoid all
rough usage. Never hold the body up by
the feet; nor roll the body on casks; nor
rub the body with salts or spirits; nor in-
ject tobacco smoke or infusion of tobacco.
Restorative Means. If apparently drown-
ed, send quickly for medical assistance;
but do not delay the following means:
Convey the body carefully, with the head
and shoulders supported in a raised posi-
tion, to the nearest house. Strip the
body, and rub it dry; then wrap it in hot
blankets, and place it in a warm bed, in a
warm chamber. Wipe and cleanse the
mouth and nostrils. In order to restore
the natural warmth of the body, move a
heated covered warming pan over the
back and spine; put bladders or bottles
of hot water, or heated bricks, to the pit
of the stomach, the arm-pits, between the
thighs, and to the soles of the feet; fo-
ment the body with hot flannels; but, if
possible, immerse the body in a warm
bath, as hot as the hand can bear without
pain, as this is preferable to the other
means for restoring warmth; rub the
hody briskly with the hand; do not, how-
apparently dead from noxious vapors,
&c., remove the body into a cool, fresli
air. Dash cold water on the neck, face
and breast, frequently. If the body be
cold, apply warmth, as recommended for
the drowned. Use the means as above
recommended for inflating the lungs
Let electricity (particularly in accidents
from lightning) be early employed by a
medical assistant. If apparently dead from
intoxication, lay the body on a bed with
the head raised; remove the neckcloth,
and loosen the clothes. Obtain instantly
medical assistance, as the treatment must
be regulated by the state of the patient;
but, in the mean time, apply cloths soaked
in cold water to the head, and bottles of hot
water, or hot bricks, to the calves of the
legs and to the feet.-If apparently dead
from apoplexy, the patient should be
placed in a cool air, and the clothes loos-
ened, particularly about the neck and
breast. Bleeding must be early employed
by a medical assistant; the quantity regu-
lated by the state of the pulse. Cloths
soaked in water, spirits, or vinegar and
water, should be applied to the head,
which should be instantly shaved. All
stimulants should be avoided.-In cases
of coup de soleil, or strokes of the sun, the
same means are to be used as in apoplexy
and

312
DROWNING-DRUIDS.
General Observations. On restoration to
life, a tea-spoonful of warm water should
be given; and then, if the power of swal-
lowing be returned, small quantities of
warm wine, or weak brandy and water,
warm; the patient should be kept in bed,
and a disposition to sleep encouraged,
except in cases of intoxication, apoplexy
and coup de soleil. Great care is requisite
to maintain the restored vital actions, and,
at the same time, to prevent undue excite-
ment. The treatment recommended by
the society is to be persevered in for three
or four hours. It is an erroneous opinion
that persons are irrecoverable because
life does not soon make its appearance;
and it is absurd to suppose that a body
must not be meddled with or removed
without the permission of a coroner.
DROZ; the name of three celebrated
mechanicians: 1. Pierre-Jacquet, born
at Chaux-de-Fond. Aspiring to be
something more than a mere workman,
he endeavored to perfect the different
parts of clock-work, and succeeded in at-
taching to common time-pieces, at a small
expense, machinery which produced mu-
sic resembling the chime of bells, and the
music of a flute. His attempts to dis-
cover the means of effecting a perpetual
motion, led him to important discoveries.
He contrived, among other things, a pen-
dulum, which, being composed of two
metals of unequal dilatability, remained
unaffected by heat or cold. He after-
wards made his celebrated writing autom-
aton, which, by means of machinery
contained within the figure, was made to
move its fingers and hands, and to form
handsome letters. His last work was an
astronomical clock. He was surprised
by death before this was finished.-2.
Henri-Louis-Jacquet, son of the preceding,
born 1752, at Chaux-de-Fond. From his
earliest youth, he was employed in me-
chanical works. At the age of 22, he
went to Paris with some of the products
of his labor; among which was an au-
tomaton, representing a young female,
which played different tunes on the harp-
sichord, followed the notes in the music
book with her eyes and head, and, having
finished playing, rose and saluted the
company. In Paris, he caused one of
the workmen, taught by his father, to
make a pair of artificial hands for a young
man who was mutilated, by means of
which he was enabled to perform most
of the necessary offices for himself.
Young man," said the famous Vaucan-
son to Droz, when he saw this work, "you
begin where I should be willing to end."
66
He died 1791, at Naples, where he had gone
for the recovery of his health. Jean-Pierre
united himself, in 1783, with Boulton, in
Birmingham, for the purpose of striking all
the English copper coin. He made for the
French mint a stamping machine, which,
with one stroke, and less expenditure of
power than is required in the usual process.
stamps both sides and the rim of coins.
DROZ, Joseph, formerly member of the
parliament of Besançon, born 1773, be-
came a member of the French academy
at Paris, in 1824, made himself known, in
1806, by his Essai sur l'Art d'être heu-
reux (4th ed., 1825); by his Eloge de
Montaigne (3d ed., 1815); by his Etudes
sur le beau dans les Arts (1815), and his
Mémoires de Jacques Fauvel. In his Phi-
losophie morale, he showed himself a deep
thinker, a scholar, and a good writer. At
the time of his election to the French
academy, the poet Lamartine was his com-
petitor. His inaugural address (July 7,
1825) contains some excellent remarks on
the moral influence of literature. "Il faut
écrire," said Droz, "avec sa conscience, en
présence de Dieu, dans l'intérêt de l'humanité."
DRUIDS. These priests of the Celts, or
Gauls, resembled, in many respects, the
Bramins of India: they formed a distinct
caste, possessing the greatest authority, be-
ing the learned men and philosophers of
these people, and having also very great
authority in the government of the state.
Julius Cæsar has left more information
concerning them than any other writer.
According to him, they performed all pub-
lic and private sacrifices, explained the
doctrines of their religion, distributed all
kinds of rewards, administered justice at
stated times, and determined the punish-
ment which should be inflicted on offend-
ers. Whoever opposed their decisions,
was excommunicated by them, and there-
by deprived of all share in religious wor-
ship. They could even pronounce this
curse against a whole people; and, in
fact, their power had hardly any limits.
They appointed the highest officers in all
the cities, and these dared not undertake
any thing without their advice and direc-
tion. They were free from taxes and all
public burdens. Instruction in religious
and all other kinds of knowledge, the art
of war alone excepted, was intrusted en-
tirely to them. They gave oral instruction
in the form of verses, which often had a
hidden meaning, and which were com-
mitted to memory. According to Cæsar,
they believed in the immortality of the
soul, and its transmigration through dif-
ferent bodies. They taught, moreover
DRUIDS-DRURY LANE THEATRE.
the nature and motions of the heavenly
bodies, the magnitude of the universe and
the earth, the nature of things, and the
power of the gods. They also practised
astrology, magic and soothsaying. Ac-
cording to Pliny, they were not ignorant
of natural philosophy and physic. They
had a wonderful reverence for the holy
mistletoe (a parasitical plant, which grows,
not from the earth, but on other plants,
particularly on the oak, and which, even
at the present time, is celebrated as a
remedy for epilepsy). This they looked
upon as the holiest object in nature, and
as a panacea: they likewise esteemed the
oak sacred, from which circumstance
they have derived their name. The
Druids had a common superior, who was
elected by a majority of votes from their
own number, and who enjoyed his dig-
nity for life. Their principal seat was in
Britain. The temples of the Druids bear
a strong resemblance to those of India.
DRUM. Instruments which produce a
sound by means of a tightly extended
skin, are common in almost every part of
the world. The tambourine is found
among most nations; the ancients call-
ed it tympanum. All these instruments
are used both for profane and sacred
purposes. But the peculiar use of the
drum for military purposes seems to have
been introduced among the Europeans
in the time of the crusades. There are
very many different kinds of drums in the
East, described by Niebuhr, the father, in
his Reisebeschreibung, i. 180, with his
well known accuracy. The kettle drum,
the base drum, tambourine, and other
kinds, are all common in the East. The
drum, as a military instruinent, is used
both to beat the march and to give signals.
No man, who has not experienced it, can
imagine the exciting power of the drum.
The fatigued and exhausted soldier is at
once animated by its sound; and in battle
it preserves order, and inspires courage
in a body attacking en colonne. The
French drummers perform admirably,
and, under Napoleon, a great number
were attached to each battalion. A drum
which has acquired historical celebrity, is
that which, by the order of Zisca, was
covered with his own skin, that he might
still aid in battle, where he had so often com-
nanded, even after he had become blind.
DRUMMOND, William, a Scottish poet,
born in 1585, was educated at the univer-
sity of Edinburgh, after which he spent
four years in foreign travels, residing, for
a part of the time, at Bourges, to study the
civil law. On his return to Scotland, he
27
VOL. IV.
313
resigned all idea of the law, and, retiring
to his romantic seat of Hawthornden,
gave himself up to the cultivation of
poetry and polite literature. A dangerous
illness fostered a serious and devout turn
of mind, which was evinced by his first
productions, The Cypress Grove, in prose,
containing reflections upon death, and a
Flowers of Sion, or Spiritual Poems.
The death of a young lady, to whom he
was about to be married, rendered home
insupportable, and drove him again
abroad. He remained on the continent
eight years. In his forty-fifth year, he
was married, and again took up his resi-
dence at Hawthornden. He died in De-
cember, 1649, in his sixty-fourth year.
As a historian, Drummond claims little
notice. His History of the Jameses, pub-
lished after his death, shows a total de-
ficiency of historic talent. He is now re-
membered only as a poet. There is
much sweetness and melody in his verse,
and although tinged with the conceits of
the Italian school, there is much genuine
imagery and truth of feeling in all his
poetry, but particularly in his sonnets,
which are replete with tenderness and
delicacy. An edition of Drummond's
poems was published in 1791.
DRUNKENNESS is made a crime by
some codes of laws. A statute of Con-
necticut provides that if a man is "found
drunk so as to be bereaved and disabled
in his reason and understanding, appear-
ing either in his speech, gesture or be-
havior," he shall be subject to a fine, for
the use of the town, of one dollar and
thirty-four cents. The fine for the same
offence, in New Jersey, is one dollar, and
the party is liable to be put in the stocks,
if it be not paid. In Delaware, it is five
shillings. But this vice does not appear
among the crimes and misdemeanors of
the statute-book, in the codes of all the
United States. The English statutes of
4 James I, chapter 5, and 21 James I,
chapter 7, provide, that if any person shall
be convicted of drunkenness, he shall for-
feit five shillings, to be levied by distress,
and, for want of a distress, shall be set in
the stocks. (See Intoxication.)
DRUPE; in botany, a simple succulent
fruit, containing a hard kernel or stone.
Peaches, cherries, &c., are drupes.
DRURY LANE THEATRE, one of the
principal theatres in London, was estab-
lished in the reign of James I, under the
name of the Phenix. After the restora-
tion, patents for stage performances were
issued, and 10 of the actors were called
king's servants, which usage still exists.




314
DRURY LANE THEATRE-DRUSUS.
In 1671, it was burnt down, and was
rebuilt by sir C. Wren, but again con-
sumed, Feb. 24, 1809, and rebuilt by B.
Wyatt, 1811. It was opened with an
address composed by lord Byron. The
interior was entirely rebuilt in 1822, and
is estimated to be capable of containing
3611 persons. The price of admittance
into the pit is 3s. 6d. ; into the boxes, 7s.
DRUSES; a people of Syria, inhabiting a
tract of country about 1165 square miles,
in the mountains Libanus and Anti-Liba-
nus. They are about 160,000 in number,
40,000 of whom are able to bear arms.
Their pretended descent from the Franks,
who came to this region in the time of the
crusades, is a fable. Their name is de-
rived from one of their religious teachers.
At the end of the 16th century, this people
began to excite attention in Europe, par-
ticularly on account of their religion, con-
cerning which they maintain the utmost
secrecy. The sacred books of the Druses,
which were concealed in the earth, con-
tain doctrines which prove the selfish
policy of their authors, and are a disgrace
to humanity. The layman who should
accidentally become acquainted with the
contents of these books, was punished
with death. The doctrines of the Druses
are a mixture of those of the Sadducees,
the Samaritans and the Mohammedans.
The Druses were formerly governed by
Inany sheiks or lords, but one by the name
of Ibrahim contrived to make himself
master of the whole nation, and thereby
became formidable to the Turks. In the
beginning of the 17th century, the Druses,
under the renowned emir Fakreddin (usu-
ally called Fakardin), reached the summit
of their power; but this leader was, in
1631, strangled at Constantinople; and,
although other princes were placed over
them, they never recovered their former
reputation. They endeavored, indeed, by
the assistance of the Russians, in 1773,
to regain their freedom; but they were
soon obliged to become again dependent
on the Turks. They are now governed
by emirs (princes), who, in their turn, are
subject to a grand emir: they are tributa-
ries of the Porte, but are almost entirely
independent, cultivating the soil, and pro-
ducing wine and silk. Their religion
Their religion
divides the people into wise inen (akales,
learned or initiated) and secular persons
(djabel, or laymen, ignorant, uninitiated).
They have no public worship, but they
frequent Christian and Mohammedan
churches: they have, nevertheless, some
symbols and persons devoted to religious
worship
DRUSUS. There were several distin
guished Romans of this name:-1. Marcus
Livius (B. C. 123) was tribune of the peo
ple with Caius Gracchus. He was also
the father of Livia, the wife of M. Cato
and the mother of Cato of Utica. He
opposed the projects of the popular fa-
vorite, Caius Gracchus, so strenuously, that
the patricians called him the patronus sena-
tus. By his victories in Thrace, he made
the Danube the boundary of the republic,
was honored with a triumph, and died in
the office of censor, B. C. 110.-2. His son,
Marcus Livius (grandfather of Livia, wife
of Augustus), was distinguished for his
talents, energy and eloquence; but his
zeal often led him to neglect the regular
forms of proceeding in the republic, while
his extravagant munificence and high opin-
ion of himself sometimes caused him to
commit imprudent actions. Rome was
then divided by the disputes of the senate
and the equestrian order. The power of
the latter, which, since the time of the
Gracchi, had risen to its utmost height,
excited the jealousy of the senate, who
struggled zealously for their old but now
almost lost authority. Drusus endeavored
to gain over the people to the party of the
senate, by the division of lands, to which
the senate agreed with the utmost reluc-
tance, and to gain the Roman allies by the
promise of citizenship. He came forward,
relying on this assistance, as a mediator
between the hostile parties. He proposed to
supply the vacant seats of the senators with
Knights, and to allow the new magistrates
the judicial authority, which, from the time
of the Gracchi, had belonged to the knights
alone, but before that time, to the sena-
tors. He succeeded in this plan, notwith-
standing the most violent opposition from
both parties. But the jealousy with which
each party guarded its rights, and the
rash and violent manner in which Drusus
had effected the union, rendered him un-
popular with both parties. When, there-
fore, he proposed to grant the right of
citizenship to the allies, for their services
to the senate, that body rejected the prop-
osition decidedly, so that Drusus could
effect nothing. On his return to his
house from an assembly of the people,
accompanied by a number of the Latins,
he was stabbed at his door, by an un
known hand. He died a few hours after.
with these words-"When will the repub-
lic again possess such a citizen as I have
been." His death (B. C. 93) was the sig-
nal for the beginning of the social war,
which had been so long threatening.-
3. Claudius Nero, son of Tiberius Nero


mans.
DRUSUS-DRYDEN.
and of Livia (afterwards wife of the em-
Augustus), and brother of Tiberius,
peror
who was afterwards emperor, was sent as
with his brother, against the Rhæ-
questor,
tians, whom he subdued. He then sup-
pressed an insurrection in Gaul, defeat-
ed the Germans who dwelt beyond
the Rhine, passed the river, and van-
quished the Sicambri and Bructeri, and
made the Frisians tributary to the Ro-
He was the first Roman general
who ventured upon the Northern ocean.
After these campaigns, he became pretor
(11 B. C.), but returned in the next spring
to Germany, subdued many tribes as far
as the Weser, and commenced the erec-
tion of fortresses. On this account, he
was honored with an ovation at Rome, and
was appointed proconsul; the army salu-
ted him with the title of imperator, which
was not, however, sanctioned by Augus-
tus. B. C. 9, he was made consul, but
returned soon after to Germany, and pen-
etrated as far as the Elbe, but was unable
to pass the river. He, however, ordered
trophies to be erected there, to testify his
progress. He died in the same year,
while on his return, in the 30th year of
his age. The canal, uniting the Rhine
with the Yssel, was his work; and the
place called Drusenheim, in Alsace, where
he encamped for some time, received its
name from him. By his wife Antonia,
he had a daughter, Livia, and two sons,
Germanicus and Claudius, who afterwards
became emperors. Rome lost, in Drusus,
a man equally distinguished in the field
and the council, and one of her most vir-
tuous and noble citizens. (See A. Bene-
dict Wilhelm's work, Die Feldzüge des
Nero Claudius Drusus in dem nördl.
Deutschl. (Halle, 1826).
DRYADS; Wood-nymphs, in the mythol-
ogy of the Arcadian Greeks; supposed to
be the tutelar deities of trees in groves,
particularly of the oak; hence their name.
DRYDEN, John, one of the most eminent
English poets, was born, according to the
most probable accounts, on the 9th of
August, 1631, in the parish of Aldwinkle-
All-Saints, in Northamptonshire.. His fa-
ther possessed a small estate, and acted
as a justice of the peace during the pro-
tectorate. The subject of this article, his
eldest son, received his early education in
the country, and was then removed to
Westminster school, whence he was elect-
ed to a scholarship in Trinity college,
Cambridge, and took his degree of bache-
lor of arts. His father dying in 1654, he
succeeded to the possession of his estate,
subject, however, to considerable deduc-
315

tions for the widow and younger children.
He immediately removed to London, un-
der the auspices of his relation, sir Gilbert
Pickering, one of Cromwell's council and
house of lords. On the death of Oliver,
he wrote his celebrated Heroic Stanzas
on that event-one of the first of his
poems, that evinced the loftiness of ex-
pression and imagery which characterize
his maturer efforts. At the restoration,
he greeted the king's return in a poem,
entitled Astræa Redux, which was quickly
followed by a Panegyric on the Corona-
tion. In 1661, he produced his first play,
the Duke of Guise, and, in the next year,
the Wild Gallant. In 1662, also, ap-
peared his poem addressed to the chan-
cellor Hyde, and his Satire on the Dutch.
Setting aside the drama, to which his at-
tention was unremitting, his next publica-
tion of consequence was the Annus mirab-
ilis, published in 1667. His reputation,
both as a poet and a royalist, was by this
time so well established, that, on the death
of sir William Davenant, he was appoint-
ed poet laureate and historiographer, with
a salary of £200 per annum. He soon
after published his Essay on Dramatic
Poesy, which he had written in 1665, in
his retirement, during the plague; previ-
ously to which he had married lady Eliz-
abeth Howard, daughter of the earl of
Berkshire. He now became profession-
ally a writer for the stage, by entering into
a contract with the patentees of the king's
theatre, to supply three plays a year. The
earlier dramatic productions of Dryden
were written in rhyme-a circumstance
which favored the rant that disfigured
them in common with most of the trage-
dies of the day. To correct this fault,
Villiers, duke of Buckingham, in conjunc-
tion with other wits, composed the Re-
hearsal, in which celebrated burlesque
Dryden was openly ridiculed, in the char-
acter of Bayes. In 1679, he joined lord
Mulgrave, in an Essay on Satire; and, in
1681, at the express desire of Charles II,
he composed his famous political poem,
entitled Absalom and Achitophel, in which
the incidents of the rebellion of Absalom
against David are admirably applied to
Charles II, the duke of Monmouth and
the intriguing earl of Shaftesbury. The
severity of this production raised him in-
numerable enemies, whom he still further
enraged by his Medal, a Satire on Sedi-
tion, written on the occasion of a medal
struck by the whig party, when an indict-
ment against Shaftesbury for high treason
was declared
was declared ignoramus. The rancor
of the last production is not easily to be




316
DRYDEN-DRY-ROT.
paralleled. Having succeeded so well
in political, he next essayed literary satire,
attacking Shadwell in his Mac Flecknoe.
Soon after appeared his Religio Laici, a
compendious view of the arguments in
favor of revelation. With all his ability
and industry, Dryden suffered the anxiety
attendant on straitened circumstances.
He next published some classical transla-
tions, and two volumes of Miscellany
Poems; and, on the death of the king,
composed his Threnodia Augustalis, a
Funeral Poem. On the accession of
James II, he conformed to the religion of
the new sovereign. One of the fruits of
this conversion, was his controversial
poem of the Hind and the Panther,
the very absurdity of the plan of which,
overcome as it is by the force and beauty
of the versification and execution, is higli-
ly honorable to the poetic talents of Dry-
den. By the loss of his places and pen-
sions, in consequence of the revolution, he
had nothing to trust to but his literary
industry; and, during the ten conclúding
years of his life, when he wrote actually
for bread, and at so much per line, he
produced some of the pieces which have
most contributed to his well established
fame. Passing over his translations of
Juvenal and Persius, and various minor
works, it may be observed that he com-
menced his celebrated translation of Vir-
gil in 1694, and it was sent to the press in
1697. He is supposed to have received
£1300 for this hasty but able translation.
Soon after the appearance of Virgil, he
was solicited to write a second ode for St.
Cecilia's day, which request produced his
admirable Alexander's Feast, the finest lyric
poem in the English language. He then
undertook to modernize Chaucer's Tales,
contracting with a bookseller to furnish
10,000 lines for £300. This bargain pro-
duced the collection called his Fables, some
of the most poetical pieces he ever compos-
ed. He soon after declined in health. The
immediate cause of his death was an in-
flammation in one of his toes, which, ter-
minating in a mortification, put an end to
his life May 1, 1700. The body of this
great poet was interred in Westminster
abbey, next to that of Chaucer. The
place was, for some time, undistinguished
by a monument, until a plain one, with his
bust, was erected by Sheffield, duke of
Buckingham.-Although reserved and
saturnine, Dryden was friendly and hu-
mane, domestic in his habits, and affec-
uonate towards his family. That the pen
of such a man should be so freely prosti-
tuted to party rancor and venal panegyric,
His narrow
appears surprising; and it is equally so,
that, although regular in his own manners,
few went beyond him in the dramatic
licentiousness of the age.
circumstances may have occasioned, but
are not a sufficient apology for these
blemishes. As a dramatic poet, he has
wit, force and majesty, but very little of
nature or propriety. His comedy, with
the exception of the Spanish Friar, is alto-
gether inferior; and, of all his tragedies,
Don Sebastian and All for Love alone are
spoken of at present. He stands unrival-
led in point of versification, and, in fuluess
and variety of harmony, and a fine flow-
ing and resistless current of numbers, he
has never been surpassed. His style in
prose, chiefly exhibited in the critical es-
says prefixed to his works, forms an ex-
cellent specimen of genuine English
composition. Of recent editions of his
works, we may refer to the prose works,
by Malone (1800, 4 vols., 8vo.); his poeti-
cal works, edited by Todd, with notes by
Warton (1812, 4 vols., 8vo.); and the
whole of his works, by sir Walter Scott
(1818, 18 vols., 8vo.).
DRY-ROT; a term or name applied to
a rapid decay of any vegetable matter,
when it has the appearance of being tol-
erably dry, but, in general, is applied only
to timber when in that state, and is so
named in contradistinction to the common
mode of decay, by being exposed to the
alternate states of wet and dry. There
are a great number of causes for this
species of decay: some are quite simple,
others are very complicated; yet, what-
ever may be the original cause, simple or
compound, the effects are the same, name-
ly, to render the timber useless, by de
stroying its elasticity and toughness, ren-
dering it insufficient to resist any consid-
erable pressure, and, indeed, for any of
the useful purposes to which timber is
applied. When timber is in a tolerably
dry state, any means which will absorb
or extract its oxygen from the other com-
ponent parts will leave it in the state com-
monly called dry rotten. Moist, warm
situations, with little or no current of air,
are the most likely to generate this evil.
The effluvia from timber in such a state
of decay will rapidly carry its effects to
the circumjacent timber, however dry it
may appear; and any sort of timber will
be, in a very little time, rendered quite
useless. When timber is exposed to any
considerable degree of moisture and heat,
fungi of various shapes and texture, ac-
cording to the species of timber, and other
causes, will appear upon it; and although




DRY-ROT-DUBLIN.
this fungous matter be really an effect of
the dry-rot, yet it is as truly a cause of the
same evil. There are no means of restor-
ing rotten timber to a sound state, and the
dry-rot can only be cured, as it is called,
by removing the decayed and affected
parts, clearing away all the fungi, and
destroying its vegetating principle, with
which the hard materials, such as bricks
or stone, may have been impregnated.
For this purpose, a strong solution of iron,
copper, or zinc, is used with advantage.
This, with the admission of a large quan-
tity of air, is very advantageous. Many
persons have written on the subject; and
the nostrums proposed are as numerous
their authors. But no means of check-
ing the evil can be depended upon, ex-
cept that of removing the corrupted and
contagious matter, and admitting a free
circulation of air. Much also may be
done by cutting timber in winter, and
properly seasoning it, by steeping it in
water for some time, and then thorough-
ly drying it before it is used in build-
as
ing.
DSHAMY; a Persian poet. (See Ja-
mi.)
DSHINGIS KHAN. (See Gengis Khan.)
DUAL, in grammar; that number which
is used, in some languages, to designate
two things, whilst another number (the
plural) exists to express many. The dual,
in some languages, is a firmly established
grammatical form, as in the Attic dialect;
in other languages, it is used only in cer-
tain cases, with certain words, or only
faint traces of it are to be recognised.
The Sanscrit has a dual number. Of
modern languages which have a literature,
Arabic is the only idiom which has re-
tained it. That copious language has a
dual, to designate two things; a particular
plural form, to express from three to nine
objects; the plural, for several of any
number whatever; and the plural-plural,
formed from the plural (though only in
some words), to designate ten or any
larger or indefinite number. Even for
substantives which express a number of
things, as a species of animals or plants,
the Arabians have a characteristical singu-
lar, of which also a plural may be made.
(See Silvestre de Sacy's Grammaire Arabe,
tom. i., pp. 702, 704, 710.) In the Ameri-
can languages, traces of the dual are very
often met with, from Greenland to Arau-
cania. (See William von Humboldt's
Discourse Ueber den Dualis, read in the
academy of sciences at Berlin, April 26,
1827, printed at Berlin, 1828; a treatise
which does not pretend to exhaust the
317
subject, but will assist a scholar in making
further investigations.)
DUALISM; DUALIST. 1. Dualism is the
philosophical exposition of the nature of
things by the adoption of two dissimilar
primitive principles, not derived from each
other: such, for instance, are the ideal
and the real, or the material and the
thinking substance. Dualism may be
either dogmatical, or critical, or scep
tical. In a stricter sense, dualism is con-
fined to (a) the adoption of two funda-
mental beings, a good and an evil one, as
is done in the Oriental religions; (b), to
the adoption of two different principles
in man, viz., a spiritual and a corporeal
principle: this is called the psychological
dualism. He who embraces this view is
called a dualist. Opposed to the system
of dualism is monism, which is either
idealism or realism, spiritualism or mate-
rialism. 2. In theology, dualism is the
doctrine of those who maintain that only
certain elected persons are capable of ad-
mission to eternal happiness, and that all
the rest will be subjected to eternal con-
demnation.
DUBLIN, the metropolis of Ireland, is sit-
uated in the province of Leinster and coun-
ty of Dublin, within a mile of the bay of that
name, which is of a circular form, and
about six miles in diameter, and into
which the river Liffey runs, after divid-
ing the city, through which its course is
nearly west to east, into equal parts.
Though spacious, this bay is neither com-
modious nor safe, particularly in winter.
Its defects are, in part, remedied by a
magnificent wall of stone, which runs out
into the bay the distance of 8564 yards,
and is terminated by a light-house. On
the opposite side of the harbor is another
light-house, together with a pier and har
bor; and, lately, a pier has been begun at
Dunleary, a village on the south side of
the bay, and two and a half miles within
its mouth. From the point of Ringsend,
where the Liffey enters the bay, it is em
banked on either side with a noble wall
of freestone, forming a range of beautiful
and spacious quays through the whole
city. The river is crossed in its course
through the city by seven stone bridges.
Dublin is, besides, nearly insulated by two
canals, which give great advantages for
inland communication. The houses, with
the exception of the princinal public struc-
tures, are generally brick, and from three
to five stories high. In the old part of the
city, the streets are irregular, although
those which range parallel to, and at right
angles with, the Liffey, are uniform and



318
DUBLIN DUBOIS.

capacious. Few cities of its size can boast
of a greater number of magnificent and
useful buildings. The castle, which was
completed and flanked with towers in
1213, is situated about the centre of the
city, and is the seat of government. The
castle chapel, recently rebuilt, is an exqui-
site specimen of Gothic architecture. The
other public buildings are, the royal ex-
change, the commercial buildings, the
corn exchange or burgh-quay, the linen
hall, the custom-house (in front 375 by
209 feet), the stamp-office, the post-office,
and the parliament house (now converted
into the national bank). Opposite to the
east front of the custom-house are the
government wet docks; and adjacent to
the post-office is Nelson's pillar, raised to
the height of 130 feet. In the centre of
college-green is an equestrian statue of
William III, erected in 1701. In the
Phoenix park, an obelisk, 210 feet high, has
been erected in honor of the duke of Wel-
lington. On the east side of college-green
is the grand front of Trinity college, which
is of Portland stone, of the Corinthian
order. This building extends in depth
600 feet. The park is in the rear of the
college, and contains 25 acres, adorned
with fine trees. Dublin university (viz.,
its provost, fellows, and scholars arrived at
21 years of age) returned two members to
the parliament of Ireland, and still returns
one to that of the United Kingdom. Dub-
lin contains 19 parishes, 2 cathedrals, 19
parish churches, besides several chapels
of the established religion; 2 meeting-
houses of the church of Scotland, 7 of
other dissenters, 4 of Methodists, 2 of
Quakers, 1 Lutheran Danish, 1 French
Calvinist, and about 26 Roman Catholic
chapels. St. Patrick's cathedral is an an-
tique building, in a low and ruinous part
of the town, erected in 1190, decorated
with a steeple in 1370, and a very lofty
spire in 1750. Christ church, built in
1038, the ancient cathedral of Dublin, is
another venerable pile, containing some
curious monuments. St. George's church
is à superb edifice, lately built, with a
magnificent front and lofty spire. No
city, for its size, abounds more in charitable
institutions. These are, in general, well
endowed, and some of them are splendid
buildings. The royal barracks are in the
west end of the town, near the river.
At the west of the city, opposite to the
Phoenix park, is the royal hospital of Kil-
mainham, for the reception of disabled
and superannuated soldiers, on the plan
of the Chelsea hospital. Dublin is a cor-
porate body, with a chief magistrate, who
has the title of lord mayor, elected annually
from the aldermen, who are 25 in number,
elected for life from citizens who have
served as sheriffs: two sheriffs are chosen
annually from the common council, who
are 96 in number, and are triennially
elected from their respective guilds by the
freemen, a very numerous body, amount-
ing to perhaps 2000. The freemen of
Dublin, in conjunction with its freeholders,
also return two members to the united
parliament. Population, 185,881; 60 miles
W. of Holyhead in Wales, and 330 N. W.
London; lon. 6° 15′ W.; lat. 53° 21' N.
DUBOIS, William, cardinal, prime min-
ister of the duke of Orleans, regent of
France, was the son of an apothecary, and
was born in 1656, in a small town in the
province of Limousin. At the age of 12
years, he was sent to Paris; and, after
having studied in the college of St. Mi-
chael, he obtained the place of private tutor.
He afterwards became acquainted with the
sub-tutor of the duke of Chartres, M. de
St. Laurent, who, having become infirm,
was assisted in his duties by Dubois.
Dubois ingratiated himself into the favor
of his pupil, and, after the death of St.
Laurent, was chosen to succeed him.
From this time he played two parts-that
of a tutor and that of a pimp to his young
master. Louis XIV wished to marry his
nephew to his natural daughter, Mlle. de
Blois. Monsieur, the king's brother, was
not averse to the match, but the king was
too well acquainted with the haughty
spirit of the duchess to expect her consent.
Dubois was therefore employed to gain
her and the young prince. His address
was successful, and he was rewarded with
the abbey of St. Just, in Picardy. Louis,
who had become sensible of his talents,
allowed him to join the French ambassa-
dor at London. Here the chevalier Du-
bois made some important acquaintances,
through the influence of St. Evremont.
He was particularly connected with Jord
Stanhope, whose friendship was the source
of his future fortune. Dubois returned to
France, and, under the modest title of a
secretary, soon became the privy counsel-
lor of the duke of Orleans, and overseer
of his household. He encountered, with
success, the numerous obstacles and ene-
mies opposed to his advancement. In 1715,
the duke was declared regent; and Dubois,
not less ambitious than artful, now ventured
to indulge extravagant hopes. In spite of
the opposition of the most influential per-
sons, he was appointed by the duke coun
sellor of state. The intrigues of the Span-
ish court, at that time under the direction of





DU
DUBOIS-DUCAT.
the cardinal neroni, gave the duke
much trouble, and made him desirous of
a powerful ally. Dubois directed his at-
tention towards England, and offered to
conduct a secret negotiation with the court
of that country. His acquaintance with
lord Stanhope was now very useful to
him. He succeeded in overcoming the
dislike of George I to the person of the
regent, and, in 1718, concluded the triple
alliance between England, France and
Holland. It has been asserted that Du-
bois sold himself to England; but this is
not true; on the contrary, it was neces-
sary for him to buy others, to succeed in
his negotiations. He was rewarded by
the place of minister of foreign affairs,
and now began to aspire to the highest
dignities of the church. The archbish-
opric of Cambray having become vacant,
Dubois ventured to request it of the regent,
although he was not even a priest. The
regent was astonished at his boldness; but,
as the king of England united with Du-
bois in his request, he obtained it, and, in
one morning, received all the orders, and,
a few days after, the archbishopric. By
his consummate address, he obtained a
cardinal's hat, and, in 1722, was appointed
prime minister. His power had now no
bounds; but his excesses had rendered
him infirm. He was scarcely able to get
in and out of his carriage, and yet he ap-
peared on horseback for the sake of receiv-
ing military honors at a review. The ex-
ertion caused an internal injury, of which
he died Aug. 10, 1723. The duke of St.
Simon has given an accurate picture of
him: "Dubois was a little, thin, meager
man, with a polecat visage. All the vices,
falsehood, avarice, licentiousness, ambition,
and the meanest flattery, contended in him
for the mastery. He lied to such a degree
as to deny his own actions, when taken
in the fact. Notwithstanding an affected
stammering, which he had adopted for the
purpose of gaining time to penetrate the
motives of others, his rich, instructive and
insinuating conversation would have ren-
dered him agreeable, had it not been for
the mist of falsehood which issued from
every pore, and rendered even his gayety
unpleasant. In spite of his debauchery,
he was very industrious. His wealth was
immense, and his revenue amounted to
millions. His memory was hated and
ridiculed. Even the inscription on his
tomb is a satire; for, after enumerating
all his offices and dignities, it concludes,
solidiora et stabiliora bona, viator, mortuo
precare."
DUBOS, Jean Baptiste; one of the ear-
319
liest French writers who endeavored to
found a theory of the arts on general prin-
ciples. He enriched the theory of the
arts by his comparison of poetry, painting
and music (Reflexions sur la Poésie, la
Peinture et la Musique, Paris, 1719; 6th
ed., 1755, in 3 vols.). The foundation on
which he rested his theory was, the neces-
sity which every one feels of exercising
the powers of his mind, and of setting his
invention at work. He was born at Beau-
vais, in 1670, studied there and at Paris, y
and was placed, in 1695, in the office of
foreign affairs, under the minister De
Torcy, who gave him important commis-
sions in Germany, Italy, England and
Holland. In these journeys, he collected
the information concerning the arts which
his book contains. After his return to
France, he obtained a benefice, a pension,
and, in 1722, was elected perpetual secre-
tary of the French academy. He distin-
guished himself as a historian by his His-
toire de la Ligue de Cambray (Paris, 1721,
2 vols., 12mo.), and by his Histoire critique
de l'Etablissement de la Monarchie Française
dans les Gaules (Amsterdam, 1743, 2 vols.,
4to. and 12mo.). Voltaire ranks him
among the writers who were an honor to
the age of Louis XIV. He died at Paris,
1742.
DUCANGE. (See Dufresne.)
DUCAT is a gold or silver coin. For its
value, see Coins.-In Switzerland, ducats
are called Schildfranken. The Dutch duc-
ats, which are coined in great numbers,
are the most used in commerce, and are
to be found in all quarters of the world.
In the northern countries of Europe, and
particularly in Russia, the dealings in
money and goods are carried on mostly
by means of this coin. The exportation
of ducats is, therefore, an important branch
of Dutch commerce. This coin and the
name are derived from Longinus, a duke.
of Ravenna, in the 6th century: the first
issue of them has also been ascribed to
St. Roger II, of Apulia, who, in 1140.
coined ducats bearing the figure of Christ,
and the inscription, Sit tibi, Christe, datus,
quem tu regis, iste ducatus. The Vene
tians took his ducats for their pattern in
1280: they were found to constitute a
convenient medium of exchange, were
adopted by Genoa, and thus came into
general use. This standard of coin was
also adopted in Hungary; and, for a long
time, all foreign coins bore the name of
Ongri or Hungarians, in Italy, where the
trade of the world was, at this period,
concentrated. They were, in many kinds
of business, the favorite standard of reck-
called
320
DUCAT DUCK.

oning. They did not become so common
in Germany till a much later date. The
golden bull of Charles IV gave to all the
members of the empire the privilege of
issuing gold coins, with any stamp they
chose; but these were only gold guilders,
equivalent to the favorite florin. The
ducats most generally met with are the
old Dutch ducats, bearing the impression
of an armed figure, which gave way, for
a short time only, to the figure of Louis,
king of Holland. They circulated almost
as merchandise, but had been frequently
counterfeited in the Grisons. The coun-
terfeits were very good to appearance,
both in weight and sound. (See Coins.)
DUCATOON; a Dutch gold coin (also
called Ruyder) worth about 20 florins (see
Coins); also an Italian silver coin cur-
rent for about $1,09. The Dutch gold
ducatoon is a national coin, only circulat-
ing in the country. There is also a silver
ducatoon, used particularly in the East
India trade. There is likewise a French
silver coin of this name, of nearly the
same value as the Italian ducatoon.
DUCHESNE, OF DU CHESNE, André (Lat.,
Chesnius, Duchenius, Quercetanus), from
his historical researches, has been called
the father of French history. He was
born 1584, at Isle Bouchard, in Touraine;
he studied at Loudon and Paris, was
appointed royal geographer and histori-
ographer, and died in 1640. His most
important works are, his collection of
French historians (Historia Francorum
Scriptores, 3 vols., to which his son Fran-
çois Duchesne added a 4th and 5th from
the papers left by his father), which the
French government have since several
times expressed a wish to have completed;
his Historia Normanorum Scriptores ab
Anno 838-1220; and his genealogical
works, which throw much light on the
history of France. The number of his
writings is very great; some were pub-
lished by his son after his death. He left
more than a hundred folios in manu-
script.woodman
DUCIS, Jean François, a French dra-
matic poet, known by his adaptation of
many pieces of Shakspeare to the French
theatre, was born at Versailles, and, late in
life, became a writer for the stage. His
first piece, called Amélise, was unsuccess-
ful, and those which followed it shared
the same fate. His Hamlet attracted
much attention, as it was the first of
Shakspeare's plays which appeared on the
French stage. This play and his next,
Romeo and Juliet, and likewise those
which appeared later, were so much
changed, to adapt them to the French
taste, that the title, in some instances, is
almost the only thing which reminds us
of the original. These changes, however,
only added to the applause with which
they were received in France. He after-
wards endeavored, in his Edipe chez Ad-
mète, to imitate the Greeks; but he soon
returned to Shakspeare, and translated suc-
cessively Lear, Macbeth, Othello and other
plays. Abufar or the Arabian Family is
one of the best of his original pieces. His
style is, perhaps, harsh, but sometimes
noble, and full of tragic dignity. He suc-
ceeded Voltaire, in the academy, in 1778.
He was subsequently secretary to Louis
XVIII. He remained true to this mon-
arch under all circumstances, and, while
on the point of starving, refused the place
of a senator, with 40,000 francs a year, and
the cross of the legion of honor, offered
him by Bonaparte. The return of Louis.
XVIII made his old age happy. He was
gratified when the king recited some of
his verses to him at his first audience.
"I am more happy," said he, "than Boi-
leau and Racine; they recited their verses
to Louis XIV; the king recites nine to
me." He died March 31, 1817, . Ver-
sailles. His Euvres appeared, in 1819, at
Paris, in 3 vols. Campenon published, at
Paris, in 1824, Lettres sur la Vie, le Caract.
et les Écrits de J. F. Ducis.o
DUCK (anas, Lin.); a very extensive
and natural genus of water birds, which
are found in all parts of the world. It has
been divided by naturalists into an infin-
ity of different genera; to such a degree,
indeed, that, according to some of the dis-
tinctions which have been made, it would
be impossible to leave the females of
several species in the same genus with the
males. The prince of Musignano is of
opinion, that they might be advantageous-
ly separated into four sub-genera, in which
we shall follow him. These are anser,
or goose, cygnus, or swan, anas, or duck,
and fuligula. We have thirty-one species
of this interesting genus, inhabiting North
America, being within one of the number
found in Europe: of these, twenty-one are
common to the two continents, leaving ten
peculiar to America, and eleven to Eu-
rope. The mallard, or common wild
duck (A. boschas), is found both in Europe
and America. This is the original stock
of the domesticated duck, which appears
to have been reclaimed at a very early
period. It is found in every fresh water
lake and river of the U. States, in winter,
but seldom frequents the sea shores or
salt marshes. During the summer, it re-
es,
DUCK.
LITY!
321

thus takes as many as he wishes, without
disturbing the rest. (See Wilson's Am.
Ornithol.; Pennant's Brit. Zoology, vol. 2.)
Muscovy duck (A. moschata). This well
known bird is the largest of the duck
kind, and approaches nearly to the size
of a goose. It has obtained its name
sides in the north, along with the im-
mense flocks of other water-fowl that retire
thither for the purpose of breeding. A
few pairs, however, occasionally met, re-
main in the Middle States during the
whole year. The nest is usually placed
in the most solitary recesses of a marsh or
bog, among coarse grass, reeds and rush- from a strong smell of musk, which ex-
and generally contains from twelve to hales from its body, and not because it
sixteen eggs, of a dull greenish-white. The comes from Russia, as has been supposed.
flesh of the wild duck is held in general The Muscovy ducks are tamed in great
estimation, and various methods are re- quantities in the West Indies, and are
sorted to, in order to obtain these birds in found wild in Guiana, where they nestle
quantities. In Picardy, in France, vast on the trunks of trees, close upon the
numbers are taken in decoys, and sold in water's edge. They feed in the morning
the Paris market, where, in one season, upon a plant called wild rice, and seldom
thirty thousand francs have been paid for permit the sportsman to approach within
the produce of the small lake of St. Lam- gunshot.*-Canvass-back duck (A. vallis-
bert. They also abound in Lincolnshire, neria). This delicious bird is peculiar to
in England, and are there taken in great this country, and was known to the epi-
quantities, by nearly the same means as in cure long before it was described by the
Picardy. Pennant had an account sent naturalist. We are indebted to Wilson
him of the produce of ten decoys, which, for the first account of it. He gave it the
in one winter, amounted to thirty-two name of the plant on which it feeds, and
thousand two hundred. We are indebted which had been called after the celebrated
to Wilson (American Ornithology) for Vallisneri. The canvass-back ducks ar-
an enumeration of several simple and rive in the U. States, from the north, about
effective contrivances made use of, in this the middle of October, and, principally,
country, for the capture of these wary assemble in the numerous rivers in the
birds.
In some ponds, frequented by neighborhood of the Chesapeake bay.
them, five or six wooden figures, cut and On the Susquehannah, they are called
painted to represent ducks, and sunk, by canvass-backs, on the Potomac, white-backs,
pieces of lead nailed to the bottom, so as and on James' river, sheldrakes. When
to float at the usual depth on the surface, they first arrive, they are very lean; but,
are anchored in a favorable position to be from the abundance of their favorite food,
raked from a concealment of brush, &c. they become fat about November. They
These attract the passing flocks, which are sometimes found in such multitudes
alight, and thus expose themselves to cer- as to cover several acres. From the great
tain destruction. In winter, when de- demand for these ducks, and the high
tached pieces of ice are occasionally float- price they always command, various
ing in the river, some of the gunners on methods are employed to decoy them
the Delaware paint their boats white, and, within gun-shot. The most successful is
laying themselves flat in the bottom, direct that termed tolling, in which they are
them almost imperceptibly near a flock, enticed to approach the shore, by means
before the ducks have distinguished them of a dog properly trained. The article in
from a floating piece of ice. On land, an- Wilson's work is extremely interesting,
other stratagem is sometimes practised and Mr. Ord has made a long and valua
with great success. A tight hogshead is ble addition to it. The canvass-back is
sunk in the marsh, or mud, near the place constantly attended 'by another species, the
where ducks are accustomed to feed at low widgeon (A. Americana), which manages
water, and where, otherwise, there is no to make a good subsistence from his la--
shelter; the edges and top are artfully bors. This bird is extremely fond of the
concealed with tufts of long, coarse grass tender roots of that particular species
and reeds or sedge. From within this, of plant on which the canvass-back feeds.
the gunner watches his collecting prey, The widgeon, which never dives, watches
and usually commits great havoc. In the moment the canvass-back rises, and,
China, the sportsman covers his head with before he has his eyes well opened,
a calabash, pierced with eye-holes, and, snatches the morsel from his mouth, and
thus equipped, wades into the water, makes off.-The other American species
keeping only his head above the surface, of ducks are, A. clypeata, or shoveller, re-
and, on arriving amidst a flock, seizes them
by the legs, fastens them to his girdle, and
* Several pairs of wild Muscovy ducks have
been killed, at different periods, in our rivers.
322
DUCK-DUCTILITY.

markable for the strange form of its bill.
A. strepera, or gadwall, which is more rare
in America than in Europe. A. acuta, pin-
tail, or sprigtail, remarkable for the form
of its tail; it is abundant in both hemi-
spheres. A. obscura, black or dusky duck,
peculiar to this continent, and very abun-
dant; this is perhaps the most sagacious
and timid of all the American ducks.
A. sponsa, summer or wood duck; not
more remarkable for its great beauty, in
which it stands preeminent, than for its
habits, its migrations being directly oppo-
sed to those of the other species. A. dis-
cors, blue-winged teal. A. crecca, green-
winged teal. (See Teal.) A. mollissima,
eider duck (q. v.). A. perspicillata, black
or surf duck. This is common to both
hemispheres, but is very rare in Europe.
A. fusca, velvet duck, also found in both
hemispheres; its flavor is rank and fishy,
and it is therefore seldom sought after.
A. nigra, scoter; found both in Europe
and America; these birds, and a few
others of the same fishy flavor, are ex-
empted from the interdict which forbids
Roman Catholics the use of animal food
on certain days, on the supposition of
their being cold-blooded, and partaking of
the nature of fish. A. rubida, ruddy duck;
this species was very rare in Wilson's
time, but has since become more plenty.
A. ferina, red-head; common to both
continents; it approaches very near to the
canvass-back in delicacy; its usual weight
is about one pound and three quarters.
A. marilla, scaup duck or blue-bill, a well
known and common species in both con-
tinents. A. rufitorques, tufted duck; a
species confounded with the A. fuligula
of Europe, until the differences were
pointed out by the prince of Musignano.
(See Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci., vol. 3.) A.
clangula, golden-eye; common to both
hemispheres. A. albeola, buffet-head, or
butter-ball; peculiar to this country,
where it is common. A. glacialis, long-
tailed duck, south southerly, oldwife;
common to both continents, remarkable
for the long and slender middle feathers
of its tail. A. labradoria, pied duck; a
beautiful and rare species, peculiar to
America. A. histrionica, harlequin duck;
a magnificent species, found on both con-
tinents; it derives its name from the
singularity of its markings; along the
coast of New England it is called the
lord.
DUCK; a sort of strong, brown, linen
cloth. used chiefly by sail-makers.
DUCKING-STOOL. (See Cucking-Stool.)
DUCLOS Charles Pineau, known as a
novelist, a describer of character and man-
ners, a writer of memoirs, and a gramma-
rian, born 1705, at Dinant, received a
good education at Paris, early turned his
knowledge to profit, in 1739 was chosen
member of the academy of inscriptions,
in 1748 member, and soon after secretary
of the French academy. Though he re-
sided at Paris, he was elected mayor of
his native town in 1744. When the states
of Bretagne, in reward of their zeal for
the welfare of the kingdom, were permit-
ted to nominate such of their number as
they thought most worthy of the royal
favor, Duclos was unanimously elected
one of the number, and received letters
of nobility. Not long before his death, he
was appointed historiographer of France,
in Voltaire's place. He died at
Paris,
1772. Among the best of his novels, are
Confessions du Comte de B*** (1741,
12mo.); and of his memoirs, his Mémoires
sur les Meurs du XVIIIme Siècle (1751,
12mo.); both full of acute and striking re-
marks, especially on women and love. His
Considérations sur les Mours de ce Siècle are
full of striking sketches of character, and
deep knowledge of human nature. His
History of Louis XI is esteemed, but shows
the hand of the novelist. Of more value
are his Mémoires secrets sur les Règnes de
Louis XIV et XV. This work was com-
posed in his character of historiographer.
He also distinguished himself in his Re-
marques sur la Grammaire générale de
Port-Royal (1764, 12mo.), as a grammarian.
Desessarts published the Œuvres complètes
de Duclos (Paris, 1809, 10 vols.). The
last volume contains a fragment of his
autobiography. In the entertaining Mé-
moires de Madame d'Epinay, the character
of Duclos is represented in no very favor-
able light.

But
DUCTILITY; the extensibility and cohe-
sion of particles, which enables metal to
be drawn into wire without breaking.
The ductility of some bodies, especially
of gold, is very surprising. A single grain
of gold may be stretched under the ham-
mer into a leaf that will cover a house,
and yet the leaf remain so compact as not
to transmit the rays of light, nor even
admit spirit of wine to transude.
M. Réaumur has shown the ductility of
gold to be still greater. What is called
gold-wire, every body knows, is only sil-
ver gilt. The cylinder of silver, cover-
ed with leaf gold, is drawn through the
hole of an iron, and the gilding is ex-
tended with the wire, to whatever length
it may be stretched. Now, M. Réau-
mur shows, that, in the common way of

DUCTILITY-DUDLEY.
drawing gold wire, a cylinder of silver,
twenty-two inches long, and fifteen lines
in diameter, is stretched to 1,163,520 feet,
or is 634,692 times longer than before,
which amounts to about ninety-seven
leagues. To wind this thread on silk, for
use, it is first flattened, in doing which it
stretches at least one seventh further, so
that the twenty-two inches are now 111
leagues; but in the flattening, instead of
one seventh, it could be stretched one
fourth, which would bring it to 120 leagues.
This appears a prodigious extension, and
yet it is nothing to what this gentleman
has proved gold to be capable of.
Ductility of Glass. When glass is pen-
etrated with the heat of fire, it can be
managed like soft wax, and may be drawn
out into threads exceedingly long and
fine. Ordinary spinners do not form their
threads of silk, flax, or the like, with half
the ease and expedition the glass-spinners
do threads of this brittle matter. Some
of them are made into plumes, and used
in other works; they are made much
finer than hair, and bend and wave,
like hair, with every wind. Two work-
men are employed in making them: the
first holds one end of a piece of glass over
the flame of a lamp, and, when the heat
has softened it, the second operator applies
a glass hook, and draws out a thread of
glass, which still adheres to the mass;
then, fitting his hook on the circumference
of a wheel about two feet and a half in
diameter, he turns the wheel as fast as he
pleases, till it is covered with a skein of
glass thread. The parts, as they recede
from the flame, by gradually cooling,
become more cohesive: the parts near-
est the fire are always the least cohe-
sive, and, consequently, must give way
to the effort made to draw them to-
wards the wheel. These threads are
commonly of a flat oval shape, being
three or four times as broad as thick:
some of them seem scarcely bigger than
the thread of a silk-worm, and are sur-
prisingly flexible. If the two ends of
such threads are knotted together, they
may be drawn and bent till the aper-
ture, or space in the middle of the
knot, does not exceed one fourth of
a line, or one forty-eighth of an inch,
in diameter. The flexibility of glass in-
creases in proportion to the fineness of
the threads; and, probably, had we the
art of drawing threads as fine as a spi-
der's web, we might weave stuffs and
cloths of them, but could never make
them long enough to be serviceable. (For
further information, see Divisibility.)
323
DU-DEFFAND, Madame. (See Deffand.)
DUDLEY, Edmund; noted in English
history as an instrument of Henry VII, in
the arbitrary acts of extortion practised
during the latter years of his reign. He
was born in 1462, of an ancient and re-
spectable family; and was educated at the
university of Oxford. Becoming a stu-
dent of the law at Gray's Inn, he arrived
at such eminence in his profession as
recommended him to the favor of the
king, who made much use of his services,
and conferred on him various offices and
emoluments. In 1505, he was made
speaker of the house of commons, and,
through his influence, several enactments
took place, oppressive to the people and
profitable to the monarch. On the ac-
cession of Henry VIII, he perished on the
scaffold, August 18, 1510, with his associ-
ate, sir Richard Emson (who was the son
of a sieve-maker at Towcester).
DUDLEY, John, duke of Northumber-
land; son of the preceding. He was born
in 1502, and, after his father's execution,
was restored in blood by act of parlia-
ment. In 1542, he was raised to the
peerage as viscount Lisle, in right of his
mother, who inherited that title. Soon
after, he was made KG.; and, at length,
the post of lord-high-admiral was confer-
red on him for life. He served with rep-
utation in Scotland and France, and was
left, by Henry VIII, one of the executors
named in his will, as a kind of joint-
regent during the minority of Edward VI.
Under that prince, he manifested the most
insatiable ambition, and obtained vast ac-
cessions of honors, power, and emolu-
ments. At first, he joined his interest with
that of the duke of Somerset, the king's
uncle, whom, however, at length he un-
dermined and destroyed. He had been
advanced to the titles of earl of Warwick
and duke of Northumberland; and, after
the fall of his rival, his authority was
almost unbounded. The illness of the
king, over whom he had gained complete
ascendency, alarmed his fears, and he
endeavored to strengthen his interest by
marrying his son, lord Guilford Dudley,
to lady Jane Grey, descended from the
younger sister of Henry VIII, and per-
suaded Edward to settle the crown on
his kinswoman by will, to the exclusion
of his two sisters, the princesses Mary and
Elizabeth. The death of the king, the
abortive attempts to place lady Jane Grey
on the throne, and the ruin of all those
concerned in the scheme, are among the
most familiar events in the annals of Eng-
land. Northumberland himself was be-
324
YE
DUDLEY. 1900

headed on Tower-hill, August 22, 1553.
He professed himself a Catholic a short
time before his execution, and died in that
faith, though the avowed object of the
plot was to secure the establishment of
Protestantism in England.
DUDLEY, Sir Henry Bate, baronet, was
born at Fenny Compton, August 25,
1745. His father, the reverend Henry
Bate, was rector of North Farmbridge, in
Essex, in which benefice his son Henry
succeeded him at his death; but the
emoluments of the living being but trifling,
he established the Morning Post news-
paper, and, in 1780, the Morning Her-
ald, commencing also, about the same
time, the Courier de l'Europe-a journal
printed in the French language-and the
English Chronicle. At this period, he
was a contributor to the Probationary
Odes, the Rolliad, and other works of a
similar class. In 1781, the advowson of
the rectory of Bradwell-juxta-Mare was
purchased in trust for him, subject to the
life of the reverend George Pawson. In
1784, he assumed the name of Dudley, in
compliance with the will of a relation.
Mr. Pawson dying in 1797, Mr. Dudley
presented himself to the vacant benefice;
but the bishop of London refused insti-
tution, and a compromise was at length
effected. In 1812, he received the liv-
ing of Willingham, in Cambridgeshire.
Shortly after, he obtained a baronetcy,
and, in 1816, the dignity of a prebend in
Ely cathedral, which he retained till the
day of his death, February 1, 1824. Sir
Henry distinguished himself as a useful
magistrate; while his literary abilities
were manifested in the composition of a
variety of dramatic pieces. Among these
are the Flitch of Bacon, written for the
purpose of introducing his friend Shield
to the public; the Woodman; the Rival
Candidates; the Blackamoor Washed
White (at the representation of which,
party spirit ran so high as to produce a
serious conflict, in which swords were
drawn, &c., among the audience); the
Travellers in Switzerland; and the popu-
lar piece At Home. In his earlier years,
the warmth of his temperament betrayed
nim, notwithstanding his cloth, into seve-
ral quarrels. The cause of two of these
rencontres was Mrs. Hartley, an actress
celebrated for her beauty. A third, of more
equivocal character, fought with Mr. Sto-
ney Bowes, made a great noise at the time.
Sir Henry, at the time of his decease, was
a magistrate for seven English counties,
and four in Ireland.
DUDLEY, Robert, earl of Leicester, was
the fifth son of the duke of Northumber-
land, and was born about 1532. He was
knighted when young, and was made gen-
tleman of the bed-chamber to Edward VI.
Though involved in the criminal designs of
his father, and included in the sentence of
attainder passed against him on the acces-
sion of Mary, he was pardoned, and em-
ployed by that queen. After Elizabeth
ascended the throne, Dudley soon acquir-
ed the distinction of being her favorite.
Offices, honors and wealth were shower-
ed on him with an unsparing hand. He
was appointed master of the horse, knight
of the garter, and privy counsellor; and
he received grants of the princely domains
of Kenilworth, Denbigh, and Chirk cas-
tle. In 1560, the death of his wife took
place, at Cumnor-hall, in Berkshire. This
event, according to popular opinion, as
appears from Aubrey, involved Dudley in
the guilt of murder. If he sacrificed the
life of his consort, in the hope of marrying
the queen, his ambitious views were dis-
appointed. Elizabeth, however, encour-
aged him to aspire to the hand of Mary
of Scotland, who rejected him with dis-
dain. In 1564, he was created baron
Denbigh and earl of Leicester, and was
the same year elected chancellor of Ox-
ford university, having previously been
chosen to the same office at Cambridge.
About 1572, he appears to have married
the baroness-dowager Sheffield, lady Dou-
glas Howard, by whom he had children,
but whom he disowned as his wife, and
even compelled her to marry another
son. In 1575, he gave a princely enter-
tainment to the queen, at Kenilworth cas-
tle; the festivities of which are described
in a picturesque manner, in the celebrated
romance of Kenilworth, and, in defiance
of chronology, connected with the death
of Leicester's first wife. Leicester, in
1578, offended the queen by his marriage
with the widow of Walter Devereux, earl
of Essex. He, however, recovered her
favor, and, in 1585, was appointed, through
her influence, governor of the Netherlands.
then recently emancipated from the Span-
ish yoke. His conduct in this station did
not give satisfaction to the queen, or to
the states over which he presided, and he
was recalled the following year. He re-
turned to his command in June, 1587;
but he was finally displaced a few months
after, and returned to England. He was
accused of misconduct by lord Buckhurst
and others; but Elizabeth still retained so
much partiality for him, that she support-
ed him against all his enemies; and, ou
the prospect of the Spanish invasion, in
per-

DUDLEY-DUEL.
1588, she appointed him commander of
the forces assembled at Tilbury, for the
defence of the kingdom. Leicester died
September 4, the same year, at Cornbu-
ry park, in Oxfordshire, and was interred
in a chapel of the collegiate church of
Warwick, where a splendid monument
was raised to his memory.
DUEL (from duellum, derived from duo)
is a combat between two, at a time and
place appointed, in consequence of a chal-
lenge, and so is distinguished from an
encounter, taking place without any pre-
vious arrangement. The custom of duel-
ling was derived from the northern nations;
the judicial combat and the private duel,
upon the principle of the point of honor,
having both been unknown to the an-
cients. The Germans, Danes and Franks
carried the practice of the judicial combat
so far, that none were excused, except
women, sick people, cripples, and such as
were over 60 years of age. Even eccle-
siastics and monks were obliged to main-
tain their controversies by a champion in
arms; and this singular species of ju-
risprudence was not confined to crim-
inal accusations, but the titles to estates
were decided in the same manner. At
length, however, this mode of trial was
limited to those accusations of capital
offences, in which there was no other
testimony, and in which common fame
pronounced the accused party to be guilty.
The party vanquished was punished by
hanging, beheading, or mutilation of mem-
A judicial combat was authorized
by Gundebald, king of the Burgundians,
as early as A. D. 501. Fleta (1. 1. c. 32)
says it is a combat between two, to prove
the truth in respect to their controversy,
and the party who conquers shall prevail
in the suit. The practice of trying rights
to land, as well as the guilt or innocence
of an accused party, by combat under
judicial authority, very naturally suggest-
ed the decision of personal quarrels in
the same way (particularly those in which
the point of honor was concerned), and
all cases in which there was no adequate
redress provided in the ordinary tribunals.
The example of Francis I of France, and
Charles V of Spain, gave a sanction to
this mode of arbitration. On the break-
ing up cf the treaty between these sove-
reigns, and the declaration of war by the
French and English heralds, at the court
of Charles, Jan. 2, 1528, the emperor, in
replying to the declaration of the French
monarch, desired the herald to acquaint
his sovereign, that he would henceforth
consider him, not only as a base violator
28
bers.
VOL. IV.
325
of public faith, but as a stranger to the
honor and integrity becoming a gentle-
man. On receiving this message, Francis
immediately sent back the herald with
a cartel of defiance, gave the emperor the
lie in form, challenged him to single com-
bat, and required him to appoint the time,
place and weapons. Charles accepted
the challenge; but, after many messages
concerning the arrangements for the com-
bat, accompanied with mutual reproaches,
bordering on the most indecent scurrility,
all thoughts of the duel were given up.
But this affair, though it thus terminated
without any rencounter, is supposed to
have had a great influence in producing
an important change in manners all over
Europe. Upon every insult or injury,
which seemed to touch his honor, a
gentleman thought himself entitled to
draw his sword, and to call on his adver-
sary to give him satisfaction. Such an
opinion becoming prevalent among men
of fierce courage, of high spirit, and rude
manners, where offence was often given,
and revenge always prompt, led to the
sacrifice of many lives. This "detestable
practice of duelling, introduced," as the
council of Trent say, "at the instigation
of the devil," raged with the greatest
violence in France, where it is calculated
that 6000 persons fell in duels, during 10
years of the reign of Henry IV. His
celebrated minister, Sully, remonstrated
against the practice; but the king connived
at it, supposing that it tended to maintain
a military spirit among his people. But
afterwards, in 1602, near the close of his
reign, he issued a very severe decree
against it, and declared it to be punishable
with death. This decree was opposed by
Sully, as being so far beyond the senti-
ments of the people on the subject, that
it could not be carried into execution;
and experience proved the correctness of
Sully's opinion. Under Henry's succes-
sor, the cardinal Richelieu introduced a
law, that every person who should fight a
duel should lose his offices and pensions, a
third of his property, and be exiled for three
years from the kingdom. Duels soon de-
creased. Two noblemen were executed for
this offence in 1627. In 1632, two noble-
men killed each other in a duel their
corpses were hung upon the gallows, with
the legs uppermost. (Mercure, XIII, 450.)
Dues are not severely punished by the
present French code. "It must be admit-
ted," says Mr. Robertson, in connexion
with his account of the challenge between
Charles and Francis, "that to this absurd
custom we must ascribe, in some degree,

326
DUEL.
the extraordinary gentleness and complai-
sance of modern manners, and that re-
spectful attention of one man to another,
which, at present, render the social inter-
courses of life far more agreeable and
decent than among the most civilized
nations of antiquity." Duelling sprung
up as a branch of the chivalrous spirit of
the middle ages; and the remnant of that
spirit, which has survived to our own
times, and which makes an insult, or an
injury to honor, insupportable, has pre-
served this custom, in opposition to the
exhortations and denunciations of the
teachers of religion, and the prohibitions
and penalties of the laws, which have
been levelled against it in all civilized
countries. A duel, provoked from a spirit
of revenge and thirst of blood, shocks the
moral sense, and excites the horror of
mankind, little less than a cold-blooded
assassination. But, where a man burns
with a sense of atrocious insult, which
no laws can redress, and resorts to the
duel, not from a spirit of revenge, but
as the only means supplied which he
considers to be left him for vindicating
his honor, although this remedy is ever
so inadequate, and even absurd, and al-
though it is liable to so great abuse, still,
in such a case, the general sentiment, in
spite of all laws to the contrary, regards
a challenge with tolerance; and it is these
instances that sustain the practice of
duelling, and defeat, in a great degree,
the execution of the laws against duels.
As far as men are impelled to combat by
these motives, as Sully remarked to Hen-
ry IV, the threat of the punishment of
death, by the law, has feeble influence
with them; since they expose their lives
in the combat itself, in order to avoid
what they consider a greater evil than
death. This evil is one inflicted, in many
instances, by the public opinion, and de-
pends on the customs of particular socie-
ties. Thus, in France, Spain and Italy,
a blow with the hand is a mortal injury;
and that it is so is matter merely of public
opinion, for in England and the U. States,
this is by no means so burning a disgrace.
But, in both of the latter countries, a
stroke with a whip is, by the public opin-
ion, rendered exceedingly galling. After
all, however, parties in the heat of resent-
ment, and the high excitement of their
sensibilities, are apt greatly to overrate the
importance of the supposed disparage-
ment of their reputation; and the frivolity
of the occasion would frequently make
duels subjects of ridicule, if they were not
cases of life and death. And, though the
public are disposed to palliate them, in
extreme cases, still the laws very proper-
ly prohibit the practice of duelling, in
toto. Accordingly, the laws of England
make killing in a duel, after time for
reflection and deliberation, murder. "A
party," says Mr. Russell, in his treatise on
crimes, "killing another in a deliberate
duel, is guilty of murder, and cannot help
himself by alleging that he was first struck
by the deceased; or that he had often
declined to meet him, and was prevailed
upon to do so by his importunity; or that
it was his intent only to vindicate his rep-
utation; or that he meant not to kill, but
only to disarm his adversary. He has
deliberately engaged in an act highly un-
lawful, and he must abide the conse-
quences." Such is the law of England,
but it does not prevent duels; and the
parties concerned in them often come off
with impunity. In the U. States, there is
a very considerable diversity in the laws
of the different states on this subject, at
the time of writing this article, in 1830.
In Maine, the punishment for challenging,
fighting a duel, or acting as second, is
solitary imprisonment not over a year,
confinement to hard labor not more than
20 years, and disqualification for office for
20 years; for accepting a challenge, im-
prisonment not exceeding a year, and dis-
qualification for office 5 years: in Ver-
mont, for killing in a duel, death; for
sending or accepting a challenge, a fine
of from $50 to $1000, and absolute dis-
qualification for office: in Massachusetts,
for fighting, in case death does not ensue,
or challenging, accepting a challenge, or
being second, the same as 'n Maine: in
Rhode Island, for fighting, though death
does not ensue, carting to the gallows,
with a rope about the neck, sitting on the
gallows an hour, and imprisonment not ex-
ceeding a year, either or both: in Connec-
ticut, for sending or accepting a challenge,
a
fine of $3000, bonds for good behavior
during life, and disqualification for office;
for delivering a challenge, the same, ex-
cepting the bonds: in New Jersey, for
challenging, or bearing a challenge, or
aiding, a fine not over $500, or imprison-
ment not more than 2 years, or both;
for fighting, or being second, or aiding,
a fine not over $1000, and imprisonment
to hard labor not more than 2 years:
in Pennsylvania, for challenging, or bear-
ing a challenge, a fine not over $500, and
imprisonment of 1 year: in Delaware, for
fighting a duel, or sending, bearing or
accepting a challenge, or aiding therein, a
fine of $1000, imprisonment for three
DUEL-DUGUAY-TROUIN.
months, and absolute disqualification for
office in Maryland, for sending or ac-
cepting a challenge, disqualification for
office; for killing an antagonist in a duel,
or wounding him so that he shall die
within a year and a day, confinement in
the penitentiary not less than 5, nor more
than 18 years: in Virginia, for killing in a
duel, death; for challenging, or accepting
a challenge, disqualification for office: in
Louisiana, for an insult, with intent to pro-
voke a challenge, a fine of $50 to $300,
and close imprisonment from 5 to 30
days; for giving or accepting a chal-
lenge, imprisonment from 2 to 6 months,
and suspension of political rights for 4
years; for fighting, without wounding,
imprisonment from 6 to 12 months, and
suspension from political rights 6 years;
for wounding, but not mortally, or so as
to occasion a permanent bodily disabil-
ity, imprisonment from 12 to 18 months,
and suspension from political rights 8
years; for killing in a duel, imprisonment
from 2 to 4 years, and absolute forfeiture
of certain political rights. In many of
the states, of which the statutes make no
special provision for the case of killing in
a duel, it is either murder or manslaugh-
ter, by the general law. The laws of Illi-
nois, and some other states, require certain
officers of the state to make oath, either
that they have not, within a certain time,
been, or will not be, concerned in a duel.
"Some advocates for duelling," says
Coke, "allege the combat of David and
Goliath, in vindication of the practice;"
and there are some other instances on
record, of single combats proposed, which
Coke looks upon in a more favorable
light. He mentions that Edward III,
in the 16th year of his reign, proposed
a speedy trial of all right in controversy
between him and the French king, by a
personal combat with his rival. And
Richard II, of England, having a contro-
versy with the king of France, concerning
the title to the French crown, "it was,"
says Coke," an honorable offer that Rich-
ard made to Charles, the French king, for
saving of guiltless Christian blood, and to
put an end to that bloody and lingering
war, through his uncle, the duke of Lan-
caster," that the war should be concluded,
1, by a personal combat between them-
selves; or, 2, between themselves, with
three of their uncles on each side; or, 3,
by a general battle, at an appointed time
and place, between all the forces that they
could respectively muster. The duke of
Lancaster, according to his commission,
made these offers to Charles, the king of
327

France, "but king Charles liked none of
their offers." In 1196, in the eighth year
of the reign of Richard I, Philip, king of
France, sent this challenge to Richard I
of England,-"that king Richard would
choose five for his part, and the king of
France would choose five for his part,
which might fight in lists for trial of all
matters in controversy between them, for
the avoiding of shedding of more guiltless
blood. Richard accepted the offer, with
the condition that either king might be
of the number, but this condition would
not be granted." Upon which Coke re-
marks, that "these and the like offers, as
they proceeded from high courage and
greatness of mind, so had they been lawful
if they had been warranted by public au-
thority. To take away all motive and ex-
cuse for the duel, Henry IV of France erect-
ed a court of honor, to try, and administer
redress in, those cases which are the usual
subjects of martial arbitrament. But this
did not supplant the mode of decision by
combat; and no court of this sort seems to
be now in existence, or, at least, in the
course of practical administration, in any
country; and whether it be at all practi-
cable, remains yet to be determined.
DUFRESNE, OF DU FRESNE, Charles, lord
of Cange, hence often called Ducange; a
man of letters, who did much for the his-
tory of the middle ages, especially as re-
gards his own country, as well as for the
Byzantine history. He was born in 1610,
at a farm near Amiens, of a respectable
family, and studied in the Jesuits' college,
at that place, afterwards at Orleans and
Paris. At this last place he became par-
liamentary advocate, in 1631, and, in 1645,
royal treasurer at Amiens, from which
place he was driven by a pestilence, in
1668, to Paris. Here he devoted himself
entirely to literature, and published his
great works, viz., his Glossary of the Greek
and Latin peculiar to the Middle Ages and
the Moderns; his Historia Byzantina (Paris,
1680, fol.); the Annals of Zonaras; the Nu-
mismatics of the Middle Ages, and other
important works. He died in 1688.
DUGUAY-TROUIN, René, one of the most
distinguished seamen of his time, born,
1673, at St. Malo, was the son of a rich
merchant and skilful navigator. He made
his first voyage in 1689, in a vessel of 18
guns, which his family fitted out, in the
war against England and Holland. His
courage induced his family to trust him
with a ship of 14 guns. Being driven on
the coast of Ireland, he burnt two ships,
and took a fort, in spite of the opposition
of a numerous garrison. He was once
328
DUGUAY-TROUIN-DUKE.

taken prisoner, and carried into Plymouth.
He there gained the love of an English
female, who procured him his liberty.
He once more made a cruise on the coast
of England, and took two ships of war.
Duguay-Trouin, now in his 21st year, at-
tracted the attention of the government.
Louis XIV sent him a sword. He cap-
tured great numbers of English and Dutch
ships on the coast of Spain and Ireland;
in 1696, he took a great part of the out-
ward bound Dutch fleet, under Wasse-
naer; in 1697, he entered the royal ma-
rine, as a captain. He signalized himself
so much in the Spanish war, that the king
granted him letters of nobility, in which
it was stated, that he had captured more
than 300 merchant ships, and 20 ships of
war. By the capture of Rio de Janeiro,
1611, he brought the crown more than 25
millions. Under Louis XV, he rendered
important services in the Levant and the
Mediterranean. He died at Paris, 1736.
His memoirs appeared there, in 1740, in 4
vols. His Eloge was written by Thomas.
DUJARDIN, Charles, a painter, born
1640, at Amsterdam, a scholar of Ber-
ghem, excelled in painting landscapes,
animals, and scenes in low life. He went
to Italy when young, and was a member
of the society of painters at Rome, among
whom he was called Barba di Becco.
His works met with general approbation.
On his return to his native country, he
contracted considerable debts at Lyons, to
free himself from which he married his
old and rich landlady. He went with
her to Amsterdam, where his pictures
were valued very highly. He soon se-
cretly left his home in that city, probably
from dislike to his wife, and went to
Rome, where he was welcomed by his old
friends and admirers, and lived at great
expense. Thence he went to Venice,
where he died, in 1678, in the prime of life.
His landscapes have spirit and harmony,
his figures expression, and his coloring the
brilliancy which distinguishes his school.
His paintings are rare, and command a
high price. He also published 52 land-
scapes, etched with much spirit and ease.
DUKE (from the Latin dux, leader, com-
mander). Among the ancient German
tribes, the military leaders were chosen
by the people (reges ex nobilitate, duces
ex virtute sumunt, says Tacitus), with
whom, however, the whole legislative
power remained: this is the natural and
probably the common origin of the princes
of all nations. By degrees, as appears
from Marculphus, and Gregory of Tours,
the oath of allegiance was introduced
among the Franks, which was taken,
not only by the followers of the prince
(comites), but also by the people at large,
who still continued, however, to hold the
legislative power. The counts and dukes,
after this time, were no longer chosen by
the people, but by the prince. Dukes
were set over provinces or districts, to
regulate the military affairs, and counts to
administer justice, and to collect the taxes.
(See Count.) Charlemagne suffered the
dignity of the dukes to cease, because
their power seemed to him too dangerous.
But the incursions of foreign tribes into
Germany made the reestablishment of
dukes necessary under his successors. In
847, the emperor Louis appointed a duke
of Thuringia, to protect the frontiers
against the Wendes, or Vandals, a Scla-
vonic tribe. The power of the dukes now
gradually increased, their dignity, like that
of counts, became hereditary, and they
soon became powerful members of the
German empire. An archbishop of Co-
logne, Bruno, was the first who bore (in
959) the title of archduke, which, since the
time of the emperor Frederic III (1453),
has been given exclusively to the princes
of the house of Austria. All the Austrian
princes are archdukes. The kings of
Poland styled themselves grand-dukes of
Lithuania; and Maximilian II, emperor
of Germany, gave this title of grand-duke
to the dukes of Florence. Napoleon con-
ferred the arch-ducal dignity on several
German princes, which the congress of
Vienna confirmed to them. In other
countries, duke is only a title of nobility,
as duca in Italy, duc in France, and duke
in England. In the two first countries,
dukes are the second in rank among the
nobles; in the latter, the highest. Napo-
leon created ducs, after he had assumed
the title of emperor, and gave them titles
generally taken from places or countries
in which they had distinguished them-
selves; as, for instance, Duroc was cre-
ated duke of Friuli. In England, the first
hereditary duke was the black prince,
created by his father, Edward III, in
1336. The duchy of Cornwall was be-
stowed upon him, and was thenceforward
attached to the eldest son of the king,
who is considered dux natus. The duchy
of Lancaster was soon after conferred on
his third son, John of Gaunt, and hence
arose the special privileges which these two
duchies still in part retain. In the reign
of Elizabeth, in 1572, the ducal order was
extinct, and not revived till the creation of
Villars duke of Buckingham, by James I.
There are now, besides the brothers of
DUMS AND DEAF
DUKE-DUMB AND DEAF
the king of England, who are all dukes,
19 English dukes. The coronet of an
English duke consists of eight strawberry
leaves, on a rim of gold. His style is, most
high, potent and noble prince-your grace.
In the distribution of the empire, under
Constantine, dux was the title borne by
a military provincial governor. On the
division of the empire, 13 duces were
nominated in the East. In the Bible, the
word dukes is used, Gen. xxxvi. 15, for the
duces of the Vulgate.
329

prize dissertation, presented to the French
institute in 1805, has justly appreciated
the merit of this profound inquirer. His
works were published at Paris, 1797, in
seven vols. The principal are, A New
Method of teaching the Latin Language;
a Treatise on Tropes; the Principles of
(general) Grammar; and his contributions
to the Encyclopædia.
DUMAS, Matthieu (count), a distinguish-
ed French general, born 1758, at Mont-
pellier, served as a colonel in the war of
the American revolution. In 1789, he
entered the national guard, under. La
Fayette.
The gallery Fayette. In 1792, he exerted all his in-
fluence to prevent the declaration of war
against Austria. In the reign of terror, he
concealed himself. In September, 1795,
he was chosen member of the council of
elders. In 1797, he spoke energetically
against bringing up the troops, whom the
directory had sent for to occupy the capi-
tal, and was condemned to deportation.
He fled to Germany. In 1799, he pub-
lished, at Hamburg, a well written jour-
nal, entitled Précis des Événements mili-
taires, which showed his profound knowl-
edge of the military art. After the 18th
Brumaire, he returned to France.
1800, he was at the head of the staff of
the second army of reserve, and served in
the campaign of 1801, in Switzerland.
In August, 1802, he formed the plan of
a legion of honor. He was afterwards
general of division, and chief of the staff.
In 1805, he served in the grand army in
Germany, in this latter capacity.
1812, he accompanied Napoleon in the
Russian campaign, as intendent-general
of the army, and was at last taken prison-
er at the surrender of Dresden. He has
since continued his Précis des Événements,
19 vols. of which had appeared in 1825,
with 8 vols. of Atlas, folio. The 19th
volume extended to the end of the war of
1807.
DULWICH; a village in Surry, England,
noted for the College of God's Gift,
five miles S. E. London. The gallery
of paintings at Dulwich college is one of
the finest collections in the world. Dul-
wich is charmingly situated, and the de-
lightful walk to the village, after leaving
the long and noisy streets of the metropo-
lis, adds to the enjoyment of the gallery,
where the pieces of Cuyp and other mas-
ters seem to reflect the beautiful scenery
on which you have just been gazing. In
that collection you find paintings of all
characters and schools, from the conic,
and, sometimes, almost too natural Teniers
and Wouvermann, up to Cuyp, Claude,
Paul Potter, and the grave Ruysdael.
The gallery contains, likewise, many works
of Murillo, Vandyke, Rubens, Rembrandt,
Poussin, Salvator Rosa, Caravaggio, Guer-
cino, Paul Veronese, Guido, Andrea del
Sarto, and Titian. Of the last there is a
nymph, a picture in which this glorious
artist expressed, perhaps more than in
any of his other productions, that luxu-
riant beauty and glowing voluptuousness,
which so often inspired him. The galle-
ry at Dulwich is also advantageously dis-
tinguished from many others in England,
by the facility of admittance. Not a few
of the greatest works of art are immured in
the retired seats of the nobility, and only
seen, if at all, after tedious applications,
which contrast very disagreeably with the
facility of reception in Italy.
DUMARSAIS, César Chesneau, a philol-
ogist, born in 1676, at Marseilles, early
lost his father, his fortune was dissipated
by the extravagance of his mother, and
a library, which he inherited, was sold.
The idea of losing the latter so disturbed
the boy, then but seven years old, that he
concealed all the books of which he could
possess himself. He became an advocate,
married unhappily, kept a school, and
died in misery, 1756. His merits were
overlooked by his own age, and his best
works remained for a long time unknown.
D'Alembert aptly calls him the La Fon-
taine of philosophers. De Gerando, in a
DUMB AND DEAF, or DEAF MUTES.
In
In
Deafness. The sensation which we call
hearing is produced by the vibrations of
the air, striking on the tympanum dr
drum of the ear, and communicated to
the auditory nerve, by means of a series
of small bones connected in a very re-
markable manner. When the tympanum
becomes insensible to these impulses, a
person is termed deaf; although the vi-
brations may still be communicated, in
some cases, through the bones of the head,
by means of a stick placed between the
teeth, or, as the Code of Justinian states
to have been practised in the case of
dying persons, by speaking with the
28*
330
DUMB AND DEAF


mouth close to the top of the head.
The Eustachian tube extends from the
tympanum into the mouth; and some-
times sounds are better distinguished by
opening the mouth, when the external
opening, only, is obstructed. Hence the
habit of "listening with the mouth open."
Deafness occurs in every degree, from
that which merely impairs the accuracy
of the ear in distinguishing faint or similar
sounds, to that state in which there is no
more sensation in this organ than in any
other; and sound is felt in almost every
part of the body, as a mere vibration.
Articulation and Dumbness. Articula-
tion is acquired by imitating the sounds
which we hear uttered by others, and cor-
recting the voice, by means of the ear,
until the imitation is precise. Deafness,
therefore, in every degree, affects the dis-
tinctness of articulation, and, if it is so
great that the subject can no longer dis-
inguish between articulate sounds, he is
incapable of acquiring speech, in the or-
dinary manner, and becomes dumb in con-
sequence of his deafness. A case has oc-
curred within the knowledge of the writer,
in which entire deafness, taking place at
the
age of 18, so affected the articulation,
that the individual was no longer intelli-
gible, even to his friends. This result
will not be prevented by any degree of
hearing less than we have mentioned; for
most deaf and dumb persons can hear
some sounds; and some can distinguish
the high from the low, who perceive no
difference in articulations. Only a few
mutes are found, who owe this defect to
feebleness of mind, or to any imperfec-
tions in the organs of speech. These re-
marks show the fallacy of the idea, that
the want of speech is owing to the want
of mental capacity-a prejudice which
has been cherished by the usual name of
deaf and dumb, which we hope, for this
reason, as well as for euphony, will be
changed for that of deaf mute, which may
be employed both as a noun and an ad-
jective.
Number. The number of deaf mutes
varies materially in different countries,
and situations, and classes of men. In
the U. States, partial examination leads to
the belief that there is one deaf mute for
every 2000 inhabitants. In some coun-
tries of Europe, there is one for every
1500 or 1700; in others, one for every
1000; and, in some locations, the propor-
tion is three or four times as great as this.
The proportion has been found greatest
in some districts or portions of cities re-
markable for the dampness and impurity
sup-
of the air. The greater number of these
unfortunate persons is found among the
poorer classes; and hence it has been
posed, that the defect is frequently caused
by the want of the necessary supplies and
attentions during infancy or disease.
Origin. A large number of deaf mutes
are born deaf; but it appears from the
reports of the American asylum, that
more than half the pupils of that institu-
tion lost their hearing by accidents or dis-
eases, chiefly fevers and diseases of chil-
dren.
Causes and Cure. The immediate caus-
es of ordinary dumbness are known to be
various. In some few cases, it is owing
to an imperfection or injury of some part
of the organs of speech, and, of course, is
irremediable. In other cases, it seems to
arise from obstructions in the external or
internal passage of the ear. Cures have
sometimes been effected by removing
these obstructions by means of instru-
ments or injections, especially, of late, by
doctors Itard and Deleau, of Paris, who
throw injections into the Eustachian pas-
sage, by means of a flexible tube passed
through the nostrils. Doctor Delean is
reported, by a committee of the French
institute, to have relieved or cured several
deaf persons, by injections of air, long
continued; but he does not estimate the
probable number of cures in deaf mutes.
at more than one in ten. Perforation of
the tympanum is sometimes useful in ren
dering it more easy to remove obstruc-
tions which may be discovered; and for
this purpose, it is deemed important to
perform it by means of circular discs,
closing with a spring, which remove a
portion of the membrane, and leave a per-
manent opening. In other cases, and in
the usual mode, this operation often pro-
duces great suffering, and has not been
generally useful. In 81 cases of perfora-
tion at Groningen, in Holland, only three
were permanently relieved, and these in
a very partial degree. In the greater pro-
portion of deaf mutes, no defect is visible,
and no applications appear to be useful.
In a number of anatomical examinations
of deceased deaf mutes, at Paris, the ear
was found perfect in all its parts. The
inference has therefore been made, that
the disease consists in a paralysis of the
auditory nerve-a conclusion which seems
to be sustained by the fact, that, in some
cases, a cure has been effected by actual
cauery on the back of the head, and
that galvanism has sometimes given tem-
porary relief. According to the esti-
inates we have mentioned, the number of



DUMB AND
DUMB AND DEAF.
deaf mutes in the U. States is about
6000, and in Europe not less than 140,000;
all of whom, by their deafness (which we
see is usually beyond the reach of reme-
dies), are shut out from the intercourse
of society, and the ordinary means of
acquiring knowledge. The situation and
character of such a large class of unfortu-
nate persons are subjects of deep interest.
Communication.-Natural Language.
The necessity of communication, and the
want of words, oblige the deaf mute
to observe and imitate the actions and
expressions which accompany various
states of mind and of feeling, to indicate
objects by their appearance and use, and
persons by some peculiar mark, and to
describe their actions by direct imitation.
In this way, he and his friends are led to
form a dialect of that universal language
of attitude, gesture and expression, by
which the painter and the sculptor con-
vey to us every event of history, and every
feeling of the soul-which becomes a
substitute for words in the hands of the
pantomimic actor, and which adds force
and clearness to the finest effusions of the
orator-in other words, the natural sign
language.
Description of the Language. The terms
of this language are of two kinds-the
descriptive and the characteristic or in-
dicative signs. Descriptive signs involve
an account (more or less complete) of the
appearance, qualities and uses of an ob-
ject, or the circumstances of an event, for
the purpose of description or explanation,
and must, from their nature, be varied,
like a painting, only by the point of view
from which the objects are described, or
the capacity and accuracy of the person
that describes. The indicative signs, on
the contrary, which are employed in com-
mon conversation, are usually mere ab-
breviations of these, involving a single
striking feature of the person, or object, or
event; as an elephant is indicated by its
trunk, a flower by its fragrance, or a town
by a collection of roofs. The signs of
persons are usually conventional, and de-
rived from some feature, or mark, or
habit, but often from an accidental cir-
cumstance in dress, &c., which struck the
deaf mute on first seeing the person, and
is still referred to when it no longer exists.
It is obvious that, in this class of signs,
there is great room for dialects, according
to the situation, capacity and habits of
observation of the individual, and that
much may be done for its improvement,
by a proper selection.
Extent of the Sign Language. The
331


sign language, like every other, varies in
its extent with the intelligence, the wants,
and the circle of ideas of those who use
it. When employed by an insulated deaf
mute, it will usually exhibit only the ob-
jects of the first necessity, and the most
common impulses, like the language of a
savage tribe. When his ideas expand,
from age or observation, he will find new
modes of expressing them; and, when his
education is begun, an intelligent deaf
mute will often express ideas in this lan-
guage, for which it is difficult to find ex-
pressions in words. When a number of
deaf mutes are brought together in a sin-
gle institution, selections and combinations
of their various dialects are formed; the
best are gradually adopted by all; and a
new and more complete form of the lan-
guage is the result-as in nations collected
by civilization. This process, carried on
for half a century in the institution of
Paris, and some others in Europe, under
the observation and direction of intelligent
men possessed of hearing, has produced
a language capable of expressing all the
ideas we convey by articulate sounds,
with clearness, though not always with
equal brevity, and which those who value
it least admit to surpass speech in the
force with which it communicates the
feelings and states of mind. Like paint-
ing (as Condillac observes), it has the im-
mense advantage of presenting a group
of ideas at once, which lose much of their
force and beauty, by being detailed in the
successive words and artificial arrange-
ments of written language. The eye, the
hand, the whole body, speak simultane-
ously on one subject; the representation
changes every moment, and these peculiar-
ities, with the elliptical form of expression
which is adopted in conversation, give a
rapidity to communication by the sign
language, which, on common subjects,
among those familiar with it, surpasses
that of speech. If we remark the new
shades of meaning given to the same
words, by the varying attitude and gen-
eral expression of the speaker, and the
accuracy with which a nice observer will
discover, in these signs, the thoughts, and
feelings and intentions, even of one who
wishes to conceal them, we shall find
reason to believe that they are capable of
conveying the most delicate shades of
thought. Generic and abstract terms, as
their objects do not exist in nature, have no
corresponding terms of equal clearness in
the sign language; and the abbreviated
manner in which we express relations by
conjunctions, prepositions, relatives and




332
DUMB AND DEAF.
that it has been so extensively rejected,
among these nations, as an auxiliary in
the education of the deaf mute.
inflections, can only be imitated by adopt
ing similar conventional signs, which
do not easily fall in with the idiom of
the language. In these respects, there-
fore, the sign language wants the algebraic
brevity and accuracy which are found in
artificial languages, and which render
these so invaluable as mediums of
thought, and instruments of philosoph-
ical investigation; at the same time, it is
capable of describing what is conveyed
by these forms, with an accuracy at least
as great as that of words, by circumlocu-
tion and example. It is worthy of re-
mark, that the order of expression, in the
sign language, is that which we term
inverted-the subject before the quality,
the object before the action, and, general-
ly, the thing modified before the modifier.
This language, in its elements, is to be
found among all nations, and has ever
been the medium of communication be-
tween voyagers and the natives of newly
discovered countries. It is employed by
many savage tribes to supply the paucity
of expression in their language, or to com-
municate with other tribes, as in the
Sandwich islands, and in North America.
Among the Indians of the western terri-
tory of the United States, major Long
found it an organized language, employed
between tribes who spoke different artic-
ulate languages. The accounts received
from himself, as well as his work, show
that it corresponds, almost precisely, with
that in use in the school of Paris; and a
Sandwich islander, who visited the Amer-
ican asylum for deaf mutes, gave a nar-
rative of his life in the sign language,
which was perfectly understood by the
pupils. If testimony be wanting that it
still retains its universal character, in its
cultivated form, the writer of this article,
who acquired it in this form, can state,
that he has employed it, or seen it em-
ployed, with success, in communicating
with an American Indian, a Sandwich
islander, a Chinese, and the deaf and dumb
in various parts of the U. States, in Eng-
land, Scotland, France, Germany, Switzer-
land and Italy. The more lively nations
of Europe, belonging to the Celtic race,
the French and Italians, &c. make great
use of this language, in connexion with
words, and, sometimes, even without them.
The more phlegmatic people of the Teu-
tonic race, in England and Germany, are
so little disposed to it, and so much less
able to acquire or understand it, that they
regard it as a species of affectation or buf-
foonery in their southern neighbors; and
to this circumstance it is probably owing,
must,
ap-
Natural State of the deaf Mute. The
natural condition of the deaf mute may
be inferred from the account we have
given of his language. It is obvious that
the mere loss of hearing cannot, in itself,
diminish the natural vigor of any other
faculty, either of body or mind. He
however, be destitute of all ideas of
sounds; but these form so small a part
of the circle of our ideas, in comparison
with those derived from sight, that they
cannot seriously affect him. His concep-
tions, derived through the medium of
sight, are usually more accurate than ours,
his recollections more vivid, and his pow-
ers of description more striking, because
his attention is more undivided. His dis-
crimination of feelings and character is
often intuitive, and he frequently divines
the subject of conversation from the
pearance of the speaker. The tremen-
dous part of his misfortune is the inter-
ruption of communication with his fellow
men, on all subjects except the primary
wants and impulses, which arises from
the imperfect character of his sign lan-
guage, in an uneducated state. His ideas
are very much limited to the objects and
events he witnesses, and the exterior re-
lations of things; and he is shut out from
all the knowledge derived from history
and tradition. Past ages, distant coun-
tries, a future world, a Deity, are all be-
yond his reach. In regard to the com-
bination and application of the ideas which
he acquires, he is still in the state of na-
tions in the infancy of society, and cannot
be aided or directed by others, in his
efforts to reason. After extensive obser-
vation and inquiry, we cannot hear of or
find a single instance in which a person,
born deaf, has conceived of a First Cause,
from a view of the works of nature, with-
out education. They describe themselves
as looking at these objects like the brutes.
Even those whose friends have made
great efforts to communicate religious
truths seldom have an idea of the Deity,
as a Creator or Benefactor; and a deaf
mute at Chartres, in France, who had
been taught to perform all the rites of the
Catholic church, and was deemed very
devout, on receiving his hearing, stated
that he had no conceptions of any thing
but the external forms of religion. Con-
science, in them, derives all its light from
the observation of the conduct of others,
and the instinctive impulses; but recog-
nises no invariable law, and often leaves






DUMB AND
DUMB AND DEAF.
these unfortunate persons to commit gross
crimes, without any sense of guilt. In
short, they are enveloped in intellectual
and moral darkness, in the midst of the
clearest light.
History of the Art of Instruction. Men-
tion is made of deaf mutes in the writ-
ings of Pliny; and they were declared, by
the Code of Justinian, incapable of civil
acts. No attempts appear to have been
made to give them instruction, until the
latter part of the 15th century, when we
are merely told by Agricola, professor of
philosophy at Heidelberg, in Germany,
of a deaf mute who had been instructed.
In the middle of the 16th century, Pascha,
a clergyman of Brandenburg, instructed
a daughter, who was a deaf mute, by
means of pictures. But the first effort for
this interesting object, of which we have
distinct account, was made by Pedro
de Ponce, a Benedictine monk, of the
Spanish kingdom of Leon, who instructed
four deaf mutes, of noble families, to
write and speak, in 1570. In 1620, John
Bonet, another Spaniard, published the
first book known on this subject, contain-
ing an account of the method which he
adopted in a similar course of instruction,
and accompanied by a manual alphabet,
from which that now in use at Paris was
derived. In 1659, the instruction of deaf
mutes was attempted, with apparent suc-
cess, by doctors Holder and Wallis, both
of whom published accounts of their
methods. At about the same time, Van
Helmont, in Holland, published an in-
genious treatise on the manner of forming
articulate sounds, the principles of which,
he says, he had applied with success to
the instruction of a deaf mute. In 1691,
John Conrad Amman, a Swiss physician
in Leyden, published a similar work; but
he and his predecessors appear to have
devised and executed their plans without
any knowledge of those who had pre-
viously attempted the same thing. In
1704, the methods published in Spain,
England and Holland, were first applied,
in Germany, by Kerger, apparently with
much ingenuity and success, and some
improvements. He was soon followed
by a number of laborers in the same field,
of whom Arnoldi appears to have been
the most distinguished. In 1743, the
practicability of instructing deaf mutes
was first publicly demonstrated in France,
by Pereira, a Spaniard, before the acade-
my of sciences, who gave their testimony
to its success. About the same time,
this branch of instruction was attempt-
ed in France, by several others, among
333
whom Deschamps, Ernaud, and Vanin
were best known. In 1755, Heinicke in how
Germany, De l'Epée in France, both of
whom were led to feel an interest in deaf
mutes thrown accidentally in their way,
formed each an independent system of
instruction, established the first institu-
tions for the education of deaf mutes, at
Paris and Leipsic, and may be justly re-
garded as the founders of the two great
schools, into which the instructers of the
deaf mutes have since been divided, Inly
1764, Thomas Braidwood, of Edinburgh,
devised a system of instruction, in which,
as in that of Heinicke, articulation was
the chief object. Both these persons, for
a long time, refused to communicate their
inventions, except for a compensation,
and under seal of secrecy; and their prin-
ciples have scarcely extended beyond the
countries in which they originated. De
l'Epée devoted his fortune and his life to
the instruction of his pupils, and the gra-
tuitous communication of the art to all
who would learn it; and, in consequence
of his efforts and instructions, schools
were founded by Silvestri at Rome, Stork
at Vienna, Guyot at Groningen, and Ul-
rich in Switzerland, which still exist in
the hands of their disciples. The system
of De l'Epée was materially improved by
Sicard, his pupil and successor in the
institution of Paris, who is admitted to
have surpassed his master, and to rank
with him as one of the greatest benefac-
tors of the deaf mute. Towards the close
of the last century, Assarotti, of Genoa,
established, by his own benevolent efforts,
an institution which ranks among the
first in Europe, and formed a system of
instruction, based, indeed, upon that in
Sicard's works, but involving important
improvements, which entitle him to be
considered the founder of the Italian
school.
European Institutions. From the last
report of the Paris institution, with some
additional accounts, it appears, that there
are now 81 establishments for deaf mutes
in Europe; of which Spain has 1, Portu-
gal 1, Italy 6, Switzerland 4, Baden 4,
Wurtemburg 3, Bavaria 1, Prussia 8, the
rest of Germany 10, Denmark 2, Sweden
1, Russia 1, Holland 4, Great Britain 10,
and France 26. Sixty-two of these have
been established within the last 30 years.
A few in Great Britain, and in Germany
and Switzerland, are conducted on the
system of Heinicke and Braidwood. The
rest, including several in Great Britain,
adopt the fundamental principles of De
l'Epée and Sicard.

334
DUMB AND DEAF

American Institutions. The first instruc-
tion of deaf mutes in America was given
in Virginia, by a descendant of Braid-
wood, who adopted the system of con-
cealment, like his ancestor. A small
school was formed; but we have not
learned the results, and believe it has
ceased to exist. The first institution for
this purpose, and which now ranks among
the most distinguished of the kind, was
the American Asylum, projected in 1815,
and established in 1817, in Hartford, Con-
necticut, by the efforts of the Reverend
T. H. Gallaudet, aided by Mr. Laurent
Clerc, a distinguished pupil of Sicard, and
sustained by the contributions of gentle-
men in that town. The course of instruc-
tion is based on the system of Sicard, but
with important improvements by Mr.
Gallaudet. Asylums for the deaf mute
were subsequently founded in Philadel-
phia, at Canajoharie, in the state of New
York, in Ohio, and in Kentucky, all of
which obtained their system of instruction
from the American Asylum; and this in-
stitution is thus entitled to the praise of
having given birth to an American school
of instructers, and to an American system
of education for the deaf mute, whose re-
sults have excited surprise in Europe, and
have even been declared to be utterly im-
probable, from their superiority to those
usually produced. An asylum was es-
tablished in the city of New York, at
about the same time with the American
Asylum, which has not derived its system
from any existing institution. The legis-
latures of Maryland and most of the states
north of this have granted annual supplies
for the education of their indigent deaf
mutes, at some one of these institutions;
other states have proposed to establish
asylums, and, by a bill now before the
congress of the U. States, a tract of land
is granted to every such institution. If the
deaf mutes in the U. States be estimated
at 1 for every 2000, or 1000 for every
2,000,000 of inhabitants, the annual in-
crease for one generation, supposing it to
be 30 years, will be 33 for every 2,000,000;
and, if the course of instruction occupy 4
or 5 years, 150 deaf mutes, for every
2,000,000, ought to be continually under
instruction. According to this calculation,
the five existing institutions are sufficient
for the existing 8,000,000 of inhabitants
north of Tennessee and Virginia; and it
only remains to establish two or three
others, at central points, for the Southern
States.
Systems of Instruction. The objects to be
accomplished in the education of a deaf
mute, are to teach him an entire lan-
guage, and to give him all that mass of
moral, religious and ordinary knowledge
that is necessary for him, as a social and
immortal being, for which, in other chil
dren, 12 or 15 years of constant intercourse
with society, and much study, are deemed
necessary; all this is to be done in six,
and often even in three years. It is obvi
ous that, to accomplish this, some method,
more rapid in its results than the ordinary
one, must be adopted. The earlier in
structers of the deaf mute usually had
only one, or a very few pupils, and have
given us hints for instruction, rather than
a system. The first account which we
have of the reduction of this art to a reg
ular and permanent form, is in the works
of Heinicke and De l'Epée. Heinicke,
like many of his predecessors, considered
the want of speech as the great misfor-
tune of the deaf mute, and made it the
great object of instruction to teach him to
articulate, in order to aid the progress of
his own mind, as well as to enable him to
communicate with others in this manner.
We are told by the successor of Heinicke
in the Leipsic school, that the following
"are and were the views and principles
of Heinicke and his disciples :"-that "we
think in articulate words, and cannot
think in written words;" "that written
words can never lead to the develope-
ment of ideas, in children born deaf;"
and that "no freedom in thought, or in
the use of language; can be produced
without articulation, either by signs or by
written language." If it were credible
that sounds were more allied to abstract
ideas than objects of sight are; if we could
forget that we often have ideas for which
we cannot easily find words, the facts we
have stated concerning the language of
signs, and the capacity of several hun-
dred pupils, educated merely by signs, in
the French and American institutions, to
read and write, and converse and reason,
prove the entire fallacy of these views;
and the argument ab ignorantia cannot
be adduced, at this day, on that subject,
without disgrace. Those who follow this
system admit the use of the sign language
in the early stages of instruction, but seek
to banish it as early as possible, consider-
ing it as a rude language, incapable of
improvement, and which retards the ex-
pansion of the pupil's mind, and renders
it less necessary for him to attend to writ
ten language. They adopt the methods
of the early instructers, in waiting for occa-
sions to teach words and explain phrases.
They rely upon repeating the word or




DUMB AND DEAF
DUMB AND DEAF.
hrase in the appropriate circumstances,
and in questions and answers, as the means
of making it understood, rather than on
direct explanation, or examples presented
by the sign language. Too many of this
school forget one of the fundamental
maxims of Heinicke-"first ideas, then
words"-and occupy the pupil for a long
time with mere mechanical articulation.
In one school, months are passed in the
nere study of names attached to pictures,
without the least attempt to excite or en-
lighten the mind by means of signs; and
isually a year is passed, at a period of
life when most of the mental faculties are
ripe for developement, in the mere exer-
cise of memory (in learning names of ob-
jects, and qualities, and actions), which
only requires the powers of an infant, and
would be aided, instead of retarded, by the
expansion of the mind, as the experience
of the other schools fully proves. Reli-
gious instruction is rarely attempted, in
this school before the second year, or
until it can be given in words, from the
belief that it cannot be given correctly by
signs; and in the school of Leipsic, it is
even deferred to the third year. The at-
tention of De l'Epée, and other instructers
of the same views, was called especially
to the intellectual and moral wants of
the deaf mute; and they deemed it most
unportant first to develope his powers,
and cultivate his feelings; and, next, to
give him such a knowledge of written
language as is indispensable to the ac-
quisition of knowledge, and the commu-
nication of his wants. They found the
only medium of conveying truth, or ex-
plaining terms, in the sign language
which we have described. They em-
ployed it in its natural state, to explain
the first simple terms. They discovered
that it was capable of extension, and they
preserved and cultivated it, as we have
mentioned, as a language intelligible to
the pupil, by which they could always
refer to any objects of thought or feeling,
physical, intellectual or moral, and thus
form original explanations of new words,
and avoid the error which might arise
from the imperfection of previous expla-
nations. Words they considered as ar-
bitrary signs, and De l'Epée maintained,
that the instruction of the deaf mute, like
that of a foreigner, ought to consist in a
course of translation and retranslation
from the known to the unknown lan-
guage. To aid in this process, he added
a series of methodical and conventional
signs, founded on analogy, for the parti-
cles and inflections of language. These
335
were used chiefly in instruction, in order
to render the translation complete, as well
as to indicate the character and meaning
of the connectives. He does not appear
to have practised fully upon his own prin-
ciples, but occupied himself too exclusive-
ly with the intellectual improvement of his
pupils, and with single words, and seems
to have despaired of enabling them to use
language, in its connexion, except in a
mechanical manner. Sicard endeavored
to complete the plan of his master, by the
improvement of the signs employed; and
to him and his pupils we owe, more than
to any others, the perfection which this
language has attained. He also endeav-
ored to avoid the error of De l'Epée, by
explaining the theory of grammar, and
the formulas of the various species of
propositions, and, in this way, was led into
a course of metaphysical and philosophi-
cal lessons, which later instructers have
found too extensive and too little practi-
cal. According to the system adopted"
under his direction, the first year was oc-
cupied with a vocabulary of names, of
adjectives, and of verbs in three simple
tenses, with simple religious and other
narratives in the sign language. It was
only in the second year, that words were
shown, in their connexion, in short phra
ses; the pronouns, prepositions, and the
full inflection of the verbs, were taught,
and religious instruction given, in writ-
ten language. In the third and fourth
years, the organs, senses, and operations
of the mind, and the theory of sentences,
were explained, original description and
definitions required, and in the fourth
year, books were put into the hands of
the pupils. Throughout the course, pub-
lic lectures were given, in which written
accounts of Bible history and religious
truth were explained in the sign language;
but no devotional exercises in this lan-
guage were ever connected with them, or
practised by the pupils.
American System. This system has
been materially modified in the school of
Paris itself, and in several others on the
continent of Europe, which adopt the
same principles. As the American sys-
tem of instruction, devised by Mr. Gal-
laudet, without any knowledge of others,
except that of Paris, on which it is found-
ed, comprises most of these improve-
ments, with some others of great impor-
tance, peculiar to itself, we cannot do better,
within the limits allowed us, than to de-
scribe this as we have found it, in bis
own statement, and in the American
Asylum. Mr. Gallaudet has combined


336
DUMB AND DEAF.

the fundamental principle of Heinicke-
"first ideas, then words"-with that of De
l'Epée-that "the natural language of
signs must be elevated to as high a degree
of excellence as possible, in order to serve
as the medium for giving the ideas clear-
ly, and explaining them accurately." He
has added another of no small importance
-that, as words describe rather the im-
pression, or states of mind produced by
external objects, than those essential qual-
ities which are beyond our reach, the
process of learning them would be facil-
itated by leading the pupils to reflect on
their own sensations and ideas; and he
states, as the result of his experience, that,
among deaf mutes of equal capacities,
"those who can be led to mark or de-
scribe, with the greatest precision, the
operations of their own mind, uniformly
make the most rapid progress in the ac-
quisition of written language, and of reli-
gious truth." A leading object, therefore,
in connexion with the first lessons, in
which sensible ideas are presented and
named, is to establish a free communica-
tion with the pupil, in the sign language,
in reference to his feelings and thoughts,
as excited by the objects which he sees,
or the events of his own life. He easily
comprehends those of others, and is thus
led to learn the names of the simple emo-
tions and acts of the mind. Hence he is
brought to think of an invisible agent,
which we term the soul, as the feeling
and percipient being; and, by a natural
transition, is led, by the use of signs
alone, to the Great Spirit, as the First
Cause; to his character, as our Creator and
Benefactor; and to a knowledge of his
law and our future destiny. In this man-
ner, the deaf mutes in the American Asy-
lum (and, we presume, in others derived
from it) are made acquainted with the
simple truths of religion and morality in
one year; a period in which, in most Euro-
pean institutions, they are scarcely ad-
vanced beyond the knowledge of sounds,
and the names of sensible objects, quali-
ties and actions, or the most common
phrases. By communicating this instruc-
tion in the natural sign language, pupils,
whose inferior capacity or advanced age
would not allow them to acquire enough
of written language to receive religious
truth through this medium, have been
early prepared tc enjoy its blessings and
hopes, and feel its sanctions as a restraint
upon their conduct, whic. renders their
government more easy, while it aids them
in the formation of correct habits. An-
other plan, which is not known to have
been ever employed before its introduc-
tion by Mr. Gallaudet, in 1817, was to
conduct the daily and weekly devotional
exercises by signs; and the deaf mutes
have been thus taught to address the
Father of their spirits in their own natural
language, and have been admitted to the
new privilege of social worship. In ap-
plying the first principles to the course of
instruction in language, an important im-
provement has been made, by combining
words into phrases as early as possible,
and thus teaching the pupil how to use
them. The idea of each phrase is first
explained by the sign language, and then
translated into words, and then retrans
lated by the pupil into his own language.
The process is carried on for more diffi
cult words, and the phrases are lengthened
until they become narratives. The ac
quisition and use of the connectives are
aided by the methodical signs of De l'Epée
and Sicard. The pupil is called upon, at
intervals, to express his own ideas in
writing, and to explain by signs what is
written by others. An important addi
tional improvement is "to employ the
pupil, as early as possible, in the study of
books written in an easy style, explained
by signs when necessary," so as to lead
him, by his own, and often by his unaided
efforts, to become acquainted with the
arrangement of words, and the idioms of
written language. He is led gradually to
infer the rules of grammar from a series
of examples, instead of committing them
to memory; and the theory of language
is reserved for the later years of instruc-
tion, when the pupil is familiar with its
practical use. The methods of instruc-
tion in the elements of arithmetic, geogra
phy and history, do not differ materially
from those usually employed, except that
much aid is derived from explanatory
signs; and experiments, made in some of
the schools of Europe prove, that these
may be usefully employed to illustrate
various subjects to persons possessed of
hearing,
Articulation. While the instructers of
the school of De l'Epée and Sicard unite
in denying that articulation is necessary
to the deaf mute, as a means of mental
developement, they admit its great value
as a supplement to intellectual education,
if it be attainable. But they differ as to
the practicability and expediency of at-
tempting to teach it generally. Of its
great practical value in darkness, or in
cases of sudden danger, there can be but
one opinion; and it is certainly important
that every deaf mute should be taught


DUMMER
DUMB AND DEAF-DUMMER.
of distress, or perhaps a few
some cry
words for such occasions; for some do
not know how to use their voice even to
this extent. The power of articulating,
even imperfectly, may also be of great im-
portance to the deaf mute, where ignorance
in writing is combined with a phlegmatic
inattention to signs, in those among whom
he is situated. But that it is not indis-
pensable, as an ordinary means of com-
munication, is proved by the fact, that
the pupils of the French and American
schools find no difficulty in making them-
selves intelligible to those around them,
either by writing or signs, on all necessa-
ry subjects. Articulation is learned and
recollected by the deaf mute, as a set of
movements and sensations in the organs
of speech. It is taught by pointing out
to the pupil the powers of the vowels and
consonants, and the position of the lips,
teeth and tongue, and by making him feel
with his hand, or a silver instrument, all
the perceptible movements and vibrations
of the throat and interior organs, which
are requisite for their pronunciation. He
is then required to imitate this position,
and to force a quantity of air from the
lungs, sufficient to produce the sound, and
is taught to read the articulations of oth-
ers, by observing the position of the or-
gans and the countenance. The facility
of doing this will depend much upon the
pliability of the organ of speech, and the
nature of the language to be learned. We
observed, as would naturally be supposed,
that the soft and regular language of
Italy, in a climate where we have other
evidence of a superior pliancy in the vocal
powers, was acquired, with tolerable suc-
cess, by a short period of daily practice.
But the harsh and guttural sounds of the
northern languages, and the irregularity
which is found in the pronunciation of
some of them, present several additional
difficulties, which are perhaps increased
by the frequent diseases of the vocal or-
gans produced by a cold climate. Those
instructers who attempt to teach all their
pupils these languages, are usually com-
pelled to make it a constant and individ-
ual exercise, and to make and to demand
efforts painful to the teacher, and pupil,
and spectator, with only a partial success.
Of a number of speakers, whom we have
seen and heard of, in various countries,
thus taught, few would have been intelli-
gible to a stranger so readily as by signs;
and their tones were extremely disagree-
able. On the other hand, we have seen
a few deaf mutes who are capable of
speaking in a manner perfectly intelligi-
29
, VOL. IV.
337
ble, and of reading, from the lips and
countenance, what was said by others.
They were such, however, as either re-
tained some remnant of hearing, or had
been the subjects of individual instructions
for a series of years. We presume the
truth lies in that middle course, now adopt-
ed by the school of Paris, and by some
advocates of articulation, who have had
an opportunity of observing it in all its
forms. They believe that, by that por-
tion of the pupils of every institution,
whose organs are pliable, and who have
some remnant of sensibility, either in
the external or internal ear (those term-
ed demi sourds in the Paris school), the
acquisition may be made with a degree
of ease and perfection, which renders it
a desirable and important branch of in-
struction for such portion of the pupils in
every institution. They are equally con-
vinced, that to attempt to teach articula-
tion to those entirely destitute of sensibil-
ity in the ear, or who cannot exercise the
organ of speech without difficulty or pain,
is a useless labor, and may produce dis-
ease in the pupil; as more than one in-
stance proves. On the last point, some
have maintained that the exercise of the
lungs is important to the pupil, while
others have declared the contrary. We
believe here, also, much will depend
on individual organization, and that the
general question will be modified much
by the climate, and nature of the lan-
guage to be taught. Most of the schools
for deaf mutes employ a manual alpha-
bet, for the more rapid communication
in words;-in England, usually made
with both hands, and elsewhere with one.
This alphabet, with writing, on paper and
in the air, and the use of natural and con-
ventional signs, are found adequate means
of communication for those who cannot
acquire articulate language. (See the
Geschichte des Taubstummen-Unterrichtes in
Spanien und Frankreich von Newman; the
Blicke auf der Taubstummenbildung von
Reich (of Leipsic); the Supplement to the
Encyclopedia Britannica, article Deaf and
Dumb; Sullo Stato dei Sordi muti, &c.,
del Abbate Bagutti, Milan; Journal des
Sourds-muets du Bebian; Del Education
des Sourds-muets, par M. de Gerando, Paris.)
For an account of the different American
institutions, see Hartford, New York, Phil
adelphia, &c.
DUMMER, Jeremy, an eminent American
scholar and political writer, was born inre
Boston, and was graduated at Harvard col-
lege in 1699. At the university of Utrecht,
he passed several years, and obtained a

338
DUMMER-DUMONT.

doctor's degree. He afterwards went to
England, with the intention of pursuing
the career of a minister of the gospel.
Here he formed political connexions of a
high order. The celebrity which he ac-
quired as a writer and man of business
caused him to be chosen, in 1710, agent
for the province of Massachusetts. In
this capacity, he exerted his great abilities
and influence with constant zeal for the
benefit of his constituents; but, in the
course of some years, his political attach-
ments and general deportment rendered
him so unpopular at home, that, in 1721,
he was dismissed. Dummer contracted
irreligious opinions and licentious habits,
owing, said his enemies, to his personal
intercourse with lord Bolingbroke, who
employed him in secret negotiations, and
promised him a high office, which was
never given. He wrote an admirable
pamphlet in defence of the New England
charters, when they were threatened, in
1721. This work constitutes the best
specimen of his English style, which is
uncommonly elegant and forcible. His
Latin dissertations in theology and philos-
ophy have, also, much merit. He died
in 1739, having spent the last few years of
his life in literary retirement.
DUMONT, Stephen, was born at Geneva,
in 1759, of a family which had suffered
great reverses of fortune. From his in-
fancy, he had to contend with adversity.
He early displayed superior talents, spirit
and intelligence, was destined to the ec-
clesiastical career, and was ordained a
minister of the Protestant church in 1781.
He attached himself to the democratic
party in Geneva, and, when the
opposite
party gained the ascendency, he went
to Petersburg, where he was appointed
pastor of the French reformed church.
His talents for the pulpit caused his ac-
quaintance to be sought by the eminent
men, Russians or strangers, who were at
the court of Catharine II. He had re-
mained there but eighteen months, when
lord Lansdowne invited him to England,
with the intention of employing him to
finish the education of his son. It was
in the house of this statesman that he
formed intimate connexions with some of
the men who have done most honor to
Great Britain, particularly sir Samuel
Remilly. The French revolution brought
him to Paris in the year 1789. He was
soon called to associate himself with the
men who were selected, for their strength
and intelligence, to direct the destinies of
France. It is asserted that the famous
address of the king, proposed by Mira-
beau, July 9, 1789, to obtain the sending
back of the troops, was composed by Du
mont. They undertook together a
jour
nal, the Courier of the Provinces, designed
to develope and render popular the new
doctrines; and, as was likely to happen in
such a partnership, the most assiduous as
well as the most important labor fell upon
Dumont.-As soon as scenes of violence
and cruelty began to sully the cause of
liberty, Dumont quitted Paris, and return-
ed to England, before the sickness of Mi
rabeau, who died April 2, 1791. Wher
the details of the reign of terror reached
Dumont in England, he was overcome
with grief, and remained for some years
plunged in sadness. What contributed
the most to draw him from this state of
depression, was his increased intimacy
with Jeremy Bentham, whom he had
known since 1788. The enthusiasm of
Dumont for Bentham was kept up, with-
out deviation or division, to the end of his
life. The English lawyer was for him
written reason. He sometimes said of
what he most admired in other philoso-
phers, "It is convincing; it is truth itself;
it is almost Benthamic."-It is well known
that Mr. Dumont has edited many of the
works of this distinguished lawyer, after
divesting the ideas of the uncouth garb in
which the author had clothed them. Du-
mont has spoken of the manuscripts
which his friend put into his hands as
"a first draft," "unfinished manuscripts,"
"not corrected," "fragments or simple.
notes." (Preface to the Treatise on Pun-
ishments.) This was pointing out but a
small part of their imperfections. But it
is from this source that he drew out all
the philosophy of Bentham. The public
had afterwards an occasion to judge of Mr.
Bentham's style (when he published him-
self), of his obscurity, his neologism, his
pleasantries, at the same time grotesque
and learned. Mr. Dumont, judging that the
manuscripts of Mr. Bentham would never
be published, or, if they were, in the origi-
nal form, would produce no impression,
succeeded in having them given up to
him to do what he wished with them.
Bentham "refused at the same time any
participation in the work, and declared that
he should in no way hold himself respon-
sible for it." (Theory of Punishments,
pref. 10.) Dumont, then, penetrating to
the original ideas, remodelled, and made
them over again, so far as not only to
change entirely the style of the work, but
also the argumentation, distribution, some-
times even the results. Suppressing much,
sometimes adding, always making more


DHIPUYTREN
DUPIN-DUPUIS.
was a member of the chamber which was
dissolved in 1830.
345
of the government. Dupin's Forces pro- Chateau, near Gisors, in 1742, was in-
ductives et commerciales de la France ap- structed by his father in mathematics and
peared at Paris, 1827, 1 vol. 4to. Dupin surveying. The duke de la Rochefou-
cault sent him to the collège d'Harcourt,
to pursue his studies; and, in his 24th
year, he was made professor of rhetoric at
Lisieux. His intimacy with Lalande, and
his own inclination, led him to devote
himself particularly to mathematics; the
knowledge and the prejudices of that
learned man had a great influence on
him. In 1778, he invented the telegraph,
which was afterwards improved by the
brothers Chappe. His Mémoire sur l'Ori-
gine des Constellations et sur l'Explication
de la fable par l'Astronomie (1781), is full
of originality and learning. In 1788, he
became a member of the académie des
inscriptions et belles-lettres, and went to
Paris, where he was named one of the
four commissioners of public instruction,
to ascertain the resources of all the insti-
tutions for education and learning in Paris.
As a member of the national convention,
he was constant in his support of mode-
rate measures. On this account, he was
chosen a member of the council of five
hundred; and the reputation which he
there acquired for activity and informa-
tion, procured him admission into the
national institute. The tribunat and the
legislative body proposed him as a sena-
tor. His work, Origine de tous les Cultes,
ou la Réligion universelle (1794, 3 vols.,
4to., with an atlas), was severely criticised
in Germany, Holland, France and Italy,
but is a remarkable monument of his
learning. In this work, he attempted to
explain, not only all the mysteries of an-
tiquity, but also the origin of all religious
traditions. An abridgment, in one volume,
afterwards followed. His two works on
the Pelasgi, their origin in Ethiopia, their
spreading over Lybia, Cyrenaïca, and the
north of Africa, and thence to Spain,
Greece and Italy, attracted great atten-
tion. His treatises on the zodiac of Den-
derah (q. v.), and on the Phoenix, suc-
ceeded. In his last work, Mémoire ex-
plicatif du Zodiaque chronologique et my-
thologique (1806, 4to., engravings), he
maintained that the astronomical and re-
ligious opinions of the Greeks, Egyptians,
Chinese, Persians and Arabians, had a
common origin,
common origin, He died at his estate
near Dijon, 1809, 77 years old, and left,
in manuscript, a work on cosmogony
and theogony, the object of which was
to confirm the theory he had laid down
in his Origine de tous les Cultes. He also
endeavored, in this work, to explain hie-
roglyphics.

DUPONT DE NEMOURS, Pierre Samuel,
born at Paris, December, 1739, distin-
as well for his knowledge and
guished
talents as for his mild and benevolent
character, his excellent principles and his
blameless life, lived almost unknown, at
Paris, as a private man of letters, until
1773, when his principles of philosophy
and political economy, set forth in his Les
Ephémérides du Citoyen, excited the dis-
pleasure of the minister Choiseul, and
obliged him to leave France. Several
foreign princes offered him a reception,
and conferred honors upon him. He re-
turned, however, to his native country,
and accepted of a small place, given him
by Turgot, minister of finance. In 1782
and 1783, with doctor Hutton, the English
agent, he negotiated the basis of the treaty
by which the independence of the United
States was acknowledged. As inspector-
general of commerce and manufactures,
and as a counsellor of state, he afterwards
did much to encourage French industry.
In 1787 and 1788, he was appointed, by
Louis XVI, secretary to the assembly
of the notables. In 1789, he became a
member of the first national assembly,
where he distinguished himself by his
principles, his courage, his talents, and his
firm opposition to the intrigues of factions.
He was twice president of the national
assembly, and always supported moderate
principles. Under Robespierre, he was
imprisoned, and nothing but the fall of the
tyrant preserved him. He was afterwards
a member of the council of elders. After
the directory was abolished, he went to
America, in 1798. In 1802, he returned
to France, but did not, at that time, take
any office, notwithstanding the offers
made him by Napoleon. The confidence
of his fellow citizens followed him in his
retirement, as was shown by his appoint-
ment to several important offices. In
1814, Dupont was made secretary of the
provisional government which prepared
the way for the return of the house of
Bourbon to the throne of France. After
Napoleon's return from Elba, he went
again to America, of which country his
two sons had already become citizens.
Here he terminated his useful life, August
6, 1817, at the advanced age of 78.
DUPONT DE L'ETANG. (See Baylen.)
DUPUIS, Charles François, a member
of the national institute, born at Trie-le-
346
DUPUYTREN-DURER.
DUPUYTREN, Guillaume; the most dis-
tinguished French surgeon of our time,
professor of medical science in the faculty
of medicine in Paris, and chief surgeon
in the Hôtel Dieu; born 1778, at Pierre-
Buffière. He made such rapid progress in
his studies that, in his 17th year, he was ap-
pointed prosector in the Ecole de Santé, at
Paris, and, soon after, lectured on surgery
and anatomy to large audiences. In 1802,
he was made second surgeon in the Hôtel
Dieu, and, in 1815, became the head of
this great hospital. As an operative sur-
geon, he has gained great reputation by
his boldness and skill, and the improve-
ments which he has introduced. He has
invented some new instruments, and im-
proved others; as, for instance, his specu-
lum, for the removal of the uterine poly-
pus by cauterization, and his instrument
for couching; we are also indebted to
him for some valuable discoveries in path-
ological anatomy. He has written sev-
eral surgical treatises, some of which
have been published singly, and some are
collected.
DUQUESNE, Abraham, a French admi-
ral, under Louis XIV, was born at Dieppe,
in 1610, and acquired his knowledge of
naval affairs under his father, who was
an experienced captain. In his 17th year,
he was in the sea-fight off Rochelle, and
distinguished himself, during and after the
year 1637, in the war against Spain. In
1644, he entered the service of Sweden.
He was recalled, in 1647, to France, and
commanded the expedition against Na-
ples. Bordeaux, which had rebelled, he
reduced, notwithstanding the assistance
afforded it by Spain. In the Sicilian war,
he thrice defeated the combined fleets of
Holland and Spain, under the renowned
De Ruyter. After he had reduced Al-
giers and Genoa to the necessity of sup-
plicating the mercy of Louis XIV, the
king conferred upon him the fine estate
of Bouchet, and made it a marquisate,
with the title of Duquesne. More than
this he could not do, because Duquesne
was a Protestant. He was, also, the only
person exempted from the banishment of
his sect, occasioned by the repeal of the
edict of Nantes. He died at Paris, in
1688. Mildness and modesty tempered his
heroic character; and De Ruyter was his
model. He left four sons, of whom the
most famous, Henry, marquis of Du-
quesne, was also distinguished as a naval
character.
DURANGO; a town in Mexico, capital
of the province of New Biscay, or Du-
rango: 335 miles N W. Mexico; lon.
103° 35′ W.; lat. 24° 25 N.: population,
according to Humboldt, 12,000; according
to Pike, 40,000. It is a bishop's see.
The town is situated on an eleva
tion, 6845 feet above the sea.
air is healthy, the surrounding country
fertile, producing an abundance of wheat,
maize, fruits, &c., and the trade of the
town is considerable.

The

DURANTE, Francesco, a celebrated com-
poser, born 1693, at Naples, received his
first instruction from the famous Alexan-
der Scarlatti. The fame of Pasquini and
Pittoni drew him to Rome, whither he
went to perfect himself in the knowledge
of counterpoint. He then returned to
Naples, as maestro di capella (director of
the musical choir), and composed, almost
exclusively, for the church.
In vocal
church music, he attained a high degree
of eminence. He also educated the most
celebrated musical masters of the 18th
century in Naples-Pergolese, Sacchini,
Piccini, Guglielmi, Traetta, Jomelli, &c.-
and died at Naples, 1755, at the age of 62.
DÜRER, Albert; born at Nuremberg,
1471. His father was a skilful goldsmith
of Hungary, and himself instructed his
son Albert. Dürer's talent early devel-
oped itself; and, although he had made
great progress in his father's profession
by the time he was 15, his inclination took
a decided turn for painting. Michael
Wohlgemuth, then the best painter in
Nuremberg, became his instructer in 1486.
Having finished his studies, he entered
upon his travels, and, in 1490, travelled
through Germany and Alsace. In 1492,
he passed through Colmar and Basle, and,
in 1494, returned home. Here he exe-
cuted his masterpiece, a drawing of Or-
pheus. To please his father, he married
the daughter of Hans Fritz, a celebrated
mechanic; but this connexion imbittered
his life, and perhaps brought him to an
early grave. In 1505, he went to Venice
to accomplish himself in his art. His
abilities excited envy and admiration. He
painted the Martyrdom of Bartholomew,
for St. Mark's church, which painting was
purchased by the emperor Rodolph, and
removed to Prague. He also travelled to
Bologna, to improve his knowledge of
perspective. This journey had no effect
upon his style. At his return, in 1507,
begins the proper era of his greatness.
In 1520, he again visited the Netherlands,
probably for amusement only. His fame
spread far and wide. Maximilian I ap-
pointed him his court-painter, and Charles
V confirmed him in this office, bestowing
upon him, at the same time, the painter




DUROC
DURER-DUROC.
coat of arms, viz., three escutcheons argent,
in a deep azure field. Dürer was in favor
with high and low. All the artists and
learned men of his time honored and loved
him, and his early death, in 1528, was
greatly lamented. Profound application,
great facility in the mechanical part of his
art, and a remarkable talent of imitation,
were the characteristics of Dürer, and
enabled him to exert a great influence on
the character of German art. He was the
first in Germany who taught the rules of
perspective, and of the proportions of the
human body, according to mathematical
principles. His treatise on proportions
occasioned, it is said, by his studies
on the picture of Adam and Eve. He
not only made use of the burin, like his
predecessors, but was also the inventor
of etching, or, if not the inventor, the first
who excelled in the art. He invented the
method of printing wood-cuts with two
colors. His great mathematical knowl-
edge enabled him to form a regular system
of rules for drawing and painting. He
wrote the first book on fortification in
Germany, and showed how to cast the
etters of the alphabet according to fixed
proportions, by geometrical calculations.
He was particularly eminent as a por-
trait painter. He had the power of
catching the exact expression of the
features, and of delineating all the pas-
sions. Among his best engravings in
copper are his Fortune, Melancholy, Ad-
am and Eve in Paradise, St. Hubert, St.
Jerome, and the Smaller Passion (so called),
in 16 plates. Among his best wood-cuts
are the Greater Passion (so called), in 13
plates; the Smaller Passion, with the
frontispiece, 37 pieces; the Revelation of
St. John, with the frontispiece, 15 plates;
the Life of Mary, 2 prints, with the frontis-
piece. Bartsch, however, has made it
more than probable, that Dürer himself did
not engrave in wood. He only made the
drawings on wooden tablets, which were
then cut by form-cutters, of whom there
were many skilful ones at that time. Dü-
rer has, also, much merit as a writer. He
labored to purify and elevate the German
language, in which he was assisted by his
friend, W. Pirkheimer. His writings,
which were afterwards translated into
Latin, French, &c., were published, in a
collected form, at Arnheim, by J. Jansen
(1603, folio). J. J. Roth has written a life
of him (Leipsic, 1791).
DURESS, in law, is restraint or compul-
sion; and it is a general principle, that a
contract made under compulsion is not
binding; and many acts will be excused
347
on this ground, which would otherwise
be blamable. There may be very differ
ent degrees of constraint, from absolute
necessity down to a slight motive of fear;
and the motives of fear may be of very
different strength; for, if a man's life is
endangered by his refusal to do an act, the
law considers him to be under the high-
est compulsion, and contracts made under
such motives are not binding. Duress
may take place in two different ways: 1.
by actual imprisonment, and, 2. by threats,
per minas. If a man be illegally confined
to compel him to sign a deed, he may
avoid it; but, if he be legally imprisoned,
and, to gain his liberty, signs a deed or
agreement, it will bind him. This is not
the duress contemplated by the law.
Compulsion will excuse acts, which, done
voluntarily, and from choice, would be
capital crimes; for, by compulsion of an
enemy, a man may do acts which, had they
been of his free choice, would have been
treason, and yet be excused. But the
evil committed must be in some propor-
tion to that feared, as a man would not
be excused for homicide, to avoid even a
serious injury to himself. But in regard
to civil transactions, a smaller degree of
restraint will be the ground of avoiding
an obligation. It has been adjudged that,
if one make a deed to avoid the duress
done by merely taking his cattle, in other
words, to procure their liberation, if they
were unlawfully detained, the deed may
be avoided. A son may allege the duress
of a father, a husband that of his wife, a
servant that of his master, and a master
that of his servant, in avoidance of a deed.
A marriage, as well as any other contract,
made by one under duress, may, on this
ground, be avoided.
the Se

DUROC, Michael, duke of Friuli, grand-
marshal of the palace, senator, general of
division, grand-cordon of the legion of
honor, and of nearly all the orders of Eu-
rope, was born at Pont-à-Mousson, in 1772.
His father was of an ancient family of
Auvergne; having become a captain and
knight of St. Louis, he married, and estab-
lished himself in Lorraine. Young Du e
was early destined for the army, and
studied at the military school of Pont-à-
Mousson. March 1, 1792, he was made.
lieutenant of artillery. He then served inly
the republican armies. Honorable men-do
tion is made of his name in the bulletins
of the Italian army, particularly at the
siege of Mantua, and at the battle of
Sismone, in 1796. He served, during the
first campaign in Italy, as aid-de-campor
of the general of artillery, Lespinasse
B18
DUROC.

Being subsequently appointed aid-de-camp
to general Bonaparte, he soon made him-
self conspicuous for coolness, courage and
ability. He distinguished himself at the
battle of Grimolano, where he was wound-
ed, and his horse was killed under him.
At the passage of the Izonso, in Friuli,
he was mentioned as one of the bravest
and most able officers. The title of duke of
Friuli, which he received ten years after-
wards, was chosen in allusion to his con-
duct at Izonso. Duroc followed general
Bonaparte into Egypt, and was promoted
to the rank of chief of battalion the 25th
of Brumaire, year VI. During this cam-
paign, in which his services were of the
greatest value, his name was again men-
tioned with honor, after the battle of Sa-
lahia, the successful result of which was
mainly owing to his valor. During the
expedition into Syria, at the siege of Jaffa,
Duroc, seeing the grenadiers falling at the
foot of the breach, and wavering, put
himself at their head, and engaged, hand
to hand, with several Turks. The army,
seeing him disappear in a tower which
was defended with great fury, gave him
up for lost, but soon received him with
shouts on seeing him appear on the top,
master of the tower and of the ramparts.
After having distinguished himself, on
several occasions, before St. Jean d'Acre,
he was severely wounded by the bursting
of a howitzer, in one of the last assaults
made during the siege, the most bloody and
obstinate in the military annals of France.
He distinguished himself no less at the
battle of Aboukir. Being named chief
of brigade, he accompanied general Bona-
parte on his return to France; he was
almost the only aid-de-camp of the com-
mander-in-chief who survived the expedi-
tion: four had been killed in the cam-
paign. Duroc took part in the events of
the 18th Brumaire, and, a few days after,
was sent to the court of Berlin, where he
was received with great distinction. This
embassy contributed to preserve the peace
Jetween these two countries. War con-
tinuing between France and Austria, the
first consul set out on the campaign,
which was terminated at Marengo. Du-
roc accompanied him as first aid-de-camp.
His name is honorably mentioned in the
account of the passage of the Ticino,
where he was one of the first to leap into
a boat, at the head of the grenadiers.
After the peace of Amiens, he was sent,
on diplomatic missions, to the courts of
St. Petersburg, Stockholm and Copen-
hagen. On his return, he was promoted
to the rank of general of brigade and gov-
ernor of the Tuileries; and, on the 9th
Fructidor, year X, he was made general
of division. When the first consul as
sumed the title of emperor, he made Duroc
grand marshal of the palace. The court
ier and favorite never ceased to be a sol
dier. He accompanied Napoleon in
all his campaigns. In 1805, he was
charged with a mission to the Prussian
court, at the time when Napoleon was
marching against Vienna. He rejoined
the army previously to the battle of Aus-
terlitz, and took the command of the
division of grenadiers, which had been
left without a head, in consequence of the
wound of Oudinot. At the battle of Aus-
terlitz, he also commanded a division of
this chosen corps.
During the campaign
in Prussia, in 1806, Duroc was commis-
sioned to sign the treaty of peace with the
king of Saxony; and, at a later period, he
was the principal negotiator of the armi-
stice which preceded the peace of Tilsit.
He followed Napoleon to Spain, and
during the campaign of Wagram. At
the battle of Esslingen, he arranged and
directed his batteries in such a way as to
arrest t progress of the enemy in a
decisive movement. After the battle of
Znaym, Napoleon sent him to the arch-
duke Charles, to negotiate an armistice.
On the return from the Russian cam-
paign, in 1812, Duroc reorganized the
imperial guard, which, at this time, and
on several other occasions, he commanded.
Before his last departure for the army, he
was appointed senator.
Duroc finally
followed Napoleon to Germany, in 1813,
and was killed, May 23, after the battle of
Bautzen, in entering the village of Mer-
kersdorf, by a ball, which also killed gen-
eral Kirschner, with whom he was con-
versing behind the emperor. This ball
was the last which fell on that day; and
the piece from which it was discharged
was at so great a distance, and surrounded
by so many obstacles, that it is incon-
ceivable how it could have reached the
place. Napoleon visited Duroc on his
death-bed, and mingled tears with his
farewell. He lost in him a true counsel-
lor, a faithful friend, and one of his bravest
officers. The deaths of the duke of Fri-
uli and of the duke of Montebello are the
two events on which Napoleon showed
the greatest sensibility. Successively
charged with the most important duties,
military and political, the duke of Friuli
was ever remarkable for a moderation
rare in a soldier, for ability, disinterested-
ness, modesty, firmness, and a presence of
mind which never deserted him. For





DUTIES-DU
DUROC-DUTENS.
DUTCH
VAL
349

15 years, he was the confidant and friend vinegar and soap manufactories. Düssel-
of that extraordinary man. When Napo-
When Napo- dorf is one of the principal commercial
leon left France, in 1815, and embark- towns on the Rhine.
ed on board the Bellerophon, he wished
LANGUAGE, LITERATURE,
to live in England, under the name of SCHOOLS OF ART, &c. (See Netherlands.)
colonel Duroc. Seven years afterwards, DUTENS, Louis, born at Tours, 1730, of
we have another proof of the constant Protestant parents, died in London, 1812.
and affectionate remembrance which Na- At the time of his death, which happened
poleon retained of him. He left to his at an advanced age, he was historiogra-
daughter
one of the largest legacies be- pher to the king of England, and member
of the academy of sciences in London, and
queathed by his will.
of the Paris academy of inscriptions.
Being convinced, by some unsuccessful
attempts in tragedy, that he had no genius which
for poetry, he obtained, with some diffi-d
culty, the place of a tutor. He became Ch
the friend of many distinguished men,
who enriched him with pensions, bene-Win
fices and legacies. He was three times
British chargé d'affaires to Turin, travel-
led through Europe several times, and
formed an acquaintance with many of the
learned men in different parts of the con-
tinent. His works have been often repub-
lished, and show the variety of his learning,
refined by intercourse with the polite
world. He published the works of Leib-
nitz, at Geneva, in 6 vols., not quite com-
plete. The preface to the mathemati-
cal part is highly esteemed by mathe-
maticians. Dutens made himself known
as a poet by the two collections Le
Caprice poétique and Poésies. His Re-
cherches sur l'Origine des Découvertes at-
tribuées aux Modernes show the extent of
his reading, but rate the knowledge and
invention of the ancients somewhat too
high. His Tocsin ou Appel au bon Sens,
of which he printed several successive
editions, contains severe remarks upon
Voltaire and Rousseau. In general, he
was an opponent of the French philoso-
phers, and attacked them on every occa-
sion. In his Œuvres mêlées (London,
4 vols.) may be found his Logique ou
l'Art de raisonner. His Histoire de ce qui
s'est passé pour le Rétablissement d'une
Régence en Angleterre (1789) has historical
interest. Dutens also composed a work,
rather alien from his common pursuits, On
the Genealogy of the Heroes of Romance.
Three volumes of Mémoires d'un Voyageur
qui se repose (Paris, 1806) were received
with general approbation. The 3d vol.,
entitled Dutensiana, contains anecdotes
and observations. An earlier work of a
similar kind was interesting as a sort of
scandalous chronicle of the distinguished
men of his time; but he thought it advis-
able to destroy the whole edition before it
was made public, and, what is rarely the
case, he accomplished his object.
DÜSSELDORF; capital of the government
of Düsseldorf, in the Prussian province of
Juliers-Cleves-Berg, formerly the capital
of the duchy of Berg, situated in a beauti-
ful plain on the Rhine and the Düssel,
which unite under its walls. It was bom-
barded by the French in 1794, and the
castle and many of the finest buildings
were destroyed. The town is one of the
finest on the Rhine; some of the streets
are regularly laid out; the houses are of
brick. It contains 2200 houses and 26,600
inhabitants, and is divided into the Old
Town, New Town and Charles's Town.
The New Town was built by the elector
John William. The buildings resemble
palaces, and the principal street is adorned
with lime-trees. Charles's Town owes
its existence to the elector Charles Theo-
dore, from whom it derives its name. It
has recently been much embellished, and
contains several spacious squares. The
collegiate church, and principal parochial
church, which contains the tombs of the
ancient dukes of Juliers and Berg (among
which the marble mausoleum of the duke
John is distinguished), deserve mention.
The Jesuits' church, which is, however,
too much ornamented; the bronze statue,
by Crepello, of the elector John William
(a great patron of the arts, to whom Dús-
seldorf was indebted for its prosperity),
which stands in the market-place, and a
marble statue of the same elector, by the
same artist, in the yard of the castle (the
beautiful castle itself is in ruins); the
observatory, in what was formerly the
Jesuits' college, and the fine scientific
apparatus, are also worthy of attention.
The gallery of paintings, containing the
richest collection of the works of Rubens,
and other great artists of the Dutch and
Flemish schools, and formerly the chief
ornament of Düsseldorf, has been removed
to Munich; only the valuable collection,
containing 14,241 original designs, 23,445
copperplates and casts in plaster, is still
retained for the use of the academy of arts
at Düsseldorf. The town has some im-
portant silk and cotton manufactories and
sugar refineries, with glass founderies and
30

VOL. IV.
350
DUTIES-DUVAL.

DUTIES. (See Revenue.)
DUVAL, Valentine Jameray, librarian of
the emperor Francis I, born in 1695, was
the son of a poor peasant in the village of
Artonay, in Champagne. In his 10th
year, he lost his parents; in his 14th year,
being driven from his native place by the
want of employment, half fainished, and
soon after attacked by the small pox, he
wandered about in the open country, in
the terrible winter of 1709. Providence
conducted him to the cell of the good
hermit Palemon, who received him, per-
mitted him to share his labors, and taught
him to read. Here Duval became devout
without being superstitious. He then
exchanged this quiet retreat for another at
St. Anne, near Luneville. Here his only
company was four ignorant hermits; his
employment, tending six cows, and his
only means of improvement, some volumes
of the Blaue Bibliothek; but he finally
succeeded in learning to write. An epit-
ome of arithmetic, which fell into his
hands, highly interested his youthful mind.
In the solitude of a forest, he received his
first ideas of astronomy and geography.
In order to procure the means of educat-
ing himself, he killed game, and, in a few
months, the proceeds of his toils furnished
him with a little stock of money. Hap-
pening to find a gold seal engraved with
a coat of arms, he had it advertised by the
minister of the place. An Englishman
by the name of Forster appeared as the
owner, and Duval gave it up to him on
condition that he would explain to him
the coat of arms. Surprised by this hon-
esty and curiosity, Forster rewarded him
so bountifully, that his library, which had
been gradually forming out of the hunting
fund, was increased to 200 volumes, while
he spent nothing on personal or external
conveniences. Engaged in his studies,
Duval paid little attention to his herd, and
thereby displeased the hermits. One of
them even threatened to burn his books.
This roused the spirit of Duval. He
seized a fire-shovel, drove the brother out of
his own cell, and shut himself up in it. The
other brothers came with the superior, but
he refused to open the door till they had
agreed to pass over all that had happened,
and to allow him, in future, two hours a
day for studying, while he, on his part,
was to serve them 10 years more for his
clothes and victuals. Duval was now
secure. He pursued his studies with more
zeal than ever in the forest where his
cows were grazing. He was found one
day by the young princes of Lorraine,
while thus busy with his maps and charts
They made him an offer, on the spot, of
placing him with the Jesuits, at Pont-à
Mousson.
Mousson. He accepted it, but only on
condition that his liberty should not be
sacrificed by it.
He soon made such
rapid progress, that duke Leopold took
him with him to Paris, in 1718, to see
what effect this new scene would have
upon him. But Duval declared that all
the pomp of the city and its works of art
were far inferior to the majesty of the rising
or setting sun. On his return, Leopold
appointed him his librarian, and made him
professor of history in the academy at Lune-
ville. These offices, and the lessons which
he gave to the young Englishmen studying
there (among whom was the famous Chat-
ham), afforded him the means of rebuild-
ing his old hermitage of St. Anne. When
Lorraine was ceded to France, he re-
moved, with the library under his care,
to Florence, where he staid 10 years.
The emperor Francis invited him to Vi-
enna, to form a collection of medals.
Here he died in 1775. With all his learn-
ing, Duval was exceedingly modest. His
Œuvres, précédées de Mém. sur sa Vie, were
published at Petersburg, Bàle, and Stras-
burg, in the year 1784, in two volumes
quarto.
DUVAL, Alexander, member of the
French academy, and one of the most
popular writers for the theatre in our time,
was born in 1767, at Rennes, entered the
navy, and served in the American war
under admiral De Grasse. He was then
appointed secretary of the deputation of
the states of Bretagne to Paris. Circum-
stances obliged him to leave that city, and
he served as geographical engineer in the
construction of the canal of Dieppe. His
passion for the theatre, in 1791, led him
to the Théatre Français as an actor. He
was soon induced, by the dangers of his
country, to return to the military service,
and acted as a volunteer in the first cam-
paign of the revolutionary war. After his
return to the French theatre, he was
involved in the same fate with the other
actors, and escaped the scaffold with his
comrades only by the courage of a secre-
tary in the committee of general security,
who ventured to conceal the papers relat-
ing to the accusation.
ing to the accusation. He was liberated
by the events of the 9th Thermidor, and
relinquished the theatre to devote himself
solely to literature, in which he soon came
to be regarded as one of the most success-
ful writers of comedy and the opera. We
have about 50 pieces from him, of which
many have been admitted into the French
Répertoire. His little pieces, Maison a


DUVAL-DWARFS.
vre, Le Prisonnier, La jeunesse d'
Henri V, and several others, are among
the most popular pieces on the French
and German stages. (See his Euvres
Complètes, Paris, 1822, 9 vols.)-His broth-
er, Amaury Duval (q. v.), distinguished
for his knowledge of ancient and modern
literature, exerted a highly beneficial in-
fluence on him by his criticisms.
DUVAL, Amaury; one of the most emi-
rent scholars of France; born 1760, at
Rennes. He fitted himself for the prac-
tice of law at an early age, and, in his
20th year, distinguished himself as an
advocate in the parliament of Bretagne,
where, amongst other things, he gained
great reputation by his defence of a young
man who, in a fit of jealousy, had shot his
rival. He soon, however, left his profes-
sion for diplomatic pursuits, and, in 1785,
was made secretary of legation at Naples.
In Italy, he visited all the monuments of
antiquity, and collected, during his resi-
dence of several years at Naples, rich
materials for a work on antiquities, which
he had long been contemplating. He
remained some time in Italy, after the
return of the embassy with which he was
connected, in order to prosecute his re-
searches. When he was in Rome, in
1792, he obtained a secretaryship by
means of Basseville, then ambassador of
the French republic, and in the insurrec-
tion of Jan. 1793, in which the ambassa-
dor lost his life, he was himself in great
danger. He was rescued, by a soldier,
from the hands of the populace, and put
in prison. Having obtained his liberty in
the course of a few days, he was sent, by
his own wish, to Naples. He soon aban-
doned a profession which, at a time when
all the European courts were closed
against the ambassadors of the French
republic, offered no prospects to his am-
bition. He now devoted himself to lite-
rary labors, and, in company with Champ-
fort, Ginguené, Say and others, com-
menced the Decade philosophique, in which
he took a very active part, till this peri-
odical was united with the Mercure de
France, in the year 1808, when it took the
name of Revue, which Duval continued to
publish till 1814. During this period, he
thrice won the prize offered by the French
institute on questions in political economy,
ethics and antiquities. Under the direc-
tory, he was placed at the head of the
department of arts and sciences, in the
ministry of the interior, and held it till
1815, when he shared the fate of most of
the other officers, who were superseded
by men of the old school of politics. In
351

1811, he became a member of the insti-
tute, in the class for history and literature,
to which the old name of academy of in-
scriptions and fine arts has again been
given. He belongs to the committee en-
gaged in the continuation of the literary
history of France, which was commenced
by the Benedictines. Among his other
writings are to be noticed his prize essay
on ancient and modern burials (Des Sé-
pultures chez les Anciens et les Modernes);
his work on the monuments of Paris
(Paris et ses Monumens, 3 vols., folio);
and the Essays and Observations on the
Theatre of the Romans, published by him
and his brother, the fruitful dramatic
writer, Alexander Duval. (q. v.)
DWARFS. In ages when knowledge
depends mostly on tradition, it is natural
for the human mind to people the world
with a thousand imaginary beings. Such
are dragons, giants and dwarfs; all of
which have some foundation in reality,
and afford amusement to the imagination,
even after experience has corrected the
belief in the reality of their marvellous
character. We need hardly say, that the
pygmies of the ancients, and the Quimos,
whom Commerson tells us that he dis-
covered, are as fabulous as the renowned
Lilliputians. The dwarfs which actually
exist are deviations of nature from her
general rule; and the term dwarf is a
vague one, as we cannot say how small a
person must be to be so called. There is
no instance on record of dwarfs distin-
guished for talents. Their figures are some-
times perfectly well proportioned. They
have generally one trait in common with
children-a very high opinion of their
own little person, and great vanity. The
Romans used dwarfs for several purposes;
sometimes in gladiatorial exhibitions, on
account of the ridiculous contrast which
they afforded to their opponents.
wards the end of the middle ages, and
even, in some countries, as late as the
beginning of the last century, dwarfs were
a

To
fashionable appendage to the courts of
European princes, and the families of the
nobles. Who does not recollect the nu-
merous pictures of those times, with a
Negro or a dwarf in the back-ground?
They seem to have been great favorites
with the ladies of the family. They were
sometimes, also, used as fools. Peter the
Great carried this fancy for dwarfs to a
great extent. He assembled individuals
of this kind from all parts of his empire,
and ordered the famous marriage of the
dwarfs. At the court of Constantinople,
a number of dwarfs are always main-
352
DWARFS-DWIGHT.
tained, as pages. Those who happen to
be, at the same time, deaf and dumb, and
have been mutilated, are particularly val-
ued, and reserved for the sultan.
DWELLING. (See Domicil, and Habita-
tion.)
DWIGHT, Timothy, an eminent divine,
was born of reputable parents, at North-
ampton, in Massachusetts, May 14, 1752.
He was admitted a member of Yale col-
lege in September, 1765, when he had
just passed his 13th year; and, after leav-
ing college, he took charge of a grammar-
school at New Haven, where he taught
for two years. While in this situation,
his time was regularly divided: six hours
a day in school; eight hours in study;
and the remaining ten hours in exercise
and sleep. In 1771, he became a tutor in
Yale' college, where he remained for six
years. At the age of 19, Mr. Dwight
commenced writing the Conquest of Ca-
naan, a regular epic poem, founded on a
portion of sacred history. It was con-
cluded in 1774, but was not published
until 1795. On receiving the degree of
master of arts (1772), he delivered a Dis-
sertation on the History, Eloquence, and
Poetry of the Bible, which was immedi-
ately printed, and afterwards republished,
both in this country and in Europe. He
was also deeply engaged, during his res-
idence in college as a tutor, in the study
of the higher branches of the mathemat-
ics. About this period, he attempted, by
restricting his diet, to remove the necessity
of bodily exercise; but, after pursuing his
course of abstinence and study about a
year, he became subject to severe attacks
of the bilious colic, which so wasted his
strength, that it was with the utmost diffi-
culty he could be removed to Northamp-
ton. His physician, having administered
successfully for his present relief, advised
the daily use of strong bodily exercise, as
the only means of restoring his constitu-
tion. Adopting this system, he walked
upwards of 2000, and rode upwards of
3000 miles, in the course of a twelve-
month. The result of this was the per-
fect restoration of his health, which con-
tinued good for the ensuing 40 years of
his life. The college was broken up in
the month of May, 1777, the students
leaving New Haven, and pursuing their
studies under their respective preceptors,
in situations less exposed to the incursions
of the enemy.
Mr. Dwight, with his
class, went to Wethersfield, where he
remained with them till September. He
was this summer licensed as a preacher,
by a committee of the northern associa-
tion, in his native county of Hampshire
and, in addition to teaching his pupils, he
preached during the summer of 1777;
and, in September of the same year, he
was nominated chaplain in the army. In
addition to the duties of his station, he
contributed not a little to heighter the
enthusiasm of the soldiers by writing
several patriotic songs, which enjoyed a
deserved popularity. The circumstance
of his father's death, in October, 1778,
obliged him to resign his office, in order
to assist his mother in the support and
education of her family. He accordingly
removed his own family to Northampton,
where he resided five years, laboring on
the farm through the week, preaching to
different congregations in the neighbor-
hood on Sundays. He likewise estab-
lished a school, in which he received a
large number of pupils, and employed
two assistants. He was twice elected,
about the close of the revolutionary war,
a member of the legislature of the state.
In 1783, he was ordained minister of
Greenfield, a parish in the town of Fair-
field, in Connecticut. Immediately upon
settling at this place, doctor Dwight opened
an academy, which soon acquired a rep-
utation then unequalled in this country.
A large number of pupils, from all parts
of the Union, as well as from abroad, re-
sorted to this school, where, in the course
of his 12 years' residence, he taught more
than 1000 scholars; adopting, to a certain
extent, the system since called the moni-
torial. In the year 1787, the college of
Princeton, New Jersey, conferred upon
him the degree of D. D. In 1794, he
published a poem, in seven parts, under
the title of Greenfield Hill, which, as well
as the Conquest of Canaan, was repub-
lished in England. On the death of the
reverend doctor Styles, in 1795, doctor
Dwight was elected president of Yale
college, which was in a depressed state.
His reputation soon brought to the college
a great accession of students. When he
entered the office of president, the pro-
fessorship of theology was vacant, and,
several fruitless attempts having been
made to fill it, he engaged to perform the
duties. He was annually elected to this
chair for 10 successive years, at the end
of which period the appointment was
made permanent, and he continued to fill
it for the remainder of his life. In the
year 1797, at the request of the general
association of Connecticut, he undertook
the revision of doctor Watts's version of
the psalms, to supply such as were omit-
ted, and to make a selection of hymns





DWIGHT-DYEING.
adapted to public worship. In 1800, he
submitted his work to a joint committee
of that body and of the general assembly
of the Presbyterian church, by whom it
was approved and recommended. Be-
sides making many alterations in the ver-
sion of doctor Watts, he wrote 33 entire
psalms. In the year 1796, he commenced
travelling, during the college vacations,
particularly in May and September, for
the sake of exercise, and continued this
practice through the remainder of his life.
In these excursions, principally through
the New England states and New York,
he took notes, and afterwards wrote them
out, for the gratification of his family.
This work was published after his death,
in four volumes, octavo. It embraces an
account of the natural aspect of the terri-
tories over which he travelled, and of the
condition of society in those states. It
also contains notices of eminent men of
that portion of the Union, and anecdotes
illustrative of the history and customs of
the aborigines. Doctor Dwight died Jan-
uary 11, 1817, after repeated and severe
attacks of a disease, the character of which
was not well understood. His death was
regarded as a severe loss to the cause of
learning and religion in his country. Be-
sides the works already mentioned, is his
Theology, being a collection of his theo-
logical lectures, which has been published
since his death, and has passed through sev-
eral editions, in the U. States and England.
DYEING is a chemical art, and consists
in fixing upon cloths of various kinds any
color which may be desired, in such a man-
ner as that they shall not easily undergo
any alteration, by the agents to which the
cloth is ordinarily exposed. The chief
materials of stuff to be dyed are wool, silk,
cotton and linen; of which the former
two are more easily dyed than the latter.
Wool, in its preparation for dyeing, re-
quires to be cleansed, by scouring, from
a fatty substance, called the yolk, which
is contained in the fleece. This is done
by means of a weak alkaline solution,
which converts the yolk into soap. Pu-
trid urine is commonly employed, on ac-
count of its cheapness; the ammonia it
contains being sufficient to remove the
grease. Silk, when taken from the cocoon,
is covered with a kind of varnish, which,
because it does not easily yield, either to
water or alcohol, requires also the aid
of a slight portion of alkali. Much care
is necessary, however, in this operation,
since the silk itself is liable to be corroded
and discolored. Fine soap is commonly
used; but even this is said to be detri-
353

mental; and the white China silk, which
is supposed to be prepared without soap,
has a lustre superior to the European.
The preliminary process of washing is
intended to render the stuff to be dyed
as clear as possible, in order that the
aqueous fluid, to be afterwards applied,
may be imbibed, and its contents adhere
to the minute internal surfaces. Another
preparation, and one which constitutes, in
reality, an important part of the dyeing
process, consists in applying to the stuff
a material to which it adheres; and after-
wards the desired color is obtained by
the application of another substance. We
might dye a piece of cotton black, by im-
mersing it at once in ink; but the color
would be neither good nor durable, be-
cause the particles of precipitated matter
are not sufficiently comminuted to enter
the cotton, or to adhere to it firmly. But,
if the cotton be soaked in an infusion of
galls, then dried, and afterwards immers-
ed in a solution of sulphate of iron, the
acid of galls being every where diffused
through the fabric, it will receive the par-
ticles of oxide of iron, at the very instant
of their transition from the fluid to the
solid state; by which means a perfect
covering of the black, inky matter will be
applied in close contact with the surface
of the most minute fibres of the cotton,
The name of mordant is applied to those
substances which unite with the different
stuffs, and augment their affinity for the
various coloring matters. There exists a
great number of mordants; some, how-
ever, are very feeble in their activity,
while others are attended with too much
expense for common stuffs; some alter
the colors which they are intended to
combine, or modify their shades: hence
it results, that there are but a small num-
ber which can be employed. These are
alum, acetate of alumine, muriate of tin,
and nut-galls. The mordant is always
dissolved in water, into which the stuffs
to be dyed are plunged. If the mordant
be universally applied, over the whole
piece of goods, and this be afterwards im-
mersed in the dye, it will receive a tinge
over all its surface; but if it be applied
only in parts, the dye will strike in those
parts only. The former process consti-
tutes the art of dyeing, properly so called,
and the latter the art of printing woollens,
cottons, or linens, called calico-printing.
In the art of printing piece goods, the
mordant is usually mixed with gum or
starch, and applied by means of blocks
or wooden engravings, in relief, or of
copper plates, and the colors are brought


30*
354
DYEING.

out by immersion in vessels filled with
suitable compositions. The latter fluids
are termed baths. The following are the
processes adopted, when alum is the mor-
dant employed: 1. Alum mordant for silk.
Into water containing the 60th part of its
weight of alum, at the ordinary tempera-
ture of the air, the silk is plunged, and
allowed to remain for 24 hours, when it is
withdrawn, drained and washed. If the
liquid is warmed, it is found that the silk
absorbs less of the mordant, and that, of
course, it combines less easily with the
coloring matter, besides losing, in part, its
natural gloss. 2. Alum mordant for wool.
When it is wished to combine wool with
this mordant, after its cleansing has been
effected, it is plunged into a boiling solu-
tion, composed of 8 or 900 parts of water,
and 25 of alum, where it is allowed to re-
main during 2 hours; when it is taken
out, suffered to drain, and washed. Fre-
quently a little cream of tartar is added in
this process, in order to engage the excess
of acid in the alum, as well as the portion
arising from a slight decomposition of the
alum by the oily matter of the wool. 3.
Alum mordant for cotton, hemp and flax.
This operation is effected by plunging the
body to be imbued with this mordant into
water slightly warmed, and which con-
tains one quarter of its weight of alum,
and leaving it 24 hours, at the common
temperature of the air; when it is with-
drawn, washed and dried. The cotton
will be sufficiently imbued with the mor-
dant, if allowed to remain in the solution
only 7 or 8 minutes, pressing it a little,
without twisting it, however, on taking it
out, and not immersing it in the coloring
bath until 12 or 15 hours after. In all
alum mordants for wool, the alum of com-
merce may be employed; but when silk
or cotton is to be dyed, especially if the
colors are bright, it is necessary to make
use of the alum of Rome, or of that which
is equally pure; that is to say, of alum
which does not contain above 1-500th of
its weight of sulphate of iron; otherwise
there will be a great quantity of oxide
of iron adhering to the fabric, which
will affect the shade we desire to obtain.
The coloring matters to be transferred to
the various stuffs are either soluble or
insoluble in water. When they are solu-
ble in water, which is most generally the
case, they are dissolved in it at a boiling
temperature; and the material to be dyed,
after having been duly prepared, and im-
pregnated with the mordant, is plunged
into it, where it is allowed to remain for a
certain time, and at a temperature varying
with the nature of the stuff. When, on
the contrary, the coloring matter is in-
soluble in water, its solution is effected in
some other fluid, and the article to be
colored (prepared as in the former case,
with the exception that the application of
the mordant is omitted) is immersed, and
the coloring matter is precipitated by the
addition of a third body. Silks are dyed
at a temperature which is gradually in-
creased from 86° to 175° Fahr. If the
bath is heated above 86°, at the com-
mencement of the process, the effect of
the mordant is diminished, and the de-
sired shades of color will not be produced.
For the same reason, in dyeing hemp and
flax, the temperature should not exceed
97° Fahr. Cotton and woollens may be
dyed at a boiling heat. Various mechan-
ical contrivances are made use of in im-
mersing the different materials to be dyed
into the coloring solution, so as to cause
all their parts to be equally affected at the
same time. As soon as they are with-
drawn from the coloring bath, they are
washed in a large quantity of water, in
order to deprive them of those particles
of coloring matter that are merely super-
ficial. The following are the dye-stuffs
used for producing fast colors: 1. Black.
The cloth is impregnated with acetate of
iron (iron liquor), and dyed in a bath of
madder and logwood. 2. Purple. The
preceding mordant, diluted, with the same
dyeing bath. 3. Crimson. The mordant
for purple, united with a portion of acetate
of alumine, or red mordant, and the above
bath. 4. Red. Acetate of alumine is the
mordant (see Alumine), and madder is
the dye-stuff. 5. Pale red, of different
shades. The preceding mordant, diluted
with water, and a weak madder bath.
6. Brown of Pompadour. A mixed mor-
dant, containing a somewhat larger pros
portion of the red than of the black, and
the dye of madder. 7. Orange. The red
mordant, and a bath, first of madder, and
then of quercitron. 8. Yellow. A strong
red mordant, and the quercitron bath,
whose temperature should be consider-
ably under the boiling point of water.
9. Blue. Indigo, rendered soluble and
greenish-yellow colored, by potash and
orpiment. It recovers its blue color by
exposure to air, and becomes firmly fixed
upon the cloth. An indigo vat is also
made by diffusing indigo in water, with
quicklime and copperas. These substan-
ces are supposed to act by deoxidizing indi-
go, and, at the same time, rendering it solu-
ble. Golden dye. The cloth is immersed
alternately in a solution of copperas and





DYEING DYNAMIC THEORY. I
lime water. The protoxide of iron, pre-
cipitated on the fibre, soon passes, by
absorption of atmospherical oxygen, into
the golden-colored deutoxide. Buff. The
preceding substances, in a more dilute
state. Blue vat, in which white spots are
left on a blue ground of cloth, is made
by applying to these points a paste, com-
posed of a solution of sulphate of copper
and pipe-clay, and, after they are dried,
immersing it, stretched on frames, for a
definite number of minutes, in the yel-
lowish-green vat, of 1 part of indigo, 2
of copperas, and 2 of lime, with water.
Green. Cloth dyed blue, and well wash-
ed, is imbued with the acetate of alumine,
dried, and subjected to the quercitron
bath. In the above cases, under 9, the
cloth, after receiving the mordant paste,
is dried, and put through a mixture of
cow-dung and warm water. It is then
put into the dyeing vat or copper. The
foregoing colors are also produced from
decoctions of the different coloring woods;
but, as they possess but little fixity when
thus formed, they are denominated the
fugitive colors. 1. Red is made from
Brazil wood and peach wood. 2. Black.
A strong extract of galls and deuto-nitrate
of iron. 3. Purple. Extract of logwood
and the deuto-nitrate of iron. 4. Yellow.
Extract of quercitron bark, or French
berries, and nitro-muriate of tin. 5. Blue.
Prussian blue and solution of tin. Fugi-
tive colors are thickened with gum traga-
canth, and are sometimes sent to market
without being washed.
DYER, John, an agreeable poet, of the
secondary class, was born at Aberglasney,
in Caermarthenshire, in 1700, and edu-
cated at Westminster school. Being left,
by the death of his father, at liberty to
follow his own inclination, he became a
pupil to Richardson, the painter, and trav-
elled through Wales as an itinerant artist,
but never seems to have gained any dis-
tinction in that capacity. In 1727, he
made himself known as a poet, by the
publication of his celebrated Grongar Hill.
The intermixture of moral reflections, in-
troduced in an easy manner, with the
description of rural scenery, has rendered
this poem highly and deservedly popular.
After the publication of Grongar Hill, he
went to Rome for professional improve-
ment, and published, in 1740, a poem in
blank verse, under the title of the Ruins
of Rome. Not appearing likely to suc-
ceed in his profession, he was recom-
mended to take orders, and was accord-
ingly ordained by doctor Thomas, bishop
of Lincoln. He then married, and retired
355
to a small living in Leicestershire, which he
soon afterwards exchanged for another in
Lincolnshire, to which a second was sub-
sequently added. In 1757, he published
his largest poem, the Fleece, in five books,
a very ingenious production. He died in
1758. His poems, which comprise a few
more pieces than those already mentioned,
were published in 1 vol. 8vo. 1761.
DYKE, VAN. (See Vandyke.)
DYNAMETER, measurer of increase, au-
gomètre; an instrument for measuring the
magnifying power of telescopes. It con-
sists of a small tube, with a transparent
plate, exactly divided, which is fixed to
the tube of a telescope, in order to meas-
ure exactly the diameter of the eistinct
image of the eye-glass.
DYNAMICS is the science of moving
powers, or of the action of forces on solid
bodies, when the result of that action is
motion. Mechanics, in its most extensive
meaning, is the science which treats of
quantity, of extension, and of motion.
Now, that branch of it which considers
the state of solids at rest, such as their
equilibrium, their weight, pressure, &c.,
is called statics; and that which treats of
their motion, dynamics. So when fluids,
instead of solids, are the subjects of in-
vestigation, that branch which treats of
their equilibrium, pressure, &c., is called
hydrostatics, and that which treats of their
motion, hydrodynamics.
DYNAMIC AND ATOMIC THEORIES; the
names given to two celebrated systems,
explanatory of the essential constitution
of matter. In the dynamic theory, ev-
ery body is considered as a space filled
with continuous matter; porosity then be-
comes an accidental quality, but com-
pressibility and dilatability essential prop-
erties. The state of a body depends en-
tirely on certain attracting and repelling
forces; and its volume must change with
every change in the relative proportions
of these forces. All the varieties of mat-
ter are explained by supposing the exist-
ence of certain primitive simple substan-
ces, the different combinations of which
produce all bodies. When two substances
combine chemically, they must be con-
sidered, on this system, to penetrate each
other mutually. The partisans of the
atomic theory suppose every body to be
composed of indivisible and impenetrable
particles, which they term atoms. These
are almost infinitely small, with void
spaces between them, so that this theory
makes porosity essential to matter. The
atoms are not in contact, but are kept in
their relative positions, at certain dis-
356
DYNAMIC THEORY-DYSPEPSIA.

tances, by certain attractive and repulsive
forces; from whence it arises, that, in the
volume of each body, there is much more
void space than matter. On this system,
the diversities in bodies may be explained,
either by an essential difference in the
atoms themselves, or by a difference in
their form, size, position and distance.
When two substances combine chemical-
ly, the atoms of one penetrate the inter-
stices of the other, and the atoms of the
two combine so intimately, that they be-
come, in a manner, new sorts of constitu-
ent particles, excepting that they are not
simple, but compound.
DYNAMOMETER. Instruments for meas-
uring the relative strength of men, and also
of animals, are so called.
DYSPEPSIA (Suomea, from dus, bad, and
ss, digestion); difficulty of digestion.
The strict etymology of the term implies
an imperfect or disordered condition of the
function of digestion. Systematic writers
have been not a little perplexed to find an
appropriate location for this affection in
their artificial arrangements; and this dif-
ficulty must exist whilst symptoms, which
are always fluctuating, are admitted, as the
elements of nomenclature and arrange-
ment, into systems of nosology. From
the same circumstance, different symp-
toms of the affection have received the
character of separate diseases, as apepsia,
bradypepsia (Boadus, slow), anorexia, car-
dialgia, &c. These are no more than
different grades in the symptoms, or vari-
eties of the affection, and are not different
diseases. The disorder of the digestive
function is the most frequent and prevail-
ing of the ailments that afflict man in the
civilized state; all classes and all ages
suffer from its attacks. Few are so hap-
py as to pass through a life of ordinary
duration, without undergoing a protracted
struggle with this malady, and experienc-
ing its torments. Once let it be fully
established, and the comfort of existence
disappears, or is regained, in most cases,
tediously, and at the price of the most
ascetic self-denial. The greater preva-
lence of dyspepsia or indigestion, in mod-
ern times, arises from the more frequent
injury done to the stomach and its func-
tions, directly, by the habits of luxurious
indulgence, which have been exceedingly
increased and extended; and, indirectly,
by the multiplication of intellectual and
moral agitations, from the extension of the
commercial and financial operations of
society, the greater activity and employ-
ment of the intellectual faculties, and aug-
mentation of political, social and individ-
ual reverses. Something, too, is to be
ascribed to the mere change of names.
We call that dyspepsia now, which, for-
merly, was termed liver disease, bilious
disorder, &c. A large proportion of the
discomfort produced by this malady,
arises from an ignorance of the digestive
functions, leading to their abuse and pre-
mature derangement, and may be obvi-
ated, to a great extent, by instruction as to
the nature of these functions, and their
natural exercise. A general view of the
digestive organs and functions is, there-
fore, requisite to an understanding of their
disorders, the means to prevent, and the
methods to remedy them. All organized
or animated beings hold their existence
under the condition of renewing, inces-
santly, the elements of their composition,
by the appropriation to themselves of
exterior matters. The simple animals
(polypi, &c.) find, in the medium in which
they live, and from which they directly
receive them, the principles serving for
their composition. The decomposition
of animal and vegetable matter in the soil
prepares the aliment or nutritive principle
of vegetables, which, being held in solu-
tion by water, is absorbed by their roots.
In all these beings there are no digestive
organs or functions. The preparation of
their nutriment is effected by physica.
operations exterior to themselves, and over
which they have no control. In the
higher or complete animals, or in man,
the case is very different. Nature does
not present to them the nutritive elements
in a state fitted to be introduced, at once,
into the interior organism, and to be em-
ployed in its composition. Their aliment
consists of the nutritive principles in a
compound state, intimately combined with
other substances, from which they require
to be disengaged. This is accomplished
by the animal itself, which is provided
with especial organs or apparatus and func-
tions for this purpose. Digestion, then,
consists in the disengagement of the nu-
tritive elements from their combinations,
and their reduction to the molecular state,
admitting their introduction into the ves-
sels, and their diffusion throughout the
organism, for the purposes of its compo-
sition. It is a process analogous to the
decomposition of the aliment of vegetables
in the soil, and is effected, like all decom-
positions, by analogous or chemical ope-
rations. In this class, the procuring of
the aliment is the act of the animal, de-
pending on its voluntary powers, and is
controlled by a great variety of circum-
stances, affecting the quantity and quality
DYSPEPSIA.
of the food. The organs composing the
digestive apparatus in man are numerous.
They are the mouth, armed with teeth,
or mechanically breaking down the food
oy mastication; the salivary glands, fur-
nishing a fluid intimately combined with
the food, in mastication, and collected in
the stomach, which is its reservoir; the
pharynx, a muscular and membranous
bag, for the reception of the masticated
bolus from the mouth; the esophagus, a
muscular and membranous tube, for con-
ducting the bolus into the stomach; the
stomach, a muscular and membranous
bag, or enlargement of the alimentary
canal, secreting a fluid or fluids, and a
reservoir of the salivary and other secre-
tory fluids of the interior surfaces, and in
which the food is subjected to the decom-
posing process, until reduced to a pulpy
mass, called chyme, consisting of the nu-
tritive and innutritive elements, in a state
of mechanical mixture; the duodenum,
or second stomach, in which the chymous
mass is submitted to the action of the
biliary and pancreatic fluids, and in which
the nutritive elements begin to separate
from the innutritive matters, and to be
absorbed by the lacteals, the roots of the
animal economy; the liver and pancreas,
furnishing bile and a species of saliva,
which are mixed with, and act on, the
chyme in the duodenum; the jejunum
and ileum, or small intestines, in the
course of which the separation, begun in
the duodenum, is completed, and nearly the
whole of the nutritive principles forming
chyle are absorbed; and, lastly, the large in-
testines, a reservoir for all the excrementi-
tious principles, and which, in it, are con-
verted into fæces. The whole of these
organs compose the apparatus of diges-
tion, but all are not of equal importance.
The stomach and duodenum are the most
eminent organs, and those whose condi-
tion exercises the greatest influence over
the powers of digestion. This apparatus
is intimately connected, and a natural state
of each of its parts, and a due exercise of
the function of each, are essential to the
healthy, undisturbed performance of di-
gestion. This connexion is maintained
through the ganglionary system of nerves,
which not only unites these organs to-
gether, but combines them with all their
congeries, appropriated to the perfect elab-
oration of the nutritive and sustaining
principles of the economy. The stomach
is the centre of the digestive apparatus,
and may be regarded in nearly the same
view, for the whole of the organs con-
nected with individual nutrition. It owes
357

this character to its intimate union with
the great solar plexus, the centre or brain,
if it may be so termed, of the ganglionary
system, regulating the nutritive functions.
It is also immediately associated with the
brain, through the medium of the eighth
pair or pneumo-gastric nerves, and thus
is placed in relation with the exercise of
the moral and intellectual faculties. The
stomach is consequently exposed to be
disordered in its functions by violent im-
pressions from these faculties, as they are
also liable to be affected by the disordered
conditions of the stomach. It is neces-
sary to have these diversified connexions
pointed out, to possess a clear understand-
ing of the numerous and very different
sources from which disturbances reach
the process of digestion. A few words
will now be necessary as to digestion
itself. It is not all substances that are
fitted for aliment, and are susceptible of
digestion. Food is intended for the reno-
vation of the body. It must consist of the
same elements as the animal structure,
and be capable of becoming organized
and living. It must then contain, at least,
three elementary animal principles-hy-
drogen, carbon and oxygen; and much of
it contains, also, a fourth-azote. These
elements form secondary compounds, in
which state alone they constitute aliment:
such are albumen, fibrin, gelatin, osma-
zome, oil, engan, farina, mucilage, and
other animal and vegetable compounds.
In all these substances, the molecules are
easily separable without being chemically
decomposed, which is one of the primary
requisites of digestibility, and to effect
which is the chief object of digestion. The
masticated and insalivated food passes in-
to the stomach. Here it is macerated in
the saliva collected in the stomach, and
in the proper liquid secreted by the villi
of the gastric mucous membrane, at a
temperature of 104° Fahr. This liquor is
called gastric juice. Its true nature is not
accurately determined, but, as far as ex-
amination has ascertained, it resembles
saliva mixed with a small portion of lac-
tic or muriatic acid. The stomach, in a
healthy state, always contracts on its con-
tents, so that its parietes, in digestion, are
always in contact with the food. During
digestion, the stomach has a constant ver-
micular motion, its muscular fibres con
tracting, successively, from the smaller to
the larger end. The food is thus agitat-
ed, acquires a rotatory movement, and is
mingled with the fluids of the stomach.
In a short time, the change accomplished
in the stomach commences; it becomes
358
DYSPEPSIA.

pulpy, and then reduced to a semifluid
of a light, grayish color. From the uni-
form pressure of the stomach, the solid
and most resisting portions are forced into
the centre, while the digested and more
fluid matter is found on the surface, and
is gradually carried, by the contraction of
the muscular fibres, into the duodenum.
W. Philips and others have been led to
suppose, from this circumstance, that the
food in contact with the parietes of the
stomach was alone digested; but it is a
mere physical result, as uniform pressure
in every direction, on a mass of different
consistency, will always drive the most
fluia to the circumference. The pulpy,
grayish substance resulting from the
stomachic digestion is called chyme. (q. v.)
When examined with the microscope, the
writer of this article has always found it to
consist of an immense number of transpa-
rent globules, of various sizes, intermixed
with undissolved fragments of the fibres of
the alimentary substance. When food is
masticated, and macerated for a few hours
in simple saliva, he has found it to pre-
sent exactly the same appearances as the
chyme of the stomach. The digestion of
the stomach, he infers from his experiments,
is not a decomposition of the alimentary
matter, but is a simple disintegration or
reduction of it into its component molecules,
the animal character remaining unchanged.
The chyme, having passed into the duo-
denum, meets with the pancreatic liquor
and the bile. What are the positive
changes induced by these fluids, certainly
is not accurately known. The acids of
the chymous mass are neutralized by the
alkaline principles of the bile, the picro-
mel and coloring matter of which appear
to coalesce with the unassimilable princi-
ples of the food, and assist in their con-
version into faces. A chemical modifica-
tion in some of the alimentary elements
may also be effected. It is certain that
chyle, or the nutritive principles of which
blood is formed, does not appear in the
lacteals until after the action of the bile
and pancreatic fluid on the chyme, the
product of the stomachic digestion. The
action of the stomach on the food is that
usually designated as digestion, and it is
the derangement of this process that is
usually expressed by the term dyspepsia.
The process accomplished in the duode-
num is also a true digestion, and the
symptoms arising from its disordered
state are confounded with those of the
stomachic digestion, in the general ac-
counts of dyspepsia. From this sketch
of the function of digestion, it is evident,
that its most important agents are, 1st, th
secreted fluids collected in the stomach,
2d, the contractile movements of the
stomach, keeping the alimentary mass in
constant agitation, mixing it with the
fluids as they are secreted, and remov-
ing the portion digested or reduced into
chyme; 3d, the application of the biliary
and pancreatic fluids to the chyme in
the duodenum; and, 4th, the contractile
movements of this viscus. Most of the
derangements of the digestive functions
may be traced immediately to a departure
from a natural state of some one or more
of the above requisites of digestion. But
this deviation from the natural order is,
itself, an effect. The secretions are prod-
ucts of organs, and all excitement of the
secretory organ, beyond the range of
healthy action, causes vitiation of the
secretion, or its total suspension. The
action of the organ, diminished below the
physiological range, is attended with other
vitiations of the fluid, or the cessation of
its secretion. Indigestion or dyspepsia is
a consequence of both these conditions
of the organs furnishing the fluids of di-
gestion. Digestion is a very stimulating
process. All functional actions are excit-
ing. The increased demand for secreted
fluids renders an augmented action, and
increase of blood in the furnishing organ,
necessary for their production. The pres-
ence of the food, drinks, &c., in the
stomach, add to the stimulation of diges-
tion. If the stomach of an animal be
examined in the act of digestion, the
mucous membrane is found of a diffused
scarlet color. The movements of the
stomach essential to digestion depend on
its nervous communications, and especial-
ly on the integrity of the eighth pair of
nerves. When these are divided, the
stomach and oesophagus are paralysed;
the food is no longer agitated and mixed
up with the digestive fluids, and it often
regurgitates from the stomach into the
esophagus. This experiment proves the
influence of the contractile motion of the
stomach in the act of digestion. The
ganglionic nerves are not less important,
though their specific influence cannot as
readily be determined. But in many
cases of disease of these ganglions, vomit-
ing, eructations, pain in the gastric region,
and impaired digestion, are accompanying
symptoms. Through the nervous system,
the function of digestion is exposed to
numerous disorders from moral impres-
sions, especially those of an agitating char-
acter. From the preceding principles, it
is evident that dyspepsia or indigestion is
DYSPEPSIA.
not, properly speaking, a disease, but
rather a symptom, attached to diseases of
the apparatus of digestion, of very various
and even opposite character. No specific
treatment can, therefore, be laid down for
the cure of dyspepsia, but each case re-
quires to be managed according to its
peculiar cause and nature. The organ of
the digestive apparatus the most frequent-
ly productive of dyspeptic symptoms is
the stomach, and the most usual cause of
dyspepsia is its irritation and inflamma-
tion. The stomach is more liable than
any other organ to these states, from its
direct exposure to so many irritating ag-
gressions, and its intimate sympathetic
communications, which make it partici-
pate in the irritations of almost every
other organ. The sub-acute and chronic
forms gastric irritation and inflamma-
tion, the signs of which have only of late
been fully appreciated, are the disorders
that, in seven or eight cases out of ten,
are termed dyspepsia. Hence dyspepsia
so frequently succeeds to febrile diseases,
especially when treated by emetics, dras-
tics, and the improper use of tonics and
stimulants, which, although the patient
escapes the fever, leave him a martyr to
the chronic, disorganizing and perturbat-
ing irritations of the gastric mucous mem-
brane. Hence, too, dyspepsia almost in-
evitably follows continued abuse of the
digestive functions, from too highly sea-
soned or too abundant food, and stimulant
drinks. The constant stimulation of the
stomach finally becomes pathological or
morbid. The simple prolongation of the
functional excitement essential to diges-
tion, continued from meal to meal, with-
out permitting the stomach to revert to a
state of repose, is sufficient to constitute a
morbid state. All functions, for their per-
fect performance, require alternate periods
of repose and activity. Incessant action
irritates, inflames, and finally disorganizes
the structure of the organs. A second
condition of the stomach, productive of
dyspepsia, is the congestion of its mucous
tissue. This may be confined to the
stomach alone, succeeding to an attack
of acute gastritis, or following on its pro-
tracted irritation; or it may be an attend-
ant on a general congestion of the whole
portal system involving most of the ab-
dominal viscera. Every irritation is at-
tended with an afflux of the circulating
fluids into the structure where it is seated,
proportioned to its intensity and the vas-
cularity of the structure. This gorged
state often continues after the subsidence
of the irritation that provoked it, and pre-
359

vents the resumption of the healthy func-
tions. It is a state of passive congestion,
and often exists in the mucous membrane
of the stomach, after attacks of inflamma-
tion or acute irritation, and embarrasses
its digestive operations. In all the exten-
sive irritations of the alimentary canal,
especially when attended with fever, hav-
ing a paroxysmal character, the great
portal system of the abdomen becomes
loaded with blood, and congestion of its
radical vessels ensues. The functions of
the viscera are then disordered, the secre-
tions are defective, and indigestion, cos-
tiveness, and their attendant nervous af-
fections, are the necessary consequences
of this condition. A third state of the
stomach, a cause of dyspeptic symptoms,
is precisely the reverse of the preceding.
Asthenia, or diminution of vitality and ac-
tions below the healthy degree, occasion-
ally takes possession of the stomach. Its
circulation is then deficient, its secreted
fluids are defective in quantity or quality,
its sensibility is impaired, and digestion is
imperfect. It is not probable that gastric
asthenia is ever primitive. It succeeds to
previous irritation, and is often occasioned
by irritation in other organs.--The pre-
ceding form a first class of dyspeptic dis
eases, which, depending entirely on the
stomach, may be termed gastric dyspepsia.
They present characters totally different,
and require a very opposite treatment.
This class embraces three species.
A second class of dyspeptic diseases
is connected with the duodenum and
its functions. This viscus, similarly con-
stituted to the stomach, is subject to
the same morbid alterations. Its mucous
membrane is the seat of irritation, in its
various grades, and productive of its usual
consequences-augmented irritability, sen-
sibility, perversion of secretions, vitiation
of structure, and disorder of function.
Duodenic irritation most commonly ac-
companies gastric irritation, and the symp-
toms of the two are blended together. It
exists, however, in many instances, inde-
pendently, and then manifests particular
symptoms, which are often termed dys-
pepsia. It is, more especially, the chronic
irritation of the duodenum, that passes for
dyspepsia. It is not probable, that con-
gestion, or asthenia, ever affect the duo-
denum exclusively to the detriment of its
function. When these states prevail, it is
in conjunction with similar conditions of
the whole digestive apparatus. At least, we
have no knowledge of these states limited
to the duodenum.
A third class of dyspeptic diseases de-
360
DYSPEPSIA.

pend on the nervous organs, which fur-
nish nerves to the digestive viscera. The
ganglionic system of nerves, distributed on
each side of the spine, from the head to
the pelvis, transmits nerves to all the
organs connected with the nutritive func-
tion. The stomach, especially, is largely
supplied from the solar plexus, and it
receives, likewise, numerous nervous fila-
ments from the pneumo-gastric, placing
it in connexion with the functions of rela-
tion. The offices of the ganglionic sys-
tem are not ascertained with precision.
It is, however, well determined, that dis-
eases of the ganglions disorder the func-
tions of the viscera to which they trans-
mit nerves. Hence arises an order of
dyspeptic symptoms, independent of any
immediate affection of the stomach, but
occasioned by disease in the great solar,
or other neighboring plexus. The disor-
ders of the digestive functions, from this
cause, are various. The sensibility of the
stomach is sometimes greatly increased,
constituting gastralgia. At other times,
the secreted fluids of the stomach are
morbidly acid. The stomach appears, in
other cases, to be partially paralysed, and
the peristaltic movements necessary for
the admixture of the food, and the gastric
fluids, and the continuous passage of the
chyme into the duodenum, are suspended.
At the same time, considerable quantities
of flatus collect in and distend the stom-
ach, preventing its action on the food.
Mechanical manipulation of the abdomen,
and particularly of the epigastrium, after
a meal, becomes a substitute for the natu-
ral motion of the stomach, expels the
wind, and facilitates digestion, that would
otherwise be laborious and painful.-Dys-
pepsia or indigestion, from this analysis
of its modes of production, is seen not to
be a disease of uniform character, and
depending on an identical state of the
digestive organs. It is attached, as a
symptom, rather, to a variety of condi-
tions, each of which requires to be man-
aged in its appropriate mode. It is not
possible that it can be remedied by any
one general mode of treatment, or by any
set of specific remedies. The most com-
mon causes of dyspepsia are excesses of
various kinds, especially in the quantity
of food eaten. Most individuals, in this
country, err in this respect. Meat at three
meals, daily, can be borne only by the
most robust frames, and by hard laborers.
Persons of a sedentary life require less
nutriment; the economy makes less de-
mand on the stomach for supplies; and
if it be compelled then to labor, it is at its
own loss. Exercise, or the expenditure of
the nutritive elements by the economy,
and the quantity of food to be digested,
must be proportioned to each other, for
the preservation of health and the due
vigor of digestion. This fundamental
principle is laid down in an axiom by
Hippocrates-Homo edens sanus esse non
potest, nisi etiam laborat.-DE DIETA,
Lib. I. Good cookery, by rendering
food more digestible, is one preservative
against dyspepsia. The food, by being
rendered tender and pulpy, is reduced to
chyme in a shorter period, with a smaller
expenditure of the secreted fluids, and
less excitement of the stomach, than
when it is not properly concocted. The
art of long and healthful living will de-
pend on a perfect system of cooking, and
a rational mode of eating. The powers
of the stomach differ, in individuals, as
much as the force of their muscles; and
each one must adopt a mode of nutrition,
both as to quantity and quality of food,
suitable to the wants of his economy and
the digestive capacity of his stomach.
The quality of food is a frequent cause of
dyspepsia. Tough and badly dressed
meats, and crude vegetables, are among
the prominent causes of this affliction, as
are also hot bread and cakes, heavy and
fresh bread, and the daily use of hot cof-
fee for breakfast. In enumerating the
more common causes of dyspeptic symp-
toms, we ought not to omit the frequent
exacerbations of the malevolent passions,
as anger, hatred, envy, jealousy, and,
what is not often suspected, excessive
indulgence and abuses of the venereal pro-
pensity. Another fruitful source of the
digestive disorders is found in the em-
ployment of emetics, and in a frequent
resort to saline or drastic cathartic medi-
cines. When a constipated habit prevails,
it should always be overcome, if possible,
by a laxative regimen, and the aids of
purgatives be cautiously and rarely in-
voked.
E-EAGLE.
361
nity of the
E.

E; the second vowel and the fifth letter
of the English alphabet. The sound e
(as in bench, or long, as in the French
père) in the early stages of all languages,
often passes into i (as in liver, or the Ital-
ian i), into a (as in father), and into o. But
of the languages of modern civilized na-
tions, since their orthography has been set-
tled, the English gives to the letter e the
most different sounds; as that of the Ger-
man short e, for instance, in bet; that of
the German i, as in revere, he, me; that
of the German a, in clerk (pronounced
clark), sergeant (pronounced sargeant; at
least, this mode of pronouncing exists in
England); that of u, as in voter, murder.
We find similar sounds of e in different
dialects of Germany; for instance, in the
dialect of Silesia, where spoken most
broadly, Seele (soul) is pronounced as an
Englishman would pronounce it, whilst
the true German pronunciation of the
word is as if it were written Sa-le. In
Latin, we also find here for heri, Vergilius
for Virgilius, Deana for Diana; and, in
old Italian, desiderio and disiderio, peggiore
and piggiore. In French, e is pronounced
in three different ways-the è ouvert, é
fermé and e muet-all three in the word
fermeté. In German, there are four differ-
ent ways of pronouncing the letter e; 1.
merely as an aspiration, or very short in-
deed, as in hatte or hoffen; 2. short, like
the English e in bet, met, as in recht,
rennen; 3. long, like the English a in
fate, as in reden, predigen; and like the
French è ouvert, or like the German a
or a, as in Elend, although little distinc-
tion is generally made between the two
latter. Some provinces generally pro-
nounce both like the latter; others pro-
nounce them like the former, or like a in
fate. The letter e may be called an in-
truder into the German language, because
it has taken the place formerly occupied
by full and melodious vowels, and it oc-
curs too often. The Greeks, it is well
known, had two characters-, or epsilon,
and
or eta, the latter corresponding to
the French è ouvert, if it was not pro-
nounced, as in modern Greek, like the
31
VOL. IV.
Italian i. E, in the Greek numeration,
signified five. Many dictionaries state,
that E was used by the ancients for 250,
according to the verse-
EAGLE; a coin.
E quoque ducentos et quinquaginta tenebit;
but this was only in late and barbarous
times. E, as an abbreviation, stands, in
English, for east. On ancient medals, it
stands for the names of cities which begin
with this letter; for exercitus, effigies, edic-
tum, or for ros, the year, vepia, liberty,
&c. The letter E, on modern Frenc
coins, signifies the mint of Tours; on Prus-
sian, the mint of Königsberg; on Austrian,
that of Karlsburg. (See Abbreviations.)
(See Coins.)
EAGLE (falco). This well known bird
belongs to the genus falco, which has
been much subdivided by modern omni-
thologists. In the present article, those
species only will be noticed which belong
to the subgenera of aquila and haliætus.
The eagle has been elevated, by the
popular voice, to the rank of the no-
blest and most courageous of the rapa-
cious birds. Its natural fierceness is so
great, that it has seldom been employed
for the purposes of the chase, as it can
never be rendered sufficiently tractable to
obey is keeper. The eagle soars to a
greater height than any other bird, from
which circumstance the ancients consid-
ered it as the messenger of Jove," Ful-
vam aquilam Jovis nuntiam." Its sense of
sight is exquisite. It lives for a great
length of time, even in the captive state.
Mr. Pennant mentions one in the posses-
sion of a gentleman, which he had kept for
nine years, and the person from whom
he had received it, thirty-two. The prin-
cipal species are, 1. the falco imperialis
(Bechst), or imperial eagle. This species
is the largest known. It is distinguished
by a large white spot on the scapulars,
transverse nostrils, black tail, marked with
gray on its superior portion. The female
is fawn-colored, with brown spots. It is
stouter than the common eagle. It inhab
its the high mountains of the middle of
Europe; and to this species may be refer
362
EAGLE.

red all the accounts of the ancients respect-
ing the strength, courage and magnanimity
of these birds. 2. Falco chrysatos (golden
eagle). This fine bird measures, from the
point of the bill to the extremity of the
toes, upwards of three feet, and, from tip
to tip, above six, weighing from 12 to 18
pounds. The male is smaller than the
female. The bill is of a deep blue color,
the cere yellow, the eyes are large, deep
sunk, and covered by a projecting brow;
the iris is of a fine bright yellow, and
sparkles with uncommon lustre. The
general color is a deep brown mixed with
tawny on the head and neck; the quills
are chocolate, with white shafts; the tail
is black, spotted with ash color, the legs
are yellow, the toes very scaly, and the
claws remarkably large. It occurs in va-
rious parts of Europe and of North Amer-
ica; in the latter, however, it is rare.
3. F. fulvus (common or ring-tailed ea-
gle) is said to be the young of this bird.
The same nests are made use of by eagles
for a succession of years. These nests are,
in fact, of great bulk, and of such durable
materials as to be almost indestructible.
They are built in dry and inaccessible
situations, of large twigs, lined with seve-
ral layers of reeds or brambles; of a flat
form, several feet in breadth, and of such
strength as to support not only the eagle
and her young, but likewise the large
quantity of food she provides for them.
This is so great, that it is related by Smith,
in his history of Kerry, that a peasant
procured a comfortable subsistence for his
family, during a summer of famine, by
robbing the eaglets of the food provided
for them by the old birds. In the middle
of this aërie, the female deposits two or
three eggs, and sits on them about thirty
days. The plumage of the eaglets is not
as dark as it becomes when they arrive at
the adult state; but age, famine and cap-
tivity gradually diminish their natural
colors, and give them a faded appearance.
4. White-tailed eagle (F. albicilla). This
bird, which is only found in the old conti-
nent, is inferior in size to the golden
eagle. It inhabits far north, and is ex-
tremely ferocious; feeds principally upon
fisa, and usually lays two or three eggs,
building its nest upon lofty trees. It is
distinguished by its black bill and claws,
and white tail. 5. The sea-eagle of Europe
(F.ossifragus) is the young of this species,
whilst the bird on which Wilson has
bestowed the same denomination in this
country, is the young of the bald eagle.
6. Great eagle of Guiana (F. harpyia).
This bird belongs to the sub-genus harpyia
of Cuvier, and is furnished with a terrible
beak and claws. Its size is larger than
that of the common eagle; its plumage is
ash-colored on the head and neck, black-
ish-brown on the breast and sides, whitish
beneath, rayed with brown on the thighs,
It has long plumes, which form a black
tuft on the back of the head, and can be
raised, giving it somewhat the physiogno-
my of an owl. This bird is said to be so
powerful as to have destroyed men by a
blow of its beak. Its usual food is the
sloth, though it sometimes carries off
fawns. There can be no doubt but that
this species is the yzquautzli of Hernandes,
though this author is guilty of great exag
geration when he says it is as large as a
sheep. 7. Bald eagle (F. leucocephalus).
The bald eagle is the most distinguished of
the North American species, not only from
his beauty, but also as the adopted em-
blem of our country. This bird has been
known to naturalists for a long time, and
is common to both continents, chiefly fre-
quenting the neighborhood of the sea, and
the shores and cliffs of lakes and large
rivers. He is found during the whole
year in the countries he inhabits, prefer-
ring the spots we have mentioned from
his great partiality for fish. The follow-
ing poetic description of one of his modes
of obtaining his prey is given by Wilson:
"Elevated upon a high, dead limb of some
gigantic tree, that commands a wide view
of the neighboring shore and ocean, he
seems calmly to contemplate the motions
of the various feathered tribes that pursue
their busy avocations below-the snow-
white gulls, slowly winnowing the air;
the busy tringa, coursing along the
sands; trains of ducks, streaming over the
surface; silent and watchful cranes, intent
and wading; clamorous crows, and all
the winged multitudes that subsist by the
bounty of this vast liquid magazine of
nature. High over all these hovers one,
whose action instantly arrests all his atten-
tion. He knows him to be the fish-hawk,
settling over some devoted victim of the
deep. His eye kindles at the sight, and,
balancing himself with half-opened wings
on the branch, he. watches the result.
Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven,
descends the distant object of his attention,
the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it
disappears in the deep, inaking the surges
foam around. At this moment, the eager
looks of the eagle are all ardor, and, level-
ling his neck for flight, he sees the fish-
hawk once more emerging, struggling with
his prey, and mounting in the air with
screams of exultation. These are a signa



EAGLE-EAR.
for our hero, who, launching into the air,
instantly gives chase; soon gains on the
fish-hawk; each exerts his utmost to
mount above the other, displaying, in the
rencounter, the most elegant and sublime
aerial evolutions.
The unincumbered
eagle rapidly advances, and is just on the
point of reaching his opponent, when,
with a sudden scream, probably of despair
and honest execration, the latter drops his
fish; the eagle, poising himself for a mo-
ment, as if to take a more certain aim,
descends like a whirlwind, snatches it in
his grasp, ere it reaches the water, and
bears it silently away to the woods."
The bald eagle also destroys quadrupeds,
as lambs, pigs, &c.; and there are well
authenticated instances of its attempting
to carry off children. When this bird has
fasted for some time, its appetite is ex-
tremely voracious and indiscriminate.
Even the most putrid carrion, when noth-
ing better can be had, is acceptable. In
hard times, when. food is very scarce, the
eagle will attack the vulture, make it dis-
gorge the food it has swallowed, and
seize this disgusting matter before it
can reach the ground. The nest of this
species is usually found in a lofty tree, in
a swamp or morass. It is large, and,
being increased and repaired every season,
becomes of great size. It is formed of
large sticks, sods, hay, moss, &c. Few
birds provide more abundantly for their
young than the bald eagle. Fish are
daily carried to the nest in such numbers,
that they sometimes lie scattered round
the tree, and the putrid smell of the nest
may be distinguished at the distance of
several hundred yards. The eagle is
said to live to a great age-60, 80, or even
100 years. In poetry and the fine arts,
the eagle plays a very important part.
As king of birds, the eagle was the bird
of Jove, the carrier of the lightning, and
thereby expressive of sole or supreme
dominion. In this sense, he is used as
the emblem and symbol of nations,
princes and armies. He was the hiero-
glyphic sign of the cities Heliopolis, Eme-
sus, Antioch and Tyre. Among the at-
tributes of royalty, which the Tuscans
once sent to the Romans, as a token of
amity, was a sceptre with an eagle of
ivory; and from that time the eagle re-
mained one of the principal emblems of
the republic, and was retained also by the
emperors. As the standard of an army,
the eagle was first used by the Persians.
Among the Romans, they were at first of
wood, then of silver, with thunderbolts of
gold, and, under Cæsar and his success-
363

ors, entirely of gold, without thunderbolts.
For a long time, they were carried, as the
standards of the legions, on a long pike,
and reverenced as their peculiar deities.
Napoleon chose the Roman eagle as his
banner. It was of metal, gilt, and elevated
on a long staff; but the royal army in
France no longer retains this standard.
The double-headed eagle was first found
among the emperors of the East, who
thereby expressed their claims to the East-
ern and Western empires. It was after-
wards adopted by the Western emperors.
The German emperor Otho IV had it
first on his seal. King Philip afterwards
made it the impress on his coins. Aus-
tria received this emblem from the inher-
itance of the East. The eagle was also
adopted by the kings of Prussia, Poland,
Sicily, Spain, Sardinia, by the emperors
of Russia, by many princes, counts and
barons of the German empire, and by
the U. States of America. Napoleon's
eagle was seated, with his wings folded,
like that of the Romans. The eagle of
the U. States stands with outspread wings,
guarding the shield below him, on which
are the stripes and stars representing the
states of the Union, and the motto E plu-
ribus unum.-The eagle is also the badge
of several orders, as the black eagle and
the red eagle of Prussia, the white eagle
of Poland, &c.
EAHEINOMAUWE; a large island in the
South Pacific ocean, and the most north-
ern of the two constituting New Zealand,
extending from lat. 34° 30′ to 41° 30′ S.
Its form is irregular. From lat. 37° 30
to 39° 40′ S., the breadth is from 150 to
180 miles; afterwards it decreases gradu-
ally to 30 miles, the distance from cape
Tierawitte to cape Palliser, its most south-
ern point.
EAR (auris). The ear is the organ of
hearing. It is situated at the side of the
head, and is divided into external and in-
ternal ear. The auricula, or pinna, cox
monly called the ear, constitutes the ex-
ternal part. It is of a greater or less size.
according to the individual. The pinna
is formed of a fibrous cartilage, elastic and
pliant: the skin which covers it is thin
and dry. There are also seen, upon the
different projections of the cartilaginous
ear, certain muscular fibres, to which the
name of muscles has been given. The
pinna, receiving many vessels and nerves,
is very sensible, and easily becomes red.
It is fixed to the head by the cellular
tissue, and by muscles, which are called,
according to their position, anterior, supe-
rior and posterior. These muscles are


364
EAR-EAR-TRUMPETS.

much developed in many animals: in
man, they may be considered as simple
vestiges. The meatus auditorius, or audi-
tory passage, extends from the concha to
the membrane of the tympanum; its
length, variable according to age, is from
10 to 12 lines in the adult; it is narrower
in the middle than at the ends; it presents
a slight curve above and in front. Its
external orifice is commonly covered with
hairs, like the entrance to the other cavi-
ties. The middle ear comprehends the
cavity of the tympanum, the little bones
which are contained in this cavity, the
mastoid cells, the Eustachian tube, &c.
The tympanum is a cavity which sepa-
rates the external from the internal ear.
Its form is that of a portion of a cylinder,
but a little irregular. The external side
presents the membrana tympani. This
membrane is directed obliquely downward
and inward: it is bent, very slender and
transparent, covered on the outside by a
continuation of the skin; on the inside, by
the narrow membrane which covers the
tympanum. Its tissue is dry, brittle, and
has nothing analogous in the animal econ-
omy; there are neither fibres, vessels nor
nerves found in it. The cavity of the
tympanum, and all the canals which end
there, are covered with a very slender
mucous membrane: this cavity, which is
always full of air, contains, besides, four
small bones (the malleus, incus, os orbicu-
lare, and stapes), which form a chain from
the membrana tympani to the fenestra ova-
lis, where the base of the stapes is fixed.
There are some little muscles for the pur-
pose of moving this osseous chain, of
stretching and slackening the membranes
to which it is attached: thus the in-
ternal muscle of the malleus draws it for-
ward, bends the chain in this direction,
and stretches the membranes; the ante-
rior muscle produces the contrary effect:
it is also supposed that the small muscle
which is placed in the pyramid, and
which is attached to the neck of the
stapes, may give a slight tension to the
chain, in drawing it towards itself. The
internal ear, or labyrinth, is composed of
the cochlea, of the semicircular canals, and
of the vestibule. The cochlea is a bony
cavity, in form of a spiral, from which it
has taken its name. This cavity is di-
vided into two others, which are distin-
guished into external and internal. The
partition which separates them is a plate
set edgeways, and which, in its whole
length, is partly bony and partly mem-
branous. The semicircular canals are
taree cylindrical cavities, bent in a semi-
circular form, two of which are disposed
horizontally, and the others vertically.
These canals terminate by their extremi
ties in the vestibule. They contain bodies
of a gray color, the extremities of which
are terminated by swellings. The vesti-
bule is the central cavity, the point of
union of all the others. It communicates
with the tympanum, the cochlea, the sem-
icircular canals, and the internal meatus
auditorius, by a great number of little
openings. The cavities of the internal
ear are entirely hollowed out of the hard-
est part of the temporal bone: they are
covered with an extremely thin mem-
brane, and are full of a very thin and
limpid fluid: they contain, besides, the
acoustic nerve. The internal ear and mid-
dle ear are traversed by several nervous
threads, the presence of which is, perhaps,
useful to hearing.
EAR-TRUMPETS; instruments used by
persons partially deaf, to strengthen the
sensation of sound. They are of various
forms, and are intended to compensate for
the want of the external ear, or to aug-
ment its power when the internal organs
perform their functions but imperfectly.
The purpose of the external ear, both in
men and beasts, is to collect, by its funnel
form, all the rays of sound (if we may be
allowed the expression), and conduct them
to the internal organs, the seat of the'
sense of hearing. All the artificial instru-
ments, then, ought to resemble, in form,
the natural ear. In ancient times, they
were made like a trumpet, of moderate
size, and usually provided with handles,
by which they might be held up to the
ear. They were so fitted that the smaller
aperture entered the ear, and the wider
was directed to the quarter from which
the sound was to proceed. But these in-
struments were soon found inconvenient,
both on account of their size and the
necessity of continually holding them to
the ear. Another objection was, that they
did not sufficiently conceal the defect they
were designed to remedy, and therefore
they were soon thrown aside. New in-
struments were made without these de
fects. One resembles a small silver fun-
nel, with a long winding channel in its
interior, which terminates at the beginning
of the auditory passage. On the broad,
bent rim there are holes, with ribbons
passing through them, to fix the machine
to the external ear. A second form con-
sists of a lackered tin tube, with numerous
windings, having the narrow end commu-
nicating with the auditory passage, and
the exterior, wider end made fast to the

"





EAR-TRUMPETS-EARTH.
365
external ear. In the same way, two of this branch of art he had been his own
instructer, and he introduced into the
practice of it improvements and instru-
ments not previously used. The fruit and
flower-pieces executed by Earlom, after
Van Huysum, established his fame. In
history, he distinguished himself by his
engraving of Agrippina, from the grand
picture by West. He also engraved some
Oriental scenes, from paintings by Zoffa-
ni, and published two volumes of plates
from the Liber Veritatis or sketch book
of Claude. He died Oct. 9, 1822, aged 79.
these instruments might be connected
by an elastic hoop, and fitted, at the same
time, to both ears. A third instrument
consists of a sort of hollow tin case, curv-
ing so as to fit the head, having a broad
aperture in the middle of the front surface,
and terminated by two tubes bent inwards.
This hoop is so fixed under the hair, that
the aperture in the middle is exactly over
the upper part of the forehead, and the
lateral tubes communicate with the right
and left auditory passages. The great
advantage of this last instrument is, that it
receives directly sounds which come from
before.
EARL; a degree of the English nobility,
between marquis and viscount. (For the
origin of the title and the dignity, see Alder-
man.) In Latin, the earls are called comites,
corresponding to the count or Graf of the
European continent. (See Count.) It is
now become a mere title, the official au-
thority which the earls formerly possessed
in the counties having devolved entirely
on the sheriff's (in Latin, vice-comites). In
official instruments, they are called, by the
king, trusty and well beloved cousins-an
appellation as ancient as the reign of
Henry IV, who, being, either by his wife,
mother or sisters, actually related or allied
to every earl in the kingdom, artfully
acknowledged this connexion in all his
letters and other public acts. An earl's
coronet is composed of eight pearls, raised
upon points, with small leaves between,
above the rim. There are, at present, 105
earls in England, 5 in Scotland, and 19 in
Ireland. As the earls, for some time after
the Norman conquest, were called counts,
their wives are still called countesses.
EARL MARSHAL OF ENGLAND; a great
officer, who had, anciently, several courts
under his jurisdiction, as the court of chiv-
alry and the court of honor. Under him
is also the herald's office, or college of
arms. He has some preeminence in the
court of Marshalsea, where he may sit in
judgment against those who offend within
the verge of the king's court.
EARLOM, Richard, a mezzotinto en-
graver, was born in London, and was the
son of the vestry-clerk of the parish of St.
Sepulchre. His taste for design is said to
have been excited by the inspection of the
ornaments on the state-coach of the lord-
mayor, which had been painted by Cipri-
ani. About 1765, he was employed by
alderman Boydell to make drawings from
the celebrated collection of pictures at
Houghton, most of which he afterwards
admirably engraved in mezzotinto. In

EARNEST; a part of the price paid in
advance, to bind parties to the perform-
ance of a verbal agreement. The party is
then obliged to abide by his bargain, and
is not discharged upon forfeiting his ear-
nest, but may be sued for the whole
money stipulated, and damages. No con-
tract for the sale of goods not to be deliv-
ered immediately, to the value of £10 or
more, is valid, unless a written contract is
made by the parties, or those lawfully
authorized by them, or earnest is given.
EARTH; the name of the planet which
we inhabit.
we inhabit. We may view it in regard to
its physical, mathematical and political
condition. (See Geography.) First, as to
the form of the earth: to an observer
whose view is not obstructed, it presents
itself as à circular plain, on the circum-
ference of which the heavens appear to
rest. Accordingly, in remote antiquity,
the earth was regarded as a flat, circular
body, floating on the water. But the
great distances which men were able to
travel soon refuted this limited idea as an
optical illusion; and, even in antiquity, the
spherical form of the earth began to be
suspected. On this supposition alone can
all the phenomena relating to it be ex-
plained. A sphere of so great a magni-
tude as our earth, surrounded by a stra-
tum of air, or the visible firmament, must
present to the eye of an observer, on a
plain, the appearance just described. But
how could the earth appear, from every
possible position, as a surface bounded by
the firmament, if it were not a sphere
encircled by it? How else could the
horizon grow wider and wider, the higher
the position we choose? How else an
the fact be explained, that we see the tops
of towers and of mountains, at a distance,
before the bases become visible? But
besides these proofs of the sphericity of
the earth, there are many others, such as
its circular shadow on the moon during
an eclipse, the gradual appearance and
disappearance of the sun, the inequality
of day and night, the changes in the posi-
31*
366
EARTH.

tion and course of the stars, and the grad-
nal disappearance of some and appearance
of others, as we go from the equator to
the poles. Finally, if the earth were not
spherical, it would be impossible to sail
round it, which is frequently done. The
cause of the earth's sphericity is very evi-
dent, if we consider it as having been, at
first, a yielding mass, capable of assuming
any form: then, by the force of gravity,
every particle contained in it tending
towards the common centre, the globular
form is the necessary consequence. As
to the objection to the sphericity of the
earth, drawn by weak and ignorant peo-
ple, from the imagination that our antipo-
des (q. v.) would fall from its surface, and
many similar ones, they will appear to
have no force whatever, when we con-
sider that, in a globe of the magnitude of
the earth, every thing on the surface tends
to the centre, and that, if we speak of what
is above and below, the whole surface of
the earth is below, and the surrounding
atmosphere above. The earth is not,
however, an exact sphere, but is flat-
tened at the poles. Philosophers were
first led to observe this by the varia-
tion in the vibrations of the pendu-
lum under the equator and near the
poles. It was found that the pendulum
performed its vibrations slower the nearer
it approached the equator, and hence was
inferred the variableness of the force of
gravity. This was easily explained on the
theory just mentioned, because, the circle
of daily revolution being greatest at the
equator, all bodies revolve proportionally
faster there than at the poles, so that the
centrifugal force is greater, and the force
of gravity less, than at other parts of
the earth's surface; and because,, at
the equator, the centrifugal force is
exactly opposed to that of gravity, but
towards the poles, being oblique to it,
produces less effect. From these obser-
vations it was justly inferred, that the
earth is a sphere flattened at the poles, or
a spheroid; and this form was satisfacto-
rily accounted for by the fact that the
particles of a yielding mass, which re-
volves on its own axis, depart from the
poles and tend to the centre, by which the
poles are, of course, flattened, and the
middle elevated. Various measurements
have put this beyond all doubt. (See
Maupertuis, and Condamine, and Degree,
Measurement of.) Another important de-
sideratum for a more intimate acquaint-
ance with the earth was, to fix its magni
tude. The labors of the ancients, in this
respect, were all fruitless, owing to their
want of suitable instruments. Accurate
results were first obtained in the year
1615. Willibrord Snellius, a Dutchman,
first struck into the only true way, and
measured an arc of a meridian from Al-
maar to Leyden and Bergen op Zoom, by
means of triangles. After him, the meas
urements of Picard, and the later ones of
Maupertuis, approximated nearer the truth,
These made the circumference of a great
circle of the earth 25,000 miles. But it is
to be remarked that, in this calculation,
the earth is regarded as a perfect sphere.
Further measurements of all parts of the
surface of the earth will be necessary to
find, rigidly and accurately, the true mag-
nitude of it. (See Account of Experi
ments, to determine the Figure of the
Earth, by Means of the Pendulum, &c.,
by Captain Ed. Sabine (London, 1825,
4to.), under the direction of the board of
longitude.) If we take a view of our
earth in its relation to the solar system,
astronomy teaches us that, contrary to
appearances, which make the sun revolve
about the earth, the earth and ten other
planets revolve about the sun, and, being
themselves opaque bodies, receive from
the sun light and heat. The earth com-
pletes its revolution round the sun in
about 365 days and 6 hours, which forms
our common year. The orbit of the
earth is an ellipse, with the sun in one of
its foci. Hence the earth is not equally
distant from the sun in all parts of the
year: its least distance is estimated at
93,336,000 miles, and its greatest, at
95,484,572, making a difference of more
than 2,000,000 of miles. In winter, we
are nearest the sun, and in summer, farthest
from it; for the difference in the seasons
is not occasioned by the greater or less
distance of the earth from the sun, but by
the inore or less oblique direction of the
sun's rays. The length of the path trav-
elled over by the earth is estimated at
567,019,740 miles, and, as this immense
distance is passed over in a year, the earth
must move 17 miles a second--a rapidity
so far exceeding our conceptions, that it
gave very just occasion to the pleasant
remark of Lichtenberg, that, while one
man salutes another in the street, he goes
many miles bareheaded without catching
cold. Besides this annual motion about
the sun, the earth has also a daily motion
about its own axis (according to mean
time, in 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 sec-
onds). This diurnal revolution is the
occasion of the alternation of day and
night. But as the axis on which the
earth performs its diurnal rotation forms,

1

ION OF THE EARTH
EARTH-MOTION OF THE EARTH.
—
with its path about the sun, an angle of
234 degrees, the sun ascends, from March
21 to June 21, about 23 degrees above
the equator towards the north pole, and
descends again towards the equator from
June 21 to September 23; it then sinks
till December 21, about 234 degrees below
the equator, towards the south pole, and
returns again to the equator by March 21.
This arrangement is the cause of the
seasons, and the inequality of day and
night attending them, which, for all coun-
tries lying beyond the equator, are equal
only twice in the year, when the ecliptic
coincides with the equator. The moon,
again, revolves about the earth, in a similar
elliptical path, in 28 days and 14 hours.
Copernicus first laid down this as the
system of the universe. To the physical
knowledge of the earth belongs, especially,
the consideration of its surface and its
interior.
The earth's surface contains
over 196,000,000 square miles, of which
scarcely a third part is dry land; the
remaining two thirds are water. Of the
surface of the earth, Europe comprises
about one 54th part; Asia, one 14th; Af-
rica, a 17th; and America, a 16th. The
islands of the Pacific, taken together, are
somewhat larger than Europe. The pop-
ulation of the whole earth is estimated at
from 800 to 1000 millions. The interior
of the earth is entirely unknown to us, as
the depth to which we have been able to
penetrate is nothing in comparison with its
diameter. Many modern speculators are
of opinion that the interior is composed
of a inetallic mass. Respecting the origin
and gradual formation of the earth, there
are various hypotheses. (See Geology;
see also Day, Cycle, Degree, &c.; and Moun-
tain, Volcano, Earthquake, Current, &c.)
Earth, Motion of the. The earth has
two motions, the daily motion round its
axis, and the yearly motion in its orbit
round the sun. The theory of the motion
of the earth has become memorable in the
history of the human mind, showing, as it
does, a marked ability in man to resist the
impressions produced by appearances, and
to believe the contrary of that which had
been believed and taught for many cen-
turies. The theory of Copernicus not
only founded the modern system of astron-
omy, but made men eager to examine
other articles of their creed, after they
were thus convinced that they had erro-
neously taught and believed the earth to
be stationary for 6000 years. All the
opinions of the ancients respecting the
motion of the earth were speculative hy-
potheses, arising from the Pythagorean
367

school, which, as we know, considered
fire the centre of the world, round which
all was moving. Thus we ought to ex-
plain the passage of Aristarchus of Samos,
mentioned by Aristotle in his Arenario.
Aristarchus, as a Pythagorean, held the
idea, that the earth revolves round its
axis, and, at the same time, in an oblique
circle round the sun; and that the dis-
tance of the stars is so great, that this
circle is but a point in comparison with
their orbits, and therefore the motion of the
earth produces no apparent motion in
them. Every Pythagorean might have
entertained this idea, who considered the
sun or fire as the centre of the world, and
who was, at the same time, so correct a
thinker, and so good an astronomer, as
Aristarchus of Samos. But this was not
the Copernican system of the world. It
was the motions of the planets, their sta-
tions and their retrogradations, which
astronomers could not explain, and which
led them to the complicated motions of
the epicycles, in which the planets moved
in cycloids round the earth. Aristarchus
lived 280 B. C., Hipparchus, the great
astronomer of antiquity, 150 B. C., there-
fore 130 years later. At this time, all the
writings of Aristarchus were extant, and,
had the Copernican system been set forth
in them, Hipparchus would not have de-
spaired of explaining the motions of the
planets. The same is true of Ptolemy, in
whose Almagest, the most complete work
of antiquity on astronomy, this system is
not mentioned in the account of Aristar-
chus. Every Copernican speaks of the
motion of the earth, but not every one
who speaks of the motion of the earth is a
Copernican. Copernicus was led to the
discovery of his system by a consideration
of the complicated motion of the planets,
and, in the dedication of his immortal
work, De Revolutionibus Orbium, to pope
Paul III, he says, that the truth of his
system is proved by the motion of the
planets, since their successive stations and
retrogradations are the simple and neces-
sary consequence of the motion of the
earth round the sun; and we need not take
refuge in the complicated epicycles. Co-
pernicus did not live to see the persecu-
tions which the Roman Catholic priests
raised against his system. They began
only 100 years later (about 1610), when
the telescope was invented, when the
moons of Jupiter and the phases of Venus
were discovered, and, by these means, the
zeal for astronomy had been highly excit-
ed. Every city in Italy was then a little
Athens, in which the arts and sciences
368
MOTION OF THE EARTH.
flourished. Galileo obtained high distinc-
tion, and defended the new system of the
world. The Roman inquisition sum-
moned him before its tribunal, and he
was compelled to abjure this theory.
(See Galileo.) The general sympathy for
the fate of this astronomer increased the
popularity of the system, and it was as
violently defended on one side as it was
attacked on the other. Among the argu-
ments against the motion of the earth, it
was alleged, that a stone, falling from a
tower, did not fall westward of the tower,
notwithstanding this had advanced east-
ward several hundred feet during the
four or five seconds of the fall of the
stone. Copernicus had answered justly:
the cause of its remaining near the tower
is, that it has the same motion eastward,
and, in falling, does not lose this motion,
but advances with the earth. Galileo said
the same, and asserted that a stone, falling
from the top of the mast of a vessel, at full
sail, falls at the foot of the mast, notwith-
standing the mast advances, perhaps, 10
or more feet during the fall. Gassendi
tried these experiments in the harbor of
Marseilles, and the stones fell at the foot
of the mast, notwithstanding the vessel
was under full sail. Galileo therefore
maintained, that it is impossible to draw
any conclusions concerning the motion
of the earth from such experiments, since
bodies would fall on the earth in motion
precisely the same as on the earth at rest.
In 1642, Galileo died. In the same year,
Newton was born. He proved, in 1679,
that the opinion of Galileo was erroneous,
and that we certainly can try experiments
on the motion of the earth; that the balls
would not deviate westward, but would
fall a little eastward of the plumbline,
about a half inch at the height of 300 feet.
The cause is this: since the top of the
tower is at a greater distance from the
axis of the earth than its base, the centrif-
ugal force must be greater at the former
point than at the latter; the ball, in falling,
does not lose this impulse, and, therefore,
advances before the plumbline, which
strikes the foot of the tower, since it has a
less impulse eastward. This hint, given
by Newton, was followed by Hooke. He
tried experiments on the motion of the
earth, at a height of 160 feet, and asserts
that he succeeded. The academy ap-
pointed a committee, Jan. 14, 1680, in the
presence of which he was to repeat his
experiments. Probably they were not
satisfactory, since they have never been
mentioned in the Philosophical Transac-
tions, and were entirely forgotten. Only
112 years later, a young geometrician in
Bologna, Guglielmini, attempted to repeat
these experiments, which had been con-
sidered very difficult by astronomers, in
the tower Degli Asinelli, in that city, at a
height of 240 feet.
height of 240 feet. After having sur-
mounted all difficulties, he succeeded in
causing the fall of 16 balls, which
percep-
tibly deviated eastward.
But Gugliel
mini committed an error in not suspend-
ing the lead every day when he tried his
experiments, of which he often made
three or four in one night. He did not
drop the plummet until after he had fin-
ished all his experiments, and, as it did not
come to a perpendicular position until six
months, on account of stormy weather, the
tower in the meantime was a little bent,
the point at which the plummet should
have fallen was altered, and his experi
ments were lost. This happened in 1792.
Benzenberg, a German, performed similar
experiments in 1804, in Michael's tower,
in Hamburg. He let fall 30 balls, from
the height of 235 feet: the balls deviated
from the perpendicular four lines east-
ward. But they deviated, at the same
time, 1 line southward, probably owing
to a gentle draft of air in the tower. He
repeated these experiments in 1805, in a
coalpit, at Schlebusch, in the county of
Mark, at the height of 260 feet: there the
balls deviated from the perpendicular five
lines eastward, just as the theory of the mo-
tion of the earth requires for the latitude
of 51°, but neither southward nor north-
ward. From these experiments, Laplace
calculated that the chances are 8000 to 1
that the earth turns round its axis. The
invention of the telescope, by means of
which the rotation of Jupiter was soon
observed, but still more, Newton's discov-
ery of universal gravity, and of the
nature of the celestial motions, established
the theory of the motion of the earth; and,
in modern times, no man of intelligence
doubts it any longer. The French gen-
eral Allix, however, endeavored to prove
that the motion of the planets does not
depend on the law of gravitation. The
flattening of the earth (see Degree, Meas-
urement of), and the diminution of gravity
in the vicinity of the equator, proved by
the experiments of Richers and others on
the motion of the pendulum in the equa-
torial regions (see Pendulum), also give as
convincing proofs of the rotation of the
earth, as the aberration of light (q. v.)
affords of the revolution of the earth round
the sun. Thus the human intellect has
triumphed over the evidences of sense,
and the opposition of authority.



EARTHQUAKE-EARTHS.
EARTHQUAKE; a shaking of certain
parts of the earth's surface, produced by
causes not perceivable by our senses.
This motion occurs in very different ways,
and in various degrees of violence. Some-
times it is perpendicular, throwing por-
tions of the ground into the air, and mak-
ing
others sink. Sometimes it is a hori-
zontal, undulating motion, and sometimes
it appears to be of a whirling nature.
Sometimes it is quickly over; sometimes
continues long, or recurs at intervals of
weeks, days or months. At one time, it is
confined within a small circle; at another,
it extends for many miles. At one time,
it is hardly perceptible; at another, it is so
violent, that it not only demolishes the
works of human art, but changes the
appearance of the ground itself. Some-
times the surface of the ground remains
unbroken; sometimes it bursts open into
clefts and chasms; and then occasionally
appears
the phenomenon of the eruption
of gases, and also of flames, with the ejec-
tion of water, mud and stones, as in vol-
canic eruptions. The eruptions of proper
and permanent volcanoes are preceded by,
and proportionate to, the agitations of the
earth in their neighborhood. These ob-
servations furnish grounds for the conclu-
sion, that earthquakes cannot proceed
from external causes, but arise from cer-
tain powers operating within the circum-
ference or crust of the earth. Moreover,
all the phenomena of earthquakes bear so
much affinity to those of volcanoes, that
there can hardly be a doubt, that both
proceed from the same causes, acting dif-
ferently, according to the difference of
situation, or different nature of the surface
on which they operate. A volcano differs
from an earthquake, principally, by having
a permanent crater, and by the reappear-
ance of the eruptions in the same place,
or in its immediate vicinity. All the
other phenomena of a volcano, such as
the subterranean thunder-like noises, the
shaking, raising and bursting asunder of
the earth, and the emission of elastic
fluids, the fire and flames, the ejection,
:00, of mineral substances, all occur, now
and then, more or less, in earthquakes as
well as in volcanic eruptions, even when
at a distance from active volcanoes; and
the genuine volcanic eruptions are, as has
been remarked, accompanied or announc-
ed by shakings of the earth. All our
observations go to prove, that volcanic
eruptions, earthquakes, the heaving of the
ground from within, and the disruption
of it in the same way, are produced by
one and the same cause, by one and the
369
The most
same chemical process, which must have
its seat at a great depth beneath the pres-
ent surface of the earth.
remarkable earthquakes of modern times
are those which destroyed Lima, in 1746,
and Lisbon, in 1755; in the latter, 20,000
persons were killed. It extended from
Greenland to Africa and America. A
similar fate befell Calabria, in 1783, the
province of Caracas, in South America,
in 1812, and Aleppo, in Syria, in 1822.
Several earthquakes have taken place
quite lately, in South America, one par-
ticularly dreadful at Lima. The city of
Guatemala, also, was nearly destroyed in
the spring of 1830, by earthquakes, which
continued five days successively.
EARTHS. The term earth is applied, n
common life, to denote a tasteless, inodor-
ous, dry, uninflammable, sparingly-soluble
substance, which is difficultly fusible, and
of a moderate specific gravity. Several
of the earths are found in a state of purity
in nature; but their general mode of
occurrence is in intimate union with each
other, and with various acids and metallic
oxides. Under these circumstances, they
constitute by far the greatest part of the
strata, gravel and soil, which go to make
up the mountains, valleys and plains of
our globe. Their number is ten, and their
names are silex, alumina, magnesia, lime,
barytes, strontites, zircon, glucine, yttria and
thorina. The four first have long been
known to mankind; the remainder have
been discovered in our own times. Silex
exists nearly pure, in large masses, forming
entire rocks, as quartz rock, and constitut-
ing the chief ingredient in all granitic
rocks and sandstones, so that it may safely
be asserted to form more than one half of
the crust of the earth. Alumine is found
pure in two or three exceedingly rare
minerals, but, in a mixed state, is well
known as forming clays and a large fami-
ly of rocks, usually called argillaceous.
Lime, an earth well known from its im-
portant uses in society, occurs combined
with carbonic acid, in which state it forms
limestone, marble, chalk, and the shells
of snails. It exists also, upon a large
scale, in combination with sulphuric acid,
when it bears the name of gypsum. Mag-
nesia is rare in a state of purity, but enters
largely into the composition of some of
the primary rocks, especially of the lime-
stones. The remaining eight (if we ex-
cept barytes, which, in combination with
sulphuric acid, is often met with in metallic
veins) are only known to the chemist as
occurring in the composition of certain min-
erals, which, for the most part, are exceed



370
EARTHS-EARWIG.
ingly rare. The earths are very similar
to the alkalies (q. v.), forming, with the
acids, peculiar salts, and resembling the
alkalies likewise in their composition.
They consist of peculiar metals in com-
bination with oxygen, and compose the
greatest part of the solid contents of the
globe. They differ from the alkalies
principally in the following peculiarities:
they are incombustible, and cannot, in
their simple state, be volatilized by heat;
with different acids, especially the car-
bonic, they form salts, insoluble, or soluble
only with much difficulty, and with fat
oils, soaps insoluble in water. They are
divided into two classes, the alkaline and
proper earths. The former have a greater
similarity to the alkalies. In their active
state, they are soluble in water, and these
solutions may be crystallized. They
change the vegetable colors almost in the
same way as alkalies, and their affinity
for acids is sometimes weaker and some-
times stronger than that of the alkalies.
They combine with sulphur, and form
compounds perfectly similar to the sul-
phureted alkalies. With carbonic acid,
they form insoluble salts, which, however,
become soluble in water by an excess of
carbonic acid. The alkaline earths are
as follows: 1. barytes, or heavy earth, so
called from its great weight; 2. strontites
1q. v.); both these earths are counted
among the alkalies, by many chemists, on
account of their easy solubility in water;
3. calcareous earth, or lime, forms one of
the most abundant ingredients of our globe;
4. magnesia is a constituent of several
minerals. The proper earths are wholly
insoluble in water, infusible at the greatest
heat of our furnaces, and, by being ex-
posed to heat, in a greater or less degree,
they lose their property of easy solubility
in acids. Some of them are incapable of
combining with carbonic acid, and the
remainder form with it insoluble com-
pounds. They are the following: 1. alu-
mine; 2. glucine, which is found only in
the beryl and emerald, and a few other
minerals; 3. yttria is found in the gado-
linite, in the yttrious oxide of columbium,
&c.; 4. zirconia is found less frequently
than the preceding, in the zircon and
hyacinth; 5. silex. The earths were
regarded as simple bodies until the brill-
iant researches of sir H. Davy proved
them to be compounds of oxygen with
peculiar bases, somewhat similar to those
of the alkalies, potassium and sodium.
Some of the heavier of the earths had
often been imagined to be analogous to
the metallic oxides; but every attempt to
effect their decomposition or reduction
had proved unsuccessful. After ascer-
taining the compound nature of the alka-
lies, Davy submitted the earths to the
same mode of analysis by which he had
effected that fine discovery. The results
obtained in his first experiments were less
complete than those afforded with the alka-
lies, owing to the superior affinity between
the principles of the earths, as well as to
their being less perfect electrical conduc-
tors. By submitting them to galvanic
action, in mixture with potash, or with
metallic oxides, more successful results
were obtained; and a method employed
by Berzelius and Pontin, of placing them
in the galvanic circuit with quicksilver,
terminated very perfectly in affording the
bases of barytes and lime, in combination
with this metal. By the same method,
sir H. Davy decomposed strontites and
magnesia; and, by submitting silex, alu-
mine, zircon and glucine to the action of
the galvanic battery, in fusion with potash
or soda, or in contact with iron, or by
fusing them with potassium and iron,
appearances were obtained sufficiently
indicative of their decomposition, and of
the production of bases of a metallic na-
ture. Thorina, the last discovered earth,
was decomposed by heating the chloride
of thorium with potassium. The metallic
bases of the earths approach more nearly
than those of the alkalies to the common
metals, and the earths themselves have a
stricter resemblance than the alkalies to
metallic oxides. Viewing them as form-
ing part of a natural arrangement, they
furnish the link which unites the alka-
lies to the metals. Accordingly, many
of the more recent systems of chem-
istry treat of all these bodies as form
ing a single group under the name of the
metallic class. Still (as doctor Ure justly
remarks), whatever may be the revolu-
tions of chemical nomenclature, mankind
will never cease to consider as earths those
solid bodies composing the mineral strata,
which are incombustible, colorless, not
convertible into metals by all the ordinary
methods of reduction, or, when reduced
by scientific refinements, possessing but
an evanescent metallic existence. (For a
more particular account of the properties
of the earths, and of their bases, consult
the articles relating to them, respectively,
in this work.)
EARWIG; an insect whose name is de-
rived from its supposed habit of insinuat-
ing itself into the ears of persons who in-
cautiously sleep among grass where it is
found. It is extremely doubtful whether


EARWIG-EASTER ISLAND.
the animal intentionally enters the ear;
and, indeed, there is no reason whatever
that it should, except from mere accident.
A piece of an apple applied to the orifice,
is said to entice the insect, and thus re-
lieve the sufferer; where this fails, a few
drops of sweet oil destroy the life of the
earwig, which must then be extracted with
a proper instrument by a physician. A
remarkable fact, in relation to the earwig,
is its great abundance at particular times,
and its subsequent rarity. From the ob-
servations of entomologists, it has been
proved that these insects migrate in con-
siderable flocks, selecting the evening for
their excursions. Much damage is sus-
tained by gardeners from the depredations
of these little animals among fruit and
tender vegetables, which constitute their
proper food: occasionally, however, they
feed on animal substances, and even de-
vour each other. The places in which
the species of this small genus are
found are chiefly damp and cool situa-
tions, under stones and the bark of trees,
among chests and boxes which have been
long undisturbed, and in similar haunts.
In the systems, the family which is formed
of the original genus forficula of Linnæ-
us, consists of two genera, forficula and
labidura; to which another is added by
Leach, the characters of which differ in
so trifling a degree from the preceding, as
to prevent its being generally received as
distinct. It is even doubtful whether the
simple disparity in the number of joints
in the antennæ, is worthy of any distinc-
tion further than a section. The forficula
auricularia is a small insect, about three
quarters of an inch in length, having the
wings folded under very short and trun-
cate elytra or wing-cases, and the extrem-
ity of the abdomen armed with a horny
forceps. When alarmed, the insect ele-
vates the abdomen, and opens these for-
ceps, in order to defend itself from the at-
tack of its enemies.
EAST; one of the four cardinal points
of the world, being the point of the hori-
zon where the sun is seen to rise when in
the equator. In Italy and throughout the
Mediterranean, the east wind is called the
levante. (For the origin of the word, see
Easter.)
EASTER; the festival commemorating
the resurrection of Christ. The Greek
narxa, and the Latin pascha, from which
come the French pâques, the Italian pasqua,
and the name of the same festival in sev-
eral other languages, originated from the
notion that Christ was typified by the pas-
chal lamb, ordained by Moses in the feast
TRAN
271
of the passover; thus Paul says (1 Cor. v.
7), "For even Christ our passover is sacri-
ficed for us." The first Christians were
therefore considered to continue the Jew-
ish feast; understanding by the lamb,
which was sacrificed at the festival, Jesus.
who suffered for mankind. (See Passover.)
Among the Greeks and Roman Catholics,
Easter is the most joyful festival of the
church, and is also observed with great
solemnity by the English church, the Lu-
therans, and the European Calvinists. The
Greek and Roman Catholic churches did
not celebrate it at precisely the same time,
and, while some Christians were mourning
in commemoration of the passion, others
were rejoicing in the resurrection of the
Savior. In the second century, the dis-
pute became warm. The Eastern church
would not discontinue the celebration of
the feast at the same time with the Jews;
whilst the Western church insisted upon
celebrating it without the paschal lamb,
and beginning it on Sunday, the day of
Christ's resurrection. It was finally set-
tled by the Council of Nice, in 325, that
the feast should be held on the Sunday
following the first full moon after the
vernal equinox, and not on the same day
with the Jews. The English name Easter,
and the German Ostern, are most probably
derived from the name of the feast of the
Teutonic goddess Ostera, which was cele-
brated by the ancient Saxons early in the
spring, and for which, as in many other
instances, the first missionaries wisely sub-
stituted the Christian feast. Adelung de-
rives ostern and easter from the old word
oster, osten, which signifies rising, because
nature arises anew in spring. This is also
the derivation of east, in German, osten.
Easter-fires, Easter-eggs, and many other
customs and superstitions, have all their
origin from the ancient heathen feast,
which, as the celebration of the resurrec-
tion of nature, was very appropriately suc-
ceeded by the festival which commemo-
rates the resurrection of Christ.
EASTER ISLAND, or DAVIS' ISLAND; an
island in the South Pacific ocean, lon. 109°
50'W., lat. 27°8′ S. It is of a triangular form,
one side about 12 miles long, the other
two about 9 each. Square miles, about 14.
Population differently estimated, at 700,
1500, and 2000. The inhabitants are of a
tawny color, well formed, sagacious and
hospitable, yet thievish. The surface is
mountainous and stony, and the hills rise
to such a height, that they are visible at
the distance of 45 miles. At the south-
ern extremity is the crater of a volcano
of great size and depth. The soil of the
372
EASTER ISLAND-EAST INDIA COMPANIES.

island is extremely fertile, but not a tenth
part is under cultivation.
EASTERN EMPIRE. (See Byzantine Em-
pire.)
EAST INDIA COMPANIES. From the
earliest times, the commercial enterprise
of the Europeans has been directed to-
wards an immediate intercourse with the
East Indies; but the Arabian empire, and
its mercantile grandeur, at first, and the do-
minions of the Persians and Turks at a
later period, presented insurmountable bar-
riers. The commercial shrewdness of the
Italian republics did not succeed in en-
tirely overcoming these obstacles; and
even the Venetian commerce with India,
extensive as it was, could not be called
direct. After the Turks had established
themselves in Europe, by the conquest of
Constantinople, and in Africa, by that of
Egypt, the access to India was more com-
pletely shut up, and the enterprising spirit
of the merchants of Christendom was
turned to the discovery of a direct chan-
nel to that land of commerce. The west
of Europe was delivered from the Sara-
cens, and the warlike spirit which had
long been occupied by the contests with
the infidels required some new scene of
activity. The great Portuguese prince
Henry, surnamed the Navigator, directed
this energy towards the ocean; and not
half a century had elapsed from the taking
of Constantinople, when Vasco da Gama
(1498) landed in Hindostan, on the coast
of Malabar, and the Portuguese success-
fully established themselves on those dis-
tant shores. The whole commerce of the
East Indies was in their hands for nearly
a century-the golden age of Portugal.
The efforts of Alphonso Albuquerque,
Nuño da Cunha and Francis Xavier-the
latter with spiritual weapons, and the for-
mer by force of arms-will ever be remem-
bered with admiration, even had they not
been sung in the glorious verses of Camo-
ens. During eighty years, while the trans-
portation of Indian productions through
Genoa, Venice and the Hanse towns, was
constantly diminishing, Lisbon was the
India of the north of Europe. The Eng-
lish and Dutch obtained their supplies of
Indian spices either from Lisbon or from
Portuguese merchants in Antwerp. Ven-
ice also found herself supplanted by the
inilitary power of the Portuguese and the
subjection of her commercial friends, the
Saracens. When, however, Philip II, in
1580, united Portugal with the Spanish
monarchy, and soon after commenced his
war with England, against whose vessels
he closed the ports of his empire, the Brit-
ish merchants were compelled to draw
their supplies of Indian produce from the
Netherlands. The Dutch took advantage
of this circumstance, and raised the price
of pepper to three times its former amount.
But the revolt of the Netherlands from
Spain induced Philip II to take decided
measures against the Dutch commerce
also, and the capture of their vessels in the
port of Lisbon compelled the Dutch to
engage in a direct trade to India: the Eng-
lish soon followed their example. Thus,
during the last ten years of the sixteenth
century, the foundation was laid in Eng-
land and Holland, nearly at the same time,
of those great commercial corporations,
called East India Companies. They are
distinguished from the Hanseatic league,
and other earlier unions of that kind, in
being merely associations of individuals
uniting for a common commercial pur-
pose, with transferable shares, and not of
political bodies; and also by having bought
their privileges and rights at once from
their own governments, while those of the
earlier commercial confederacies were ob-
tained, together with their political privi-
leges, by successive treaties. As such an
extensive commerce in distant parts of the
world requires a political power to pre-
serve and protect it, we find the. English,
Dutch, and other smaller East India com-
panies, engaged, soon after their establish-
ment, in laboring to form a political pow-
er on the basis of wealth; which, even if
it succeeded, would not accord with the
politics of the mother country, and would
not be able, for any great length of time,
to resist the reaction that would arise in
the conquered countries.-I. The earliest
East India company was the Portuguese,
although essentially different, in its organ-
ization, from the others. By the union of
Portugal with Spain, the connexion be-
tween the distant Portuguese governments
in India and the mother country became
less close. Abuses of every kind, illicit
traffic on the part of the viceroys and
officers, smuggling and piracy became
prevalent. The Spanish government per-
ceived that the East India commerce, if
continued on account of the crown, would
not only be unprofitable, but would occa-
sion an annually increasing loss, and there-
fore granted the exclusive privilege of the
East India trade, in 1587, to a company of
Portuguese merchants, in consideration of
the annual payment of a considerable
sum. This company, in attempting to
enforce its privileges, became involved in
disputes, equally disadvantageous to both
parties, with the Portuguese government

DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY.
in India, which was engaged in the smug-
gling trade; and the way for the enterpris-
es of the Dutch and English could not
have been better prepared than by this
weakening of the Portuguese power. To
this may be added, the impatience of the
Indian nations under the Portuguese yoke,
and the jealousy and hatred entertained
against both by the Arabians. The Eng-
lish and Dutch companies found every
thing in that state of division which is
favorable to the establishment of a third
party, by means which, in any other case,
would be entirely inadequate. This ex-
plains their immediate and brilliant suc-
cess, notwithstanding the great inferiority
of their strength. The Portuguese com-
pany, on the contrary, on the breaking
out of open war between England and
Holland and Spain, soon became unable
to pay the annual tribute to the crown,
and gradually declined, till, in 1640, on
the reestablishment of Portuguese inde-
pendence by king John IV, of the house
of Braganza, it was entirely abolished.-
From that time, the insignificant remains
of the Portuguese commerce with the
East Indies have been in the hands of the
government, if we except the unsuccess-
ful attempt to form a new company in
1731.
II. Eight years after the establishment
of the first Portuguese company, the offer
of a Dutchman, Cornelius Houtman, who
had been taken prisoner by the Spanish,
and had become acquainted with the Por-
tuguese East India trade, induced the
merchants of Amsterdam, who had al-
ready made three unsuccessful attempts to
discover a passage to India through the
Northern ocean, to form a company, un-
der the name of the "Company of Re-
mote Parts," and send their first commer-
cial fleet round the cape of Good Hope
to India, under the command of Houtman.
Four small vessels were equipped with a
capital of 70,000 guilders, and sailed the
2d of April, 1595, from the Texel. The
example of Amsterdam was followed in
the other United Provinces; but these
companies soon became aware that they
interfered mutually with each other; and,
March 20, 1602, they were united by a
charter from the states general, confer-
ring on them the exclusive privilege of
trading to the East Indies for twenty-one
years, together with all necessary civil and
military powers. The former companies
remained, in some measure, distinct from
each other, and the six cities of Am-
sterdam, Middelburg, Delft, Rotterdam,
Horn and Enkhuysen, which had made
VOL. IV.
32
373
the first attempts, were allowed to contin-
ue the commerce from their ports. This
company began its operations with a cap-
ital of 6 millions guilders; 65 directors
(Bewindhebbers)-divided amongst the dif-
ferent members, in proportion to the
amount of shares, so that Amsterdam had
twenty-five, Middelburg twelve, and each
of the other cities seven-superintended
the equipment of the vessels, in their re-
spective ports; a committee of fifteen di-
rectors, apportioned in the same manner,
had the general direction of affairs. In
1622, the subject of the renewal of the
charter being before the states general, it
appeared that, during the 20 years of its
existence, 30 millions guilders, that is,
more than four times the amount of the
original capital, had been divided amongst
the stockholders; besides which, a great
amount of capital had been vested in
colonies, fortifications, vessels, and other
property, on which no dividend could be
made. These results will not be surpris-
ing, if we consider how much more fa-
vorable was the condition of the East In-
dies, in every respect, for republicans and
Protestants than for Catholics and sub-
jects of a monarchy. The Portuguese
acted on the principle, that without a
strong military force, and a religion com-
mon to the conquered and ruling nation,
no permanent commercial connexion
could be formed; and this system was
pursued for a century, sometimes with
prudence, but more frequently with great
inhumanity. The Dutch, on the contra-
ry, with their indifference to the moral re-
lations of nations, and their well conduct-
ed commerce, were well calculated to
succeed. Their superiority to the English,
in their first enterprises, was owing not
only to their superior skill by sea, their
youthful republican spirit, and the greater
amount of their capital, but chiefly to
their having carried on all their operations,
from the first, with a common capital,
while the first English East India compa-
ny, till 1610, was a mere association, each
member of which transacted business on
his own account, merely conforming to
certain general rules, such as the employ-
ing the company's ships. It has been
proved by subsequent results, that a mere
money power cannot be upheld without
an entire disregard of the claims of hu-
manity; and the example of the first Por-
tuguese conquerors has convinced en-
lightened men, that the dominion of Eu-
ropeans in India remains insecure, if not
founded on a certain moral, legal and re-
ligious community with the inbabitants of
374
DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY.

the country. The charter of the Dutch
East India company was continued till
1644; Batavia was founded in a very fa-
vorable situation for the traffic with the
Spice islands, the chief branch of the In-
dian trade, 34-41 freighted vessels an-
nually left the ports of Holland for India;
25-34 merchant vessels, on the average,
returned. The commerce with Japan in-
creased rapidly, and the extension of Por-
tuguese power in the Brazils, after the ac-
cession of the house of Braganza to the
throne, although a great disadvantage to
the Dutch West India company, promot-
ed the interest of the East India compa-
ny, by directing the attention of the Por-
tuguese wholly to America, and leaving
free scope to the Dutch in Asia. In 1641,
Malacca, the capital of the Portuguese
East Indies, fell into the hands of the
Dutch, by the treason of the governor.
But the increasing activity of the English
and French, and the political and military
establishments of the company, diminish-
ed their profits, and it was difficult to raise
the 1,600,000 guilders, which were to be
paid to the states general, in 1644, for the
extension of the charter till 1665. Soon
after, however, the independence of the
republic of the United Provinces was se-
cured by the peace of Westphalia-an
event which was of great advantage to
the company, and enabled them to found
colonies on the cape of Good Hope.-
This was done in the course of 20 years
(from 1650), at an expense of 20 millions
guilders. These colonies were a great
assistance to the intercourse between Eu-
rope and India, and richly repaid the ex-
penses incurred. In 1658, the conquest
of Ceylon was completed, after a vigorous
defence by the Portuguese; and the Tar-
tar revolution in China occasioned the
settlement of 30,000 Chinese, who would
not submit to the new government, in the
Dutch island of Formosa. These proved a
valuable accession to the population. Al-
though the direct commerce with China
had to struggle with insurmountable dif-
ficulties, the indirect communication
through these emigrants, who were well
acquainted with the country, and the in-
flux of Chinese productions from all sides
into Batavia, amply recompensed the com-
pany. They were, however, deprived of
this valuable island in 1661, by a Chinese
adventurer, named Kaxinga, whose fami-
ly afterwards ceded it to the emperor of
China. The energy of the company
seemed to be excited by this loss. In 1663,
the most valuable settlements of the Por-
tuguese on the coast of Malabar were
taken; and, in 1666, by the conquest of
Macassar, the object of the exertions of 70
years, they obtained the monopoly of the
spice trade. At this time, the civil and
military expenses of the company, exclu-
sive of the expenses of the war, amount-
ed to 33 millions guilders. In 1665, after
much opposition, the charter was renewed
till 1700, on condition of the payment of
a large sum into the treasury; and the re-
port of the company showed an almost
inconceivable extension of commerce.-
Their factories extended from the cape
of Good Hope to the coasts of Arabia
and Persia. They were masters of all the
important settlements of the Portuguese,
from Surat, on the Malabar coast. Ceylon,
with its cinnamon and ivory; the pearl
fishery and cotton trade on the coast of
Coromandel; Bengal and Orissa, with their
silks and cottons, rice, sugar, saltpetre,
&c., were in the hands of the company,
as was also the commerce with Pegu, Si-
am, and Tonquin, only interrupted by
some temporary accidents. They obtain-
ed valuable supplies of silver and copper
from Japan; carried on an extensive trade
in spices with Amboyna, the Banda isl-
ands, and the Moluccas, &c. Malacca,
the principal seat of the Portuguese trade,
appeared, by this report, to be on the de-
cline, the expense of protection being dis-
proportioned to the size of the place; and
the straits of Sunda, on which Batavia is
situated, had superseded the straits of
Malacca, as the general passage to the
farther East. The charter of the compa-
ny has since been several times renewed,
and always on condition of the pay-
ment of large sums; from 1701-40; then
till 1775; and in 1776 for 30 years more,
for the sum of two millions guilders, and
the annual payment of 360,000 guilders.
Avarice and cruelty, which increased with
the gradual decay of the republican spir-
it, and the decline of simple and mode-
rate habits; a shameless system of in-
trigue towards their allies, and particular-
ly their incapacity to appreciate the moral
and religious character of the nations of
India; and, finally, the renewed vigor of
the British company at the commence-
ment of the 18th century, and the change
in the European demand; the preference
given to other spices;-these are the prin-
cipal causes of the decline of the Dutch
East India company. In the 18th centu-
ry, their annals abound with relations of
conspiracies, insurrections, and generally
unsuccessful wars; and, in 1781, we find
them so completely broken up by the war
with England, and by enormous political

ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY.
expenses, that the states general, notwith-
standing their own difficulties, were oblig-
ed to assist them with a loan. In the first
revolutionary war, the company lost most
of their possessions, and were obliged to
suspend the payment of their dividends
in 1796. They had scarcely taken posses-
sion of what was restored to them by the
peace of Amiens, 1802 (England retaining
only Ceylon), when every thing was lost
by the new war; and at the general peace,
they retained none of their early East
India possessions, but the governments of
Batavia and Amboyna, Banda, Ternate,
Malacca, Macassar, and some scattered
factories on the coasts of Malabar and
Coromandel. The cape of Good Hope
and Ceylon were lost to them for ever.
At their commencement, the Dutch East
India company had enjoyed the advantage
of all the Portuguese establishments; their
forts, magazines, artillery and provisions
for defence, their commercial and political
relations, and an immense booty which
the capture of the Portuguese ships on
every sea afforded them; while, on the
contrary, the English had to struggle for
a century with the difficulty of gradually
gaining the ground on which to plant their
commercial lever. But the very circum-
stance of their slow progress gave a firmer
footing to their power.
III. English East India Company.-The
history of this great company may be divid-
ed into four periods. During the first four-
teen years, its members were, in a great
measure, independent. In the following
ninety-five years, although it had a com-
mon capital, its operations were confined
by the superiority of the Dutch in the
Indian seas, by the civil wars at home,
and particularly by the calling in ques-
tion of its exclusive privileges, which
were merely a royal, and not a parlia-
mentary grant. For the succeeding forty
years, it enjoyed all its rights undisputed,
and founded on parliamentary authority,
but confined to mere commercial trans-
actions. And, finally, during the subse-
quent seventy years, its political power
was developed.
1. Period from 1600 to 1613. The Eng-
lish, in their first attempts to reach India,
directed their course to the north-west, as
the Dutch did to the north-east. John
Cabot, in the employ of Henry VII, had
discovered Newfoundland, and the coasts
of North America, in 1497. In 1553, his
son, Sebastian Cabot, under Edward VI,
engaged in a second enterprise of this
kind. The king chartered a company,
which, with a capital of £6000, equipped
375
three vessels, for the discovery of a north-
ern passage to India. Part of this expe
dition was lost in the northern ocean;
another part landed on the northern coast
of Russia, and formed commercial con-
nexions which gave rise to the English
Russian company, in the same manner as
the Hudson's bay company owes its es-
tablishment to the attempts to discover a
north-west passage, which have been con-
tinued to the present day. The English,
at the same time, endeavored to penetrate
to India, directly, by land, and, at least, to
rival the Venetians, if they could not con-
tend with the Portuguese. This was the
main object of the English Turkish com-
pany, established in 1581, which, howev-
er, soon became convinced of the imprac-
ticability of the attempt, and was induced,
by sir Francis Drake's account of his cir-
cumnavigation (1591), to send out three
ships to India, under the command of
captain Raymond, on the route of the Por-
tuguese. This attempt, and that made by
Robert Dudley, in 1596, failed entirely.
The Spanish war, the shutting up of Lis-
bon, and the avarice of the Dutch, gave,
however,
however, a new vigor to the enterprise
of the London merchants, and, Sept. 22,
1599, a society was formed in London,
which, in the course of two centuries,
acquired the greatest power of any com
mercial association on record. The orig-
inal capital amounted to £30,133 sterling;
and queen Elizabeth, Dec. 31, 1600, grant-
ed to the governor and company of mer-
chants of London trading to the East In-
dies, for fifteen years, the exclusive right
of trading to all countries from the cape
of Good Hope eastward, to the straits of
Magellan, excepting those which were in
the possession of friendly European pow-
ers. Until 1613, the company consisted
merely of a society subject to particular
regulations; each member managed his
affairs on his own account, and was only
bound to conform to certain general rules.
Notwithstanding the disadvantages of this
arrangement, the profits of eight voyages
amounted to 171 per cent.
2. Period from 1613 to 1708. At this
time (1613), the capital was united, and
the constitution, in consequence, became
more aristocratic; the largest stockholders
having the principal management, and the
great mass of the stockholders having on-
ly a nominal control in the general meet-
ings. These latter, in reality, had only in
view speculation in the shares. The con
cerns of the company were so prosperous,
that, in the course of four years, the shares
rose to the value of 203 per cent., and the
376
ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY.

Dutch became desirous, though they did
not succeed, to unite with it against the
Portuguese. Its factories were extended
to Java, Sumatra, Borneo, the Banda isl-
ands, Celebes, Malacca, Siam, the coasts
of Malabar and Coromandel, but chiefly
to the states of the Mogul, whose favor
the company had very prudently secur-
ed. Their success was such, that, a new
subscription being opened in 1616, the
amount raised was £1,629,040. But, in
1627, complaints were made of bad man-
agement, and abuses of all kinds, particu-
larly in regard to the private commerce
of the officers, which has always been of
the greatest disadvantage to all such com-
panies. The opposition to the royal au-
thority, under the Stuarts, brought into
question the monopoly of the company
which rested on a royal grant. The kings
themselves contributed to raise these
doubts, by granting to individuals the
privilege of trading to India, much to the
disadvantage of the company. During
the time of the commonwealth, the public
opinion became very strong against mo-
nopolies, and Cromwell, by destroying the
charter, in 1655, attempted to make the
East India trade free. But this was im-
practicable. To give up the company,
was to destroy the whole capital of power
and influence obtained in India. After
the restoration of the royal family, the
charter which even Cromwell had been
obliged to renew, was again in full force.
During the short period which elapsed
from this time to the revolution of 1688,
the company obtained, by the acquisition
of Madras and Bombay, the predominance
on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel,
and laid the foundation for the extension
of its possessions into the interior of Hin-
dostan, and for that power which rose on
the ruins of the empire of the great Mo-
gul. The affairs of the company were
not, however, in a prosperous state; and,
soon after the revolution, the question was
started, whether the king could impose
restrictions on commerce by a charter,
and whether a sovereign, who possessed
the rights of sovereignty conditionally,
could confer them on a privileged compa-
ny. The consequence was, that, the com-
pany not being able to perform their obli-
gations, on account of the losses occasion-
ed by wars, infidelity of officers, extrava-
gance, &c., parliament granted a charter
to a new East India company, in 1698, on
condition of a loan of £2,000,000 sterling,
at 3 per cent., for the service of the state.
But the great contentions between the
two companies soon made it necessary
to unite them, and a union was effected
in 1708.
3. Period from 1708 to 1748. In 1708,
an act of parliament was passed, establish-
ing the English East India company on its
present footing, under the title of The united
Company of Merchants of England trad-
ing to the East Indies. Its exclusive privi-
leges were granted till 1726, after which
it was determinable upon three years' no-
tice. The capital was raised by the sale
of the shares: one share (of the value of
£500) gave the holder a vote in the "Gen-
eral Court;" four shares, or stock to the
amount of £2000, rendered the holder
eligible as one of the twenty-four "Direc-
tors," who managed the government of the
company. The shares being transferable,
the great mass of stockholders are con-
stantly changing, and take no personal in-
terest in the affairs of the company, but
merely speculate in the shares. The whole
management is thus left to the directors,
and all the numberless abuses of an oli-
garchical constitution are readily intro-
duced. The local affairs of the company
were intrusted to the three councils of
Madras, Bombay and Calcutta, while the
general direction was retained in England.
But, as every thing depended ultimately on
the local officers in India, the pernicious
abuse prevailed of attempting to secure
the fidelity of the superior officers by al-
lowing them to appropriate to themselves
the inferior lucrative posts. The renewal
of the charter in 1732 was not obtained
without great difficulty, and against a pow-
erful opposition. The company therefore
thought it advisable, in 1744, to advance
£1,000,000 sterling, at 3 per cent., for the
service of government, in consideration of
an extension of their grant till 1780.
4th Period. The political power of the
English in India commenced in 1748.
The French had already set the example.
In 1746, a French battalion had destroyed
the army of the nabob of the Carnatic,
and, soon after, the French officers suc-
ceeded in disciplining Indian troops ac-
cording to the European method. The
inferiority of the native Indian troops op-
posed to European soldiers, and the facil-
ity of instructing Indian soldiers, known
by the name of Seapoys, in the European
discipline, was thus proved. Ambition
and avarice, political and mercantile cun-
ning, could now act on a larger scale; and
the independence of the Indian princes
was gone whenever this trading company,
which was already encroaching upon all
the rights, both of the rulers and the peo-
ple of those countries, should establish a

ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY.
permanent military force. Thus far, the
military organization of the company had
been merely on the defensive: it now be-
came able to act offensively; and the en-
tire difference of the European and Indian
notions of law could never fail to furnish
opportunities to put this new means of
power into action. The rights of succes-
sion, and all the rights of princes, subjects
and families, were so much disputed on
the different principles of the Indian, Mo-
hammedan and British laws, that the com-
pany (which often interposed as arbitra-
tor) easily succeeded in extending their
legal jurisdiction. If called to account
in Europe for any of its undertakings,
it was easy to uphold the correctness
of its conduct, politically, on the ground
of self-defence, which, at the distance
of several thousand miles, could not be
called in question; and, in legal matters,
by taking advantage of the impenetrable
labyrinth of law. Edmund Burke, who
experienced, in the case of Hastings (q. v.),
this impregnability of the company, accus-
ed them justly "of having sold every mon-
arch, prince and state in India, broken every
contract, and ruined every prince and every
state who had trusted them." The high
officers in India, whatever great names
may appear among them, become despot-
ic from situation: 1. because each re-
ceives an inheritance of injustice, which
must be maintamed; 2. because public
opinion has no influence; 3. because no
moral and religious connexion, nor even
that of language, exists between the ruled
and the rulers; 4. because no fear of danger-
ous insurrections can exist, on account of
the great division of the Hindoo and Mo-
hammedan classes and interests; 5. be-
cause the officers of the company have no
object but to make money with a view of
spending it in England as soon as they
have accumulated sufficient to satisfy
their wishes, and therefore are not dis-
posed to make opposition against abuses.
In 1749, the robberies of the company be-
gan with its protection of the pretender of
Tanjore. Under pretence of illegitimacy,
the nabob of this district was driven out,
for the purpose of obtaining some cessions
*The East Indian government takes great pains
to prevent the expression and consolidation of pub-
lic opinion. Thus newspapers, which are so free
in England, are under strict regulations in India.
They are not allowed to criticise public meas-
ures or public officers, nor to say any thing which
may cause dissatisfaction among the natives.
Violence always produces violence. The state-
ment, at the end of this article, of the proportion
of the English to the natives will easily show why
such precautions are deemed necessary.
377
of territory, and then restored, on making
further concessions. The rapid progress
of the company in the art of extending
their possessions appears from their trea-
ties with Surrajah-Dowlah, the nabob of
Bengal, in 1757, when large and rich prov-
inces were the reward of their faithless
policy. This enlargement of territory
caused such enormous expenditures, the
difficulties of governing increased so great-
ly with the increase of power, the numerous
officers became so much more indepen-
dent, rapacious and disobedient, that the
finances of the company suffered. The
direction in London was now nothing
more than a mere control of the real gov-
ernment, which had its seat in India.
Its orders were antiquated before they
reached Calcutta. The governors having
the advantage of being on the spot, it was
to be expected that they would obey only
when personal interest required it. Thus
the repeated prohibition to carry on a traf-
fic in the interior, with salt, tobacco and be-
tel nuts, was entirely disregarded, with the
express consent of the East Indian coun-
cils; and, long after the directors had for-
bidden the officers of the company to ac-
cept presents from the Indian princes, it
was proved that they had openly received
them, to the amount of £6,000,000, from
the family of the nabob of Bengal alone.
On this account, the internal situation of
the company became constantly worse,
and, in 1772, it was compelled to raise a
loan, at first of £600,000, from the bank,
and afterwards of £1,400,000 from the
government, for its current expenses. The
public dissatisfaction was the greater, as it
had been expected that the extension of
British power in India would have brought
much wealth into the mother country.
At the same time, great complaints were
made against the unprincipled conduct of
the company's officers towards the princes
and people of India; and, as the expected
advantages appeared not to have been ob-
tained, it now began to be proclaimed,
that the rights of humanity had been
trampled upon. The popular hatred was
unjustly directed against the directors
their power was to be limited; they, who
had to manage a disobedient world, were
to be still more cramped. Control was
demanded; as if a control which sympa-
thizes with the oppressors, and has no
connexion with the oppressed, could avail
any thing; as if oppression were a single
act, which might be prevented by super-
intendence, or punished like a crime: and
what would be the effect of a controlling
power whose commands would require
32*
378
ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY.

6-9 months to be conveyed to the spot,
and as much more time before the result
could be known in Europe? And, if the
company had obtained a power by force,
which could only be preserved by the same
means, on what principle should the con-
trol act? Burke's famous, but unsuccessful
struggle of seven years, against Hastings,
and in the cause of humanity in India, prov-
ed, that the only possible control of the offi-
cers in India, is the public opinion of the
British nation. One party asserted that all
would be well as soon as the company di-
vided its power with the ministry. An-
other party maintained, that all that was
wanting to the Hindoo was the benefit of
British law. Some thought it would be
sufficient merely to increase the difficulty
of becoming a director. Thus the incom-
plete reform of 1773 took place. Instead
of £500, £1000 was made necessary to give
the right of a vote, £3000 for two votes,
£6000 for three votes, and £10,000 for four
votes. Only six directors were to be an-
nually elected. A governor-general, with
four counsellors (at first named by parlia-
ment, that is, by the ministry, but after-
wards by the directors, for five years), was
to be placed over the provinces of Bengal,
Bahar and Orissa; the other provinces were
to be dependent upon him. As a coun-
terpoise to this concentration of power, a
supreme court was established in Calcut-
ta, with a chief justice and three associate
judges, who were independent of the com-
pany, and were appointed by the crown.
All the civil and military correspondence
of the company was to be communicated
to the ministry. Under the old system, in
many disputed cases, conscience, or, at
least, common sense, had decided; but
now, the introduction of a new and strange
legal constitution occasioned the ruin of
all legal relations. The court decided in
the case of every complaint made against
any individual who was directly or indi-
rectly in the service of the company, as
well as all complaints relating to con-
tracts in which the parties had submitted
to its jurisdiction. If we consider that
nothing was more uncertain than the per-
sonal condition of the Indian and Moham-
medan inhabitants of Hindostan; that the
company governed some provinces imme-
diately, others indirectly, by means of the
nabobs; that the zemindars were some-
times considered as the independent no-
bility of India, sometimes as officers of the
company, &c.-it follows, that the court
could take all cases into its own hands, or
decline them, at pleasure. Immediately
after its establishment, it gave a specimen
of the spirit by which it was actuated.
Nunkomar, who had accused the gov-
ernor-general, Hastings, was convicted, on
insufficient grounds, of forgery, and hang-
ed; which, as has been ingeniously re-
marked, is about the same as punishing a
Mohammedan for bigamy. On the whole,
the history of the British East India trade
justifies the assertion, that, except Burke
and the family of Wellesley, scarcely a
single Englishman has ever entered com-
pletely into the spirit of the people of In-
dia. When the inefficacy of the meas-
ures of 1773 was sufficiently proved, and
the finances of the company again suffer-
ed by the American war, the establish-
ment of a board of control was again dis-
cussed in parliament, and on broader
grounds; from 1782 to 1784, the greatest
men of England were engaged on this
important subject. The famous East India
bill of Fox, which proposed seven com-
missioners, to be appointed by parliament,
and invested with supreme power, and, as
it were, the right of protection over India,
could not be agreeable to the court, as the
principal object of the bill was to deprive
the crown of all influence on Indian affairs,
and to place an intermediate power be-
tween the king and India. Pitt's project,
therefore, took effect. A board of control
was erected, dependent on the crown, au-
thorized to superintend the civil and mili-
tary government and the revenues of the
company, and to transmit the despatches
of the directors to the different presidencies.
The salaries of the governor-general, the
president and the council were fixed by
the king. We have thus given a historical
outline of the constitution of the compa-
ny. The power of control in England,
so far as any exists, is in the hands of
the ministry; the particular direction
of the government is subjected to the
company. It is certain, that, since the
establishment of the board, much less is
known of Indian affairs than formerly.
The ministers have not the same grounds
for occasional investigation; the stock-
holders, in the general meetings of the
company, can effect nothing, even if de-
sirous to interfere, while the board and
the directors agree; and this agreement is
the more firmly established, as a commit-
tee of secrecy exists, consisting of three
directors, which can consult and decide,
with the concurrence of the board, with-
out any communication with the other
directors. The improvement of the moral
condition of British India is impossible,
while the fear of a result like that which
occurred in the case of the North Ameri
ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY.
can colonies prevents the regular coloniza-
tion and establishment of British subjects
in India. A race of Englishmen born in
India could alone succeed, in the course
of time, in bringing order and harmony
into the jarring interests and relations of
the country. The political importance of
the East Indies, in their present state, to
England, is too great to allow us to expect
an essential improvement in the condition
of this country. A taxable population of
83,000,000 of inhabitants, with 40,000,000
under dependent native princes; an army
of 200,000 men, in the service of the com-
pany; about 16,000 civil officers; an an-
nual export of about £14,000,000, and an
import to the same amount, from all parts
of the world; £4,000,000 paid in the
shape of duties to the British government
annually, and an annual contribution of
£11,000,000 for the general circulation of
the British empire, are objects which
outweigh all moral considerations. The
funded stock of the company, at present,
amounts to £6,000,000, their indivisible and
fluctuating property to about £50,000,000,
and the amount of their annual land-tax is
£28,000,000, half as large again as that of
Russia. This gigantic political-mercan-
tile association will exist as long as a
small military power is sufficient to pre-
vent a great nation from attempting to
throw off the yoke; as long as the system
de faire le commerce en sultan et de faire la
guerre en marchand can survive; as long as
the pretensions of the metis, the offspring of
European fathers and Indian mothers, do
not increase; and the Indians and Moham-
medans remain ignorant of the real weak-
ness of their oppressors; that is, as long
as the course of nature is reversed. Since
1813, all British subjects have been per-
mitted to trade to the East Indies, under
certain conditions advantageous to the
company, which has, however, claimed
the exclusive commerce in tea. As the
charter of the East India company is to
expire in 1834 (having been renewed the
last time for twenty-one years), interesting
debates will, of course, take place in par-
liament as to its continuation or abolition.
In the session of 1830, parliament ap-
pointed a committee to inquire into the
affairs of the company. Hume, M'Intosh
and Huskisson are members of it.--It ap-
pears that the revenue of the British
possessions in India is greater than
that of any European state, excepting
France and England. In 1827-28, it
amounted to £23,035,164 in 1828-29, it
is estimated at £23,350,317. The inter-
est on the debt is about £2,000,000 yearly;
379

the total interest on the debt and charges,
including those paid in England, and the
expenses of the island of St. Helena, was
£26,314,344, in 1827-28, and £23,994,503,
in 1828-29; the surplus of charge above
revenue was, in 1825-6, over three mil-
lions; the estimated surplus revenue in
1829, £1,318,593 Before the Burmese
war, there was a surplus of revenue over
expenditure of one million and a half;
but in the twenty years preceding 1828-
29, there are only six which show a sur-
plus revenue. The total assets of the
company, including property of every de-
scription, amounted to £18,406,039. The
rate of dividend, since 1793, has been 103
per cent. It is believed that the value
of American imports from England into
China amounts to $800,000, whilst that
of the company amounts to £800,000.
The company's tonnage to China had in-
creased, for the last nine or ten years,
5,000, on an average. The East India
company exported tea from Canton, from
1824-25 to 1827-28, and sold in Eng-
land and the North American colonies,
during the same period, as follows:
1824-25.
1825-26.
1826-27.
1827-28.
Exported from Canton.
lbs.
Prime cost.
28,697,078
£1,900,666
27,821,121
1,729,949
40,182,241
2,368,461
33,269,333
2,086,971
Sales.
England. N.Am. colonies.
lbs.
lbs.
Amount.
1824-25. 26,523,327 £3,741,402
1825-26. 27,803,668 512,314 3,946,770
1826-27. 27,700,978 723,081 3,567,737
1827-28. 28,120,354 941,794 3,468,590
From Great Britain to the East Indies
and China, together with Mauritius, in
the year ending January 5, 1829, goods
were exported at the declared value of,
By the East India company, . £1,126,926 7 7
Free trade, including the 4,085,426 16 11
privileged trade.
Total,
£5,212,353 4 6
and China, were imported into Great
In produce of goods of the East Indies
Britain in the year ending Jan. 5, 1829,
Free trade, including the privileged 2
By the East India company....
trade
Total.
£5,576,905
5,643,671
£11,220,576
The amount of the population of the
British East Indies cannot, of course, be
known with any thing like accuracy; but
the following is probably as near an ap-
proximation as can be made:--In the Ben-
380
EAST INDIA COMPANIES-EAST RIVER.

gal presidency, 58,000,000; Madras presi-
dency, 16,000,000; Bombay presidency,
11,000,000; total British, 85,000,000; sub-
sidiary and dependent (say), 40,000,000;
outports in the bay, &c. (say), 1,000,000;
total under British control, 126,000,000;
independent states, but controlled by the
British arms (say), 10,000,000; approxi-
mate total, not European, 136,000,000; to-
tal Europeans, about 40,000; about one
European to three thousand four hundred
natives, or, where they have the whole
command of the government and revenue,
one European to two thousand one hun-
dred and twenty-five natives.-We are
glad to end our account by stating, that,
at last, the English have abolished the sut-
tees, or burning alive of widows. The or-
der is dated Dec. 4, 1829.
IV. The French, Danish and Swedish
East India companies have been of little
importance, even in their most flourishing
state, to the commerce of the world. The
French, established in 1664, could not
succeed; in 1796, the trade was again
thrown open. A new company, estab-
lished in 1785, expired in 1791. The
East India company in Denmark estab-
lished in 1618, and several times renewed,
finally surrendered its possessions to the
king in 1777. The company has now only
the Chinese trade. The Swedish East In-
dia company, established in 1731, and re-
newed in 1766 and 1786, still exists at Go-
thenburg. For every voyage it pays $75,000
in silver to the crown, to which, on its es-
tablishment, it was obliged to advance
$3,000,000 in silver, of which one million,
not on interest, is merely a security, and
the other two millions are considered as a
loan.
EAST INDIA FLY (lytta gygas). The
color is a deep azure or sea-blue; all parts
of the insect, head, elytra or wing-cases,
body and legs, are of the same color, with
the exception of the under part of the
chest, on which there is a brown spot. Its
size is from three fourths of an inch to an
inch in length, being nearly twice the size of
the lytta vesicatoria, or cantharides. They
have little or no odor. This species of
cantharides has been tried at the Phila-
delphia alms-house. They proved to be
exceedingly active as vesicatories, and
never failed in their effect. They produce
a vesication, in general, much earlier than
the Spanish fly, and, from being found so
much more active, only one half the quan-
tity is added in making the emplastrum
cantharidis. (See Cantharides.)
EAST INDIES. (See India, and the dif-
ferent articles, as Calcutta, Bengal, &c.)
EASTON; a post-town and borough of
Pennsylvania, and capital of the county
of Northampton; 60 miles N. of Phila-
delphia, 73 W. of New York; population,
in 1820, 2370. It is situated on the Del-
aware, at the junction of the Lehigh river
and canal, and also near the western end of
the Morris canal, which connects it with
New York. It is regularly laid out, hand-
somely built, and contains a court-house,
a jail, three churches, has valuable mills in
its vicinity, and is a place of considerable
trade. The situation of the town is low,
and it is surrounded by considerable emi-
nences. Here is a bridge across the Del-
aware, 570 feet in length.
EASTPORT; a post-town and seaport
of Maine, in Washington county, situated
at the most eastern limit of the U. States,
on Moose island, in Passamaquoddy bay,
at the mouth of the Schoodic, or St.
Croix, and Cobscook rivers; 93 miles
E. Bangor, 260 E. N. E. Portland, 370
N. E. Boston; lon. 66° 56' W; lat. 44°
54' N.: population, in 1810, 1511; in
1820, 1937. It is a flourishing commer-
cial town, and contains a bank, a printing-
office, 4 houses of public worship, 70
ware-houses and stores, and 225 dwelling-
houses, all of wood, and many of them
handsome. Eastport is the most com-
mercial town in the eastern part of Maine.
It is very well situated for trade, having
an easy communication with the interior,
by the rivers which flow into the bay.
Its harbor is one of the best in the U.
States, capacious enough to contain a
large navy, and of safe entrance. The
wharfs are built nearly 40 feet high, on
account of the extraordinary tides in the
bay of Fundy. The common tides here
rise 25 feet. The shores of Moose island
and the other smaller islands, have all the
preparations necessary for curing fish, and
unloading timber and other articles of
commerce. In 1820, a handsome toll-
bridge, 1200 feet long, was erected over
the ferry between Moose island and the
main land, connecting Eastport with Perry.
About 1500 tons of shipping are owned
in this town. The exports consist of
lumber, and provisions of various kinds.
EAST RIVER communicates with the
Hudson in the bay of New York, and is
formed by the narrowing of Long Island
sound, which opens with a broad mouth
at the eastern end, and receives a strong
impulse from the tides in the Atlantic.
This channel is so called in contradistine-
tion to the North river (the Hudson). As
the sound contracts, to the west of the
broad expanse in front of New Haver.

EAST RIVER-EATON.
and forms what is called East river, the
oceanic currents act with a force that in-
creases with the diminishing width of the
stream; and this causes higher tides here
than at any other place around the island.
Arriving at New York about three quarters
of an hour earlier than those by the nar-
rows, this current drives upwards along the
east shore of the Hudson, many miles in
advance of the other on the west; and thus
the Hudson has two tides, which hardly
unite their action till they have passed
Tappan and Haverstraw bays. Horll-
Gatt, Hell-Gate, or Hurl-Gate, a danger-
ous and very crooked strait in East river,
eight miles Ñ. E. of New York, was called
N.
by the Dutch Horll-Gatt, signifying whirl-
pool. The strait is formed by projecting
rocks, that confine the water to a narrow
and crooked channel, occasioning strong
eddy currents. There is a sufficient depth
of water for any vessel, but the passage
of large ships should only be attempted
with skilful pilots. (See L. Island Sound.)
EATON, William, remarkable for his ad-
ventures, was born at Woodstock, Con-
necticut, February 23, 1764. He was
the son of a farmer, in straitened circum-
stances, and one of thirteen children. He
displayed talent in his childhood, and ac-
quired the rudiments of a good English
education. When about 16 years of age,
he enlisted in the army, in which he re-
mained for a twelvemonth, in the capaci-
ty of waiter to an officer. In 1783, he
was regularly discharged, with the rank
of sergeant. He then undertook the study
of the Latin and Greek languages, which
enabled him to gain admission into Dart-
mouth college. From January, 1788, to
August, 1791, he taught a school in Ver-
mont, devoting himself, at the same time,
to the classics, in order to qualify himself
for the degree of bachelor of arts, which
he obtained from the college in the last
mentioned year. In October of the same
year, he was chosen clerk to the house
of delegates of the state of Vermont, and,
in 1792, received a captain's commission
in the American army. He proceeded
with his company down the Ohio, to
the western army, at Legionville, with
which he continued until 1794. In 1797,
he was appointed consul for the kingdom
of Tunis. Here he became involved in
negotiations and altercations with the bey,
which he conducted with extraordinary
spirit, and at the frequent risk of his life.
The history of them, as left by himself, is
not a little entertaining and curious. His
official correspondence and private journal
are full of striking anecdotes and descrip-
381
tions. War was declared by the bashaw
of Tripoli against the U. States, in 1801.
The reigning chief was a usurper, and
the lawful one, his brother, happened to
be at Tunis, in exile. With him Eaton
concerted a project for attacking the usurp-
er by land, while the American squadron
in the Mediterranean operated against
him by sea. In 1803, he returned to the
U. States, and opened his plan to the
government; but, finding that no aid could
be had from the government, he set out
for Egypt, merely with the character of
American agent. He sailed with the
squadron for the Mediterranean in July,
1804, and proceeded to Alexandria, in
Egypt, where he arrived in November.
In the following month, he was at Grand
Cairo, where he learned that Hamet Ba-
shaw, after a series of vicissitudes and
disasters, had been reduced to the alter-
native of joining the Mamelukes, and that
he was actually with them, commanding
a few Tripolitans and their Arab auxil-
iaries, in Upper Egypt. Eaton contrived
to obtain from the viceroy of Egypt an
amnesty for Hamet Bashaw, and permis-
sion for him to pass the Turkish army
unmolested. A rendezvous was appoint-
ed; they met near Alexandria, and formed
a convention, in the eighth article of
which it was stipulated, that Eaton should
be recognised as general and commander
in chief of the land forces which were
or might be called into service against the
common enemy, the reigning bashaw of
Tripoli. The forces consisted of 9 Amer-
icans, a company of 25 cannoniers, and a
company of 38 Greeks, the bashaw's suite
of about 90 men, and a party of Arab
cavalry; which, including the footmen
and camel-drivers, made the whole num-
ber about 400. Such was the land expe-
dition against Tripoli. The march was
pursued with a great variety of adventure
and suffering, and Bomba was reached
April 15th, where the U. States' vessels, the
Argus, captain Hull, and the Hornet, had
arrived with provisions, to enable the al-
most famished army to proceed to Derne.
April 25, they encamped on an eminence
which commands this place, and imme-
diately reconnoitred. On the morning of
the 26th, terms of amity were offered the
bey, on condition of allegiance and fideli-
ty. The flag of truce was sent back
with this laconic answer "My head or
yours!" Derne was taken, after a furious
assault, but its possession was not secure.
An army of the reigning bashaw of Trip-
oli, consisting of several thousand troops,
approached the town, i nd gave battle to
382
EATON EBEL.

the victors, May 13, but were repulsed,
with considerable loss. June 2, they re-
turned to the assault, and met with no
better fate. On the 10th, an engagement
took place, in which there were supposed
to be not less than 5000 men on the field.
The hopes of Eaton were, however, sud-
denly blasted by the official intelligence,
received on the 11th, that the American
negotiators, in the squadron before Tripoli,
had concluded a peace with the usurper.
Eaton was required to evacuate the post
of Derne, and, with his Greek and Amer-
ican garrison, to repair on board the ships.
It was necessary for him to do this clan-
destinely, lest his Arabian auxiliaries
should endeavor to prevent him. Hamet
Bashaw embarked at the same time; the
Arabians fled to the mountains; and thus
ended this gallant and romantic affair,
which is stated, in the official correspond-
ence of the American commissioners, who
negotiated the peace, to have had the
effect of bringing the Tripolitans to terms.
Eaton returned to the U. States in August,
where he received the most flattering
marks of public favor. The president, in
his message to congress, made honorable
mention of his merit and services. A res-
olution was moved in the house of repre-
sentatives, at Washington, for presenting
him with a medal; but the motion, after
being warmly debated, was rejected by a
small majority. The legislature of Mas-
sachusetts bestowed upon him a tract of
land, of 10,000 acres, in testimony of their
sense of his" undaunted courage and brill-
iant services." In the winter of 1806-7,
Aaron Burr endeavored, without effect, to
enlist him in his conspiracy. On the trial
of Burr at Richmond, he gave full tes-
timony against him. About this period,
he was elected a representative in the
legislature of Massachusetts. A few years
after, this bold and enterprising man fell
a victim to habits of inebriety, which he
contracted soon after his return. His
death took place in 1811. Mr. Eaton was
well acquainted with French and Italian,
and with history, geography and tactics.
His official and private correspondence is
marked by great acuteness and energy.
The letters and journal in which he has
left the history of his life on the coast of
Barbary, and his celebrated expedition to
Derne, denote no common powers of ob-
servation and description. They are re-
plete with curious remarks and incidents,
and may be found in an octavo volume,
entitled The Life of General Eaton, and
published by one of his friends in Mas-
sachusetts.
EAU; a French word, signifying water,
and used in English, with some other
words, for several spirituous waters, par-
ticularly perfumes; as, eau de Cologne,
eau de luce, eau de Portugal, &c The
two most celebrated are the
Eau de Cologne, or water of Cologne, a
fragrant water, made originally, and in
most perfection, in Cologne. Formerly
many wonderful powers were ascribed to
this water, but it was probably never so
much in demand as at present, in Europe
and America, and numberless recipes have
been given for its manufacture. It was
invented by a person named Farina, in
whose family the secret, as they say,
continues to be preserved, since chemistry
has not been able, as yet, to give the anal-
ysis of it. It is imitated, however, every
where. The consumption of this per-
fume has increased much ever since the
seven years' war; and there exist, at pres-
ent, 15 manufactories of it in Cologne,
which produce several millions of bottles
yearly; much, also, is manufactured at
Paris, in Saxony, and other places. One
of the many recipes to make eau de Co-
logne is the following:
Alcohol, or spirit of wine, at 30° 2 pints.
Oleum neroli*
de cedro
de cedrat
cort aurant
citri
bergamot
rosmarin
Seed of small cardamum
24 drops.
2 drachms.
Distil it in the Mary-bath, until of the
alcohol have evaporated.
Eau de Luce (aqua Lucia, or spiritus
salis ammoniaci succinatus); invented by
a person named Luce, at Lille, in Flan-
ders; a volatile preparation, thus made:
ten or twelve grains of white soap are dis-
solved in four ounces of rectified spirit of
wine, after which the solution is strained,
and a drachm of rectified oil of amber is
added, and the whole is filtrated. After-
wards, some strong volatile spirit of sal
ammonia should be mixed with the solu-
tion. This water is much in use in Eng-
land.
EBB. (See Tide.)
EBEL, John Godfrey, an eminent statis-
tical and geographical writer, was born
about 1770, at Frankfort on the Oder, in
Prussia. Having finished his medical
studies, and received a doctor's degree, he
went to France, where he became ac-
quainted with Sièyes, whose writings he
*Ethereal oil of orange-flowers

EBEL-EBEN.
did much towards circulating in Germa-
ny. In 1801, he went to Switzerland,
where he lived chiefly in Zürich. He
travelled through the country, during his
long stay there, in all directions, making
close and accurate observations. The
fruits of his inquiries were some works
which give us the most valuable accounts
of the natural and statistical condition of
Switzerland, and are particularly useful to
travellers. His Guide to the Traveller in
Switzerland, the best known of his works,
has been translated into French and Eng-
lish, and is a model for every work of this
kind, as it leaves hardly a single subject,
which can have interest to a traveller,
untouched. In his Description of the
Mountaineers of Switzerland (Tubingen,
1798-1802, 2 vols.), he gives a picture of
the inhabitants of Appenzell and Glarus.
His work on the Structure of the Earth
in the Alps (Zürich, 1808) gives a general
view of the structure of the earth, and
valuable accounts of the geology of the
Alps. In the time of the Helvetic repub-
ic, Ebel was honored with the rights of
citizenship, as an acknowledgment of his
services to Switzerland.
EBELING, Christopher Daniel; born
1741, at Garmissen, in Hildesheim. He
studied theology at Göttingen, from 1763
to 1767, paying particular attention to
ecclesiastical history and exegesis, which
led him to a careful study of the Oriental
languages, especially the Arabic. He also
studied political history, Greek, Roman
and English literature, and the fine arts,
for which he, at length, relinquished the-
ology. In order to procure himself fur-
ther advancement, he went to Leipsic as
a tutor, and, in 1769, accepted a place
offered him in the academy of commerce
at Hamburg. As good manuals were
wanted for the study of modern lan-
guages, he published, for the academy of
commerce, in 1773, his Miscellaneous Es-
says in English Prose, which passed
through six editions, and were soon fol-
lowed by similar manuals for the Italian,
French, Spanish and Dutch languages.
For the same reason, he applied himself
more to the study of geography, and pub-
lished translations of many, especially
English travels. Encouraged by his con-
nexions with Hamburg, the academy of
commerce, and the house of Büsching,
he soon found means to open for himself
new sources of geographical information.
England, Spain, Portugal and America,
especially the U. States, were the subjects
of his particular attention. In the new
edition of the great geography of Bus-
383
ching, he undertook an account of Portu-
gal and the U. States of North America.
The long interruption of commerce with
foreign countries, and the author's wish
to give his work the highest perfection,
were the causes of the slow progress of
this labor. But all that is completed, is
justly viewed as a master-piece. This is
the acknowledged opinion, not only in
Europe, but also in the North American
states. This great work of his is entitled,
Geography and History of North America
(Hamburg, 1793-99, 5 vols.). After the
removal of Wurm from the academy of
commerce, Büsching, in company with
Ebeling, undertook the management of
this establishment, and they published the
Library of Commerce. In 1784, Ebeling
was appointed professor of history and
the Greek language in the Hamburg gym-
nasium; and the superintendence of the
Hamburg library was afterwards commit-
ted to him. He filled both offices till his
death, June 30, 1817, with great reputa-
tion. For almost all the literary period-
icals of Germany he prepared articles in
the geographical and kindred departments.
In his earlier years, he wrote a history of
German poetry for the Hanover Maga-
zine, and furnished several contributions
to the German Library, published by
Frederic Nicolai, and, at a later period,
contributed many literary articles to the
New Hamburg Gazette. His frank, cheer-
ful and amiable manners never deserted
him, though, for nearly 30 years, he suf-
fered a partial, and, finally, an almost total
deafness, and was thus deprived, among
other pleasures, of the enjoyment of mu-
sic, of which he was passionately fond,
and in which he had made uncommon
attainments. He left behind two collec-
tions, perhaps unique in their kind-a
collection of from 9 to 10,000 maps, and
a library of books relating to America,
and containing more than 3900 volumes,
which was purchased, in 1818, by Israel
Thorndike, of Boston, and presented by
him to Harvard college, in Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
EBEN, Frederic (baron von), since 1821,
general in the service of the republic of
Colombia, was born in 1773, at Creutz-
burg, in Silesia, of an ancient family.
Young Eben early distinguished himself,
and received the Prussian order of merit.
In 1799, he became knight of Malta, and,
in 1800, entered the English service. The
year after the peace of 1802, he received a
commission in the 10th regiment of light
dragoons, or the prince of Wales's own.
At this time, he composed instructions for
384
EBEN-EBERT.

the service of the light horse and of the
riflemen in the English army; he establish-
ed, also, at the command of the prince, a
company of light horse, after the manner
of the Hungarian hussars, and composed
of foreigners; and his manual for the new
arming of the English cavalry was intro-
duced into the army by the commander in
chief, the duke of York. In 1806, he was
made major in a regiment of chasseurs;
in 1807, he served till the peace as a vol-
unteer in the Prussian corps under gen-
eral Blücher, and, in 1808, he went, with
a number of Portuguese emigrants, to
Oporto, where, in December, he was
made commander of the English troops.
After the embarkation of the British army
at Corunna, Eben formed, from the scat-
tered English soldiers, a corps of a thou-
sand men, which joined the army of the
present duke of Wellington. He himself
remained in Oporto, from which place he
carried the English military chest, and
provisions of war of every kind, in safety
to Lisbon. Here he established a small
corps, from deserters of the French Swiss
regiments, and, in February, 1809, led
a division of the Lusitanian legion to
Galicia, where he and the marquis de
la Romana directed the arming of the
country. Called back to Portugal, he
accepted the post of commander in chief
in Braga, where the rebellious populace
had murdered the Portuguese general Ber-
nardin Gomez Freyre d'Andrade, and his
field-officers, March 17, 1809; but he was
not able, with his undisciplined troops,
consisting of 18,000 militia, and no more
than 995 regular soldiers, without ammu-
nition, to maintain himself longer than
the 20th of March against the advancing
French army under Soult. With the
military chest, colors and cannon, he made
his retreat to Oporto, where he quelled,
March 26, the insurrection of the people
against the adherents of the French, of
whom 15 had been murdered; but, on
the 29th, Soult took the city by storm,
and Eben, who collected again the scat-
tered Portuguese troops near Coimbra,
lost his property in the plunder of the
city. His behavior gained him the es-
teem of the nation, so that the bishop of
Oporto, the patriarch Eleito, who con-
ducted the revolution against the French,
presented him with a gold cross; and all
the officers recommended by him were
promoted. Notwithstanding this, lord
Peresford, who reorganized the Portu-
guese army, in which Eben had been ac-
knowledged as colonel, gave him who
had been hitherto a British major, only
a commission as lieutenant-colonel in that
army. Eben, therefore, asked his dis-
mission, which was granted to him by
Beresford, but not by the Portuguese gov-
ernment, which made him governor of
Setuval. At the command of the English
ambassador, he accepted the post, with
the commission of a Portuguese colonel.
He subsequently commanded the loyal
Lusitanian legion in the battle of Busaco,
in the lines of Torres Vedras, and in the
pursuit of Massena. In 1811, he was
made lieutenant-colonel and Portuguese
brigadier-general, commanded a brigade
of infantry of the line in the battle of
Fuentes d'Onoro, in the blockade of Al-
meida, before Rodrigo and at Badajoz.
After this, in 1812, he commanded the corps
in Spain. In 1813, he was made govern-
or intrino of the province Tras-os-Montes,
and, in 1814, he was appointed a colonel
in the English army, and aid-de-camp of
the prince regent, but was dismissed from
the Portuguese service, as eldest brigadier,
under the pretext that he had been for-
merly an officer of the cavalry. This
took place, however, without the consent
of the Portuguese government. He still
remained, with the permission of the
prince regent, in Portugal, and offered his
services to the king, in the army of Brazil;
but, by the contrivance of his enemies, he
was implicated in the pretended conspira-
cy of general Freyre d'Andrade, was ar-
rested, and, on insufficient grounds, was
sentenced to exile. Eben lived after this
at Hamburg, from whence he petitioned in
vain the king of Portugal, at Rio Janeiro,
for the revision of his trial. The Portu-
guese ambassador in Hamburg, however,
assured him that his master, the king,
was entirely convinced of his innocence.
In 1821, Eben repaired to South America,
and offered his services to the republic of
Colombia. He was admitted, as a briga-
dier-general, into the army of the republic,
organized the army, and, after the victory
of Bolivar, in April, 1822, coöperated in
the occupation of Quito.
EBENEZER (Hebrew; the stone of help);
the name of a field where the Philistines
defeated the Hebrews, and seized on the
sacred ark, and where, afterwards, at Sam
uel's request, the Lord discomfited the
Philistines, with thunder, &c. On this
occasion, Samuel set up a stone, and gave
it this designation, to indicate that the
Lord had helped them. It is said to be
about 40 miles south-west of Shiloh. The
name of Ebenezer has also been given to
a town in Georgia, Effingham county.
EBERT, John Arnold; a poet and trans

STENIBLIA EBERT-EBRO.
lator, particularly of English works; born
1723, at Hamburg. His love of the Eng-
lish language was awakened and cher-
ished by Hagedorn, who contributed
much to the influence of English litera-
ture upon the German. Not long after
the establishment of the Carolinum, in
Brunswick, he received an appointment,
in 1748, in the school connected with it,
and instructed the hereditary prince, after-
wards duke of Brunswick, in the English
language. About this time, he conceived
the idea of translating, and thus making
known to his countrymen, the best Eng-
lish poets and authors. The best of his
translations were those of Young's Night
Thoughts, which gained him great repu-
tation as a translator; and Glover's Le-
onidas. In 1753, he obtained the place
of regular professor in the Carolinum, and
afterwards the station of court counsellor.
He died in 1795. Ebert had a lively fan-
cy, and a warm imagination. His writings,
collected by himself, appeared under the
title J. A. Ebert's Epistles and Miscel-
laneous Poems, to which another volume
was added after his death (Hamburg, 1789
and 1795, 2 vols.).
EBIONITES; a sect of the first century,
so called from their leader, Ebion. They
held several dogmas in common with the
Nazarenes, united the ceremonies of the
Mosaic institution with the precepts of the
gospel, observed both the Jewish Sabbath
and Christian Sunday, and, in celebrating
the Eucharist, made use of unleavened
bread. They abstained from the flesh of
animals, and even from milk. In relation
to Jesus Christ, some of them held that
he was born, like other men, of Joseph
and Mary, and acquired sanctification
only by his good works. Others of them
allowed that he was born of a virgin, but
denied that he was the word of God, or
had any existence before his human gen-
eration. They said he was, indeed, the
only true prophet; but yet a mere man,
who, by his virtue, had arrived at being
called Christ, and the Son of God. They
also supposed that Christ and the devil
were two principles, which God had op-
posed to each other. Of the New Testa-
ment they only received the Gospel of St.
Matthew, which they called the Gospel
according to the Hebrews. (See the arti-
cle Nazarenes.)
EBONY; a kind of wood, extremely
hard, and susceptible of a very fine polish,
which is much used in mosaic, inlaying,
and other ornamental works. Its color
is red, black or green. The black is most
esteemed, and is imported principally
33
VOL. IV.
385
from Madagascar and the Isle of France.
Red ebony, so called, though its color is
brown striped with black, is less compact,
and is also brought from Madagascar. The
green is softer than either of the preced-
ing, yields a fine green tincture, which is
employed in dyeing, and is brought from
the West Indies, particularly from Toba-
go, as well as from the above mentioned
islands. The best is jet black, and free
from knots, or reddish veins. Ebony is
imitated by subjecting some hard kinds of
wood, especially that of the pear tree, to
a hot decoction of galls, and, when this is
dry, applying ink with a stiff brush; a
little warm wax is then used to give it a
polish: another method is by heating and
burning the wood. The ebony-tree (di-
ospyros ebenum) grows wild in the East
Indies, and has been cultivated for many
years in the Isle of France, which sup-
plies a great part of that consumed in Eu-
rope. The central part, or heart-wood,
only is black; the sap-wood does not differ
in color from that of other trees. Seve-
ral other species of the genus afford
ebony, among them D. decandra and do-
cecandra of Cochin China, which are
used in that country for cabinet work,
&c. The species of diospyros are trees
or shrubs, with alternate petiolate and co-
riaceous leaves; the flowers monopeta-
lous, dioecious, axillary, and sessile or sub-
sessile. About 30 species are known, one
of which, the persimmon, is found in the
U. States. That which the Greeks used
in the most ancient times was procured
from India; but it was unknown in Rome
till after the victories obtained by Pompey
over Mithridates. The ancient inhabi-
tants of India, the Greeks, and finally the
Romans, made frequent use of this fine
wood, inlaying it with ivory on account
of the contrast of colors. According to
Pliny, the statue of Diana at Ephesus
was of ebony, but according to Vitruvius,
it was of cedar. Artists and poets used
ebony allegorically for the attributes of
the infernals, giving a throne formed of
it to Pluto and Proserpine, and making the
gates of hell of the same dark and dura
ble material. It is also used at the present
day for sculptural decorations, embellished
and inlaid with ivory, mother of pearl,
silver and gold.
EBRO (Latin, Iberus), a river in Spain,
once the boundary between the territory
of Rome and Carthage, has its source in a
little valley east of Reynosa; it proceeds
from a copious spring at the foot of an
ancient tower, called Fontibre, and, after
traversing many open and fertile districts,

386
EBRO-ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENTS.
passes by the city of Tortosa, where there
is a bridge of boats over it, and then falls
into the Mediterranean, at the island of
Alfachs; but, on account of its current and
many rocks and shoals, it is navigable no
higher than Tortosa, and even to that place
only for small craft. Length about 350
miles.
ECBATANA; the chief city or ancient
metropolis of Media, built, according to
Pliny, by Seleucus. It was the summer
residence of the Persian and Median kings,
and existed in great splendor at a very
early period in the history of the world.
It was situated on a rising ground, about
12 stadia from Mount Orontes, and 1200
stadia south of Palus Spauta. Its walls
are described by ancient writers in a style
of romantic exaggeration, and particular-
ly by Herodotus and the author of the
book of Judith. Daniel is said by Jose-
phus to have built one of its most mag-
nificent palaces, some of the beams of
which were of silver, and the rest of cedar
plated with gold. This splendid edifice
afterwards served as a mausoleum to the
kings of Media, and is affirmed, by the
last mentioned author, to have been entire
in his time. There are no traces now re-
maining of these lofty buildings; and
even the site of this celebrated city has
become a subject of dispute among mod-
ern travellers. It was pillaged by the ar-
my of Alexander.
ECCE HOMO (Latin; Behold the man!).
This name is often given to crucifixes and
pictures which represent the suffering
Savior, because, according to John, xix.
5, Pilate broke out in these words, when
he saw with what patience Jesus suffered
Scourging.
ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. (See Courts.)
ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENTS. In
the following article, an account is given
of the number of the clergy, and the ex-
pense of supporting the ecclesiastical es-
tablishments in some of the principal
countries of Europe. In the Tableau de
la Constitution Politique de la Monarchie
Française selon la Charte, &c. par A. Ma-
hull, is the following account of the
French clergy: "The Catholic clergy, be-
fore the revolution, were composed of 136
archbishops and bishops, 6800 canons and
priests of the bas choeurs, attached to the
cathedral and collegial churches, 44,000
curates, 6400 succursalistes (a sort of cu-
rates, removable by the bishops), 18,000
vicars, 16,000 ecclesiastics, with or with-
out benefices, 600 canonesses, 31,000
monks, 27,000 nuns, 10,000 servants of
the church; total, 159,936. The Catholic
population of France then comprised
25,000,000 souls. The clergy thus form-
ed the hundred and sixty-eighth part of
it. The possessions of the clergy then
afforded, according to the statistical ta-
bles of M. César Moreau, 121,000,000 of
the revenue. The French clergy, at the
commencement of 1828, according to the
documents collected by the editor of the
Almanach du Clergé, comprised 5 car-
dinals, 14 archbishops, 66 bishops, 5
cordons bleus, of the order of the Holy
Ghost, 468 vicars-general, 684 titular
canons, 1788 honorary canons, 3083
curates, 22,475 desservans (who perform
the duties of the titular clergy), 5705 vic-
ars, 439 chaplains, 839 almoners, 1076
priests resident in the parishes, or autho-
rized to preach or hear confession, 1044
priests, directors and professors of semi-
naries. The number of priests deemed
necessary by the bishops amounts to
52,457, which would give for the present
population of France, excluding the Prot-
estant sects, one for each 550 souls. The
total number of officiating priests is 36,649.
In 1824, the number was estimated at
only 30,443. Consequently, 15,808 are re-
quired to complete the number desired by
the heads of the church. It is estimated,
that 13,493 of the priests employed are
over sixty years of age, and that there are
2328 whom age and infirmity render in-
capable of acting. The number of ec-
clesiastical elèves is 44,244, of whom 9285
are theologiens, 3725 philosophes, 21,118
are in the seminaries, 7761 in the colleges,
2355 with the curates. The whole ex-
pense of supporting the Catholic worship,
according to the calculation presented by
M. Charles Dupin, June 21, 1828, to the
chamber of deputies, is 62,845,000 francs.
Before the revolution, the possessions of
the clergy afforded, as we have said, 121
millions, leaving a difference of expense in
favor of the present system, of 58,155,000
francs, although the lower orders of the
clergy receive a much ampler compen-
sation than before, and the clergy are
much more equally distributed among
those whom they are to serve. In 1828,
according to the Almanach du Clergé, the
whole number of nuns in France was
19,340. De jure or de facto, there exist
3024 establishments of nuns, to wit, 1983
definitely authorized, and 1041 en expecta-
tive. There are but a small number of
religious houses for males in France.
The state of the clergy of Spain before
the revolution is thus given in the Diario
de la Coruna for July 1, 1821 :--
12

ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENTS.
Archbishops and bishops,
•
Canons and dignitaries,
Prebends,
Parish rectors,
Curates,.
Other beneficed clergy,
Religious men of the greater or-
ders,
Religious men of the minor or-
ders,
Hermitands,
Servants,
Sacristans, church clerks,
.
Monks,
Friars with shoes,
Friars without shoes,
Regular congregationists,
Servants of regulars,
Youths in their houses,
Total,
Nuns and religious women,
..
Total of regular and secular
clergy,
.
.
.
.
•
•
·
17,411
9,088
180,242
Property belonging to the Clergy.
Value.
£62,500,000
387
62 Their contributions are as follow: 1. the
2,399 subsidio, or voluntary gift of £100,000 an-
1,869 nually; the excusado, or tithe, of the tenth
16,481 house or farm, originally appropriated for
4,927 building and repairing churches. Pope
.16,400 Pius V allowed Philip II to apply the
produce of this tax to his wars against ne
infidels. It is now applied to the ordinary
expenses of the state. The king has the
choice of all the houses and farms, and
1,416 selects the most valuable; so that this tenth
3,987 may be considered equivalent to one
.15,000 eighth or one seventh of all the tithes of
5,500 the parish. 2. The tiercias reales is a tax
13,500 of two-ninths of the tithes received by the
30,000 clergy. 3. The noveno, another ninth
2,000 part of the tithes annually paid to the
6,400 clergy. 4. The novales, tithes on land
1,800 newly brought into cultivation. 5. The
148,242 diezmos extentos, the tithe of all lands orig-
32,000 inally exempted from clerical jurisdic-
tion. The whole of the above taxes are
farmed. These, however, are not the only
burden imposed on the clergy. It has
for some time been the practice to oblige
them to pay two years' revenue upon their
appointment to a new benefice. The
payment is made during a period of four
years, being the half of each year's in-
come; and, on the expiration of this term,
the incumbent is sometimes removed to
another living, to undergo the same deple-
tory operation during another four years.
In consequence of this policy, the Spanish
clergy, formerly so wealthy, are now, in
many cases, but indifferently provided for,
and are daily becoming of less conse-
quence in the estimation of the people as
well as of the government. Many of the
great dignitaries, however, are very rich.
Next to the ecclesiastical principalities of
Germany, the richest Catholic prelacies
are found in Spain. The archbishoprics
of Toledo, Seville, Santiago, Valencia and
Saragossa have larger revenues than any
in France, or any other country. Some
of the bishops and other dignitaries, also,
have very considerable incomes.
bishop of Murcia receives annually about
£20,833 sterling, and the bishop of Lerida
£10,000. The possessions of some of the
monasteries, particularly some of the Car-
thusians and Ieronymites, include the
greatest part of the district in which they
are situated. These religious foundations,
while they depopulate and impoverish the
neighboring country, increase poverty and
idleness by indiscriminate charity.
Pious foundations for the
use of both sexes, con-
sisting in lands and
buildings, ...
Estates of the secular clergy, 62,000,000
Estates of the regular clergy, 62,000,000
Real property, land and £186,500,000
buildings,
.
£186,500,000
exclusive of tithes, and various other taxes
and dues for the clergy. The population
of Spain, in 1827, was estimated in Has-
sel's Historical and Statistical Almanack,
published in 1829, at 13,953,959. The
number of places of worship may be
11,000. At the period of the Spanish
revolution, the cortes, by a decree of Oc-
tober 24, 1821, introduced a new organi-
zation of the Spanish church, abolishing
all the monasteries, excepting ten or
twelve, declaring all gifts and legacies to
monasteries, churches and hospitals un-
lawful, and curtailing the whole ecclesi-
astical establishment, so as to effect a
saving of forty-four and a half millions of
dollars annually to the nation, reckoning
the annual expense of the church to the
nation, before the revolution, at six per
cent. on the church property. But the
king, on his restoration to absolute power,
October 1, 1823, immediately annulled all
the decrees of the constitutional govern-
ment, and the ecclesiastical establishment
was placed on its former footing. The
Spanish clergy, however, contribute con-
siderably to the support of the government.
The
Latin Catholic Church in Hungary.
Hearers,.
4,000,000
3,230
Places of worship,
388
ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENTS.

Average number of persons to a
place of worship,
Clergymen,
1,240
5,469
3 archbishops, 18 bishops, 16 titular bish-
ops, 274 prebendaries and canons, 5158
working clergy.
Average number of clergymen to
a place of worship,
or five clergymen to three places of
Average number of clergymen to
1000 persons,
The Italians are all Roman Catholics.
According to a publication called Prospetto
geographico statistico degli Stati Europei,
printed at Milan, 1820, they are distributed
as follows:
Kingdom of Sardinia, (of which the
island 520,900),
3,985,000
Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, sub-
13
ject to Austria,
4,117,000
Duchy of Parma,..
390,000
worship.
Duchy of Modena (Reggio and
randola),
Mi-
350,000
Duchy of Massa and Carrara,
30,000
.. 1
Duchy of Lucca,.
127,000
£314,214
Grand duchy of Tuscany,
1,198,000
States of the Church,
2,430,000
Republic of San Marino,
7,000
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, or
Naples,
7,576,000
(Of which the island of Sicily
1,660,000).
19,391,200
Malta, 104,600
Income,
37 archbishops and bishops, . . . . 96,000
274 prebends and canons,
58,000
£154,000
5158 working clergy, averaging £170,214
£33 each,
4,000,000 of hearers, at £80,000
per million of hearers,
.. £320,000
This is, perhaps, the greatest instance on
the continent of Europe of the abuse of
church property: 311 comparatively idle
churchmen possess themselves of nearly as
much income as 5158 working clergymen,
who, with scanty means of existence, labor
in the ministry, and are the real spiritual
pastors of the people. The richest benefices
are considered a provision for members of
the great families of Hungary. Any benefice
producing more than £3400 a year, pays the
surplus to the fund for the working clergy.
Calvinistic Church of Hungary.
Hearers,.
Places of worship,
Clergymen,
1,050,000
1,351
1,384
One place of worship for every 750
people.
One clergyman for every place of wor-
ship.
Income-1383 clergymen, aver-
age £44 each,.
.. £60,896
1,050,000 hearers, at £60,000 per
million of hearers,
£63,000
Du Lutheran Church of Hungary.
Hearers,.
Places of worship,
Clergymen,
650,000
448
•
456
One place of worship for every 1500
persons.
One clergyman for every place of wor-
ship.
Income,.
£25,080
Highest stipend, £80-average, £55 for
456 persons.
£26,000
650,000 hearers, at £40,000 per
million of hearers,
Estimated Expenditure on the Clergy in
Italy.
Hearers,
. 19,391,200
Corsica, 180,000
284,600 Italians, but detached
from Italy.
Places of worship,
Clergymen,
.
16,170
20,400
Estimated at one working clergyman for
every 1000 persons (being more than in
France, and less than in Spain), and 1000
dignitaries, as follows:
1 pope,
46 cardinals,
38 archbishops, late for every 200,000
Estimated at one pre-
62 bishops, .
people,
853 other dignitaries,
19,400 working clergymen.
20,400
One clergyman for every 950 persons.
One place of worship for every 1200
persons.
Income,
£776,000
Being at the rate of £40,000 per million
of hearers.
19,391,200 hearers, at £40,000,
per million of hearers, . . . . £776,000
This table is taken from Remarks on
the Consumption of the public Wealth,
by the Clergy of every Nation, &c. (Lon-
don, 1822), and is said to have been framed
with the assistance of a gentleman who
had resided a considerable time in the
great cities of Italy, particularly in Rome,
and had given much attention to the sub-
ject.
The following statements respecting
Russia are taken from the Statistique et
Itineraire de la Russie, par J. H. Schnitz-
ler, Paris and St. Petersburg, 1829. The
population is estimated at 55,000,000.
The clergy of Russia may be estimated at
230,000 individuals in actual service, of
whom the cities comprise about 60,000;
over 190,000 belong to the orthodox Greek

ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENTS.
church, inclusive of the lay brothers, the
choristers, &c.; the Catholic clergy
amount to more than 30,000; the Protest-
ant clergy do not exceed 1000, and there
are over 9000 Mollahs. These are all al-
lowed to marry, except the Catholics.
Nearly 200,000 are fathers of families, and
the total number of persons connected
with the clergy may be computed at
900,000. Their condition differs accord-
ing to their rank: the metropolitans, the
archbishops, bishops, and the archiman-
drites are rich; but the great mass of
the clergy is poorly provided for. The
monks are numerous, and are supported
at the expense of the state; but their
wants are few, and their manner of living
extremely simple. The secular clergy,
which is under the superintendence of
the bishops, is divided into protohiereis or
archpriests, hiereis or priests (popes), and
deacons. The regular clergy, which is
also called the black clergy (tchornoie
doukhovenstro) comprises the archiman-
drites, the igoumenoi or priors, the igou-
menai or abbesses, the monks (monachi),
and nuns (monachini), and the hermits
(poustynniki). The bishops are taken
from the regular clergy, and any priest,
who desires to remain attached to the
ecclesiastical order after the death of
his wife, must enter that body, and is then
called a hiero-monk. The revenues of
the clergy consisted originally of tithes;
but, after it had come into possession of
large landed estates, cultivated by boors,
its support was derived partly from their
produce, and partly from the raskol-
nitchii-prikaze, or tax paid by dissidents
for the privilege of wearing the beard.
The management of the revenues was
in the hands of the patriarch, until
Catharine I established a commission for
the purpose, which was, however, sup-
pressed in 1742. The holy synod was
then intrusted with their administration;
and it appears, from an enumeration made
by order of the empress Elizabeth, in
1746, that 839,546 male boors were at-
tached to the estates of the clergy. These
estates were secularized by Peter III, in
1762, who appointed a new commission
1762, who appointed a new commission
for their management. Catharine II be-
gan by abolishing this board, and improv-
ing the condition of the clergy. In 1764,
she secularized all the ecclesiastical posses-
sions, reestablished the commission, and
assigned a fixed revenue to the members
of the clergy. The chambers of account,
in the capitals of the governments, are now
invested with the administration of these
estates, the annual revenue of which is
389
estimated at 250,000 silver rubles, which
is expended in paying the salaries of the
clergy. Notwithstanding this seizure of
their domains, the clergy have still a con-
siderable amount of land connected with
the convents, or with the church, but
there are no boors attached.
Church or Kirk of Scotland.
The established religion in Scotland is the
Presbyterian or Calvinistic sect, and is de-
nominated the kirk of Scotland.
Hearers,.
•
1,500,000
According to sir John Sinclair, in 1814,
there were in Scotland,
Hearers of the established Presby-
terian church,
Dissenting Presbyterians,
Baptists, Bereans, Glassites,
Scotch Episcopalians,
Church of England,
Roman Catholics,
Methodists,.
Quakers,.
1,407,524
256,000
50,000
28,000
4,000
50,000
9,000
300
Total,. . . . . 1,804,824
The population having increased to
2,000,000, the hearers of the established
church may be estimated at 1,500,000 (in
1822).
.... 1,000
One place of worship for every 1,500
Places of worship,
persons,
Clergymen,
Average number of clergymen
for a place of worship,
Average number of clergymen
for 1500 persons,
Income,
·
1,000
1
... 1
£206,360
Being an average of £220 for 938 clergy-
men. Their stipend can in no case be under
£150, it averages much more; and then
they are provided with a manse, or dwelling-
house, and a glebe of land.
1,500,000 hearers, at £135,000
per million hearers,
•
£202,500
The revenue of the Scotch clergy, ac-
cording to the Remarks, is derived from a
charge on the rents of land, paid by the
landlord throughout Scotland. It is a
moderate charge, amounting to about
ninepence sterling an acre on lards in
cultivation, and, although it is called teinds
or tithe, does not amount nearly to the
tithe in England. An estate in Scotland
pays £30 on 800 statute English acres,
cases paid by an estate of 80 acres in
while the same sum of £30 is in some
England.
The average Number of People for whom
there is a Church.
In France,
In Scotland,
In Spain,
.
1,150
1,500
1,000
33*

... 1,000
1,240
..750
1,500
390
In Portugal,
ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENTS.
In Hungary, Catholics,
Calvinists,
In do.
In do. Lutherans,
The average Number of Persons for whom
there is a Clergyman provided.
Roman Catholics,
Church of England and Ireland, . . 400,000
Methodists and other sects,
The following is deemed their distribution
into sects:
.
Presbyterians,
5,500,000
800,000
. •
Places of worship,
·
Clergymen,
In France,
.
1,150
Archbishops,
In Scotland,
•
1,500
Bishops,.
In Spain,.
. 700
Deans,
In Portugal,
... 700
In Hungary, Catholics,
.730
In do.
Calvinists,
..750
300,000
740
.
1,700

4
18
33
34
.500
587
. 1,113
1,500
In do.
Lutherans,
There are in France about 9000 clergy-
men generally engaged in tuition, who have
not employments in the church, but who ren-
der occasional and regular aid to the minis-
ters of the churches; they are the remnants
of the times before the revolution; their
number is diminishing fast, and is not renew-
ed. Taking these into consideration, there
is in France one clergyman for every 830
persons.
The following estimates are taken from
the Remarks above quoted, as are also the
preceding respecting Scotland, &c.
Estimated Expenditure on the Clergy of
the Established Church of England.
IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
Hearers,. . .
Archdeacons,.
Canons, prebends, &c.
Dignitaries,
Working clergy,.
(For full particulars, see Ecclesiastical
Register, printed by Nolan, Dublin.)
One place of worship for every 540 hear-
ers.
One clergyman for every 235 hearers.
One archbishop for every 100,000 hearers.
One prelate for every 18,000 hearers.
Income,..
£1,300,000
400,000 hearers, at £3,250,000
per million of hearers,... £1,300,000.
Estimated Expenditure on their own Cler-
gy, by the People who are not hearers of
the Established Church.
IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
6,000,000
Hearers,.
Places of worship,
Clergymen,
The whole population is 12,000,000; if one
half are hearers of the establishment, it is
certainly the outside.
Places of worship,
·
Clergymen,
Archbishops,.
Bishops,
Archdeacons,
Deans, .
Canons and prebends,
Dignitaries,
Working clergy, rectors, vicars, cu-
rates, and chaplains,
6,000,000
8,000
8,000
£500,000
One place of worship to 750 hearers.
One clergyman to 750 hearers.
Voluntary contributions at an average rate
of £65 for each clergyman.
6,000,000 of hearers, at £85,000
11,743
Income,

18,000
2
24
60
per million,.
27
544
657
•
17,343
One place of worship for every 500 hear-
ers.
One clergyman for every 333 hearers.
One archbishop for every 3,000,000
hearers.
One prelate for every 233,000 hearers.
Income,
£7,600,000
6,000,000 of hearers, at
£1,266,000 per million, 7,596,000
Estimated Expenditure on the Clergy of th
the
Established Church of England and
Ireland.
flearers,..
IN IRELAND.
400,000
According to the population return,
there are in Ireland 6,846,000
people; say..
7,000,000
.
£510,000
Estimated Expenditure on the Clergy of
that Part of the People whose Ministers
do not receive Stipends from the Kirk.
Hearers,
IN SCOTLAND.
500,000

(See the numbers of each sect in the table.
of the Scotch kirk.)
Places of worship,
333
At an average of one place of worship for
every 1500 persons, as in the kirk.
Clergymen,
.
400
At an average of six clergymen to five
places of worship.
Income,
£44,000
Voluntary contributions at an average of
£110 each, to 400 clergymen.
A place of worship to every 1500 hearers.
A clergyman to every 1250 hearers.
500,000 hearers, at £90,000 per
million,
•
£45,000

ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENTS-ECHELON.
Estimated Expenditure on their own Cler-
gy, by the people of Ireland who are not
of the Established Church.
Hearers,
6,600,000
Computed as follows:
Catholics,
Presbyterians,
Methodists, and other sects,
5,500,000
800,000
300,000
Places of worship,
Clergymen,
2378
2378
One place of worship for every 2400
hearers,
One clergyman for every 2400 hearers,
Income,
£261,580
Voluntary contribution, at an average of
£110 each, for 2378 clergymen.
6,600,000 hearers, at £40,000 per
million of hearers,
£264,000
391
Government grant, yearly, the sum of
£13,487 to certain Protestant ministers, viz.
to Presbyterians, £8,697; to seceding Pres-
byterians, £4,034; to other Protestant dis-
senting ministers, £756.
To these tables succeed, in the Re-
marks abovementioned, comparative ta-
bles, showing in one view the expense
of supporting the ecclesiastical establish-
ments in all the countries of Europe and
America. These latter, it must be recol-
lected, were drawn up during the short
sway of the constitutional governments in
Spain and Portugal, when the expense of
the church in these countries was great-
ly reduced. The following comparison,
therefore, is true only of that time:-
Christians throughout the World.
Roman Catholics.
5,800,000
Protestants.
Greek Church
In Great Britain and Ireland,
In all the rest of the world,
15,200,000
118,872,060
38,856,000
41,500,000
Total,
124,672,000
54,056,000
41,500,000
Catholics,
.
124,672,000 Pay to their clergy,
£6,106,000
Protestants,.
54,056,000
11,906,000
Greek Church,.
41,500,000
66
66
· ...
Total of Christians, . . 220,228,000
. 760,000
£18,772,000
Of which England, for 21 millions, pays more than half (as things then stood). The
restriction in the preceding paragraph applies to a similar estimate in our article Church.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. (See Chris-
tianity.
ECCLESIASTICAL STATES. (See Church,
States of the; also Curia, Papal.)
ECHALOTE (allium ascalonicum); a kind
of onion, a native of Syria, which has
been cultivated in Europe for some cen-
turies. The leaves are radical, awl-shaped
and hollow; the stem naked, 6 to 8 inches
high, terminated by a globose umbel of
purplish flowers. The roots are pungent,
but have an agreeable taste, and are gene-
rally preferred to the onion for various
purposes of cookery.
ECHARD, Lawrence; an English divine
and historian of the last century. He was
born in Suffolk in 1671, and studied at
Cambridge. He died in 1730. Among
his works are, The Roman History, 3
vols. 8vo.; A General Ecclesiastical His-
tory, 2 vols. 8vo.; both works extending
only to the age of Constantine; A History
of England to the Revolution, 3 vols. folio;
The Gazetteer's or Newsman's Interpreter.
ECHEA (xa from xéw, I sound), in
ancient architecture; the name which the
ancients gave to the sonorous vases of
bronze or earth, of a bell-like shape,
which they used in the construction of
their theatres, to give greater power to the
voices of their actors. The size of these
vases was proportioned to the magnitude
of the building, and their conformation
such, that they returned all the concords
from the fourth and fifth to the double oc-
tave. They were arranged between the
seats of the theatres in niches made for
the purpose; the particulars of which are
described in the fifth book of Vitruvius.
According to this ancient author, such
vases were inserted in the theatre at Cor-
inth, from whence Lucius Mummius, at
the taking of that city, transported them
to Rome. It would appear that similar
means have been employed in some of the
Gothic cathedrals, to assist the voices of the
priests and choristers: for in the choir
of that at Strasburg, formerly belonging
to a monastery of Dominicans, professor
Oberlin discovered similar vases in vari-
ous parts of the vaulted ceilings. The
student is referred to Mr. Wilkin's trans-
lation of Vitruvius for further speculations
on this curious mode of construction.
ECHELON (French; a ladder or stairway);
used in military language. A battalion,
regiment, &c., marches en échelon, or par
échelon, if the divisions of which it is com.
posed do not march in one line, but on
parallel lines. The divisions are not ex-
actly behind each other, but each is to the
right or left of the one preceding, so as
392
MOTO
ECHELON-ECHINUS.

to give the whole the appearance of a
stairway This order is used if the com-
mander wishes to bring one part of a mass
sooner into action, and to reserve the
other. If the divisions of the échelon are
battalions, these are generally from 100 to
200 steps from each other.
ECHENEIS; the remora, in natural histo-
ry, a genus of fishes of the order thorac-
ici. Generic character: head furnished
on the top with a flat, oval, transversely
grooved shield; gill-membrane, with ten
rays, according to Gmelin, and six, ac-
cording to Shaw; body not scaled. There
are three species. The echineis remora, or
Mediterranean remora, is of the length of
from 12 to 18 inches. Among the an-
cients, its peculiarity of structure and hab-
its was connected with the most incredi-
ble and marvellous circumstances, which
are, however, detailed with all possible
gravity and faith, by their most profound
naturalists. Pliny states, that the force of
the tide, the current and the tempest, join-
ing in one grand impulse with oars and
sails, to urge a ship onwards in one di-
rection, is checked by the operation of one
small fish, called remora by the Roman
authors, which counteracts this apparent-
ly irresistible accumulation of power, and
compels the vessel to remain motionless
in the midst of the ocean. He credits
the prevailing report, that Antony's ship,
in the battle of Actium, was kept motion-
less by the exertion of the remora, not-
withstanding the efforts of several hun-
dred sailors; and that the vessel of Calig-
ula was detained between Astura and
Antium by another of these fish found
sticking to the helm, and whose solitary
efforts could not be countervailed by a
crew of 400 able seamen, till several of
the latter, on examining into the cause of
the detention, perceived the impediment,
and detached the remora from its hold.
The emperor, he adds, was not a little as-
tonished, that the fish should hold the ship
so fast in the water, and, when brought
upon deck, appear to possess no power of
detention over it whatever. This confid-
ing naturalist expresses himself as perfect-
ly convinced that all fishes possess a simi-
lar power, and states, as a notorious ex-
ample, the detention of Periander's ship
by a porcellane, near the cape of Gnidos.
Quitting, however, the fables of antiqui-
ty, it may be observed, that the fins of the
remora are particularly weak, and thus
prevent its swimming to any considerable
distance, on which account it attaches it-
self to various bodies, inanimate or living,
being found not only fastened to ships,
out to whales, sharks, and other fishes;
and with such extreme tenacity is this
hold maintained, that, unless the effort of
separation be applied in a particular direc-
tion, it is impossible to effect the disunion
without the destruction of the fish itself.
As the remora is extremely voracious, and
far from fastidious in its food, it may at-
tach itself to vessels and large fish with
a view to secure subsistence. This fish
will often adhere to rocks, and particular-
ly in boisterous and tempestuous weather.
The apparatus for accomplishing this ad-
hesion consists of an oval area on the top
of the head, traversed by numerous dis-
sepiments, each of which is fringed at the
edge by a row of very numerous perpen-
dicular teeth, or filaments, while the whole
oval space is strengthened by a longitudi-
nal septum. It is reported by some au-
thors, that, in the Mozambique channel, a
species of remora is employed by the na-
tives of the coast in their pursuit of turtles
with great success. A ring is fixed near
the tail of the remora, with a long cord
attached to it, and, when the boat has ar-
rived as near as it well can to the turtle,
sleeping on the surface of the water, the
remora is dismissed, and immediately pro-
ceeds towards the turtle, which it fastens
on so firmly, that both are drawn into the
boat with great ease.
ECHINUS, OF SEA EGG; a marine ani-
mal, inhabiting the seas of most coun-
tries, and subject to great variety in the
species. Echinus esculentus, the edible
sea egg, is common on the coast of Eu-
rope, and is esteemed as an article of food.
In systematic arrangements, the genus
echinus of Linnæus has been much di-
vided, and is at present restricted to those
species which have an orbicular, oval or
globular body, covered with spines, artic-
ulated on imperforate tubercles. These
spines are very slightly attached, and fall
off the dead animal on the least friction;
in consequence, the specimens which
commonly come under observation are
deprived of them entirely. Five ranges
of pores diverge from the summit, and tend
to the centre beneath, dividing the shell
into well marked sections. The mouth is
situated on the inferior surface, in the cen-
tre, and is armed with five osseous pieces
or plates; anus superior. Many species
are ornamented with a profusion of long
and pointed spines, while in others, they
are quite short. It is by means of these
spines that the animals change their posi-
tion, and move from place to place. The
apparatus of the mouth is provided with
strong muscles, and is well calculated for
crushing the hard portions of the animal's
food. In the same species the colors va

ECHINUS-ECKMUHL.
ry considerably, the traits changing, how-
ever, on the death of the animal. Echini
are said to retreat to deep water on the
approach of a storm, and preserve them-
selves from injury by attaching them-
selves to submarine bodies. E. melo is
perhaps the largest species known, and is
found not uncommonly in the Mediterra-
nean. Many fine species have been dis-
covered in a fossil state imbedded in
chalk, &c., in beautiful preservation. Up-
on the coast of the U. States, several spe-
cies of recent echini are found, and some
also occur in the fossil localities. The spe-
cies constituting the genus have not been
well determined.
ECHо; daughter of the Air and Tellus;
a nymph, who, according to fable, was
changed by Juno into a rock, because her
loquacity prevented Juno from listening
to the conversation of Jupiter with the
nymphs. The use of her voice, however,
was left her so far as to be able to repeat
the last word which she heard from oth-
ers. Another account is, that Echo fell
n love with Narcissus, and, because he did
not reciprocate her affection, she pined
Away, until nothing was left but her voice.
ECHO. When sound strikes against a
distant hard surface, it is reflected, and
heard again after a short space; this rep-
etition is called echo. If the sound is re-
peated several times, which is the case
when it strikes against objects at different
distances, many echoes are heard. This
phenomenon is not caused by a mere re-
pulsion of the sonorous particles of air,
for then every hard surface would pro-
duce an echo; but it probably requires a
degree of concavity in the repelling body,
which collects several diverging lines of
sound, and concentrates them in the place
where the echo is audible, or, at least, re-
flects them in parallel lines, without weak-
ening the sound, as a concave mirror col-
lects in a focus the diverging rays of light,
or sometimes sends them back parallel.
Still, however, the theory of the repulsion
of sound is not distinctly settled, proba-
bly because the nature of reflecting sur-
faces is not sufficiently known. The re-
flecting surface must be at a certain dis-
tance, in order that the echo may come to
the ear after the sound, and be distinctly
separated from it. Observation proves
that sound travels 1142 feet in a second;
consequently an observer, standing at half
that distance from the reflecting object,
would hear the echo a second later than
the sound. Such an echo, then, would
repeat as many words and syllables as
could be heard in a second. This is call-
393
ed a polysyllabic echo. If the distance is
less, the echo repeats fewer syllables; if
only one is repeated, then the echo is
monosyllabic. The most practised ear
cannot distinguish, in a second, more than
from 9 to 12 successive syllables, and, for
a monosyllabic echo, a period of at least
half a second is requisite. Hence we see
why arched walks and halls echo, without
producing a clear and distinct sound.--
Some of the walls are too near; and some
form an uninterrupted series of surfaces
at different distances, and the ear is not
able to distinguish the original sound from
the first echo, nor to separate the numer-
ous echoes which are thus confounded
with each other. On the contrary, if sev
eral reflecting surfaces are at different dis-
tances, each of them may produce a dis-
tinct echo, of which the first is the strong-
est, because the others are weakened by a
longer passage through the air. As the
reflection of sound depends on the same
laws as those which regulate the reflection
of light, on which the science of catop-
trics depends, the doctrine of echoes is
sometimes called the catoptrics of sound;
a better name is cataphonics, or cata-
coustics. The place of the sounding body
is called the phonic centre, and the re-
flecting place or object, the phonocamptic
centre. The most celebrated echoes are
that at Rosneath, in Scotland, and that of
the Villa Vimourtia, near Milan, which re-
peats a word 30 or 40 times.
ECKHEL, Joseph Hilary, a learned Jesu-
it, who distinguished himself greatly by
his works on coins, medals, and other re-
mains of classical antiquity. He was born
at Enzersfeld, in Austria, in 1737. After
becoming a member of the society of St.
Ignatius, he was appointed keeper of the
imperial cabinet of medals, and professor
of archæology at Vienna. He died in
1798. Eckhel may be regarded as the
founder of the science of numismatics,
the principles of which are elaborately de-
veloped in his treatise entitled Doctrina
Nummorum Veterum, 8 vols. folio, finished
in 1798. He also published catalogues of
the ancient coins and gems in the impe-
rial cabinet, and other learned treatises.
His first work was Nummi veteres anecdo-
ti, 1775.
ECKMÜHL; a village on the Laber, in
the Bavarian circle of the Regen, remark-
able for the battle of April 22, 1809. Aus-
tria, encouraged by the national war,
which had been kindled in Spain against
Napoleon, entered the contest without
allies, but, trusting chiefly to England and
the Porte, with an energy greater than
394
ECKMUHL.INI

she had ever before displayed. She called
out all her regular forces, and the militia
lately organized by the arch-duke John;
the arch-duke Charles commanded in the
character of generalissimo. While count
Stadion, with Gentz and others, sum-
moned the Germans to arms by procla-
mations, and conducted the negotiations,
the army was destined to put an end to
the confederation of the Rhine, and the
power of France in Germany, Poland and
Italy, and to restore to Austria and the
German empire their former independent
position in the European system. Six
corps d'armée, under the arch-duke Charles,
with two bodies of reserve, in all 220,000
men, guarded the Iser and Munich (April
16), and the Danube and Ratisbon (April
20); the seventh corps, under the arch-
duke Ferdinand of Este, 36,000 strong,
took possession of the duchy of Warsaw;
and two corps, 80,000 strong, under the
arch-duke John, menaced Italy, the Tyrol
having already (April 11) taken up arms
in favor of Austria. Napoleon's victory
at Eckmühl decided the campaign of
1809, on the Danube, in the vicinity of
Ratisbon, and compelled Austria to give
up her offensive operations, and to reas-
sume the disadvantageous attitude of de-
fensive war. The operations on the Dan-
ube, during the five days from the 19th
to the 23d of April, cannot, therefore, be
disconnected from the important battle of
Eckmühl. Napoleon left Paris, April 13,
and promised the king of Bavaria, at
Dillingen, on the 16th, to restore him to
his capital within a fortnight, and to make
him more powerful than any of his an-
cestors; on the 18th, his head-quarters
were at Ingolstadt. Here he determined
to concentrate the different corps of his
army commanded by Davoust, Oudinot,
and Masséna, the Bavarians under the
command of Lefebvre, and the Würtem-
berg troops under Vandamme, in all
200,000 men; Poniatowski, in expecta-
tion of the Russian auxiliary corps, was
charged with the defence of Warsaw;
the viceroy Eugene, step-son of Napoleon,
was to protect Italy; and marshal Mar-
mont, Dalmatia. Napoleon himself pre-
pared for the attack. For this purpose,
Oudinot, by the affair at Pfaffenhofen, on
the 19th April, effected a junction with
Masséna, on the 20th; at the same time,
Davoust, who advanced from Ratisbon,
attacked the arch-duke Louis at Tann (a
town in the Bavarian circle of the lower
Danube) and Rohr, while the Bavarians,
under Lefebvre, fell upon his rear. Da-
voust, with the Bavarians, then joined the
main army, under Napoleon, who now
commenced the attack in person. While
Davoust kept in check three corps of the
Austrian main army, under the arch-duke
Charles, Napoleon, with the Bavarians
and Würtembergers, and the French corps
under Lannes and Masséna, fell upon the
Austrian left wing, consisting of about
60,000 men, under the arch-duke Louis
and general Hiller, at Abensberg (near Rat-
isbon), on the 20th, who were thus cut
off from the Danube and the arch-duke
Charles. Charles, meanwhile, had taken
possession of Ratisbon on the 20th, formed
a junction with the corps which advanced
from the upper Palatinate, stormed the
heights of Abbach, on the right bank of
the Danube, on the 21st, and taken position
at Eckmühl, which commands the com-
munication with Ratisbon. Here, having
concentrated four corps, he menaced the
victor of Abensberg in his rear, and hoped
to make himself master of the road to
Donauwerth, on which the possession of
Bavaria depended. But Davoust and
Lefebvre held him in check on the 21st,
and, on the 22d, Napoleon, with the di-
visions of Lannes and Masséna, the Wür-
tembergers and the cuirassiers, advanced
from Landshut to the Danube, and at-
tacked the arch-duke, at two o'clock in
the afternoon, at Eckmühl, where the
Bavarians and Davoust were already en-
gaged. This movement decided the con-
test. The Würtembergers took the village
of Burghausen; the Bavarian general
Seidewitz, with two Bavarian regiments
of cavalry, carried an Austrian battery,
which commanded the road from Land-
shut to Ratisbon; Lannes flanked the
Austrian left, whilst Davoust, Lefebvre
and Montbrun attacked them in front.
The Austrians obstinately defended their
second position, and the Würtemberg in-
fantry took the village of Eckmühl by
storm. At this time, the French cavalry
broke the Austrian lines, on the plain in
the rear of Eckmühl. The Austrian in-
fantry, thus taken in flank, were thrown
into disorder, and the arch-duke Charles
himself was saved only by the fleetness
of his horse. Thus, about 110,000 Austri-
an troops, under an able general, covering
a position of 12 miles in length, were at-
tacked from all quarters by about 130,000)
French and Germans, extending over a
line of 29 miles, were outflanked on their
left wing, and totally routed. During the
night, the arch-duke passed the Danube,,
and attempted to cover his retreat by de-
fending Ratisbon, which was indiffer-
ently fortified. Napoleon moved on like
ECKMUHL-ECLIPSE.
a storm. The French cuirassiers chased
the Austrian cavalry, destined to cover
Ratisbon, over the Danube. The French-
Bavarian artillery made a breach in the
walls, the French infantry, headed by
Lannes, forced their way into the city,
and, after a bloody combat in the streets,
Napoleon became master of Ratisbon.
Napoleon was slightly wounded in his
foot by a spent musket-ball, on the 23d.
His bulletin of the 24th announced that
the fruits of the five days' campaign, of
the three victories at Tann, Abensberg
and Eckmühl, and the combats at Frei-
sing, Landshut, and Ratisbon, were 100
cannon, 40 stands of colors, 50,000 pris-
oners, 3 pontons and 3000 wagons; and
added, "in four weeks, we shall be in
Vienna." Davoust, duke of Auerstädt,
received the title of prince of Eckmühl.
The same day, Napoleon abolished the
Teutonic order in all the states of the
confederation of the Rhine. The conse-
quences of the battles of Eckmühl and
Ratisbon were very important. The Aus-
trian general Jellachich was obliged to
evacuate Munich, which the king of Ba-
varia reentered on the 25th. The Aus-
trian main army, strengthened by the
corps of Bellegarde, retired, under the
arch-duke Charles, to Budweis, in Bohe-
mia, and was concentrated on the left
bank of the Danube, at the foot of the
Bisamberg, and on the Marchfield, ready
for the more famous combats at As-
pern and Wagram. Charles, however,
was not able to save Vienna. Napoleon
advanced along the right bank of the
Danube, notwithstanding the insurrection
in the Tyrol, and passed the Inn. On
the 3d of May, general Hiller made an
obstinate resistance at Ebensberg, with
35,000 men, but was compelled to retreat
to the left bank of the Danube. The
French passed the Ems, and advanced to
the capital of Austria, which capitulated
May 12. On the 13th, Napoleon fixed
his head-quarters at Schönbrunn. May
20, Napoleon crossed to the left bank, and
thus brought on the memorable battles
upon the Marchfield, that of Aspern, or
Essling, and that of Wagram. This
whole campaign is highly interesting and
instructive to a military man, who may
derive useful lessons from the conduct of
both parties; from that of Napoleon, who
followed up a grand plan with unprece-
dented ability and spirit; and from that
of Charles, who displayed great military
skill in his manoeuvres, as was always
acknowledged by the victors.
ECLECTICS (from the Greek KλEKTIKOS,
395

select, from λéyw, to select) is a name
given to all those philosophers who do
not follow one system entirely, but select
what they think the best parts of all sys-
tems. Their philosophy is also called eclec-
tic. In the history of philosophy, this
term is chiefly applied to that sect of
Greek philosophers, who strove to unite
and reconcile the opinions of Pythagoras,
Plato and Aristotle, and to bring them into
one harmonious system.
ECLIPSE.
An Eclipse of the Moon is a privation of
the light
of the moon, occasioned by an
interposition of the earth between the sun
and the moon; consequently, all eclipses
of the moon happen at full moon; for it
is only when the moon is in opposition,
that it can come within the earth's shadow,
which must always be on that side of the
earth which is from the sun. The earth
being in the plane of the ecliptic, the cen-
tre of its shadow is always in that plane;
if, therefore, the moon be in its nodes, that
is, in the plane of the ecliptic, the shadow
of the earth will fall upon it. This shad-
ow, being of considerable breadth, is partly
above and partly below the plane of the
ecliptic; if, therefore, the moon in oppo-
sition be so near one of its nodes, that its
latitude is less than half the breadth of
the shadow, it will be eclipsed. But, be-
cause the plane of the moon's orbit makes
an angle of more than five degrees with
the plane of the ecliptic, it will frequently
have too much latitude, at its opposition,
to allow it to come within the shadow of
the earth.
An Eclipse of the Sun is an occurtation
of part of the face of the sun, occasioned
by an interposition of the moon between
the earth and the sun; thus all eclipses of
the sun happen at the time of new moon.
The dark or central part of the moon's
shadow, where the sun's rays are wholly
intercepted, is called the umbra, and the
light part, where only a part of them are
intercepted, is called the penumbra; and
it is evident, that if a spectator be situated
on that part of the earth where the umbra
falls, there will be a total eclipse of the
sun at that place; in the penumbra there
will be a partial eclipse, and beyond the
penumbra, there will be no eclipse. As
the earth is not always at the same dis-
tance from the moon, if an eclipse should
happen when the earth is so far from the
moon that the rays of light proceeding
from the upper and lower limbs of the
sun cross each other before they come to
the earth, a spectator situated on the earth,
in a direct line between the centres of the
396
ECLIPSE-ECLIPTIC.

sun and moon, would see a ring of light
round the dark body of the moon; such
an eclipse is called annular; when this
happens, there can be no total eclipse any
where, because the moon's umbra does
not reach the earth. People situated in
the penumbra will perceive a partial
eclipse; and an eclipse can never be an-
nular longer than 12 minutes 24 seconds,
nor total longer than 7 minutes 58 sec-
onds; nor can the duration of an eclipse
of the sun ever exceed 4 hours, 29' 44".
The sun being larger than the earth, the
earth's shadow is a cone, whose base is on
the surface of the earth, and the moon is
eclipsed by a section of the earth's shadow.
If the earth were larger than, or equal to,
the sun, its shadow would either perpetu-
ally enlarge, or be always of the same di-
mension; but, in this case, the superior
planets would sometimes come within it,
and be eclipsed, which never happens.
Therefore the sun is larger than the
earth, and produces a shadow from the
earth of a conical form, which does not
extend to the orbit of Mars. An eclipse
of the moon is partial when only a part
of its disc is within the shadow of the
earth; it is total when all its disc is with-
in the shadow; and it is central when
the centre of the earth's shadow falls upon
the centre of the moon's disc. Now, the
nearer any part of the penumbra is to the
umbra, the less light it receives from the
sun; and as the moon enters the penum-
bra before she enters the umbra, she grad-
ually loses her light, and appears less
brilliant. The duration of an eclipse of the
moon, from her first touching the earth's
penumbra to her leaving it, does not ex-
ceed five hours and a half. The moon
does not continue in the earth's umbra
longer than three hours and three quar-
ters in any eclipse, neither is she totally
eclipsed for a longer period than one hour
and three quarters. As the moon is ac-
tually deprived of her light during an
eclipse, every inhabitant upon the face of
the earth, who sees the moon, sees the
eclipse. An eclipse of the sun, as we
have said, happens when the moon, pass-
ing between the sun and the earth, inter-
cepts the sun's light; and the sun can on-
ly be eclipsed at the new moon, or when
the moon, at its conjunction, is in or near
one of its nodes. For, unless the moon
is in or near one of its nodes, it cannot
appear in or near the same plane with
the sun; withour which it cannot appear
to us to pass over the disc of the sun.
At every other part of its orbit, it will
have so much northern or southern lati-
tude, as to appear above or below the sun.
If the moon be in one of its nodes, having
no altitude, it will cover the whole disc
of the sun, and produce a total eclipse,
except when its apparent diameter is less
than that of the sun; if it be near one of
its nodes, having a small degree of latitude,
it will only pass over a part of the sun's
disc, or produce a partial eclipse. In a
total eclipse of the sun, the shadow or
umbra of the moon falls upon that part of
the earth where the eclipse is seen, and a
spectator, placed in the shadow, will not
see any part of the sun, because the moon
will intercept all the rays of light coming
directly from the sun. In a partial eclipse
of the sun, a penumbra, or imperfect shad-
ow of the moon, falls upon that part of
the earth where the partial eclipse is seen.
Were the orbit of the earth and that of
the moon both in the same plane, there
would be an eclipse of the sun every new
moon, and an eclipse of the moon every
full moon. But the orbit of the moon
makes an angle of five degrees and a
quarter with the plane of the earth's orbit,
and crosses it in two points, called the
nodes. Astronomers have calculated, that
if the moon be less than 17° 21' from
either node, at the time of new moon, the
sun may be eclipsed; or if less than 11° 34
from either node, at the full moon, the
moon may be eclipsed; at all other times
there can be no eclipse, for the shadow
of the moon will fall either above or below
the earth at the time of new moon; and
the shadow of the earth will fall either
above or below the moon, at the time of
full moon. An eclipse of the sun begins
on the western side of his disc, and ends
on the eastern; and an eclipse of the
moon begins on the eastern side of her
disc, and ends on the western. The aver-
age number of eclipses in a year is four,
two of the sun, and two of the moon; and
as the sun and moon are as long below
the horizon of any particular place as they
are above it, the average number of visi-
ble eclipses in a year is two, one of the
sun and one of the moon.
sun and one of the moon. (See Astrono-
my.)
ECLIPTIC; the sun's path; the great
circle of the celestial sphere, in which the
sun appears to describe his annual course
from west to east. The Greeks observed
that eclipses of the sun and moon took
place near this circle; whence they called
it the ecliptic, from eclipses. By a little
attention, we shall see that the sun does
not always rise to the same height in the
meridian, but seems to revolve round the
earth in a spiral (see Day). We likewise
ECLIPTIC.
observe every day, at its rising and setting,
new stars in the neighborhood of the sun.
It will also be seen, that the sun is in the
equator twice a year; about March 22
and September 22. The points of the
equator, at which the sun is stationary on
these days, are at the intersection of the
equator with the ecliptic. June 21, the
sun reaches its greatest height in the
heavens; and December 21, it descends
the lowest. Because the sun appears to
turn back at these points, they are called
the tropics; and the times at which the
turning appears to commence are called
solstices (solstitia, solis stationes). At these
points, the sun has attained its greatest
distance from the equator. These four
points, the equinoctial and solstitial points,
are distant from one another a quarter of
a circle, or 90 degrees. Each of these
quadrants, or quarters of a circle, is di-
vided into 3 equal arcs of 30 degrees;
thus the whole ecliptic is divided into 12
equal arcs or signs: these receive their
names from certain constellations through
which the ecliptic passes, and which ex-
tend each 30 degrees. The constellations,
or 12 celestial signs, succeed one another
in the following order, from the vernal
equinox, reckoned towards the east:
Aries, March 20.
8 Taurus, April 20.
II Gemini, May 21.
Cancer, June 21.
Leo, July 22.
my Virgo, August 23.
Libra, September 23.
m Scorpio, October 23.
1 Sagittarius, November 22.
VS Capricornus, December 21.
Aquarius, January 19.
Pisces, February 18.
AW
The days of the month annexed show
when the sun, in its annual revolution,
enters each of the signs of the zodiac.
The 30 degrees in every sign are divided
into minutes and seconds, not reckoned
separately, but after the signs. An arc of
the ecliptic, for example, of 97° 15′ 27",
reckoned from Aries, eastward, is called
3 signs, 7° 15' 27" long, or, what is the
same thing, it terminates in 7° 15' 27" of
Cancer. In this way the longitude of the
stars is given. The ecliptic, like all cir-
cles, has two poles, which move about
the poles of the earth every 24 hours,
and in this manner describe the polar cir-
cles. What appears to be the path of the
sun, however, is, in reality, the path of
the earth. The planets and the moon
revolve in different planes; but these are
34
VOL. IV.
397

inclined at only a very small angle to the
plane of the ecliptic; hence these bodies
can be but a small distance from the
ecliptic. The plane of the ecliptic is very
important in theoretical astronomy, be-
cause the courses of all the other planets
are projected upon it, and reckoned by it.
By the obliquity of the ecliptic we under-
stand its inclination to the equator, or the
angles formed by the planes of these two
great circles. This angle is measured by
the arc of a third great circle, drawn so as
to intersect the two others perpendicularly,
in the points at which they are farthest
apart. These points of intersection are
90 degrees distant from those points at
which the equator and ecliptic intersect
each other, i. e. the solstitial points. The
ancients endeavored to measure the obli-
quity of the ecliptic. According to Pliny,
it was first determined by Anaximander;
according to Gassendi, it had been ascer-
tained by Thales. The most celebrated
measurement of this obliquity in ancient
times was made by Pytheas, at Marseilles.
He found it, 350 B. C., to be 23° 49′ 23″
A hundred years later, according to Ptol-
emy, Eratosthenes found it to be 23° 51
20". Various measurements have subse-
quently taken place, even down to our
own time; and it is remarkable that al-
most every measurement makes the angle
less than those which preceded it. Among
the modern estimates are that of Cassini,
23° 28′ 35″; of La Caille, 23° 28' 19"; of
Bradley, 23° 28' 18"; and of Mayer, 23°
28' 16: the observations of Delambre,
Maskelyne, Piazzi, Bessel and others, give
this important astronomical element, for
the year 1800, at 23° 27′ 56″. In respect to
the decrease of the inclination of the eclip-
tic, the most celebrated astronomers of our
time, as Lalande, adopted the opinion that
this decrease continues uninterruptedly.
Louville determined the annual decrease
to be 1', La Caille 44", and Lalande 33".
Several philosophers of modern times
concluded, from these observations, that
the equator and the ecliptic were formerly
in the same plane; that the shock of a
comet, or some mighty revolution on the
earth, gave the axis of our planet this in-
clination, and that, for thousands of years,
the axis has been returning to its orig-
inal position, which it will reach after
190,000 years. Laplace, on the contrary,
in his Mécanique Céleste, showed that this
will never take place, but that the de-
crease of the angle between the planes of
the equator and the ecliptic depends
merely upon a periodical effect, arising
from the action of the other planets; that,
308
ECLIPTIC-EDDA.

after a certain time, it will increase again,
and that the limits of variation are narrow
and fixed. A very long space of time
will be required to make satisfactory ob-
servations respecting this fact. The in-
clination of the ecliptic, or, which is the
same thing, the inclination of the axis of
the earth towards the ecliptic, is subject to
another change, which makes it increase
and decrease alternately for nine years,
during which time the greatest difference
amounts to 18": of this more is said under
the article Nutation of the Earth's Axis.
(See Astronomy, Degree, Equinoctial, Day
&c.)
ECLOGUE, in poetry; a select piece, of
any sort; in general, select poems, or
several poems of the same form; thus
the satires of Horace were called eclogues.
Since Virgil's Bucolics received this name
(from grammarians, probably, and not from
the poet), the term eclogues has usually
been applied to what Theocritus called
idyls, short, highly finished poems, prin-
cipally of a pastoral nature. (See Idyl.)
ECONOMY, POLITICAL. (See Political
Economy.)
EDAM; a town of North Holland, near
the Zuyder-Zee; 12 miles north of Am-
sterdam; lon. 5° 3 E.; lat. 52° 31' N.;
population, 2745. It is built in a trian-
gular form, and has a good port, formed
by the river Ey, on which it stands, and
which, with the dam thrown up against
the inundations of that river, gives its
name to the town. This place is chiefly
noted for its trade in cheese: in 1801, not
less than 6,660,631 pounds of Dutch
cheese were weighed here. The two
great divisions of Dutch cheese are sweet
milk and curds. The latter is also called
komyne (cummin) cheese, also kastert. The
Edam cheese is all sweet milk cheese,
which is again divided, according to its
rind, into red and white. Its mean price
is from 20 to 25 guilders for 100 pounds.
A large quantity goes to England. The
whole annual production of cheese in
Holland is estimated at 30 millions of
pounds.
EDDA; two collections of ancient Ice-
andic poems, which, as they came from
he Norwegians (Normans), who emi-
grated to Iceland, are of German origin.
They are the chief source of the mytholo-
gy of the gods and heroes of the north of
Europe. The first of these collections,
called the Older or Samundic Edda, is said
to have been prepared by Samund Sigfus-
son, a learned Icelandish clergyman, and
Are Frode, the oldest historian of the
north, who lived from 1056 to 1133, and
studied at Paris. Sigfusson's life has been
written by Arne Magnæus, and is annex-
ed to the first part of the Edda. But
this statement of its origin, as well as its
claim to the general name Edda, has been
denied. It consists of a number of the
poems of the Scalds and the most ancient
traditionary songs; hence the name of Old
Edda (mother of poetry). This Edda was
formerly concealed and forgotten in Ice-
land for 400 years. A part of it seems to
be lost for ever. In 1643, the best copy
extant of these old poems, written on
parchment, was found and rescued from
decay by bishop Brynjolf Svensen. The
Edda has since been considerably studied,
and the following portions have been pub-
lished:-Begthamgsnida, Voluspa (proph-
ecies), Havamaal (elevated conversation),
and Runa Capitule, or the Runic chapter
(in which Odin boasts of his power in
magic songs). From these poems, then
complete, and other songs, the prose ex-
tracts were formed, perhaps 120 years
later, called the Younger Edda, ascribed to
Snorro Sturleson, lagmann of Iceland, and
sewer of king Haco, about A. D. 1200.
This extract forms a kind of system and
cyclus of those songs, and is to be consid-
ered as a religious system (of course, no
longer believed at the time when it was
compiled), and, as a compend of the old
Norse poetry, showing the versification
and grammatical structure of the lan-
guage. It is of much importance, too,
on account of the numerous hiatuses in
the ancient songs of the country, of which
it often gives passages. The work was
afterwards still more extended and re-
modeled. It consists of three parts, of
which the first is dogmatical; the second,
narrative; and the third, entitled Scalda,
contains an alphabetical index of the po-
etical idioms which are found in the pre-
ceding parts. The Icelandic text of this
Edda, with numerous, but very erroneous
translations, was published by Resenius,
Copenhagen, 1665, 4to.: hence it is also
called the Resenian Edda. A better
edition was published by Rask, Stock-
holm, 1818. Nyerup published a Danish
translation (Copenhagen, 1808), and has
done much for the general elucidation of
the Edda. There is a German transla-
tion by Bühs (Berlin, 1812). The first
part of the Older or Samundic Edda was
printed in the original text, 1787, by the
Magnæan institute, animated by the zeal
of Suhm, accompanied with a Latin trans-
lation and a glossary, both prepared princi-
pally by Gudemand Magnæus. The sec-
ond part was published in 1818, by the
EDDA-EDGAR.
Magnæan institute, containing the Volun-
darquida, and all the poems which form
the connexion of the Scandinavian and
German heroic era. New editions and
translations of the parts already known,
have been prepared among the Germans,
by Denis, Schimmelmann, Gräter, Herder
and Fred. Majer. Some of the sagas of
the Edda, before unprinted, have been
lately published by von der Hagen and
Grimm, in the original, and subsequently in
German. Adelung, Schlözer, and, lately,
Rühs, have doubted the genuineness and
antiquity of the Older Edda. Their op-
ponents are P. C. Müller (On the Genu-
ineness of the Doctrine Asa, and the Val-
ue of the Edda of Snorro, Copenhagen,
1811, and On the Origin and Decline of
Icelandic Historiography, with an Appen-
dix on the nationality of the old Norse
Poems, Copenhagen, 1815), von der Ha-
gen, the brothers Grimm, Docen, and oth-
ers; and truth seems to be on their side.
For not only the inherent verisimilitude
and peculiar developement of the doctrine
of the Edda, but various historical traces,
vouch for its antiquity and genuineness.
On the connexion of the German Nebelun-
genlied and the Heldenbuch (the Book of
Heroes) with the Edda, interesting investi-
gations have been instituted by the authors
last named.
EDDYSTONE ROCKS; well known to sea-
men who navigate the English channel,
consisting of three principal ridges, and ex-
tending 600 to 700 feet in length. They
lie nearly in the fair way from the Start
to the Lizard, and are therefore an object
of the utmost importance to mariners.
Hence it is, that on the summit of the
largest rock a light-house has been erect-
ed, to serve as a beacon or signal to avoid
the danger, as they are covered at the
flood tide, but become dry at the ebb.
The foundation of the light-house is one
entire solid mass of stones to the height
of 35 feet, engrafted into each other, and
united by every means of additional
strength. It is about 80 feet in height;
15 S. S. W. Plymouth, 45 E. Lizard point;
lon. 4° 15' W., lat. 50° 11' N. The swell
at these rocks is tremendous. After a
storm, when the sea is to all appearance
quite smooth, and its surface unruffled by
the slightest breeze, the ground-swell or
under-current meeting the slope of the
rocks, the sea often rises above the light-
house in a magnificent manner, overtop-
ping it as with a canopy of foam. Henry
Winstanley, in 1696, built the first light-
nouse, but, in 1703, perished in it, having
100 much confidence in his building's
399

standing any storm. Another light-house
stood from 1709 till 1755. The third was
begun in 1757, by the late Mr. John
Smeaton, and finished in 1759. It has
withstood all the rage of the weather.
The structure of the edifice of Mr. Smea-
ton is highly interesting. In the beginning
of 1830, the upper structure had become
so racked, that it was deemed necessary
to rebuild it, and the lighthouse is to be
relit in the autumn of 1830.
EDELINCK, Gerard, born at Antwerp,
1649, was a painter, and one of the most
distinguished of engravers. He learned the
elements of his art in his native city, but
fully developed his talents in France.
Louis XIV attached the artist to his ser-
vice by marks of favor. He was com-
missioned to engrave, on copper, the Holy
Family of Raphael, and Alexander's Visit
to the Family of Darius, by Lebrun. He
executed, likewise, the Battle of the Four
Cavaliers, after Leonardo da Vinci. In his
great works from historical pictures, his
choice is often to be regretted. Many
paintings first obtained celebrity by his
masterly engravings. Edelinck was no
less happy in his portraits, and left a
great number, of the most distinguished
persons of his age. Many of them are
found in Perrault's collection of famous
men. A peculiarly chaste and brilliant
burin, a noble style, correct and easy
drawing, truth and inimitable harmony
of execution, have raised the works of this
artist above any others of his nation. Ed-
elinck was engraver to the king, and coun-
sellor of the royal academy of painters,
when he died, in 1707, aged 66. Neither
his brother nor his son equalled him.
EDEN. (See Paradise.)
EDEN, Sir Frederic Morton, baronet; an
English diplomatist and statistical writer.
He was sent ambassador to Berlin in 1792,
and in the following year was removed to
Vienna. In March, 1794, he quitted that
court for Madrid; but, returning thither
again, he concluded, in May, 1795, a trea-
ty of alliance offensive and defensive, be-
tween England and Austria. He died at
his house in Pall-mall, Nov. 14, 1809. He
was the author of a work of considerable
research, entitled The State of the Poor,
or History of the Laboring Classes in
England; 1797, 3 vols. 4to.
EDGAR, one of the most distinguished
of the Saxon kings of England, was the
son of king Edmund. He succeeded to
the throne in 959, and managed the civil
and military affairs of his kingdom with
great vigor and success. He maintained
a body of troops to control the mutinous
400
EDGAR-EDGEWORTH.

Northumbrians, and repel the incursions
of the Scots, and fitted out a powerful
navy to protect his subjects from the
Danes. By these precautions, he not only
prevented invasion from the Danes, but
secured the submission of the independent
provinces of Wales and Ireland, and the
surrounding islands. During the reign
of Edgar, wolves were nearly extirpated
from the southern parts of the island, by
exchanging a tribute from Wales for pay-
ment in the heads of these animals. His
adventure and marriage with the beauti-
ful Elfrida, daughter of the earl of Devon-
shire, are well known. He died in 975,
and was succeeded by his son, Edward
the Martyr.
EDGEWORTH DE FIRMONT, Henry Es-
sex, father-confessor of Louis XVI; born
1745, in Ireland, in the village of Edge-
worthtown. His father, an Episcopalian
clergyman, adopted the Catholic faith
with his family, and went to France.
Henry studied first under the Jesuits at
Toulouse, and then at the Sorbonne in
Paris. His piety and virtue obtained him
the confidence of the princess Elizabeth,
sister of Louis XVI, who chose him for
her confessor. The revolution broke out,
and the king was thrown into prison.
Elizabeth was an angel of consolation to
her brother during his confinement, and
by her means Louis was first made ac-
quainted with the character of Firmont,
who then lived in concealment at Choisy-
le-Roi, under the name of Essex. When
the king was informed of his condemna-
tion, he requested a delay of three days,
to prepare himself to appear before his
God, and free communication with a
priest of his own choice. This was
Edgeworth. The convention assented to
the latter request, but refused the respite.
Edgeworth discharged the duties devolv-
ing on him with the deepest devotion.
He offered personally to attend the king
to the place of execution. Edgeworth
ascended the scaffold with him; the exe-
cutioner placed the king under the guillo-
tine; Edgeworth exclaimed, "Son of
saint Louis, ascend to heaven!" and the
axe fell. Edgeworth succeeded in escap-
ing from France in safety, and arrived in
England in 1796. Pitt offered him a pen-
sion in the name of the king, which he
declined. He soon after followed Louis
XVIII to Blankenburg, in Brunswick,
and thence to Mittau. As he had devoted
his life to soothe the unhappy in the true
spirit of Christian charity, he lost it in
services of benevolence. In 1807, a num-
ber of French prisoners of war were
brought to Mittau, where Edgeworth was
living with Louis XVIII. A contagious
fever made the most dreadful devastation
among them. Edgeworth, so far from
being repelled by the danger, devoted
himself to the care of the sick, and was
himself attacked by the disease, of which
he died May 21, 1807. The duchess of
Angoulême attended him in his sickness;
the royal family followed him to the
tomb, and Louis XVIII wrote his ep-
itaph.
EDGEWORTH, Maria, a distinguished fe-
male writer of the day, daughter of the
well-known ingenious Richard Lovell
Edgeworth (who died in 1817), was born
at Edgeworthtown, Ireland. The family
was originally English, and settled in Ire-
land in the reign of queen Elizabeth.
Her mother (died 1772) was the first of
four wives of Mr. Edgeworth: he had
married her in Scotland, while he was yet
a student in the university of Oxford. Of
this wife he speaks with little affection or
respect, in his account of himself (Me-
moirs of R. L. Edgeworth, continued by
his daughter Maria, London, 1821); nor
does miss Edgeworth herself pay her a
passing tribute of filial love when her
death is mentioned. Maria, who was the
favorite daughter of her father, must have
been educated, principally, under the in-
fluences of his second and third wives,
sisters, by the name of Sneyd, who were
accomplished and amiable women.-In
1798, miss Edgeworth made her first ap-
pearance as an author in the Treatise on
Practical Education, written in conjunc-
tion with her father. Her numerous nov-
els, tales and essays, have been chiefly
directed to the improvement of early ed-
ucation. Children are not less delighted
than instructed with her Moral Tales,
Popular Tales, Parents' Assistant, Early
Lessons, &c., which convey important
moral and prudential instruction in a sim-
ple, clear and attractive form, and, at the
same time, furnish many valuable lessons
to parents and instructers in regard to the
best methods of influencing the feelings,
awakening the curiosity, and forming the
minds and hearts of the young. In her
other works, she does not lose sight of a
moral application: her Patronage, Belin-
da, Absentees, Tales of Fashionable Life,
&c., are intended to correct some fashiona-
ble folly, some national defect, or some
mental or moral deformity. Miss Edge-
worth possesses a cultivated mind, familiar
with the literary riches of her own country,
and not a stranger to the productions of oth-
er nations: the French critics bear testimo-
EDGEWORTH-EDINBURGH.
ny to her acquaintance with the manners
and literature of France, and many of her
works have been translated and well re-
ceived in that country. Her writings dis-
play a great knowledge of life and of the
human heart, a happy talent of conceiv-
ing situations and incidents, and of de-
scribing manners and characters. With-
out possessing great brilliancy of imagina-
tion, or any extraordinary reach of mind,
she unites a manly judgment with a fe-
male tact, and affords a pleasing example
of what Locke calls a round about com-
mon sense. Her works have enjoyed an
extensive popularity in Europe, and have
been often republished in the U. States.
EDGEWORTH, Richard Lovell, a gentle-
man distinguished for the versatility of his
talents, was born in 1744, at Bath, of
a family possessed of landed property at
Edgeworthtown, in the south of Ire-
land. He received his education at Trin-
ity college, Dublin, and Corpus Christi,
Oxford, after which he entered at the
Temple, but not probably with any serious
intention of adopting the law as a profes-
sion. Mechanics and general literature
chiefly attracted his attention. He formed
an acquaintance with doctor Erasmus
Darwin, Mr. Thomas Day, and other men
of congenial pursuits, to whose researches,
as well as his own, what may be termed
practical philosophy is not a little indebt-
ed. In 1767, he contrived a telegraph,
with regard to which, however, he had
not the merit of having started the origin-
al idea, neither did he bring it into general
use. After residing some years in Eng-
land, he went to France, where he was
engaged in the direction of some works
on the Rhone at Lyons. In the latter
part of his life, he resided much on his
own estate, occupying himself with plans
for constructing rail-roads, draining bogs,
and other undertakings for the improve-
ment of agriculture, manufactures and
commerce. Much of his time, too, was
devoted to literature, and, in conjunction
with his daughter, the celebrated Ma-
ria Edgeworth (q. v.), he wrote a Treatise
on Practical Education, one on Profession-
al Education, as well as some subsidiary
works, all remarkable for the air of good
sense, and adaptation to the exigencies of
common life, which they exhibit. He died
in June, 1817. Mr. Edgeworth married
four wives, of whom two were sisters.
EDICT; a public proclamation. In an-
cient Rome, the higher officers of state,
who were elected annually, publicly de-
clared, at their entrance upon office, the
principles by which they should conduct
401

their administration. This was done par-
ticularly by the Ediles (q. v.), who super-
intended buildings and markets, and by
the pretors, as supreme judges. These
annual proclamations, by which the de-
ficiencies of the general statutes were
supplied, and the laws were adapted to the
peculiar wants of the period, gradually
acquired a certain permanency, as each
officer retained, unaltered, most of the
regulations of his predecessor (edictum tra-
latitium); and they became, in fact, the
source of the whole system of Roman law,
which, being founded on the official au-
thority of the authors, was called jus honora-
rium, and was opposed to the strictly formal
law, jus civile. The edictum prætoris, un-
der the emperor Adrian, A. D. 131, was
reduced to a regular form (edictum per-
petuum) by Salvius Julianus, and received
the sanction of legal authority, although
the pretors seem to have retained for a
long time their privilege of issuing edicts,
till all legislative power fell exclusively
into the hands of the emperor. The
form of the edict was still made use of
occasionally, although general principles
were often brought forward in the de-
cision of particular cases (decrees and re-
scripts). The name edict has since been
applied in several monarchical countries,
as a general term, to an ordinance of the
supreme authority. (See Civil Law.)
EDICT OF NANTES. (See Huguenots.)
EDILE. (See Edile.)
EDINBURGH; the metropolis of Scot-
land, about a mile and a half from the
frith of Forth, situated in the northern
part of the county of Edinburgh. The
town stands on high and uneven ground,
being built on three eminences. The cen-
tral ridge, on which the city was originally
built, is terminated abruptly on the west
by a precipitous rock, on which the castle
is placed, while to the east it gradually in-
clines to the plain, from which rise Ar
thur's seat, Salisbury crags, and the Cal
ton hill. Both sides of the central ridge.
occupied by the principal street of the
old town, extending from the castle to
Holyrood house, are covered with build-
ings closely crowded together, and de-
scending from the main street, chiefly in
narrow lanes, with little regard either to
health or cleanliness. That part of the
town built on the southern eminence is
much more spacious and pleasant in its
appearance than the centre of the city,
and contains several elegant squares. Of
these, the principal is George's square.
Here are also the Meadows, a tract of
ground intersected by walks, shaded on
34*
402
HO EDINBURGH.

both sides by rows of trees. The two
ridges on which the old town is built are
connected by a bridge, which crosses the
low street called the Cowgate, in the ra-
vine between them, at right angles; on
each side of which bridge houses are
ranged, and a spacious and nearly level
street is formed, notwithstanding the ine-
qualities of the ground. The new town
is built on the lower and northernmost of
the ridges, parallel with the old town,
with which it is connected by a bridge,
and by a mound of earth called the earthen
mound. Its streets and squares have been
constructed with great elegance and regu-
larity. St. Andrew's and Charlotte squares
are remarkable for their beauty. An ex-
tension of the city is also making on the
inclined plain on the north, and towards
the west, where some handsome streets
have lately been built; also the octagon
of Moray place, the finest in the city.
Edinburgh is connected with Leith by
a paved road. A magnificent entrance
from the east has also been formed along
the south side of the Calton hill; and on
the summit of the hill a national monu-
ment, after the model of the Parthenon at
Athens, has been begun. Other improve-
ments are at present going on with a view
of remedying the disadvantages occasion-
ed by the inequalities of the ground on
which Edinburgh is built. The scenery
around Edinburgh, owing to the abrupt
and craggy heights of the Calton hill and
Arthur's seat, which suddenly rises 800
feet from the surrounding plain, and pre-
sents the rocky heights of Salisbury crags
towards the city, is uncommonly striking;
and every thing has been done to display
these natural advantages. Around the
Calton hill several walks have lately been
made at different elevations, from which
the surrounding town and country are seen
to great advantage; a walk has also been
made on the still higher elevation of Salis-
bury crags, from which the view is grand
and imposing. Of the public works and
buildings in Edinburgh, the castle is the
most remarkable. It is situated at the
western extremity of the old town, on a
rugged rock, which rises on three sides
from a level plain to the height of 150 to
200 feet. At the opposite or eastern ex-
tremity of the old town stands the palace
and abbey of Holyrood, for several centu-
ries the residence of the monarchs of Scot-
Jand. The abbey, of which only the walls
remain, was founded in the year 1128, by
David I; and in the burying-place within
are interred several of his successors. The
palace is a large quadrangular edifice of
ap-
hewn stone, with a court within, sur-
rounded by piazzas. The palace contains
a gallery 150 feet long, decorated with
imaginary portraits of the kings of Scot-
land, from the time of Fergus I. As it
now stands, it is not of high antiquity.
Its north-west towers were built by James
V, but the remaining part of it was added
during the reign of Charles II. The
pearance of the Parliament square, in the
centre of the city, has been entirely chang
ed, in consequence of two fires, which oc-
curred in 1824, and burnt down the south
and east sides of the square. On the site
of the former houses an elegant structure.
is now in progress for the accommodation
of the courts, to be connected with the
former buildings, partly old and partly
new, in which the supreme courts at pres-
ent hold their sittings. The original por-
tion of those buildings was finished in the
year 1640, and was intended for the re-
ception of the Scottish parliament. For the
reception of the advocates' library, the rich-
est collection in Scotland, consisting of
more than 70,000 printed volumes, and a
smaller one belonging to the writers to the
signet, apartments attached to the north-
west corner of the parliament house have
lately been finished. Nearly opposite to the
Parliament square stands the royal ex-
change, which was founded in the year
1753, and was formerly employed as a
custom-house. The register-office, in
which the public records of Scotland are
deposited, was founded in the year 1774,
and is distinguished for lightness, ele-
gance, and classical simplicity of design.
Of the churches, the metropolitan church,
dedicated to saint Giles, is the most an-
cient. It is built in the figure of a cross,
and forms one side of the Parliament
square. It was erected into a collegiate
church in 1466, but is said to have been
founded nearly 600 years before. From
the centre rises a square tower, surmounted
by slender arches, supporting a spire 161
feet in height, the whole exhibiting the
resemblance of an imperial crown. The
other churches are, Trinity college church,
the Old and New Grayfriars, the Tron,
the Canongate, St. Cuthbert's, Lady Yes-
ter's, St. Andrew's, St. George's, St. Ma-
ry's, and St. Vincent's, with five chapels
of ease. Besides these places of worship,
there are four for the Burghers, three for
the Antiburghers, four for the Relief, four
for the Baptists, two for the Independents,
a Gaelic chapel, and one each for the Meth-
odists, Cameronians, Bereans, Glassites,
Unitarians, Quakers, and Roman Catho-
lics, and six for the Episcopalians. The
AYTA EDINBURGH-EDINBURGH REVIEW.
university of Edinburgh has long since at-
tained general celebrity. It was founded
in the year 1582, when there was only one
professor. All the different branches of
literature, science and philosophy are now
taught in this seminary. The total num-
ber of students is about 2000. To the
university is attached a library of more
than 50,000 volumes. The high-school,
the principal grammar-school of the city,
was established in 1578. Of literary asso-
ciations, the principal is the royal socie-
ty, constituted in 1782; the royal society
of antiquaries, and the Wernerian socie-
ty; and the astronomical institution.
The Highland society was established for
advancing the interests of agriculture,
manufactures and arts, in the Highlands
of Scotland. It distributes annually about
£700 in premiums for inventions and im-
provements. There are, besides, the fac-
ulty of advocates, and the royal colleges
of physicians and surgeons. The princi-
pal charitable institution is Heriot's hos-
pital, which was endowed by George He-
riot, jeweller to James VI, for educating
and maintaining the sons of burgesses and
freemen: it was erected in 1650, at the
expense of £30,000, after a Gothic design
of Inigo Jones: it consists of a large
quadrangle, with a court in the interior;
and it is crowned with columns, turrets
and spires. There are, also, numerous
other hospitals, three charity work-houses,
an asylum for the industrious blind, a
Magdalene asylum, a house of industry,
and a society for the suppression of beg-
ging; and four dispensaries, two for af-
fording advice and medicines to the poor,
and two for curing diseases in the eye
and ear. On the summit of the Calton
hill is Nelson's monument, a circular col-
umn, 108 feet in height. There are 13
banking companies, of which the bank of
Scotland, the royal bank, and the British
linen company, are incorporated by royal
charter. The manufactures of Edinburgh
are principally adapted for the consump-
tion of its inhabitants, consisting of house-
hold furniture; travelling carriages, exe-
cuted in a style of superior elegance; of
engraving in all its branches, musical in-
struments, &c.: there are also manufac-
tures of glass and marble, in which equal
taste and skill are displayed; and between
300 and 400 weavers are employed in
the working of linen, silks, sarsnets, and
fine shawls. There are also brass and
iron manufactures and distilleries of spir-
its in the neighborhood; and Edinburgh
has been long noted for its excellent ale.
The trades of bookselling and printing are
403

carried on to a great extent; and various
periodical and other works are published
here, which have deservedly attained ex-
tensive celebrity. Among these may be
mentioned the Edinburgh Review (see the
next article) and Blackwood's Magazine.
There are two newspapers published
three times a week, three twice a week,
and four once a week. The places of
public amusement are the theatre, the
pantheon, and the assembly-rooms. A
gas-light company has been established.
Edinburgh is a royal burgh, and its coun-
cil sends one member to parliament.-
The origin of Edinburgh is lost in remote
antiquity. About the year 854, according
to the accounts of the earlier historians,
Edinburgh was a town of some note. In
1215, a parliament was assembled here
for the first time. In 1437, the kings of
Scotland usually resided in it, and held
regular parliaments; and about the year
1456, it was considered the metropolis of
Scotland. Population of the city and sub-
urbs, including Leith, 138,235; 42 miles
E. Glasgow, and 396 N. N. W. London;
lon. 3° 12′ W., lat. 55° 58′ N. A History
of the University of Edinburgh, 2 vols.
8vo., was published, in 1830, by Bower,
Edinburgh and London.
EDINBURGH REVIEW (The Quarterly).
This celebrated journal was established in
1802, at a time when the periodical litera-
ture of the United Kingdom consisted of
works conducted with inferior talent, and
occupying narrow grounds. Its success
was immediate and very great. Discuss-
ing all the great subjects of literature,
science, philosophy and politics with free-
dom, boldness, spirit, varied learning, acute
reasoning, elegant criticism, a piquant
satire, and profound and original views,
in politics it has supported the principles
of the Fox whigs; in religion, it is more
than suspected of a sceptical leaning. It
is said to have originated in the social stud-
ies of a number of young men in Edin-
burgh, who were accustomed to meet oc-
casionally to discuss questions in every
branch of science and philosophy. It
was edited, during the first year, by the
reverend Sydney Smith, after whom Mr.
Jeffrey, then a young Scotch advocate of
more talents and leisure than practice in
his profession, is well known to have been
the editor, and one of the most fruitful
contributors during the long time which
he conducted it. His articles relate prin-
cipally to the belles-lettres. Among the
principal writers are to be found the
distinguished names of Playfair, Leslie,
Mackintosh, Brougham, Dugald Stewart,
404
EDINBURGH REVIEW-EDWARD THE MARTYR.

doctor Brown, besides Macculloch (on po-
litical economy and Ireland), Williams (the
advocate), Macaulay, &c. Doctor Brown
was the author of the article on Kant (No.
2), but owing to some liberties taken with a
paper intended for the 4th number, he dis-
continued his contributions. Playfair wrote
the articles relating to Laplace, &c. Sir J.
Mackintosh is the author of numerous
literary, historical, and political articles,
which display the liberal and generous
principles, the extensive views and the
varied learning of a statesman and scholar.
Mr. Brougham, however, is, perhaps, the
Coryphaeus of the Edinburgh Review: he
is present every where, possessing a sort
of mental ubiquity, in parliament, at the
bar, in the popular assemblies; leading in
legislation, literature, politics, science; de-
livering lessons of wisdom and taste in the
pages of the Review, and diffusing the
lights of education and useful knowledge
among the laboring classes, by means of
the society formed for that purpose, of
which he is at the head. The great influ-
ence of the Edinburgh Review in the
hands of the whigs led to the establish-
ment of a tory periodical, as a counter-
poise. The London Quarterly Review
was established in 1809, under the direc-
tion of Gifford. Blackwood's Magazine,
a work of a smaller calibre, edited first by
Lockhart (now editor of the Quarterly),
and afterwards by Wilson, owed its ex-
istence to the same cause. The multi-
plication of quarterly and other periodi-
cals has coöperated with the diminution
of intellectual power in the Edinburgh it-
self, in depriving it of its former undisput-
ed supremacy. The editorship has late-
ly passed into the hands of Mr. Napier.
The Edinburgh Review had, at one time,
12,000 subscribers. This Review, and also
the London Quarterly, are republished, and
circulate extensively, in the U. States.
EDMUND I, king of England, an able
and spirited prince, son of Edward the
Elder, succeeded his brother Athelstan in
941. He conquered Cumberland, which
he bestowed on Malcolm, king of Scotland,
on condition of homage. He was stabbed
at a banquet by Leolf, an outlaw, who
entered among the guests, and provoked
the king to a personal attack upon him.
Edmund immediately expired of the
wound, in the sixth year of his reign. d
EDMUND II, surnamed Ironside, king of
England, was the eldest son of Ethelred
II. On the death of the latter, in 1016, he
was obliged to take the field against Ca-
nute, by whom he was defeated at Assing-
den, in Essex, in consequence of the d- fec-
tion of Edric, duke of Mercia. A com-
promise was then effected, by which the
midland and northern counties were as-
signed to Canute, and the southern to
Edmund. He was soon after murdered
at Oxford, at the instigation of the traitor
Edric. This event made Canute master
of the entire kingdom; but the line of
Edmund was again partially restored by
the marriage of his great grand-daughter,
Matilda, to Henry I.
EDRED, king of England, son of Ed
ward the Elder, succeeded to the throne on
the murder of his brother, Edmund I (947).
He quelled a rebellion of the Northumbri-
an Danes, and compelled Malcolm, king
of Scotland, to renew his homage for his
English possessions. Although active and
warlike, he was extremely superstitious,
and subservient to the celebrated Dunstan,
abbot of Glastonbury. Edred died after a
reign of nine years, and left the crown to
his nephew, Edwy.
EDRIDGE, Henry, ARA., FSA.; a land-
scape and miniature painter of eminence,
born at Paddington, in 1768. His earlier
portraits are principally drawn on paper,
with black lead and Indian ink. It was in
later years only that he made those elabo-
rate and high-finished pictures, uniting the
depth and richness of oil-painting with the
freedom and freshness of water-colors, of
which there are so many specimens in
England. He died in 1821.
EDWARD the Elder, king of England,
son of Alfred the Great, whom he suc-
ceeded in 901. Ethelwald, the son of his
father's elder brother, claimed the crown;
but this insurrection ended with the death
of Ethelwald in battle. The reign of Ed-
ward was further distinguished by suc-
cesses over the Anglicised and foreign
Danes. He fortified many inland towns,
acquired dominion over Northumbria and
East Anglia, and subdued several of the
Welsh tribes. He died, after a reign of
twenty-four years, in 925.
EDWARD, surnamed the Martyr, king of
England, son of Edgar, succeeded his
father, at the age of fifteen, in 975. His
step-mother, Elfrida, wished to raise her
own son, Ethelred, to the throne, but
was opposed by Dunstan, through whose
exertions Edward was peaceably crown-
ed. His short reign was chiefly distin-
guished by the disputes, between Dun-
stan and the foreign monks on one side,
and the secular clergy on the other.
The young king paid little attention to
any thing but the chase, which led to his
unhappy death. Hunting one day in Dor-
setshire, he was separated from his at-
EDWARD THE MARTYR-EDWARD I.
tendants, and repaired to Corfe castle,
where Elfrida resided. After paying his
respects to her, he requested a glass of
liquor, and, as he was drinking it on horse-
back, one of Elfrida's servants gave him a
deep stab behind. He immediately set
spurs to his horse, but, fainting from loss
of blood, he was dragged in the stirrup
until he died. The pity caused by his
innocence and misfortune induced the
people to regard him as a martyr. He
had reigned four years.
EDWARD, surnamed the Confessor,
younger son of Ethelred II. On the death
of his maternal brother, Hardicanute the
Dane, in 1041, he was called to the throne,
and thus renewed the Saxon line. He
was not the immediate heir, as his brother,
Edmund Ironside, had left sons; but, as
he received the support of Godwin, earl
of Kent, on condition of marrying his
daughter, Editha, his claim was establish-
ed. Edward was a weak and supersti-
tious, but well-intentioned prince, who
acquired the love of his subjects by his
monkish sanctity, and care in the adminis-
tration of justice. He gained the title of
saint and confessor by abstaining from
nuptial connexion with his queen. Hav-
ing been educated in Normandy, he intro-
duced so many natives of that country to
his court, that the French language and
manners became prevalent in England, to
the great disgust of earl Godwin and his
sons. A rebellion took place, and Edward
was forced to dismiss his foreign favorites.
Perceiving that the youth and weakness
of his son, Edgar Atheling, would not se-
cure the succession against the power and
ability of Harold, the son of Godwin, he
turned his eyes upon his kinsman, Will-
iam of Normandy, in whose favor it has
been asserted, with little probability, that
he executed a will. He died in 1066,
leaving the point of the succession unde-
termined; and with him ended the Saxon
line of kings. Edward was the first Eng-
lish monarch who touched for the king's
evil. He caused a body of laws to be
compiled from those of Ethelbert, Ina and
Alfred, to which the nation was long
fondly attached.
EDWARD I (of the Norman line), king
of England, son of Henry III, was born
at Winchester in 1239. The contests be-
tween his father and the barons called him
early into active life, and he finally quelled
all resistance to the royal authority, by
the decisive defeat of Leicester, at the bat-
tle of Evesham, in 1265. He then pro-
ceeded to Palestine, where he signalized
Lis valor on many occasions, and inspired
405

so much terror, that an assassin was em-
ployed to despatch him, from whom he
received a wound in the arm, which, as
tradition reports, being supposed to be
from a poisoned weapon, was sucked by
his faithful consort, Eleanor of Castile.
On assuming the government, he acted
with great vigor in the repression of the
lawlessness of the nobles, and the corrup-
tion in the administration of justice; but
often evinced an arbitrary and grasping
disposition. In 1276, he summoned Lle-
wellyn, prince of Wales, to do him homage,
and, upon his refusal, except on certain
conditions, commenced the war which
ended in the annexation of that princi-
pality to the English crown in 1283. Ed-
ward then spent some time abroad, in
mediating a peace between the crowns of
France and Arragon, and, on his return,
commenced his attempt to destroy the in-
dependence of Scotland. The expense
attendant upon this strong, but unprinci-
pled policy, was such that Edward was
necessitated to use every expedient to
raise supplies; and, for this purpose, in
the twenty-third year of his reign, he sum-
moned to parliament representatives from
all the boroughs in the kingdom: this is
therefore considered by some authors the
true epoch of the formation of a house of
commons in England. After his return
from the Scottish expedition in 1296,
which terminated in the capture of Baliol,
he became involved in a quarrel with his
clergy, who, supported by the pope, re-
fused to submit to a tax which he had im-
posed on them. Edward forced their
compliance, by placing them out of the
protection of the law. His frequent ex-
pedients to raise money at length pro-
duced great discontent among the nobles,
and people also, which obliged him to
confirm the great charter, and charter of
forests, and also to give other securities in
favor of public liberty. He then made a
campaign in Flanders against France,
which terminated with the recovery of
Guienne, and his second marriage with
Margaret, the sister of king Philip. Mean-
time new commotions took place in Scot
land, under the guidance of the celebrated
William Wallace. These transactions
recalled Edward from Flanders, who
hastened to the borders with an army of
100,000 men. The events of this inter-
esting campaign cannot be detailed here;
but the ignominious execution of the
brave Wallace, in 1303, as a traitor, forms
a blot in the character of Edward. Nei-
ther did it avail; since Robert Bruce was
able, in 1306, to place himself at the head

406
NATO EDWARD 1-EDWARD III.W S
of a new confederacy. Highly indignant
at this determined spirit of resistance, Ed-
ward vowed revenge against the whole
Scottish nation, and, assembling another
army, was on the point of passing the bor-
der, when he was arrested by sickness,
and died at Burgh-upon-Sands, near Car-
lisle, July 7, 1307, in the sixty-ninth
year of his age, and thirty-ninth of his
reign. Few princes have exhibited more
vigor in action, or policy in council, than
Edward I. His enterprises were directed
to permanent advantages, rather than to
mere personal ambition and temporary
splendor. Nor was he less intent upon
the internal improvement of his kingdom
than its external importance. The laws
of the realm obtained so much additional
order and precision during his reign, that
he has been called the English Justinian.
He passed an act of mortmain, protected
and encouraged commerce; and in his
reign first originated the society of mer-
chant adventurers. The manners of this
able sovereign were courteous, and his per-
son majestic, although the disproportion-
ate length of his legs gave him the popu-
lar surname of Longshanks. He left a son
and three daughters by his first wife, El-
eanor, who died in 1290, and two sons by
his second wife, Margaret of France.
EDWARD II, king of England, born at
Caernarvon castle in 1284, and the first
English prince of Wales, succeeded his
father, Edward I, in 1307. He was of an
agreeable figure and mild disposition, but
indolent and fond of pleasure. After
marching a little way into Scotland, with
the army collected by his father, he re-
turned, dismissed his troops, and aban-
doned himself entirely to amusement.
His first step was to recall Piers Gaveston,
a young Gascon, whom his father had
banished, and whom he created earl of
Cornwall, and married to his niece. He
then went over to France to espouse the
princess Isabella, to whom he had been
contracted by his father. Soon after his
return, the barons associated against the
favorite, Gaveston, whom they more than
once obliged the king to send away. He
was, however, as constantly recalled when
the immediate danger was over, until an
open rebellion took place; and, the person
of Gayeston being captured, he was exe-
cuted as a public enemy. In 1314, Ed-
ward assembled an immense army, to
check the progress of Robert Bruce, but
was completely defeated at Bannockburn.
After the death of Gaveston, he selected
a similar minion in the person of Hugh
Spenser, a young nobleman whose father
was living, upon whom he lavished favors
of every kind, until the barons again re-
belled, and, the parliament dooming the
Spensers to exile, the king was obliged to
confirm the sentence. Edward, however,
on this occasion, in concert with the Spen-
sers, contrived to raise troops and attack
the barons, at the head of whom was his
cousin, the earl of Lancaster, who, being
taken prisoner, was executed at Pomfret.
Several others also suffered, and the
Spensers were enriched with the spoils.
Edward subsequently made another fruit-
less attempt against Scotland, which end-
ed in the conclusion of a truce of thirteen
years. In 1324, queen Isabella went to
France to settle some disputes in relation
to Guienne, and, while there, entered into
a correspondence with several English
fugitives, in whose hatred to the Spensers
she participated. Among these was Roger
Mortimer, a young baron of the Welsh
marches, between whom and Isabella a
criminal intercourse succeeded, in conse-
quence of which the queen was still more
determined upon the ruin of her weak and
unhappy husband. Having formed an
association with all the English malcon-
tents, and being aided with a force by
the count of Hainault, she embarked for
England in September, 1326, and landed
in Suffolk. Her forces seized the Tower
of London and other fortresses, captured
and executed both the Spensers without
trial, and at length took the king prisoner,
who had concealed himself in Wales, with
a view of escaping to Ireland. The un-
fortunate Edward was confined in Kenil-
worth castle, and in January, 1327, his
deposition was unanimously voted in par-
liament, on the ground of incapacity and
misgovernment. A resignation of the
crown was soon after extorted from him,
and he was transferred to Berkeley castle,
where Mortimer despatched two ruffians,
who, it is said, murdered him, by thrusting
a red-hot iron into his bowels, that no ex-
ternal marks of violence might remain,
21st of Sept., 1327, in the twentieth
of his reign and forty-third of his age.
year
EDWARD III, son of Edward II, by Isa-
bella of France, was born in 1313. On
his father's deposition in 1327, he was
proclaimed king, under a council of re-
gency, while his mother's paramour, Mor-
timer, really possessed the principal power
in the state. The pride and oppression of
Mortimer now became so intolerable, that
a general confederacy was formed against
him, at the head of which was the young
king himself, who, now in his eighteent!
year, could ill brook the ascendency of
EDWARD III.
nis mother's minion. The result was the
seizure of Mortimer, in the castle of Not-
tingham, where he lodged with the queen,
and his immediate execution upon a gib-
bet. The queen was also confined to her
house, with a reduced allowance, and, al-
though treated with outward respect, nev-
er again recovered any degree of authori-
ty. Edward now turned his attention to
Scotland. Assisted by some principal
English nobles, who enjoyed estates in
that country, which were withheld from
them contrary to the terms of the late
treaty, Edward Baliol, son of the John Bali-
ol to whom the crown had been awarded
by Edward I, raised a force, and, defeating
the Scots in a great battle, set aside David
Bruce, then a minor, and was crowned at
Scone, in 1332. Baliol, being driven
away on the departure of his English aux-
iliaries, applied to Edward, who levied a
well-appointed army, with which he de-
feated the regent, Douglas, at the famous
battle of Halidown-hill, in July, 1333.
This victory produced the restoration of
Baliol, who was, however, again expelled,
and again restored, until the ambition of
Edward was called off by a still more
splendid object. The crown of France,
by the Salique law, having devolved to
Philip de Valois, cousin-german to the de-
ceased king, Charles the Fair, Edward
was induced to claim it in right of his
mother, that monarch's sister. There ex-
isted other claims that were superior; but
these considerations weighed very little
with a young, ambitious monarch, eager
for conquest and glory. The first hostil-
ities produced nothing of much moment.
Edward, in order to obtain fresh supplies,
made concessions to parliament which he
never intended to keep; and, finding his
territory of Guienne threatened, he sent
over a force for its defence, and quickly
followed himself, accompanied by his son
Edward, the famous black prince, all his
chief nobility, and 30,000 men. The
memorable battle of Crecy followed, Aug.
25, 1346, which was succeeded by the
siege of Calais. In the mean time, David
Bruce, having recovered the throne of
Scotland, made an incursion, at the head
of a large army, into England; but, being
met at Durham by a much inferior force,
raised by queen Philippa, and headed by
lord Percy, he was totally defeated and
taken prisoner, with many of his principal
nobles. Philippa went over to her hus-
band at Calais, and, by her interference,
prevented the barbarous execution of Eu-
stache de St. Pierre and five other citizens,
whom Edward, on the capitulation of the
407
place, had determined to execute, in re-
venge for his long detention in the siege.
In 1348, a truce was concluded with
France. The year 1349 was distinguished
by the institution of the order of the gar-
ter; which, owing to the fame and chiv-
alrous character of Edward and his eldest
son, soon became one of the most illus-
trious orders of knighthood in Europe.
Philip, king of France, dying in 1350, was
succeeded by his son John, the com-
mencement of whose reign abounded with
intestine commotion, and, in 1355, Ed-
ward again invaded France on the side
of Calais, while the black prince, at the
same time, led a large army from Gasco-
ny. Both these expeditions were attend-
ed with much plunder and devastation;
and Edward, being recalled home by a
Scottish inroad, soon repelled it, and retal-
iated by carrying fire and sword from
Berwick to Edinburgh. During this time,
the prince of Wales had penetrated from
Guienne to the heart of France, where
he was opposed by king John, at the head
of an army nearly five times more nu-
merous. The famous battle of Poictiers
ensued, in which the French monarch
being taken prisoner, Edward held at the
same time in captivity the kings of France
and Scotland, the most dangerous of his
enemies. John was taken to England,
and treated with the greatest respect; and
David was soon after liberated upon ran-
som. A truce had been made with
France after the battle of Poictiers, at the
expiration of which, in 1359, Edward
once more passed over to Calais with a
large army, and desolated the provinces
of Picardy and Champagne, but at length
consented to a peace, which was con-
cluded in May, 1360. Besides the stipu-
lation of a large ransom for king John,
several provinces and districts in the south-
west of France and neighborhood of Cal-
ais were yielded to Edward, who, in his
turn resigned his title to the crown of
France and duchy of Normandy. The
successor of John, Charles V, invaded the
provinces intrusted to prince Edward, then
in the last stage of declining health, and Ed-
ward had the mortification of witnessing
the gradual loss of all his French posses-
sions, except Bordeaux and Bayonne, and
of all his conquests except Calais. In the
decline of life, he was in other respects
unfortunate: becoming a widower, he fell
into a species of dotage; and an artful mis-
tress, named Alice Piers, so abused her
influence, that, on a parliamentary remon-g
strance, he found it necessary to dismiss the
her. His administration also became un-
409

408
EDWARD III-EDWARD IV.

popular; and he had the affliction of wit-
nessing his heroic son, Edward, sink a
victim to a lingering illness; which calam-
ity he survived about a year, dying June
21, 1377, in the sixty-fifth year of his age,
and fifty-first of his reign.
EDWARD, prince of Wales, surnamed
the Black Prince; one of the most chival-
ric and heroic characters of history, the
eldest son of Edward III and Philippa of
Hainault. He was born in 1330, and at
the age of fifteen accompanied his father
in his invasion of France, and received
from him the honor of knighthood. The
victory of Crecy, which king Edward left
principally to the exertions of the force
under his son's command, to use that war-
like king's language, "showed that he
merited his spurs." It was on this occa-
sion that he assumed the motto of Ich
dien (I serve), used by all succeeding prin-
ces of Wales, and derived, it is said, from
the crest of the king of Bohemia, slain in
that battle, which tradition, however, later
antiquaries seem disposed to discredit.
In 1355, he commanded the army which
invaded France from Gascony, and the
next year fought the great battle of Poic-
tiers (see Edward III), and distinguished
himself by the courtesy with which he
treated his prisoner, king John. By the
peace of Bretagne, his father had obtained
the provinces of Poictou, Saintonge, Peri-
geux, Limousin, &c., which he annexed to
Guienne, and formed into a sovereignty
for his son, under the title of the princi-
pality of Aquitain. There the prince took
up his residence; and at his court Pedro
the Cruel sought refuge, when driven
from his throne by his natural brother,
Henry of Trastamare. Edward under-
took the reestablishment of this tyrant,
which he accomplished, but lost his health
in the enterprise. Disappointed, by the
perfidy of Pedro, of the stipulated reim-
bursements, the taxes he was obliged to
levy on his new subjects rendered his
government unpopular; and an appeal
was made to the king of France, as his
liege lord, who summoned him as his vas-
sal to appear at Paris. "I will come,"
replied the angry prince, "but it shall be
at the head of 60,000 men." His health,
however, was too far declined to enable
him to take the field, when the king of
France invaded his dominions; and, hav-
ing suffered the mortification of seeing his
generals defeated, he withdrew into Eng-
land, and after lingering some time, died,
June 8, 1376, in his forty-sixth year, leaving
an only son, afterwards Richard II.
EDWARD IV, king of England, was born
in 1441. His father, Richard, duke of
York, was grandson of Edward, earl of
Cambridge and duke of York, fourth son
of Edward III, while the Lancaster branch
descended from John of Gaunt, the third
son. The York line had intermarried
with the female descendants of Lionel,
the second son, which gave it the prefer-
able right to the crown. Edward, on the
defeat and death of his father at the battle
of Wakefield, assumed his title, and, hav-
ing entered London, was declared king
by acclamation in 1461. Soon after his
accession, he had to fight for his crown
against an army of 60,000 Lancastrians
assembled in Yorkshire; and the field of
Towton confirmed his title by a decisive
victory. Although the high-spirited Mar-
garet was enabled, by the aid of Louis XI
of France, again to take the field, the re-
sult of the battle of Hexham, in May, 1464,
obliged her to return to Flanders, and
leave her husband, the imbecile Henry, a
prisoner in the hands of his enemies, who
immured him in the Tower of London.
Freed from warlike cares, Edward indulg-
ed himself in the gallantries too common
to his age and station, and, by a marriage
of passion with Elizabeth Woodville, wid-
ow of sir John Grey of Groby, a Lancas-
trian, betrayed himself into very serious
difficulties, since, at the same time, he
had despatched the earl of Warwick to
negotiate a marriage for him with Bona
of Savoy, sister to the queen of France;
so that he at once offended two royal
houses, and his powerful friend, War-
wick. Aided by France, Warwick, who
had contracted his daughter to the Lan-
castrian prince Edward, landed with Clar-
ence and some other lords at Dartmouth;
and such was his popularity, that he
quickly saw himself at the head of 60,000
men, with whom he marched to encoun-
ter Edward. They approached each oth-
er near Nottingham, where the king, by
the treachery of the marquis of Montague,
in whom he placed great confidence, had
nearly been betrayed into the hands of his
enemies. He had just time to mount on
horseback, and with a few attendants pro-
ceed to Lynn,where he instantly embarked,
and reached a port in Holland, leaving
Warwick in full possession of his king-
dom, eleven days after he had set his foot
in it. Henry's title was again recog ised
by parliament, and Warwick and Clarence
were declared regents of the kingdom.
Edward, who at first had been received
rather coldly by his brother-in-law, the
duke of Burgundy, was at length secretly
assisted by him with a small squadron of
EDWARD IV-CHARLES EDWARD.
ships, and a force of about 2000 men, with
which he safely reached Ravenspur, in
Yorkshire. Here his forces quickly in-
ereased by partisans from all quarters, and
he was soon enabled to march to London,
where, through the influence of many rich
merchants who had advanced him money,
he obtained entrance as king, and the un-
fortunate Henry again became prisoner.
Warwick advanced against him as far as
Barnet, where, on the 14th of April, 1471,
another great battle was fought, which
ended in the death of Warwick, and a de-
cisive victory on the part of Edward. On
the same day, queen Margaret and her son
Edward landed at Weymouth, and march-
ed into Gloucestershire, where she was
met by the victorious Edward, who totally
defeated her at Tewkesbury. The queen
and her son Edward, being taken prison-
ers, and brought into the presence of the
victor, Edward asked the latter how he
dared to invade his dominions. On re-
ceiving a spirited answer, he basely struck
the captive prince on the face with his
gauntlet-the signal for immediate massa-
cre by the king's brothers and other nobles
attendant. Margaret was thrown into the
Tower, where Henry VI soon after died,
but whether by violence or by disease is
uncertain. Edward now once more re-
signed himself to pleasure and gayety,
until seized with a desire to make French
conquests. Baffled by the arts, intrigues
and money of Louis XI (which he con-
descended to accept), these attempts ended
in nothing of importance. The latter part of
his reign was disturbed by his jealousy of
his brother Clarence. The consequence of
this ill-will was the attainder of Clarence,
who was indulged in his desire of meeting
his death by immersion in a butt of Malm-
sey wine.
Edward was preparing for
another expedition against France, when
he was taken off by sickness, in April, 1483,
in the forty-second year of his age, and
twenty-third of his reign. He left two sons
and five daughters. Edward IV possessed
some ability and activity, but was,
however, more showy than solid. His
valor was stained by cruelty, and he was
less fitted to prevent evils, than, by his
courage and enterprise, to remedy them.
EDWARD V, king of England, the eldest
son of Edward IV, was in his thirteenth
year when he succeeded his father, in
1483. His uncle, the duke of Gloucester,
the regent, caused the young king and his
brother, who were lodged in the Tower,
to be smothered by ruffians. Two bodies,
answering their description, being found
buried at the foot of the stairs of their
35
VOL. IV.
409
apartment, in the reign of Charles II, were
taken up by that king's order, and depos-
ited in Westminster abbey.
EDWARD VI, king of England, son of
Henry VIII, by Jane Seymour, was born
in 1538. At his father's death, he was
only nine years of age, and, as he did not
live to attain majority, the public acts of
his reign are to be deemed those of his
counsellors. His education was intrusted
to men of the first character for learning,
among whom were sir Anthony Cooke
and sir John Cheke. The progress of the
young king, whose disposition was very
docile and amiable, was great, especially
in classical acquirements, and a rooted zeal
for the doctrines of the reformation. His
reign was, on the whole, tumultuous and
unsettled. After his father's death,, his
maternal uncle, Seymour, duke of Somer-
set, became protector; but his adminis-
tration raised up such powerful enemies,
that he was brought to the scaffold. Ed-
ward was much afflicted at the necessity
of consenting to his execution, and with
equal reluctance consented to the death
of a fanatical female, named Joan Bocher,
who was sentenced to the flames for
heresy. When Cranmer urged Edward
to sign the warrant for her execution, he'
long resisted, and at length, overcome by
his importunities, told him. that if it was
wrong, the guilt lay with him. After the
death of Somerset, Dudley, duke of North-
umberland, became all powerful, and
through his influence, Edward, in a de-
clining state of health, was induced to set
aside the succession of both his sisters,
and to settle the crown upon the lady
Jane Grey, claiming through his father's
younger sister, the duchess of Suffolk.
His decease, from a pulmonary complaint,
soon after followed, July 6, 1553, in the six-
teenth year of his age, and seventh of his
reign.
EDWARD, CHARLES, called the Pretend-
er, grandson of James II, king of England,
son of James Edward and Clementine,
daughter of prince Sobiesky, was born in
1720, at Rome, where his father enjoyed
the friendship of the popes Clement XI
and Innocent XIII. The last scion of
the royal house of Stuart, from the very
cradle he was inspired with an impulse,
that induced him, at the early age of 22, to
attempt the recovery of the throne of his
ancestors. Supported by the court of
Rome, he went to Paris in 1742, disguis-
ed as a Spanish courier, and succeeded in
gaining over to his views Louis XV
15,000 men were on the point of sailing'
from Dunkirk for England, when the




410
CHARLES EDWARD-EDWARDS.
English admiral Norris dispersed the
whole French fleet, before it had gained
the open sea. This prevented the French
court from undertaking a second expedi-
tion; all the requests of Edward were in
vain, and he now resolved to trust to his
own exertions. With borrowed money,
and seven trusty officers, he landed like a
knight-errant, June 27, 1745, on the north-
western coast of Scotland, from a ship of
18 guns. which contained arms for 1500
men. The attempt succeeded, and he
found so many adherents among the dis-
contented Scotch nobles, who went over
to his party, together with the Highland-
ers under them, that he was soon at the
head of a little army. With this he
marched forward, conquered the English
troops, which advanced to meet him from
Edinburgh, captured Perth, and caused
himself to be proclaimed regent of Eng-
land, Scotland and Ireland. He also took
Edinburgh, September 19, 1745, where he
was once more proclaimed regent, and
surrounded with his ministers and gene-
rals. France sent him support. Septem-
ber 21, 1745, he defeated at Preston Pans
an army of 4000 English. He set the
prisoners at liberty His force was now
7000 strong. With this he advanced, and
laid siege to Carlisle, November 26, which,
after three days, surrendered, and suppli-
ed him with a great number of arms. He
now caused his father to be proclaimed
king, and himself regent of England, re-
moved his head-quarters to Manchester,
and soon found himself within 100 miles
of London, where many of his friends
awaited his arrival. The rapid successes
of the adventurer made the English gov-
ernment tremble; and a part of the English
forces in Germany was recalled. Want
of support, disunion and jealousy among
the adherents of the house of Stuart, some
errors, and the superior force opposed to
him, compelled prince Edward to retire
in the beginning of 1746. The victory at
Falkirk (January 23, 1746) was his last.
As a final attempt, he risked the battle of
Culloden, against the duke of Cumber-
land, April 27 1746, in which his army
was defeated, and entirely dispersed. The
prince now wandered about for a long
time through the wilds of Scotland, often
without food, and the price of £30,000
sterling was set upon his head. He was
at last discovered by his most faithful
friend O'Neil, a Scottish nobleman: they
escaped detection by sailing, in a misera-
ble skiff, from island to island, and wan-
dering from valley to valley, pursued by
a thousand dangers; for constant search
was made for Charles in every direction
At Lochnanach, he was fortunate enough
to meet one of the French frigates, which
had been sent for his rescue. September
29, 1746, five months after the defeat of
Culloden, he sailed from Scotland, and
arrived in France, destitute of every thing.
By the interest of madame de Pompadour,
prince Edward now received an annual
pension of 200,000 livres for life; he had
also 12,000 doubloons yearly from Spain.
The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) de-
prived him of all prospect of recovering the
throne of England; and when he heard
that his own removal from France was
stipulated in the articles of peace, his an-
ger knew no bounds. It becanie neces-
sary to carry him, under a guard, to the
frontiers of Italy. He went to Rome, the
residence of his father, James III; but
his relations to the Roman court were
changed after his father's death, January
1, 1766. His often ridiculous requests in
regard to the etiquette to be observed to-
wards him, which he made under the
name of count of Albany, rendered his
presence troublesome. He went to Flor-
ence, till Pius VI recalled him to Rome, by
withdrawing his pension. That his fam-
ily might not become extinct, he married,
in the 52d year of his age, April 17, 1772,
a princess of Stolberg-Gedern. But his
violence led to a separation, in 1780. (See
Albany.) Edward now became addicted
to intoxication. He died January 31, 1788,
in the 68th year of his life. Three years
before, he sent for his natural daughter
from France, legitimated her, and declared
her, on his royal authority, his lawful
heiress, under the title of countess of Al-
bany. His body was carried to Frascati,
and entombed in a style worthy of a king.
A sceptre, crown, sword, and the escutch-
eons of England and Scotland, adorned his
coffin, and his only brother then living,
the cardinal of York, performed the fune-
ral service for "dead king Charles." The
cardinal of York received from England
an annual pension of £4000 sterling, from
the year 1799, and died at Frascati, July
13, 1807.
13, 1807. The Stuarts ruled in Scotland
400 years, and in England 85 years.
EDWARDS, Bryan, historian of the West
Indies, was born at Westbury, in Wilt-
shire, in 1743. On the death of his father,
in adverse circumstances, he acquired the
protection of his maternal uncle, a person
possessed of great property in the island
of Jamaica. He inherited not only the
large fortune of his uncle, but of a Mr.
Hume, of Jamaica, and, becoming an emi-
nent merchant, returned to England, and,



EDWARDS
EDWARDS.
1796, took his seat for the borough of
Grampound, which he represented until
his death, in July, 1800. His first publi-
cation was a pamphlet, entitled Thoughts
on the Trade of the West India Islands
with the U. States, 1784; this was fol-
owed by his Speech on the Slave Trade;
but his most distinguished performance is
his History, civil and commercial, of the
British Colonies in the West Indies, 1793,
2 vols. 4to. A new edition of this work,
published after his death, in 1801, 3 vols.
Svo., includes a History of St. Domingo.
Mr. Edwards also published; in 1796, the
Proceedings of the Governor and Assem-
bly of Jamaica, in regard to the Maroon
Negroes, 8vo. All these works are valu-
able for their information, and are written
with ease and elegance.
EDWARDS, Jonathan, the most cele-
brated of American metaphysicians and
theologians, whom Dugald Stewart de-
scribes as "indisputably the ablest cham-
pion of the scheme of necessity since the
time of Collins," was born in East
Windsor, Connecticut, October 5, 1703.
His father, a minister of the gospel, in-
structed him in the dead languages.
Jonathan entered Yale college, in New
Haven, in September 1716, where he
was distinguished for good morals, dili-
gence, and proficiency in the collegiate
studies. At fourteen, he read with pleas-
ure Locke on the Human Understanding.
His habits of application and thought, and
his delight and success in metaphysical
studies, were extraordinary. Papers, in
his hand-writing, show, that at fourteen
he conceived the design of composing a
complete Treatise on Natural Philosophy
and Natural History, including Chemistry
and Geology. His piety, his devotion to
the Bible, and his propensity for theologi-
cal inquiries, were equally remarkable.
In 1720, he took his first degree, and re-
mained nearly two years at Yale, pre-
paring for the ministry. In 1722, he
went to New York, where he preached
for about eight months, with great distinc-
tion. In September, 1723, he was elected
a tutor in Yale college, and in the follow-
ing year began to act in that capacity, but
resigned his office in 1726, in order to be-
come the minister of the people of North-
ampton, where he was ordained Febru-
ary 15, 1727.-The record of his labors as
a pastor, divine, and metaphysical writer,
is edifying in the highest degree. His
various sermons and disquisitions procur-
ed for him a wide reputation. His Trea-
tise on Religious Affections was imme-
diately republished in England and Scot-
411
land, and placed him among the first
writers of his sect. After more than three
years of zealous service in Northampton,
a total rupture occurred between him and
his congregation, owing to the candor and
boldness with which he publicly reproved
certain irregularities of some young per-
sons of the principal families connected
with his church. An ecclesiastical coun-
cil dismissed him in June, 1750; and, in
the following year, he accepted a call to
serve as a missionary among the Indians
at Stockbridge, in Massachusetts. Here
he remained six years, exerting himself
with an apostolical spirit, and, at the same
time, prosecuting the deepest investiga-
tions in mental philosophy. Here he
composed his famous works on the Free-
dom of the Will, and on Original Sin.-
The first is his masterpiece, and worthy
of the powers of a Locke or Leibnitz. It
was completed within the space of four
months and a half. The date of its first
appearance is the early part of 1754. In
1757, he was chosen president of the col-
lege at Princeton, New Jersey, and ac-
cepted this invitation, though not without
reluctance, on account, chiefly, of his de-
sire to accomplish two great literary enter-
prises, which he had begun long before-
a History of the Work of Redemption,
and a View of the Harmony of the Old
and New Testament. In January, 1758,
he repaired to Princeton, where the small-
pox then prevailed. He was inoculated
by the physician of the college. "He had
the malady favorably, but a secondary
fever set in, and, by reason of a number
of pustules in his throat, the obstruction
was such, that the medicines necessary to
check the fever could not be administered.
This disorder put an end to his life, March
22, 1758, in the 55th year of his age."
This eminent man gave, to the last mo-
ment, an admirable example of Christian
patience, resignation and hope. He left
five daughters and three sons. One of his
sons was president of the college at Sche-
nectady, New York, having been, like his
father, a tutor in the institution in which
he was educated; subsequently dismissed
from a parish under his care on account
of his religious opinions, settled again in a
retired situation, elected to the president-
ship of a college, and called to leave this
world shortly after his inauguration, and
nearly at the same age with his father.--
The physical constitution of Edwards (the
father) was extremely delicate; but his
mind was so active and well disciplined,
that he was able to produce, besides the
works already mentioned, a very large

412
EDWARDS-EEL.
number of tracts and sermons. Various
narratives of his life, and editions of his
works, have been printed in Great Britain
and the United States. The latest is in
ten octavo volumes, published in 1830,
at New York, and edited from original
materials, by Sereno E. Dwight. The
first volume is nearly occupied by the me-
moir of his life, comprising his resolu-
tions, diary, and a part of his correspon-
dence. The description, which he has
furnished, of his own mind, temperament,
theological sentiments, and literary pro-
jects, deserves particularly to be consulted.
He wrote with perspicuity, though not
with elegance, and generally in a rugged
and negligent style.
EDWY, king of England, son of Ed-
mund I, succeeded his uncle Edred in
955. Taking part with the secular clergy
against the monks, he incurred the con-
firmed enmity of the latter. Having call-
ed Dunstan to account for his share in
the administration in the preceding reign,
the latter refused to attend the summons,
and was in consequence banished. His
party was, however, so strong, that a re-
bellion was excited, and Edwy driven
from the throne, to make way for his
brother Edgar. That his intrigue or mar-
riage with Elgiva, may have given a
pretence for his deposition and excommu-
nication is very probable, but there is rea-
son to believe, from his youth and other
circumstances, that the story of the fate of
Elgiva, as related by Carte and Hume, is
materially incorrect. Edwy died in 959.
EEL; a fish well known from its peculiar
form and savory flesh. Many varieties
of eels are described by naturalists, some
tenants of fresh-water streams, others in-
habiting the sea. The latter acquire a
vast size, and numerous instances are on
record of their having attacked and over-
powered boys, and even men, while bath-
ing. Gifted with prodigious strength and
agility, and capable of inflicting severe
wounds with its powerful jaws, the sea eel,
or conger, must prove a most dangerous
assailant. when encountered in its native
element. Fresh-water eels, inhabiting
running streams with gravelly bottoms, are
said to be uniformly white upon the belly,
and infinitely more delicate than those of
muddy waters, which are always yellow,
and possess a peculiar smell and flavor,
very disagreeable. In the choice of its
food, the eel is far from cleanly, feeding
indiscriminately upon all kinds of small
fish, and decayed animal matter; in con-
sequence of which, many persons refuse
to eat them. In the seas of India, there
are large species caught, varied with the
most beautiful colors, resembling serpents,
and one, in particular, has so much the as
pect of one of these reptiles, as to bear the
name of snake eel. The flesh of eels is
sapid and nourishing, but, owing to its
fatness, offensive to weak stomachs. Oil
is procured from sea eels, which is re-
markably clear, and burns very brightly..
A curious opinion prevails in this country
as to the properties of eel-skins in pre-
venting the cramp, so dangerous to bath-
ers. Boys are frequently seen with one
fastened round the ankle for the purpose
of averting the attack of this dangerous
spasm while in the water. It is needless
to observe, that the virtues ascribed to it
are very apocryphal. The Romans are
said to have fed eels upon human flesh;
and one of the most cruel of the emper-
ors caused his slaves to be thrown alive
into the fish-ponds for disobedience. A
similar tale is related of Vedius Pollio.
Muraena was the term used to express the
male eel, and myrus the female.
The
common eel belongs to the subgenus mu-
ræna of Lacepede, and may be distin-
guished thus: dorsal fin commencing very
much in the rear of the pectorals; lower
jaw shorter; color, olive-green above, sil-
very or yellowish beneath. In the sea
eels, or congers, the dorsal commences
near the pectorals, or over them, and the
superior jaw is always longest. The con-
ger of our seas attains the length of five or
six feet, and the thickness of a man's leg.
A prejudice exists here against the flesh,
which in Europe is salted in large quanti-
ties. Some kinds of eels occur, in which
there are no perceptible fins whatever.
Few animals are more tenacious of life;
they continue to move for a long while
when deprived of the head and skin, pre-
serving the muscular irritability for many
hours after death. Great quantities of river
eels are consumed for food among the low-
er classes, and the numbers taken during a
night, in a trap, contrived for the purpose,
and sunk upon the bottom, is frequently
enormous, amounting to several hundreds.
A barrel or box is used, having an aper-
ture cut in the top, to which is attached
a stocking or tube of coarse cloth, which
hangs down in the interior; the fish enter
with ease from without, but find it im-
possible to return. At day-light, the trap is
raised to the surface, and the captives se-
cured. In England, a kind of trident is
used, called an eel-spear. A fisherman
wades to the shallows, and, striking his spear
in the mud in every direction around him,
the eels, reposing on the bottom, are caught


EEL-EGEDE.
between the prongs, and shaken into a
basket. The respiration of inost subgen-
era of the eel family is conducted through
lateral openings at the gills, as in other
fishes: but in some a different arrange-
ment is observed. For instance, in the
sphagebranchus, the apertures are approx-
imated under the throat, and in the syn-
branchus, the external orifice of the gills
is a single hole under the throat. A great
variety is observable in the form of the
air-bladder of these fishes, which is want-
ing only in a few species. Want of scales
is usually mentioned as a characteristic
of the family, but nevertheless inaccurate-
ly. Scales do exist; but they are very
minute, and so imbedded in the skin, as
to be imperceptible in the recent animal,
though sufficiently evident in the dried
skin. Some marvellous accounts are on
record of the migrations of eels from one
river to another, over intervening portions
of dry land. It is sufficiently well known,
that such journeys are taken by these fish,
but mostly over very small portions of
soil, covered with damp grass. Authors
relate stories, also, of eels having been
rained down from the clouds, which phe-
nomenon is accounted for in the same
manner as the raining of frogs, small fish-
es, &c., frequently mentioned as aston-
ishing matters by the ancient writers.
Eels are viviparous, and quite productive.
EFFENDI; a corruption of the Greek
word abbevrns, which signifies lord, or mas-
ter, in the modern dialect, and is pro-
nounced apthendis, or aphendis. It is a
term of modern use in the Turkish lan-
and has been substituted for the
guage,
Tartar word chelebi (noble), now applied to
persons of inferior rank. Effendi is par-
ticularly applied to the civil, as aga is to
the military officers of the sultan; and
both are used in conversation, commonly
joined to the name of their office. Thus
the sultan's first physician is called Hakim
effendi, the priest in the seraglio, Iman
effendi, &c. The Reis effendi, or chan-
cellor of the empire, is also minister of
foreign affairs, and negotiates with the
ambassadors and interpreters of foreign
nations. Greek children are in the habit
of calling their fathers effendi. The term
is often used much in the same way as
sir, while the Greek Kupos may be com-
pared to our Mr.
EFFIGY, to execute or degrade in. The
word effigy is derived from the Latin
effigies, picture; and the phrase at the
head of this article denotes the execution
or degradation of a condemned criminal,
when he cannot be personally apprehend-
413
ed, by subjecting his picture to the formal-
ities of an execution; for instance, affixing
the picture, with a rope round the neck,
to the gallows (hanging in effigy). This
practice is still continued sometimes in
Prussia, and probably in other countries.
EFFLORESCENCE: a term applied in
chemistry to the crystals of certain salts,
which, on exposure to the air, part with
a portion of their water, and crumble
down into a white powder. (See Crys-
tallization, under the article Cohesion.)
EGALITÉ, Philip, that is, Philip Equali-
ty; the name adopted, after the abolition
of monarchy in France, by Philip Bour-
bon Capet, duke of Orleans. (q. v.)
EGBERT, considered the first king of
all England, was of the royal family of
Wessex. Egbert served in the armies of
Charlemagne. On the death of Brithric,
he succeeded him as king of Wessex, in
800. He reduced the other kingdoms, and
rendered them dependent on him, in 827.
He was much annoyed by the repeated
inroads of the Danes. Egbert died in 838.
EGEDE, John, the apostle of Greenland,
was born, 1686, in Denmark, and, in 1707,
became a preacher at Wogen, in Norway.
Having heard that Christianity had been
once established in Greenland, but had
become extinct in the country for want
of teachers, he was filled with grief. Af-
ter the most careful inquiry, he heard that
the eastern coast of Greenland was inac-
cessible, on account of the floating ice,
and that the southern was inhabited by
savages. He resolved to visit the country,
and to preach the gospel to the inhabit-
ants. But he was without resources.
The merchants in Bergen were unwilling
to undertake to trade with Greenland, and
the government refused his petition for
ships, money and men, because they were
involved in a war with Sweden; the
bishops of Bergen and Drontheim praised
his noble resolution, but were unable to
help him. Having collected some money
to aid him in his purpose, he resigned his
charge, received from the Danish govern-
ment, after the conclusion of peace with
Sweden, the title of royal missionary to
Greenland, with a small pension and
three ships, one to remain with him, an-
other to bring back the news of his arri-
val, and a third to engage in the whale
fishery. The government encouraged the
Bergen merchants to establish a Green-
land trading company. May 21, 1721.
Egede embarked, with 46 persons under
his command. The whaling-vessel was
wrecked; the other two reached Green-
land, but an extent of 12 leagues of floar


35*
414
EGEDE EGERTON.
ing ice seemed to make it impossible to
land. June 4, they finally succeeded.
The appearance of the country was
wretched. A house was built, and called
the haven of hope. The conversion of the
Greenlanders was now undertaken, but
offered great difficulties; and the whole
colony, tired of struggling against misery
and wretchedness of every description,
were eager to return to Denmark. Egede
resolved to adopt that course; but the firm-
ness of his wife prevailed upon them all to
remain, and trust to the arrival of a vessel
from Denmark with the necessary sup-
plies. June 27, the news was brought,
that two ships had arrived from Denmark,
with the necessary articles, and letters
which contained the assurance of efficient
support. In the mean time, Egede had
caused his son Paul to paint several scenes
from the Bible, perhaps to convey to the
Greenlanders some idea of the history, or
to excite their curiosity. As this did not
succeed, he took up his residence, with
his two sons, among the natives, in order
to learn their language. He carefully
noted down every word of which he dis-
covered the meaning; he often performed
long journeys, at the peril of his life, to
visit the remotest Greenlanders, for the
purpose of gaining their confidence, in
which he succeeded by a thousand acts of
kindness; he also endeavored to render
the trade more profitable to the crown,
which sent him a vessel annually with
supplies. Though he was unsuccessful
in learning the language, his two sons,
and especially Paul, attained it with little
difficulty. Egede, therefore, sent him to
Copenhagen for four years, to study theol-
ogy, that he might leave him as his succes-
sor in Greenland. Egede, the father, after
spending 15 years in Greenland, amid
innumerable discouragements, returned,
in 1736, to Copenhagen, to make new
exertions for the support of Christianity
in that country. The government ap-
pointed him director of the Greenland
missions, and established his son Paul in
the office of missionary there. When
age rendered him incapable of the exer-
cise of his duties, he retired to the island
of Falster, where he died, 1758. His wri-
tings are in Danish, and have been trans-
lated into German. They relate to the
natural history of Greenland, and his suf-
ferings and adventures there.-His son
Paul Egede, born 1708, was his assistant
from the time he was 12 years old. He
went to Copenhagen, in 1723, carrying with
him some Greenlanders, to be instructed in
various trades: they all soon died of the
small-pox. Notwithstanding a strong in-
clination for the naval service, he submit-
ted to the wishes of his father, studied
divinity, and took charge of the mission
in Greenland. In this undertaking he
embarked in 1734, carried out with him
new colonists, and remained there till
1740. He then returned to Copenhagen,
received the office of chaplain in the hos
pital dedicated to the Holy Ghost, and
was commissioned, also, to direct the af-
fairs of the mission. The next year, he
was appointed by the king bishop of
Greenland. He died in 1789. We have
from him an Account of Greenland, ex-
tracted from a Journal kept from 1721 to
1788, published at Copenhagen, 1789,
12mo.; moreover, a Dictionarium Græn
landicum, Copenhagen, 1754; a Gram-
matica Grænlandica; a translation of the
Gospels, the Pentateuch, several Danish
prayers and liturgies, and the Imitation
of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis, in the
Greenland tongue.
EGERAN. (See Idocrase.)
EGERIA; a nymph who received divine
honors among the Romans. Numa pre-
tended to have secret conversations with
her, and to receive from her the laws
which he gave to the Romans. Some
say Egeria was the wife of Numa.
EGERTON, Francis (duke of Bridgewa-
ter); an English nobleman, very highly
distinguished for public spirit, born in
1726. His father, the first person who
bore the title of duke of Bridgewater, had
obtained, in 1732, an act of parliament,
authorizing him to dig a canal from
Worsley, one of his estates, containing
very valuable coal mines, to Manchester;
but the difficulties in the way of executing
it deterred him from attempting it. Fran-
cis Egerton, by the death of his father
and elder brother, coming into possession
of the great estates of the family, resolved
to complete the plan of his father, and
succeeded, by the help of Brindley (q. v.),
a self-taught man of remarkable genius.
To effect his object, he limited his per-
sonal expenses to £400 a year, and de-
voted all the rest of his income to his great
undertaking. The canal, which bears the
name of the duke, was completed in five
years, after the expenditure of immense
sums, and enabled him to supply Man-
chester and the neighboring towns with
coal. He afterwards extended his canal to
the Mersey, so as to bring Liverpool into
the line of his navigation. The success
of his undertaking was so great, that ca-
nals were now projected in every direc
tion. Brindley formed the grand idea of

EGERTON-EGINETAN.
establishing a water communication be-
tween London, Bristol, Liverpool and
Hull, and completed it in part, as the
duke, in 1766, began the grand trunk nav-
igation, so called, whereby the rivers
Trent and Mersey were united. This ca-
nal, which is 90 miles long, was finished
in 1777, and connects Liverpool and Hull.
The duke of Bridgewater died unmarried,
in 1803. (See Canal, and Brindley.)
EGG. Birds, reptiles, fishes, insects and
worms bring forth eggs; birds, indeed,
without any exception. The eggs of fish-
es are called roe or spawn. They contain
the germ of the young animal, and, in
this respect, resemble the seeds of plants.
Seeds require heat and moisture to devel-
ope them; and a great part of their sub-
stance serves for the nourishment of the
germ. So it is with eggs, which have, in
addition, the necessary moisture in them-
selves, and, therefore, only need external
heat for their developement. The bird's
egg consists (1.) of the shell. Immediately
beneath this hard, porous covering lies firm-
ly enclosed (2.) the external membrane,
which is also a little porous. Next comes
(3.) the white of the egg, and, lastly, (4.) the
yolk. In the yolk is seen a small, lens-
shaped speck, in which is found a little
oval sack, of a grayish color. This is the
place where the young animal is developed.
The form of the eggs of birds is generally
more or less of an oblong round. It
is different in other oviparous animals.
Amongst reptiles, the crocodile, for in-
stance, has a cone-shaped egg. There is
a great variety of shades in the colors of
birds' eggs, though they are confined
chiefly to white, blue and green. The
spots, points, or stripes, with which many
are marked, run in countless degrees and
shades, from red into gray, ash-colored,
&c. The eggs of birds, especially of
hens, are a pleasant and nutritive food.
Among reptiles, turtles produce eggs
which are good for eating. The roe of
fishes is also eaten, and caviare is com-
posed wholly of the eggs of fish. The
white of hens' eggs is used for applica-
tions in complaints of the eyes. It is also
made use of for clarifying certain liquors,
whey, sugar, &c. (See Clarification.)
The simple white of eggs also furnishes a
shining varnish for many works of art,
especially paintings and playing-cards.
Mixed with powdered, fresh-burnt lime,
with brick-dust, clay, meal, and other
substances, according to circumstances, it
forms a very strong cement. To preserve
eggs for any length of time, they must
be kept from the air. They are covered
415
with varnish or oil, set on the small end,
upon a perforated board, or, which is still
better, they are placed in layers, upon the
small end, in very dry ashes, in chopped
straw, &c., enclosed in tubs and boxes, and
put in a dry place, protected from severe
cold in winter, but at the same time, not
too warm.* (See Hatching.)
EGG-PLANT (Solanum melongena); a her-
baceous annual, from a foot to 18 inches
high, a little branched, and more or less
covered with a substance resembling cot-
ton: the leaves are oval, sinuate, and pe-
tiolate; the flowers large, white, or pur-
plish, lateral, and frequently solitary; but
sometimes two or three are situated upon
a common divided peduncle; the calyx
and peduncles are furnished with a few
short prickles; the fruit is very large,
smooth and shining, and generally of a
violet color, but sometimes yellow or
white. It is cultivated in the warm parts
of both continents, and the fruit is much
used as an article of food, when cooked,
which is done in various ways: in India,
it is generally served up with sugar and
wine, or simply sugared water; in the
south of France, with olive-oil. There
are several varieties, one of which bears a
white fruit, exactly resembling a pullet's
egg, and has been sometimes confounded
with another species, which is acrid and
poisonous. Egg-plants are now much
cultivated in some parts of the U. States,
and have become a well known article in
the markets.
EGIL SCALLAGRIM; an Icelandic bard or
poet of the 10th century, who distinguish-
ed himself by his warlike exploits in pred-
atory invasions of Scotland and North-
umberland. Having killed in combat the
son of Eric Blodox, king of Norway, he
was doomed to death on being subse-
quently taken prisoner by that prince.
Egil demanded permission to redeem his
life by giving a specimen of his powers as
an improvisatore. This was granted, and
he immediately composed and recited a
poem in praise of Eric, entitled Egil's
Ransom, which procured him his life and
liberty. This piece is still extant, and a
Latin version of it was published by Olaus
Wormius, in his Literatura Danica Anti-
quissima, from which doctor Percy trans-
fated it into English, and printed it in his
Northern Antiquities.
EGINA. (See Egina.)
EGINETAN STYLE OF ART. (See Egr
netan Style.)
* It happens not very rarely, that a small egg
is found within one of common size. (See Albu
men.)

416
EGINHARD-EGMONT ISLAND.

EGINHARD (Einard), born in the Oden-
walde; at first the companion of Charle-
magne, then his private secretary and
chaplain, and general superintendent of
the emperor's houses. His talents and
learning gained him the love and confi-
dence of Charlemagne, in whose court he
was educated, and induced him to bestow
on Eginhard his daughter Emma, or Im-
ma, in marriage. It is a common story, the
truth of which, however, is much doubt-
ed, that she once admitted the fair young
German to a nightly interview in her own
room; that snow fell during the night,
and Emma carried her lover from the
castle on her shoulders, to save him from
detection; the emperor, who had risen
early, saw them from the window, and,
instead of punishing, united them in mar-
riage. On the death of the emperor,
Eginhard left his wife, entered the order
of Benedictine monks, and became first
abbot of the monastery at Seligenstadt, in
Darmstadt, where he died, 839. Egin-
hard is the oldest German historian; and
we have from him a full and well-written
history of the life of Charlemagne, which
was published by Schmink, 1711, in 4to.,
with illustrations and a biography. Au
edition was published by Bredow (Helmst.
1806). Eginhard's Annals of the Franks,
from 741 to 829, appeared also in 1711,
in 4to., at Utrecht. His letters, which are
of much importance as contributions to
the history of his age (Frankfort, 1714,
fol.), are still extant. A plan is likewise
ascribed to him of uniting the German
ocean with the Mediterranean and the
Black seas, by two canals, one of which
was to form a connexion between the
Moselle and Saone, and the other be-
tween the Rhine and the Danube.
EGIS. (See Egis.)
EGISTHUS. (See Agamemnon.)
EGLANTINE; one of the names of the
sweetbrier (rosa rubiginosa); but there is
a good deal of confusion in its application,
and it is often given indiscriminately to
other species of rose.
EGMONT, Lamoral, count of, was born
1522, of an illustrious family of Holland.
He entered the military service, and gained
a high reputation under Charles V, whom
he accompanied to Africa in 1544. He
distinguished himself as general of cavalry,
under Philip II, in the battles of St. Quen-
tin (1557) and Gravelines (1558). Philip
having gone to Spain, Egmont took part
in the troubles in the Low Countries; he
endeavored, however, to adjust the difficul-
ties between the duchess of Parma, who
governed the provinces, and the nobles
confederated against her. He even swore,
in the presence of this princess, to sup-
port the Roman Catholic faith, to punish
the sacrilegious, and to extirpate heretics.
Still his connexion with the prince of
Orange and his most distinguished adhe-
rents, made him an object of suspicion to
the court of Aranjuez, and Egmont, with
the noble Philip of Montmorency, count
Horn, became the victims of hate and
fanaticism. The duke of Alva, who was
sent, by Philip II, to the Netherlands, to
reduce the insurgents, ordered them both
to be executed at Brussels, June 5, 1563.
Egmont was then in the 46th year of his
age. He died with heroic firmness. The
French ambassador announced the event
to his court with these words: "I have
seen that head fall which twice made
France tremble." Egmont had before
written to Philip II, that "he had never
joined in any undertaking against the
Catholic religion, nor violated his duties
as a loyal subject." But an example was
thought necessary to strike terror into
others. Philip II expressed himself thus
on the subject: "he had caused those two
heads to fall, because a pair of such sal-
mon heads was worth more than many
thousand frogs." Egmont's line became
extinct in Procopius Francis, count of
Egmont, general of cavalry to the king of
Spain, and brigadier in the French service,
who died without children, at Fraga, in
Arragon (1707), at the age of 38 years.
(See J. J. de Cloet's Eloge historique du
Comte d'Egmont, &c., Brussels, 1825.)
Maximilian von Egmont, count of Büren,
general in the service of the emperor
Charles V, who distinguished himself in
the wars against Francis I, belonged to
another line.-A well known drama of
Göthe, called Egmont, is founded on the
above catastrophe; yet we cannot help
thinking, that, if poetry often gives to his-
torical characters a fictitious elevation, the
reverse has taken place in this instance,
and that Egmont in history, the father of
a family, is greater than Göthe's Egmont,
a lover and imprudent conspirator.
EGMONT ISLAND, in the South Pacific-
ocean, six miles long and four broad, is
low, and full of trees. Lon. 138° 30′ W.;
lat. 19° 20' S.
EGMONT ISLAND, or NEW GUERNSEY;
principal island in the group called Queen
Charlotte's islands, in the South Pacific
ocean. According to the account given of
them by captain Carteret, the inhabitants
are extremely nimble, vigorous and ac-
tive, with a bravery undismayed by the
fire of musketry. They seem as fit to


EGMONT ISLAND-EGYPT.
live in the water as on land. The coun-
try in general is mountainous, covered
with woods, and intersected with many
valleys and small rivers. This island is
about 54 miles in length, and from 20 to
32 in breadth. Lon. 166° E.; lat. 11° S.
EGRA, EGER, or CHEBBE; a town in
Bohemia, in Saatz, capital of a district;
76 miles west of Prague; lon. 12° 21' E.;
lat. 50° 3' N.; population, 8111; houses,
740. It was formerly imperial, and has a
castle, seven churches, an hospital, and a
Catholic gymnasium. Near it are some
medicinal springs, the waters of which
are exported in bottles, sealed with the
arms of the town. Wallenstein was
assassinated here in 1634. The popula-
tion of the district, 23,000; square miles,
106.
EGRA, or EGER; a river which rises in
Bavaria, and runs into the Elbe, near
Leitmeritz, in Bohemia.
EGYPT (Mizraim, Kham-Rahab; called
by the Arabs, Mezr; by the Copts, Khemi;
and by the Turks, El Kabit); formerly a
mighty empire, the seat of a high civiliza-
tion, the land of wonderful creations of
human power, and an object of endless
curiosity to the philosophic inquirer; now
a Turkish viceroyalty, scarcely a fifth
part inhabited, governed by a pacha or
viceroy, appointed or confirmed by the
sultan. This pacha is, at present, Mo-
hammed Ali, a man of great ability.
Egypt lies in North Africa, between 22°
and 32° N. lat., and 27° and 34° E. lon.
It is bounded on the N. by the Mediterra-
nean sea, on the E. by the Red sea and by
Arabia, with which it is connected by the
isthmus of Suez, on the S. by Nubia, and
on the W. by Barca and the great desert.
It contains about 200,000 square miles, of
which only about 17,000 square miles, in
the valley of the Nile (600 miles long,
and from 12 to 25 broad), are susceptible
of cultivation. The population is dif-
ferently estimated at from 2,500,000 to
4,000,000. Geographers divide it into Upper
Egypt (Said), Middle Egypt (Vostani), and
Lower Egypt (Bahari), including the fer-
tile Delta. These are again divided into
12 provinces, each of which is governed
by a bey, and which, together, contain
about 2500 cities and villages. Three
chains of mountains run through the
country. The Nile (the Blue river) flows
through it in a northerly direction. Be-
sides lake Mæris, celebrated in antiquity,
at present called Birket Karun (Charon's
lake), and almost dried up, there are
others, especially the natron or salt lakes.
The climate is in general hot, and is mod-
417
erate in Lower Egypt only. The great
heat produces the rankest vegetation.
The simoom (chamsin), a formidable south
wind, which blows at intervals during the
first 50 days after the vernal equinox, the
plague and ophthalmia are the peculiar
torments of Egypt. It has but two sea-
sons-spring and summer: the latter lasts
from April to November. During this
period, the sky is always clear, and the
weather hot. In the spring, the nights are
cool and refreshing. The greater part of
the land is arid, and covered with burning
sands; but wherever the waters of the
Nile are conducted in canals beyond the
natural limits of their overflow, the earth
becomes fertile, and fruits thrive with
great luxuriance. Corn, rice, millet, pulse,
kitchen vegetables, melons, sugar cane,
sweet rush, papyrus (peculiar to the coun-
try), flax and hemp, onions, carthamus or
saffron, indigo, aloe, jalap, coloquintida,
saltwort (salsola soda), cardamom, cot-
ton, palm-groves, sycamores, tamarinds,
cassia, acacias, &c., cover the coun-
try. There is not a great variety of
garden flowers, but roses are raised in
large quantities, especially in the marshy
Fayoum, and rose-water forms an impor
tant article of export. The soil consists
of lime, with numerous shells and petri-
factions; it contains marble, alabaster,
porphyry, jasper, granite, common salt,
natron, saltpetre, alum, &c. The woods
and marshes, rivers and plains, furnish a
great variety of animals, including horn-
ed cattle, buffaloes, asses, horses, camels,
sheep with large, fat tails, dogs, cats,
lions, tigers, hyænas, jackals, wolves, fox-
es, gazelles, giraffes, storks, ibises (which
devour the snakes in the mud of the
Nile), hens (the eggs of which are hatched
in ovens), crocodiles, river-horses, ichneu-
mons, &c. The people consist of Copts
(embracing, at most, 30,000 families),
Arabs (who are the most numerous, and
are divided into Fellahs, or peasants, and
Bedouins, the wandering tribes of the
deserts), and Turks, the ruling people.
The Mamelukes have been driven out of
the country, and nearly exterminated.
Besides these, there are Jews, Greeks,
Armenians, &c. The Egyptian generally
has a strong, active frame, tawny com-
plexion, gay disposition, and a good heart,
and is not devoid of capacity. He is tem
perate and religious, but superstitious.
The prevailing religion is that of Moham
med.
The prevailing language is the
Arabic. At Cairo, the capital, resides the
patriarch of the Eastern Christians. The
inhabitants devote themselves to agricul

418
EGYPT.
ture, the raising of bees and poultry, the
preparation of rose-water and sal-ammo-
niac, the manufacturing of leather, flax,
hemp, silk and cotton, of carpets, glass,
potters' ware, and carry on an important
commerce. Constantinople is supplied
with grain from Egypt, which, when a
Roman province, was called the granary
of Rome. The coasting trade is consid-
erable. Alexandria, Damietta and Suez
are the principal harbors, and much in-
land traffic is carried on, chiefly with
Syria, Arabia and Western Africa.-Egypt
was once the theatre of enterprise, civili-
zation and science. An ancient astro-
nomical observation authenticates the tra-
dition, that, about 3362 B. C., the Babylo-
nian Hermes (Thoth), the hero of mytho-
logical antiquity, went to Ethiopia (as, sub-
sequently, Cecrops from Sais, on the Nile,
went to Attica), and founded this state on
the model of that to which he himself
belonged. The Ethiopians and Babylo-
nians were the first nations enlightened by
Indian civilization. The organization of
Ethiopia was probably soon followed by
the migration of an Ethiopian colony to
Upper Egypt, then inhabited by Nomadic,
pastoral tribes. Subsequently, the Egyp-
tians became the third among the nations
of antiquity, distinguished for a high de-
gree of cultivation. The similarity of the
inhabitants and their language increases
almost to certainty the probability that
Egypt received her first civilized inhab-
itants from Ethiopia. This agrees with
the Mosaic account, that, after the flood,
the descendants of Ham settled in Upper
Egypt. Even the Israelites, under Jo-
seph, belonged to the Nomades, living on
the frontiers, till they migrated again,
under the conduct of Moses. Although
Egypt had Babylon and Ethiopia for
models, society in this country made but
slow advances towards perfection. The
general division of the people into he-
reditary castes, and the influence of the
priesthood, checked the spirit of the
Egyptians. Before the time of the enter-
prising Sesostris, they had but little com-
merce, especially by sea, and, consequent-
ly, few of the collisions with foreign na-
tions which spring from an active trade.
This was another reason of the slow
progress of Egypt in intellectual culture.
The first important impulse was received
when the Egyptians were subdued by
foreign nations. Previously to this, how-
ever, there were astronomers in the coun-
try. The Egyptian solar year contained
12 months and five supplementary days,
bke the republican calendar of the French.
The form of the earth was known
to Egyptian scholars; solar and lunar
eclipses were calculated; the moon they
regarded as another earth; the fixed stars
as burning torches; sun-dials and water.
clocks were not unknown among them;
the immense ring of Osymandyas seems
to have been used for this purpose, and
they appear to have been acquainted with
the quadrant. They must, therefore, have
made considerable progress in arithmetic.
The arithmetical figures (the same that we
call Arabic) they wrote from right to left.
The overflowing of the Nile rendered
geometry necessary to them; and their
acquaintance with mathematics is evident
from the instruments for measuring the
height of the Nile at Syene, Memphis, and
other places on the river, from their use
of the water-screw, from their canals, and
the sluices of lake Maris, which presup-
pose a knowledge of mechanics, hydrau-
lics and hydrostatics. The Egyptian mu-
sic is the basis of the Hebrew, Greek and
Roman. The first musical instrument-
the three-stringed lyre (see Lyre)-was
invented among them by Hermes. But
this discovery was soon secluded among
the secrets of the priests, and further per-
fected under their mystic veil. In this
circumstance, and in the serious, gloomy
character of the nation, is to be found the
reason why music was only used at fune-
rals and the public worship of the gods.
Besides the lyre above mentioned, they
had a dichord, two kinds of flutes, the
sistrum, the kettle-drum, the trumpet and
the triangular lyre. Musical notation
seems not to have been known to them.
Their short, simple songs were committed
to memory. Their knowledge of natural
history was confined to their native coun-
try and its productions. They penetrated
farther in chemistry and mineralogy:
their metallic encaustics, their artificial
emerald, the inlaying of silver with a blue
color, display science and skill. They
probably made much progress in the art
of healing. Every disease had its partic-
ular physician. Osiris, Isis and Hermes
were the gods of health. The Pastophori
(a class of priests) were the physicians.
The king, as well as the lowest peasant,
was subjected to the regimen prescribed
by them. Their dietetics became cele-
brated in other countries. Care of the
skin, a thorough cleanliness, preserved by
frequent bathing, and the practice of cir-
cumcision, were their principal prescrip-
tions. From their skill in embalming the
dead, we may judge of the anatomica!
knowledge of the Egyptians. Their nat-

EGYPT.
•
419

aral philosophy was mystical; they as- public worship of their divinities. Sesos
cribed every thing to the immediate ope- tris the Great broke down the obstructions
ration of the gods: on this depended their of religious prejudice. A splendid ship
system of magic. In the arts, their profi- was consecrated to Osiris, and thus the
ciency was various. Their sculpture has coöperation of the priesthood was gained.
an insufferable dryness, stiffness and uni- The success of navigation was implored
formity; their painting was limited to in the public prayers, and the Egyptians
covering stones, wood, cloths, &c., with a now committed themselves to the back
single color, or, at the most, to illuminat- of the malicious Typhon. Commerce
ing their hieroglyphics, variegating them was thus established, and carried on with
with colors laid on without taste. The various degrees of success and activity,
celestial planispheres on the ceiling according as the kingdom was more or
of the sepulchre of Osymandyas, and less flourishing. It prospered most under
the figures on the ancient tombs of the the Ptolemies. Alexandria became the
kings of Thebes, exhibit the utmost first emporium; the famous Pharos was
stretch of the Egyptian pencil. Their erected; and the canal, 1000 stadia in
architecture is more remarkable: its char- length, joined the Red sea with the Medi-
acteristic is solidity rather than beauty, as terranean. When Egypt became a Ro-
appears from their labyrinths, pyramids, man province, after the death of Cleopa-
obelisks, temples, mausoleums, &c. (See tra, it lost its previous commercial dis-
Architecture, History of.)* Robert Vau- tinction.
Robert Vau- tinction. The Egyptians were particu-
gondy, in his Essai sur l'Histoire de la larly devoted to agriculture, and their
Géographie, says of the geography of the measures for promoting it were bold, both
Egyptians, that they made the first maps (in in contrivance and execution. On what
the reign of Sesostris). Gatterer endeav- principle they conducted mining may be
ors to prove the existence of geographical seen from their vast undertakings, in
delineations in the time of Joshua. Their which whole mountains were dug down,
acquaintance with navigation they owed and the earth was washed from the ore by
to the great Sesostris; previously, they entire rivers turned from their channels
hardly dared trust themselves to rafts on for this purpose. Gold, silver, copper,
the overflowing waters of the Nile; they lead, tin and iron were the principal met-
abhorred the sea; it was the Typhon als known to them. The trade of the
which devoured the Nile, their national Egyptians was confined, for a long time,
god (Osiris). Their first coasting trade to the sale of their own productions to
seems to have been caused by a smug- foreigners who visited Egypt to purchase
gling trade of the Phoenicians, and by them. In the time of Psammetichus,
Inachus leading an Egyptian colony to they began to export for themselves. The
Greece, in Phoenician vessels, 1836 B. C. principal traffic by land was carried on by
It was confined, however, to the natives means of caravans. Measures, weights
of the northern coasts. The inhabitants and money, the chief instruments of trade,
of the interior were repelled from the sea they were acquainted with, and a good
by superstition. On the other hand, the police watched over justice. To indus-
navigation of the Nile became more im- try, this traffic was necessarily lucrative.
portant after it was incorporated with the Their skill in weaving and coloring sup-
plied them with articles of exchange.
These, however, they did not carry to as
high perfection as they might have done.
If we contemplate the ancient Egyptians
in their private life and political character,
taking into view their manners, customs
and laws, we shall find a solution for
many perplexities respecting this peculiar
people. The gloomy religion of the
Egyptians banished gayety from their pri-
vate circles. Pleasure was a stranger to
them. They were serious, devout and
superstitious. Songs, dances and sports
they disliked; but they, nevertheless, pos-
sessed a great degree of industry, good
temper, politeness, and, at the same time,
a vanity which prepossessed them in
favor of whatever originated with them
Champollion, the famous explorer of Egyp-
fian antiquities, holds the following language at
the end of his fifteenth letter, dated Thebes:
"It is evident to me, as it must be to all who have
thoroughly examined Egypt, or have an accurate
knowledge of the Egyptian monuments existing
in Europe, that the arts commenced in Greece
by a servile imitation of the arts of Egypt, much
more advanced than is vulgarly believed, at the
period at which the first Egyptian colonies came
in contact with the savage inhabitants of Attica,
or the Peloponnesus. Without Egypt, Greece
would probably never have become the classical
land of the fine arts. Such is my entire belief
on this great problem. I write these lines almost
in the presence of bas-reliefs which the Egyptians
executed, with the most elegant delicacy of
workmanship, 1700 years before the Christian
era. What were the Greeks doing then?"
The sculptures of the monument of El Asaffif
are ascertained to be more than 3500 years old.
420
EGYPT.

selves. As the Greeks and Romans called
all foreign nations barb... ians, so the Egyp-
tians gave this name to all the nations
which did not speak their language; but,
in spite of their national pride, gratitude
for benefits, whatever might be the coun-
try of the individual conferring them, was
ever one of their national virtues. The
government of the state was mostly in the
hands of females. Every priest might
have, at least, one wife: to the laity, the
number was not limited by law. The
husband had the charge of the domestic
concerns; the wife, of buying and selling,
and all affairs that were not of a domestic
character. The Egyptian was distinguish-
ed for temperance; he never drank wine;
his only drink was beer, made of barley;
his bread was of spelt; in his kitchen, he
used vegetables of all kinds, and increased
his numerous poultry, by artificially hatch-
ing the eggs; beans and pork were inter-
dicted, by his religion, as impure; and, on
the other hand, he was forbidden to touch
some other animals, as sacred. His dress
was very simple. The respectable mat-
ron was distinguished from the maiden
and the prostitute by a veil, which the
latter were not allowed to wear. The
children went naked till of considerable
age. Funerals and times of sadness were
the only occasions of parade and compe-
tition in expense. The sovereign, how-
ever, and those who immediately sur-
rounded him, glittered in all the pomp
of Oriental magnificence. The power
of the Pharaohs (the general name of
the earlier kings of Egypt) was unlimited.
At their pleasure, they could throw the
grand vizier from the summit of his pow-
er, and raise to their own side the lowest
of their slaves, as the history of Joseph
evinces. The spirit of industry inherent
in the Egyptian was the support of pub-
lic virtue, and the police took care that
criminals should be constantly employed.
As early as the time of Joseph, there was
a work-house for imprisoned slaves. The
unsocial disposition of the Egyptians, and
their fear of offending the gods by inter-
course with strangers, checked their im-
provement, but, at the same time, estab-
lished their independence, their nation-
al character, and their national virtues.
When they were brought into closer con-
tact with the Greeks, their industry was
somewhat abated, so that Amasis found it
necessary to enact a law, which obliged
every Egyptian to report annually to the
superior authorities his name, and the trade
by which he obtained, or hoped to obtain,
a subsistence. Disobedience to this law
was punished with death. Justice was
administered in a strict and speedy man-
ner. Written laws were handed down by
Menes, Tnephactus, Bocchoris and Ama-
sis. All causes were tried before a su-
preme court of justice. The parties them-
selves were obliged to conduct them in
writing, without the aid of advocates.
Perjury and murder (even of a slave)
were punished with death, without any
chance of pardon. Calumniators and false
accusers received the punishment belong-
ing to the crime of which they charged
the innocent person. Falsehood was pun-
ished by the loss of the tongue; forgery,
by the loss of the hands; desertion from
the army, or emigration, by infamy; and
adultery, by flogging. The king had the
power of mitigating any of these punish-
ments. But, notwithstanding the appear-
ance of unlimited sovereignty, the will of
the ruler was subject to the power of the
priests, who imposed laws, even on the
private life of the monarch, and relaxed or
contracted them as the interest of their
order required. The daily duties of the
king's slaves were minutely determined,
his bill of fare regulated, nay, the very
secrecy of the royal bed-chamber was pen-
etrated by the priests. For this reason,
they were his physicians in ordinary
The education of the children was in uni-
son with the rest of the Egyptian system.
The children were carefully brought up
to the trade of the father, and instructed
by the priests, in various public schools.
Few were taught reading and writing;
yet the Egyptians were the first people
who could write, that history mentions,
after the Babylonians and Phoenicians.
They wrote, at first, on stones and bricks;
afterwards, a paper was made of papyrus,
which continued to be used for 2000
years, and even after the invention of
parchment, by the whole literary world.
This art was taught to those only who
were educated for merchants, and that in
a limited degree; for it was the system
of the priests to keep the mass of the
people in ignorance. The division of the
people into seven castes-priests, soldiers,
shepherds, swineherds, mechanics, inter-
preters and fishermen-sprang partly from
local circumstances, many districts afford-
ing but one mode of subsistence; partly
from the policy of the priests, since it
was necessary, for the management of the
machine of state, that strict lines of de-
marcation should be drawn between the
various constituent parts of the nation.
At the head of them all stood the caste
of priests, the first and most influ-

EGYPT.
ential. They maintained this rank as
teachers of the people and patrons of sci-
ence. From them all the offices of state
were filled; they were the physicians,
judges, architects, astronomers, astrolo-
gers, &c. But they held their knowl-
edge, which they regarded (with justice)
as the talisman of their political impor-
tance and mighty influence, strictly within
the limits of their order. The religion,
mythology and philosophy of the Egyp-
tians varied with the different periods of
their political history. Their religion and
philosophy were one thing before Moses,
another from the time of Moses to that of
Herodotus; and thus they continued to
deviate from their original character till
the times of the Ptolemies and the Ro-
mans. Their whole religion and mythol-
ogy were founded on astronomy; it was
natural that the beneficial influences of
the celestial bodies should be followed by
adoration. Osiris and Isis (the sun and
moon) were the two principal deities, and
the Nile was thought to be very near-
ly related to them. We frequently find
Osiris and the Nile treated as one deity.
The period of 360 days, computed from
the regular inundation of the river at the
summer solstice, constituted the religious
year. The natural solar year consisted
of 365 days and 6 hours. The planets,
together with the signs of the zodiac,
were revered as deities, and rulers of the
days of the week and hours of the day.
The ruler of the first hours of the day was
the patron of the whole day, and commu-
nicated to it his name; the physical char-
acter and the agricultural relations of each
month were likewise adored as divinities,
under the 12 signs of the zodiac. Thus
was the religious year constituted. The
want, subsequently discovered, of five
days and six hours, gave rise to seven
more deities, and the solar year was intro-
duced. These symbolical beings, how-
ever were regarded as actually existent,
the authors and governors of time and the
world; Osiris and Isis were considered as
beings of unlimited power, exercising an
immediate influence over the earth and its
mhabitants. To each divinity was as-
signed a particular order of priests, into
which females were never admitted. Pil-
grimages and sacrifices were a part of
the system of religion. The latter were
employed for the expiation of sins. The
worshipper placed his hand on the head
of the victim, loaded it with impreca-
tions, and its last gasp was the seal of
his pardon. Till the reign of Amasis,
even human victims were offered. Be-
VOL. IV.
36
421

sides the heavenly bodies, some kinds of an
imals, also, were worshipped. These were
not regarded as mere symbols, but adored
as actual gods, like the Apis and Mnevis;
this worship arose from the hieroglyphics
of the Egyptians. (See Hieroglyphics.) The
most remarkable phenomenon in the phi-
losophy of the Egyptians is the doctrine
of the transmigration of souls (see Me-
tempsychosis), which was the immediate
offspring of the worship of the stars. Pla-
to has honored the metempsychosis of
the Egyptians by adopting it into his sys-
tem, as a symbol of the moral purification
of human nature. The Egyptians, how-
ever, did not make so accurate a distinc-
tion between the spiritual and corporeal as
this philosopher; the idea of the soul, as
a pure intelligence, was unknown to them;
and it is a very remarkable fact, that the
Pythagorean doctrine of the transmigration
of souls, as delineated by Aristotle, although
different from the Egyptian, is equally de-
void of any moral sense.
Political History of Egypt. If we go
back beyond the period of tradition, to
which belong the fabulous Pharaohs
(kings), Menes (2000 years before Christ),
Osymandyas, Moris, Sesostris, Rhamp
sinitus, &c., we find, on the extreme con
fines of history, the Pharaoh of Joseph,
and the migrations which took place in
the storms of revolutions, under Cecrops,
Moses and Danaus. In the history of
foreign states, Shishak is named, 878 be-
fore the Christian era, as the Pharaoh of
Egypt, and the ally of Jeroboam; the
Thephactus and Bocchoris of Diodorus,
and the Asychis of Herodotus, are famous
as legislators. The 40 years' subjection
of Egypt to the Ethiopians, the internal
anarchy of 33 years, the dodecarchy (reign
of twelve), which lasted 15 years, pre-
ceded the monarchy founded by Psam-
metichus, one of the dodecarchs. It
lasted from 636 to 525 B. C., and exhibits,
besides Psammetichus, the famous names
of Necho, Psammis, Apries or Hophra,
Amasis and Psammenitus. This period
is a bright spot in the history of the civili-
zation of Egypt. The kingdom next
became subject to Cambyses, and be.
longed to the Persian empire, till after its
conquest by Alexander, 332 B. C. After
the division of the Macedonian empire,
begins the splendid period of the Ptole-
mies (see Ptolemies, and the Alexandrian
School). Ptolemy Lagus or Soter, Ptolemy
Philadelphus (under whom the foundation.
of the future dominion of the Romans was
laid), Ptolemy Euergetes I, Ptolemy Phi-
lopater, Ptolemy Epiphanes, Ptolemy Phi-


422
EGYPT.

lometor, Euergetes II, Cleopatra Minor
(with Ptolemy Soter or Lathyrus, and
Ptolemy Alexander I), Ptolemy Alexander
II, Berenice, Ptolemy Alexander III,
Ptolemy Auletes, Cleopatra Tryphana
and Berenice, and Cleopatra with Ptol-
emy Puer, under the guardianship of
Cæsar and Antony, are the names of the
rulers of this period, several of whom are
famous in the history of science and art.
The suicide of Cleopatra, after the victory
of Octavius at Actium, transferred the
kingdom into the power of the Romans,
and it now became a Roman province.
This took place 30 years B. C., and Egypt
remained 670 years in the hands of the
Romans. The Christian religion, during
this period, gained footing in this country,
and was accompanied by the same enthu-
siasm, sectarism and mental gloom, which,
in the earlier history of Egypt, had ac-
companied the pagan mysteries. Ancho-
rites and monks had their origin here.
After the division of the great Roman
empire, in the time of Theodosius, into
the Western and Eastern empires, Egypt
became a province of the latter, and sunk
deeper and deeper in barbarism and weak-
ness. It was the prey of the Saracens,
Amru, their general, under the caliph
Omar, taking Alexandria, the capital, by
assault. This happened A. D. 640, when
Heraclius was the emperor of the East.
As a province of the caliphs, it was
under the government of the celebrated
Abbasides-Harun-al-Raschid and Al-
Mamon-and that of the heroic sultan
Saladin. The last dynasty was, however,
overthrown by the Mamelukes (1250), and
under these formidable despots the last
shadow of former greatness and civiliza-
tion disappeared. Selim, sultan of the
Turks, eventually (1516 to 1517) con-
quered the last Mameluke sultan, Tu-
manbai, and Egypt became altogether a
Turkish province, governed by a pacha.
It has since been the theatre of continual
internal wars of the Mameluke beys
against the Turkish dominion, which has
been several times, especially under Ali
Bey (1766), nearly extinguished in this
country. From 1798 to 1801, Egypt was
occupied by the French (see the latter part
of the present article). This country has
subsequently, more than ever, engaged the
attention of the statesman and scholar.
We behold a prince, who has divested
himself of many prejudices of his nation,
and has taken European models for imita-
tion, in order to establish anew the king-
dom of the Ptolemies. This prince, Mo-
hammed Ali Pacha (see Mohammed Ali
Pacha), is, indeed, merely a viceroy; but,
excepting the usual tribute, accompanied
with presents, and his participation in the
war, by sea and land, against the Greeks,
in which he was induced to engage
(1823) by the gift of Yemen, Cyprus,
Cantia and the Morea, he has evinced no
particular signs of submission towards the
Turkish sultan. In fact, he governs the
province with unlimited sway. His poli-
cy is continually becoming more fully
established, but rests on despotism and.
monopoly. The abilities of the tyrant are
the sole support of the system. Moham-
med Pacha is particularly attentive to
the public security; he takes, therefore,
all Franks under his immediate protec-
tion, and permits no abuse of the Greeks.
When the Morea was conquered by his
arms (1825), he caused all the Christian
population to be transplanted to the coun-
tries on the Nile. He is attempting to
introduce a quarantine system, to guard
against the plague, and also promotes
vaccination. An agent of the pacha, by
name Ismael Gibralter, travelled, some
years ago, in Europe, to induce mechanics
to remove to Egypt, and contract a com-
mercial treaty with Sweden. The pacha
has done much for the commerce and
industry, as well as for the civilization of
Egypt. He is the greatest merchant of
the country, and no others can deal with
foreign countries without his consent.
The income of the pacha is more than
$30,000,000, arising from poll and land
taxes, customs of the ports of Cairo, Suez,
Damietta, Alexandria, &c.; branches of
revenue farmed out, including various
fisheries; from the mint, from the sale of
the cotton, indigo, silk, sugar, rice, saffron,
wool, ivory, frankincense, &c., which he
monopolizes, purchasing them at a low
rate from his subjects, &c. The number
of vessels, which arrived at Alexandria in
the year 1829, was 909; in 1828, the ar-
rivals were 891; in 1827, they were 605.
Of the arrivals in 1829, 361 were Aus-
trian vessels, 1 American from Smyrna,
4 Danish, 44 French, 200 English and
Ionian, 8 Dutch, 32 Papal, 1 Russian,
135 Sardinian, 19 Sicilian, 5 Spanish,
13 Swedish, and 26 Tuscan. Most of the
voyages were from the Archipelago, or
from Turkish ports. Some years since,
Ibrahim, the pacha's son, forced the Wa-
habites (q. v.) to withdraw to their deserts,
and his second son, Ismael Pacha, under-
took an expedition into Nubia, in order to
extend the authority of his father there.
Ismael penetrated (1820) from Syene to
Dongola, on the left bank of the Nile.


TIRER KI BO EGYPT.
423
defeated the residue of the Mamelukes, ured. He also discovered the old emerald
and reduced Dongola to an Egyptian mines in the mountain Zabarah, and
province. At the same time, Mohammed found them in the very state in which
completed the new canal of Alexandria,
called by him, in honor of the sultan,
Mahmudie canal; a vast undertaking,
commenced Jan. 8, 1819, under the su-
perintendence of six European engi-
neers, with about 100,000 laborers; and
their number, though more than 7000
men died of contagious diseases, was
gradually increased to 290,000, each of
whom received about 17 cents, or 10d.
sterling, per diem. The canal was com-
pleted on the 13th September. It extends
from below Saone, on the Nile, to Pom-
pey's pillar, and is 473 miles long, 90 feet
wide, and 18 feet deep. This is the first
essay towards the execution of his plan
of restoring the ancient commerce of
Alexandria with Arabia and the Indies.
Within a short time, he has established a
line of telegraphs, a printing-press at Bou-
lac near Cairo,* a military school, and a
higher institution for education, principally
to form dragomans (i. e., interpreters) and
other public officers. The teachers con-
sist of French and Italian officers. In
1826, he sent several young Egyptians to
France, to receive a European educa-
tion. Under the government of Moham-
med, all the European travellers, whom
the love of discovery now draws in greater
numbers than ever to those sepulchres and
monuments of departed civilization, find
protection and support. But it is impos-
sible to remove all the obstacles that
suspicion, the hatred of foreigners, and
the avarice prevailing among the Bedouin
sheiks, throw in the way of the European.
Passing over the earlier travels of Brown,
an Englishman, and of Hornemann and
Burckhardt, Germans (the two first of
whom were unable to discover any traces
of the temple of Jupiter Ammon), we will
mention some of the latest. Among
these, the travels of the Italian Belzoni, in
1819, deserve especial notice. The Ital-
ian chevalier Frediani (see Frediani) has
published a pompous description of the
ruins of the temple of Jupiter Ammon, in
his letters from Schiwah, dated March
30, 1820; but Gau, a Prussian architect
from Cologne (see Gau), contradicts the
accounts of Frediani; so also does Dro-
vetti, late consul-general of France in
Egypt. These ruins the French Cailli-
aud asserts he has examined and meas-
* Several works have already been issued
from this press; among others, a Dizionario Ital-
iano et Arabiano, Bolacco, della stamp. reale,
1822 2 tomi.
they had been left by the engineers of
Ptolemy, with all their implements, from
which we can, in some degree, deduce
the mode of mining among the ancients.
In 1820, Cailliaud accompanied the son
of the viceroy on the above-mentioned
expedition to Dongola. The travels of
Cailliaud to the Oasis of Thebes, and the
deserts to the east and west of it, were
published by Jomard. The travels of
Henry Light (a British captain of artillery)
to Egypt, Nubia and the Holy Land, are
not to be compared with those of Burck-
hardt, but they are not without interest,
as far as respects the pacha of Egypt,
Jerusalem, and the Druses. The four
months' journey of lieutenant Fitz-Clar-
ence (aid to the marquis of Hastings,
governor-general of India), from Bombay
through India and Egypt to London
(1818), are more interesting. We ought
to mention the travels of two English-
men (Waddington and Hanbury), who
accompanied the pacha on his expedition
from Egypt to Nubia (1820). They pre-
tend to have examined, minutely, Dongo-
la and Darshegga, and to have discov-
ered the ancient Saba, subsequently called
Meröe. In 1824, captain N. F. Gordon,
of the English navy, undertook to travel
up the Nile, to discover the sources of the
Behr-el-Abiad. He only reached Villel-
Medinet (a day's journey from Sennaar),
where he died. Several Germans, also,
have, within a short time, undertaken
scientific expeditions to the East and
Egypt; e. g., Seetzen (q. v.), Sieber (q. v.),
whose book of travels describes Crete,
Cairo and Jerusalem; and Ruppel, from
Frankfort on the Maine. (See Africa.)
With the same view, the Prussian gen-
eral Menu von Minutoli undertook such
a course of travels in August, 1820.
Ehrenberg, who accompanied him, has
published, in Berlin, his discoveries in
natural history. They were support-
ed in the enterprise by the Prussian
government. The general returned to
Germany in September, 1821, and pub-
lished an interesting work respecting
his collections and discoveries.
travels in Egypt, however, which have
lately excited most interest, are those of
Champollion (q. v.), who has already, by
various publications, greatly increased our
knowledge respecting this country, and
from whose work, now publishing, we
have reason to expect much additional
information. We also hope for interest-
The
424
CAMPAIGN OF THE FRENCH IN EGYPT.

ing results from the expedition which the
grand-duke of Tuscany sent to Egypt,
and which has recently returned, enriched
with many treasures of art and science.
(For a general account of what the late
discoveries have taught of the ancient
history of Egypt, and for a popular ac-
count of Egyptian antiquities, we must
refer the reader to the marquis Spineto's
Lectures on the Elements of Hieroglyphics
and Egyptian Antiquities (London, 1829).
For information respecting the Egyptian
language, we refer to A compendious Gram-
mar of the Egyptian Language, as con-
tained in the Coptic and Sahidic Dialects,
with Observations on the Bashmuric, to-
gether with Alphabets and Numerals in the
Hieroglyphic and Enchorial Characters, by
Henry Tattam; with an Appendix, consist-
ing of the Rudiments of a Dictionary of the
ancient Egyptian Language, in the Encho-
rial Character, by Thomas Young (London,
1830); also an Account of Egyptian An-
tiquities, by Doctor Th. Young (London,
1823); the Two Letters of Champollion
the Younger to the Duke Blacas D'Aulps
(Paris, 1826), his works mentioned under
the article Champollion, and his new
work, which, according to the latest in-
formation, will soon be published, and give
the results of his indefatigable researches,
during his stay in Egypt. See the articles
Hieroglyphics (in which the reader will
find an account, also, of Egyptian mythol-
ogy), Mummies, Pyramids, Nile, Esneh,
Denderah, Rosetta Stone, &c.; also the note
at the end of Constitution. Respecting the
present state of the Egyptian institutions,
which are founded, in part, on the an-
cient division into castes, L. Reynier, who
served in Egypt under Bonaparte, has
published an instructive statistical work,
which does not, however, treat of the an-
cient history of the country-De l'Economie
publique et rurale des Egyptiens et des
Carthaginois (Paris, 1823). For informa-
tion concerning the modern history and
administration of Egypt, see Felix Men-
gin's Histoire de l'Egypte sous le Gouverne-
ment de Mohammed Aly; Paris, 1823, 2 vols.,
with engravings and maps.)
Landing and Campaign of the French
in Egypt. By the two campaigns of
1796 and 1797, general Bonaparte had
compelled the continental powers of Eu-
rope to make peace with France-a re-
sult ardently desired by the French, to
allow their country time to recover from
the deep wounds which she had suffered
during the convulsions of the revolution,
and from the worthless administrations
that had preceded it. The next object
was to force England, also, to a peace, as
she inflexibly opposed the general wish
of Europe, and Bonaparte was appointed
commander in chief of an army destined
for the invasion of England. In Febru-
ary, 1798, he visited in person the coasts
of the Channel, and all Europe was ex-
pecting the commencement of the expe-
dition, when, in May of the same year,
the general appeared as commander in
chief at Toulon, where an expedition had
been fitting out, of the destination of
which the public knew nothing-a cir-
cumstance highly remarkable, as so many
persons, military and civil, were acquaint-
ed with it. It was the expedition to
Egypt. It also appears, from a letter writ-
ten by general Bonaparte to the minister
Talleyrand, dated Passeriano, 27th Fructi-
dor, year V (September 13, 1797), that one
of the main objects of this great under-
taking was to put the French in possession
of part of the East India trade, then entirely
in the hands of England, by the conquest
of Egypt---a plan by no means chimerical.
It was intended to establish French col
onies on the Nile, and thus to recompense
the republic for the loss of St. Domingo,
and of the sugar islands, and to open a
channel for the French manufactures into
Africa, Arabia and Syria, where they
might be exchanged for commodities
wanted in France. Napoleon's views
were, in fact, similar to those which, it is
said, have now led the French to under-
take the conquest and colonization of Al-
giers-an object which seems to be gen-
erally applauded. It seems, also, to have
been intended to make Egypt a military
position, from which a French army could
march into India, raise the Mahrattas
against the English, and injure the pow-
er of the latter there. On this point,
we refer the reader to the count St. Leu's
(Louis Bonaparte's) Réponse à Sir Walter
Scott, Paris, 1829, page 33. The directo-
ry probably encouraged the enterprise
with the further object of getting rid of
a general whose victories and rapidly in-
creasing popularity it feared. It has, in-
deed, been said, that it was, at first, deci-
dedly opposed to the plan; but this is very
improbable. March 5, Bonaparte received
the decree of the directory, relative to the
expedition against Egypt. He had full
Leibnitz endeavored to turn Louis XIV's
attention to the conquest of Egypt, in order to
deliver Germany and Holland from his attacks.
Under Louis XV, this project was again discussed
America were in danger; and it was again renew-
at the time when all the French possessions in
ed, when the alliance of Joseph II and Catharine
II threatened the partition of Prussia.
CAMPAIGN OF THE FRENCH IN EGYPT.
power to conduct the business as he saw
fit. The ministers in all the departments,
were ordered to give him whatever assist-
ance he should require; and he had full
powers to act according to his discretion
in Egypt, to return whenever he saw fit,
and to appoint his successor. Napoleon
now collected all the information neces-
sary for his own direction; engaged some
of the most distinguished savants and ar-
tists of France to accompany him, drew
up questions and problems to be resolved
in Egypt, and informed himself accurate-
ly respecting the commercial connexions
which it was proposed to establish. In
fact, he seems to have always viewed this
expedition in the double light of a mili-
tary and a scientific enterprise. The be-
ginning of his proclamation, before land-
ing in Egypt, is remarkable: "Bona-
parte, member of the national institute of
France, and general in chief of the army
of Egypt." His brother Joseph (count
de Survilliers) still possesses the papers of
general Bonaparte relating to these prepa-
rations; and we hope that such important
and interesting documents will not be for-
ever withheld from the public, as they
must give a great insight into Napoleon's
views. The number of these papers is
very great. Bonaparte was to leave Paris
in April, for the purpose of embarking;
but despatches from Rastadt, and from
the French ambassador at Vienna, Berna-
dotte, made a new rupture with Austria
probable. Bonaparte, however, left Paris
May 3, and went on board of the Orient
the 19th. The fleet set sail the same day,
commanded by admiral Brueys. Bona-
parte's proclamation issued before sailing,
and several others, either prove how much
he himself was animated by the military
fame of ancient Rome, or that he thought
it the strongest stimulus to the French sol-
diers. Reports had been carefully spread
to divert the attention of the English to oth-
er points; and the admiral, lord St. Vincent,
sent rear-admiral Nelson, with only three
vessels of the line, four frigates and one
corvette, to watch the gulf of Lyons, and
to prevent the French from leaving it.
But Nelson arrived too late. He also suf-
fered severely from a gale, so that the
*The fleet consisted of 10 74's, with 1 ship of
120 and 2 of 80 guns, 2 Venetian vessels of 64
guns, 14 frigates, 72 corvettes, &c., and 400
transports, from Toulon, Genoa, Ajaccio, Civita
Vecchia,--one of the greatest naval armaments that
ever sailed, containing 40,000 soldiers, and 10,000
sailors. The fleet which sailed for Algiers in
April, 1830, consisted of 11 ships of the line, 12
frigates of 60, and as many of 50 guns, with cor-
vettes. &c.; in the whole, 97 men-of-war.
425
Bona-

French fleet was not molested.
parte had an assurance from the directo-
ry, that the minister of foreign affairs
should go to Constantinople, still retaining
his office, for the purpose of negotiating
with the Porte, and preventing it from
interfering in favor of the Mamelukes.
Talleyrand, however, never went. This
omission, and the defeat at Aboukir, prov-
ed fatal to the expedition. About 2000
savants, artists, physicians, surgeons, me-
chanics and laborers of all descriptions,
accompanied the army. The flower of
the troops was that Italian army, whose
valor had effected the peace of Campo-
Formio. The principal officers were
Berthier (who was averse to going to
Egypt, because in love with the marchio-
ness Visconti), Desaix, Regnier, Menou,
Kleber, Dumas, Caffarelli, Murat, Junot,
Marmont, Belliard, Davoust, Lannes, Du-
roc, Louis Bonaparte, Eugene Beauhar-
nois, and others. June 9, the armament
appeared before Malta. Bonaparte solicit-
ed of baron von Hompesch, the grand mas-
ter, permission to procure a supply of
fresh water from the island. His refusal
afforded a pretext for the conquest of the
island, which had been long contemplat-
ed. The next morning, the French
had landed on all points, and at evening,
notwithstanding a brisk cannonade, were
masters of the island, which was surren-
dered at midnight, with all its fortresses.
The victors left a garrison of 4000 men,
and, on the 19th, sailed for Alexandria.
July 1, the minarets of Alexandria were
seen, and Bonaparte issued an order on
board the fleet, in which he exhorted his
army to endure with patience the diffi-
culties before them, to respect the religion
of Mohammed, and the customs of the
Egyptians, not to plunder, to imitate the
Roman legions in protecting all religions.
Nelson had been here a short time be-
fore in search of the French. The ap-
prehension that he might soon return
induced the general to hasten the disem-
barkation of the troops. This was ac-
complished, without interruption, July 2,
at Marabout, an anchorage to the east of
Alexandria, notwithstanding the wind and
waves were unfavorable. The French
towards Alexandria. Bonaparte was him-
army marched, without cannons or horses,
self on foot. Some Arabs attacked the
French; general Kleber was severely
wounded. On the 5th, Alexandria was
taken, and immediately fortified. Rosetta
was taken at the same time, by general
Marmont, and, July 6, the whole fleet
was moored in the roads before Aboukir.
36 *

426
CAMPAIGN OF THE FRENCH IN EGYPT.
Garrisons were left in Alexandria (where
Kleber was made governor), Rosetta and
Aboukir, and the army, now 30,000 strong,
marched in 5 divisions towards Cairo,
the capital of Egypt. Not far from it,
near the pyramids of Gizeh, a decisive
battle was fought. Murad Bey had en-
trenched himself there, with about 20,000
Mameluke infantry, several thousand
Mameluke cavalry, and 40 pieces of can-
non. The well-directed fire of the French,
and the resolution with which they used
their bayonets, frustrated all the attacks
of the Mamelukes, who fled to the con-
tiguous deserts, as soon as the camp and
village of Embabey were taken by storm.
All the cannon and 400 camels fell into
the hands of the French; 3000 of the en-
emy lay dead on the field; the French lost
few men in comparison. This happened
on the 23d, and Bonaparte entered Cairo
on the 24th; for Ibrahim Bey, who was to
cover it, after the unfortunate issue of the
battle of the pyramids, was driven by De-
saix over the deserts to Upper Egypt. Na-
poleon established a government here, con-
sisting of seven members, summoned the
sheiks, mollas and sheriffs, who promised
to acknowledge the French republic, and,
on his side, pledged himself to respect the
Mohammedan religion, and the property
of the inhabitants. July 25, general Bo-
naparte left Cairo to pursue the Mam-
elukes, and, after many combats with
them, returned to the capital, leaving
Regnier as commandant of the province
of Charquich. On his return to Cairo,
an aid of Kleber brought him the news
of the defeat of the French fleet at Abou-
kir (q. v.) by Nelson. The defeat was in
part owing to the negligence of admiral
Brueys and vice-admiral Villeneuve, who
allowed themselves to be surprised, when
the whole fleet was taking in water, and
not ready for battle, and who have always
been said to have acted against the
express orders of general Bonaparte, who
had directed them to enter the harbor of
Alexandria, or to sail for Corfu, before he
left the shore to penetrate into the coun-
try. Bourienne, however, in his Mémoires
(Paris, 1829), asserts that Bonaparte never
gave such orders.* General Bonaparte
saw his communication with France
threatened, and himself exposed to the
greatest of all enemies, want. Exaspe-
rated by the transformation of so impor-
tant a dependency as Egypt into a French
Bonaparte wrote an affectionate letter to the
widow of admiral Brueys, who had been killed in
the battle of Aboukir, gave her a pension after he
became consul, and educated her sons.
province, the Porte declared war against
France, September 2, 1798, and menaced
an attack from the side of Asia. The in-
habitants of Cairo rebelled. Many of the
French, especially the savants, artists and
mechanics, were murdered; but, after a
bloody conflict in the city, September 23
and 25, the insurgents, who had fled to
the principal mosque, were compelled to
surrender unconditionally. After the res-
toration of quiet, Bonaparte, having or-
ganized a system of government for Egypt,
on French principles, marched, February
27, 1799, with about 18,000 men, from
Cairo to Syria, took the fort of El-Arish,
in the desert, then Jaffa, and, having con-
quered the inhabitants of Naplous, at Zeta,
procured there a supply of provisions,
which he greatly needed, in order to be
able to undertake the siege of St. Jean
d'Acre, and was again victorious at Jafet.
In the mean while, the English, who had
appeared before St. Jean d'Acre under sir
Sidney Smith, had succeeded in reinforc-
ing the Turkish garrison of this place with
several hundred infantry and artillery, and
introducing ammunition. This enabled
the Turks to repel several assaults, and,
notwithstanding the most violent fire from
the French batteries, to sustain the attack
so long, that Bonaparte was obliged to
raise the siege. During this siege, general
Bonaparte marched, with 25,000 men,
towards the plain of Fiuli, where 40,000
of the enemy had assembled. On the
16th and 17th of April, they were beaten
in the memorable battle of mount Tabor,
near the Jordan. It was on the retreat
from St. Jean d'Acre, that the Turkish
prisoners were said to have been put to
death at Jaffa, and the French soldiers,
sick of the plague in the hospitals, poi-
soned. (For some remarks on this sub-
ject, see the article Jaffa.) A third of
the army had become the victims of war
and the plague. After a fatiguing march
of 26 days, the troops arrived at Cairo.
A Turkish fleet soon after landed 18,000
men at Aboukir, who took the fort there.
Bonaparte quickly led his best troops
thither, stationed himself near the foun-
tain between Alexandria and Aboukir,
and offered battle to the Turks, July 25.
Mustapha Pacha, with all his retinue and
artillery, was taken; 2000 Turks perished
in the waves or in battle, and the remain-
der of the army, which had thrown itself
into the fort of Aboukir, was compelled
to surrender unconditionally Aug. 2. By
this victory, general Bonaparte's power in
Egypt was again confirmed. At this
riod, the French had experienced consid-
pe-
CAMPAIGN OF THE FRENCH IN EGYPT.
erable reverses in Europe. The battle
of the Trebia had been lost, the French
had evacuated the Genoese territory,
Massena, in Switzerland, was in great
danger. General Bonaparte saw the dan-
ger of his country, and the loss of his
conquests in Italy, and resolved to return,
having from the beginning permission to
do so whenever he chose. But how
could he have known the state of things in
Europe? It has been often asserted, that
he obtained his information from English
papers, which the French officers had
received from the English, when engaged
in the exchange of prisoners. But would
the general have undertaken so important
a step merely on the authority of the
English papers, which were known to
contain many misrepresentations? The
fact is, that his brother Joseph sent a
Greek of Cephalonia, named Bombachi, to
induce him to return. The order which
gave the command to Kleber was dated
August 22, 1799, and contained wise
directions respecting the army and coun-
try. The instructions contain two keys
of ciphers, one to be used in communica-
tions to the directory, and the other in
those made to himself. The conclusion,
also, shows, that it did not escape him
how necessary it might become, in some
future time, to have the army personally
attached to him. By the time his de-
parture was known to the army, Bona-
parte's frigate had weighed anchor. Au-
gust 23, he left Aboukir in the Muiron,
a Venetian vessel, commanded by rear-ad-
miral Gantheaume. The situation of the
troops under Kleber's command became
more critical every day. General Verdier
repelled a new disembarkation of the
Turks, in November, 1799; but, for an
army that could not be recruited, the
smallest loss was serious. The advices
from Europe were not encouraging; and,
at this juncture, Kleber, having been in-
formed that the grand vizier was march-
ing from Syria to Egypt, with a large ar-
my, concluded, January 24, 1800, the
treaty of El-Arish, with the vizier and
sir Sidney Smith. By this treaty it was
provided, that a truce should be granted
to the French for three months, till the
ratification of the treaty, when they
should evacuate Egypt. But the letter
of Kleber to the directory, in which he
set forth the miserable state of the army,
and urged the ratification of the treaty,
fell into the hands of the English admiral
Keith, and was sent to England. It was
now demanded that the whole French
army should be made prisoners of war.
427

Kleber immediately resumed his arms,
and defeated the vizier at Heliopolis,
March 18, exacted a tax for the payment
of his soldiers, formed new regiments of
the Copts and Greeks, gave security to the
coasts, and founded magazines. In the
midst of his untiring activity, he was
murdered in Cairo by a Turk, June 14,
and the command devolved on Abdallah'
Menou. Meantime the English govern-
ment had resolved to wrest Egypt from
the French. March 1, the English fleet
arrived before Alexandria, and, on the
13th, the disembarkation was accomplish-
ed at Aboukir. The French, about 4000
men strong, gave battle on the next day,
but were forced to retire. Aboukir sur-
rendered on the 18th, and the English
entrenched themselves there. On the
21st, Menou commenced an attack, with
10,000 men, was beaten, and threw him-
self into Alexandria. But the English
general Abercrombie was mortally wound-
ed, and died on the 28th; Hutchinson
succeeded him in the command. On the
28th, reinforcements were brought by a
Turkish fleet, and the vizier was now ap-
proaching from Syria. On the 19th of
April, Rosetta surrendered to the com-
bined forces of the English and Turks.
A French corps of 4000 men was defeated
at Ramanieh, by 8000 English and 6000
Turks. 5000 French were obliged to re-
treat, at Elmenayer, May 16, by the vizier,
who was pressing forward to Cairo, with
20,000 men; and the whole French army
was now blocked up in Cairo and Alexan-
dria. June 20, the siege of Cairo was for-
mally commenced. There were but 7000
men to defend the city against 40,000. It
capitulated, June 27, to the English and
Turks, on condition that general Belliard
and his troops should evacuate the city
and country, should be transported to
France at the expense of England, and
that the native Egyptians should be per-
mitted to accompany him. August 17,
they embarked at Rosetta, and arrived at
Toulon in September, 1801, about 13,000
in number, of whom hardly 4000 were
armed. General Menou still remained in
Alexandria. Admiral Gantheaume had
sailed, before Belliard's arrival, with sev
eral ships of the line, and from 3 to 4000
troops, from France, and arrived before
Alexandria, but was compelled to nasten
back to Toulon, with a loss of 4 corvettes.
On the other hand, the English had re-
ceived 5000 fresh troops from England,
and now attacked Alexandria. They
were already masters of castle Marabout,
when Menou requested a truce; to which
428
CAMPAIGN OF THE FRENCH IN EGYPT.

ne was impelled by a want of provisions,
and a new reinforcement which had
joined the British, consisting of 6000 men
under general Baird, from the East Indies.
Menou capitulated September 2. Alex-
andria, with all the artillery and ammuni-
tion, 6 French ships of war, and many
merchantmen, together with all the Ara-
bian manuscripts, all the maps of Egypt,
and other collections made for the French
republic, were given up. The French
army was transported, with its arms and
baggage, to a French harbor, which they
reached at the end of November. The gar-
rison of Alexandria had comprised above
8000 soldiers, and 1307 marines. Three
years and six months had elapsed since
the first embarkation at Toulon. Four
weeks after the loss of Egypt, the prelim-
inaries of peace were signed at London,
October 1, 1801.*-This expedition to the
valley of the Nile, as far as Philæ, on the
frontiers of Nubia-the island which served
as the extreme frontier post of the Roman
empire in the south (a German, named
Waldeck, however, pretends to have dis-
covered a pillar, erected by Vespasian's
warriors, at the foot of the Mountains of
the Moon) was attended with important
consequences for the higher interests of
humanity; because science and art, in
this expedition, went hand in hand with
war. Those who say that Napoleon was
not a friend to the arts and sciences will
find it difficult to name any expedition, in
which such ample provision was made
for their advancement. These campaigns
revealed to scientific Europe treasures
which had been too long concealed by
tyranny and barbarism. The ancient
Denderah, Thebes, Latopolis and Edfu
were disclosed, with their temples, pala-
ces, ruins, obelisks and catacombs, to the
view of the learned men who accompanied
the expedition to Egypt. Secrets which
neither Herodotus, Strabo nor Diodorus
had been able entirely to penetrate, and
*In R. R. Madden's Travels in Egypt, Nu-
bia, Turkey and Palestine, in the years 1824, 25,
26 and 27, London, 1829, reprinted in Philadel-
phia, it is stated, that the French were much re-
gretted by the Egyptians, and extolled as bene-
factors; that, "for the short period they remain-
ed, they left manifold traces of amelioration;"
and that, if they could have established their
power, Egypt would now be comparatively civi-
lized. This reminds us of the regret which most
intelligent Spaniards now express at the failure
of the French to establish their power in Spain;
and we have heard Hessians lament the loss
of many institutions established in the kingdom
of Westphalia, though nobody can deny that
Jerome's government was defective in a high
degree.
which had remained closely hidden from
the view of all modern travellers, were now
unfolded. The so long misunderstood
Egyptian architecture was now displayed
in all its grandeur; and the veil was rais-
ed, which had formerly covered a great
portion of the history, the manners, the
science and geography of this country.
In one and the same spirit, this people
inscribed on the walls of its palaces, tem-
ples and sepulchres, the images of its gods
and kings, the forms of its celestial ob-
servations, of its sacred usages and do-
mestic life. These monuments of stone
are the oldest traces of the human mind,
showing to us the customs of nations in
the ages reputed fabulous. The study
of antiquities and legislation, as well as
the history of Egypt, teaches anew the
great truth, that all progress in the arts
and sciences has an intimate connexion
with the spirit of the political constitution
and government of a country, and the ne-
cessity of a careful observance of justice
and right. We now know, that, of all
civilized nations, the Egyptians were the
first to observe the course of the stars;
since Europe has become acquainted, by
means of the French, with the sculpture
and architecture in which the Egyptians
imbodied in stone their astronomical
knowledge. Thus the zodiac of Dende-
rah (see Denderah), now in Paris, and oth-
er monuments, show the progress which
this people had made in astronomy.
Previously, no one suspected the exist-
ence of the store of papyrus manuscripts,
which were found in the catacombs of
Thebes. The rich decorations of these
catacombs, including paintings almost un-
injured by time, give us a glimpse of the
habits and domestic life of the generation
by whom they were built; and the dis-
covery of the famous stone of Rosetta has
done much towards affording the long-
desired clue to the hieroglyphics. (See
Spohn.) The monuments of Egypt wit-
nessed the rise and fall of Tyre, Carthage,
Athens and Rome, and yet exist. When
Plato lived, they were venerable for their
antiquity, and will command the admira-
tion of future generations, when, perhaps,
every trace of our cities shall have van-
ished. In the Egyptian nation, every
thing that concerned religion and govern-
ment partook of the character of eternity,
in a climate where all animal and vegeta-
ble life rises speedily to perfection, and as
speedily decays. The permanence of the
institutions of the country was certainly
influenced by the sight of the public mon-
uments, on which time had tried its cor-

EGYPT-EICHHORN
roding power in vain. While beholding
these stupendous works, we reflect with
awe on the generations that have passed
away since they arose, and the ages that
must elapse before the pyramids shall
bow their heads to the dust. Every
'hing that zeal in the cause of science,
combined with the most extensive knowl-
edge, has been able to collect, in a land
rich as Egypt is in monuments of every
kind, and in the rarest curiosities, is com-
prised in a work, compiled at the cost of
the French government, by the commit-
tee for Egyptian antiquities. This work
corresponds, in the grandeur of its propor-
tions, to the edifices which it describes.
The Description de l'Egypte, ou Recueil
des Observations et des Recherches pendant
l'Expédition de l'Armée Française, 25 vols.,
with more than 900 engravings and 3000
sketches (the last number appeared in
1826), contains all the transactions of the
institute of Cairo. The first of the three
great divisions contains the antiquities,
the second the modern condition, and the
third the natural history of Egypt. In
compliance with the wishes of Napoleon,
only a few copies were printed. Of these,
a small number were sent to foreign
courts. None of the essays were re-
ceived till after a previous examination
by a committee consisting of the savants
and artists who had accompanied the ar-
my under Bonaparte to Egypt. Among
these were Berthollet, Costar, Degenettes,
Fourier, Girard, Monge, Conté and Lau-
rent. The place of the two last, who
died during the progress of the work, was
supplied by Jomard and Jallois, to whom
were afterwards added Delille and De-
villiers. Louis XVIII and Charles X
caused the publication of this valuable
work to be continued, and, in 1821,
Panckoucke, a bookseller in Paris, was
permitted to undertake a new edition, and
make use of the valuable copperplates of
the former edition. Jacotin's splendid
map of Egypt, constructed by the French
engineers on the spot, is annexed to the
Atlas of Egypt. The discoveries of
Champollion (q. v.), and the prevalent
zeal for investigating the "country of
wonders," may be said to have had their
origin in the French expedition to Egypt.
The chapter on this expedition, in sir
Walter Scott's Life of Napoleon Bona-
parte, is very deficient and incorrect.
The account of this expedition and of the
motives which prompted it, given in the
third and eighth chapters of the second
volume of Buchholz's Geschichte Napoleon
Bonaparte's (History of N. Bonaparte),
429
Berlin, 1829, 3 vols., is better. See also the
memoirs of the duke of Rovigo (Savary).
There has been published, quite recently,
the first livraison of L'Histoire scientifique
et militaire de l'Expédition Française en
Egypte (Paris, 1830), under the direction of
X. B. Saintine, with an atlas, preceded by
a history of Egypt from the earliest times,
and with an account of the administration
of Ali Pacha, and likewise Campagne
d'Egypte, suite de l'Histoire de France, par
Anquetil, 3d vol. by F. Fayot, Paris, 1830.
ÉGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. (See Cemetery,
Charon, and Hieroglyphics.)
EHRENBREITSTEIN; an important for-
tress, on a rock upon the Rhine, opposite
Coblentz, in the former archbishopric of
Treves. The French continued to block-
ade it in 1798 and 1799, during the ne-
gotiations for peace, till at length it was
obliged to surrender for want of provis-
ions, January 29, and, in 1801, was blown
up. At the bottom of the rock, near the
little town of Thal-Ehrenbreitstein, is the
castle of the elector, which, however, was
in great part destroyed during the siege.
In 1802, the dilapidated fortress, the vil-
lage, and the jurisdiction appertaining to it,
were bestowed upon the prince of Nassau-.
Weilberg, by way of indemnity. They
were subsequently ceded to Prussia, and
now belong to the Prussian grand-duchy
of the Lower Rhine (the province of
Cleves-Berg). The fortress has been late-
ly rebuilt, on the newest and most ap-
proved principles, so that it is considered
one of the finest fortresses in the world.
(See Coblentz.)
EHRENSTREM; a Swedish officer, one
of the principal persons engaged in the
conspiracy against the regency, 1793. At
the death of Gustavus III, from whom he
had received several marks of honor and
trust, he joined a conspiracy, headed by
baron Armfelt (q. v.), to overturn the re
gency, and raise the young king to the
throne, before the time appointed by law,
and the will of Gustavus III. The plot
was accidentally discovered. Armfelt es-
caped, and the whole weight of vengeance
fell upon his accomplices. Ehrenstrom
defended himself with eloquence and abil-
ity on his trial, but was sentenced to die.
He went with calmness and resolution to
the scaffold; and the executioner was on
the point of giving the death stroke, when
it was announced that his sentence was
commuted to perpetual imprisonment.
On the accession of Gustavus IV, he was
released, and withdrew into retirement,
with a pension from the king.
EICHHORN, John Godfrey, one of the
430
EICHHORN-EICHSTAEDT.

greatest scholars of Germany in Oriental
literature, biblical criticism, and literary
and general history, born 1752, at Dorren-
zimmern, in the principality Hohenlohe-
Ohringen, was at first rector of the school
at Ohrdruf, in the principality of Gotha;
in 1775, was made professor at Jena, where
he remained till 1788, when he became
professor in Göttingen. He gave the first
evidence of his knowledge of Oriental lit-
erature and history in his History of the
Commerce of the East Indies before Mo-
hammed (Gotha, 1775). At Göttingen,
he devoted himself chiefly to biblical crit
icism. The results of his inquiries were
published in his Allgemeine Bibliothek
der biblischen Literatur, from 1788 to
1801, closing with the tenth volume. This
work is connected with a previous work
published by him, from 1777 to 1786, in
18 parts, called Repertorium für biblische
und morgenländische Literatur. He also
published an Introduction to the Old and
New Testaments (the former went through
a fourth edition in 1824); also, the Apoc
ryphal Writings. These last works were
published afterwards together, under the
title of Critical Writings, in a revised
edition (Leipsic, 7 vols., 1804-1814).
These works contributed much to spread
a sound criticism of the Scriptures, ground-
ed on a knowledge of sacred antiquities,
and the Oriental modes of thinking. To
these works may be added his Primitive
History (Urgeschichte), published at Nu-
remberg, 1790-93, with an introduction
and notes, by Gabler, in which he criti-
cally examines the Mosaic records. Eich-
horn afterwards turned his attention to
history. He formed the plan of a history
of the arts and sciences, from their revi-
val to the end of the 18th century, of
which particular parts have appeared un-
der different titles (e. g., The History of
Poetry and Eloquence, by Bouterwek;
The History of Military Science, by Hoyer),
and form separate works. Eichhorn wrote,
with this view, two volumes of a Gene-
ral History of European Civilization and
Literature in modern Times. He did not
finish it, and afterwards gave up the direc-
tion of this undertaking. He began, in
1799, a survey of the whole history of lit-
erature, but did not finish the 2d volume
till 1814 (containing the history of lite-
rature for the three last centuries). He
has composed several valuable historical
works, of which, among others, his Ancient
History of the Greeks and Romans, con-
sisting entirely of extracts from the origi-
nal historians, are in high repute (An-
tiqua Historia ex ipsis veterum Script. Ro-
man. Narrationabus contexta, Göttingen,
1811, 2 vols.; Antiqua Historia ex ipsis
vet. Script. Graec. Narrat. contexta, Leip-
sic, 1812, 4 vols.). In 1804, he published
the first edition of his History of the
three last Centuries, considered in a gen-
eral view, and in relation to the changes
that have occurred in the particular coun-
tries of Europe, Asia, Africa and Ameri-
ca. In 1818 appeared a 3d edition in six
volumes, which brings down the history to
the latest period. His last historical work
is the Early History of the Illustrious
House of the Guelphs (Hanover, 1817), in
which he traces back the history of that
family to the earliest times which afford
any notices of it. Several separate treatis-
es of his are to be found in the commenta-
ries of the Göttingen society of science,
and in the Fundgruben des Orients.
Since 1813, he has conducted the Göttin-
gen Literary Gazette.
EICHHORN, Frederic Charles, a distin
guished student of German history and
law, son of the preceding, was born at Je-
na, 1781. He studied at Göttingen, was
an instructer there a considerable time,
and, in 1805, was appointed professor of
law in Frankfort on the Oder; after that
at Berlin, 1811, where he remained til
1817, when he removed to the same office
in Göttingen. He distinguished himself
in the campaign of 1813 against the
French, and received the iron cross. His
History of the German Politics and Ju
risprudence first appeared 1808-18; 3d
edition, Göttingen, 1821-23, 4 vols. In
company with Savigny and Göschen, he
has published, since 1816, A Historical
Journal of Jurisprudence, in which is to
be found his treatise on the origin of the
German cities, which serves as a further
exposition of his views given in the work
mentioned above.
EICHSTAEDT, Henry Charles Abraham,
a distinguished philologist of modern
times, was born Aug. 8, 1770, at Oschatz,
where he was partly educated by his fa-
ther, a clergyman. He is now professor in
the university of Jena, and editor of the Je-
naische Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung (Jena
Universal Literary Gazette). His works
are some editions of the classics (Diodorus
Siculus, Halle, 1800-2, 2 vols., and Lucre-
tius, Leipsic, 1801), critical treatises, illus-
trating the genuine principles of interpre-
tation (De dramate Græcorum comico-sa-
tyrico, Leipsic, 1793, and on Tibullus, Phe-
drus, &c.), also translations of histories, re-
lating principally to Greek or Roman antiq-
uity, e. g. Mitford's History of Greece,
from the English, Leipsic, 1802-8, 6 vols.
EICHSTAEDT--EISENACH.
431

Eichstaedt is distinguished for the ele- the plumage descends nearly to the nos-
gance, force and ease of his Latin style.
EIDER DUCK (anas mollissima, Lin.,
Wilson; fuligula, Bon.) This valuable bird
is found from 45° north to the highest
latitudes yet visited, both in Europe and
America. Its favorite haunts are solitary
rocky shores and islands. In Greenland
and Iceland, they occur in great quanti-
ties. In particular spots, their nests are so
abundant, that a person can scarcely walk
without treading on them. The eider
duck is about twice the size of the com-
mon duck. Their nests are usually formed
of drift grass, dry sea-weed, lined with a
large quantity of down, which the female
plucks from her own breast. In this soft
bed she lays five eggs, which she covers
over with a layer of down; then the natives,
who watch her operations, take away both
the eggs and the down: the duck lays a
second time, and again has recourse to the
feathers of her body to protect her off-
spring: even this, with the eggs, is general-
ly taken away; and it is said, that, in this
extremity, her own stock being exhausted,
the drake furnishes the third quantity of
down: if the robbery should be repeated,
however, they abandon the place. One
female generally furnishes about half a
pound of down, which is worth about two
dollars. This down, from its superior
warmth, lightness and elasticity, is pre-
ferred by the luxurious, to every other ar-
ticle for beds and coverlets; and, from the
great demand for it, those districts in Nor-
way and Iceland, where these birds abound,
are regarded as the most valuable proper-
ty, and are guarded with the greatest vigi-
lance. Each proprietor endeavors, by ev-
ery means in his power, to draw those
birds from his neighbor's ground to his
own, and when they settle in an island off
the shore, the cattle and herdsmen are re-
moved to allow them to breed undisturb-
ed. Very little of the eider down remains
in the countries where it is collected. As
found in commerce, this down is in balls
of the size of a man's fist, and weighing
from three to four pounds. It is so fine
and elastic, that when a ball is opened,
and the down cautiously held over hot
coals to expand, it will completely fill a
quilt five feet square. The down from
dead birds is little esteemed, having lost
its elasticity. The length of this duck
is two feet three inches, extent of the wings
three feet, weight from six to seven pounds:
the head is large, and the bill of singular
structure, being three inches in length,
forked in a remarkable manner, running
high up in the forehead, between which
trils: the whole of the bill is of a dull
yellowish horn color, somewhat dusky
in the middle. The male is black, head
and back white, with a black crown. The
female is wholly reddish drab, spotted with
black, with two white bands across the
wings. The young of both sexes are the
same, being covered with a kind of hairy
down, throat and breast whitish, and a
cinereous line from the bill through the
eyes to the hind head. These birds asso-
ciate in flocks, generally in deep water,
diving to great depths for shell fish, which
constitute their principal food. They fre-
quently retire to the rocky shores to rest,
particularly on the appearance of an ap-
proaching storm. Their flesh is eaten by
the Greenlanders, but tastes strongly of
fish. The eggs, however, are esteemed.
These and the down are both frequently
obtained at the hazard of life by people
let down by ropes from craggy steeps.
With five pounds of the best eider down,
a whole bed may be well filled. The
Greenlanders likewise use the skin, taken
off, feathers and all, for their under dress-
es. The down is divided into two sorts;
sea-weed down, and grass down. The
former kind is the heaviest ; but the labor
of cleaning is greater. Much of the down
is lost in cleaning. Iceland furnishes an-
nually from 200 to 300 pounds cleaned,
and from 1500 to 2000 pounds impure.
EIFEL; a district rich in monuments of
the Romans, and of the middle ages, ly-
ing between the Moselle, the Rhine and
the Roer. Schannat's Eiflia illustrata was
published by Barsch in Latin, with anno-
tations (Cologne, 1824, 2 vols.).
EISENACH (anciently Isenacum); a town
in Germany, and capital of a principality of
the same name, belonging to the grand-
duchy of Saxe-Weimar, on the Nesse:
26 miles west Erfurt, 40 west Weimar;
lon. 10° 20′ E.; lat. 50° 59' N; popula.
tion, 7845. It is a well built town, and
contains five churches, a gymnasium with
a library, and has some manufactures,
chiefly of coarse woollen. It is most agree-
ably situated, near the mountains of Thu-
ringia. Half a league from this town lies
the Wartburg, an ancient mountain cas-
tle, to which the elector, Frederic the Wise,
of Saxony, ordered Luther to be carried,
after the latter had been placed under the
bann of the empire, by the diet at Worms.
Luther lived here as the chevalier George,
from May 4, 1521, to March 6, 1522, and
labored zealously in the translation of the
Bible. The view from this castle over an
ocean of leaves is charming. In 1817,
432
EISENACH EJECTMENT.

many German students assembled here,
and celebrated the anniversary of the bat-
tle of Leipsic (Oct. 18, 1813). The zeal
which they evinced for the union of their
divided and lacerated country, together
with the burning of various books, the
political character of which was offensive
to them, displeased the German govern-
ments, and gave rise to the prosecution of
many students supposed to be disaffected.
The War on the Wartburg is an ancient
German poem, of great interest in the his-
tory of German literature. Mr. Zeune
published it in 1818.
EJECTMENT, in law, is an action by
which a person ousted from the posses-
sion of an estate for years, in lands or ten-
ements, may recover that possession. But
though the action is intended only for the
recovery of a term for years, it is, in fact,
used, in England and the state of New
York, to try the title to an estate of inher-
itance or for life. In the early periods of
the English law, the tenant, or person dis-
possessed of his estate for years, could not
recover the possession of it, in this action,
in the courts of law; he could only recov-
er damages for the injury sustained by be-
ing driven from the possession; but the
dispossessor kept possession of the term,
just as is the case at present in the action
of trover and conversion, in respect to a
chattel, in which the owner does not re-
cover the chattel itself, but damages for
being deprived of it. But the court of
equity, in this case, as in many others, led
the way in ameliorating the law, and en-
larged the remedy, so that the plaintiff
might recover the term itself; and the
courts of law, following those of equity, as
early as Edward IV, adopted the same
remedy, and awarded execution for put-
ting the plaintiff into repossession of his
estate, though no such thing was warrant-
ed by the writ, or prayed for by the dec-
laration. After taking this step, the next
one was to adopt the same form of action
for trying the title to the lands. This ap-
plication of the action of ejectment was
made as early as the time of Henry VII.
To do this, the person who claimed an es-
tate of inheritance, of which another was
in possession, entered upon it, and then
made a lease, and the lessee took posses-
sion, and remained upon the land in virtue
of the lease, until the person claiming un-
der an adverse title put him out; or, if no
such person appeared to expel him from
the land, he pretended to be driven off by
the first person who happened to pass that
way, and who was thence called the casu-
al ejector, who was, in fact, no ejector at
all. Being thus ejected in fact, or by fic-
tion, he brought his action of ejectment, or
the party claiming the title brought it in
his name, and in this suit the title was ne-
cessarily brought into question; for, in or-
der to get possession, he must prove that
he had a good and valid lease, which he
would endeavor to do by showing that the
lessor had the right to make such a lease,
that is, that he had the title and right of
possession. Besides proving the title of
his lessor, he must also prove the lease, his
entry under it, and his ouster, or being
driven out of possession. When the ob-
ject was to try the title, the lease, entry and
ouster were a mere ceremony, and might
as well be supposed or imagined as actu-
ally to take place. The courts, according-
ly, allowed a fiction of the lease, entry and
ouster; the plaintiff stated them to have
taken place, though there had, in fact,
been no such thing, nor was there any
such person as the one named as being
the lessee, who, in England, is always
John Doe, and in New York, Jackson.
Thus the action of Doe or Jackson ex dem.
[demisso] Johnson, against Sampson, means
the action of Doe or Jackson, the lessee of
Johnson, against Sampson. If the nomi-
nal plaintiff, Doe or Jackson, were liable
to be called upon to show himself to the
court, there would be an end of the suit,
as there would be no such person to be
found. Nor would the demandant succeed
any better, were he called upon to prove
that there had been any such lease, entry
or ouster; as all this is a fiction. Former-
ly, the defendant also, the casual ejector,
as well as the plaintiff, was a man of straw,
or little better; for he was frequently a per-
son who accidentally came in sight at the
time of making the lease, if there was any
in fact made, and who would not be dis-
posed to trouble himself to prevent the
demandant from getting possession of land,
in which he himself had no interest or
concern; or he might be a friend of the
demandant, who had come upon the land
at his request, to act as ejector, and would
be very willing that the demandant should
recover it. The tenant, therefore, who is
in actual possession of the estate, unless
his right is defended by some other person
than the indifferent defendant whose name
appears on the docket of the court, is like-
ly to lose his inheritance. To prevent this,
the court allows him to appear himself,
and defend against the claim and the court:
always requires that notice shall be served
upon him, to give him an opportunity to
appear. But before the court will permit
him to appear for this purpose, they re
EJECTMENT-ELASTICITY.
quire of him to admit all these fictions of
a lease to John Doe, his entry and ouster,
which he is willing to do rather than lose
his land. These being admitted by him,
he may then proceed to defend the action,
and try the question, whether he has a bet-
ter right to continue in possession, than this
supposed John Doe has to recover the
possession, upon his supposed lease. The
titles of the demandant and tenant are
thus brought into comparison, and decided
upon. But when the object is, in fact, to
recover a term for years, of which the de-
mandant has been dispossessed, the lease,
entry and ouster are of importance, and
must be proved.
EL, or AL; the only article of the Ara-
bian language. It is contained in ma-
ny geographical names; for instance, Al-
djezair (Algiers), the islands; El-Arisch,
the cradle. This syllable has remained in
many names of places in Spain and Por-
tugal, as Alcantara, the bridge; Alcazar,
the palace; Algarve, the west.
ELAIN; the oily principle of fat, ob-
tained by submitting fat to the action of
boiling alcohol, allowing the stearin to
crystallize, and then evaporating the alco-
holic solution; or, by the simple process
of pressing any oily or fatty substance be-
tween folds of bibulous paper, the oily
matter or elain is absorbed, while the
stearin remains. The paper being then
soaked in water, and pressed, yields up the
elain. It possesses much the appearance
and properties of vegetable oil, is liquid at
the temperature of 60° Fahr., and has an
odor derived from the solid fats from which
it has been extracted. It is readily soluble
in alcohol, and forms soaps with alkalies;
in doing which, however, it undergoes de-
composition, and is converted, according
to Chevreul, into a peculiar acid, called by
him oleic acid, which combines with the
alkali employed. This acid is obtained by
submitting the soap formed by the action
of potash on hog's lard to the action of
boiling water; the solution, on cooling, de-
posites a sediment, consisting of the mar-
garate of potash, while the oleate of pot-
ash remains in solution. The oleate of
potash is decomposed by tartaric acid,
again combined with potash, and again
decomposed by tartaric acid, when the
oleic acid rises to the top in the condition
of an oily-like fluid. It is insoluble in wa-
ter, soluble in alcohol, reddens litmus, and
combines with the different salifiable bases,
forming compounds somewhat analogous
to soaps. At a temperature of 35° Fahr.,
it congeals into crystalline needles.
ELASTIC GUM. (See Caoutchouc.)
37
VOL. IV
433

ELALIA; a town of Africa, in Tunis,
near the eastern coast, in a large extent of
ruins, on the borders of a fertile plain; 90
S. S. E. Tunis; lon. 11° 2 E.; lat. 35.6
N. Besides such ruins as it has in com-
mon with other places, there are severa
cisterns with large paved areas built over
them, in order to receive the rain water,
that, in the rainy season, is to fill and re-
plenish them. Several conveniences of
the like nature are dispersed all over this
dry country. Elalia seems to be the
Acolla or Acilla of the ancients.
ELASTICITY; the peculiar property of
bodies, by virtue of which, the particles of
which they are composed, when moved
out of their positions by an external force,
or pressed into a narrower space, tend to
return to their former position, as soon as
the external force ceases to act. A bow,
bent by the tension of the string, recovers
its previous form when the tension is re-
laxed. Let an ivory ball fall upon a plate
of marble, it is partially flattened by the
impulse, but becomes immediately round
again as soon as the force of the blow is
destroyed. Here we see the cause of its
rebounding from the hard surface. Feath-
ers are in a high degree elastic. This prop-
erty of elasticity is particularly observa-
ble in atmospheric air. If it is enclosed
in a vessel, and pressed with a piston, as
soon as the force is removed from the pis-
ton, the air throws it up violently. This
is the principle of the air-gun. There is
an important difference between the clas-
ticity of solids and fluids; the former tend
to recover their previous form; the latter
to expand into a greater space, whence the
term expansibility is applied to them. For
the sake of distinction, the elasticity of
solid bodies may be termed attractive, and
that of fluids, expansive. The degree of
it is very different in different bodies, and
in many it is increased by art. Those
bodies in which it cannot be perceived at
all are called unelastic. The elasticity of
a solid body is greater the more its par-
ticles are expanded. If all the parti-
cles of a body are so far expanded that
their elasticity is just equal to the expan-
sive power, the expansion can be carried
no further without separating the particles.
The weights, necessary to produce a giv-
en degree of extension, must be propor-
tionate to the extension already existing.
If three cords, of the same size and sub-
stance, stretched in proportion to the num-
bers 1, 2, 3, are to receive each a given
amount of additional extension, the weights
necessary to produce this extension are as
1,2,3. The laws of elasticity in fluids are
434
ELASTICITY-ELBA.

different from those in solids. In heavy
elastic fluids, the inferior layers support the
weight of the superior; in a cylindrical ves-
sel,therefore,the bottom suffers the pressure
of the whole mass of elastic fluid, and the
lower strata are sensibly denser than the
upper. A difference is made, too, be-
tween absolute and specific elasticity. By
the former is understood the peculiar
property of bodies to repel a pressing
force, in itself, and without regard to tem-
perature and density. This must be al-
ways equal to the pressing force. But as
different kinds of matter may press with
equal force under unequal densities and
temperatures, that is called specifically
most elastic, which with a less density
presses with a force equally strong, and
with an equal density stronger. In all
elastic fluids, the specific elasticity increas-
es with the temperature; it is likewise
augmented by greater density: if air is
confined, and made more dense, its specif-
ic elasticity is greater in proportion to its
increase of density.
ELATER; the name of an insect re-
markable for a singular apparatus between
the thorax and abdomen, by which it is
enabled to throw itself to a considerable
height in the air, when placed on its back.
It thus regains its proper position when
accidentally overturned. The arrange-
ment by which this is effected is so curious,
that we cannot suppose it intended solely
for this purpose, and deem it most proba-
ble that other and more valuable services
are rendered to the insect by it. A spine
is produced from the centre of the breast
or sternum, and enters a socket in the an-
te-pectus or breast. The force and elas-
ticity with which the spine enters its ap-
propriate receptacle, aided by the form of
the thorax, produces a jar or concussion
sufficient to throw the insect several inch-
es into the air. When alarmed, the elater
draws its limbs close to the body, and,
falling to the earth quite motionless, coun-
terfeits death. Flowers, grass, and decaying
wood, are the proper habitations of these
animals, which are almost always found
singly, and not in numbers collected to-
gether, as in the case of many other beetles.
One species is accused of depredations on
the roots of wheat-the E. striatus of Fab-
ricius, an inhabitant of Europe. The ela-
ter noctilucus possesses luminous proper-
ties, which are unlike those of the glow-
worm, &c., being seated near the head.
In South America, where they abound,
the natives term them cucuyos, and the
Spanish residents, cucujo. Color, dark
brown, with an ash-colored down; tho-
rax on each side, with a convex round
spot, from which the light is emitted;
elytra with lines of impressed punctures.
The light emitted by several of these
insects, enclosed in a glass vase, is suffi-
cient to read by without much difficulty.
As ornaments for the hair and evening
dresses of the Spanish ladies, they are
said to be in great request; but it is proba-
ble that the feeble light which they pro-
duce would be entirely eclipsed by the
glare of artificial light. It has been as-
serted, that the luminous quality of the cu-
cujo is not confined to the spots upon the
thorax, but that the whole interior of the
animal possesses the property of afford-
ing light. This is considered doubtful.
Some years since, numbers of this insect
were taken in Philadelp ia, having been
imported in vessels from South America.
In confinement, they were beautifully lu-
minous, and the character of the light
was observed to be similar to that of the
glow-worm. They survived but a short
time in captivity, for want of proper nour-
ishment. The luminous phenomena ex-
hibited by certain insects are exceedingly
curious and beautiful. Every one is ac-
quainted with the lightning-bug, so com-
mon in this country, and the female lam-
pyis, or glow-worm. (q. v.) The light is a
pale, greenish-yellow, phosphorescent em-
anation, subject to the will of the animal,
who kindles or extinguishes it at pleasure.
In day-light, the luminous organs are sim-
ply yellow.
ELBA (anciently Ilva); a small island in
the Mediterranean, near the coast of Tus-
cany, to which, at present, it belongs, and
from which it is separated by the channel of
Piombino. The island is about eight miles
in length, and two in breadth; was known
to the Greeks by the name of Aithalai,
and to the Romans by that of Ilva, or El-
va, and has been renowned for its mines.
from a period beyond the reach of history.
Pliny gives it a circuit of 100 miles; late
geographers allow only 60 to its circuit.
The difference might be accounted for by
the encroachments of the sea, and by the
tumbling in of rocks, which are in many
places of a mouldering contexture. Be-
ing extremely mountainous, Elba affords
but scanty room for cultivation, and pro-
duces little more than six months' provis-
ion of corn for its inhabitants. The cli
mate is much milder than that of the ad-
jacent continent. Elba contains two grand
ports-Porto Ferraio, with 3000 inhabi-
tants, and Porto Longone, with 1500 in-
habitants, both defended by fortifications
and garrisons.
garrisons. Lon. 10° 26' E.; lat. 42°
ELBA-ELDER.
53′ N.; population, 13,750; square miles,
153. It produces annually near 36000 cwt.
of iron ore, which yield, at least, 50 per
cert. of metal. It is rich in silver, marble
and losdstone; 600,000 bags of salt are
cally produced. In 1814, Elba was
granted to Napoleon, with all the rights of
Eovereignty. He took possession of it
May 4, and left it February 26, 1815, to
undertake his memorable march to Paris.
ELBF (anciently Albis); one of the larg-
9st rivers of Germany, which rises in the
Riesengebirge mountains, about 4260 feet
above the level of the sea; takes a south-
erly course through a part of Bohemia to
Pardubitz, where it turns towards the W.
and N. W. At Melneck, having received
the Moldau, it becomes navigable; after
which it enters Saxony, passes by König-
stein, Pirnau, Dresden, Meissen, Belgern,
enters Prussia, and passes Torgau, Wit-
tenberg, Coswick, Dessau, Barby, Magde-
burg, Tangermunde, runs between Meck-
lenburg and Hanover, passes Lauenburg,
Hamburg, Glückstadt, &c., and runs into
the German ocean, about lon. 8° E., lat. 54°
3' N., near Cuxhaven, after a course of
more than 500 miles. In a military point
of view, the Elbe is of the highest impor-
tance, and has always been a line of ope-
ration. In regard to commerce, it gives
to Hamburg its command of the naviga-
tion far into the interior, which is sur-
passed only by the situation of New York.
The circumstance, however, that this no-
ble river passes through so many king-
doms, dukedoms, and petty states, has
rendered the navigation of it a point of
much contest, which, in spite of the prom-
ise of the congress of Vienna to make
the navigation of all the German rivers
free, has not yet been settled.
ELBEE, Gigot d', generalissimo of the
Vendean royalists, a man of distinguished
courage and character, was born at Dres-
den, 1752. He served in the electoral
army of Saxony, and entered the French
army as lieutenant of cavalry. At the be-
ginning of the revolution, he retired to his
estate in Anjou, where the insurgent peas-
ants of La Vendée, in 1793, chose him
their leader. He alternately conquered
and was conquered; and was at last
wounded and taken prisoner, in the island
of Noirmoutier, brought before a court-
martial, and shot, January 2, 1794.
ELBERFELD; a commercial city, and
capital of the district of Dusseldorf, in the
Prussian province of Cleves-Berg, con-
taining 1941 houses, and 24,500 inhabitants.
Two centuries ago, the population was
scarcely 800. The pure mountain stream
435

of the Wüpper, particularly adapted to
bleaching, first led to the establishment of
linen bleacheries there. The undressed
yarn comes from Hesse, Brunswick, Hi-
desheim and Hanover. The manufac
tures of linen and woollen ribands, and of
lace, were the first established. France,
Italy, Spain, Russia, America, &c., con-
sume vast quantities of these goods. Frin-
ges, bed-tickings, thread, thread-lace, &c.
employ a large number of workmen.--
When the English process of spinning
yarn became known, the manufacture of
cotton articles was highly improved. Dye-
ing with Turkish red has been another
very important branch of business in El-
berfeld since 1780. The silk manufac-
ture, since 1760, has been of great impor-
tance. The annual amount of the silk
stuffs made in the province of Berg is
upwards of $2,000,000, and the amount of
all the manufactures in Elberfeld and Bar-
men is about $9,000,000. Large quanti-
ties of manufactures from this place are
sent, by way of Hamburg and Antwerp, to
Mexico, Buenos Ayres, Chile, Peru and
the East Indies. Here is the seat of the
Rhenish East India company. In 1824,
a mining company was established in El-
berfeld, with a capital of $375,000, to
work mines in Mexico.
ELBEUF, or ELBOEUF; a town in
France, important for its cloth manufacto-
ries, in the department of the Lower
Seine, four leagues S. S. W. of Rouen.-
It has 9090 inhabitants; 7000 of whom
manufacture annually from 28 to 30,000
pieces of cloth, most of which is consum-
ed in France; the rest is sent to Spain,
Italy, and the Levant.
ELBING; a town in West Prussia, on
the river Elbing, near its entrance into the
Frische-Haff; 30 miles S. E. of Dantzic;
lon. 19° 22′ E.; lat. 54° 8' N; population,
19,434; houses, 2040. It is divided into the
old and new towns, exclusive of the sub-
urbs, and contains five Lutheran church-
es, one Reformed, one Catholic, and one
Mennonist, five hospitals, and a gymna-
sium. In former times, it was an impor-
tant commercial place for the exportation
of grain, but it has since sunk very much.
ELDER; a name given to the different
species of the genus sambucus. These are
small trees or shrubs, with opposite and
pinnated leaves, bearing small white flow
ers, in large and conspicuous corymbs.-.
The berries are small, and of a black or
red color. The leaves are bitter and nau-
seous to the taste, and possess purgative
and emetic properties. The bark, flowers
and berries are sometimes used in medi
436
ELDER-ELDON.

cine, particularly in cases of dropsy. The
wood of the young shoots contains a very
large proportion of pith. Two species in-
habit North America-S. Canadensis, a
common plant, from the 49th to the 30th
parallel of latitude, and found even among
the Rocky mountains, the berries of which
are black, and have a sweet taste; and S.
pubescens, which bears red berries, and
inhabits Canada, the northern parts of
New England, and the Alleghany moun-
tains. The species called sambucus nigra,
common in England, is a wild shrub, dis-
tinguishable by its winged leaves, with
serrated and somewhat oval leaflets; its
clusters of small white flowers, divided
into five principal branches, and the small
black berries, by which these are succeed-
ed. The uses of the elder are more nu-
merous than those of most other shrubs.
There is scarcely any part of it which
has not been advantageously employed in
some way or other. The wood is yellow,
and, in old trees, becomes so hard, that it
will receive a polish almost as well as box,
and indeed is often used as a substitute
for box-wood. Its toughness also is such
that it is made into skewers for butchers,
tops for fishing rods, and needles for the
weaving of nets. It is likewise employed
by turners. Sir J. E. Smith has remark-
ed that this tree is, as it were, a whole
magazine of physic to rustic practitioners,
and that it is not quite neglected even by
professional men. Ointments have been
made of the green inner bark, and of the
leaves. The dried flowers, infused in wa-
ter, are used in fomentations or as tea,
and, mixed with buttermilk, have some-
times been used as a wash for the face.
An infusion of the leaves is sometimes
sprinkled by gardeners over the buds of
such flowers as they wish to preserve
from caterpillars. Elder flowers have an
agreeable flavor, which they impart in dis-
tillation to water; they are likewise used
to give a flavor to vinegar. The berries
are poisonous to poultry, but their juice,
properly fermented, makes a pleasant and
wholesome wine; and, in Germany, a very
pure and strong spirit is distilled from
them. The juice of elder berries is some-
times employed to give a red color to rai-
sin or other sweet wine. The young
shoots of this shrub are filled with an ex-
ceedingly light pith, which is cut into
balls, for electrical experiments; and is
also made into toys for the amusement of
children. The elder will thrive in almost
any soil and situation; and every part of
it has an unpleasant narcotic smell, which
ought to render people cautious not to
sleep under its shade, since, in such case,
it might prove of serious injury to them.
ELDERS. We find among almost all ne-
tions, in the infancy of civilization, that
the oldest men of the tribe, being consid-
ered as the most experienced, and the let st
liable to be influenced by passion, admin-
ister justice, discuss the welfare of the
people, &c. Many names for the highest
officers, in various countries, convey the
idea of old age, as senator, which is con-
nected with senex. With the ancient
Jews, the elders were persons the most
considerable for age, wisdom and experi-
ence. Of this sort were the 70 men whom
Moses associated with himself in the gov-
ernment. In the modern Presbyterian
churches, elders are officers, who, with the
pastors or ministers, and deacons, compose
the consistories or kirk-sessions, with au-
thority to inspect and regulate matters
of religion and discipline. In the first
churches of New England, the pastors or
ministers were called elders, or teaching
elders.
ELDON, John Scott, earl of, born 1750,
at Newcastle upon Tyne, in Northum-
berland, is the third son of a respectable
proprietor of coal mines near that town,
whose second son was William Scott, the
present lord Stowell, better known as sir
William Scott. In 1767, John Scott was
entered at Oxford. His marriage, in 1772,
with a lady with whom he eloped to
Scotland, prevented his promotion in the
university. Both families were offended at
this rash step; and, after consultation with
his brother William, it was determined
that the lost young man, as his brother
called him, should enter as a student of
the Middle Temple, where he lived in
very straitened circumstances. After trav-
elling three years in the northern circuit
without a single brief, he made his debut
at York, with great success. He then re-
turned, however, to London, and devoted
himself to the business of the equity
courts. Lord Thurlow, who had just as-
sumed the presidency of the chancery
court, became favorable to him, and his
success now seemed certain. In 1793, he
became attorney-general and sir John
Scott. At this critical time, he had to
bring numerous charges of high treason
against the London corresponding socie-
ty, and the acquittal of the accused brought
great odium upon the accuser. Just be-
fore this period, he had been elected mem-
ber of parliament for Weobly. Within
three years, he succeeded sir James Eyre,
as lord chief justice of the common pleas.
He was now made a peer, with the title of
ELDON ELECTION.
baron Eldon; and in two years more (1801),
he succeeded the earl of Rosslyn as lord
chancellor. Five years after, Pitt died,
and Fox obliged him to surrender the great
seal to lord Erskine; and, when the lat-
ter retired, in 1807, in consequence of the
change of the ministry, he became once
more lord high chancellor, and retained
this post until the administration of Can-
ning (q. v.), when he joined the opposition,
and was one of the warmest opponents of
the Catholic emancipation bill. (See Cath-
olic Emancipation.) He was succeeded
by lord Lyndhurst. (See Copley.) Opinions
are divided respecting him. He is accused
of unnecessary delay in giving his de-
cisions, of obstinate adherence to old
forms, and of having thereby retarded
the improvement of the law. His read-
ing is, undoubtedly, very extensive; but
he has not distinguished himself by that
philosophical spirit, which discovers gen-
eral principles in individual cases, and
rests on the broad and immutable grounds
of general truth. His decisions, however,
are greatly respected, and he is one of the
ablest lawyers that ever sat on the wool-
sack. In politics, he is a thorough tory,
and one of the most distinguished leaders
of his party. His long continuance in
office is not to be ascribed solely to his
talents, but is owing, in part, to the ac-
commodating spirit which has led him to
adapt himself to the measures of succes-
sive administrations.
ELDORADO; a fabulous country, in
which gold and precious stones are as
common as rocks or sand in other coun-
tries. Francis Orellana, a companion of
Pizarro, first spread the account of this
fabulous region in Europe; and an Eng-
lishman even published, at the end of the
16th century, a description of this favor-
ed country, with a map. The German
Schlaraffenland, where roasted pigeons fly
into one's mouth, or where, as Göthe has
it, the vines are tied by sausages to the
stocks, is something similar, as is likewise
the French pays de cocagne. (See Co-
cagna.)
ELEATIC. A Grecian philosophical sect,
so called because three of its most cele-
brated teachers, Parmenides, Zeno and
Leucippus, were natives of Elsa (in Latin,
Velia) a town in Magna Græcia, built by a
colony of Phocæans, in the time of Cyrus.
The founder was Xenophanes. (q. v.) The
sect included two parties, one approving
the other rejecting appeals to observation
and experiment. The latter class main-
tained the eternity and immutability of
the world that all which existed was only
437

one being, without generation or corrup-
tion, and this was God. The apparent
changes in the universe they considered
as mere illusions of sense. Some learned
men have supposed that they understood,
by the one being, not the material world,
but the originating principle of all things,
or the true God, whom they expressly af-
firm to be incorporeal. The other branch
of the Eleatic sect were the Atomic phi-
losophers, who formed their system from
attention to the phenomena of nature.
Accordingly, Xenophanes maintained that
the earth consisted of air and fire; that all
things were produced out of the earth, and
the sun and stars out of the clouds; and
that there were four elements. (For fur-
ther information, see Cudworth's Intellec-
tual System, and Brucker's History of Phi-
losophy, translated by Enfield.)
ELECAMPANE (inula helenium); a plant,
inhabiting the Eastern continent, and now
naturalized and frequent in some parts of
the U. States, where it grows along road
sides, in waste places, &c. It belongs to
the natural order composite. The stem is
three or four feet high, thick, pubescent,
and branching above; the radica! leaves
are often two feet and more in length; the
flowers are large and yellow; the root is
perennial, possesses a bitter aromatic and
somewhat acrimonious taste, and has been
celebrated in disorders of the breast and
lungs; it is useful to promote expectora-
tion, and is also sudorific.
ELECTION, in politics. To give an ac-
curate description of the elections of pub-
lic officers, as they have existed in the
various periods of history, would almost
be to give the history of politics, for which
many valuable materials exist, but which,
it is much to be regretted, has never yet
been fully treated. The subject is worthy
of the deepest study of a philosophical
mind; and an enlightened citizen of the
U. States would have many advantages
were he to undertake the execution of it.
It would far exceed our limits, if we should
venture to give only a sketch of the vari-
ous forms of election which have existed;
and we are obliged to limit ourselves to
an account of those of the most important
modern governments. (For the manner
of election of the officers, in the ancient
states, we refer to the separate articles:
for instance, the article Consul describes
how that magistrate was elected in Rome
Elections are one of the vital elements
of all free nations; they have, therefore,
always occupied much of the attention of
lawgivers, and may, to a certain degree,
be considered as a standard to measure
37 *
438
MORELECTION.IS

the degree of national liberty. The forms
of election may be divided into two
kinds: 1. those which have grown up, in
the course of time, under the various in-
fluences which have contributed to mod-
ify the political constitution of the coun-
try, such as civil war, or internal troubles,
conquest, particular laws, &c., as in the
case of England; and, 2. those established
by a written constitution, of a certain date,
as in the U. States and in France. Elec-
tions, also, may be divided, like constitu-
tions (q. v.), into aristocratic and demo-
cratic; in the former, the person elected
representing a much larger number and
more classes of citizens than are com-
prised in the body of his immediate elec-
tors; in the latter, representing his constit-
uents only. Elections, also, may be direct
or indirect; in the latter case, the people
at large choose electors, who elect the rep-
resentative or magistrate, as is the form of
elections in Bavaria. The election of the
president of the U. States is, in form, indi-
rect, but is not practically so, because the
candidates for the presidency are before the
nation, and electors known to be in favor
of a particular candidate are chosen by his
partisans, and give their vote accordingly.
The principal advantage gained, therefore,
in this case, by intermediate electors, is that
of order and convenience in balloting. In
England, the election of the members of
the house of commons is a subject of the
greatest interest to the people. The qual-
ifications of electors are very different in
different parts of the kingdom. Even the
county elections, which have been estab-
lished in England by a uniform law, are
attended with great inequalities of repre-
sentation; thus the two members of the
county of York represent more than a
million of people, whilst the two members
for Rutland represent hardly 20,000. Be-
sides, the number of freeholders is so
small in some counties (the land being
owned by a few families, and cultivated
by their tenants), and the influence of the
great landholders so predominant, that the
election depends almost entirely upon
the richest families in the county. In
order to avoid the expenses of a contested
election, the families and the other voters
sometimes make a compromise ;-one
member being chosen by the most influ-
ential family, the other by the other free-
holders; or, where two very influential
families exist, they divide the election be-
tween them. Thus, in Buckinghamshire,
one member is returned by the duke of
Portland, the other by the marquis of
Buckingham in
in Cambridgeshire, the
duke of Rutland and the earl of Hard-
wicke return the two members. 12 coun-
ties are considered quite independent; the
other 28 are more or less influenced by
the rich families. In what manner this
influence is sometimes exerted, was re-
cently shown, by the duke of Newcas-
tle's turning out all his tenants in New-
ark, for no other reason, than that they
would not elect a Mr. Sadler, the duke's
candidate. The public was indignant at
this degree of borough-mongering, as it
was called, though an almost overwhelm-
ing influence is exercised, wherever the
most powerful families exist. The case
alluded to can be found in all the princi-
pal newspapers of England, published in
October, 1829; among others, in the Atlas,
October 11, 1829. In some cases, a great
influence is exerted by families who do
not belong to the class of princely land-
holders, but who, having been long settled
in the county, and comprising numerous
branches, collectively possess much wealth
and official consequence, and combine to
effect a common end. Very often, in-
deed, the whole election contest is to de-
termine which family shall carry its can-
didate. The qualifications of electors, in
cities, differ according to their charters;
and it is well known that, whilst hundreds
of boroughs, where there are only a few
families, or none at all (see Rotten Bor-
oughs), send members to parliament, pop-
ulous places, like Manchester, Birming-
ham, &c., have no representative. Each
county sends two members, the universi-
ties of Oxford and Cambridge each two,
London, including Westminster and
Southwark, eight, and other places return
one or two. The members are distributed
in the whole United Kingdom as follows:
For England,
pour Ireland,
Scotland,
Wales,
489 members.
.. 100
45
24
66
Total... 658,
of whom 186 are returned from 117 coun-
ties, 60 from 32 cities, 396 (called bur-
gesses) from 222 boroughs and 3 univer-
sities, 16 from 8 cinque ports, &c. (called
barons),-total 658.
If the corruption of the elections in
Great Britain is so great, how is it that
the English nation is yet the freest in
Europe? The cause is one of superior
efficacy to any formal constitution-the
public spirit diffused through the nation;
a spirit which, in the instance of other
countries, has often set limits to the power
ELECTION.
of monarchs nominally absolute. Bribery
in elections is extremely common and
open in England, notwithstanding the
laws against it, which have sometimes
been enforced. The laws intended to
prevent government from influencing the
elections are well meant, but ridiculous,
when we see hundreds of boroughs
bought by government. Any person who
gives or promises any thing to any voter,
in order to influence his vote, as well as
every voter who accepts a bribe, is subject
to a fine of £500, and is for ever disabled
from voting, and holding any office in any
corporation, unless, before conviction, he
discover some other offender, when he
escapes the punishment of his own of-
fence. No officer of the excise, customs,
stamps, or certain branches of revenue, is
allowed to interfere in elections, by per-
suading any voter, or dissuading him,
under penalty of £100, and incapacity for
office.
All persons are eligible to the house of
commons, who are not, 1. aliens nor mi-
nors; 2. among the 12 judges; 3. clergy-
men; 4. sheriffs, mayors, and bailiffs of
boroughs (these are not eligible in their
respective jurisdictions; all members
ought, in strictness, to be inhabitants of
the places for which they are chosen; but
this rule has always been disregarded,
and was entirely abolished under George
III). 5. No person is eligible, who is con-
cerned in the management of any duties
or taxes levied since 1692, except the
commissioners of the treasury, nor any
excise officers, army and navy agents,
governors of plantations, &c., nor any
person who holds any office under the
crown, created since 1705. 6. No person
having a pension under the crown, during
pleasure, or for any term of years, is ca-
pable of being elected. If any member
accepts an office under the crown, except
an officer in the army or navy accepting
a new commission, his seat is vacated;
but such member is capable of being re-
elected. Every member returned by a
county, or knight of a shire, as he is styled,
must have a clear freehold estate of the
value of £600 per annum, and every mem-
ber returned by a city or borough must
have one of the value of £300, except the
eldest sons of peers, and of persons quali-
fied to be knights of the shire, and except
the members of the two universities. The
mode of election is as follows:-The
crown in chancery issues writs to the
sheriff of every county, for the election
of all the members of the county, and of
the cities and boroughs therein. Within
439

three days, the sheriffs must summon the
different places to elect the members.
The election must begin within eight
days. The election of members for the
county is conducted under the presidency
of the sheriff himself. Soldiers must be
removed, at least one day before the elec-
tion, to the distance of at least two miles
from the place of election. The lord-war-
den of the cinque-ports, lord-lieutenants
of counties, and the lords of parliament,
are prohibited by statute from interfering
with the elections. We have already
shown how all the most essential of these
laws are openly disregarded. Any native
English subject, who possesses a freehold
of 40 shillings a year, has a right to vote
for the members to be chosen by his
county. We have before stated that the
elective franchise differs in different cities
and boroughs, according to their charters.
In France, before the revolution, the
members of the general representative bo-
dy of the realm were chosen by the three
estates-the clergy, nobility (including all
possessors of noble fiefs), and the third
estate (including all possessors of taxable
estates). The number was determined
by the government, but was not import-
ant, because the representatives of the
different estates voted separately, and each
body had only an aggregate vote. When
the states general were convoked, in 1789,
the old rule was followed, with few ex-
ceptions. The three estates of each bail-
lage principal, or sénéchaussée principale,
formed the general assembly of the baili-
wic, whose duty it was to elect the dep-
uties of the states general of the king-
dom, and to draw up the cahier de dolé-
ances, or libellus graviminum et desiderio-
rum (the list of grievances and wants).
But, even in the letters by which the last
assembly of the states was convened, it
was intimated, that the form of election
should be better adapted to the wants of
the nation. In 1791, 1792, and 1795, the
principle became more and more settled,
that the whole people have the elective
right, excepting those who were immedi-
ately dependent on some other persons.
When Bonaparte became first consul, the
nation at large only chose names for lists,
from which government selected officers,
and even the deputies and senators com-
posing the legislative body. The charte
constitutionnelle (q. v.) conferred the right
of election on the electoral colleges (article
35), but with very considerable limitations
The charte (art. 40) allows only those
Frenchmen (30 years old), who pay annu.
ally at least 300 francs direct taxes, to be

440
ELECTION.

electors. In 1820, it was estimated, that
there were not more than 90,000 persons
having the qualifications of electors; and
since that time, the number has been di-
minished by the reduction of direct taxes.
There are not at present more than 80,000
electors; and, according to the most re-
cent computation (January 1, 1829), France
is believed to contain 32,000,000 inhab-
itants. A citizen, to be eligible, must be
as much as 40 years of age, and pay 1000
francs direct taxes a year, either in his
own person, or by delegation for his
mother, grandmother, or mother-in-law.
If, however, there are not 50 persons of
this description in a department, the 50
who pay the highest taxes under 1000
francs are eligible. Each elector receives
a carte électorale from the prefect; but it
is the inscription on the list of voters
which gives the right of voting, and de-
cides in case of any dispute. The pres-
idents of the electoral colleges are, ex offi-
cio, members of the college, but cannot
vote, unless they have the legal qualifica-
tions of voters. They are appointed by
government. No arined force is allowed
to be near the place of session, unless the
president requires it. No one except an
elector, whatever may be his station, can
demand admission into a meeting of an
electoral college. The electoral college
is provisionally organized by the presi-
dent, who names the members of the bu-
reau provisoire, that is, the four inspec-
tors (scrutateurs) and the secretary. This
is merely preparatory to the final organ-
ization (bureau définitif) of the college by
the voters, who elect four inspectors and
a secretary. Absolute secrecy in voting
is required by the law of June 29, 1820.
Previously to voting, each elector sepa-
rately takes the following oath: "I swear
allegiance to the king, obedience to the
constitutional charter, and to the laws of
the kingdom" (ordinance of October 11,
1820). The bureau définitif being organ-
ized, the college proceeds to the election
of the deputy. On the first and second
ballots, the candidate who has a majority
of all the votes given in (provided it be
one more than one third of the whole
number of electors of the college) is de-
clared chosen. If no choice is made on
the second ballot, a list is made by the
bureau (of double the number of deputies
to be chosen), from the candidates who
had the greatest number of votes on the
second ballot, and the electors cannot vote
for any candidate whose name is not on
the list. After the second ballot, only a
plurality of votes is necessary to a choice.
If any candidates have an equal number
of votes, the oldest is considered as elect-
ed. After the election is terminated, the
journal of proceedings (procès-verbal) is
read in the presence of the electors, that
any error may be corrected. These
procès-verbaux are remitted to the cham-
ber of deputies, which decides on the
right of its members to a seat. The elect-
ors must then separate on the command
of the president, who is previously obliged
to destroy all the ballots in their presence.
Since 1815, the laws of election have
been changed three times-in 1817, under
Decazes (q. v.), when it was thought ne-
cessary to counterbalance the influence
of the emigrants; in 1820, when the
murder of the duke of Berri was seized
upon by the ultras, as a pretext to over-
throw the party of Decazes, and the law of
June 29, 1820, increased the number of
deputies from 258 to 430: the old num-
ber were to be chosen as before, by all
the voters of the department; the other
172 by the richest electors (one quarter
of all the voters, consisting of those who
pay the highest taxes), who, after having
voted with the whole body of electors of
the department, elect separately the num-
ber of deputies assigned to their depart-
ment, out of the additional 172. (See
Constant, Benjamin.) By the law of June
9, 1824, the deputies, instead of being
elected for 5 years, one fifth of the cham-
ber being renewed every year (as was pro-
vided by the charte, art. 34), are elected for
7 years, the whole chamber at once. The
prefect of the department directs the elec-
tion, the government appoints the presi-
dent of the electoral colleges, and, in this
way, as well as by the eligibility of its
officers, it exercises a very great influence
on the character of the representative
bodies. This influence has been exerted
several times: for instance, under Villèle,
in a revolting way; he turned out every
officer who did not vote for his candi-
dates, and allowed people to vote who
had no right to. The law also directs
that the votes should be given in such a
way that the name of the voter should not
be known; but, under Villèle's adminis-
tration, it was contrived that people should
vote openly, which induced many, in a
dependent situation, or of timid charac-
ter, to vote for the government. In fact,
the elections are so much in the hands of
the government, that it costs the nation
the greatest effort to elect deputies of their
own choice, whenever they are opposed
to the ministers. The ordinance of the
king of France, of May 17, 1830, by
ELECTION.
which the chamber was dissolved, and the
election of a new one ordered, is a highly
interesting document, because it contains
the dates of all the most important laws of
election in France. We have seen how
much French politics are influenced by
the circumstance of the richest tax-payers
being liberal or ultra; and the celebrated
statistical writer, M. C. Dupin, has lately
made the following calculation, with the
purpose of showing the state and distri-
bution of the electoral franchise. From
his statements, the liberal party in France
seem to have a very great majority in num-
bers, as well as superiority in wealth. M.
Dupin divides the departments into three
classes. The first class includes the de-
partments which return liberal members;
they contain together 45,000 electors, and
pay taxes to the amount of 151,500,000
francs. The second class includes the
departments which return absolutists, or
ministerialists; these contain 31,900 elec-
tors, and pay in taxes 46,000,000 francs.
The third class, designated neutral, com-
prises those departments which return
deputies, part of whom are of the liberal
side, and part of the ministerial. The
amount of taxes paid by these depart-
ments is 19,200,000 francs. By this ex-
position it would seem, that the liberals
possess two thirds of the heritable prop-
erty, and in numbers exceed the ministe-
rial party about as 4 to 3.
441
newed every second year. Whether the
choice shall be made by a joint or con-
current vote of the branches of the state
legislatures, is not decided by the consti-
tution, and the usage differs in different
states. The representatives are chosen
biennially, by the people of the several
states, who are qualified electors of the
most numerous branch of the legislature
of the state to which they belong. The
qualifications, therefore, of electors of the
federal representatives, differ in different
states; but, in general, they are, that they
be of the age of 21 years, free resident
citizens of the state in which they vote,
and that they have paid taxes; in some
states, they are required to possess prop-
erty, and to be free white citizens. This
description is so comprehensive, that the
house of representatives may be consid
ered to represent the whole body of the
people. Some of the state constitutions
prescribe certain qualifications as to prop-
erty in the elected, and some require a
religious test. But the federal constitu-
tion only provides, that no person shall
be a representative who has not attain-
ed to the age of 25 years, and been 7
years a citizen of the U. States, and who
is not, at the time of the election, an
inhabitant of the state in which he is
chosen. The representatives are appor-
tioned among the states according to num-
bers, which are determined by adding to
In the U. States, the democratic princi- the number of free persons three fifths of
ple of election by the majority of polls is the slaves. The constitution provides, that
carried to a great extent, though generally there shall not be more than one repre-
slightly modified by qualifications required sentative for every 30,000 persons, but that
of the electors. The municipal and state every state shall have at least one. By the
elections, as they recur more frequently, act of March 7, 1822, the apportionment
and have a more immediate bearing upon was one for every 40,000 persons (based
the interests of the citizens, are, perhaps, of on the 4th census), and the whole num-
more practical importance than the fede- ber was 213, which, with the 3 delegates,
ral elections, particularly in those portions compose the present house of representa-
of the union where each town is a little tives. After the ratio of apportionment is
democracy. In the federal elections, the determined, each state is divided into dis-
choice is indirect, as in that of the presi- tricts, equal in number to the representa-
dent; or made by the state legislatures, as tives to which it is entitled, and each district
in that of the senate; or made by a large chooses one representative; or the repre-
district, as in that of the federal repre- sentatives are chosen by a general ticket.
sentatives. In the other elections, the The only qualifications required by the
voters decide upon individuals with whose constitution for a president of the U.
character they are, in general, personally States, are, that he should be a natural
acquainted. (See Constitutions.) Of the born citizen, have attained the age of 35
two houses of the federal congress, the years, and have been 14 years a resident
senate is chosen by the state legislatures, within the U. States. The election of a
and the house of representatives by the supreme executive magistrate has hitherto,
people. Each state, without regard to in other countries, been a scene of in
difference of extent, population or wealth, trigue, corruption and violence. To avoid
chooses two senators, who hold their pla- the excitement of popular passions, the
ces for six years. The senate is divided election of president has been confided.
into three classes, one of which is re- by the constitution, to a college of electors,

442
ELECTION-ELECTOR.
the constitution, the votes of the electors
were given in for two persons; the per-
son having the majority of all the votes
was president, and the person having the
next greatest number after him was vice-
president. The present plan was substi-
tuted, in consequence of the contested
election of 1800, when, the number of
votes given in for Jefferson and Burr
being equal, the choice devolved on the
house. After six days of balloting, Mr.
Jefferson was elected on the 36th ballot.
The number of states was then 16; neces-
sary to a choice, 9. The first ballot
gave
Mr. Jefferson 8, Mr. Burr 6, 2 divided.
The 36th ballot gave Mr. Jefferson 8, and
the 2 divided states went for him by blank
votes. The following is a table of the
votes since the retirement of Washington.
On the old system, in
1796 Adams 71
1800 Jefferson
73
1804 Jefferson 162
1808 Madison 122
1812 Madison 128
1816 Monroe 183
1820 Monroe 231
1824 Adams 84
appointed in each state, under the direc-
tion of the legislature. Congress has the
power to determine the time of choosing
the electors, and the day on which they
shall vote; this day, however, must be
the same throughout the U. States. The
number of electors in each state must be
equal to the whole number of senators
and representatives of the state in con-
gress; there are now, therefore, 261 elec-
tors, in 24 colleges. As the manner of
choosing the electors is left to the discre-
tion of the state legislatures, it differs in
the different states, and at different times
in the same state. The choice is some-
times made by the legislatures, sometimes
the whole college is chosen through the
state at large, by a general ticket, and
sometimes the election is made in such
a way, that each representative district
chooses one elector, and the other elec-
tors are chosen by a general vote. To
prevent the person in office at the time On the present system:
of the election from exercising any influ-
ence by executive patronage, the consti-
tution provides that no member of con-
gress, nor any person holding any office
under the U. States, shall be an elector.
The colleges assemble in the respective
states, on the first Wednesday in Decem-
ber, in every fourth year succeeding the
last election, and vote by ballot for the
president and vice-president, one of whom
shall not be an inhabitant of the same
state with the electors. A list of persons
voted for, with the number of votes for
each, is made out by each college, and
sent to the seat of government, directed to
the president of the senate, to whom, by
the law of March 1, 1792, it must be de-
livered before the first Wednesday in the
next January. On the second Wednes-
day in February, that officer opens the
votes in the presence of the two houses
of congress. The constitution does not
declare by whom the votes shall be count-
ed, but it is done by the president of the
senate. A majority of the whole number
of votes is necessary to constitute a choice.
If no person have such majority, then the
house of representatives proceeds to choose
by ballot one of the three persons having
the highest number of votes. In this
case, the vote is taken by states, the rep-
resentation from each state having one
vote. A quorum for this purpose must
consist of a member or members from
two thirds of the states, and a majority of
all the states is necessary to a choice. If
no choice is made before the fourth day
of March, the vice-president acts as pres-
ilent. According to the original plan of

Jefferson 68
Burr
73
Pinckney 14
Pinckney 47
Clinton 89
King 34
1 vote in op-
position.
Jackson 99
Crawford 41

Clay
37
house of representatives, and Adams had
The election, therefore, devolved on the
13 states, Jackson 7, and Crawford 4.
1828 Jackson 178
Adams 83
(For more information respecting the
election of the former German emperor,
see Elector; of the pope, see Cardinal,
and Conclave; of the former king of Po-
land, see Poland.)

em-
ELECTIVE AFFINITY. (See Affinity.)
ELECTOR (Latin); he who chooses, or
has the right to choose; a title given to
certain members of the German
pire, called, in German, Kurfürsten, from
Fürst, prince, and Kur, an old word for
election. When we hear the ancient Ger-
man empire called an elective government,
we must not connect with this phrase
the idea of election, such as it exists
in modern governments. The election to
the sovereignty of the German empire was,
as indeed might easily be supposed, il-
defined, during the middle ages, until
the right of election was arrogated by a
few 1embers of the empire. This elec-
tive constitution was a thousand times more
injurious to the empire than a hereditary
succession would have been, because the
main object of the electors seemed to be

ELECTOR.
to extort concessions from the emperor, and
diminish his authority as much as possible,
by the unfortunate, to use the mildest term,
elective capitulation (Wahlcapitulation;
see Capitulation). In fact, it is chiefly
owing to the defective constitution of the
empire, that, whilst France and England
rose in power by the union of their sey-
eral parts under one government, the Ger-
man empire sunk in authority, being split
into a host of sovereignties of every de-
gree of consequence, some very impor-
tant, others very insignificant.
In the most ancient times of the Ger-
man empire, under the Carlovingian race,
the empire was hereditary; but with Con-
rad I (chosen in 911) it became elective.
The elections, however, became almost
confined to one powerful family; and the
glory which the German empire acquired
was owing, in no small measure, to this
circumstance, that the imperial authority
remained for generations within the same
family. Unity, strength, and internal
peace, are essential to the beneficial opera-
tion of any political constitution; and if
they cannot be attained by good laws,
and the spirit of the nation, as is the case,
for instance, in the U. States, it is much
better that they should be secured by a
hereditary monarchy, than that the main
objects of a political organization should
be lost in the confusion of anarchy, and
the struggles of petty ambition. With the
fall of the Hohenstaufen family, the an-
cient great duchies of Bavaria, Saxony,
Suabia, Franconia and Lorraine were di-
vided into parts, yet their claims were not
extinguished. Thus originated, from 1245
to 1256, the 7 electors, who are found taking
part in the election of the emperor Richard
of Cornwall, in 1258. The 7 electors were
those of, 1. Mentz; 2. Treves; 3. Co-
logne (who were archbishops, and chan-
cellors of the empire, and therefore called
spiritual electors); 4. the Palatinate; 5.
Brandenburg; 6. Saxony; and 7. Bohe-
reia, which received its electoral authori-
ty, in 1290, from Bavaria, which had not
appeared in the diet for several elections,
having been represented by Bohemia.
The other members of the empire, indeed,
protested against this authority arrogated
by the electors, which was, however, at last,
acknowledged, in 1338, by the emperor
Louis the Bavarian, and confirmed by
Charles IV (who died in 1378), by the law
called the golden bull. Frederic V, elector
of the Palatinate (who died in 1632), was
declared an outlaw by the empire, and his
electoral privilege conferred on Bavaria;
and when it was attempted, in the peace of
443

Westphalia, to settle the contests in the
empire, an eighth electorate was created,
and given to the Palatinate. Leopold I, in
1692, made Brunswick-Lüneburg the ninth
electorate, which, after much opposition on
the part of the states of the empire, and
the body of electors, was acknowledged
as such in 1710. When, in 1777, the
house of Bavaria became extinct, and the
dukedom fell to the Palatinate, the Bava-
rian electorship expired likewise, and the
number of electors was again 8; of whom
Mentz, Treves and Cologne were ecclesi-
astical, and elective by the chapter of their
archbishopric; the others secular and he-
reditary. There were 5 Catholic and 3
Protestant electors; Saxony was a Prot-
estant electorate, though the ruling house
was Catholic. The chief privileges,
common to all the electors, were, 1. the
right to elect the emperor; 2. to draw
up the elective capitulation (see Capit-
ulation); 3. to possess the great offices
of the empire; 4. to form a separate
college in the diets; 5. to hold electoral
diets (Kurtage), for the election of the
emperor, and for consulting on the affairs
of the empire, &c.; 6. the exemption of
their courts from the appellate jurisdic-
tion of the imperial courts (privilegium de
non appellando); 7. to possess the regal
dignity, yet not the title of majesty; 8.
to possess several electorates at once; 9.
to acquire imperial fiefs, and allodial es-
tates in the empire, without the special
permission of the emperor.. With each
electorate there were also special privi
leges connected, too many to be enume
rated here at length. The elector of
Mentz, for instance, was president of the
electoral college, director of the diet, and
in the corpus Catholicorum (q. v.), with
the right to crown the emperor, which
right, however, was exercised by him al-
ternately with the elector of Treves, after
1656, who was arch-chancellor in Gaul
and Arles (a nominal dignity). The elec-
tor of Cologne was arch-chancellor in
Italy, and legatus natus, that is, ex officio,
representative of the pope. The elector
of Bohemia was arch-cupbearer, and the
first of the secular electors. The elector
of the Palatinate was arch-sewer, vicar
of the empire on the Rhine, and had more
than one voice in the diet. The elector
of Saxony was arch-marshal, iperiai
vicar of the empire, in the countries ander
the Saxon law, and director of the
evangelicorum. The elector of Branden
burg was arch-chamberlain, and had sev-
eral votes in the imperial colleges. The
elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg was arch-

444
ELECTOR-ELECTRICITY.

treasurer, alternately with the bishop of
Osnabrück. By the peace of Luneville,
n 1801, the left bank of the Rhine was
ceded to France, and the ecclesiastical
electors lost their territory. Several chan-
ges took place. In 1802, the elector of
Mentz was declared elector-arch-chancel-
lor, the two other ecclesiastical electors
set aside, and Baden, Würtemberg, Hesse-
Cassel and Salzburg declared electorates;
so that there then existed 10 electors.
August 6, 1806, the emperor abdicated
the imperial dignity, and the electors grad-
ually adopted other titles. The elector of
Hesse-Cassel fled from his domains, against
the advice of Louis Bonaparte (see his
Réponse, 1829), and was declared by Na-
poleon to have abdicated his authority.
When the elector, after the peace of Paris,
in 1814, again took possession of his coun-
try, he retained the title of elector, which,
however, in the new constitution of the
German confederacy, has no meaning.
ELECTRA; daughter of Agamemnon
and Clytemnestra. Her step-father, Ægis-
thus, wished her not to marry any of the
princes who were her suitors, lest her
children should avenge the death of Aga-
memnon; he married her, however, to a
man of humble rank in Argos, who left
her a virgin. At the time of her father's
death, she saved her brother Orestes; and
when, afterwards, he was tortured by the
furies, on account of the murder of his
nother, to which his sister had instigated
him, and she was informed by the oracle
of Delphi that he was slain in Tauria, by
a priestess of Diana, she was upon the
point of killing with a fire-brand her sister
Iphigenia, who had just entered the tem-
ple as a priestess of Diana, when Orestes
came and prevented the deed. Electra
afterwards married Pylades, the intimate
friend of her brother Orestes.
ELECTRIC CALAMINE. (See Zinc.)
ELECTRICAL EEL. A fish possessing
the extraordinary property of communi-
cating a sensation similar to an electrical
shock, when touched with the hand, or
an electric conductor. Body nearly of
equal thickness throughout; head and
:ail obtuse; length five or six feet. The
sea of the organs which produce this
ricus effect is along the under side of
the tail. They are composed of four
undies of parallel membranaceous lami-
rs, placed very near each other, and
cary horizontally, extending from the
g to the central medial plane of the
body, connected together by numerous
vertical lamina, arranged transversely.
The little cells, or rather the small pris-
matic and transverse canals, intercepted
by these two kinds of laminæ, are, ac-
cording to Cuvier, filled with a gelatinous
substance; and the whole apparatus is
abundantly supplied with nerves. Elec-
trical eels are of several species, the most
famous of which is the gymnotus electricus,
found in the rivers of South America. It
is said to possess power, when in full vig
or, sufficient to knock down a man, and
benumb the limb affected, in the most
painful manner, for several hours after
communicating the shock. By frequent
use of this faculty it becomes impaired,
and a considerable interval of rest is re-
quired to recruit its electrical properties.
Through the medium of water, it is able
to destroy small fishes at a considerable
distance, directing the power at pleasure.
Some authors aver, that the gymnotus is
found so large and powerful as to benumb
a horse, and to drown men while bathing,
by the violence of the shock. A speci-
men of the gymnotus, which was con-
veyed alive to England some years since,
afforded the curious an opportunity of ver-
ifying the reports of travellers as to its
electric property. Since that period, nu-
merous specimens have been examined,
and the preceding observations confirmed.
The property of communicating electrical
shocks is common to some other fishes,
of the same subdivision. Specimens of
the gymnotus electricus are reported to at-
tain the length of six or seven feet, but
ordinarily they are about three and a half
or four feet long. The flesh is eatable,
and, in appearance and flavor, said to re-
semble that of an eel.
ELECTRICITY; a branch of natural phi-
losophy, which investigates the attractions
and repulsion's, the production of light,
and the elevation of temperature, as well
as the explosions and other phenomena
attending the friction of vitreous, resinous
and metallic surfaces, and the heating,
cooling, evaporation and mutual contact
of a great number of bodies. Its name is
derived from the Greek word Krov,
(amber), in which substance its phenome-
na were first observed. The knowledge
which the ancients were possessed of con-
cerning this interesting and now very ex-
tensive branch of science, consisted in lit-
tle more than the fact, that amber acquir-
ed the power of attracting to itself light
bodies, on being rubbed, ascribed, by
Thales of Miletus, to an inherent soul or
essence, which, awakened by friction,
went forth, and brought back the light
particles floating around. In the year
1600, Dr. Gilbert, an English physician,



ELECTRICITY.
published a treatise upon the magnet, in
which he remarked, that several other
bodies besides amber can, by friction, be
made to attract light bodies. The obser-
vations of Boyle, Otto von Guericke,
Newton, and a few other philosophers of
the same period, contributed somewhat
to the extension of our knowledge of
electricity; but it was not before the
commencement of the 18th century, that
the most important discoveries and gene-
ralizations of the phenomena before known
upon this subject were made. (See Priest-
ley's History of Electricity.)
The order we shall adopt in the present
article will be the following: 1. A gene-
ral statement of electrical phenomena, inde-
pendent of all theory. 2. The theories which
have been proposed for explaining these phe-
nomena. 3. Electrical machines. 4. Effects
of electrical attraction and repulsion. 5.
Distribution of electricity. 6. Transfer-
rence of electricity. 7. Laws of Induction.
8. Motion of electricity. 9. Chemical ef-
fects of electricity. 10. Effects of electrici-
y upon living bodies. 11. Electricity de-
veloped by changes of temperature and of
form, from contact, compression and other
changes in bodies. 12. Electricity of the
atmosphere.
I. A dry glass rod, a piece of amber or
sealing-wax, when rubbed briskly with a
dry woollen cloth, and immediately pre-
sented to light bodies, such as fragments
of paper, thread, cork, straw, cotton or
gold leaf, will first attract and then repel
them. The bodies which have thus ac-
quired this attractive and repulsive power
are said to be excited. All substances,
however, are not capable of becoming ex-
cited; hence the distinction of bodies into
classes-electrics, or such as become ex-
cited by friction, and non-electrics, or
those which, when rubbed, do not display
electric phenomena. The principal elec-
tric substances in nature are the following:
viz. amber, gum-lac, resin, sulphur, glass,
the precious stones, silk, the fur of most
quadrupeds, and almost all vegetable sub-
stances which have been thoroughly de-
prived of moisture, as baked wood, and
dry paper. If the light bodies which have
been repelled from an excited electric be
again presented to it, they will, provided
they have touched no other body, contin-
ue to be driven off. Some substances re-
main in contact with the electric longer
than others; fibres of cotton adhere some
time, while metallic bodies are repelled
the instant after contact. Two bodies,
which have both been in contact with the
same electric, mutually repel each other.
38
VOL. IV.
445
If a glass tube of considerable diameter,
and two or three feet in length, be em-
ployed for the experiment, we notice in a
dark room, during the friction, flashes of
light, of a bluish tinge, extending over
every part of the tube; and sparks, at-
tended with a sharp snapping sound, will
be seen to dart out in every direction. If
we present to it, after vigorous rubbing, a
round metallic ball, sparks will be obtain-
ed as the ball approaches the tube; and
if the knuckle be presented instead of the
ball, the same effect takes place, accom-
panied with a pricking sensation. If a
metallic ball be suspended in the air by
silk, thread, or fibres of worsted or hair,
or a rod of glass, and rubbed while in this
situation by an electric, it will exhibit the
same properties of attraction and repul-
sion, as if it had been itself an electric.-
That the ball should thus be cut off from
contact with any substance, except the air
and the electric which sustains it, is essen-
tial to the success of the experiment. If
an excited electric be placed near a rush-
pith ball suspended by silk, the ball will in
the first place approach the electric, but
after contact will recede from it. If now,
uncovering the electric, we present to the
ball which has thus touched it a second

any
ball, similarly suspended, but which has
had no previous communication with any
electric, we shall find that these two balls
will attract one another, and come into im-
mediate contact. The same results are
repeated between this second ball and a
third, which may be presented to it, and
so on in succession, with a continued
diminution, however, in the rapidity of the
movements, indicative of a diminished
power, in consequence, as it would seem,
of its being distributed among a number
of bodies. From these facts we infer that
the electric imparts to the balls, suspended
as above, properties exactly similar to those
which had been excited in itself by fric-
tion. By repeated contact with a number
of bodies, an excited electric is found to
lose its electrical powers, in the same de
gree as these powers have been acquired
by the bodies themselves; and fresh exci-
tation alone can renew them. It is evident,
therefore, that electricity is capable of
being transferred, in the same sense as ca-
loric, of which we speak, as being commu-
nicable, and, like caloric, it is weakened by
diffusion among a number of bodies. If t
an electrified ball be touched with the fin.
ger or by a rod of metal, it will be de-n
prived of the whole of its electricity, from
which will pass to the finger or rod touch-
ing it; the ball being left in its original or
446.
ELECTRICITY.

of conducting electricity. Snow conducts
less readily than ice at the same tempera-
ture; but glass, as well as sulphur, on the
contrary, acquire some conducting power
by being pulverized. Vegetable and ani-
mal substances lose their conducting pow-
ers when made thoroughly dry. No sub-
stance with which we are acquainted can
be said to be wholly impervious to elec-
tricity; nor, on the other hand, is there any
body which opposes no resistance to the
transmission of electricity. The follow-
ing table presents a view of the principal
classes of bodies, arranged in a series, be-
ginning with those possessed of the great-
est conducting power, and terminatin
with those that have the least. The orde
in which they possess the power of inca
lating, is, of course, the reverse of this
The perfect, or least
oxidable metals.
The more oxidable
metals.
Metallic ores.
Animal fluids.
Water.
Snow.
Living vegetables.
Living animals.
Smoke.
natural state, and again becoming suscep-
tible of being attracted, either by an ex-
cited electric, or by another body, to which
electricity has previously been communi-
cated. If a rod of glass be applied instead
of the finger or metallic rod as above, the
body touched remains unaffected, notwith-
standing the contact. We are thus led to
conclude that some substances, such as
glass, are incapable of conducting elec-
tricity; while others, such as metals and
the human body, readily conduct it. And
it is found that all electrics are non-conduc-
tors, while, on the contrary, conductors are
non-electrics. The permanence of electri-
city in metallic bodies, suspended in the air
by silken thread, proves that the air, as well
as silk, is a non-conductor; from which
circumstance bodies surrounded by it, ex-
cept on one side, and this side being in
contact with a non-conductor, are said to
be insulated. If this condition be not ob-
served, that is, if a body be in contact
with conducting substances which com-
municate with the earth, its electricity
will escape through them to the earth,
which may be regarded as the great reser-
voir, both for the absorption and supply
of this fluid. The insulating power of the
atmosphere depends upon its density and
its dryness. In proportion as the air is
rarefied by the removal of the superin-
cumbent pressure, its power of confining Solutions of metal- Flowers of sulphur
electricity diminishes, till, at length, when
the rarefaction is very great, it opposes
scarcely any resistance to the passage of
electricity. The presence of moisture in
the air also diminishes its insulating pow-
er. Water is a good conductor of elec-
tricity; accordingly, any portion of it sus-
pended in the air tends to carry off elec-
tricity from bodies charged with it, and
which are immersed in such an atmo-
sphere. Moisture also easily attaches it-
self to glass and other electrics, depriving
them of the power of insulation. Hence
we discover the reason why experiments
which succeed in a clear, dry day, will of-
ten fail in damp weather, and the utility
of drying all the instruments employed in
electrical experiments, in order to exclude,
as much as possible, the interference aris-
ing from the presence of condensed mois-
ture.
The conducting powers of most
bodies are influenced by changes of tem-
perature, and also of form. Thus water,
in its liquid state, is a good conductor; but
when in the state of ice, at a temperature
of 13° Fahr., it is a non-conductor, and ca-
pable of being excited by friction like any
other electric. Reducing substances to
powder has an effect upon their powe
Charcoal prepared
from the harder
woods, and re-
cently ignited.
Plumbago.
The concentrated
mineral acids.
Dilute acids.
lic salts.
Dry metallic oxides.
Oils.
Vegetable ashes.
Animal ashes.
Ice below 13° Fahr.
Phosphorus.
Lime.
Dry chalk.
Caoutchouc.
Camphor.
Silicious and argil-
laceous stones, in
proportion to their
hardness.
Porcelain.
Baked wood.
Dry atmospheric a,
Steam.
Rarefied air.
Earths and stones in
their natural state
Pulverized glass.

and other gases.
White sugar.
Dry parchinent.
Cotton.
Feathers.
Hair, especially that
of a living cat.
Silk.
Transparent gems.
Diamond.
Glass.
Fat.
Wax.
Sulphur.
Resins.
Amber.
Gum-lac.
Although the exact point in the above
scale, which forms the separation between
conducting and insulating bodies, cannot
be precisely marked, yet we have indicated
it by a division. The laws which regulate
dhe gradual dissipation of electricity from
inperfectly insulated bodies, have been
carefully investigated by M. Coulomb.-
The causes which operate in these cir-
ELECTRICITY.
cumstances, are, 1. the imperfection of
the insulating property in the solids by
which they are supported; 2. the contact
of successive portions of air, every parti-
cle of which carries off a certain quanti-
ty of electricity; 3. the deposition of
moisture upon the surface of the insulat-
ing bodies, which establishes communi-
cations between their opposite ends, and
be considered as virtually increasing
may
their conducting power. Still another
circumstance, which materially affects the
dissipation of electricity, is the shape of
the body in which it is accumulated. The
form most favorable for its retention is
that of a sphere; next, a cylinder termi-
nated at both extremities by a hemisphere.
On the other hand, electricity escapes
most readily from bodies of a pointed
figure, especially if the point projects to a
distance from the surface. In such bodies,
it is scarcely possible to retain any accu-
mulation of the electric fluid; whereas,
pointed bodies receive electricity more
readily than those of any other form.-
Electric excitation in different bodies ex-
hibits different phenomena. We have seen
that light substances excited by glass repel
one another, and are likewise repelled by
the excited glass. The same thing also
happens with respect to bodies which
have received their electricity from excited
sulphur, or sealing-wax. But on examin-
ing the action of any of the bodies of the
former class upon any of those belonging
to the latter, we find that, instead of repel-
ling, they attract each other; and what is
still more remarkable, the instant these
bodies come in contact, provided they
have both been electrified in an equal de-
gree, they cease at once to exhibit any
signs of electrical excitement; the elec-
tricity in the one appearing to neutralize
that in the other. Thus we seem to have
evidence of two kinds of electricity; and
as these were first noticed, the one in
glass and the other in resinous bodies,
they were named vitreous and resinous
electricity. Their mode of action on
matter has been expressed by the follow-
ing general law, viz.: Bodies charged with
either species of electricity, repel bodies
charged with the same species, but attract
bodies charged with the other species; and
at equal distances, the attractive power in the
one case is exactly equal to the repulsive pow-
er in the other. Accordingly, we learn the
kind of electricity with which a given
body is charged, by approaching it to an
insulated pith ball, which has previously
been touched either with excited glass, or
with excited sealing-wax. It is known,
447

moreover, that, when two electrics are
rubbed against one another, the one ac-
quires, always, one kind of electricity, the
other the opposite; and both are produced
in equal degrees. Thus, when glass is
rubbed by silk or flannel, just as much res-
inous electricity is produced in the silk or
flannel, as there is vitreous electricity pro-
duced in the glass; and, consequently, as
they are endowed with opposite electrici-
ties, there should be an attraction existing
between the excited surfaces of the bodies
rubbed. This fact is easily proved by the
simple and familiar experiment of the rib-
bons. If a white and a black ribbon, of
two or three feet long, and perfectly dry,
be applied to each other by their smooth
surfaces, and are then drawn repeatedly
between the finger and thumb, so as to
rub against each other, they will be found
to adhere together, and, if pulled asunder
at one end, will rush together with great
quickness; while united, they exhibit no
sign of electricity, because the operation
of the one is just the reverse of that of
the other, and their power is neutralized
and inoperative. If completely separat-
ed, however, each will manifest a strong
electrical power, the one attracting those
bodies which the other repels. The caus-
es that determine the species of electricity
excited in the respective bodies, of which
the surfaces are made to rub against each
other, have not been satisfactorily ascer-
tained. The mechanical configuration of
the surfaces appears to have more influence
in the result, than the nature of the sub-
stances themselves. Thus smooth glass
acquires vitreous electricity by friction
with almost every substance, except the
back of a cat, which induces the resinous
electricity; but roughened glass, if rubbed
with the same substances, becomes charg-
ed with resinous electricity, while the rub-
bing bodies acquire the vitreous. Silk,
rubbed by resin, takes the vitreous, but
with polished glass, the resinous electricity.
The following is a list of several substan-
ces, which acquire vitreous electricity,
when rubbed with any of those which
follow it, in the order in which they are
set down; and resinous electricity, if rub-
bed with any of those which precede:-
The back of a cat.
Woollen cloth.
Polished glass.
Feathers.
Wood.


Paper.
Silk.
Gum-lac.
Roughened glass.
In the experiment above mentioned of
the silk ribbons, the black ribbon exhibit
ed the vitreous, and the white one the res-
448
ELECTRICITY.

inous electricity. But when the ribbons
are differently excited, as the one being
drawn lengthwise and at right angles over
a part of the other, the one which has
suffered friction in its whole length ac-
quires vitreous, and the other resinous
electricity. Indeed, the slightest difference
in the conditions of these and similar ex-
periments, or the species of electricity
arising from friction, will be often suffi-
cient to produce opposite results. Another
important observation, with regard to elec-
trical phenomena, requires to be stated
previous to our conclusion of the present
head. Whenever a body is charged with
electricity, although it be perfectly insula-
ted, it tends to produce an opposite elec-
trical state in all the bodies in its vicinity,
and this with greater energy in proportion
as the distance is smaller. This effect is
termed the induction of electricity. In
consequence of this law, if an electrified
body, charged with either species of elec-
tricity, be presented to an unelectrified or
neutral body, the electrical condition of
the different parts of the neutral body is
disturbed. The electrified body induces a
state of electricity contrary to its own, in
that part of the neutral body which is
nearest to it, and consequently a state of
electricity similar to its own in the remote
part. Hence the neutrality of the second
body is destroyed by the action of the first;
and the adjacent parts of the two bodies,
having now opposite electricities, will at-
tract each other. It thus appears, that the
attraction which is observed to take place
between electrified bodies and those that
are unelectrified, is merely a consequence
of the altered state of those bodies, result-
ing directly from the law of induction.
II. The hypothesis which naturally sug-
gests itself for the explanation of the phe-
nomena above stated, is that of a very
subtile, imponderable and highly elastic
fluid, pervading all material bodies, and
capable of moving with various degrees
of facility through the pores or actual
substance of different kinds of matter. In
some, as in those we call conductors or
non-electrics, it moves without any appa-
rent obstruction; while in others, as in
those we call non-conductors or electrics,
it moves with difficulty. Moreover, as
the phenomena appear to indicate the
agency of two kinds of fluid, we shall, for
the present, assume the existence of two
species, and shall speak of these under
the names of the vitreous and the resinous
electricitics. They must each have, when
separate, the same general properties as
have already been enumerated above;
while, in relation to each other, there must
be a complete contrariety in their nature,
so that, when combined together, their ac
tion on the bodies in their immediate vi-
cinity shall cease. And it is when exist-
ing in this state of union or neutrality,
that bodies are said to be in their natural
state as respects electricity. We shall now
proceed to compare the suppositions we
have made with the facts, as presented to
us by nature, and developed by experi
ment.-a. Facts connected with excitation.
From various causes (of which the fric-
tion of surfaces is one), the state of union
in which the two electricities naturally
exist in bodies is disturbed: the vitreous
electricity is impelled in one direction,
while the resinous is transferred to the
opposite; and each manifests its peculiar
powers. When accumulated in any body,
each fluid acts in proportion to its relative
quantity, i. e., to the quantity which is in
excess above that which is still retained,
in a state of inactivity, by its union with
electricity of the opposite kind. Thus,
when glass is rubbed with a metallic
amalgam, a portion only of the electrici-
ties at the two surfaces is decomposed:
the vitreous electricity resulting from this
decomposition attaches itself to the glass;
the resinous to the amalgam. What re-
mains in each surface undecomposed,
continues to be quite inert.-b. Facts con-
nected with distribution. Both of these
fluids, being highly elastic, their particles
repel one another with a force which in-
creases in proportion as their distance is
less; and this force acts at all distances,
and is not impeded by the interposition
of bodies of any kind, provided they are
not themselves in an active electrical state.
It has been deduced, from the most care-
ful analysis, that this force follows the
same law with that of gravitation: viz.
that its intensity is inversely as the square'
of the distance. The mode in which the
electricity imparted to a conducting body,
or to a system of conductors, is distribu-
ted among their different parts, is in exact
conformity with the results of this law,
as deduced by mathematical investigation..
While the particles of each fluid repel
those of the same kind, they exert an equal-
ly strong attraction for the particles of the
other species of electric fluid. This attrac-
tion, in like manner, increases with a dimni-
nution of distance, and follows the same
law as to its intensity: viz. that of the in-
verse ratio of the square of the distance.
This force, also, is not affected by the pres-
ence of any intervening body.-c. Facts
connected with transferrence. Since the

ELECTRICITY.
two electricities have this powerful attrac-
tion for each other, they would always flow
towards one another, and coalesce, were it
not for the obstacles thrown in their way
by non-conductors. When, instead of
these, conducting substances are interpos-
ed, they enter into union with great ve-
locity, producing, in their transit and con-
fluence, several remarkable effects. When
once united, their powers remain dormant,
until again called into action by the re-
newed separation of the fluids.-d. Facts
relating to attraction and repulsion. The
repulsion which is observed to take place
between bodies that are insulated, and
charged with any one species of electrici-
ty, and other bodies similarly charged, is
derived from the repulsive power which
the particles of this fluid exert towards
those of their own species; and the at-
tractions between bodies differently elec-
trified, is derived from the attractive pow-
er of the vitreous particles for those of the
opposite kind. In all cases, the move-
ments of electrified bodies represent the
forces themselves which actuate the parti-
cles of the developed electricities they
contain.-e. Facts relating to induction.
Wherever one of the electricities exists in
an active state, it must repel all the parti-
cles of the same electricity in all surround-
ing bodies, and attract those of the oppo-
site species. Thus the law of induction
is seen to be a direct consequence of the
hypothesis we are considering. Thus far
we have proceeded upon the hypothesis
of two distinct electric fluids. It was,
however, discovered by Franklin, that it
is equally easy to account for all the phe-
nomena, on the supposition of their result-
ing from the agency of a single electric
fluid. This theory supposes, that the sin-
gle agent in question, and which we shall
call the electric fluid, is highly elastic or
repulsive of its own particles,-the repul-
sion taking place with a force varying in-
versely as the square of the distance; that
its particles attract and are attracted by
the particles of all other matter, follow-
ing the same law of the inverse square of
the distance; that this fluid is dispersed
through the pores of bodies, and moves
through them with various degrees of fa-
cility, according as they are conductors
or non-conductors. Bodies are said to be
in their natural state, with regard to this
fluid, when the repulsion of the fluid they
contain of a particle of fluid at a dis-
tance, is exactly balanced by the attrac-
tion of the matter in the body for the same
particle; and, under these circumstances,
they exhibit no electrical phenomena.
449

But if subjected to certain operations, as
friction, the equilibrium is destroyed, and
they acquire more or less than when in
their natural state. Whenever they ac
quire a quantity of fluid greater than in
their natural state, they are said to be
pos-
itively electrified, or to be electrified plus.
and present the phenomena ascribed to
what was called vitreous electricity.---
When, on the other hand, there is a quan-
tity less than what is required in order
to be in their natural state, they are said
to be negatively electrified, or to be elec-
trified minus; in which case they corre-
spond with the state of resinous electrici-
ty. The state of positive electricity, then,
consists in a redundance of the electric
fluid, or in matter over-saturated with this
fluid; that of negative electricity, in a
deficiency of fluid, or in matter under-
saturated, or, what may be considered the
same thing, in redundant matter. In con-
sidering the mutual electrical actions of
bodies, the portions in which the matter
and the fluid mutually saturate each other,
need not be taken into account, since their
actions, as we have seen, are perfectly
neutralized; and we need only attend to
those of the redundant fluid and the re-
dundant matter. When a body contains
more than its natural proportion of elec-
tric fluid, the surplus will, by the repul-
sive tendency of its particles, overflow and
escape, unless prevented by insulation,
until the body is reduced to its neutral
state.
state. When under-saturated, the redun-
dant matter will attract fluid from all
quarters, from which it can receive, until
it is again brought to its natural state.
The mutual recession of two positively
electrified bodies is a direct consequence
of the redundance of the electric fluid
contained in each, this fluid being attract-
ed to the matter by its attraction for it in
both bodies; and the fluid in one being
repulsive of the fluid in the other, the
bodies are necessarily impelled in the di-
rection of the repulsion. In the same
manner, the mutual attraction between
two bodies, one of which is electrified
plus, and the other minus, is the immedi-
ate effect of the attraction of the redun-
dant fluid in one for the redundant matter
in the other, and vice versa; for this at-
traction is mutual. The mutual recession
of two bodies, negatively electrified, does
not appear to be accounted for upon the
Franklinian theory. In order to do this,
therefore, it has been found necessary to
append to it the following provision: that
particles of simple matter, or bodies unsat-
urated with the electric fluid, are mutually
38*
450
ELECTRICITY.

repulsive. Without this provision, indeed,
we are unable to explain the want of ac-
tion between two neutral bodies; for, the
repulsion of the fluids in both bodies be-
ing balanced by the attraction of the fluid
in the one for the matter in the other, the
remaining attraction of the fluid in the
second body for the matter in the first,
would be uncompensated by any repul-
sion; and the forces would not be held in
equilibrium, as we find they really are.
The law of electrical induction is an im-
mediate consequence of the Franklinian
theory. When a body charged with elec-
tricity is presented to a neutral body, the
redundant fluid of the former exerts a
repulsive action on the fluid in the latter
body; and if this happens to be a con-
ductor, it impels a certain portion of that
fluid to the remote end of this body, which
becomes at that part positively electrified;
while its nearer end, which the same fluid
has quitted, is consequently in the state of
negative electricity. If the first body had
been negatively electrified, its unsaturated
matter would have exerted an attractive
force on the fluid in the second body, and
would have drawn it nearer to itself, pro-
ducing an accumulation or redundance
of fluid at the adjacent end, and a corre-
sponding deficiency at the remote end;
that is, the former would have been render-
ed positive, and the latter negative. All
this is exactly conformable to observation.
The facts with respect to transferrence
are easily explicable upon this hypothesis,
and they arise from the destruction of the
equilibrium of forces, which confined the
fluid to a particular situation or mode of dis-
tribution. Indeed, there is no fact which is
explained on the hypothesis of two fluids,
which is not equally explicable on the
Franklinian theory; and the explanations
by the first are easily converted into those of
the second by substituting the expressions
of positive and negative for those of vitreous
and resinous electricities. The principal ad-
vantage of Franklin's system is, its superior
simplicity. On the other hand, the phe-
nomena of galvanism prove that the two
electricities, whatever may be their nature,
exert very different chemical agencies, and
hence, whichever theory we may choose
to adopt, it is necessary, in their chemical
history, always to preserve the distinction
between them. When viewed, however,
as a mere hypothesis, calculated to facili-
tate our comprehension of the phenomena
and of their connexions, it is a matter of
indifference which we employ, since they
will either of them answer the purpose.
For the future, however, we shall more
generally employ the language of the
Franklinian theory, on account of its
greater convenience.
III. Electrical Machines. The essential
parts of an instrument for procuring large
supplies of electricity for the purposes of
experiment, are the electric, the rubber,
the prime conductor, the insulator, and the
machinery for setting the electric in mo-
tion. The electric, by the excitation of
which the electricity is to be developed,
may be made of various substances.
Polished glass has, however, received the
preference. Its form is that of a hollow
cylinder, or of a flat circular plate, revolv-
ing upon a horizontal axis. The cushion
is usually made of soft leather, generally
basil skin, stuffed with hair or wool, so as
to be as hard as the bottom of a chair,
but yet sufficiently yielding to accommo-
date itself, without much pressure, to the
surface of the glass to which it is applied.
The prime conductor is a cylindrical tube,
each end terminating in a hemisphere.
There is no advantage in its being made
solid, for the electricity is only contained
at the surfaces. It may be made of thin
sheet brass or copper, or tin, or of paste-
board covered with gold leaf or tin foil.
Care must be taken that its surface be free
from all points and asperities; and the
perforations which are made in it, and
which should be about the size of a quill,
for the purpose of attaching wires and
other kinds of fixtures, should have their
edges well rounded and smoothed off.
In order to render the arrangement of
these parts more intelligible, we will des-
cribe one of the simplest and best of the
cylindric machines. The glass cylinder
is from 8 to 16 inches in diameter, and
from 1 to 2 feet long, supported, for
the purpose of insulation, on two upright
pillars of glass, which are fixed to a firm
wooden stand. Two hollow metallic con-
ductors, equal in length to the cylinder,
and about one fourth of its diameter, are
placed parallel to it, one on each side, up-
on two insulating pillars of glass, which
are cemented into two separate pieces of
wood, that slide across the base so as to
allow of their being brought within dif-
ferent distances from the cylinder. To
one of these conductors the cushion is at-
tached, which is of the same length with
the conductor. Its pressure against the
cylinder is regulated by, an adjusting
screw adapted to the wooden base, on
which the glass pillar that supports the
conductor is fixed. From the upper edge
of the cushion there proceeds a flap of
thin oiled silk, which is sewed on the
ELECTRICITY.
cushion about a quarter of an inch from
its upper edge. It extends over the upper
surface of the glass cylinder to within an
inch of a row of metallic points, proceed-
ing, like the teeth of a rake, from a hori-
zontal rod, which is fixed to the adjacent
side of the opposite conductor. The mo-
tion of the cylinder, which is given by a
single handle or by a multiplying wheel,
must always be given in the direction of
the silk flap. That part of the cushion
which comes in contact with the glass
cylinder, should be coated with an amal-
gam of tin, zinc and mercury, applied
by means of hog's lard. The amalgam
should be placed uniformly over the cush-
ion, until level with the line formed by the
seam which joins the silk flap to the face
of the cushion. No amalgam should be
placed over this line, nor on the silk flap;
and it is even requisite to wipe the silk
flap clean whenever the continued motion
of the machine should have soiled it by
depositing dust or amalgam on its surface.
The best amalgam is formed by melting
together one ounce of tin and two ounces
of zinc, which are to be mixed, while fluid,
with six ounces of mercury, and agitated
in an iron or thick wooden box until cold.
It is then to be reduced to very fine pow-
der in a mortar, and mixed with a suffi-
cient quantity of hog's lard to form it into
a paste. The mode in which the electri-
cal machine just described acts, will read-
ily be understood. The friction of the
cushion against the glass cylinder produ-
ces a transfer of electric fluid from the
former to the latter; that is, the cushion
becomes negatively and the glass positive-
ly electrified. The fluid, which thus ad-
heres to the glass, is carried round by the
revolution of the cylinder, and its escape
is at first prevented by the silk flap which
covers the cylinder, until it comes to the
immediate vicinity of the metallic points,
which, being placed at a small distance
from the cylinder, absorb nearly the whole
of the electricity as it passes near them,
and transfers it to the prime conductor.
Positive electricity is thus accumulated in
the prime conductor, while the conductor
connected with the cushion, being depriv-
ed of this electricity, is negatively electri-
fied. If both these conductors are in-
sulated, this action will soon have reached
its limit; for when the cushion and its
conductor have been exhausted of their
fluid to a certain degree, they cannot, by
the same force of excitation, supply any
further quantity to the glass. In order to
enable it to do so, we must replenish it, or
restore to it a quantity equal to what it
451

has lost. This is done by destroying the
insulation of the cushion through the
means of a metallic chain or wire, extend-
ing from it to the earth, which is the great
reservoir of the electric fluid. The prime
conductor will now be supplied with a
constant stream of positive electricity. If
it be our object, on the other hand, to ac-
cumulate negative electricity by the same
instrument, we have only to insulate the
conductor to which the cushion is attach-
ed, and to connect the prime conductor
with the ground, in order to allow the
fluid to escape from it as soon as it is
collected from the cylinder. The fluid
will thus continue to be drawn, without
interruption, from the negative conductor,
as it now meets with no impediment to
its discharge on the opposite side of the
machine. That the quantity of positive
electricity produced in one conductor is
exactly equal to that of the negative elec-
tricity in the other, is proved by the fact,
that, if the two conductors are connected
by a wire, no signs of electricity are ob-
tained in any of the conductors on turn-
ing the machine. A person standing on a
stool with glass legs is thereby insulated;
and if, in this situation, he touch the prime
conductor, either with his hand or through
the medium of a metallic rod or chain, he
may be considered as forming part of the
same system of conductors. When the
machine is worked, therefore, he will par-
take, with the conductor, of its charge of
electricity, and sparks may be drawn from
any part of his body by the knuckle of
any other person who is in communica-
tion with the ground.
IV. The effects of electrical attraction
and repulsion may now be exhibited much
more distinctly with the aid of those
considerable accumulations of electricity
which we are enabled to form by the
electrical machine. A pith ball, or a frag-
ment of gold leaf, is very strongly and im-
mediately attracted by the electrified con-
ductor; and the instant after it has come
into contact with it, it is repelled; but it
is now attracted by the other bodies in its
neighborhood, to which it communicates
its own electricity, and then is again in a
state to be influenced by the conductor,
and to be again attracted; and this alter-
nation of effects will continue as long as
the conductor remains charged. This al-
ternation of attractions and repulsions ac-
companying the transferring electricity by
movable conductors, is also illustrated by
the motions of a ball suspended by a silk
thread, and placed between two bells, of
which the one is electrified, and the other
452
ELECTRICITY.

communicates with the ground. The al-
ternate motion of the ball between the
two bells will keep up a continual ringing.
This amusing experiment has been ap-
plied to give notice of changes taking
place in the electrical state of the atmos-
phere. The mutual repulsion of bodies
that are similarly electrified gives rise to
many interesting experiments. A small
figure in the shape of a human head cov-
ered with hair, when placed upon the
conductor and electrified, will exhibit the
appearance of terror from the bristling up
and divergence of the hair. Advantage is
taken of the repulsive property of electri-
fied bodies for the construction of an in-
strument adapted to measure the intensity
of the electricity they may contain. This
instrument is called an electrometer. That
invented by Henley consists of a slender
rod of very light wood, serving as an in-
dex, terminated by a small pith ball, and
suspended from the upper part of a stem
of wood, which is fitted to a hole in the
upper surface of the conductor. An ivory
semicircle or quadrant is affixed to the
stem, having its centre coinciding with the
axis of motion of the rod, for the purpose
of measuring the angle of deviation from
the perpendicular, which the repulsion of
the ball from the stem produces in the
movable rod. The number of degrees
which is described by the index affords
some evidence of the quantity of elec-
tricity with which the apparatus is charg-
ed, though the instrument cannot be view-
ed as affording an exact measure of its
intensity. The gold leaf electrometer of
Bennet, or rather electroscope, which is one
of the most delicate instruments ever in-
vented for detecting the presence of elec-
tricity, consists of two narrow slips of
gold leaf suspended parallel to each other,
in a glass cylinder (which secures them
from disturbance by the air), and attached
to the end of a small metallic tube, ter-
minating above either in a flat surface of
metal or a metallic ball. Two slips of tin-
foil are pasted to the inside of the cylinder,
on opposite sides, in a vertical position,
and so placed as that the gold leaves
may come in contact with these, when
their mutual repulsion is sufficiently pow-
erful to make them diverge to that extent.
These slips of tin-foil terminate in the foot
of the instrument, and thus are in com-
munication with the earth. A very mi-
nute charge of electricity, communicated
to the upper end of the tube, is immedi-
ately transmitted to the gold leaves, which
are thus made to repel each other; but if
the repulsion is such as to make them
strike against the tin-foil, their insulation
ceases, and their electricity is carried off,
and becoming neutral, they resume their
original position. The most perfect elec-
trometer, however, is that invented by
Coulomb, and called by him the torsion
balance. It consists of a cylindrical glass
jar, covered at the top by a circular glass
plate, with a hole in its centre, through
which descends nearly to the bottom of
the jar, a single fibre of the web of the silk-
worm, with a needle of gum-lac or a
piece of straw coated by sealing-wax,
affixed to its lower extremity. The nee-
dle is terminated at one end by a small
pith ball, and at the other by a disc of
varnished paper, to serve as a counter-
poise to the ball. The upper end of the
silk fibre is attached to a kind of button,
having a small index, and capable of being
turned round upon a circular plate divided
into degrees. One side of the jar is per-
forated towards its bottom to allow of the
insertion of a short horizontal bar, having
a small metallic sphere at each of its ends
the one being within, and the other upon
the outside of the jar; and the former be-
ing so situated as just to allow the ball of
the suspended needle to come in contact
with it in the course of its revolution. By
turning the button or the index, the nee-
dle may be brought into this or any other
required position with regard to the ball.
It is found by experiment, that the angle
of torsion of the silk fibre is, within a cer-
tain range of distance, very nearly in the
direct ratio of the force which acts in
producing the torsion; and, therefore, if
the two balls be placed in contact by turn-
ing the button, and then similarly electri-
fied, the distance to which they are re-
pelled by the angular motion of the sus-
pended ball affords a measure of the re-
pulsive force exerted. In like manner, the
distance which the suspended ball is made
to move, when it is attracted by the fixed
ball, when the two have opposite electri-
cities, gives accurate measures of the at-
tractive forces.
bath
V. It had long been observed, that the
quantity of electricity which bodies are
capable of receiving, does not follow the
proportion of their bulk, but depends
chiefly upon the extent of their surface.
It was found, for example, that a metallic
conductor, in the form of a globe or cyl-
inder, contains just as much electricity
when hollow, as it does when solid; from
which it was inferred, that electricity does
not extend throughout the mass of a body,
but resides altogether at its surface. By
the application of mathematical calcula
ELECTRICITY.
tions to the theory, the most exact infor-
mation with regard to the distribution of
the electric fluid in bodies of different
shapes has been obtained; and whenever
a comparison has been instituted, even in
the cases of the most complicated kind,
between the results of experiment and of
theory, the most perfect agreement has
been observed between them. For the
purpose of measuring the proportional
quantities of electricity, with which dif-
ferent parts of the same or of different
bodies are charged, no instrument is so
well fitted as the balance of Coulomb.
Such is its extreme sensibility, that a
force only equal to the 270th of a grain
is sufficient to make the needle perform
an entire revolution; the 360th part of
this force, therefore, or less than the
100,000th of a grain, is capable of being
estimated by each degree of its angular
motion. It would be inconsistent with
the limits of the present article to go into
a detail of the delicate methods of re-
search adopted in the investigation of this
subject. The following are among some
of the most interesting results deduced from
them. In a solid body, having the form
of a perfect sphere, and charged with
positive electricity, the whole of the fluid
is, in consequence of the repulsion of its
own particles, which is every where di-
rected from the centre outwards, accu-
mulated in a thin stratum, at the very
surface of the sphere. If the body be,
charged with negative electricity, the de-
ficiency of fluid will take place only in the
superficial stratum of matter. If, instead
of being spherical, the body have any other
form, the electricity will be chiefly con-
fined to the surface; and if it have an
elongated form, there will be a greater
charge in the remoter parts than in those
nearer to the middle. This result of the-
- ory, respecting the limitation of electricity
to the mere surface, is confirmed, in the
most decisive manner, by the experiments
of Coulomb. A conducting body, of a
spheroidal shape, with small pits in va-
rious parts of its surface, half an inch in
diameter, and one tenth of an inch in
depth, was electrified, and examined by
the torsion balance. The bottoms of
these pits afforded no indications of having
received any electricity, while the even
surface exhibited strong electrical excite-
ment. We may conclude, both from
theory and experiment, therefore, that
although, strictly speaking, the electricity
must reside within the substance of con-
ducting bodies, it extends, in fact, to a
depth so small as to be inappreciable by
453

any known methods of observation. The
effect of an expansion of surface, in les-
sening the intensity of electricity, while
its absolute quantity remains the same, is
illustrated by the following experiment:
around an insulated cylinder, movable
on a horizontal axis, and turned by an
insulating handle, is wound a thin lamina
of any metal, the end of which is semi-
circular, and has attached to it a silk
thread. The whole apparatus communi-
cates with an electrometer, formed of two
linen threads, each terminating in a pith
ball. On communicating a charge of
electricity to the cylinder, the threads and
balls of the electrometer attached to it,
diverge. Upon taking hold of the silk
thread, and unrolling the metallic lamina
from the cylinder, the balls gradually col-
lapse, thus indicating a diminution in the
intensity of electrical repulsion. But, on
winding up the lamina, by turning the
insulating handle, the electricity is re-
stored, and the balls diverge to the same
extent as before, allowance being made
for the small dissipation of electricity,
from the contact of the air during the ex-
periment. In the case of a long and slen-
der lamina of conducting matter, charged
with electricity, Coulomb found that its
intensity continued nearly uniform, from
the middle of the lamina to within a short
distance from the ends; at that part it
rapidly increased; and at the very ex-
tremity, it became twice as much as at
the middle part. He also found, that in
a cylinder 30 inches long and 2 in diame-
ter, the intensity of the electricity at the
ends was to its intensity in the middle, or
at any part more than 2 inches from the
extremity, as 2.3 to 1. From which in-
stances we infer, that if a conducting sub-
stance be drawn out into a point, the in-
tensity of the electricity at that point will
be exceedingly great; and that the point
will, accordingly, absorb and draw into it-
self nearly the whole of the electricity
that is contained in the body. This great
concentration of electricity is found actu-
ally to take place in all points that project
beyond the general surface. The pres-
sure excited by the electric fluid against
a non-conducting medium, such as the
air, which opposes an obstacle to its es-
cape, is in a ratio compounded of the
repulsive force of its own particles at the
surface of the stratum of fluid, and of
the thickness of that stratum; but as one
of these elements is always proportional
to the other, the total pressure must, in
every point, be proportional to the square
of the thickness. If this pressure be less
454
ELECTRICITY.

than the resistance, or coercive force, as it
has been called, of the air, the electricity
is retained; but the moment it exceeds
that force, in any one point, the electricity
suddenly escapes, just as a fluid confined
in a vessel would rush out, if it were to
burst open a hole in the side of the vessel.
The irruption of the electric fluid is
marked by several very striking phenom-
ena. A sharp snap is heard, accompa-
nied by a vivid spark, and there are evi-
dences of an intense heat being evolved
in the line which the electricity takes.
Its passage through a perfect conductor
is unattended with light. Light appears
only where there are obstacles in its path,
by the interposition of imperfect conduct-
ors; and such is the velocity with which
it is transmitted, that the sparks appear to
take place at the very same instant, along
the whole line of its course. Thus, if a
row of small fragments of tin-foil be past-
ed so as to be nearly in contact, on a
piece of glass, and electricity be sent
through them, by connecting one of its
ends with the conductor of an electrical
machine, while the other end communi-
cates with the ground, it will not be pos-
sible to detect any difference of time in
the occurrence of the light in the differ-
ent parts. If the tin-foil be arranged so
as to represent a chain, it will appear lu-
minous at each link, while conveying a
charge of electricity. The longest and
most vivid sparks are obtained between
two conductors having a rounded form,
as may be exemplified in a common elec-
trical machine, by presenting a metallic
ball to that side of the prime conductor
which is furthest from the cylinder of the
machine; a spark is immediately seen,
of considerable length, resembling a long
streak of fire, extending from the con-
ductor to the ball. Often, when the spark
is very long, it is seen to have an angular
or zigzag course, exactly like that of a
flash of lightning. This irregularity is
probably occasioned by the fluid darting
obliquely in its course to minute conduct-
ing particles, as those of moisture, that
are floating in the air, a little removed
from the direct line of passage. Elec-
trical light differs in no respect from the
light obtained from other sources. Its
brilliancy depends upon the conducting
power of the bodies between which it
passes. When dry wood is employed, it
appears in the form of faint red streams;
but metals afford a light of greater brill-
iancy. Its color is subject to variations,
from a great number of different circum-
stances Sparks passed through balls of
wood or ivory are of a crimson color
but this depends upon their position with
regard to the surface. Electric sparks,
passing from one polished metallic surface
to another, are white; but if the finger be
presented to an electrified conductor, the
sparks obtained are violet. They are green,
when taken from the surface of silvered
leather; yellow, when taken from finely
powdered charcoal; and of a purple color,
when taken from the greater number of
imperfect conductors. In exceedingly
rarefied air, the color of the spark is
green; in denser air, it acquires a blue
tint, and passes to a violet and purple as
the condensation of the air is increased.
In making these experiments, it is found
that in proportion as the medium is more
rare, its conducting power increases, and
a smaller intensity of electricity is required
for the production of light. In the ordi-
nary vacuum of the air-pump, the pas-
sage of electricity is rendered sensible by
streams or columns of diffused light oc-
casionally varying in their breadth and in-
tensity, and exhibiting movements which
give them a marked resemblance to the
coruscations of the aurora borealis. It
was at first imagined, that the light which
appears during the passage of electricity
was actually the electric fluid itself, be
come luminous from its high degree of
accumulation. But, since we know that
common atmospheric air becomes lumi-
nous by violent compression, and we
must also presume that electricity exerts
a very sudden and powerful pressure
upon the air, by its passage through that
resisting medium, we are certainly justi.
fied in drawing the inference, that the
same phenomena proceed, in both cases,
from the same cause. The sound, which
accompanies the various modes of trans.
ferrence, is subject to modifications de-
pendent upon the degree and suddenness
of the impulses given to the air. The
full, short and undivided spark is attended
with a loud explosion; the more length.
ened spark, with a sharper snap, which
becomes more broken and rattling in pro-
portion to the distance it has to traverse.
The great increase of intensity which the
electric fluid acquires at the extremities
of all elongated conducting bodies, and
especially the indefinite augmentation of
this intensity at the apex of all projecting
points, has been alluded to above. This
intensity will necessarily be accompanied
with a powerful disposition in the fluid
to escape-a circumstance which furnish-
es a natural and exact explanation of the
rapid dissipation of electricity, which
ELECTRICITY.
takes place from all bodies of a slender
and pointed form. The illustration of
these positions is seen in bringing metallic
rods of different forms near the prime
conductor of a machine charged with
either species of electricity, the conductor
being furnished with a pair of pith balls,
suspended by a fine wire, whose diver-
gence indicates the presence and degree
of the electricity in the conductor: if the
metallic rod have a bell at the end which
is brought near the charged conductor,
the pith balls will be but slightly affected;
whereas, if it terminate in a sharp point,
and the point be presented to the con-
ductor at the same distance as the ball was
in the former case, the divergence of the
balls will immediately cease, showing that
the electrical charge has wholly disap-
peared. Currents of air always accom-
pany the discharge of electricity from
pointed bodies; for each particle of air,
as soon as it has received its electricity
from the point, is immediately repelled
by the body. Many amusing experi-
ments are founded on this principle. Let
two cross wires, bent at right angles near
the ends, which terminate in points, and
pointing in a similar direction with re-
spect to the axis, be supported at their
centre upon a fine point, and electrified
by being placed upon the prime con-
ductor of a machine; each of the points
will give off a stream of electricity, and
the wires will revolve backward with
considerable rapidity. An apparatus con-
sisting of wires terminating in points, and
having balls annexed to them, to repre-
sent the planets, may be constructed so
as to revolve when electrified, and thus
to imitate the planetary motions. Such
an apparatus has been called an electrical
orrery. When the transfer of electricity
takes place between smooth surfaces of a
certain extent, no difference can be per-
ceived in the nature and appearance of
the spark, whichever be the position of
the negative surface. But in the passage
of electricity through points, the effect is
considerably modified by the species of
electricity with which the bodies are
charged; or, in other words, by the di-
rection in which the fluid moves. When
the electric fluid is escaping out of a
pointed conductor, the luminous appear-
ance is that of diverging streams, forming
what is termed a pencil of light, and re-
sembling the filaments of a brush. When,
on the contrary, the electric fluid is en-
tering into the pointed body, the light is
much more concentrated at the point it-
self, having a resemblance to a star, in
455

which, if any streams appear, they are
disposed like radii, and equally so in all
directions. This difference in these two
appearances may be employed, on many
occasions, as a useful criterion of the spe-
cies of electricity, at least, which is pass-
ing from one conductor to another, if not
of the absolute direction of its motion. For
if a needle be presented to an electrified
body, the appearance of a star on the
needle will show that the electricity of
that body is positive; while, on the con-
trary, a luminous brush on the needle will
indicate that the body is negative. These
observations seem to indicate the emana-
tion of some material fluid from the pos-
itive, and its reception by the negative
point. It has, accordingly, been urged,
as an argument in favor of the Frank-
linian theory. The diverging lines on
one side, and their inflections on the oth-
er, represent exactly the paths of particles
flowing out as from a pipe, and urged
forward by a force which gives them
such a projectile velocity as to prevent
their spreading out beyond a certain dis-
tance from the direct line of projection.
But this very velocity will carry the par-
ticles, that happen to have deviated most,
somewhat beyond the point to which they
are attracted; while the attraction to this
latter point will tend to deflect them from
the line of their path, and gradually turn
them back, so that they will arrive at the
point of attraction by very different paths,
and some even by a retrograde motion.
Hence, while, in the first case, they form
a diverging cone of rays, in the latter
they must be distributed on all sides of
the point, like the rays of a star.
VI. Active electricity, existing in any
substance, tends always to induce the op-
posite electrical state in the bodies that
are near it. Now, it is impossible to in-
duce one electrical state in any body,
without, at the same time, producing the
opposite state in the same body, or in the
one which is immediately contiguous. It
follows, therefore, that if the bodies sub-
jected to the inductive influence are non-
conductors, although the tendency to pro-
duce the opposite electricity exists, yet, in
consequence of the immobility of the
fluid, it can produce no visible change.
In proportion as the body opposes less
resistance to the passage of electricity,
the operation of the disturbing force be
comes sensible. For example, in the case
of a positively charged electric, acting by
induction on an insulated conducting
body, the redundant fluid in the former
must tend to repel all the fluid contained
456
ELECTRICITY.

in the latter; a portion of this fluid must,
therefore, be driven from the side adja-
cent to the first body, towards the remoter
side. The adjacent side will thus be ren-
dered negative; the remoter side, positive.
But this will take place to a certain ex-
tent only; for there is a limit at which
the repulsion of the fluid accumulated at
the remote end will just balance the re-
pulsion of the fluid in the electric, added
to the attraction of the under-saturated
matter, in the near end; and when the
limit has been attained, the flow of elec-
tric fluid from the near to the remote end
of the body will cease, and an equilibrium
will be established. Experiment fully
confirms this theory, as may be seen by
bringing a cylinder of metal of some
length, with rounded ends, near an elec-
trified globe of glass, taking care that it
be not sufficiently near to receive any
quantity of electricity by transferrence.
By means of the electrometer of Cou-
lomb, we perceive that the part of the
conductor nearest to the electric is nega-
tive, and the part most remote is positive;
while, about the middle of the cylinder,
the body is in a neutral state. The elec-
tricity is found to diminish as we proceed
from either extremity towards this point
of neutrality. These remarkable effects
are solely the result of the action of elec-
tricity at a distance; for they take place
in an equal degree, whatever non-con-
ducting substance may be interposed be-
tween the bodies exerting this influence
on one another. But in an experiment,
where the acting body, instead of being
an electric, is a conducting body, the elec-
trical state which the globe induces on the
cylinder must react upon its own elec-
tricity. The negative electricity, that is,
the under-saturated matter at the nearer
end of the cylinder, must exert a ten-
dency to induce positive electricity in the
globe, and more especially upon the side
next the cylinder; that is, it will tend, by
its attraction for the fluid, to draw it to
that side, and thus render it still more
highly positive than it was before. This
can only be done at the expense of the
other side, from which the fluid must be
taken, and which is therefore rendered
less charged with fluid, that is, less posi-
tive than before. But this new distribu-
tion of the electric fluid in the globe, by
increasing the positive state of the side
next the cylinder, tends to augment its
inductive influence on the fluid in the
cylinder; that is, to drive an additional
quantity of fluid from the negative to the
positive end. This must be followed in
turn by a corresponding reaction on the
globe, and so on, constituting a series of
smaller adjustments, until a perfect equi
librium is established in every part. This
reasoning is fully established by experi-
ment. All that is required for its illustra-
tion is simply to furnish the metallic
globe, insulated and charged with positive
electricity, with electroscopes upon its
opposite surfaces. No sooner do we
bring near to it a conducting body, than
the balls of the electroscope, at the side
most distant from that body, begin to col
lapse, while those at the nearer side di-
verge to a greater degree than before;
thus showing the nature of the reflex op-
eration of the induced electricity of the
conductor upon the body from which the
induction originated. In all the changes
thus alluded to, there has been no trans-
fer of electricity from either of the bodies
to the other, as is most satisfactorily
proved from the circumstance, that the
mere removal of the bodies to a distance
from one another is sufficient to restore
each of them to their original state. The
globe remains as perfectly electrified as
before; the cylinder returns to its condi-
tion of perfect neutrality; and the exper-
iment may be repeated as often as we
please, without any variation in the phe-
nomena. This would not be the case,
however, if the cylinder were divided in
the middle, and one or both of the
parts
were removed separately, while they still
remained under the influence of the globe.
The return of the electric fluid from the
positive to the negative end being thus
prevented, each part will retain, after its
separation, the electricity which had been
induced upon it; the nearer portion will
remain negative, the remoter one positive.
If the division had been in three parts,
the middle part only would have been
neutral. It is found by experiment, that
the effects of induction on a conductor
are augmented by increasing its length;
and they become as great as possible, by
placing the conductor in communication
with the earth, which carries off all the
fluid the electrified body is capable of
expelling from the nearest end. A con-
ductor under the influence of induction,
between which and the earth a commu-
nication has been made, by touching the
remote end with a metallic rod held in
the hand, possesses but one kind of elec-
tricity, namely, the one opposite to that
of the electrified body which is acting
upon it. The part touched is brought
into a state in which it appears to be
neutral, as long as it remains in the vicin-

ELECTRICITY.
ity of the electrified body; but it really
contains less fluid than its natural share;
and this will immediately become appa-
rent, if the conductor that has been
touched be again insulated, and then re-
moved from the influence of the body
producing the induction. This peculiar
condition of a body, in which its parts are
really undercharged or overcharged with
fluid, although, from the action of electric
forces derived from bodies in its vicinity,
a state of equilibrium is established, and
no visible effect results, has been denom-
inated by Biot, disguised electricity. We
have hitherto supposed the acting body
to be positively electrified; but precisely
the same effects would happen with re-
gard to the degree, although opposite as
to the species of electricity, if it had
been negatively electrified. Our knowl-
edge of the induction of electricity ena-
bles us to understand why bodies, be-
tween which it takes place, should attract
one another. For the action of the adja-
cent sides, which are brought into oppo-
site electrical states, is greater than the
action of those sides which are in the
same electrical states, and which are more
distant; hence the attractive force always
exceeds the repulsive. The most con-
venient mode of obtaining an accumula-
tion of electricity arising from induction,
is by the employment of coated glass,
that is, of a plate of glass, on each side
of which is pasted a sheet or coating of
tin-foil. Care must be taken to leave a
sufficient margin of glass uncovered by
the metal, for preventing the transfer of
electricity from one coating to the other,
round the edge of the glass; and all
sharp angles, or ragged edges in the coat-
ings, should be avoided, as they have a
great tendency to dissipate the charge.
The form of coated glass best adapted to
experiments is that of a cylindric jar;
this is coated, within and without, nearly
to the top. The cover consists of baked
wood, and is inserted with sealing-wax,
to exclude moisture and dust. A metallic
rod, rising two or three inches above the
jar, and terminated at the top in a brass
knob, is made to descend through the
cover till it touches the interior coating.
The name of the Leyden phial, or jar, is
applied to this instrument. It is used in the
following manner: the outer coating being
made to communicate with the ground, by
holding it in the hand, the knob of the jar
is presented to the prime conductor when
the machine is in motion; a succession
of sparks will pass between them, while,
at the same time, nearly an equal quantity
39
VOL. IV.
457

of electricity will be passing out from the
exterior coating, through the body of the
person who holds it, to the ground. The
jar, on being removed, is said to be
charged; and if a communication is
made between the two coatings, by a me-
tallic wire, extending from the external
one to the knob, the electric fluid which
was accumulated in the positive coating
rushes, with a sudden and violent impe-
tus, along the conductor, and passes into
the negative coating; thus at once re-
storing an almost complete equilibrium.
This sudden transfer of a large quantity
of accumulated electricity is a real ex-
plosion; and it gives rise to a vivid flash
of light, corresponding in intensity to the
magnitude of the charge. The effect of
its transmission is much greater than that
of the simple charge of the prime con-
ductor of the machine; and it imparts a
sensation, when passing through any part
of the body, of a peculiar kind, which is
called the electric shock. In the construc-
tion of the Leyden jar, the thickness of
the glass is an important consideration.
The thinner the glass, the greater will be
the power of taking a charge; but the
power of retaining it will be less, on ac-
count of the diminished resistance which
the glass will oppose to the electricity
through it. If the charge be higher than
what the jar will bear, the glass will be
broken by the violence with which the.
electric fluid forces a passage through its
substance. Another limit to the charge
which a jar is capable of retaining, arises
from the liability of the electricity to pass
from one coating to the other, round the
edges of the glass. The deposition of
moisture, also, on the glass, will occasion
a spontaneous discharge, since it forms a
chain of conducting particles, in the very
line which the electricity has a tendency
to take. Hence, in order to preserve the
uncoated part of the glass in as dry a
state as possible, it is usually covered with
a layer of sealing-wax, or some other res
inous varnish. By uniting together a
sufficient number of jars, we are able to
accumulate an enormous quantity of elec-
tricity: for this purpose, all the interior
coatings of the jars must be made to
communicate by metallic rods, and a sim-
ilar union must be established among the
exterior coatings. When thus arranged,
the whole series may be charged, as if
they formed but one jar; and the whole
of the accumulated electricity may be
transferred from one system of coatings
to the other, by a general and simulta
neous discharge. Such a combination
458
ELECTRICITY.

of jars is called an electrical battery. For
the purpose of making the direct com-
munication between the inner and outer
coating of a jar or battery, by which a
discharge is effected, an instrument called
the discharging rod is employed. It con-
sists of two bent metallic rods, terminated
at one end by brass balls, and connected
at the other by a joint, which is fixed to
the end of a glass handle, and which,
acting like a pair of compasses, allows of
the balls being separated at different dis-
tances. When opened to the proper de-
gree, one of the balls is made to touch
the exterior coating, and the other ball is
then quickly brought into contact with
the knob of the jar, and thus a discharge
is effected, while the glass handle secures
the person holding it from the effects of
the shock. If we wish to send the whole
charge of electricity through any partic-
ular substance, which may be the subject
of experiment, we must so arrange the
connecting conductors, as that the sub-
stance shall form a necessary part of the
circuit of the electricity, as it is termed.
With this view, we must place it be-
tween two good conductors, one of which,
is in communication with the outer coat-
ing; and the circuit may then be com-
pleted by connecting the other conductor
with the inner coating, by means of a dis-
charging rod, to one branch of which, if
necessary, a flexible chain may be added.
VII. In forming arrangements for di-
recting the passage of accumulated elec-
tricity, it should be borne in mind, that
the electric fluid will, on these occasions,
always pass through the best conductors,
although they may be more circuitous, in
preference to those which are more direct,
but have inferior conducting power; and
it must also be recollected, that when dif-
ferent paths are open for its transmission
along conductors of equal power, the
electricity will always take that which is
the shortest. Thus, if a person, holding
a wire between his hands, discharges a
jar by means of it, the whole of the fluid
will pass through the wire, without affect-
ing him; but if a piece of dry wood be
substituted for the wire, he will feel a
shock; for, the wood being a worse con-
ductor than his own body, the charge
will pass through the latter, as being the
easiest, although the longest circuit. Dur-
ing its transit through the human body, in
like manner, the shock is felt only in the
parts situated in the direct line of com-
inunication; and if the charge be made
10 pass through a number of persons, who
take one another by the hand, and form
part of the circuit between the inner and
outer coatings of the jar, each will feel
the electric shock in the same manner,
and at the same instant; the sensation
reaching from hand to hand, directly
across the breast. By varying the points
of contact, however, the shock may be
made to pass in other directions, and
may either be confined to a small part
of a limb, or be made to traverse the
whole length of the body, from head to
foot. By accurate experiments it ap-
pears, that the force of the electric shock
is weakened, i. e. its effects are dimin-
ished, by employing a conductor of great
length for making the discharge. But it
is difficult to assign a limit to the number
of persons through whom even a small
charge of electricity may be sent, so that
all shall experience the shock; or to
the distance along which it may be con-
veyed by good conductors. The abbé
Nollet passed an electrical shock through
180 of the French guards, in the presence
of the king; and the sensation was felt
at the same moment by all the persons
composing the circuit. An experiment
was made near London, at a time when
the ground was remarkably dry, to as-
certain if any loss of time accompanied
the passage of the fluid, when transmitted
through considerable distances. It was
made to perform a circuit of four miles;
being conducted for two miles along wires
supported on baked sticks, and for the re-
maining distance through the dry ground.
As far as could be ascertained by the
most careful observation, the time in
which the discharge was transmitted
along that immense circuit was perfectly
instantaneous. A retardation in the pas-
sage of electricity, however, does take
place, if the conductor be not of a suffi-
cient size; and when this is the case, as
well as in those instances where the con-
ductor is not a good one, the discharge
will not be effected so instantaneously or
so completely. Under these circumstan-
ces, also, there is a tendency in the fluid
to diverge from the direct line of its
course, and to fly off to different objects
in the vicinity, as is often exemplified in
the case of lightning, which, on striking
a building, is apt to take a very irregular
and seemingly capricious route, darting
towards conducting bodies which may
happen to attract it, althougn at some dis-
tance from the immediate direction it
was pursuing. The motion of electrici-
ty through perfect conductors is attend-
ed with no perceptible alteration in the
mechanical properties of the conducting
T 407
ELECTRICITY.
bodies, provided they be of sufficient size
for the charge of the electric fluid trans-
mitted. On the contrary, very considera-
ble effects are produced when a powerful
charge is sent through a wire, which is
too small to allow the whole quantity to
pass with perfect freedom; or through an
imperfect conductor, though of a large
size, as is proved when a tree is struck by
lightning. A piece of dry writing paper,
as well as pieces of dry, porous wood, are
easily torn in pieces by an electric charge.
VIII. Electricity exerts a most extensive
and important influence in effecting chan-
ges in the temperature and chemical com-
position of bodies. The ignition and
fusion of metals by the electric discharge,
are phenomena which have been long ob-
served. Thus, by passing a strong charge
through slender iron wires, or the finest
flatted steel, called pendulum wire, they
are ignited, and partly melted into glob-
ules, and at the same time partially oxi-
dated. If a slip of gold or silver leaf be
placed on white paper, and a strong shock
passed through it, the metal will disap-
pear with a bright flash, and the impulse
with which its particles are driven against
the paper will produce a permanent stain
of a purple or gray color. The colors
produced in this way have been applied
to impress letters or ornamental devices
on silk and on paper. For this purpose,
the outline of the required figure should
be first traced on thick drawing paper,
and afterwards cut out in the manner of
stencil plates. The drawing-paper is then
placed on the silk or paper intended to be
marked; a leaf of gold is laid upon it, and
a card over that; the whole is then placed
in a press or under a weight, and a charge
from a battery sent through the gold leaf.
The stain is confined, by the interposition
of the drawing-paper, to the limit of the
design, and in this way a profile, a flower,
or any other outline figure, may be very
neatly impressed. The heat evolved by
electricity, like most other of its effects, is
in proportion to the resistances opposed to
its passage. A rod of wood, of consider-
able thickness, being made part of the
circuit, has its temperature sensibly raised
by a very few discharges. Most combus-
tible bodies are capable of being inflamed
by electricity. Thus alcohol, ether, cam-
phor, powdered resin, phosphorus or gun-
powder may be set on fire. And the
sparks taken from a piece of ice are as
capable of inflaming bodies as those from
a piece of red-hot iron. The oxidation
of metals, through which accumulated
electricity has been passed, is rather to be
459

ascribed to the tendency which they are
known to possess of combining with the
oxygen of the atmosphere when heated,
than to any peculiar agency of electricity.
A reverse process, however, is found to
attend electrical discharges through me-
tallic oxides, extricating their oxygen, and
restoring them to the metallic state.
When a succession of electric discharges
from a powerful electric machine are sent
through water, a decomposition of that
fluid takes place, and it is resolved into
its two elements of oxygen and hydrogen,
which immediately assume the gaseous
form. When this experiment is conduct-
ed in a suitable apparatus, and a shock is
transmitted through the mixed gases thus
obtained, they are instantly kindled; a re-
union of the elements takes place; and
precisely the same quantity of water is re-
produced as was decomposed to furnish the
gases. It may appear somewhat paradox-
ical that the same agent should, in the
course of the same experiment, produce
at one time decomposition, and at another
combination, of the same elements. The
simplest way of reconciling this apparent
discordance, is to suppose that the combi-
nation of the gases is the effect of the heat
evolved during its forcible transit through
an aeriform fluid that opposes considerable
resistance to its passage; while the de-
composition of the liquid is the direct
consequence of the agency of electricity
when not interfered with by heat. When
a solution of sulphate of copper is subject-
ed to the action of electricity by means of
slender conducting wires terminating in
the vessel containing the solution, the cop-
per is revived, or precipitated in a metallic
state, around the negative wire; but, upon
reversing the direction of the current of
electricity, so that the same wire now be-
comes positively electrified, the copper
which has collected around it is redis-
solved, and a similar deposit takes place on
the opposite wire, which now becomes the
negative one. Similar experiments, made
with other metallic solutions, are attended
with similar results; and solutions of
neutral salts with alkaline and earthy
bases obey the same law, being separated
into their constituent parts, the ingredi-
ent containing oxygen always appearing
at the positive wire, and the base at the
negative wire; but as these are a class of
effects which have been more particularly
investigated by that mode of agency de-
nominated galvanism, we shall reserve a
more full account of them for that article.
IX. Having seen the effects of electricity
on inanimate matter, we now proceed to
460
ELECTRICITY.

describe the agency it exerts over living
bodies. Its passage through living plants
immediately destroys the vitality of the
parts through which it passes. A very
small shock, sent through the stem of a
balsam, causes its leaves to droop in a few
minutes, and finally extinguishes its vital-
ity. The approach of an electrified con-
ductor to the sensitive plant (mimosa pu-
dica) produces no effect upon it; but when
sparks are taken from it, the leaves col-
lapse, just as they are accustomed to do
from concussions of a mechanical nature.
When the energetic effects of the shock
from the Leyden vial upon the animal
system were first made known, high ex-
pectations were raised that electricity
would prove a remedial agent of extraor-
dinary power. It was supposed that, as
a stimulant, it would have many advan-
tages over other remedies; for it can be
administered in various degrees of intensi-
ty, which may be regulated with great ex-
actness; and its application can be direct-
ed especially to the organ we wish to affect.
Accordingly, we find, at one period, it was
employed in a great number of cases; but
at present it is confined to a very few;
such as palsy, contractions of the limbs,
rheumatism, St. Vitus's dance, some kinds
of deafness, and impaired vision. Al-
though the effects of ordinary shocks upon
living animals are familiar to most per-
sons, still a short account of these shocks,
as they have been administered out of the
common course may not be uninteresting.
If a person who is standing receive a
charge through the spine, he loses his
power over the muscles to such a degree,
that he either drops on his knees, or falls
prostrate on the ground. A strong charge
passed through the head gives the sensa-
tion of a violent but universal blow, and
is followed by a transient loss of memory
and indistinctness of vision. If the dia-
phragm be included in the circuit of a
coated surface of two feet in extent, fully
charged, the sudden contraction of the
muscles of respiration will act so violently
upon the air in the lungs, as to occasion a
loud and involuntary shout; but if the
charge be small, a fit of convulsive laugh-
ter is induced, producing a most ludicrous
scene to the by-stander. Small animals,such
as mice and sparrows, are instantly killed
by a shock from 30 square inches of glass.
X. There are several mineral bodies,
which, from being in a neutral state at or-
dinary temperatures, acquire electricity
simply by being heated or cooled. This
property is confined to crystallized mine-
rals and of these the most remarkable are
the tourmaline and boracite. (q. v.) In
the former of these, it is best observed in
the regularly terminated crystals. When
one of these is heated from 100° to 212°
Fahr., the extremity terminated by the
greatest number of planes becomes
charged with positive electricity, while
the other extremity is negative. When
the crystal is of considerable size, flashes
of light may be seen along its surface. A
large number of substances become elec-
trified on passing from the liquid to the
solid form. This happens to sulphur,
gum-lac, bees-wax, and, in general, all res-
inous bodies. The conversion of bodies
into the state of vapor, as well as the con-
densation of vapor, is generally attended.
by some alteration of their electrical con-
dition. Thus, if an ignited platina cruci-
ble be placed upon the gold leaf electrom-
eter, and water be dropped into it, at the
moment the vapor rises, the leaves of the
electrometer diverge with negative elec-
tricity. Electricity is evolved by the con-
tact of different metals. Thus, if two
discs, the one of copper, the other of zinc,
rather more than two inches in diameter,
and furnished with insulating handles, be
brought into contact, and then separated
and examined by an electroscope, the
copper disc is found to be charged with
negative, and the zine disc with positive
electricity. While the contact of the
metals is preserved, neither of them gives
any indication of its electrical state, the
electricity being disguised until the sepa-
ration takes place. This observation has
an important relation to the theory of that
mode of electrical excitement called gal-
vanism, under which head it will be re-
sumed. There are some bodies which
are rendered electrical by pressure. Thus,
if a crystal of calcareous spar or arragonite
be pressed for a few moments between
the fingers, it exhibits a decided attrac-
tion. The same thing happens with re-
gard to cork, paper and wood. Many
mineral substances, when reduced to pow-
der, exhibit electricity, if made to fall upon
an insulated metallic plate, a mode of
excitation which is to be considered as a
species of friction. The most important
circumstance in this inquiry is the con-
nexion between electricity and the chem-
ical properties of matter, first pointed out
by sir H. Davy. Most of the substances
that act distinctly upon each other electri-
cally, are likewise such as act chemically,
when their particles have freedom of mo-
tion. This is the case with the different
metals, with sulphur and the metals, with
acids and the alkaline substances. Of two
MBIT ELECTRICITY.
metals in contact, the one which has the
greatest chemical attraction for oxygen
acquires positive electricity, and the other
the negative. In the contact of acids
with bases, as of crystals of oxalic acid
with dry quicklime, the former is neg-
ative, the latter is positive. All acid crys-
tals, when covered by a plate of metal,
render it positive, the crystals themselves
becoming negative.
XI. The resemblance between the elec-
tric spark, and more especially the explo-
sive discharge of the Leyden jar, and at-
mospheric lightning and thunder, struck
the mind of doctor Franklin with so much
force, that he was determined, if possible,
to verify their identity by experiment.
Having constructed a kite, by stretching a
large silk handkerchief over two sticks in
the form of a cross, on the appearance of
an approaching storm, he went into a
field in the vicinity of Philadelphia, and
raised it, taking care to insulate it by a
silken cord attached to a key, with which
the hempen string terminated. No sooner
had a dense cloud, apparently charged
with lightning, passed over the spot on
which he stood, than his attention was ar-
rested by the bristling up of some loose
fibres on the hempen string: he imme-
diately presented his knuckle to the key,
and received an electric spark. The rain
now fell in torrents, and, wetting the string,
rendered it conducting in its whole length;
so that electric sparks were now collected
from it in great abundance. This grand
experiment was made in June, 1752; and
although the same idea which led Frank-
lin to institute it had occurred to other
philosophers, yet to him belongs exclu-
sively the glory of the discovery. The
discovery of Franklin immediately en-
gaged the attention of European philoso-
phers; one of whom, professor Richmann
of St. Petersburg, fell a victim to his at-
tempt to draw down the electric fluid
from the clouds. He had constructed an
apparatus for observations on atmospher-
ical electricity, and was attending a meet-
ing of the academy of sciences, when the
sound of distant thunder caught his ear.
He immediately hastened home, taking
with him his engraver, Sokolow, in order
that he might delineate the appearances
that should present themselves. While
intent upon examining the electrometer,
a large globe of fire flashed from the con-
ducting rod, which was insulated, to the
head of Richmann, and, passing through
his body, instantly deprived him of life.
A red spot was found on his forehead,
where the electricity had entered; his
461

shoe was burst open, and part of his
clothes singed. His companion was
struck down, and remained senseless for
some time; the door-case of the room was
split, and the door itself torn off its hinges.
The atmosphere is very generally in
an electrical state. This is ascertained by
employing a metallic rod, insulated at its
lower end, elevated at some height above
the ground, and communicating with an
electroscope. In order to collect the elec-
tricity of the higher regions of the air, a
kite may be raised, in the string of which
a slender metallic wire should be inter-
woven. The atmosphere is almost inva-
riably found to be positively electrified;
and its electricity is stronger in the winter
than in the summer, and during the day
than in the night. From the time of sun-
rise, it increases for two or three hours,
and then decreases towards the middle of
the day, being generally the weakest be-
tween noon and four o'clock. As the sun
declines, its intensity is again augmented,
till about the time of sunset, after which
it diminishes, and continues feeble during
the night. In cloudy weather, the elec-
trical state is much more uncertain; and
when there are several strata of clouds,
moving in different directions, it is subject
to great and rapid variations, changing
backwards and forwards in the course of
a very few minutes. On the first appear-
ance of fog, rain, snow, hail or sleet, the
electricity of the air is generally negative,
and often highly so; but it afterwards
undergoes frequent transitions to opposite
states. On the approach of a thunder-
storm, these alternations of the electric con-
dition of the air succeed one another with
remarkable rapidity. Strong sparks are
sent out in great abundance from the con-
ductor; and it becomes dangerous to pros-
ecute experiments with it in its insulated
state. Thunder is merely the noise pro-
duced by the motion of the lightning.*-
The protection of buildings from the
destructive effects of lightning is the most
important practical application of the the-
ory of electricity. The conductors, for this
purpose, should be formed of metallic
rods, pointed at the upper extremity, and
placed so as to project a few feet above
the highest part of the building they are
intended to secure; they should be con-
tinued without interruption till they de-
scend into the ground below the founda-
tion of the house. Copper is preferable
to iron as the material for their construc-
tion, being less liable to destruction by
*The air of close rooms, vitiated by respira.
tion, is found to be negatively electrified.
39*
462
ELECTRICITY-ELECTRO-MAGNETISM.

rust, or by fusion, and possessing also a
greater conducting power. The size of
the rods should be from half an inch to
an inch in diameter, and the point should
be gilt, or made of platina, that it may be
more effectually preserved from corro-
sion. An important condition in the pro-
tecting conductor is, that no interruption
should exist in its continuity from top to
bottom; and advantage will result from
connecting together by strips of metal all
the leaden water-pipes, or other consider-
able masses of metal in or about the
building, so as to form one continuous
system of conductors, for carrying the
electricity by different channels to the
ground. The lower end of the conductors
should be carried down into the earth, till
it reaches either water, or at least a moist
stratum. For the protection of ships,
chains, made of a series of iron rods linked
together, are most convenient, on account
of their flexibility. They should extend
from the highest point of the mast some way
into the sea, and the lower part should be
removed to some distance from the side of
the ship, by a wooden spar or outrigger.
ELECTRO-DYNAMICS; the science which
treats of electricity in motion through a
system of conductors; a name used in
contradistinction to electro-statics, or the
science of electricity in equilibrio. (For the
facts belonging to this science, see Electro-
Magnetism, Electricity, and Galvanism.)
ELECTRO-MAGNETISM; the name ap-
plied to a very interesting class of facts,
principally developed by professor Oer-
sted, of Copenhagen, in the year 1819.
The power of lightning in destroying and
reversing the polarity of a magnet, and of
communicating magnetic influence to iron
previously not magnetic, had long been
observed, and had led to the supposition
that similar effects might be produced by
the common electrical or galvanic appara-
tus. The first observation of professor
Oersted was, that an electrical current,
such as is supposed to pass from the posi-
tive to the negative pole of a voltaic bat-
tery, along a wire which connects them,
causes a magnetic needle, placed near it,
to deviate from its natural position, and to
assume a new one, the direction of which
depends upon the mode of conducting the
experiment. The metallic wire to be
made use of, in this experiment, should
be two or three feet in length, in order
to allow of its being bent or turned by the
hands in various directions, and is called
the conjunctive wire. When the wire is
extended horizontally in the line of the
magnetic meridian,with a freely suspended
compass needle, whose centre is directly
under the wire, the needle instantly de-
viates from the magnetic meridian, and
declines towards the west, under that part
of the conjunctive wire which is nearest
the negative electric pole, or the copper
end of the voltaic apparatus, the amount
of declination depending upon the strength
of the electricity, and the sensibility of the
needle. If we change the direction of the
conjunctive wire out of the magnetic me-
ridian towards the east or the west, no
change in the above result takes place,
except that of its amount. But if the wire
be disposed horizontally beneath the nee-
dle, the effects take place in an inverse
manner; i. e. the pole of the needle, under
which is placed the portion of the con-
junctive wire, which receives the negative
electricity of the battery, declines towards
the east. When the conjunctive wire is
stretched alongside of the needle in the
same horizontal plane, it occasions no
declination, either to the east or west;
but it causes it merely to incline in a ver-
tical line, so that the pole adjoining the
negative influence of the battery on the
wire, dips when the wire is on its west
side, and rises when it is on the east. If
we stretch the conjunctive wire, either
above or beneath the needle, in a plane
perpendicular to the magnetic meridian,
it remains at rest, unless the wire be very
near the pole of the needle; in which
case it rises when the entrance takes place
by the west part of the wire, and sinks
when it takes place by the east part.
When we dispose the conjunctive wire in
a vertical line opposite the pole of the
needle, and make the upper extremity
of the wire receive the electricity of
the negative end of the battery, the
pole of the needle moves towards the
east; but if we place the wire opposite a
point betwixt the pole and the middle of
the needle, it moves to the west. The
phenomena are presented in an inverse
order, when the upper extremity of the
conjunctive wire receives the electricity
of the positive side of the apparatus.-
The foregoing observations induced pre-
fessor Oersted to believe that the electric
action is not enclosed within the conduct-
ing wire, but that it has a pretty extensive
sphere of activity around it. He also con-
cluded that this influence acts by revolu
tion; for, without such a supposition, it is
impossible to conceive how the same por-
tion of wire, which, placed beneath the
magnetic pole, carries the needle towards
the east, should, when placed above this
pole, carry it towards the west.
Such
go
ELECTRO-MAGNETISM.
was the nature of the first discovery in
electro-magnetism. It was no sooner an-
nounced, than the experiments were re-
peated and varied by philosophers in all
parts of the world; and a multitude of
new facts were soon brought to light
through the labors of MM. Ainpère, Ara-
and Biot, in France, and sir H. Davy
and Mr. Faraday, in England. Two very
important facts were ascertained by Am-
père and Davy, that the conjunctive
wire becomes itself a magnet, and that
magnetic properties might be communi-
cated to a steel needle not previously pos-
sessing them, by placing it in the electric
current. The former of these facts is
proved by throwing some iron filings on
paper, and bringing them under the wire,
when they will immediately adhere to it,
forming a tuft around it ten or twelve
times the diameter of the wire: on break-
ing the connexion with the battery, how-
ever, they immediately fall off, proving
that the magnetic effect depends entirely
on the passage of the electricity through
the wire. The degree of force of this
magnetic property thus communicated to
the uniting wire was imagined, by sir H.
Davy, to be proportional to the quantity of
electricity transmitted through it. Hence
the finer the wire, the more powerfully
magnetic was it rendered; and hence, al-
so, a battery of very large plates, such as
is used for producing intense heat and
light, was found to give the strongest mag-
netism to the wire connecting its poles.
Accordingly we find that the calorimotor
of doctor Hare (see Galvanism), a galvan-
ic arrangement, in which the plates are
nearly two feet square, exhibits the strong-
est magnetic effects, and this notwith-
standing the powerful heating effects that
accompany its action; the heat excited
not diminishing or interfering with the
magnetism, but apparently increasing it;
for a fine platina wire, so intensely ignited
as to be near the point of fusion, is ob-
served to attract larger quantities of iron
filings than when at a lower temperature.
To communicate magnetic properties to
steel needles, which before did not exhibit
them, it is necessary merely to place them
in contact with, or near to the conjunctive
wire. The position in which they are to
be placed, with regard to the wire, is im-
portant, as the permanence of their mag-
netic quality depends upon it. If they are
placed parallel with it, they lose their
inagnetism when the connexion with the
battery is broken, which shows that their
magnetism arose only from their forming
part of the electric circuit, like the con-
463
necting wire itself. But if they are placed
across the wire, they become permanent-
ly magnetized, and retain their power
equally with needles prepared in the ordi-
nary way. The polarity is different, how-
ever, according as the needle is placed
above or below the wire. When a needle
is placed under the uniting wire, the posi-
tive end of the battery being on the right
hand of the operator, the end of the needle
next to him becomes the north pole, and
the other end the south pole. On the
contrary, when a needle is held above the
wire, the reverse of this takes place; the
end next to the observer becomes the
south, and the other the north pole.
Even the same opposition is observed
when needles are placed in a perpendicu-
lar position, on different sides of the wire:
in those on one side, all the lower ends are
found to be north poles, while, in those
on the opposite side of the wire, the upper
ends are all north poles, and the lower ex-
tremities all south poles. Direct contact
of the steel needles with the conjunctive
wire is not necessary, for they become in-
stantly magnetic when brought near it,
even though thick plates of glass are inter-
posed. As was remarked with regard to
the connecting wire, galvanic batteries,
consisting of large plates, are most powerful
in communicating the magnetic influence.
When the conjunctive wires of two dis-
tinct galvanic arrangements are made to
approach each other, we observe magnetic
attractions and repulsions. Two wires
of copper, silver, or any other metal, con-
necting the extremities of two galvanic
troughs, being placed parallel to each oth-
er, and suspended so as to move freely,
immediately attract and repel each other,
according as the directions of the cur-
rents of electricity flowing through them,
are the same or different. When both the
negative or both the positive extremities
of the troughs are turned to the same
quarter, so that the electric current passes
along each wire in the same direction, the
two wires attract each other; but when
the position of one of the troughs is re-
versed, so that the electric currents in the
two wires flow in opposite directions, the
wires repel each other. Upon this exper-
iment is founded the most plausible theo-
ry of magnetism, viz., that it arises from
the attractions and repulsions of currents
of electricity, constantly circulating round
every magnet. This is conceived to ex-
plain the reason why the magnetic needle
places itself at right angles to a wire con-
ducting electricity, namely, that the electric
current passing along the wire may coin-




464
ELECTRO-MAGNETISM.
cide with that circulating round the mag-
net. The magnetic effects produced by
galvanic arrangements are obtained also
by electricity evolved from the common
machine, and still more from this power
concentrated in the Leyden jar; the
magnetism communicated agreeing in
every respect as to the permanence of the
polarity, the variations when the needle is
placed above or below the wire, &c., with
that produced by the voltaic pile. Mag-
netism is communicated to needles in a
different manner from that of placing
them across the conjunctive wire. The
wire is formed into a hollow screw, or
helix, by rolling it round a solid rod, and
the needle to be magnetized, wrapped in a
paper, or put into a glass tube, is placed
in the centre of it, and the communica-
tion with the galvanic battery established.
This arrangement (according to the theory
of M. Ampere) conveys the electric current
by the spiral convolutions, round and
round the needle, and communicates to it,
or developes in it, the electric circulation
constituting magnetism. By this contri-
vance, it is found that a maximum effect
is obtained in a shorter time than by any
other method. The position of the north
and south pole varies according as either
end of the helix is connected with the
positive or the negative pole, which shows
that the electric current flows along the
uniting wire from the positive or zinc ex-
tremity to the negative or copper end of
the pile. The electricity of a common
machine produces the same effect. Hav-
ing alluded to the principal facts relating
to electro-magnetic phenomena, the in-
genious theory of M. Ampère, by which
they are explained inore extensively and
with more precision than by any other
hitherto advanced, deserves to be stated.
It is the more deserving of attention, as
having led its author to the discovery of
some of the most remarkable facts detail-
ed above; and, if future researches shall
continue to increase its probability, it will
no doubt be regarded as one of the finest
instances of correct induction, supported
by minute experiment, which the history
of any science can exhibit. The first
principle of this theory has been already
stated; that two currents of electricity
attract when they move parallel to each
other and in the same direction, and re-
pel when they move parallel to each other
in contrary directions. This fact is di-
rectly the reverse of the usually observed
phenomena of electricity; for it is well
known that bodies in the same state of
electricity repel each other, and in oppo-
site states attract. Hence M. Ampère in
fers, that these results are not produced by
electricity in its known and common state
of tension, but are dependent on proper-
ties belonging to electricity, previously
unsuspected, and peculiar to it when in
motion, or flowing in currents. Elec-
tricity, when accumulated, has the power
of causing certain effects, particularly at-
tractions and repulsions, which are familiar
to us, and are called electrical; but when
moving in currents, it exerts new powers,
and these constitute magnetism. Review-
ing the various experiments which have
been enumerated, we find, that the con-
necting wires of two batteries attract and
repel each other, according to the direc-
tions of the electric currents flowing
through them; that the magnetic needle is,
exactly in the same manner, attracted and
repelled by a connecting wire, according.
to the direction of the current of electrici-
ty moving through the wire; that the pc-
sition of the needle may be varied, in al-
most any degree, by changing the position
of the connecting wire; that whenever the
electric circuit is broken, this influence on
the needle ceases, and is renewed when-
ever the communication between the
poles of the battery is restored; that the
connecting wire, of whatever metal it
may consist, becomes a perfect magnet, as
long as the current flows along it, so as to
attract iron filings and small steel needles,
without attracting copper filings, or any
other metal but iron; that steel needles
may be converted into permanent mag-
nets, by simply placing them across the
connecting wire; that the electric currents
having this magnetizing power are not,
like accumulated electricity, confined by
glass, or other non-conductors, but pass
through all bodies with facility, as magnet-
ism was before known to do; that the
magnetizing power is exerted by elec
tricity, whether procured by a galvan-
ic apparatus, or a common machine;
that powerful magnets may be formed, by
conducting electric currents round steel
wires, as in the helix, and that the position
of the north and south poles of these mag-
nets depends upon the direction in which
the currents are made to move round them.
These, and a great number of other facts,
it is conceived, clearly demonstrate the
perfect resemblance, or rather identity, of
electricity and magnetism. Magnetic phe-
nomena are thus, in fact, a series of elec-
trical phenomena; and magnetism may,
with propriety, form a branch of elec-
tricity, under the head of Electrical Cur-
rents. Though this intimate relation of






ELECTRO-MAGNETISM.
465
identity be admitted, it is not so obvious east to west. This, it is found, is a uniform
how, by it, the properties of the common law. On these principles the phenomena
magnet are explained. Currents of elec- of magnetism are easily accounted for.
tricity, according to the theory, are essential Thus, to take one of the most obvious and
to the production of magnetic phenome- well known facts, that of two magnets
na; but these are not obvious in a com- attracting when their opposite poles are
mon magnet. M. Ampère has suggested approached to one another, as the north
their existence, however, and has so ar- of one to the south pole of the other.
ranged them theoretically, as to account Let us suppose a magnet in the position
for a great proportion of magnetic appear- which has just been stated, with its north
ances. A magnet he conceives to be an pole directed to the north; and let a sec-
assemblage of as many electric currents, ond magnet be placed beyond it, and in a
moving round it in planes perpendicular line with it, with its north pole also point-
to its axis, as there may be imagined lines, ed to the north. Then, it is obvious that
which, without cutting one another, form the south pole of the second magnet will
closed curves round it. Magnetization, he be next to the north pole of the first; and
says, is an operation by which there is from their position it. follows, that the
given to the particles of steel (which, of electric currents must be flowing in the
the more common metals, appears to be same direction, or, in both of them, from
the only one capable of being permanently west to east: hence, as currents moving
impressed with this power) an electro- in the same direction attract, these oppo-
motive energy, which causes a circulation site poles, if within a certain distance,
of these currents to be continued round ought to attract each other, which, ac-
them. The excitation and continuance cordingly, will be found to be the case.
of this electro-motive action is rendered Now, let the second magnet be reversed;
less improbable, when we consider the let its south pole be directed to the north,
electric power developed in the tourma- and its north pole approached to the north
line and boracite by heat alone, and pole of the first magnet; the electric cur-
when we find, as in the electrical columns rents will flow round the magnet in the
of De Luc and Zamboni, that electricity same manner as before; but in reference
may be generated for years without ceas- to the first magnet and to the meridian,
ing or diminishing, by a small and simple their direction will be reversed: their di-
apparatus. Such, then, is the constitu- rection will now be from east to west, up-
tion of a magnet. It is a mass of iron or wards on the eastern side, and downwards
steel, round the axis of which electric cur- on the western; consequently, the cur-
rents are constantly circulating, and these rents in the two magnets, being now oppo-
currents attract all other electric currents site, will repel, or the two north poles will
flowing in the same direction, and repel repel each other.-In the experiments of
all others which are moving in an opposite professor Oersted, it was found, as has
direction. From these attractions and been stated, that when the extraneous in-
repulsions another effect follows, that the fluence of the magnetism of the earth was
currents of one magnet have always a counterbalanced, the tendency of a mag-
tendency to move any other magnet near netic needle always was to place itself at
it, till the currents in the second shall co- right angles to the wire connecting the
incide in direction with those of the first. poles of the galvanic battery. The reason
It is from this cause, as will presently be of this is easily explained upon the pres-
explained, that the magnetic needle always ent hypothesis. In the needle, the currents
turns to the meridian, and that the needle flow round its axis from end to end; but
in Oersted's experiments became at right in the connecting wire there is no circu-
angles to the connecting wire. One im- lation round the axis, but a constant stream
portant circumstance is always to be kept from one end, namely, the negative, to the
in view, that the electric currents flow other, the positive extremity: hence, for
round every magnet in the same direction the current along the wire to coincide
in reference to its poles. If, for instance, with the current across and round the
we place a magnet with its north pole magnet, it is necessary that the latter
pointing to the north, in the usual position shall stand across the former; and as it
of the magnetic needle, the current of appears, that, from the attractions and re-
electricity flows round it from west to pulsions which these electric currents exert,
east; or, on the eastern side of the magnet, they are able to move one or both of the
it is moving downwards, and on the west- magnetic bodies (according as they are light
ern side upwards; on the upper side, from and mobile), till they coincide, the needle
west to east, and on the lower side, from moves if the wire is fixed till it stands at
466
ELECTRO-MAGNETISM.

right angles to the wire; and if the magnet
is fixed, and the wire movable, the re-
verse happens. The other phenomena,
of the needle turning to the west when
placed below the wire, to the east when
placed above it, &c., may with facility be
explained in the same manner by the prin-
ciples, that currents flowing in the same
direction attract; and that in every mag-
net they move in a constant current, which
is, when the north pole is turned to the
north, from west to east, or upwards on
the west side, and downwards on the east
side. The developement of permanent
magnetism in steel needles when pla-
ced across the wire, while it is only
temporary when they are fastened parallel
with it, depends on the same cause: in
the latter case, it arises merely from the
transmission of electricity from end to end,
while, in the former, the electro-motive
energy of the particles is developed and
called into action, which, when set in mo-
tion, seems to have the power of continu-
ing itself. These electric currents have
the power, which accumulated electricity
has not, of penetrating all substances, as
was before known respecting magnetism.
This is probably owing to their low state
of tension; and, in conformity with this,
large plates, which evolve electricity in
but a slight intensity, produce magnetic
effects most distinctly. The agency of
galvanism, and that of common electricity,
are equally capable of giving rise to mag-
netism when flowing in currents, which
adds another to the proof that these are
the same power. To complete the view
of Ampère's doctrine, it remains only to
explain the influence of the earth on the
magnet, by which the needle is kept al-
ways in one position, nearly coinciding
with the meridian. He asserts, that cur-
rents of electricity, analogous to those
which circulate round every magnet, are
constantly flowing round the globe, as the
current of electricity in a galvanic appa-
ratus moves in an unbroken circuit from
the negative to the positive pole, and from
it, by the connecting wire, round again to
the negative pole. The direction of these
currents he infers to be the same as has
been stated with artificial magnets; and
it is simply by the attractions and repul-
sions of these terrestrial currents, bringing
the currents round the needle to coincide
with them, that the latter always points to
the north. To detect these currents, and
to exhibit their influence without the aid
of any common magnet, M. Ampère con-
trived a small electric apparatus, which
was distinctly affected by the magnetic
influence of the globe. It consisted mere-
ly of a copper wire bent into a circle,
with the two extremities brought near to
each other. It was supported so as to
move with the greatest facility; and the
points were immersed in basins of mercu-
ry, with which the wires of a galvanic
battery were connected. When the com-
munication was established so as to cause
a current of electricity to pass through the
circle, it immediately began to move, and,
after some oscillations, placed itself nearly
at right angles to the meridian, or east and
west, or so that the electric current passed
downwards on the eastern side, and up-
wards on the western side. This, it has
been stated, is exactly the direction in
which the currents in every magnet move
(supposing it placed with its north pole to
the north). The circle may, therefore, be
regarded as a section across the axis of a
magnet, or as representing one of the
currents flowing round it; and if a num-
ber of these circles were placed one be-
yond another, the farthest would point,
like the end of the needle, to the north
pole, and the nearest to the south pole.
However the experiment was varied, the
circle always placed itself east and west:
if the galvanic current was, by reversing
the connecting wires, made to flow in an
opposite direction, the circle turned round
a semicircle, and still stood east and west,
and so that the electric current should
always flow downwards on the eastern
side, and upwards on the western side.
Here, then, are distinct marks of magnet-
ism, particularly that most characteristic
one of the axes pointing always to the
north, which can be attributed only to the
combined influence of electric currents
moving round the earth. This result is
very much in favor of the new theory;
and there appears to be only one link now
wanting, to connect magnetism and elec-
tricity, and to establish their identity.
This is, by some combination of wires
and magnets, to produce an undoubted
electric effect, such as the decomposi-
tion of water. This has been attempted
in a number of ways; and in some of the
arrangements, the desired effects appeared
to be produced; but no result has yet been
obtained wholly free from doubt. All
the phenomena of magnetism, it has been
found, may be produced by electricity.
If, then, any of the phenomena occasioned
by electricity alone can be produced by
magnetism, we shall have no hesitation in
pronouncing them to be the same power,
according to the doctrine of Ampère.
Should this theory be finally established.
ELECTRO-MAGNETISM-ELEEMOSYNARY CORPORATION. 467

an important addition will be made to the
objects of chemical science. The depart-
ment of magnetic phenomena, which,
while included under natural philosophy,
has been regarded as obscure, almost be-
yond the hope of elucidation, will be
transferred to form a branch of the former
science, and, divested in a great measure
of its mystery and difficulty, will come in
for consideration among the other agencies
of the electric fluid. Additional proba-
bility will also be given to the opinion,
that not only electricity and magnetism,
but caloric and light along with them, are
merely modifications of one another, or
of one common agent.-In conclusion,
with regard to the cause of the electric
currents inferred to be constantly circu-
lating round the globe, it is as yet in obscu-
rity. They are supposed to move at right
angles to the magnetic meridian, or nearly
parallel with the equator, on the eastern
side of the earth moving from us, and on
the western side flowing towards us.
These currents may be compared to that
which flows from the negative pole of a
voltaic battery in action, to the positive
pole, and, by the medium of the uniting
wire, round again to the negative pole. It
is conjectured, that the arrangement of the
materials of the globe may be such as to
constitute a battery, existing like a girdle
round the earth, which, though composed
of comparatively weak elements, may be
sufficiently extensive to produce the ef-
fects of terrestrial magnetism. Its irregu-
larity, and the changes which it may
accidentally or periodically suffer, may
explain the phenomenon of the variation
of the compass; or the general action
producing the currents of electricity may
be affected by different causes, as the
earth's motions, currents of the atmos-
phere, evaporation, or the solar heat. It
is supposed that much of the variation
depends on the progress of oxidation in
the continental regions of the globe.
What is called the diurnal variation may
be conceived to be produced by the diur-
nal change of temperature in the super-
ficial layers of the earth, which possess
electro-motive energy.*
*To those who are desirous of extending their
knowledge respecting electro-magnetism, the fol-
lowing sources of information may be recommend-
ed-The original memoirs of Oersted (Ann. of
Phil. xiii, and N. S. ii); Arago (Ann. de
Chimie, and Récueil d'Observations Electro-
dynamiques); Ampère (Ann. de Chim. et Phys.
xv. 59); Sir H. Davy (Phil. Trans. 1821);
Faraday (Quart. Journ. xii, 47, 416); Barlow,
and others; also Manual of Electro-Dynamics,
by J. F. Demonferrand, with notes by professor
ELECTROMETER. (See Electricity.)
ELECTROPHORUS. (See Electricity.;
ELECTRO-STATICS; the science which
treats of electricity in equilibrio, as dis-
tinguished from electro-dynamics, which
relates to the effects of electricity in mo-
tion through a continued system of con-
ductors. (For the principal facts belonging
to electro-statics, see Electricity.)
ELECTRUM (Lat.; EKTOV, Greek), ac-
cording to Ovid, was that resinous sub-
stance now called amber (q. v.); also, ac-
cording to Pliny (lib. 30, cap. 4), a mixture
of gold and silver, of which the fifth part
was silver: he observes that it is more
brilliant than pure gold. According to
other ancient writers, three varieties of
substances called electrum were used in
the arts; namely, glass, a compound met-
al, and succinum. In the Homeric poems,
electrum is often mentioned, which seems
to have been succinum, the yellow or
white amber. According to Eustathius,
the ancients used sometimes to call gold
by this name, probably from its brillian-
cy, the word éxTwo signifying the sun,
Pliny thinks that the compound metal or
alloy mentioned above is. the same that
Homer mentions in the fourth book of the
Odyssey, in describing the palace of Men-
elaus, which he says was ornamented
with gold, electrum (EKTOV), silver and
ivory. But there is reason to believe, says
Millin, that if the electrum of Homer was
a metallic alloy or compound metal, Ho-
mer would not have omitted it in his de-
scription of the shield of Achilles. It is
more probable that electrum was yellow
amber, which has a resplendent, sunny
brilliancy, according with its Greek name;
and Herodotus mentions that succinum
or amber was known to the ancients.-
Pliny's account of the compound metal
of gold with a fifth part of silver, which
he calls electrum, is corroborated by Isido-
rus, except in respect to the quantities;
the latter giving two parts of gold to one.
of silver to his electrum. There are
many ancient coins of this rich alloy, the
principal of which are some of the kings
of Bosphorus, some small ones of Syra
cuse, and many Celtic and of ancient
ed electrum; with copper, aurichalcum or
Gaul. Gold alloyed with silver was call-
chalcolibanos.
ELEEMOSYNARY CORPORATION. An
eleemosynary corporation is a charity con-
stituted for the perpetual distribution of the
alms and bounty of the founder. In this
class are ranked hospitals for the relief of
Cumming, Cambridge, England, 1827; and an
article in the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana.
468 MOIT
poor, sick, and impotent persons, and col-
leges and academies established for the
promotion of learning and piety, and en-
dowed with property by public or private
donations. They are either public or pri-
vate. Thus an hospital created and en-
dowed by the government, for its own
purposes, and exclusively owned by the
government, is a public corporation; but
an hospital founded by a private benefac-
tor, is, in point of law, a private corpora-
tion, though dedicated by its charter to
general charity. A college founded and
endowed in the same manner is a private
charity; though, from its general objects,
it may acquire the character of a public
institution. A mere act of incorporation
will not change a charity from a private
to a public one. To make a public char-
ity, it is essential that the express object
of its creation be of a public character.
A charity may be public, though adminis-
tered by a private corporation. Thus a
devise for the benefit of the poor of a par-
ish, is a public charity. The charity of
almost every hospital and college is public,
while the corporations are private.
ELEEMOSYNARY CORPORATION-ELEPHANT.
ELEGY; commonly a mournful and
plaintive poem, as is implied by the sig-
nification of the Greek name. It signi-
fies to cry alas! alas! (E! E! Aéyev). But
the Greeks and Romans had elegies, which
were so called only from the measure of
the verse, and were on various subjects.
The elegiac measure of the ancients was
the distich (q. v.), consisting of the manly
hexameter alternating with the delicate
pentameter. In this verse, not only sor-
row breathes soft lamentations, but joy
and love pour themselves forth in its flow-
ing numbers. Even the war-songs of
Tyrtæus and Callinus were in elegiac
verse, as were also the didactic and heroic
poems and moral maxims of the ancients.
A historical examination will best show
how plaintive melancholy came to be the
characteristic of this sort of verse. We
must first go back to the origin of the
pentameter. In the first volume of Wie-
land's Attic Museum, it is proved by Böt-
tiger, that the pentameter verse arose from
the use of the military Lydian flute. The
oldest poets, who composed in this meas-
ure, confined it to warlike songs. The
second period of the pentameter begins
with Mimnermus of Colophon, who, in
the spirit of his effeminate age, breathed
soft feelings into his flute and his pentam-
eters, and sung love-elegies to Nanno.
He was therefore regarded by antiquity as
the founder of the tender and complain-
ng elegy. With Simonides begins the

third period; as the distich was his favor
ite measure for epitaphs and inscriptions
on tombs, a little poem of this sort was
called an elegy. The distich, however,
was never used exclusively for mournful
poems, and hence it is well to distinguish
poems in elegiac verse from elegy itself.
Among the modern European languages,
it is well known, none but the German
have a rigid, established prosody; hence
this language alone can produce elegies,
in the ancient sense of the word. Göthe
and Voss, like the ancients, have happily
applied this measure to joyful subjects.
In the other modern languages, elegy al-
ways signifies a mournful poem. The
characteristic of true elegy is a calm and
meditative contemplation of grief, not the
wild agony of suffering. Jacobi says of it
"If I were to give a sensible image of
Elegy, I should not paint her as many
have done, in long robes of sorrow, with
dishevelled hair and a veiled brow, weep-
ing over a coffin. I would rather repre-
sent her as a nymph seated placidly, with
her head upon her hand, full of feeling and
contemplation. On her neglected locks
should hang a torn garland, and in her
lap should lie a wreath of faded flowers.
A tomb should appear in the distance
half concealed by a dark grove of cypress.
Behind should rise a hill, full of budding
roses, and illumined with the rays of the
rising sun."
ELEMENT; a term applied in chemis
try to a body which has not yet been de-
composed. The elements of the ancients
were bodies which they supposed to be
absolutely simple, and capable of forming
all other bodies by their mutual combina-
tion; whereas the elements of the mod-
erns are regarded as simple, merely in
respect to the present state of the art of
analyzing bodies. The progress of chem-
ical science, for several centuries past,
has mainly consisted in carrying still far-
ther the analysis of bodies, and in proving
those to be compound, which had before
been thought elementary. (See Chemistry.)
ELEPHANT. This well known and sa-
gacious animal belongs to the order of
pachydermata, or thick-skinned animals.
Desmarest recognises two recent species,
the Asiatic (E. Indicus), and the African,
(E. Africanus); of which the former is the
largest, most readily domesticated, and
best known. There are also several ex-
tinct species, whose remains are met with
in almost every part of the world. Few
quadrupeds have attracted more attention
from mankind than the elephant. Form-
ed as it were for the service of man in

BATT
ELEPHANT. HELE
warm climates, it possesses every attribute
that can render it useful. It is strong,
active and persevering, and so docile and
sagacious as to be trained to almost any
service. It is not easy to convey in words
a distinct idea of the form of any animal.
Words, it is true, may assist the imagina-
tion in recalling forms with which it is
already familiar; but no description, how-
ever clear and precise, can give the mind
that strong and distinct impression of a
new image, which is made by the reality,
or even by a representation. This diffi-
culty is peculiary felt in attempting to de-
scribe the elephant. His eyes are ex-
tremely small, his ears very large and
pendulous. The whole form is awkward,
the head being large, the body thick, and
the back much arched; the legs are very
clumsy and shapeless, the feet slightly
divided into, or, more properly, edged
with, five rounded hoofs; the tail is some-
what like that of a hog, and fringed at
the extremity by a few very thick, long,
black hairs. The skin is generally of a deep
ash-brown, approaching to black, though
it is sometimes white or cream-colored;
skins of this last sort are highly prized, be-
ing one of the attributes of royalty in Siam,
one of the titles of whose king is, lord of
the white elephant. The tusks are not
visible in young animals, but in a more
advanced stage of growth, they are emi-
nently conspicuous, and in the full grown
animal they project, in some instances,
seven or eight feet. Elephants sometimes
attain the height of fifteen feet, but their
general height is about nine or ten. Their
weight is sometimes enormous, being
from four to nine thousand pounds. The
female seldom produces more than one at
a birth: this, when first born, is about
three feet high, and continues to grow till
it is sixteen or eighteen years of age. It
is said they live to the age of one hundred
years and upwards. They feed on vege-
tables, the young shoots of trees, grain
and fruit. The most singular part of the
structure of the elephant is his trunk,
which is peculiar to this animal, though
the long and flexible snout of the tapir
bears some resemblance to it. It appears
to be an extension of the canals of the
nose; it is cartilaginous, and composed of
numerous rings, divided through its whole
length by a septum, and terminates in a
kind of movable finger. It is of such
strength as to be capable of breaking off
large branches from trees, whilst, at the
same time, it is endowed with such ex-
quisite sensibility, that it can grasp the
smallest object. The disposition of the
VOL. IV.
40
469
elephant is gentle, and his manners social;
hence they are seldom seen except
troops. The wild elephants of Ceylon,
which are much esteemed, live in small
troops or families. In wandering from
place to place, the males, who are fur-
nished with the largest tusks, put them-
selves at the head, and are the first to face
every danger. In swimming over any
large river, they lead the van, and seek a
proper landing place: next follow the
young elephants, clinging to each other by
means of their trunks, whilst the remain-
der of the full grown bring up the rear.
These animals have, in all ages, been ea-
gerly hunted. Some of the arts which
have been employed to kill them or take
them merit attention. The Hottentots in
South Africa shoot them with tin balls:
this chase is attended with considerable
danger; for, with every precaution that
can be used, the sagacity of the elephant
often detects the approach of the hunter,
who, in this case, will, in all probability,
fall a victim to the rage of the animal, un-
less he can instantly disable him. Spar-
man.-Inthe island of Sumatra, the inhab-
itants split sugar canes, of which food the
elephant is very fond, and impregnate
them with poison. Marsden.-In Abys-
sinia, they are pursued by hunters on
horseback, in the following manner: Two
men, perfectly naked, mount the same
horse, the hindermost is armed with a
broadsword, the lower part of which is
covered with cord, and the remainder is
exceedingly sharp. In this manner they
pursue the elephants, and, having singled
out one, they irritate him to attack them,
when they ride up close to him, and the
armed man slips from the horse on the
off side, and, whilst the elephant's atten-
tion is engaged with the horse, he dividest
the tendons of his foot with a single blow,
and thus disables him, when he is de-
spatched by lances. Bruce.-They are
also taken alive in pitfalls, or are driven
into enclosures; in either case they are
fed scantily, though regularly, for a few
days, when tame elephants are employed
to engage their attention till they can be
tied fast to a tree; after they have become
somewhat dispirited, they are led away
between two tame ones, and put under
the care of keepers, who gradually bring
them into subjection, more, however, by
caresses and soothing than by coercion.
When tamed, they become the most ger-
tle and obedient of all domestic animals,
and, in most cases, are exceedingly fond
of their keepers, and soon learn to distin..
guish the various tones of the human
470
ELEPHANT-ELEPHANTIASIS.

voice, as expressive of anger, approbation
or command. The domestic elephant
performs more work than six horses, but
at the same time, requires much care, and
a plentiful supply of food. He is gen-
erally fed with rice, either raw or boiled,
and mixed with water. To keep him in
full vigor, a hundred pounds of this food
is said to be required daily, besides fresh
herbage to cool him, and he must be led to
the water twice or thrice a day to bathe.
His daily consumption of water as drink
is about forty gallons. To enumerate all
the services of these useful animals would
be incompatible with the design of this
work. They are employed in carrying
burdens on their bodies, necks, and even
in their mouths, by means of a rope, the
end of which they hold fast with their
teeth; they load a boat with amazing dex-
terity, carefully keeping all the articles
dry, and disposing them where they ought
to be placed. In propelling wheel car-
riages heavily laden up a declivity, they
push them forward with their forehead,
and support them with their knees. In
dragging beams of wood along the ground,
they remove obstacles or elevate the ends
of the beams so as to clear them. Before
the invention of fire arms, they were used
in war by many nations of antiquity;
they are still employed in the East in
dragging artillery over mountains. Dur-
ing the rutting season, this animal is often
seized with a madness which deprives
him of all tractability, and renders him so
dangerous, that it is often necessary to kill
him. In many parts of India, elephants
are made the executioners of justice; for
they will with their trunks either break
the limbs of a criminal, trample him to
death, or pierce him with their tusks, as
they may be directed. In the island of
Ceylon, the general value of an elephant
is about $250; but if there is any blemish,
as a want of tail, &c., very considerable
deductions are made. They are taken at
certain stated periods, and generally a
great number are sold together by auction.
Elephants appear to be very susceptible
to the power of music, variations in the
character of the sounds producing cor-
responding changes in the emotions of
the animals. The tusks of the elephant
have long been applied, under the denom-
ination of ivory, to a variety of important
uses in the arts. From the fossil remains
which have been discovered, it is apparent
that they must have been abundantly dis-
tributed over the earth; and some of
them appear to have been adapted to a
much more northern climate than is now
inhabited by the elephant. The specimen
which was, some years since, found im-
bedded in ice in Siberia, was covered with
a long and coarse hair, and with a finer
and woolly covering, which was short, and
closely applied to the surface, thus pro-
tecting it against the severe cold of those
latitudes. The accounts of the manners
and intelligence of the elephant as given
by writers, although in many cases evi-
dently exaggerated, still afford proof of
a surprising degree of sagacity, and fully
entitle him to the rank of
"Wisest of brutes, with gentle might endowed;
Though powerful, not destructive."
ELEPHANTA, OF ELEPHANT ISLE; called
by the natives Gharipoor; an island between
Bombay and the west coast of Hindostan,
5 miles in circuit; with about 100 inhab-
itants; 5 miles E. Bombay. It was nam-
ed Elephanta by the Portuguese, from a
colossal statue of an elephant formed out
of black rock, which stands in the open
plain opposite to the landing place. The
island owes its celebrity to its wonderful
cave and mythological inscriptions. This
cave is nearly 60 feet square, and 18 high,
supported by pillars cut out of the rock;
and in the sides there are numerous com-
partments, containing various representa.
tions of Hindoo deities.
ELEPHANTIASIS (from pas, an ele-
phant); a disease so called from the legs
of people affected with it growing scaly,
rough, and wonderfully large, at an ad-
vanced period, like the legs of an elephant.
The disease attacks the whole body, but
mostly affects the feet, which appear
somewhat like those of the elephant. It
is known by the skin being thick, rough,
wrinkly, unctuous, and void of hair, and
mostly without the sense of feeling. It is
said to be contagious. Cullen makes it a
genus of disease in the class cachexia, and
order impetigines. Elephantiasis has gen-
erally been supposed to arise in conse-
quence of some slight attack of fever, on
the cessation of which the morbid matter
falls on the leg, and occasions a distension
and tumefaction of the limb, which is af-
terwards overspread with uneven lumps,
and deep fissures. By some authors it has
been considered as a species of leprosy ;
but it often subsists for many years with-
out being accompanied with any of the
symptoms which characterize that dis-
ease. It sometimes comes on gradually,
without much previous indisposition; but
more generally, the person is seized with
a coldness and shivering, pains in the
head, back and loins, and some degree of
nausea. A slight fever then ensues, and
ELEPHANTIASIS-ELEUSIS.
a severe pain is felt in one of the inguinal
glands, which, after a short time, becomes
hard, swelled and inflamed. No suppu-
ration, however, ensues; but a red streak
may be observed running down the thigh
from, the swelled gland to the leg. As
the inflammation increases in all the parts,
the fever gradually abates, and, perhaps,
after two or three days' continuance, goes
off. It, however, returns again at uncer-
tain periods, leaving the leg greatly swelled
with varicose, turgid veins, the skin rough
and rugged, and a thickened membrana
cellulosa. Scales appear also on the sur-
face, which do not fall off, but are en-
larged by the increasing thickness of the
membranes; uneven lumps, with deep
fissures, are formed, and the leg and foot
become at last of an enormous size. A
person may labor under this disease many
years without finding much alteration in
his general health, except during the con-
tinuance of the attacks; and perhaps the
chief inconvenience he will experience is
the enormous bulky leg which he drags
about with him. The incumbrance has,
indeed, induced many who have labored
under this disease to submit to an ampu-
tation; but the operation seldom proves a
radical cure, as the other leg frequently
becomes affected. Hilary observes, that
he never saw both legs swelled at the
same time. Instances where they have
alike acquired a frightful and prodigious
size, have, however, frequently fallen un-
der the observation of other physicians.
ELEPHANT'S RIVER, in Africa, rises in
the country of the Hottentots, and runs
into the Atlantic, lat. 31° S.
ELEPHANTINA, or EL SAG; a small isl-
and on the Nile, opposite to Syene; re-
markable for the ruins with which it is
covered. The northern part is low, the
southern elevated and rocky. The Nile,
for nearly a mile above, is interrupted by
numerous small rocks of that fine red gra-
nite, which characterizes this island, and
which produced so many portals, columns
and obelisks, to adorn the chief cities of
antiquity. The island is covered with
ruins, piled upon each other-Egyptian,
Roman, Saracen and Arabic. Of these
the Egyptian, though the most ancient,
are in the best state of preservation. It is
supposed that there was once a great tem-
ple here, dedicated to the god Cnuphis,
all traces of which are now obliterated;
but there remains a pyramidal portal of
red granite, supposed to have formed the
entrance. There are two small temples,
one of which is believed by Denon to be-
long to the earliest ages of Egypt. It is
471

covered within and without with hiero-
glyphics, executed in a style of peculiar
excellence. On the eastern side of the
island are remains of a high wall, of
which the masonry is admirable.
ELEUSIS (now Lepsina, a village), next
to Athens, was the principal city of At-
tica. The mysteries of Ceres and Proser-
pine were celebrated there, and were
thence called Eleusinia. Neither the
founder of these mysteries nor the time
of their origin is known; they were the
oldest and the most venerable in Greece:
originally they were only a public festi-
val, a harvest-home, to express the grati-
tude of men to Ceres for her bounties; to
recall their former condition, and enjoy
their present blessings; to banish unkind
feelings, and perhaps, also, to form new
laws and project new enterprises. We
have no information of the manner in
which the proper mysteries arose from
these rude games and festivities. They
were celebrated at the temple of Ceres at
Eleusis, in a court surrounded by walls.
Behind the temple was an elevation in the
rock upon which it stood, 8 or 9 feet high,
270 feet long, and in some places 44 feet
broad: on the northern end of this rock the
ruins of a chapel are still visible. The
persons who presided at the Eleusinian
mysteries were:-1. The Hierophant (q.
v.). He was the type of the Creator of
the world, and appeared with emblems
of Omnipotence. 2. The torch-bearer.
He was the type of the sun. His business
was to purify those who were to be ini-
tiated, and, on the fifth night, when the
wanderings of Ceres on Etna were rep-
resented, to lead the other torch-bearers.
3. The sacred herald, who enjoined si-
lence upon those who were to be initiated,
and commanded the profane to withdraw.
4. He who served at the altar, and bore
the emblem of the moon. Besides these
persons, the archon or basileus attended
to the preservation of order, offered
prayers and sacrifices, and obliged the un-
initiated and the criminal to retire. He
judged and punished any who disturbed
the solemnities. Ancient authors also
mention priestesses, but we have not been
informed of their office. The mysteries
were commonly distinguished into the
greater and less. Most authors give the
following account of them. Hercules,
being at Athens, desired to be initiated
into the mysteries; but, by the laws, no
stranger could be admitted: that they
might not offend the hero whom they
respected and feared, nor yet violate the
ancient laws, the Athenians instituted the
472
ELEUSIS-ELGIN.

lesser mysteries, to the celebration of
which he was admitted. These were af-
terwards preparatory to the greater; for
which the candidate was obliged to fit
himself by religious ceremonies, symboli-
cal rites, and various acts of devotion, the
design of which was to withdraw his at-
tention, at least for a time, from business
and pleasure, to keep him pure, chaste
and unpolluted, and to excite his curiosity
in relation to the expected revelations.
The period of purification continued a
year; and no one could be admitted to the
mysteries without purification, on pain of
death. The ceremony of admission was
performed by night: the candidates,
crowned with myrtle, were obliged to
wash their hands at the sacred threshold
with holy water: public proclamation was
also made, that the mysteries should be
approached only with pure hands and,
pure hearts. Pure Greek only was to be
spoken. The celebration of the mysteries
commenced on the 15th day of the month
Boedromion, and continued nine days. It
consisted principally of representations of
the history of Ceres and Proserpine, the
tortures of Tartarus, and the joys of Elys-
ium, which were exhibited in the most
striking manner. The chief design was,
by sensible means, to spread among the
people a conviction of the immortality of
the soul, and of a future state of rewards
and punishments. The initiated were
under the peculiar protection of the gods,
and they alone were certain of the joys
of immortality. Very different from these
lesser were the greater mysteries, which
contained the secret doctrines that were
the chief object of the institution, and were
communicated only to a few (the Epoptæ),
in the recesses of the sanctuary. Secrecy
was enjoined under the most dreadful
penalties. Divine vengeance and death
were the punishment of those who dis-
closed them. These doctrines probably
aimed at the explanation of the popular
superstition and mythology, and the inter-
pretation of their true meaning. The mys-
teries inculcated the doctrine of one God,
and the dignity and destiny of the soul of
man: they instructed the people in the
knowledge of nature and of the universe,
and pointed out the traces of the Deity in
the beauty and majesty, the splendor and
regularity of the visible world. (See Pot-
ter's Antiquities, ii, 20.)
ELEUTHERA, or ALABASTER ISLAND;
one of the Bahama islands. The climate
is healthy, and the soil is fertile. It has a
fort and small garrison. The largest set-
tlement is at Harbor island, at the northern
extremity, containing, in 1803, 890 inhab-
itants; and the settlement of Wreck
sound, on the west side, contained about
400. Lon. 76° 31′ W.; lat. 25° 14' N.
ELEVATION OF A PLACE. (See Altitude.)
ELEVATION, in the ceremony of the
mass, is the raising, first of the host and
then of the cup, to receive the homage of the
people, as the body and the blood of Jesus
Christ: the priest himself previously per-
forms the act of adoration by a deep gen-
uflection. This ceremony was introduced
into the Latin church in the beginning of
the 12th century, in consequence of the
heresy of Berengarius, in order to render
the profession of the belief in the real
presence and the transubstantiation as
decided and striking as possible. In the
Greek Catholic church, the elevation of
the host does not take place immediately
after the consecration, as in the Roman
church, but before the communion, when
the priest says sancta sanctis (the holy for
the holy).
ELF, in the ancient northern mytholo-
gy; certain beings, sometimes visible, at
other times invisible; either bright, beau-
tiful and good (Liosalfar), dwelling in
heaven (Alfheim), or black, ugly and ma-
licious (Schwartalfar), living under the
ground. "The former," says the Edda
(q. v.), "are brighter than the sun; the
latter, blacker than pitch." To the latter
belongs the nightmare (in German, Alp).
The fairies, nixies, brownies, robin-good-
fellows, &c., all belong to this family. The
elf-knots are known to every body. How
delightfully Shakspeare has availed him
self of these shadowy creations of a play-
ful imagination, we all remember.
ELGIN, lord, born 1769, an English
nobleman of an ancient family, has de-
voted himself particularly to the study of
antiquities and the arts. In 1792, he was
sent as English ambassador to the Aus-
trian court in the Netherlands; and, in
1799, in the same capacity, to Constanti-
nople, where he received from the sultan
the order of the crescent. Being recalled
in 1800, he travelled through Greece.
The English government not complying.
with his request to cause drawings of the
ancient monuments to be made, he en-
gaged several distinguished artists at his
own expense, viz., Tita Lusiori, Balestra,
Ittar, and the famous Calmuck, Feodor
Ivanovitsch. In 1811, the result of his
travels and investigations appeared, in a
work called Pursuits in Greece; and, in
1814, he removed many splendid remains
of antiquity to England, at a great ex-
pense. The English nation afterwards
ELGIN-ELIO.
bought them for £35,000, and they are
and they are
now to be seen in the British Museum,
London. The Elgin marbles are some
of the finest remains of ancient art, and
offer the richest field for study. In the
Vatican are casts in plaster of these su-
perb relics. Casts have been made, also,
for Würtemberg, Russia and other states.
The largest part of them (92 pieces) are
from the Parthenon of Athens, and were,
perhaps, executed from designs by Phid-
ias. Such an important collection of an-
tiques has, of course, drawn forth nu-
merous publications. The learned Vis-
conti wrote a work on the Elgin marbles
(London, 1816), and an official report was
drawn up from the notes of this accom-
plished scholar, which contains the opin-
ions of most of the first sculptors and
painters of our age, respecting these stat-
ues, expressed in the strongest terms of
admiration. Lord Elgin, on his return
from Turkey, passed through France, and
was one of the persons detained by Bona-
parte, on the rupture of the peace of
Amiens, as hostages for the security of the
French who had been seized by the Brit-
ish cruisers. He was not liberated till
1806. The purchase of the famous mar-
bles brought to England by lord Elgin, is
said to have been made at the suggestion
of Mr. Hamilton, then his secretary, and
since under-secretary of state.
EL-HARIB; a territory in the north-west
of Africa, to the south of Morocco, to which
t is tributary, important as the stopping-
place of caravans passing from Timbuc-
oo (q. v.), through the desert, to the
north-west of Africa. This passage was
performed in two months by the caravan
of Caillé. (q. v.) El-Harib is two days'
journey west from the territory of El-
Drah, and one to the east of the tribe of
the Trajacants, and is situated between
two chains of mountains, which extend
from east to west, and separate it, towards
the north, from the empire of Morocco.
The principal wealth of the inhabitants
consists in the great quantity of camels
which they breed, and which, in the wet
season, produce abundance of milk for
their sustenance. The Moors of El-Ha-
rib carry goods for the merchants of Tafi-
let, El-Drah, &c., on their camels, to
Timbuctoo and other places. They re-
turn with gold and slaves, which they
sell in Morocco. The inhabitants of El-
Harib consist of 11 tribes of Mohamme-
dans, filthy to excess, and are much op-
pressed and despised by the wandering
Berbers and their other neighbors. (See
René Caillé's Travels through Central Afri-
473

ca to Timbuctoo, &c., Paris and London,
1830, 2 vols.)
ELIANUS. (See Elianus.)
ELIAS. (See Elijah.)
ELIJAH; a prophet, who lived in the
reign of Ahab, king of Israel, and Jeho-
shaphat, king of Judah. The prophet
rebuked both these kings for their idola-
try, and at last succeeded, by his miracles,
in abolishing it. Instead of dying in the
common way, he ascended to heaven in
a fiery chariot. His successor was Eli-
sha. His history is related in the First
and Second Books of Kings. According
to some passages of the Scriptures, the
Jews expected Elijah to appear before
the Messiah, and Christians have main-
tained that he will appear on earth
before the end of the world. Many le-
gends are related of this prophet by
Christians and Mohammedans. The cu-
'rious will find specimens of these in Bayle.
(For information of the views of the Cath-
olics respecting this prophet, we refer the
reader to the Dictionnaire de Théologie,
Toulouse, 1817.)
ELIO, Francisco Xavier, having dis-
tinguished himself in the Spanish war
against Napoleon, was appointed by the
regency to be captain-general of the prov-
inces of Rio de la Plata, during the early
part of the revolution in South America.
He had to contend with Liniers and Arti-
gas (q. v.) particularly; and was attacked
and besieged by the latter in Monte Video.
The siege being prosecuted by Rondo
with every prospect of success, Elio im-
plored the assistance of the Brazilian gov-
ernment. An auxiliary force of 4000
Portuguese was preparing to relieve him,
when the fear of their approach induced
the patriots to close with the propositions
for peace made by Elio. This was in
1811; but Elio was again besieged the
next year. Meanwhile he was succeeded
by don Gaspar Vigodet, and returned to
Europe. Upon the return of Ferdinand
VII, Elio was one of the first to declare
in favor of absolute monarchy, and con-
tributed efficaciously to the revolution
which overthrew the regency and the
cortes of Cadiz. He was rewarded with
the appointment of captain-general of the
kingdom of Valencia, which he governed
with all the extremity of fanatical rigor.
A disturbance in the city of Valencia gave
him occasion to inflict upon the friends
of liberal institutions, indiscriminately, a
series of cruelties shocking to humanity.
His career of atrocity lasted upwards of a
year, when it was cut short by the revival
of the constitution of Cadiz, in March,
40*
474
ELIO-ELIOTT.

1820. Elio proclaimed the new order of
things, and prepared to submit to it, yet
would have been killed by the populace,
but for the intercession of the count of
Almodavar. He was imprisoned in the cit-
adel, where he remained until May, 1822,
without a conclusion of his trial. At that
time, he was implicated in a movement
of part of the garrison in favor of ab-
solutism. He was immediately brought
to trial before a military commission, for
this new crime, and unanimously sen-
tenced to the punishment of death, which
was inflicted Sept. 3, 1822. When the
invasion of the French restored Ferdi-
nand to absolute power, the greatest hon-
ors were paid to the memory of general
Elio. His eldest son received the title of
marquis of Fidelity, and his full pay as gen-
eral was continued to his widow and chil-
dren. The judges, also, who condemned
him to death, were among the exceptions
from the decree of amnesty of 1824.
ELIOT, John, styled the apostle to the
Indians, was born in England, in 1604,
and educated at the university of Cam-
bridge. After pursuing the occupation
of a teacher in England, he emigrated, in
1631, to Massachusetts. He became min-
ister of the church in Roxbury, and soon
conceived a strong passion for Chris-
tianizing and improving the condition of
the Indians, of whom there were nearly
twenty tribes within the limits of the
English plantations. He acquired their
language, and published a grammar and
a translation of the Bible in it. The
merit is claimed for him of having
been the first Protestant clergyman who
preached the gospel to the North Amer-
ican savages. His evangelical labors,
and personal sufferings, his influence
among them, his zeal, courage and expo-
sure in protecting them from wrong and
violence, are celebrated in a number of the
publications on New England history and
biography. This indefatigable missionary
died May 20, 1690, aged about 86 years.
He left four sons, whom he had educated,
at Harvard college, and who were classed
with "the best preachers of their genera-
tion." His extreme antipathy to wigs
and the use of tobacco is specially no-
ticed by all his biographers. He was
eccentric, besides, in his ascetic habits,
and in several of his main theological
opinions. His printed works are volu-
minous. In 1660, he issued a tract, in
which he attempted to prove that the
Indians are descendants of the Jews. His
political theories were fully democratic.
Hutchinson relates, in his History of Mas-
sachusetts, that, in 1660, the governor and
council of Massachusetts pronounced the
Christian Commonwealth, of which Eliot
was the author, to be "full of seditious
principles and notions, in relation to all
established governments in the Christian
world, especially against the government
established in their native country." Upon
consultation with the elders, their formal
censure was deferred, in order to afford
the heretical republican an opportunity of
making a public recantation. He did this
in a paper, which he delivered to the
general court, at its next session, and which
was posted up, by its order, in the princi-
pal towns of the colony. He acknowl-
edges that "such expressions as do mani-
festly scandalize the government of Eng-
land, by king, lords and commons, are
antichristian, and that all form of civil
government, deduced from Scripture, is
of God, and to be subjected to, for con-
science' sake; and whatsoever is in the
whole epistle or book inconsistent herewith
he does, at once, most cordially disown."
ELIOTT, George Augustus (lord Heath-
field); the defender of Gibraltar; born at
Stubbs, in Scotland, 1718, of an ancient
family. He was educated at home, by a
private tutor, and afterward sent to the
university of Leyden. He studied milita-
ry science at the French military school at
La Fere, travelled through several parts
of the continent, and served in the Prus-
sian army as a volunteer. In 1733, he
joined the engineer corps at Woolwich,
where he continued till he was made
adjutant of the second corps of horse
grenadiers. He accompanied George II
to Germany in May, 1743, when that
monarch assisted Maria Theresa against
France, and was wounded in the battle
of Dettingen, and rose to the rank of lieu-
tenant-colonel. In the seven years' war,
he fought under the command of the
duke of Cumberland, prince Ferdinand,
and the crown-prince of Brunswick, from
1757, as commander in chief of a regi-
ment of light cavalry, which he had him-
self raised. He was called from the con-
tinent to be made second in command at
Havanna. In 1775, he was made com-
mander-in-chief of the forces in Ireland,
and, in the same year, received the gov-
ernorship of Gibraltar. Spain, in con-
nexion with France, took part, in 1779, in
the war between England and America,
and, even before the declaration of war,
laid siege to Gibraltar, by sea and by land.
In the course of three years, all the prepa-
rations had been made for a siege, which
is one of the most extraordinary in history
AJO ELIOTT-ST. ELIZABETH. TE
475

ELIS; a country in the west of the
Peloponnesus (q. v.), where Olympia was
situated. (See Olympic Games.) It was
bounded on the east by Arcadia, on the
south by Messenia, and ran along the
coast, watered by the river Alpheus. Elis
was the capital of the country. Eleus,
one of its kings in early times, is said to
have given origin to the name of the
country.ste
In June, 1782, the duke of Crillon, com- king, ordered medals to be struck, one of
mander-in-chief of the Spanish army, which was presented to every soldier en-
who had recently taken the island of Mi- gaged in the defence. After the conclusion
norca from the English, arrived at Gibral- of peace, he went to England, and was
tar, with a reinforcement. All the French created lord Heathfield. In 1790, he was
princes royal were in the camp. An obliged to visit the baths of Aix-la-Cha-
army of 30,000 Frenchmen and Spaniards pelle for his health. In Kalkofen, a place
were at the foot of the hill. Floating near that city, and his favorite residence,
batteries were constructed to attack the he died of an apoplexy, July 6, the same
fortifications, with two roofs, so carefully year. His corpse was carried to England,
and strongly built, that neither balls nor and the king himself prepared the plan
bombs could injure them: there were ten of a monument erected in honor of him
of them, which, together, had 397 can- at Gibraltar. One of the most famous
nons, each cannon being served by 36 pictures of Copley (q. v.), representing the
men. Sept. 13, 1782, they drew near to siege and relief of Gibraltar, and full of
the fortress, and the crews (consisting of portraits, is placed in the council-chamber
criminals, to whom, if they did their duty, of Guildhall, London, having been painted
a pension of 200 livres per annum had for the city. General Eliott was one of the
been promised) commenced the attack. most abstemious men of his age. His diet
Eliott wished to assail the batteries with consisted of vegetables and water. He
red-hot shot, but knew no means of pre- slept only four hours at a time, and inured
paring them in sufficient quantity. A himself to habits of order and watchfulness.
German smith, however, named Schwän
Rendiek, constructed an oven for the pur-
pose, and more than 4000 hot shot were
now showered on the batteries. The
same afternoon, smoke was seen to rise
from the principal battery and two others.
The enemy in vain attempted to subdue
the flames and close the holes; at one
o'clock at night, three of the batteries
were completely in flames, and some of
the others were beginning to burn. The
crews in vain made signals to the Spanish
fleet of their condition; they could do noth-
ing for the batteries, and only attempted to
rescue the crews; but 12 gunboats, which
left the fortress, commanded by captain
Curtis, prevented the boats of the besiegers
from approaching, and, at the same time,
continued to fire on the floating fortresses.
At break of day, the crews were seen on
the burning batteries, crying for help. The
besieged now hastened to assist them,
dangerous as it was, on account of the
balls from the heated cannons and the
pieces of wood from the bursting struc-
tures, which flew against them. Curtis,
at the risk of his own life and those of his
people, saved 13 officers and 344 soldiers.
An attack by land was also frustrated by
Eliott, and, at the same time, a tempest
greatly injuring the Spanish fleet, the
siege, from the middle of November,
1782, was changed into a close blockade,
to which the peace, concluded at Ver-
sailles, Jan. 20, 1783, put an end. The
king of England sent Eliott the order of
the Bath, which was presented to him
on the spot on which he had most ex-
posed himself to the fire of the enemy.
Eliott himself, with the consent of the
ELIXIR (from the Arabic al ecsir, a
chemical medicine, or from aλew, I help, or
kw, I draw out, or from eligere, to choose,
or rather from elixare, to boil). It is the
name of several medicines, consisting of
wine or spirits of wine and various resin-
ous, bitter, vegetable substances. The
word, however, is almost gone out of use,
and its place supplied by tincture. Elix-
irs, indeed, differ from tinctures, by having
a thicker and more opaque consistence,
and by containing less spirit. The stom-
ach elixirs of Frederic Hoffmann and
Stoughton are well known. The former
(elix. viscerale, Fr. Hoffmanni) is prepared
by dissolving in Malaga or Hungary wine
the extract of card. ben., cent. min., cort.
aurant., cort. Chinæ., myrrh. aq., and add-
ing to the solution a little tinct. caryophyll.
aromat. and tinct. croci. Stoughton's
elixir consists of absynth., gentian. rubr.,
rhabarb, cascarilla and cort. aurant., steep-
ed in spirits of wine.
ELIZA BONAPARTE (See Bacciocchi).
ELIZABETH, ST., of Thuringia, distin-
guished for her piety and virtue, the
daughter of Andrew II, king of Hungary,
was born at Presburg, 1207, and, in 1211,
was married to Louis, landgrave of Thu-
ringia, who was then 11 years old, and
476
SAINT ELIZABETH-ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND.

was educated at Wartburg, in all the ele-
gance of the court of Hermann, the abode
of music and the arts. Louis began to
govern in 1215, and the marriage was
completed in 1221. While the husband
devoted himself to knightly exploits, the
wife was distinguished by the mild virtues
of her sex. When Germany, and espe-
cially Thuringia, was oppressed with fam-
ine and pestilence, she caused many hos-
pitals to be erected, fed a multitude of the
poor from her own table, and supplied
their wants with money and clothing.
She wandered about, in an humble dress,
relieving the sorrows of the wretched.
Louis died on a crusade, and her own
life terminated Nov. 19, 1231, in an hos-
pital which she had herself established.
She was regarded as a saint by her ad-
miring contemporaries, and, four years
after her death, this canonization was
approved by pope Gregory IX. A beau-
tiful church and a costly monument were
erected over her tomb. The latter is now
one of the most splendid remains of Goth-
ic architecture in Germany.
ELIZABETH, queen of England, and one
of its most celebrated sovereigns, was the
daughter of Henry VIII, by his queen,
Anne Boleyn. She was born in 1533, and
educated in the principles of the reforma-
tion, and also in those classical studies in-
to which it had then become customary
to initiate females of distinction in Eng-
land. In her father's testament, she was
placed the third in the order of succes-
sion; but the duke of Northumberland
induced her brother, Edward VI, to set
her aside, as well as her sister Mary, to
make room for Jane Grey. In the reign
of Mary, she was placed under circum-
stances of great difficulty, from her known
attachment to Protestantism; and notwith-
standing her great prudence, but for the
politic interference of her brother-in-law,
Philip of Spain, she might have been in
great personal danger. On the death of
Mary, in 1558, she was immediately pro-
claimed queen, and received in the me-
tropolis with the loudest acclamations.
She consigned to oblivion all the affronts
she had received during the late reign,
and prudently assumed the gracious de-
meanor of the common sovereign of all
her subjects. Philip of Spain soon made
her proposals of marriage, but she knew
the aversion borne him by the nation too
well to think of accepting them. She
proceeded with considerable prudence and
moderation to the arduous task of settling
religion, which was, in a great degree,
effected by the first parliament she sum-
moned. It was not long before Elizabeth
began that interference in the affairs of
Scotland, which produced some of the
most singular events of her reign. Mary,
the young queen of Scots, was not only
the next heir in blood to the English
crown, but was regarded by the Roman-
ists, who deemed Elizabeth illegitimate, as
the true sovereign of England. By the
marriage of that princess with the dau-
phin, and her relationship to the Guises,
Scotland was also drawn into a closer
union with France than ever. Thus
great political causes of enmity abounded,
in addition to the female rivalry, which
was the most conspicuous foible of Eliza-
beth. The first step she took in Scottish
affairs,was to send a fleet and an army to
aid the party which supported the refor-
mation; and this interference, in 1560,
effected a treaty, by which the French
were obliged to quit Scotland. On the
return of Mary from France, after the
death of her husband, attempts were
made to procure Elizabeth's recognition
of her title as presumptive successor to the
crown of England; but, although unat-
tended to, and very disagreeable to the lat-
ter, the two queens lived for some time in
apparent amity. In the mean time, Eliz-
abeth acquired great reputation by her
vigorous conduct and political sagacity,
and had many suitors among the princes
of Europe, whom, consistent with her
early resolution to live single, she con-
stantly refused. Being regarded as the
head of the Protestant party in Europe,
she made a treaty of alliance with the
French Huguenots in that capacity, and
gave them aids in men and money. Her
government at home also gradually grew
more rigorous against the Catholics--one
of the mischievous consequences of the
incessant intrigue of the popish party
both at home and abroad, to overthrow
her government. She did all in her pow-
er to thwart the attempts to unite Mary in
a second marriage, and, besides a weak
jealousy of the personal charms of the
queen of Scotland, she discovered another
weakness in a propensity to adopt court
favorites, with a view to exterior accom-
plishments rather than to merit, as in the
well known instance of Dudley, earl of
Leicester. The political dissensions in
Scotland, which gave Mary so much dis-
quiet, were fomented by Elizabeth and
her ministers, but it was her own miscon-
duct that threw her into the hands of her
rival. The manner in which Elizabeth
detained the unhappy queen in captivity,
the secret negotiations of the latter with
MTTQIA ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND. HASI
the duke of Norfolk, the rebellions in the
north, and the treasonable engagements
made by the earls of Northumberland and
Westmoreland with the duke of Orleans,
in the Low Countries, are affairs rather of
history than biography. In the midst of
these events, the Puritanical party gave
much uneasiness to the queen, who was
warmly attached to the ceremonials of
religion, and to the hierarchy of which
she had become the head. Inheriting,
too, all the maxims of royal authority
maintained by her father, the spirit of
civil liberty, by which the Puritans be-
came early distinguished, was very offen-
sive to her. Elizabeth, however, under-
stood the art of making practical conces-
sions, while she maintained her dignity in
language; and such was the general pru-
dence and frugality of her administration,
that she retained the affections even of
those whom she governed with a rigorous
hand. Almost the only cause of com-
plaint, in regard to pecuniary matters, in
this reign, arose from the injurious grant
of monopolies, which formed a frequent
subject of parliamentary complaint, and
were often, in consequence, revoked. The
assistance given by Elizabeth to the Prot-
estants of the Low Countries induced
Spain, in 1572, to promote a conspiracy,
which was chiefly conducted by a Flor-
entine merchant and the bishop of Ross,
the Scottish resident in England. The
duke of Norfolk, allowing himself to be
drawn into a participation of this plot, on
its discovery, was tried and executed. The
massacre of St. Bartholomew, in the same
year, alarmed all Protestant rulers, and
especially Elizabeth, who put herself and
court into mourning on the occasion, and
received in silence the French ambassador
sent over to apologize for that execrable
deed. She, however, maintained external
amity with the French court, and even
suffered negotiations to be commenced
for her marriage with the duke of Alen-
çon, the king's brother, which brought
that prince to England. An expectation
that the union would take place now be-
came general. In 1575, she received the
offer of the sovereignty of the revolted
Dutch provinces; but, from prudential
reasons, she declined to accept it; and
it was not until 1578 that she signed
with them a treaty of alliance. In 1585,
Elizabeth ventured openly to defy the
hostility of Spain, by entering into a treaty
with the revolted provinces, by which she
pound herself to assist them with a con-
siderable force, the command of which
she intrusted to Leicester, who did little
477

honor to her choice. She also sent an
armament, under Drake, against the Span-
ish settlements in the West Indies, and
made a league of mutual defence with
James, king of Scotland, whose friendship
she courted, while she detained his moth-
er in prison. In 1586, that conspiracy
took place, the object of which was her
assassination by Anthony Babington. As
Elizabeth's principal counsellors, as well
as the nation at large, were of opinion
that the safety of the state demanded the
life of Mary, whatever may be thought
of the injustice of her treatment, it was
clearly the result of strong political cir-
cumstances. Elizabeth, however, con-
scious of the invidious light in which the
execution of a queen and relation would
appear to Europe, practised all the arts of
dissimulation to remove as much of the
odium from herself as possible. She
even wished Mary to be taken off pri-
vately; and it was only on the refusal of
sir Amias Paulet and sir Drue Drury, her
keepers, to be concerned in so odious an
affair, that the curious transaction of fur-
thering the warrant by secretary Davison
took place, the consequence of which was
the execution of Mary on Feb. 8, 1587.
The dissembled grief of Elizabeth, when
informed of this catastrophe, deceived no
one, although the imputed mistake of
Davison, and the sacrifice of him to her
assumed resentment, afforded the king of
Scotland a pretext for resuming an ami-
cable correspondence with the English
court. The year 1588 was rendered
memorable by the defeat of the Spanish
armada, on which meditated invasion
Elizabeth displayed all the confidence
and energy of her character. Soon after
this event, Elizabeth became the ally of
Henry IV of France, in order to vindi-
cate his title to that throne; and, for
some years, English auxiliaries served in
France, and naval expeditions were un-
dertaken, in which none more distin-
guished themselves than the celebrated
earl of Essex, who, on the death of Leices-
ter, succeeded to his place in the queen's
favor. In 1601, she held a conference
with the marquis de Rosni (afterwards
the celebrated Sully), who came over, on
the part of Henry IV, to concert, in con-
currence with England, a new balance
of European power, to control the pre-
ponderance of the house of Austria. Eliz-
abeth readily gave in to the project, and
the minister quitted England in admira-
tion of the solidity and enlargement of her
political views. Having suppressed an
insurrection in Ireland, and obliged all the
478
ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND-ELIZABETH CHARLOTTE.

Spanish troops, sent to aid in it, to quit the
island, she turned her thoughts towards
relieving the burdens of her subjects, and
gained much additional popularity by sup-
pressing a great number of unpopular
monopolies. The execution of the earl
of Essex (see Devereux, Robert), however,
gave a fatal blow to her happiness; and,
on learning from the dying countess of
Nottingham, that he had really transmitted
the ring, which implied his request of par-
don, she became furious with rage, and,
when her anger subsided, fell into an
incurable melancholy. At length nature
began to sink, and, as her end manifestly
approached, she was urged by her coun-
cil to declare her successor. She an-
swered, "Who but her kinsman, the king
of Scots?" and soon after, sinking into
a lethargy, she expired, without further
struggle or convulsion, on March 24, 1602,
in the 70th year of her age, and 45th of
her reign.-Estimating the character and
conduct of Elizabeth from the events of
her reign, she will justly rank high among
sovereigns. Under her auspices, the Prot-
estant religion, as opposed to popery, was
firmly established. Factions were re-
strained, government strengthened, the
vast power of Spain nobly opposed, op-
pressed neighbors supported, a navy cre-
ated, commerce rendered flourishing, and
the national character aggrandized. She
did not merely lend a name to a con-
spicuous period of history; her own pru-
dence, judgment, fortitude, firmness, vigor
and industry materially contributed to the
prosperity of her administration. She
was frugal to the borders of avarice; but,
being as economical of the people's
money as of her own, her prudent atten-
tion to national expenditure contributed
materially to the public good. The se-
verity of Elizabeth to Catholic emissaries,
Jesuits, and others, whether native or for-
eign, has latterly been deemed scarcely
defensible, nor, on a religious ground, is
it so; but it is never to be forgotten, that
most of those who suffered really sought
the overthrow of the state, and, in addi-
tion, acted under the direction of a foreign
influence of the most baleful description.
The treatment of the queen of Scots can
never be defended, but will always re-
main one of those cases which neither
policy, nor even personal danger, can
sufficiently justify. It may be questioned,
however, if the dissimulation of Elizabeth
has not injured her memory in respect to
this transaction, more than the deed it-
self, which was certainly deemed neces-
sary both by her ministers and a vast
majority of the people. Her principa
defects were violence and haughtiness of
temper, impatience of contradiction, and
insatiable fondness for admiration and
flattery. It is to be remarked, however,
that, capricious as she was in her affec-
tions, and petty in her feminine jealous-
ies, she always made even her favorites
feel that she was their sovereign, when
they were disposed to forget it. Although
fond of literature, and substantially learn-
ed, she was no very munificent patroness,
and made very poor returns for the excess
of incense so lavishly bestowed upon her.
She was skilled in the Greek, and spoke
the Latin language with considerable flu-
ency. She translated from the former
into Latin a dialogue of Xenophon, two
orations of Isocrates, and a play of Eurip-
ides, and also wrote a commentary on
Plato. From the Latin she translated
Boethius's Consolations of Philosophy,
Sallust's Jugurthine War, and a part of
Horace's Art of Poetry. In the Royal
and Noble Authors of lord Orford, may
also be found a catalogue of translations
from the French, prayers, meditations,
speeches in parliament, letters, &c.
ELIZABETH CHARLOTTE, duchess of Or-
leans, only daughter of the elector Charles
Louis, of the Palatinate, was born at
Heidelberg, 1652. She was a princess of
distinguished talents and character, and
lived half a century in the court of Louis
XIV without changing her German habits
for French manners. She was educated
with the greatest care, at the court of her
aunt, afterwards the electoress Sophia of
Hanover, and, at the age of 19, she mar-
ried duke Philip of Orleans, from reasons
of state policy. She was without person-
al charms, but her understanding was
strong, and her character unaffected, and
she was characterized by liveliness and
wit. It is to be regretted, that she exer-
cised no more influence on the education
of her children. Her second son was af-
terwards known as regent. Madame de
Maintenon was her implacable enemy,
but Louis XIV was attracted by her in-
tegrity and frankness, her vivacity and
wit. She often attended him to the
chase. She preserved the highest respect
for the literary men of Germany, particu-
larly for Leibnitz, whose correspondence
with the French literati she promoted.
She died at St. Cloud, in 1722. She has
described herself and her situation with
a natural humor, perfectly original, in her
German letters, which form an interest-
ing addition to the accounts of the court
of Louis XIV. The most valuable of her
ELIZABETH CHARLOTTE-ELIZABETH PETROWNA.
letters are contained in the Life and Char-
acter of the Duchess Elizabeth Charlotte
of Orleans, by professor Schütz, Leipsic,
1820.
ELIZABETH PETROWNA, empress of
Russia, daughter of Peter the Great and
Catharine I, was born 1709, at the time of
her father's greatest prosperity and glory.
After her accession to the throne, in 1741,
it was asserted, that Catharine I had, by
her will, appointed her eldest daughter,
Anne (wife of the duke of Holstein), suc-
cessor of Peter II, and, after Anne, her
younger sister, Elizabeth; but this is not
proved, and it is not probable that prince
Menzikoff would have permitted such a
will. The nobles and the senate, after the
death of Peter II, chose Anne, duchess
dowager of Courland, daughter of Ivan,
and niece of Peter I. She settled the
succession to the throne in favor of the
young prince Ivan, son of her niece, Anne,
who was married to Antony Ulrich, duke
of Brunswick, and who, after the death
of the empress, caused herself to be pro-
claimed regent, during the minority of
her son.
Elizabeth, naturally inactive,
and more prone to pleasure than ambi-
tion, appeared alike indifferent to all po-
litical projects. She endeavored, how-
ever, to conciliate the guards, and chose
her favorites among their officers. Nei-
ther the regent nor her husband, who
had the command of the troops, took
measures against a revolution. A party
was, therefore, formed for Elizabeth,
daughter of Peter the Great, to whose
name so many glorious recollections were
attached. The princess did not oppose
the attempt made to place her on the
throne, and submitted to the advice of Les-
tocq, a surgeon, who was eager to distin-
guish himself. The marquis of Chétar-
die, the French ambassador, whose person
and manners had prepossessed Elizabeth
in his favor, saw in the proposed revolu-
tion only an opportunity of securing to
France an ally. Sweden, dissatisfied with
the cabinet of Petersburg, was persuaded
to declare war against Russia. The con-
spiracy, however, might easily have been
discovered. Lestocq was incautious. The
regent was warned of the plot; but the
natural goodness of her disposition gave
admission to no suspicion. Elizabeth
easily succeeded in quieting her with prot-
estations and tears. The conspirators,
however, were not without anxiety, and
Lestocq urged the immediate execution
of the project.
Observing a card on
Elizabeth's table, he drew upon it a wheel
and a crown, saying to the princess, "This
0479

or that, madame; one for you, or the
other for me!" This decided Elizabeth
the conspirators were immediately inform-
ed of it, and in a few hours the conspiracy
was ready to break out. The husband
of the regent, being informed of the dan-
ger, urged her to take measures for their
safety; but Anne would not credit the
reports. They were both seized while
asleep, December 6, 1741, and, with their
son, were carried to the palace of Eliza-
beth; at the same time Munich, father and
son, Ostermann, Golofkin and others
were thrown into prison. Anne and the
prince Antony Ulrich were afterwards
transferred to an island in the Dwina, near
the White sea, and Ivan to the castle of
Schlusselburg. Elizabeth caused herself
to be proclaimed empress. Munich, Os-
termann and others were condemned to
death; but Elizabeth made a display of
her clemency, by commuting their pun-
ishment for exile to Siberia. Lestocq was
made first physician of the court, and
president of the medical college, with the
title of privy counsellor; but he afterwards
fell under her displeasure. Bestuscheff,
who had been minister under Anne, and
whom Lestocq had caused to be appoint-
ed chancellor, enjoyed great influence.
Peace was concluded with Sweden, at
Abo, in 1743, by the interposition of
France. In 1748, Elizabeth sent aid to
Maria Theresa, in Germany, by which she
hastened the conclusion of the peace of
Aix-la-Chapelle. In the mean time, a
conspiracy was formed against her, in
which, among others, Lapoukin and his
wife (distinguished for her wit and beauty)
were engaged; but the plot was discover-
ed, and the wife of Lapoukin, in whom
the empress saw a dangerous rival, with
her husband and son, and the wife of
Bestuscheff received the punishment of
the knout; the ends of their tongues were
cut off, and they themselves were exiled
to Siberia. Elizabeth took part in the
seven years' war, on account of some rail
lery of Frederic the Great respecting
her person. The grand prince Peter,
duke of Holstein-Gottorp, nephew of the
empress, and her acknowledged succes-
sor, was, on the other hand, much attached
to Frederic. The war was not, there-
fore, prosecuted with much vigor by the
Russian generals, who desired to secure
the favor of the heir to the throne. But
this was soon perceived; the general,
Apraxin, was removed, and his place sup.
plied by Fermor, and the chanceller Bes
tuscheff was exiled to Siberia. The Rus
sians now advanced into Germany. Sol.
0480
ELIZABETH PETROWNA-ELIZABETH OF FRANCE.

tikoff afterwards succeeded Fermor, and
defeated Frederic at Kunnersdorf. Ber-
lin and Colberg were taken; but, notwith-
standing this, no decisive result followed.
After languishing for several years, Eliza-
beth died, December 29, 1761, at the age
of 52, after a reign of 20 years. She
founded the university at Moscow, and
the academy of fine arts at Petersburg.
She also paid much attention to the com-
pletion of a code of laws, which was be-
gun under Peter I. It was not, however,
finished. She had promised to abolish
capital punishments under her reign; but
punishments more cruel than death were,
nevertheless, allowed to be inflicted. She
shed tears at the miseries of war, yet, during
her reign, the fields of battle were drench-
ed with the blood of her subjects. Mild,
gentle, sometimes generous, she was too
indolent to prevent the arbitrary conduct
of her ministers. Her ruling passion was
love; and she used to say to her confi-
dants, "I am only happy when I am in
love." She wished to be considered the
greatest beauty in the empire, and this
vanity, like that of Elizabeth of England,
often produced terrible consequences.
Her licentious indulgences were some-
times disturbed by superstitious fears,
which she endeavored to quiet by devo-
tional practices. By the field-marshal
Razumofsky, she became the mother of
two sons and a daughter (the princess
Tarakanoff). (See Leclerc's Histoire de la
Russie moderne.) I LOH
ELIZABETH, CHRISTINA, wife of Fred-
eric II of Prussia, princess of Brunswick-
Wolfenbüttel. She was born 1715, at
Brunswick, married 1733, and died 1797.
Being compelled to the marriage, Fred-
eric lived separate from her till his fa-
ther's death, in 1740. After ascending the
throne, however, he gave her proofs of his
esteem, and, on his death, ordered her
annual revenue of 40,000 crowns to be
increased to 50,000; "for," said he, "dur-
ing my whole reign, she has never given
me the slightest cause of dissatisfaction,
and her inflexible virtue deserves respect
and love." Half of her annual income
she appropriated to benevolent purposes.
She partook of Frederic's taste for liter-
ature, and was herself an author. She
translated several German works into
French, and wrote in French La sage
Révolution; Méditation à l'Occasion du
Renouvellement de l'Année sur les Soins que
la Providence a pour les Humains, &c.; Ré-
flexions pour tous les Jours de la Semaine;
Réflexions sur l'État des Affaires publiques
en 1778, addressés aux Personnes craintives.
ELIZABETH (Philippine Marie Hélène,
of France, Madame), sister of Louis XVI
was born at Versailles, May 23, 1764,
and perished by the guillotine, May 10,
1794. Her life is an image of the tender-
est affection, the loveliest virtues, gentle-
ness and feminine dignity. She was the
youngest child of the dauphin Louis and
his second wife, Josephine of Saxony,
who died while Elizabeth was but three
years old. She was attached to her broth-
er with the warmest affection. She re-
ceived an excellent education from the
countess of Mackau, under-governess of
the children of France, and her acquire-
ments were considerable, particularly in
history and mathematics. Her proposed
union with the duke of Aosta, infant of
Spain, second son of the king of the Two
Sicilies, was not concluded. When Louis
XVI caused himself to be inoculated for
the small pox, Elizabeth did the same;
she also caused 60 poor girls to be inoc-
ulated at the same time, and to receive
the same care as herself. When her pri-
vate establishment was fixed, 25,000 francs
annually were assigned her for the pur-
chase of diamonds; but she requested
that this sum should be paid, during six
years, to a young favorite, whose poverty
prevented her marriage. On an estate,
which the king had purchased for her
Elizabeth spent the happiest hours of her
life, engaged in rural occupations, in
benevolent offices, and the enjoyment of
the beauties of nature. The revolution
destroyed her happiness. The assembly
of the states general filled her with ter-
ror; from that moment she was devoted
to her unhappy brother. She inspired
him with firmness on the 6th of October.
She attended him the next morning to
Paris, and to the assembly. When Louis
fled from Paris, she accompanied him;
and she was brought back with him from
Varennes. It was she who was taken for
the queen, June 20, 1792; and when the
cry was raised, "The Austrian! down
with her!" and an officer of the guard
hastened to correct the mistake, she ex-
claimed, "Why undeceive them? You
might have spared them a greater crime."
August 10, nothing, not even the king's
earnest request, could induce her to leave
him. She followed him into the assem-
bly. There she heard her brother's abdi-
cation of the throne, and for two days
listened to the debates relative to the
safest place of confinement for the royal
family, with which she was carried into
the Temple. Here she totally forgot
herself, and seemed to live only for oth-
ELIZABETH OF FRANCE-ELLENBOROUGH.
ers. All modesty and goodness at court,
she was here all patience and submission.
May 9, 1794, at 7 o'clock in the evening,
Elizabeth was led from the Temple to the
Conciergerie, because it had been discov-
ered that she had corresponded with
the princes, her brothers. She was tried
with closed doors. The next morning,
she was carried before the revolutionary
tribunal, and, when asked her name and
rank, she replied with dignity, "I am
Elizabeth of France, and the aunt of your
king." This bold answer filled the judges
with astonishment, and interrupted the
trial. Twenty-four other victims were
sentenced with her; but she was reduced
to the horrible necessity of witnessing the
execution of all her companions. She
met death with calmness and submission;
not a complaint escaped her against her
judges and executioners. Without being
handsome, Elizabeth was pleasing and
lively. Her hair was of a chestnut color;
her blue eye had a trace of melancholy in
it; her mouth was delicate, her teeth beau-
tiful, and her complexion of a dazzling
whiteness; she was modest, and almost
timid, in the midst of splendor and great-
ness, courageous in adversity, pious and
virtuous, and her character was spotless.
ELIZABETH ISLANDS; small islands near
the coast of Massachusetts, between Mar-
tha's Vineyard and the continent, includ-
ed within the township of Chilmark;
lon. 70° 38′ to 70° 56′ W.; lat. 41° 24' to
41°32′ N. They are about 16 in number;
the principal of which are Nashawn,
Pasqui, Nashawenua, Pinequese, and
Chatahunk.
ELIZABETHTOWN; a borough and post-
town of New Jersey, in Essex county, 5
miles S. Newark 14 S. S. W. New York,
76 N. E. Philadelphia; lon. 74° 7 W.; lat.
40° 39′ N.; population in 1820, 3515. It
is situated on a small creek, which flows
into Arthur Kull sound, and is a hand-
some, pleasant and flourishing town, con-
taining a bank, an academy, a printing-
office, and 4 houses of public worship.
The Presbyterian and Episcopal churches
are large and handsome brick buildings.
The town is situated in a very fertile tract
of country, and has considerable trade,
and some manufactures. Vessels of 20
or 30 tons come up to the town, and those
of 200 or 300 come as far as Elizabeth-
town point, 2 miles distant; and a steam-
boat plies between New York and the
point. This is the oldest town in New
Jersey: the ground was purchased of the
Indians in 1664, and settled, soon after,
by emigrants from Long Island.
VOL. IV.
41
ELK. (See Deer.)
481

ELL; a measure which obtains, under
different denominations, in most countries,
whereby cloths, stuffs, linens, silks, &c.,
are usually measured. The ell English
is 5 quarters, or 45 inches; the ell Flem-
ish, 3 quarters, or 27 inches. In Scotland,
an ell contains 37 2-10 inches English.
ELLENBOROUGH (Edward Law), lord,
born in 1748, at Great Salkeld, in
Cumberland, lord chief justice of the
king's bench, was a distinguished lawyer.
His father, doctor Edmund Law, bishop of
Carlisle, placed him at the charter house,
London. He afterwards entered the uni-
versity at Cambridge, where, in 1771, he
obtained a prize medal, given by the
chancellor, and, in 1773, a prize. He
studied law at Lincoln's Inn, and soon be-
came distinguished in his profession, in
which he began his career at the same
time with Eldon (q. v.) and Erskine (q. v.)
By the patronage of sir Francis Buller,
one of the judges of the king's bench,
he early obtained a silk gown. On the
trial of Warren Hastings, in 1785, Erskine
having refused to undertake the defence,
Law served as leading counsel. It requir-
ed no little courage to encounter such op-
ponents as Burke, Fox, Sheridan, and other
eminent men of the time, who conducted
the impeachment. Law was assisted by
Plomer and Dallas, and, as is well known,
obtained the victory. (See Hastings.)
The defence did not come on until the
fifth year of the trial. To the brilliant
eloquence of his adversaries, Law oppos-
ed simple, logical, and clear statements.
After eight years, in which the trial had
occupied 148 days, at an expense of
£71,080, Hastings was acquitted. Law's
success was now certain. In 1801, he
was made attorney-general, and, in 1802,
on the death of lord Kenyon, he became
lord chief justice of the king's bench, and
was created baron. He adopted the title
Ellenborough from a small fishing village
of that name, where his ancestors had
lived for a long time. Under lord Gren-
ville's administration, he became a mem-
ber of the privy council (1806), which, by
many, is considered as unconstitutional.
In parliament, he was opposed to the
emancipation of the Catholics. (See Cath-
olic Emancipation.) He held the office of
chief justice for fifteen years, when his
health sunk under the duties of the office.
The bookseller Hone, having published
three well known parodies on the Chris-
tian religion, was tried on the indictment
for the first before Abbot, for the two
others before Ellenborough. Both judges,
482
DUOS ELLENBOROUGH-ELLIPSIS.CANKA

in their charges to the jury, declared the
publications to be libels; yet the jury re-
turned a verdict of not guilty, and the
spectators manifested their satisfaction by
applause. This event had an unfavorable
effect on lord Ellenborough's already
feeble health, and, after a long sickness,
he resigned his office in 1818. He died
December 13 of the same year, at the
age of seventy years. Lord Ellenborough
enjoys a high reputation for legal ability.
ELLERY, William, one of the signers of
the Declaration of Independence, was born
at Newport, Rhode Island, December 22,
1727. He entered Harvard college at the
age of 16, and left it in his 20th year, with
the reputation of a sound scholar. After
studying the law for the regular term, he
began the practice, and continued it suc-
cessfully during 20 years. The part
which he took with his native state, in
promoting resistance to the mother coun-
try, occasioned his election to the con-
gress of 1776. Of this body he was a
zealous, spirited and most serviceable
member. His dwelling-house at Newport,
and other portions of his property, were
destroyed by the British army, under gene-
ral Pigot. Mr. Ellery continued a member
of congress until the year 1785. Soon after
this period, he accepted the office of chief
justice of the superior court of Rhode
Island. When the present federal gov-
ernment was organized, he accepted from
general Washington the collectorship of
the customs for the town of Newport-a
post which he filled during the remainder
of his estimable life. This venerable man
died at the age of 92, February 15, 1820.
He expired without sickness or pain,
reading Cicero De Officiis, in his arm-
chair.
ELLIOTT, Stephen, an eminent Ameri-
can botanist and man of letters, was born
at Beaufort, in South Carolina, November
11, 1771. He was first placed at the
grammar school in Beaufort, whence he
was transferred to Yale college, in 1787.
Here he was distinguished for scholarship
and good character. On his return home,
he applied himself to the improvement of
his paternal estate, which, though impair-
ed by the casualties of the revolution, was
still ample. His leisure hours, at this
period, were given to history and poetry.
His devotion to natural history began some
time after. At the age of 22, Mr. Elliott
was returned by his district as a member
of the state legislature of South Carolina.
In this sphere he soon obtained consider-
able influence by his zeal, urbanity,
knowledge, and powers of argument. As
a member of the senate, he introduced
and carried various important bills, im-
proving the public economy, and particu-
larly the plan of the state bank, which was
adopted by the legislature in the year
1812. Of this bank Mr. Elliott was
chosen president, and discharged his of
fice with great ability until the time of
his death. Although the care of the bank
rested mainly on him, he found time to
complete his two volumes, of the botany
of South Carolina, which are held in
high estimation, and to make consider-
able contributions to the literary and sci-
entific societies of which he became a
member. He was president of the liter-
ary society of Charleston, and of the lit-
erary and philosophical society, and pro-
fessor of natural history and botany in
the medical college. His learned and
elegant papers and lectures obtained uni-
versal applause. Mr. Elliott was well ac-
quainted with French and Italian litera-
ture, and the scientific works of the
French school, particularly in geology,
mineralogy, conchology, and botany. He
has left a collection in the several branches
of natural history, scientifically arranged,
which is said to be scarcely excelled by
any private one in the United States. He
was the chief editor of the Southern Re-
view, and author of ten of the longest
and most admired articles of that periodi-
cal work. The degree of LL. D. was
conferred on him by Yale college, and
again by Harvard university. Few of his
American contemporaries equalled him
in variety of talents, attainments and la-
bors. None possessed a more amiable
temper, or honorable spirit. Mr. Elliott
was above six feet in height, with a robust
frame and noble countenance. He died
in the early part of 1830. Most of his
productions remain in manuscript. Such
of them as have been published will per-
petuate his name creditably for his coun-
try.
ELLIPSIS; 1. in grammar and rhetoric;
the omission of one or more words, which
may be easily supplied by the imagination.
It is used to express passion, or for the
sake of conciseness. The latter is par-
ticularly the case in familiar phrases.
2. In mathematics; one of the conic sec-
tions. (See Cone.) Kepler discovered
that the planets describe such a curve in
revolving about the sun. It presents to
the eye, at once, variety and regularity,
and is, therefore, preferred by painters to
the circle for the outline of their pictures.
Two points in the longest diameter have
this peculiarity: the sum of two straight
109
ELLIPSIS-ELLSWORTH.
lines drawn from them to any point in
the circumference is always the same, to
whatever point they are drawn. An el-
lipsis may, therefore, be formed by taking
two points upon a plane, attaching to them
a ring of thread, and following it round
with a pencil, keeping it extended in the
form of a triangle. The points where the
thread is fixed are called the foci.
ELLIPTICITY OF THE TERRESTRIAL
SPHEROID. (See Degree, Measurement of)
ELLIS, George, an ingenious writer, a
native of London, was educated at West-
minster school and Trinity college, Cam-
bridge. He obtained an office under gov-
ernment during the administration of Mr.
Pitt, and was secretary to lord Malmes-
bury, in his embassy to Lisle, in 1797.
He was one of the junto of wits concern-
ed in the well known political satire, The
Rolliad, and wrote a preface, notes and
appendix to Way's translation from the
French of Le Grand's Fabliaux; besides
which, he published Specimens of the
early English Poets, with an Historical
Sketch of the Rise and Progress of Eng-
lish Poetry and Language, 3 volumes 8vo.;
and Specimens of early English Metrical
Romances, 3 vols. 8vo. The two latter
works have passed through several edi-
tions; and they display much ingenuity,
and a general, though not a profound ac-
quaintance with English literature. Mr.
Ellis, who was a fellow of the royal so-
ciety, and the society of antiquaries, died
in 1815, aged 70.
ELLORA. (See Elora.)
ELLSWORTH, Oliver, an American judge
and statesman, was born at Windsor,
in Connecticut, April 29th, 1745. His father
was a farmer, and his own youth was pass-
ed alternately in agricultural labors and lib-
eral studies. At the age of 17, he entered
Yale college, which he subsequently left
for the college of Nassau hall, at Prince-
ton.
After completing his academic
course at Princeton, in 1766, he studied
law, and was admitted to the bar, in 1771,
in the county of Hartford, Connecticut,
where he commenced the practice, and
acquired in a few years a high profes-
sional reputation, that occasioned his ap-
pointment as state's attorney. From the
commencement of the revolutionary strug-
gle, Mr. Ellsworth sided with the colonies;
he went into actual service against the
enemy, with the militia of Connecticut,
and, as a member of the general assembly
of that state, took a large share in all the
political discussions and measures. In
1777, he was chosen a delegate to the
congress of the United States, in which
483

body he continued for three years. In
1780, he became a member of the council
of Connecticut, and, in 1784, was appoint-
ed a judge of the superior court of the
state-an office which he filled for several
years with great reputation. In 1787, he
was chosen, by the legislature, one of the
delegates of Connecticut to the convention
for framing a federal constitution, to be
held in Philadelphia. In this illustrious
assembly, he obtained much influence and
distinction. It is believed, that the present
organization and mode of appointment of
the senate were suggested by him. As
he was called away by other duties, his
name is not among those of the signers of
the constitution which was adopted, but
he approved the work, and warmly sup-
ported it in the state convention. Two of
his very able speeches in its defence
are preserved in the third volume of Ca-
rey's American Museum. When the
constitution was ratified, judge Ellsworth
was elected a senator in the first congress,
which met at New York, in 1789; and he
retained his seat till 1796, during almost
the whole of president Washington's ad-
ministration. The bill for organizing he
judiciary department was drawn uy
him, and the part which he took in inost
of the great questions of politics or public
economy, raised him to a lofty eminence
in the eyes of the country. In 1796,
when Mr. Jay resigned the office of chief
justice of the supreme court of the United
States, president Washington appointed
Mr. Ellsworth his successor. To this trust
he proved fully equal, though he had
been long estranged from the practice of
his profession. All his habits and facul-
ties were specially adapted to the discharge
of judicial functions. At the close of
the year 1799, he was selected to be one
of the three envoys to France, governor
Davie, of North Carolina, and the honora-
ble William Vans Murray, being his col-
leagues, in order to adjust those differences
which had assumed the character of war.
For this errand he was not so well quali-
fied as for the career which he had pre-
viously run; but the convention, which
was concluded by the envoys with the
French government, obtained the assent
of the president and the senate. His
health was so much impaired by a long
and tempestuous sea voyage, that he was
obliged to pass over to England from
France, in order, chiefly, to try the effica-
cy of the British mineral waters. The
same cause induced him to transmit from
England, to president Washington, his re-
signation of the office of chief justice. As
484
ELLSWORTH-ELM.

soon as he acquired some fresh strength,
he returned to his native country, and re-
tired to his family residence at Windsor,
in Connecticut. In 1802, he entered again
into the council of the state, and, in 1807,
was elected the chief justice of the state,
but declined this station. The nephritic
complaints, to which he had been long
subject, attained a fatal violence this year,
and caused his death, in the 63d year of
his age. Oliver Ellsworth was one of the
most distinguished of the revolutionary
patriots of America, of her statesmen and
her lawyers. He filled a large space in
the eyes of his countrymen. His person-
al character and domestic life were ex-
emplary. His friend, doctor Dwight, has
commemorated his merits in his Travels
in New England.
Sithon
ELLWOOD, Thomas, an early writer
among the Quakers, was born in 1639, at
Crowell, near Thame, in Oxfordshire,
where he received such an education as
the humble circumstances of his parents
would afford. In his 21st year, he was
induced to join the society of Friends, by
the preaching of one Edward Burroughs,
and he soon after published his first piece,
entitled An Alarm to the Priests, or a
Message from Heaven to warn them.
He subsequently became reader to Milton,
with whom he improved himself in the
learned languages, but was soon obliged
to quit London on account of his health.
In the year 1665, he procured a lodging
for Milton at Chalfont, Bucks, and was the
occasion of his writing Paradise Regain-
ed, by the following observation made on
the return of the Paradise Lost, which the
poet had lent him to read in manuscript:
"Thou hast said much of paradise lost,
but what hast thou to say of paradise
found?" In 1705, he published the first
part of Sacred History, or the Historical
Parts of the Old Testament, and, in 1709,
Sacred History, &c. of the New Testa-
ment; which production was well received,
and is still held in some estimation. His
other works are numerous; among them,
Davideis, the Life of David, King of Is-
rael, a poem, which is more distinguished
for piety than poetry. He died in 1713,
aged 74. His life, written by himself,
affords many interesting particulars of the
history of his sect.ing
ELM. The species of elm (ulmus) are
trees or shrubs, with alternate rough and
simple leaves, and fascicles of small, incon-
spicuous flowers, which appear before the
foliage. About twenty species are known,
all inhabiting the temperate parts of the
northern hemisphere and three of them
natives of the United States:-1. U. Ameri-
cana (American or white elm) is found
from the forty-ninth to the thirtieth paral-
lel of latitude, is abundant in the Western
States, and extends beyond the Mississippi.
but attains its loftiest stature between lat.
42° and 46°; here it reaches the height of
100 feet, with a trunk four or five feet in
diameter, rising sometimes 60 or 70 feet,
when it separates into a few primary
limbs, which are at first approximate, or
cross each other, but gradually diverge,
diffusing on all sides long, arched, pendu-
lous branches, which float in the air. It
has been pronounced by Michaux "the
most magnificent vegetable of the tem-
perate zone." Its wood is not much es-
teemed, but has been used for the naves
of wheels in the state of New York, for
chair-bottoms, and sometimes, in Maine,
for the keels of vessels. 2. U. fulva (red
or slippery elm) is common in the West,
but comparatively rare in the Atlantic
states; it is also found over a great extent
of country in Canada, Missouri, and as
far south as latitude 31°; it attains the
height of fifty or sixty feet, with a trunk
15 or 20 inches in diameter; the wood is
stronger and of a better quality than that
of the white elm, is employed in the West
in constructing houses, and is the best in
the United States for blocks, but its scarci-
ty in the Atlantic states prevents its being
much used for that purpose. The leaves
and bark yield an abundant mucilage, to
which it owes its name, and which is a
valuable remedy in coughs, and especially
in dysentery and other bowel complaints.
This, as well as every other kind of do-
mestic medicine, is prepared and put up,
with most singular nicety and care, at
the Shaker establishment, at Canterbury,
N. H. 3. U. alata (wahoo) inhabits from
lat. 37° to Florida, Louisiana, and Arkan-
sas, and is a small tree, sometimes 30 feet
high, remarkable from the branches being
furnished, on two opposite sides, with
wings of cork, two or three lines wide;
the wood is fine-grained, compact and
heavy, and has been used in the South for
the naves of coach wheels. The wood
of the U. campestris of the eastern conti-
nent is superior to that of either of the
American species, and, indeed, is one of
the most useful in the mechanic arts, be-
ing employed for gun-carriages, blocks of
ships, gunwales, &c., and is every where
preferred by wheelwrights for the naves
and felloes of wheels. The lower classes
in England use it almost exclusively for
coffins, probably on account of its dura-
bility in moist situations. This tree might
ELM-ELORA.
be advantageously introduced into the
United States. os ben nola a
ELMINA, OF LA MINA, or ODDENA, or
ST. GEORGE DEL MINA; a town in Africa,
on the Gold coast, situated in a low, flat
peninsula, near the two forts St. George
d'Elmina and Conradsburg; lon. 1° 50'
W.; lat. 5° 10 N.; population about
15,000. It is the capital of the Dutch
settlements in Western Africa, and the
most respectable fortress on the Gold
coast. The town is large, and remarkably
dirty; some of the houses are built of
stone, but they are huddled together in a
confused manner. The country around
is for the most part open and flat, the soil
generally light. The inhabitants of the
town are traders, fishermen, and persons
employed as servants to traders. The
citadel of Elmina, standing in the centre
of the Gold coast, is very commodiously
situated for the purposes of trade, and the
protection and security of the trader. Its
situation is upon a rock, bounded on one
side by the ocean, and also defended by
strong bastions. How out bongong
ELMO'S FIRE, ST.; an appearance caused
by fiery meteors in the atmosphere. It
is often seen playing about the masts and
rigging of ships. If two flames are visi-
ble (Castor and Pollux), the sailors con-
sider it a good omen; if only one, which
they call Helene, they regard it as a bad one.
ELMSLEY, Peter, D. D., an eminent schol-
ar and philologist, was born in 1773, and
educated at Oxford. Having inherited a
fortune from his uncle, he devoted the re-
mainder of his life to literature. In 1802,
being then resident in Edinburgh, he be-
came one of the original contributors
to the Edinburgh Review, in which
the articles on Heyne's Homer, Schweig-
hauser's Athenæus, Bloomfield's Prome-
theus, and Porson's Hecuba, are from his
pen. He also wrote occasionally, at a
subsequent period, in the Quarterly Re-
view. In the pursuit of his philological
studies, Mr. Elmsley afterwards visited
most of the principal libraries on the con-
tinent, and spent the whole of the winter
of 1818 in the Laurentian Library at Flor-
ence. The year following, he accepted a
commission from the government to su-
perintend, in conjunction with sir Hum-
phrey Davy, the unrolling of the Her-
culanean papyri; in which the selec-
tion of the manuscripts was left to his
judgment. On his return to England, he
settled at Oxford, and, having taken the
degree of doctor of divinity, obtained soon
after the headship of Alban hall, and the
Camden professorship in 1823. He died
485

in 1825. He published an edition of the
following tragedies of Sophocles and
Euripides: Acarnanes, in 1809; Edi-
pus Tyrannus, 1811; Heraclidæ, 1815;
Medea, 1818; Bacchæ, 1821; and Edi-
pus Coloneus, 1823.
ELONGATION, in astronomy, the angle
under which we see a planet from the sun,
when reduced to the ecliptic; or it is the
angle formed by two lines drawn from the
earth to the sun and planet, when reduced
as above.
ELOPEMENT is when a married woman,
of her own accord, departs from her hus-
band, and dwells with an adulterer; for
which, without voluntary reconciliation to
the husband, she shall lose her dower.
By eloping and living apart from the hus-
band, he is discharged of the future debts,
and no longer liable to support her.
ELORA; a town in Hindostan, in the
province of Dowlatabad; lon. 75° 23′ E.;
lat. 19° 58' N.; about 18 miles N. E. of
Aurungabad, 260 miles from Bombay,
650 from Madras, and more than 1000
from Calcutta ; inhabited by Bramins on-
ly. About a mile west of the place is a
chain of mountains, of reddish granite,
out of which the famous temples of
Elora are excavated. These temples must
be counted among the most stupendous
works ever executed by man. The cir-
cuit of the excavations is about two
leagues. The temples are 100 feet high,
145 feet long, and 62 feet wide. They
contain thousands of figures, appearing,
from the style of their sculpture, to be of
ancient Hindoo origin. Every thing about
them, in fact, indicates the most persever-
ing industry in executing one of the
boldest plans. Their origin is prior to the
period of history. A tradition says that
Visvacarma was the architect of the chief
temple, and that Vishnoo and the San-
thones were his assistants. The chief
temple still bears the name of Visvacarma
The vault is supported by several rows of
columns, which form three galleries, one
above the other. 24 colossal monolithes,
representing Indian gods, are placed in
separate divisions, the sculpture of which,
though, on the whole, it may be called
rude, shows, in some parts, an advanced
period of art, and a certain developement
of taste. On each side of the colonnades
of the great temple are hewn out sphinxes,
quite in the Egyptian style. These re-
markable works, which will probably per-
ish from exposure to air and moisture, if
nothing is done for their preservation,
were first described by the English cap-
tain T. B. Seely, in his Wonders of Elora
41 *
486
ELORA EMANATION.GE

(London, 1824). Seely relates the follow-
ing remarkable circumstance: that Indian
soldiers, in the English army in Egypt, in
1799, exclaimed, while gazing at several
of the Egyptian images with astonish-
ment, that Hindoos must have inhabited
Egypt! Future ages will perhaps trace the
Egyptian civilization to India, as Cham-
pollion is at present tracing Grecian civili-
zation to Egypt. (q. v.)
ELSINORE, ELSINEUR, or HELSINGOER;
a seaport of Denmark, on the E. coast of
the island of Zealand, 20 miles N. Copen-
hagen; lon. 12° 38′ E.; lat. 56° 2 N.;
population, 7000. It is well built, and
stands on the west side of the Sound,
nearly opposite to Helsinberg, in Sweden,
at the narrowest place of the Sound,
which is here less than four miles wide. It
has no harbor, but an excellent roadstead,
generally crowded with vessels going up
or down the Baltic, and anchoring here,
either to pay toll or take in stores, the sup-
ply of which forms the chief business of
the place. The aggregate number of ves-
sels of all nations passing the Sound is
nearly 10,000. The toll paid for English,
French, Dutch and Swedish vessels is
1 per cent. on the value of their cargoes,
and 11 per cent. for vessels of other na-
tions. The annual amount of toll varies
from £120,000 to £150,000 sterling. At
Elsinore, the fortress of Cronberg, situ-
ated on the edge of a promontory, is pro-
vided with powerful batteries.
ELYSIUM, ELYSIAN FIELDS; 1. the
name of certain regions, which the an-
cients supposed to be the residence of the
blessed after death. They are described
sometimes as delightful meadows, some-
times as islands situated on the western
confines of the earth. But they gradually
receded as this portion of the earth was
explored. The happiness of the blessed
consisted in a life of tranquil enjoyment.
The images by which the happiness of a
residence there is described, were taken
partly from Olympus, and partly from
descriptions of the golden age. The
most beautiful meadows alternated with
pleasant groves; a serene and cloudless
sky was spread over them, and a soft,
celestial light shed a magical brilliancy
over every object; the heroes there re-
newed their favorite sports; they exer-
cised themselves in wrestling and other
contests, danced to the sound of the lyre,
from which Orpheus drew the most en-
chanting tones, or wandered through
odoriferous laurel-groves, on the smiling
banks of the Eridanus, in delightful vales,
or in meadows watered by limpid foun-
tains, amid the warbling of birds, some-
times alone and sometimes in company;
a perpetual spring reigned there; the
earth teemed three times a year; and all
cares, pains and infirmities were banished
from those happy seats. (For the origin of
the fable, see Cemetery.) The voluptuous
description of the gardens of Armida, in
Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered, is an imita-
tion of the ancient ideas of the Elysian
fields.-2. The Parisians have called one
of their favorite gardens and principa
places of amusement Champs-Elisées.
ELZEVIR, OF ELZVIER. This family of
printers, residing at Amsterdam and Ley
den, is celebrated for beautiful editions.
principally published from 1595 to 1680.
The best known are Louis, Matthew,
Isaac (associated with Buonaventura),
John and Daniel, at Amsterdam and Ley-
den. Besides these was Peter Elzevir, at
Utrecht, who has done less for the art.
Louis was the first printer who made a
distinction between the consonant v and
the vowel u. Abraham and Buonaven-
tura prepared the small editions of the
classics, in 12mo. and 16mo., which are
still valued for their beauty and correct-
ness. Daniel was one of the most active
of this family. Although the Elzevirs
were surpassed in learning, and in Greek
and Hebrew editions, by the Stephen-
ses (Etiennes, printers and booksellers
at Paris), they were unequalled in their
choice of works and in the elegance
of their typography. Their editions of
Virgil, Terence, the New Testament, the
Psalter, &c., executed with red letters, are
masterpieces of typography, both for cor
rectness and beauty. Several catalogues
of their editions have been published: the
last is by Daniel (1674,12mo.), in seven parts,
much increased by the admission of for-
eign works. (See Brunet's Notice de la
Collect. d'Auteurs, etc. p. les Elzev. in the
4th vol. of the Manuel du Libraire.)
EMANATION, EFFLUX (from the Latin
emanare, to issue, to flow out, to emanate).
Philosophical systems which, like most of
the ancient, do not adopt a spontaneous
creation of the universe by a Supreme
Being, frequently explain the universe
by an eternal emanation from the Su-
preme Being. This doctrine came from
the East. Traces of it are found in the
Indian mythology, and in the old Persian
or Bactro-Median doctrine of Zoroaster.
(q. v.) It had a powerful influence on
the ancient Greek philosophy, as may be
seen in Pythagoras. In theology, the doc-
trine of emanation is the doctrine of the
Trinity, which regards the Son and Holy
EMANATION--EMBEZZLEMENT.
Ghost, &c., as effluxes from the Deity him-
self.
EMANCIPATION. (See Catholic Eman-
cipation.)
EMANUEL THE GREAT, king of Portu-
gal, ascended the throne in 1495. During
his reign were performed the voyages of
discovery of Vasco da Gama (1497), of Ca-
bral (1500), of Americus Vespucius (1501
and 1503), and the heroic exploits of Albu-
querque, by whose exertions a passage was
found to the East Indies (for which the
way was prepared by the discovery of the
cape of Good Hope, in 1486, by Bartholo-
mew Diaz), the Portuguese dominion in
Goa was established, the Brazils, the Mo-
luccas, &c., were discovered. The com-
merce of Portugal, under Emanuel, was
more prosperous than at any former pe-
riod. The treasures of America flowed
into Lisbon, and the reign of Emanuel was
justly called "the golden age of Portugal."
He died Dec. 13, 1521, aged 52, deeply
lamented by his subjects, but hated by the
Moors, whom he had expelled, and by
the Jews, whom he had compelled to sub-
mit to baptism. As a monument of his dis-
coveries, Emanuel built the monastery at
Belem (q. v.), where he was buried. He
was a friend to the sciences and to learn-
ed men. He left Memoirs on the Indies.
EMBALMING; to embalm, to fill and
surround with aromatic and desiccative
substances any bodies, particularly corpses,
in order to preserve them from corruption.
The ancient Egyptians were the inventors
of this art. Other people, for example,
the Assyrians, Scythians and Persians,
followed them, but by no means equalled
them in it. The art has degenerated
very much from the high degree of per-
fection at which it stood among the an-
cients; perhaps because the change in
religious opinions and customs has made
the embalming of the dead less frequent.
In modern times, only distinguished indi-
viduals are occasionally embalmed; but
this process does not prevent corruption.
-The intestines are taken out of the body,
and the brains out of the head, and the
cavities filled up with a mixture of bal-
samic herbs, myrrh and others of the same
kind; the large blood-vessels and other
vessels are injected with balsams dissolved
in spirits of wine; the body is rubbed
hard with spirits of the same kind, &c.
(See Mummies.) The ancient Egyptians
removed the viscera from the large cavi-
ties, and replaced them with aromatic,
saline and bituminous substances, and
also enveloped the outside of the body in
cloths impregnated with similar materials.
487

These were useful in preventing decom-
position and excluding insects, until per
fect dryness took place. In later times,
bodies have been preserved a long time
by embalming, especially when they have
remained at a low and uniform tempera-
ture, and have been protected from the air.
The body of Edward I was buried in
Westminster abbey, in 1307, and in 1770
was found entire. Canute died in 1030;
his body was found very fresh in 1776, in
Winchester cathedral. The bodies of
William the Conqueror and of Matilda
his wife were found entire at Caen, in the
16th century. Similar cases are not un-
frequent. In many instances, bodies not
embalmed have been preserved from de-
cay merely by the exclusion of the air and
the lowness of the temperature. Impreg-
nation of the animal body with corrosive
sublimate appears to be the most effectual
means of preserving it, excepting immer-
sion in spirits. The impregnation is per-
formed by the injection of a strong solu-
tion, consisting of about four ounces of
bichloride of mercury to a pint of alco-
hol, into the blood-vessels, and, after the
viscera are removed, the body is immersed,
for three months, in the same solution,
after which it dries easily, and is almost
imperishable. Wet preparations, or those
immersed in alcohol or oil of turpentine,
last for an indefinite time.
EMBARGO, in commerce; an arrest on
ships or merchandise, by public authority
or a prohibition of state, commonly on
foreign ships, in time of war, to prevent
their going out of port; sometimes to
prevent their coming in; and sometimes
both for a limited time.
EMBASSADOR. (See Ambassador, and
Ministers, Foreign.)
EMBAYED; the situation of a ship when
she is enclosed between two capes or pro-
montories. It is particularly applied when
the wind, by blowing strong into any bay
or gulf, makes it extremely difficult, and
perhaps impracticable, for the vessel thus
enclosed to draw off from the shore, so
as to weather the capes and gain the offing.
EMBER WEEKS or DAYS, in the Chris-
tian church, are certain seasons of the
year set apart for the imploring God's
blessing, by prayer and fasting, upon the
ordinations performed in the church at
such times. The ember weeks were for-
merly observed in different churches with
some variety, but were at last settled as
they are now observed, by the council at
Placentia, in 1095.
EMBEZZLEMENT is the appropriation,
by a person, to himself, of money or prop-
488
EMBEZZLEMENT EMBRYO.

erty put into his hands in trust. An em-
bezzlement is both a theft and breach
of trust; yet, by the general law, it is
only a ground for an action for the value
of the property. But there are many
special provisions in relation to particular
embezzlements and breaches of trust. By
the law of England, a clerk guilty of em-
bezzlement is liable to transportation not
exceeding 14 years; and a public servant
or agent committing the like offence is
declared guilty of a misdemeanor, and
punishable at the discretion of the court.
Still more severe provisions are made in
the case of embezzlement by the officers
and clerks of banks. The laws of the
U. States contain numerous provisions on
this subject. The embezzlement of wines
or other spirits deposited in the public
stores, renders the party liable to the same
penalty as for fraudulently landing the
same goods with intention to evade the
revenue; and special provisions are made
respecting embezzlements in the post-
office, the army and navy, and in relation
to the U. States bank in particular. It is
provided by the act of March 3, 1825,
"that if any person employed as presi-
dent, cashier, clerk or servant in the bank,
shall feloniously take, steal and carry
away any money, goods, bond, bill, bank-
note, or other note, check, draft, treasury-
note, or other valuable security or effects
belonging to, or deposited in, the bank; or
shall fraudulently embezzle, secrete or
make away with any money, goods, bond,
bill, bank-note, or other valuable security
or effects, which he shall have received,
or which shall come to his possession or
custody by virtue of such employment;
he shall be deemed guilty of felony, and,
on conviction, shall be punished by fine
not exceeding $5000, and imprisonment
and confinement to hard labor not exceed-
ing ten years." The English law con-
tains provisions in relation to embezzle-
ment by servants and others. But the
provisions on this subject are not so nu-
merous, either by the English or Ameri-
can laws, as they ought to be, considering
that embezzlement involves the guilt of a
larceny with the fraud of a breach of trust.
This is mostly a subject of state legisla-
tion in the U. States, and the laws of the
states contain some provisions in relation
to it. By the general marine law, a mari-
ner forfeits his wages by the embezzle-
ment of any part of the cargo of the ship;
and so he also forfeits his share of the prize
money by embezzling any part of the cap-
tured property.
EMBLFM (Gr. Eußinua, from eußalλw, to
cast in, to insert); properly, inlay; in-
layed or mosaic work, something in-
serted in the body of another; a picture
representing one thing to the eye, and
another to the understanding; a painted
enigma, or a figure representing some
well-known historical event, instructing
us in some moral truth; a typical desig-
nation: thus a balance is an emblem of
justice; a crown, an emblem of royalty.
EMBONPOINT; a moderate and agree-
able fulness of figure. (See Corpulency.)
EMBOSSING, OF IMBOSSING, in architec-
ture and sculpture; the forming or fash-
ioning works in relievo, whether cut with
a chisel or otherwise.
EMBRACERY; an attempt to corrupt or
influence a jury, or any way incline them
to be more favorable to the one side than
the other, by money, promises, letters,
threats or persuasions, whether the jury
give a verdict or not, or whether the verdict
given be true or false; which is punished
by fine and imprisonment.
EMBROIDERY; figured work in gold, or
silver, or silk thread, wrought by the
needle, upon cloths, stuffs or muslins. In
embroidering stuffs, a kind of loom is
used, because the more the piece is
stretched, the easier is it worked. Muslin
is spread upon a pattern, ready designed,
and sometimes, before it is stretched upon
the pattern, it is starched to make it more
easy to handle. The art of embroidery
was invented in the East, probably by the
Phrygians. In Moses' time, Aholiab, of
the tribe of Dan, was noted for skill in
embroidery, and the women of Sidon,
before the Trojan war, excelled in the
same art. Though the Greeks attributed
the invention of the art to Minerva, yet it
is certain that it came through the Per-
sians to Greece. The king of Pergamus
(Attalus), in the year of Rome 621, in-
vented the mode of embroidering with
gold thread. In modern times, the art
has been much extended. In 1782, three
German ladies, in Hanover, named Wyl-
lich, invented a mode of embroidering
with human hair. Beads, &c., also have
been used.
EMBRYO; the first rudiments of the ani-
mal in the womb, before the several mem-
bers are distinctly formed, after which it
is called the fetus. (q. v.) The time ne-
cessary to produce this is different in
different species. The human embryo is
visible in three weeks: at the end of
four, a pulsation is perceptible, which
is known to be the beating of the heart.
It is now about the size of an ant or
fly, and retains its transparency, which,
EMBRYO-EMERY.
however, gradually diminishes, and, at the
end of two months, disappears: the eyes,
nose, mouth, ears, and all the members,
are distinguishable: it is as large as a bee.
In three months, every thing becomes
more distinct; the sex becomes evident,
and the foetus grows until it is ushered
into the world as a child.
EMDEN; a city at the mouth of the
river Ems, in the principality of East
Friesland, the first commercial city of
Hanover, with 11,000 inhabitants, a Latin
school, a learned society, &c. It is a free
port. It has much trade in herrings. It
is expected that its commerce will be
much benefited by the junction of the
Ems and the Rhine.
EMERALD is a well-known gem of pure
green color, somewhat harder than quartz.
Its natural form is either rounded or that
of a short six-sided prism. By the an-
cients the emerald was in great request,
particularly for engraving upon. They
are said to have procured it from Ethio-
pia and Egypt. The most intensely col-
ored and valuable emeralds that we are
acquainted with are brought from Peru.
They are found in clefts and veins of
granite, and other primitive rocks, and
oftentimes grouped with the crystals of
quartz, felspar and mica. The emerald is
one of the softest of the precious stones,
and is almost exclusively indebted for its
value to its charming color. In value it
is rated next to the ruby, and, when of
good color, is set without foil, and upon
a black ground, like brilliant diamonds.
Emeralds of inferior lustre are generally
set upon a green gold foil. These gems
are considered to appear to greatest ad-
vantage when table-cut and surrounded
by brilliants, the lustre of which forms an
agreeable contrast with the quiet hue of
the emerald. They are sometimes formed
into pear-shaped ear-drops; but the most
valuable stones are generally set in rings.
A favorite mode of setting emeralds,
among the opulent inhabitants of South
America, is to make them up into clusters
of artificial flowers on gold stems. The
largest emerald that has been mentioned,
is one said to have been possessed by the
inhabitants of the Valley of Manta, in
Peru, at the time when the Spaniards
first arrived there. It is recorded to have
been as big as an ostrich's egg, and to
have been worshipped by the Peruvians,
under the name of the goddess or mother
of emeralds. They brought smaller ones
as offerings to it, which the priests distin-
guished by the appellation of daughters.
Many fine emeralds are stated to have
489

formerly been bequeathed to different
monasteries on the continent; but the
greatest part of them are said to have been
sold by the monks, and to have had their
place supplied with colored glass imita-
tions. These stones are seldom seen of
large size, and at the same time entirely free
from flaws. The emerald, if heated to a
certain degree, assumes a blue color, but it
recovers its own proper tint when cold.
When the heat is carried much beyond
this, it melts into an opaque, colored
mass. The Oriental emerald is a variety
of the ruby, of a green color, and is an
extremely rare gem. (See Beryl.)
EMERSON, William, an eminent Eng-
lish mathematician, was born at Hur-
worth, near Darlington, in the year 1701.
Having derived from his parents a mod-
erate competence, he devoted himself to a
life of studious retirement. From the
strength of his mind and the closeness of
his application, he acquired a deep knowl-
edge of mathematics and physics, upon
all parts of which he wrote sound trea-
tises, although with few pretensions to
originality of invention, and in a rough
and unpolished style. He died in 1782,
in his 81st year.
EMERY, John, an actor of eminence,
was born at Sunderland, in the palati-
nate of Durham, December 22, 1777, and
educated at Ecclesfield in Yorkshire,
where he acquired that knowledge of the
provincial dialect which afterwards con-
tributed so much to his celebrity. In the
unsophisticated rustic or the stupid dolt,
he was excellent; while in some parts,
written purposely for him, such as Tyke
in the School of Reform, and Giles in
the Miller's Maid, his acting was truly
terrific and appalling. The portraying of
rough nature, fine simplicity, and strong
passion, was his forte; and in the latter,
especially, he ever excited the approbation
of the best critics. In private life, he was
much esteemed; he died in January, 1822.
EMERY, a very hard mineral, of black-
ish or bluish-gray color, is chiefly found
in shapeless masses, and mixed with oth-
er minerals. It contains about 80 parts
in 100 of alumine, and a small portion of
iron, is usually opaque, and about four
times as heavy as water. The best emery
is brought from the Levant, and chiefly
from Naxos, and other islands of the
Grecian archipelago. It is also found in
some parts of Spain, and is obtained from
a few of the iron mines in Great Britain.
In hardness, it is nearly equal to adaman-
tine spar, and this property has rendered it
an object of great request in various arts.
490
EMERY-EMIGRATION.

It is employed by lapidaries in the cutting
and polishing of precious stones; by op-
ticians, in smoothing the surface of the
finer kinds of glass, preparatory to their
being polished; by cutlers and other man-
ufacturers of iron and steel instruments;
by masons, in the polishing of marble;
and, in their respective businesses, by
locksmiths, glaziers, and numerous other
artisans. For all these purposes, it is pul-
verized in large iron mortars, or in steel
mills; and the powder, which is rough
and sharp, is carefully washed, and sorted
into five or six different degrees of fine-
ness, according to the description of work
in which it is to be employed. (See Co-
rundum.)
EMETIC (emeticus; from epew, to vomit);
that which is capable of exciting vomiting,
independently of any effect arising from
the mere quantity of matter introduced
into the stomach, or of any nauseous taste
or flavor. The susceptibility of vomiting
is very different in different individuals,
and is often considerably varied by dis-
ease. Emetics are employed in many
diseases. When any morbid affection
depends upon, or is connected with over-
distention of the stomach, or the presence
of acrid, indigestible matters, vomiting
gives speedy relief. Hence its utility in
impaired appetite, acidity in the stomach,
in intoxication, and where poisons have
been swallowed. In the different varie-
ties of febrile affections, much advantage
is derived from exciting vomiting, espe-
cially in the very commencement of the
disease. In high inflammatory fever, it is
considered as dangerous, and in the ad-
vanced stage of typhus, it is prejudicial.
Emetics, given in such doses as only to.
excite nausea, have been found useful in
restraining hæmorrhage. Different species
of dropsy have been cured by vomiting,
from its having excited absorption. To
the same effect, perhaps, is owing the dis-
persion of various swellings, which has
occasionally resulted from this operation.
The operation of vomiting is dangerous or
hurtful in the following cases: where
there is determination of the blood to the
head, especially in plethoric habits; in
visceral inflammation; in the advanced
stage of pregnancy; in hernia and prolap-
sus uteri; and wherever there exists ex-
treme general debility. The frequent use
of emetics weakens the tone of the stom-
ah. An emetic should always be ad-
ministered in the fluid form. Its opera-
tion may be promoted by drinking any
tepid diluent or bitter infusion.
EMETINE is.a peculiar vegetable princi-
ple, obtained from the ipecacuan root, of
whose emetic properties it is conceived to
be the sole cause. It is obtained by di-
gesting the root first in ether and then in
alcohol. The alcoholic infusion is evapo-
rated to dryness; and to the residuum, re-
dissolved in water, acetate of lead is added,
which produces a precipitate. The pre-
cipitate is washed, diffused in water, and
decomposed by a current of sulphureted
hydrogen gas. Sulphuret of lead falls to
the bottom, and the emetine remains in
solution. By evaporating the superna-
tant fluid, this substance is obtained pure.
It forms transparent, brownish-red scales.
it is destitute of smell, but has a bitter,
acrid taste. At a heat somewhat above
that of boiling water, it is resolved into
carbonic acid, oil and vinegar. In a dose
of half a grain, it acts as a powerful
emetic, followed by sleep: six grains pro-
duce violent vomiting, stupor and death.
EMEU, OF NEW HOLLAND CASSOWARY.
(See Cassowary.)
EMIGRATION. Removal from one coun-
try to another, for the purpose of perma-
nent residence. Every man born free, or
who had obtained his freedom, formerly
had the right of emigrating. But as cap-
ital and power were lost to a state by the
removal of its inhabitants, it was consider-
ed, that emigration ought to be forbidden,
and the people only allowed to remove
from one place to another within the limits
of the state. Experience, however, prov-
ed that such prohibitions were fruitless,
and the only way to guard against emi-
grations was by the fullest protection of
property; by granting freedom of con-
science, and the undisturbed exercise of
religion; and by not banishing subjects
from their country on account of their reli-
gious opinions, as was once done (e. g., in
France and Saltzburg); by allowing them,
under the protection of judicious laws,
with the assurance of freedom in trade and
commerce, the undisturbed enjoyment of
the fruits of their industry; by not expos-
ing them to the oppression of magistrates;
and by delivering them from the fear of
unreasonable or arbitrary taxes. When
we consider how much resolution is re-
quired to abandon forever the home to
which man is bound by the strongest ties
of recollection, language and habit, to
seek an uncertain fortune in a land of
strangers, there is no reason to believe,
that large masses will ever emigrate with-
out the most urgent motives. Wherever
emigration is common, it is not an evil it-
self, but only the consequence and symp-
tom of an evil arising from the dissatisfac-
EM EMIGRATION. ME
tion of the people with their condition.
If things have come to such a state, that
men think they cannot obey the laws of
their country without violence to their
consciences, they ought to be at liberty to
seek in other countries religious and polit-
ical freedom. Besides, in the abstract, em-
igration is a right inherent in man. Every
person does as much as can be required
of him, if he obeys the laws of that coun-
try in which he chooses to reside, and
only very peculiar circumstances can jus-
tify the checking of emigration. The
most cruel tyranny was exercised by Louis
XIV, when he deprived the Protestants
of their religious privileges, and endeav-
ored to prevent their emigration. The
end of government is the welfare of the
citizens, and they are at liberty to retire
from the state when their welfare is no
longer provided for by the state. In
America, the right of emigration is as in-
disputable as the right of eating and drink-
ing. It is one of the fundamental privi-
leges of the English nation, also, to leave
the country without special permission,
which is limited only in regard to those
who stand in some particular relations to
the state, such as magistrates or soldiers;
and, in certain cases, it may be taken away
by the writ ne exeat regno, under the great
or privy seal. Acts of parliament have
often been passed, by the English govern-
ment, to prevent its citizens from engaging
in foreign military service; for instance, in
that of the South American insurgents, in
1819; but these were not directed against
emigration. The emigration of manufac-
turers of wool, silk, iron, &c., has been
forbidden by separate laws (by those of
1719, 5 Geo. I, cap. 27; 1740, 23 Geo.
II, cap. 13, and 1782, 22 Geo. III, cap.
60). The only punishment, however, for
emigrants of this class, declining to return
on receiving a summons to that effect, is
the loss of citizenship. Those who insti-
gate them to quit the country are liable to
fine and imprisonment. The French code
also, at least since 1789, has permitted un-
limited emigration; and the laws since
made against emigrants were only owing
to the hostile spirit of most of those who
emigrated; for the emigrants were un-
willing to give up their right of citizen-
ship in France, and attacked the new
government in the ranks of its foreign
invaders. By the act of the German con-
federation, article 13, the right of emigra-
tion is allowed to all the members of the
confederacy. Well founded information
in regard to the dangers that threaten em-
igrants in foreign countries, measures for
491

increasing the means of labor, the removal
of the artificial restraints, by which the
great mass of wealth is kept in a few
hands, freedom of trade,-these are the
means by which a spirit of emigration
may be checked, and the love of home
revived. Prohibitions of emigration are
unjust, as well as impolitic, and always
prove, that a government which allows
them has an incorrect idea of its rights.
If a dense population is the cause of
emigration, let the government establish
colonies. The British government have
taken means for aiding the settlement
of emigrants in Canada, the cape of
Good Hope, and New Holland. Still
more was done in Russia, for the support
of those who had emigrated thither, after
disease and want had carried off a multi-
tude of those unhappy men in the un-
healthy steppes of Odessa. Emigrants to
the United States have often been deceived
in their expectations, have fallen, on their
arrival, into the hands of sharpers, or have
wasted the little resources which they
brought with them, for want of informa-
tion respecting the best way to proceed.
To remedy these inconveniences, by giving
information and advice to newly arrived
emigrants, a society in New York establish-
ed the free emigrant's office, a very use-
ful institution, and worthy to be imitated
in all the large seaports of the United
States. It might be well for this society
to distribute handbills, in the language
of the emigrants, among them before
they land, containing a few rules and
directions. It might even be useful to
transmit information of the real state of
things in this country, and of the best
course for emigrants to pursue, to those
countries from which emigration is most
common: this object might be easily ef-
fected by means of newspapers. The
principal countries from which emigration
at present takes place to the United States,
are Great Britain,
are Great Britain, Ireland, Switzerland,
Alsace, Würtemberg. From England
and Ireland, a large emigration takes
place, also, to Canada, New South
Wales, Van Diemen's Land, &c.; from
Würtemberg and Prussia to Russia and
Poland, which, however, has been less
extensive of late; from the Eastern and
Northern States of the U. S. to the Wes-
tern States; of colored persons from the
United States to Liberia in Africa, and to
Hayti (very few, however, in number, par-
ticularly to the latter country.) A society
has lately been formed at Washington for
instructing people of color in the elements
of science and the mechanical arts, to
492
EMIGRATION-EMIGRES.

make them useful members of the colony
is of the
in Africa.
From official returns, ordered to be
printed by the house of commons, we
learn, that the whole number of passen-
gers, which embarked from the year 1812
to 1821, both years inclusive, for the Uni-
ted States, from Ireland, was 30,653; from
England, 33,608; from Scotland, 4727;
whole number, 68,988: for the British
dominions in North America, from Ire-
land, 47,223; from England, 23,783, and
from Scotland, 19,971; total, 90,972.
Thus the whole number of emigrants
from the United Kingdom for North Amer-
ica, from the year 1812 to the year 1821,
both years included, was 159,960. But
the number of emigrants from Ireland has
since very much increased. In the begin-
ning of July, 1830, it was calculated, that
about 12,300 Irish emigrants had arrived
at Quebec during the season; and it was
estimated, that, during the year 1830, there
would be not less than 50,000 emigrants
from Ireland to Canada and the United
States. The general government of the
United States has not as yet adopted any
measures to check this accession to their
population, though by no means always
of the most desirable kind; but should
it often happen (as has already taken
place), that paupers, infirm and poor peo-
infirm and poor peo-
ple are sent out, merely for the purpose of
getting rid of them in Ireland or England,
it would become necessary to take meas-
ures of prevention against such a breach
of hospitality. In some of the states,
laws have been made imposing some re-
straints upon the landing of emigrants.
A late Quebec newspaper states, that the
accession of population which the British
North American provinces and the Uni-
ted States have received from Europe
since 1816, cannot be less, on an average,
than 35,000 a year, or 490,000. It may,
indeed, fairly be estimated at 500,000. Al-
lowing each family of 5 persons, to have
brought out money, clothes and other
property, valued at 20 sovereigns, they
would have added a capital of £2,000,000
sterling. Supposing their labor worth
$90, or 20 sovereigns a year, their produc-
tive industry will now be worth, at a very
low estimate, £2,000,000 annually. The
emigrants from Germany, Alsace and Swit-
zerland are very numerous, and are among
the most valuable additions to the Ameri-
can population, as the great body of them
are sober, industrious, and orderly people,
and good farmers. A singular circum-
stance, to which the history of no other
nation affords a parallel, is the emigration
of the Americans from the east constantly
westward. It would almost seem that
they had no pleasure in the fruits of their
labor, but that the labor itself was their
enjoyment. After partially clearing up
the wilderness, and surrounding him-
self with the comforts of civilized life,
the enterprizing pioneer of civilization
often moves still farther into the depths
of the forest, and his place is suppli-
ed by the less restless emigrant from
Europe. Among these, the German is
not unfrequent, who is delighted with
the prospect of becoming an owner of
land in fee simple, and of being able to
save something which he can truly call
his own. He converts his land into a
fine productive farm. But his ignorance
of the language of the people about him
prevents him from partaking fully in their
advantages, and confines him to a com-
paratively limited sphere of action; he,
therefore, remains far behind his Ameri-
can brethren in all that regards moral and
intellectual education, as for instance, in
schools, instruction, &c. This, at least, is
the case where the German settlers are so
numerous as not to be obliged to mingle
much with Americans, as in some counties
in Pennsylvania. (For the French émi-
grés, see the following article.)
EMIGRÉS (emigrants). We meet in his-
tory with many instances of large bodies
of men being obliged to leave their coun
try on account of religious persecutions
as did the Huguenots, for instance, in the
17th century, or for some other causes.
(See Emigration and Refugees.) The ap-
pellation of émigrés (the French for emi-
grants), however, is now applied to those
persons particularly, who left France at
the commencement of the French revolu-
tion. These persons, some from enmity to
the new order of things, others to escape
political persecution, removed into the
neighboring countries, some with a little
property, which they had found means to
carry off, others entirely destitute. They
were from all ranks, and of all ages and
conditions; men and women, children and
old men, priests and nobles. Most of
them hoped to see the restoration of the
old order, by which they might be ena
bled to return to their country, and there
fore remained at first on the frontiers
Among them were seen examples of the
basest profligacy and the most heroic self-
denial. Persons who had been accustom-
ed to all the luxuries of life, and the re
finements of rank, earned a scanty sub-
sistence in petty employments, and bore
their privations with dignity and resigna-
EMIGRES-EMLYN.
tion. Several counts are said to have been
employed as boot-blacks. It would be
unjust to call all those who left their coun-
try to its fate in the time of its greatest peril,
weak and timid; for where anarchy rules,
the innocent is not secure. The emigra-
tion, however, of the royal princes, partic-
ularly the count of Provence, afterwards
Louis XVIII,can hardly be justified. Their
presence was of great importance to the
state, and their example contributed not a
little to the extensive emigration which
followed, and the injurious consequences
which attended it. Many of the émigrés,
however, were persons of loose, idle and
profligate habits, whose conduct brought
a reproach upon the whole body. This,
but more particularly the fear of provok-
ing the vengeance of the French govern-
ment, was the cause of their being re-
fused a refuge in some countries, and of
their being received under certain restric-
tions in others. At the head of the emi-
grants stood the royal princes of Condé,
Provence and Artois, the first of whom
collected a part of the fugitives to coop-
erate with the allied armies in Germany
for the restoration of the monarchy. At
Coblentz, a particular court of justice was
established to settle causes relating to the
French émigrés. As a body, they are
described by contemporary authors as
haughty in their deportment towards
foreigners, and acting as if they consti-
tuted the French nation, and as if the rest
of Europe did nothing more than its duty
in assisting them to recover their estates
and feudal rights. But the invasion of
the Netherlands by Dumouriez drove
them from these provinces in mid-winter,
in a deplorable condition, while their
number was daily increased by the system
of violence and terror carried on in
France; e. g. by the bloody tragedies of
Lyons and Toulon. The corps of Condé
was finally taken into the Russian service,
and was disbanded in the Russian-Aus-
trian campaign of 1799. When Napoleon
became emperor, it was one of his first
acts of grace to grant permission to all but
a few of the emigrants to return to their
country. Many, however, who by this
time had settled in foreign places, did not
choose to avail themselves of the indul-
gence. The charte of Louis XVIII con-
tains an express declaration, that the emi-
grants have no claim upon their former
possessions; but this did not prevent them
from bringing forward their demands for
indemnification, which have often occa-
sioned a good deal of excitement in the
public. The chambers granted in 1825,
VOL. IV.
42
493

on the proposition of Villèle, the income
of a capital of 1000 millions of francs, as
an indemnification for the estates of the
emigrants, which had been sold. (See
France.) ty
EMILIUS. (See Emilius.)
EMINENCE (from the Latin eminentia); an
honorary title, like excellency, and given to
cardinals. They were formerly called
illustrissimi and reverendissimi; but pope
Urban VIII (of the Barberini family), in
1630, established the above as their title of
honor. Popes John VIII and Gregory
VII gave this title to the kings of France.
The emperors have likewise borne it. It
has gradually sunk, as titles always do.
EMIR (i. e. noble, princely); a title of
honor, given in Turkey to those who
claim descent from Mohammed and his
daughter Fatima. These emirs are found
1. In Arabia, where they are the chieftains
of the wandering tribes, or Bedouins.
(q. v.) Their origin, however, is doubtful.
2. In Turkey itself, they form a kind of
hereditary nobility, and wear as a badge
a green turban, as Mohammed is said to
have done. They have certain privileges,
but otherwise no higher claims to civil
offices than other Mussulmen, and live
for the most part in great indigence, as
they are idle and extravagant. The word
emir is also applied to certain offices and
employments, e. g., emir hadschi, conduc-
tor of the pilgrims in caravans.
EMLYN, Thomas, an English dissenting
divine, was born at Stamford, in Lincoln-
shire, 1663; and, after studying at the uni-
versity of Cambridge, he finished his
education at an academy in London. In
1683, he became chaplain to the countess
of Donegal. He left this situation in
1688, and went to London, and, the fol-
lowing year, became pastor of a congrega-
tion at Lowestoff, in Suffolk. In 1691, he
accepted an invitation to become assistant
to the reverend Joseph Boyse, at Dublin.
Mr. Emlyn had adopted sentiments ap-
proaching to Arianism, and, the circum-
stance being suspected, an inquisitorial
examination was set on foot by his breth-
ren, the dissenting ministers of Dublin, who,
as he would not disavow what he conceiv-
ed to be the truth, restricted him from con-
tinuing his pastoral duties. Finding himself
the object of public odium, he published
his Humble Inquiry into the Scripture
Account of Jesus Christ, or a short Argu-
ment concerning his Deity and Glory,
according to the Gospel. Immediately
after this work appeared, he was arrested
on the charge of blasphemy, tried before
the chief justice of the queen's bench, and
494
EMLYN-EMMET.

sentenced to a year's imprisonment, a fine
of £1000, and detention in prison till it
should be paid. The fine was reduced to
£70, through the interposition of the duke
of Ormond, and other humane persons;
and, after somewhat more than a year's
confinement, Mr. Emlyn was set at liberty.
He removed to London, where he preach-
ed for some time to a small congrega-
tion, and occupied himself in writing
controversial tracts. He enjoyed the
friendship of doctor Samuel Clarke, Wil-
liam Whiston, and other individuals dis-
tinguished for their learning and liberali-
ty, and was generally respected for the
excellence of his character and amiable
disposition. He died July 30th, 1743. A
collection of his works was published in
1746, 2 volumes 8vo., with an account of
his life.
EMMET, Thomas Addis, an eminent
Irish lawyer and patriot, was born in the
city of Cork, in Ireland, in 1765. His
parents were highly respectable inhabit-
ants of that city, in easy circumstances.
The son was placed, in his boyhood, at
the university of Dublin, and designed by
his father for the profession of medicine.
He was educated accordingly, and pursu-
ed his medical studies at Edinburgh. The
death of his elder brother, a member of
the Irish bar, occasioned him to pass from
the practice of medicine to the study of
the law, at the desire of his parents. He
went to London, read two years in the
Temple, and attended the courts at West-
minster. On his return to Dublin, he
commenced practice, and soon obtained
distinction and business. The celebrat-
ed Curran was one of his circuit and term
companions. Being of an ardent charac-
ter, and enthusiastically Irish, he imbibed
deeply the resentment and antipathy of
the majority of his countrymen against
the British rule and connexion. When
the societies of united Irishmen were re-
vived in the year 1795, Emmet joined the
association, and soon became a leader.
Their object was revolution, and an inde-
pendent government for Ireland. Emmet
acted as one of the grand executive com-
mittee of the societies, who consisted of
at least 500,000 men. March 12, 1798, he
was arrested, and committed to prison at
Dublin, as a conspirator, by the vice-
regal government, along with Oliver Bond,
doctor Macneven, and other chiefs of the
disaffected party. In July, after a severe
confinement, an interview took place be-
tween Emmet and lord Castlereagh, at Dub-
lin castle, and it was agreed, that he and the
other state prisoners should be permitted
Em-
to go to the United States, as soon as they
had made certain disclosures of their plans
of revolution, and the projected alliance
between the united Irishmen and France.
These disclosures were made in a memoir,
delivered August 4, but without the con-
fession of any names, which were inflex-
ibly refused by the writers. They were,
soon after, examined in person before the
secret committees of both houses of the
Irish parliament. Instead, however, of
being sent to the United States, Emmet
and nineteen more were, early in 1799,
landed in Scotland, and consigned to fort
George, a fortress in the county of Nairn.
Here they were liberally treated, but their
detention lasted three years. At the ex-
piration of that period, the list of pardons
arrived, including the name of every
prisoner except Emmet. The governor
of the fortress released him notwithstand-
ing, taking all the responsibility.
met, and his exemplary wife, who had
shared unremittingly his imprisonment,
both in Ireland and Scotland, were landed
at Cuxhaven from a British frigate, spent.
the winter of the year 1802 in Brussels,
and that of 1803 in Paris. In October,
1804, they sailed from Bordeaux for the
United States, and arrived in New York
on the 11th of the next month. Emmet,
then about 40 years of age, at first hesi-
tated between the professions of the law
and medicine; but his friends determined
him to undertake the former. George
Clinton, then governor of the state of New
York, induced him to abandon his original
plan of settling in Ohio, and to remain in
the city of New York. He was admitted
to the bar at once, by special dispensation,
and reached the first ranks of the profes-
sion in a short time, by indefatigable in-
dustry and fervid eloquence. In the
course of a few years, he rivalled in busi-
ness and fame the most eminent of the
American lawyers. Occasionally the
ardor of his temperament and the
vivacity of his recollections betrayed him
into party politics; but his general career
and character were those of a laborious,
able and most successful pleader, an en-
ergetic and florid orator, a sound repub-
lican citizen, and a courteous gentleman.
In 1812, he was appointed to the office of
attorney-general of the state of New
York. His death took place in the 63d
year of his age, in a remarkable way.
November 14, 1827, while attending the
trial of an important cause at New York,
in the circuit court of the United States,
he was seized with an apoplectic fit, which
put an end to his existence the following
EMMET-EMPEROR.
night. It was only on the 13th, that he
had delivered a most animated and pow-
erful address to a jury in a cause of the
greatest importance and difficulty. An am-
ple and deserved tribute of public respect
was paid to his memory. Mr. Emmet
was a thorough classical scholar, and con-
versant with the physical sciences. Dur-
ing his detention at the fortress in Scot-
land, he wrote part of an Essay towards
the History of Ireland, which was printed
in New York, in 1807. His private life
was irreproachable, his countenance strong
and regular, and his frame manly and
healthy.
EMPECINADO, THE. (See Diez.)
EMPEDOCLES, a Greek philosopher,
whose doctrines, in many respects, resem-
bled those of Pythagoras, was born 460
B. C. at Agrigentum, in Sicily. His fellow
citizens esteemed him so highly, that they
wished to make him king; but, being an
enemy to all oppression, and elevation of a
few above the rest, he refused the offer, and
prevailed on them to abolish aristocracy,
and introduce a democratical form of gov-
ernment. The Agrigentines regarded
him with the highest veneration, as the
restorer and preserver of their liberty, the
public benefactor, the great poet, orator
and physician, the favorite of the gods,
the predicter of future events, and the
mighty magician who could stop the
course of nature, and overrule the power
of death itself. He is said to have thrown
himself into the crater of mount Etna, in
order to make it believed, by his sudden
disappearance, that he was of divine
origin. According to others, he was a
victim to his rash curiosity, when, in order
to examine more accurately the nature of
the mountain, and of its fiery eruptions,
he went too near the edge of the chasm,
and fell in. But it is probable that this is
a fiction, as well as the story of Lucian
about him, that his sandals were thrown
out from the volcano, and thus the man-
ner of his death ascertained, and the peo-
ple undeceived as to his pretended divin-
ity. Others assert, that he was drowned
in his old age. Empedocles presented his
philosophy in a poetical dress. His verses
are marked by bold and glowing imagery,
as well as by harmony and softness. Lu-
cretius was his imitator. The iambic
poem on the spheres, formerly ascribed
to him, is now considered spurious. The
poems of his yet extant have been pub-
lished together, with a treatise on his life
and philosophy, by F. W. Sturz (Leipsic,
1806). Empedocles holds the four ele-
ments-earth, water, fire, air-as the
495

fundamental and indestructible principles,
from whose union and separation every
thing that exists is formed. To these
material principles are added the ideal
principles of friendship and hatred. Do-
menico Scina has written Memoirs on the
Life and Philosophy of Empedocles (Pa-
lermo, 1825).
EMPEROR (from the Latin imperator; in
German, Kaiser, from Cæsar*); the title
of the highest rank of sovereigns. The
word imperator, from imperare, to com-
mand, had very different meanings among
the Romans at different periods. In the
most general sense, it signified the com-
mander of an army, as imperium did the
command itself. In early times, consuls
were called imperatores before they enter-
ed on their office. The soldiers after-
wards conferred the title on their general,
after a victory, by hailing him imperator;
the senate also called a victorious general
imperator until he had celebrated his tri-
umph. At a still later period, no one was
honored with this title, who had not de-
feated a hostile army of at least 10,000
men.
After the overthrow of the re-
public, imperator became the title of the
rulers, or emperors, and indicated the su-
preme power; the word rex being too
odious to be assumed. Victorious gene-
rals were still, however, sometimes saluted
with the title imperator, in its original
sense. In the time of the republic, the
title was put after the name, as Cicero im-
perator; when it came to signify emperor,
it was put before the name, as imperator
Claudius. With the destruction of the
Roman empire, the title was lost; but it
was renewed in 800 A. D., when Charle-
magne was crowned emperor of the West.
For a long time, the title was considered
as belonging to the sovereignty of Rome;
hence, on the division of the empire
among the sons of Louis-le-Débonnaire,
Lothaire, king of Italy, received the title.
Charles the Bald, and several princes of
Italy, bore it, until Otho I, in 962 A. D.
finally united the imperial crown with that
of the German kings. Yet it was for
many centuries considered necessary to
be crowned at Rome in order to be for-
mally invested with the title of emperor.
*Derived from the title of dignity Cæsar,
denoted only the assistants and successors of the
which in the last ages of the Roman dominion,
actual emperor. The name Cæsar, it is wel.
known, was adopted by the successors of Julius
Cæsar, as a title of honor, as the brothers of Na-
poleon were called Napoleon, after having as-
cended thrones, as Joseph Napoleon, Jerome
Napoleon. The Russian Czar (q. v.) is not de-
rived from Cæsar, but is of Slavonic origin.
496
EMPEROR-EMPIRIC.

For reasons too many to be enumerated
here, the idea that the bishop of Rome
was the highest spiritual ruler, and the
emperor of the holy Roman empire (or
of Germany), the highest temporal sove-
reign, was gradually developed. One
reason undoubtedly was, that the German
or Teutonic tribes were actually, in the
beginning of the middle ages, the ruling
people in most countries of Europe; but
many other reasons, particularly a strange
confusion of the universal empire of
Rome with the universal empire of
Christendom, and the idea of a universal
church, as an organized society, to be sup-
ported, of course, by a temporal power,
contributed much to give this idea cur-
rency. The impartial historian cannot
doubt that, in the barbarous period of the
middle ages, the authority of the pope was
beneficial to Europe, and almost the sole
support of civilization; but it would be
hard to say what advantage Germany de-
rived from taking part, ex officio, in all the
quarrels of Europe, and from that unfor-
tunate desire of possessing temporal autho-
rity over Italy, which has been one of the
chief causes of her inferiority to some other
states of Europe, in respect to the devel-
opement of her political institutions. As
the emperor was considered the highest
temporal officer in Christendom, all the
other states were regarded as dependent
upon him; some of these, therefore, to
show their independence, made claim to
the imperial dignity, although they did not
assume the title; as, for instance, the sov-
ereigns of Castile, France and England.
The eastern empire having been finally
overthrown by the conquest of Constanti-
nople, in 1453, the imperial dignity in the
East became extinct. The sultans, who
succeeded the emperors, have never re-
ceived, in official language, the title of
emperor. This title was adopted in Rus-
sia by Peter I, in 1721, but the right of the
Russian sovereign to its possession was
not acknowledged by the German empire
until 1747 by France in 1745, and by
Spain in 1759. Napoleon adopted the old
idea of an empire, as a general union of
states under the protection, or at least po-
litical preponderance, of one powerful
state; the political system of a balance of
power, had proved insufficient to maintain
a general peace, and Henry IV's plan of a
great European confederacy held out no
prospect of permanent tranquillity. Na-
poleon crowned himself as emperor in
1804. In 1806, the German empire, 1000
years old, became extinct, and the German
emperor, Francis II, adopted the title of
Francis I, emperor of Austria. The
French empire was destroyed in 1814, by
the peace of Paris. Great Britain is con-
sidered as an empire, the crown is impe-
rial, and the parliament is styled the Im-
perial Parliament of Great Britain and
Ireland; but the king himself has never
adopted the imperial title, though this
measure was proposed in parliament in
1804. The empire of Mexico, or Ana-
huac, established by Iturbide, was only
momentary in its duration; but the em-
pire of the Brazils, founded in 1822, seeins
to be firmly established. The sovereigns
of Siam, China, Japan, and of Fez and
Morocco, are often, though with little pro-
priety, called emperors. At the coronation
of the German emperors, princes and
kings appeared as servants; the emperor
promised to do justice, to be an upright
sovereign, to consult the good of his sub-
jects, to protect the church, to defend
the empire, to be the guardian of widows
and orphans; and not until the assembled
people had replied to the question, "Will
you submit to this sovereign and prince,
and obey him?" with shouts of Yes, Yes
(Fiat, fiat, fiat), were the unction and coro-
nation (of which Göthe gives a description
in his account of his life) performed.
Formerly, it was only the coronation of
the sovereign as German king, that took
place at Frankfort, in Germany. This was
followed by the imposition of the crown
of Lombardy, an iron circle, made of a
nail reputed to be from the cross of
Christ, set in gold; and finally by the
coronation as Roman emperor, performed
by the pope in Rome. But from the time
of Maximilian I, the German emperors
were crowned in Germany only. After
the fall of the French empire, a large
number of persons in Germany, without
organization or settled plan, desired the
restoration of the German empire. The
Germans, from a want of practical knowl-
edge, then lost an opportunity of taking
one step towards securing personal liberty,
by wasting the time in vague declama-
tion. That party, particularly, who wish-
ed for the restoration of the empire, talked
of a glory, power and happiness which
had never existed; they were actuated
by indistinct historical recollections, and
phantoms of their own creation, and, not
a few, by their aristocratical predilections.
A worse model of government, and a
more perplexed political system, than the
late German empire, cannot be con-
trived.
EMPIRIC, in medical history (from the
Greek word inepta, experience; an appel

EMPIRIC-ENCAUSTIC PAINTING.
lation assumed by a sect of physicians,
who contended, that all hypothetical rea-
soning respecting the operations of the
animal economy was useless, and that ob-
servation and experience alone were the
foundation of the art of medicine. Em-
piric, in modern medicine, is applied to a
person who sells or administers a par-
ticular drug, or compound, as a remedy
for a given disorder, without any consid-
eration of its different stages, or degrees
of violence, in different constitutions, cli-
mates or seasons. (For empiric philoso-
phy, see Experimental Philosophy.)
EMS; a celebrated watering-place in
the duchy of Nassau, on the river Lahn.
The environs are beautiful. As early as
1583, it was used as a watering-place.
The mineral waters at Ems are warm-
from 70° to 118° Fahr.; they are of the
saline class, containing large quantities of
carbonic acid gas, and are used with
much effect in chronic catarrhs, pulmo-
nary complaints, diseases of the stomach,
arising from phlegm and acidity, gout,
and some diseases of the urinary vessels.
(See Die Heilquellen zu Ems, Coblentz,
1821, by Vogler.) Near Ems is a grotto,
similar to the grotto del cane, near Naples,
the vapors from which cause asphyxia.
About 50,000 bottles of the water of Ems
are sent away annually.
EMULSIONS; a term applied to the im-
perfect solutions of the fixed vegetable
oils in water. They are obtained by
rubbing the seeds affording these oils with
water, to which a little sugar has been
added.
ENAMELING (from enamel, formed by
a junction of the inseparable particle
en-borrowed by us from the French,
who had taken it from the Latin in-
and the old English word amel, taken
from the émail of the French, both sig-
nifying the material used in overlaying
the variegated works which we call en-
ameled); the art of variegating with colors
laid upon or into another body; also,
a mode of painting, with vitrified colors,
on gold, silver, copper, &c., and of melting
these at the fire, or of making curious
works in them at a lamp. This art is of so
great antiquity, as to render it difficult or
impossible to trace it to its origin. It was
evidently practised by the Egyptians, from
the remains that have been observed on
the ornamented envelopes of mummies.
From Egypt it passed into Greece, and
afterwards into Rome and its provinces,
whence it was probably introduced into
Great Britain, as various Roman antiqui-
ties have been dug up in different parts
497
The
of the island, particularly in the Barrows,
in which enamels have formed portions
of the ornaments. The gold cup given
by king John to the corporation of Lynn,
in Norfolk, proves that the art was known
among the Normans, as the sides of the
cup are embellished with various figures,
whose garments are partly composed of
colored enamels. Enamels are vitrifiable
substances, and are usually arranged into
three classes; namely, the transparent,
the semitransparent and opaque.
basis of all kinds of enamel is a perfectly
transparent and fusible glass, which is
rendered either semitransparent or opaque,
by the admixture of metallic oxides. The
art of coloring glass seems to be of near-
ly the same antiquity as the invention of
making it; which is proved, not only
from written documents, but likewise by
the variously colored glass corals, with
which several of the Egyptian mummies
are decorated. White enamels are com-
posed by melting the oxide of tin with
glass, and adding a small quantity of
manganese, to increase the brilliancy of
the color. The addition of the oxide of
lead, or antimony, produces a yellow en-
amel; but a more beautiful yellow may
be obtained from the oxide of silver.
Reds are formed by an intermixture of
the oxides of gold and iron, that composed
of the former being the most beautiful
and permanent. Greens, violets and blues
are formed from the oxides of copper, co-
balt and iron; and these, when intermix-
ed in different proportions, afford a great
variety of intermediate colors. Some-
times the oxides are mixed before they
are united to the vitreous bases. All the
colors may be produced by the metallic
oxides. The principal quality of good
enamel, and that which renders it fit for
being applied on baked earthen ware, or
on metals, is the facility with which it
acquires lustre by a moderate heat, or
cherry-red heat, more or less, according
to the nature of the enamel, without en-
tering into complete fusion. Enamels
applied to earthen ware and metals pos-
sess this quality. Enamels are executed
upon the surface of copper and other
metals, by a method similar to painting.
Enameling on plates of metal, and paint-
ing with vitrified colors on glass, are prac-
tised with great success in England.
ENCAUSTIC PAINTING (encausticus, Lat.;
KavGTIK, Gr.). Painting in encaustic is
executed with the operation of fire.
Ancient authors often mention this spe-
cies of painting, which, if it had been
described simply by the word encaustic.
42 *
498
ENCAUSTIC PAINTING-ENCLAVE.

which signifies executed by fire, might be
supposed to have been a species of en-
amel painting. But the expressions en-
causto pingere, pictura encaustica, ceris
pingere, picturam inurere, by Pliny and
other ancient writers, show that another
species of painting is meant. We have
no ancient pictures of this description,
and, therefore, the precise manner adopt-
ed by the ancients is not completely de-
veloped, though many moderns have
closely investigated the subject, and de-
scribed their processes. This species of
painting appears to have been practised
in the 4th and 5th centuries.* Count
Caylus and M. Bachelier, a painter, were
the first of modern times who made ex-
periments in this branch of art, about the
year 1749. Pliny, in a passage relating
to encaustic painting, distinguishes three
species: 1. that in which the artists used
a style, and painted on ivory or polished
wood (cestro in ebore), for which purpose
they drew the outlines on a piece of the
aforesaid wood or ivory, previously soak-
ed or imbued with some color; the point of
the style or stigma served for this operation,
and the broad end to scrape off the small
filaments that arose from the outlines; and
they continued forming outlines with the
point till they were finished. 2. The next
manner appears to have been one in which
the wax, previously impregnated with
color, was spread over the surface of the
picture with the style, and the colors thus
prepared were formed into small cylinders
for use. By the side of the painter was
a brasier for keeping the styles continually
hot, with the points of which they laid on
the colors when the outlines were finish-
ed, and spread them smooth with the
broad end; and thus they proceeded till
the picture was finished. 3. The third
manner of painting was with a pencil, in
wax liquefied by fire. By this method
the colors acquired a considerable hard-
ness, and could not be damaged, either
by the heat of the sun or the effects of
sea-water. In this manner ships were
painted, with emblems and other pic-
tures, and therefore it obtained the name
of ship painting. Few, of late years,
have made more experiments in this mode
of painting than an English lady, Mrs.
Hooker, who, for her very successful ex-
ertions in this branch of the polite arts,
was presented with a gold palette by
* Vicenzo Requeno has treated the subject in
a very masterly and scientific manner, in a work
called Saggi sul Ristabilimento dell' antica Arte
de' Greci e Romani Pittori, published at Parma,
1787.
the Society for the Encouragement of
Arts, &c. of London. Her account is
printed in the 10th volume of the society's
Transactions, for 1792, when she was
miss Emma Jane Greenland. This sub-
ject has also been deeply investigated by
the chevalier Lorgna, in a small but val-
uable tract, called Un Discorso sulla Cera
Punica. As the thing chiefly regarded
in encaustic painting was the securing of
permanence and durability, by the appli-
cation of fire, the word encaustic has been
applied, in a very general sense, to other
processes, in which both the material and
the mode of applying the heat are entirely
different from the ancient materials and
modes. The word has been used, not only
of wax-painting on wood, stone and ivory,
but also of painting on earthen vessels, of
works in metal, where gold and silver
were inlaid, melted, or laid on, and of.
every thing which was gilt or silvered by
fire; which was called gold or silver en-
caustic. The moderns have also used the
term for painting on porcelain, and work
in enamel; and in the same way it was
given to the painting on glass of the mid-
dle ages, such as is now seen in the win-
dows of some Gothic churches. It is
evident, that all these have nothing to do
with the wax-painting of the ancients.
ENCHASING. (See Chasing.)
ENCHORIAL, or ENCHORIC (from the
Greek v, in, and xúpa, country.) The
Egyptians employed different alphabets
in writing-hieroglyphic, hieratic (used
by the priests) and enchorial (used for the
common purposes of life, and hence called
also epistolographic and demotic. (q. v.)
Thus, on the Rosetta stone (q. v.), there
are three inscriptions, one in the hiero-
glyphical character, one in what the
Greeks called yxwota yoappara, and one
in Greek characters. Doctor Thomas
Young, in his Egyptian Antiquities (Lon-
don, 1823, page 9), uses the word encho-
rial, or enchoric, to designate these popu-
lar characters, while M. Champollion calls
them demotic. (See Demotic, and Hiero-
glyphics.)
ENCLAVE; a term used in German and
French, to denote a place or country
which is entirely surrounded by the ter-
ritories of another power. Thus several
petty duchies and principalities are en-
claves of Prussia. It is easy to conceive
how much confusion and difficulty in the
administration and in the imposition of
duties must be caused by such a local situ-
ation. It has always been a source of
disputes, which have been finally settled
by treaties.
ENCLOSURE ENCYCLOPEDIA.
ENCLOSURE; a fence, wall or hedge,
or other means of protection and security,
surrounding land. Countries in general
lie open, with nothing but banks and
ditches to divide the lands of the hus-
bandmen; but in England and the U.
States, each farm is divided from others
by hedges and fences, and the farms
themselves are broken into small enclo-
sures. In France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
&c., the lands still remain unenclosed, in
large, open fields. Enclosures pleasantly
subdivide the labors of the farmer; and,
by restraining the exercise of cattle, they
occasion them to get fat much sooner.
ENCRATITES; abstinent, or self-deny-
ing. (See Gnostics.) Also
ENCYCLOPEDIA, or CYCLOPÆDIA. This
word, formed from the Greek, but not a
native compound of that language (which
uses instead, ykkλios maideia, naideia év KORλ,
also ¿ykokia pabuara), originally denoted
the whole circle of the various branches
of knowledge which were comprehended
by the ancients in a liberal education (the
artes liberales of the Romans; see Arts).
At a later period, the word was applied
to every systematic view, either of the
whole extent of human knowledge (uni-
versal encyclopædia), or of particular de-
partments of it (particular or partial en-
cyclopædia). The want of such general
surveys was early felt; and, as knowledge
increased, they became still more desira-
ble, partly for the purpose of having a
systematic arrangement of the sciences,
in their mutual relations, partly for the
readier finding of particular subjects;
and, for these two reasons, such works
were sometimes philosophically, some-
times alphabetically arranged. The spirit
of compiling, which prevailed in the Al-
exandrian school, soon led to attempts
remotely allied to this, and Varro and
Pliny the elder, among the Romans, com-
posed works of a similar kind (the former
in the lost works, entitled Rerum huma-
narum et divinarum Antiquitates, and
Disciplinarum Libri IX, the latter in his
Historia naturalis). To these may be
added the later collections of Stobæus,
and Suidas, and especially of Marcianus
Capella. These, however, were only pre-
paratory labors. The honor of under-
taking encyclopædias on a regular plan,
belongs to the middle ages, which, with
iron industry, produced not only a large
number of cyclopædias of particular sci-
ences, called Summa, or Specula (e. g. the
Summa Theologia of Thomas Aquinas),
but also a Universal Encyclopædia, such
as had never been seen before. The in-
499

defatigable Dominican, Vincent of Beau-
vais (Bellovacensis), about the middle of
the 13th century, exhibited the whole
sum of the knowledge of the middle ages,
in a work of considerable size (Speculum
historiale, naturale, doctrinale, to which an
anonymous author added, some years
later, a Speculum morale, in a similar
form), in extracts from the works of the
writers of the time;-a real treasure to
the inquirer into the literary history of the
middle ages, and not without value in
itself in many respects (e. g. for the light
which it throws on profane criticism).
The latest edition was published at Dou-
ay, in 4 vols. fol. In the 17th century,
the works, by no means without value,
of Matthius Martinius, professor and rec-
tor in the gymnasium at Bremen (Idea
methodica et brevis Encyclopædia sive
adumbratio Universitatis, Herborn, 1606),
and of John Henry Alstead (Encyclopa-
dia vii Tomis distincta, Herborn, 1620, 2
vols fol.) were followed by those of the
illustrious Bacon. In these works, not,
indeed, very voluminous, but rich in deep
and acute thinking (his Novum Organum
Scientiarum, first published, London, 1620,
fol.; and De Augmentis Scientiarum, Eng-
lish, London, 1605, 4to., Latin, London,
1638, fol.), he laid the foundation of a
cyclopædia full of the most profound
inquiries, and the boldest anticipations,
which his own age was not capable of
understanding. Since his time, a multi-
tude of encyclopædias have appeared,
but none of them have the purely scien-
tific design of Bacon, and all relate either
to the instruction of the young and unin-
formed (Chevigny, La Science des Per-
sonnes de la Cour, de l'Épée, et de la Robe,
5th ed. by H. P. de Limiers, Amsterdam,
1717, 4 vols.; J. E. Wagenseil, Pera Li-
brorum juvenilium, Altorf, 1695, 5 vols.),
or are intended as books of reference for
the learned. Among the greatest works
of earlier date would have been reckoned
the Galeria de Minerva of Cornelli, had
it been completed according to the ori-
ginal plan. It was to have appeared in
45 folio volumes, of which only 7 were
published (Venice, 1696). See Keyssler's
Travels, vol. i. 1136. More successful, at
least in being brought to a completion,
was the Grosse vollständige Universallexicon
aller Wissenschaften und Künste (Grand
Universal Lexicon of all the Arts and
Sciences), commonly called Zedler's, from
the person who conducted it (Halle and
Leipsic, 1732-50, 64 vols.; Supplement,
1751-1754, 4 vols. fol.); but it has, on the
whole, little merit, and is successful only in
500
ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

some particular branches, as, for instance,
in genealogy. Of the English works
of this kind, which deserve notice, are
1. Chambers' (q. v.) Cyclopædia, or a Uni-
versal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences
a work which has passed through several
editions. 2. Encyclopædia Britannica.
Of this there have been 6 editions, the
last of which, completed in 1823, con-
tains many improvements; another is
now (1830) in the course of publication.
The first edition came out in 1788, in 10
vols 4to.; the 4th in 1810, and the 5th in
1815, as well as the 6th, are in 20 vols.
To the 4th and 5th editions is added a
Supplement in 6 vols., edited by Napier.
3. Rees' Cyclopædia, 39 vols. 4to. in 79
parts, with 6 supplementary parts, and
numerous engravings, London, 1802-20,
Philadelphia, 41 vols. 4to., 6 vols, of
plates. In the technical department, par-
ticularly, this is the most complete work
of the kind which we have. 4. Edin-
burgh Encyclopædia, 1810 et seq., not yet
complete; Philadelphia, vol. 17, part 1,
appeared in 1829, and comes down to
STE. This work, devoted particularly
to natural science and technology, is con-
ducted by Dr. Brewster, in Edinburgh.
5. Encyclopædia Londinensis, published
by John Wilkes, begun 1796. 6. En-
cyclopædia Edinensis, begun in 1816, ed-
ited by J. Millar, 6 vols. 4to. 7. Encyclo-
paedia Metropolitana, London, 4to., begun
in 1815, to consist of 25 vols. 4to. 8. Me-
thodical Cyclopædia, by Mitchell, Lon-
don, 1823, 12mo., yet unfinished. 9.
Nicholson's British Encyclopædia, in 12
vols. 1809 et seq. 10. Gregory's Diction-
ary of Arts and Sciences, 3 vols. 4to., first
American, from second English edition,
Philadelphia and Charleston, 1815. Be-
sides these larger works, a multitude of
smaller cyclopædias have been published
by Watson, Willich, Enfield, Kendal and
others. The Italians have G. P. Pivati's
Dizionario scientifico e curioso, sacro-pro-
fano, Venice, 1746--51, 10 vols. fol. Of
the French cyclopædias, the most fa-
mous is the great Dictionnaire Encyclopé-
dique, by Diderot and D'Alembert, (see
next article), frequently called, par excel-
lence, The Encyclopædia. This was fol-
lowed by the more extensive one of Fé-
lice. Still more comprehensive is the
Encyclopédie méthodique, ou par Ordre de
Matières, which has been publishing at
Paris since 1782, and is now extended
to 148 4to. vols. text, and 52 vols. copper-
plates. Several works of this kind have
also been published in Germany. Kru-
nitz's Encyclopædia is the most celebra-
ted, of which 146 vols. had been pub-
lished in 1827, as far as the article Schif-
fahrt. There is an abridgment, also, of
this work, in many vols. The Deutsche
Encyclopädie oder allgem. Wörterbuch aller
Künste und Wissenschaften, begun by
Köster, in 1778, and continued by J. F.
Roos, to the 23d volume, 1804, remains
unfinished (A to KY, with a volume of
engravings, folio). At present, there is a
new great German encyclopædia pub-
lishing by Richter, a bookseller in Leip-
sic, which has been edited by Ersch (q. v.,
lately deceased) and Gruber, professors at
Halle, of which 15 vols. 4to. have already
appeared. Among the latest encyclopæ-
dian journals are Jullien's Revue Ency-
clopédique, and Férussac's Bulletin universel
des Sciences et de l'Industrie, the latter of
which is published monthly, arranged in
8 sections. (For an account of the Ger-
man Conversations-Lexicon, see our Pre-
face.)
The rapid advancement of the sciences
and arts, and the proportionally rapid
communication between all civilized na
tions, have made a general acquaintance
with many different branches of knowl-
edge more desirable, and often more ne-
cessary, than ever before. This is one of
the chief causes which have produced in
our time so many encyclopædias of va-
rious kinds, some very learned, and others
more adapted for the general reader; some
embracing all the sciences and arts, others
only single branches; of the latter sort
are Loudon's Encyclopædias of Garden-
ing, of Agriculture, &c. To the same
class belong the numerous dictionaries
intended to impart information in certain
branches of knowledge, useful or enter-
taining, from the learned Physikalisches
Wörterbuch of Gehler, to the lively Diction-
naire des Girouettes, or Dictionnaire des
Bons-mots. Among the encyclopædian
works particularly intended for general rea-
ders, are the Library of Useful Knowledge,
published by the Society for the Diffusion
of Useful Knowledge-a society well de-
serving its name, and whose activity has
been called forth chiefly by the exertions
of Mr. Brougham; the Library of Enter-
taining Knowledge, published also by the
same society (of which, according to the
report of the society, in 1830, not less
than 19,000 copies had been sold); an
Almanac (of which, in 1830, 41,000 copies
were sold), and the useful Companion to
the British Almanac (of which, in 1830,
17,000 copies were sold); doctor Lard-
ner's Cabinet Cyclc pædia, the Family
Library, &c. A sim lar work to the Li-

ENCYCLOPÆDIA-THE FRENCH ENCYCLOPEDIE.
brary of Useful Knowledge was advertised,
in the beginning of 1830, as about to be
published in Paris, under the name of En-
cyclopédie Union, to consist of 300 volumes,
at 2 francs per volume, and to embrace all
the arts and sciences. Most of the distin-
guished savants of the liberal party were
to write for it. We have, however, heard
nothing of its progress. In the Antologia
of December, 1829, it is stated that doctor
Gerard, who has traversed the Himalaya
mountains and Thibet, for the purpose of
introducing vaccination into that country,
found, at Kinnaour, in Thibet, a man
named Cosmas, a Transylvanian, an ar-
dent philologist, who had discovered an
encyclopædia in 44 volumes, in the lan-
guage of that country. As every thing
can be abused, so encyclopædias, which
may contribute to propagate widely use-
ful knowledge, may also tend to produce
a disposition to be satisfied with superfi-
cial information, as in the case of the
lady who spoke very learnedly, a whole
evening, on a variety of subjects, the
names of which all began with ca. It
afterwards appeared, that she had just
received the second volume of a new
encyclopædia.
ENCYCLOPEDIE, THE FRENCH. The
term encyclopædists is used, particularly in
French literature, to signify those who
were engaged in the great alphabetical
encyclopædia, embracing all arts and sci-
ences, which was projected by Diderot;
and is applied, also, to those who joined
themselves to their party in philosophy
and criticism, as Helvetius, for instance.
Bouterwek says of this undertaking: "As
Diderot took a lively interest in every
thing worth knowing, he could not con-
fine his literary labors to a single depart-
ment. Mathematics, physics, philosophy
and belles-lettres in turn attracted him.
None but a mind of his excursive, en-
cyclopædian turn, would have conceived
the plan of preparing a summary of all
human knowledge, up to the middle of
the 18th century, in the form of a univer-
sal dictionary." And none but a man of
Diderot's enthusiasm could have perse-
vered in the execution of this work, in
spite of all difficulties, and overlooking,
in the zealous prosecution of his plan, the
injury that such a work might do, by en-
couraging superficial and partial views.
The work was undertaken at a time
when every existing opinion and institu-
tion was eagerly brought before the tri-
bunal of inquiry and criticism. This
inquiring and criticising spirit naturally
followed an age in which authority was
501
supreme; and thus the Encyclopédie was
the consequence, as well as the cause, of
a new epoch. That many false and su-
perficial views should be mingled with it,
is not strange; the golden mean of truth
is seldom discovered at once. In the
philosophical and critical articles, the
peculiar sentiments of the writers of the
Encyclopédie were received by the French
public as the oracles of truth; and it be-
came easy for the encyclopædists to give
currency to what they called philosophy.
They had, also, a great influence on the
literary taste, not only of the French, but
of other nations. Polished correctness,
elegance of style, with an imitation of
nature, and a moral design, were the high-
est excellences which they saw in art, and
the great objects of attainment. As they
made the understanding the sole judge of
poetry, which was, therefore, to be the cool
product of reflection, their views, by means
of the authority which they had acquired,
tended extremely to cramp the genius of
the French in respect to works of im-
agination, and to destroy all boldness and
freedom. They gained a still greater au-
thority by their philosophy, just suited as
it was to the prevailing spirit of the
French people. Indeed, there is hardly an
instance to be found, in which the literati
of a nation have obtained so extensive and
powerful an influence on political sentiment
as the French literati, and particularly the
French encyclopædists. Their philoso-
phy, too, was a fashionable philosophy,-
a philosophy for common life, favorable to
wit and gayety. Instead of proceeding
with steady steps to the goal of truth, they
hurried to and fro, with daring leaps, and
imagined that they had reached the mark,
if they could maintain an opinion which
contained something new and paradoxical.
This mixture of philosophy with elegant
literature became still more interesting, on
account of the opinions which men like
Mably, Condillac, Mercier, Raynal, Buf-
fon, Helvetius, Diderot and D'Alembert
advanced on the subjects of religion and
civil government, for which a prohibition
was laid on the further progress of the
work. But the printers only, and not
the authors, were punished, and the gov-
ernment was soon after obliged to permit
the work to proceed, as it was too weak to
prevent it. To the encyclopædists, who
were connected with the highest circles
of that time, is justly attributed a very
important influence on the French revo-
lution. Encyclop., ou Diction. raisonné
des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers, par
une Société de Gens de Lettres, mis en Or-
502
THE FRENCH ENCYCLOPEDIE-ENDIVE.COM

dre par Diderot, et quant à la Partie ma-
thémat. par d'Alembert (Paris, 1751-72,
28 vols. fol.) Supplem. (Amsterdam, Paris,
1776-77, 5 vols. fol.), Table des Matières
(Paris, 1780, 2 vols. fol.), in all 35 vol-
umes; also, at Geneva, 39 vols. 4to., Ta-
bles to it; Lyons, 1780, 6 vols. 4to.; Lau-
sanne and Berne, 1778-81, 36 vols., 3
4to. vols. engravings.
ENDEAVOR STRAITS; a channel which
separates the island of New Guinea from
New Holland; about 30 miles in extent
from N. E. to S. W., and about 15 broad,
except at the entrance, where it is less
than a league, being narrowed by the
islands. A bank runs across it from
north to south, about half a mile, where
the depth of water, at three-quarters ebb,
was found to be 3 fathoms.
ENDEMIC (from &v and inpos, prevailing
among the people). This name is often
applied to diseases which attack the in-
habitants of a particular district or coun-
try, and have their origin in some local
cause, as the physical character of the
place where they prevail, or in the employ-
ments, habits and mode of living of the
people. Every part of the world, every
climate and every country, has its peculiar
endemics. Thus the tropical and warm
climates are subject to peculiar cutane-
ous disorders, eruptions of various kinds,
because the constant heat keeps up a
strong action of the skin, and draws the
humors to the surface of the body. In
northern climates, eruptions of the skin
occur, but they are of a different kind.
Thus in all the north polar countries, es-
pecially in Norway, a kind of leprosy, the
radesyge, is prevalent, arising from the
coldness and humidity of the climate,
which dispose the skin to such disorders.
Hot and moist countries generate the most
violent typhus and putrid fevers; the West
Indies and some of the American seaports,
for instance, produce the yellow fever.
Places in a more dry and elevated situa-
tion, northern countries particularly, are
peculiarly subject to inflammatory disor-
ders. In countries and districts very much
exposed to currents of wind, especially in
mountainous places, we find, at all seasons
of the year, rheumatisms, catarrhs, and the
whole train of complaints which have
their origin in a sudden stoppage of the
functions of the skin. In large and pop-
ulous towns, we meet with the most nu-
merous instances of pulmonary consump-
tion. In places that are damp, and at the
same time not warm, e. g., on marshes
and large rivers, intermittent fevers are
prevalent. In cold and damp countries,
like England, Sweden and Holland, the
most frequent cases of croup occur. Dis-
eases which are endemic in one country,
may also appear in others, and become
epidemical, if the weather and other phy-
sical influences resemble those which are
the causes of the endemic in the former
place; the climate being for a time trans-
ferred, as it were, from one to the other.
Thus, for instance, we find the croup
sometimes, during wet and cold weather,
appearing in high situations; intermittent
fevers sometimes in places where they
occur rarely for years, and then again at-
tack great numbers; putrid and malignant
typhus fevers rage in all countries occa-
sionally; and so of the rest. Endemic
disorders, in some circumstances, become
contagious, and thereby spread to other
persons, and may be transplanted to other
places, the situation and circumstances of
which predispose them to receive these
disorders. This is known by the sad ex-
perience of the migrations of diseases,
the spreading of the leprosy from the Ori-
ental countries to Europe, &c. It is use-
ful to inquire into the endemical circum-
stances of countries, districts, and even
cities and towns; some precautions may
be thereby suggested to escape the sick-
ness, or to obviate the unwholesomeness
of the situation of the place in question.
As, for instance, the physician of pope Cle-
ment XI, Lancini, procured the draining
and drying of the marshes about Pesaro ;
and the diseases which had arisen from
the exhalations of these marshes immedi-
ately ceased. It is also very favorable to
the cure of obstinate disorders, for the in-
valid to remove to a climate opposed to
his particular complaint. Thus the Eng-
lish, to cure themselves of the pulmonary
complaints and hypochondria, to which
they are subject in their cold and foggy isl-
and, are accustomed to travel to the south
of France, and especially to the neighbor-
hood of Nice, the climate of which is in-
comparable. So it is of advantage to the
consumptive to exchange the unwhole-,
some city air, full of dust and fine parti-
cles of sand, for the pure atmosphere of
the country. And so of other disorders.
ENDIVE. The wild succory (cichorium
intybus) is now naturalized in some parts
of the U. States, and is very common
along the road sides in the vicinity of Bos-
ton. It is perennial, branching, and about
two feet high, the leaves oblong lanceolate
and runcinate, a little hairy on the nervures;
the flowers axillary, geminate and nearly
sessile, of a blue color, and resembling in
size and form those of the dandelion: 11
ENDIVE-ENGEL.
Likewise belongs to the same natural fam-
ily, composite. The wild succory con-
tains a milky juice, and has been fre-
quently employed by physicians as a tonic
and aperient: when blanched, its bitter-
ness is very much diminished, and in this
state it is eaten in soups or as a salad, par-
ticularly in France, as it was formerly by
the ancient Romans: it is also extensively
cultivated in Italy for fodder, and the root,
when roasted, has been used as a substi-
tute for coffee. The endive (C. endivia),
is perhaps only a cultivated variety of the
former plant, from which it differs in be-
ing annual, more elevated, and having
smooth, entire or dentated leaves, rarely
lobed, and in its flowers being some of
them sessile, and others upon long pedun-
cles: it is considered in France one of the
best esculents, and is eaten in salads, ra-
gouts, as a pickle, &c.
ENDYMION; according to some, a hunts-
man, according to others, a shepherd, and
according to a third account, a king of
Elis. He is said to have asked of Jupi-
ter, whom many have called his father,
eternal youth and immortality. His beau-
ty excited passion even in the cold Diana,
and hence he has served in all ages as an
ideal of loveliness, and Diana's love to him
as that of the tenderest affection. He is
most generally conceived as sleeping in
the wood, where the mild rays of the moon
kiss his slumbering eyes. (See Diana.)
ENEAS. (See Eneas.)
ENEID. (See Virgil.)
ENESIDEMUS. (See Enesidemus.)
ENFIELD, William, LL. D., a dissent-
ing divine, of great learning and amiable
character, was born at Sudbury, in 1741.
He was educated for the dissenting min-
istry, at Daventry, and, in 1763, was cho-
sen pastor to a congregation at Liverpool,
where he published two volumes of Ser-
mons, in 12mo., and a collection of
Hymns and Family Prayers, which were
well received. In 1770, he became resi-
dent tutor and lecturer on belles-lettres,
at the academy at Warrington, where he
remained for several years, and published
several works, including his well-known
Speaker. Here he also drew up Institutes
of Natural Philosophy, theoretical and
experimental. After the dissolution of
the academy, he accepted an invitation to
preside over a congregation at Norwich.
In 1791, he published his Abridgment of
Brucker's History of Philosophy, 2 vols.
4to., a clear and able performance; and
subsequently joined with doctor Aikin
and others in the General Biography, 10
vols. 4to. He died in 1797, in his 57th year.
503

ENFILADE (from the French enfiler), in
the military art, is used in speaking of
trenches or position, which may be scoured
by the enemy's shot along their whole
length. In conducting the approaches
at a siege care must be taken that the
trenches be not enfiladed from any work
of the place. In the famous battle of
Zorndorf, a shot from a Prussian battery,
enfilading a Russian square, killed or dis
abled 30 men.
ENGADINA, or ENGADINE; a beautiful
valley in Switzerland, in the Grisons, on
the banks of the Inn, bordering on the
Tyrol, about 35 miles long, but in some
parts very narrow, divided into Upper and
Lower. Upper Engadina contains 3000
inhabitants; Lower Engadina, 4647. They
speak the Romish language.
ENGAGEMENT, NAVAL. (See Ship, and
Navy.)
ENGANO ISLE; an island about 30 miles
in circumference, lying off the south-west
coast of Sumatra, in lat. 5° 20′ S.; lon.
102° 20 E. The male inhabitants go
naked, and are fairer and taller than the
Malays. Their arms are a long spear
and a knife. The women and men wear
several savage ornaments; among other
things, they wear a large ring of cocoa-
nut or leaves in large holes made in their
ears. Their religion is unknown.
1771, the English made an expedition to
Engano, which was not more successful
than that of the Dutch in 1643.
In
ENGEL, John James, one of the most
eminent prose writers of Germany, whose
works should be among the first read by
every learner of the German language,
was born at Parchim, in 1741, and receiv-
ed the rudiments of his education from
his father, the clergyman of that place.
After studying at several German univer-
sities, he accepted the office of professor
in a gymnasium at Berlin, where he was
soon made a member of the royal acade-
my of sciences, and wrote the greatest
part of his works. He afterwards went
to Schwerin. On the accession of the
present king of Prussia, whose tutor he
had been, he was invited by his former
pupil to Berlin, where he made himself
exceedingly useful in the academy of sci-
ences by his excellent and instructive
writings, and enjoyed the esteem and the
society of the most eminent men. His
unremitted labors, in spite of sickness and
hypochondria, hastened his end. He died
at the place of his birth in 1802. Among
his philosophical works may be mentioned
his Philosoph. für die Welt, distinguished
for acute observations on men and man-
504
ENGEL-ENGHIEN.

ners, enlivened by elegant illustrations. Of
a similar character is his Mirror for Princes
Fürstenspiegel). His Ideen zu einer Mimik,
full of taste, acuteness and knowledge of
human nature, may be regarded as a
kind of manual for players. He also wrote
some plays-Der dankbare Sohn, Edelkna-
ben, &c. His Lorenz Stark, a novel, is
a masterly picture of life and manners.
A complete edition of his works ap-
peared at Berlin, 1801-1806, in 12 vols.
ENGHIEN, OF ENGHUIEN; a town in the
Netherlands, in Hainaut; 8 miles E. N. E.
of Ath, 30 N. N. E. Valenciennes; popu-
lation, 3045. Here is a superb castle with
a park and gardens. This place gave the
title of duke to a prince of the house of
Bourbon Condé, in memory of a victory
of the great Condé, obtained here. The
last that bore the title was executed March,
1804. (See Enghien, duke of.)
ENGHIEN, Louis Antoine Henri de
Bourbon, duke of, was born at Chantilly,
August 2, 1772, son of Louis Henry Jo-
seph Condé, duke of Bourbon (see the
three articles Condé), a descendant of the
great Condé. He became the pupil of the
celebrated Millot. In 1789, he emigrated,
travelled through various parts of Europe,
and went, in 1792, to Flanders, to join the
troops of his grandfather, the prince of
Condé, in the campaign against France.
From 1796 to 1799, he commanded, with
distinguished merit, the vanguard of
Conde's army, which was disbanded at
the peace of Luneville. He was then, in
1804, led, by his love of the princess Char-
lotte de Rohan Rochefort, to Ettenheim,
in Baden, where he resided as a private
citizen, and where he married this lady.
At this period, the newly established peace
of France, and of all Europe, was threat-
ened, in the person of Bonaparte, the first
consul of France. Some of those ene-
mies, who had not been able to subdue
him in the field of battle, attempted his
assassination. Many alarming symptoms
were observed. In the middle of January,,
1804, bets were made at London that the
first consul would not live to see the next
April. A new edition of the old pamphlet
of Col. Titus against Cromwell, entitled
Killing no Murder, was dedicated to Bo-
naparte. One of the principal commer-
cial houses in Vienna wrote to a banker
at Paris, "Here, as well as in Paris, the
winter is mild; but the end of February
is dreaded. Well-informed persons as-
sert that you will have an earthquake.
If you intend to make any speculations, re-
gard this information as certain. I am
not at liberty to say more." (See Buchholz,
Geschichte Napoleon Bonaparte's, Berlin,
1829, vol. iii. p. 273-a work by no means
partial towards Napoleon.) These indica-
tions were soon actually followed by a
conspiracy in Paris against the life of the
first consul, supported by English money.
50 persons at Paris, some of distinction,
were engaged in the conspiracy, before it
was discovered by the police: among them
were Armand and Julius Polignac (the
late prime minister of France), sons
of the duke of Polignac, who had played so
conspicuous a part at Louis XVIth's court.
Under the articles Pichegru and Georges
Cadoudal, we shall speak more respecting
this conspiracy. Suffice it here to say, that
the detection of these conspiracies had
shown that English money had been used,
and that it was known that the English
ministers at Munich and Stuttgard were
aiding the emigrants in their attempts
against France, and perhaps also plotting
against the French government. England
was, as it were, taken in flagrante delicto.
The first consul found himself in the
greatest danger. At the frontier on the
Rhine, corps of emigrants were again col-
lected. Georges (q. v.) had been arrested
some time previously; and those who had
been employed by him stated, that, at in-
tervals of 10 or 12 days, a person came to
visit him, to whom he and Rivière and
Polignac showed great respect. The po-
lice believed this person to be one of the
Bourbon family, and, after several conjec
tures, the duke of Enghien, who for some
time had been lost sight of at Ettenheim,
was fixed upon as the probable person.
The distance between Ettenheim and
Paris was such, that the duke might have
reached this city in a few days.
officer of the gendarmerie, being sent to
observe him, was informed at Strasburg,
that the prince sometimes visited the the-
atre of that city, which was not true, but
it was commonly believed that the prince
was often absent from Ettenheim, hunting
for some days, and that Dumouriez lived
with him. In short, the French govern-
ment became impressed with the idea that
the duke was at the head of the conspira-
tors, considering it, probably, unlikely that
the prince would reside so near the fron-
tier if he had no political designs, and,
probably, no one at present doubts that the
duke would have acted the part of a Bour-
bon prince, if any revolution had taken
place in the heart of France. Even sir
Walter Scott acknowledges this.
first consul, according to the account given
by Las Cases, vol. vii. of his Mémorial, was
taken by surprise in this affair. One day
An
The
ENGHIEN.
after dinner, the discovery of some new
plots was announced to him, and such ur-
gent representations were made to him,
that a special council of state was con-
vened for investigating this subject, where
the chief justice, Regnier, acting minister
of police, read a report on the state of
things within the country, and Talleyrand,
minister of foreign affairs, another report,
on the state of things without the country,
connected with the conspiracy. Fouché
attended by particular invitation, not being
a member, but having displayed superior
talent as well as zeal in tracing the con-
spiracy: Talleyrand's report closed with
a proposition to seize the duke of Eng-
hien at Ettenheim, and bring him by force
into France, for examination. The ob-
ject was to confront him with the two fol-
lowers of Georges, and ascertain whether
he was the mysterious personage in the
habit of calling on him, as before men-
tioned. At this time, Pichegru's presence
in France was unknown; he was supposed
to be in London, where he had been.
The proposition to violate the neutral ter-
ritory of Baden, and forcibly carry off the
object of suspicion, was warmly contest-
ed by Cambacères, then second consul
(whose forthcoming posthumous memoirs
will probably shed light on this transaction),
but, being put to vote, was adopted by
the council of state. The first consul,
who did not know the duke of Enghien,
either by name or character, and was far
from being inclined to groundless suspi-
cions, left the whole management of this
affair to those to whose department it be-
longed. Such was his practice on all oc-
casions. For instance, Bourienne says
he would declare in council, where the
discussions were perfectly free, "Gentle-
men, I am here under your tuition: take
care to set me right, as I shall act on your
information and impulse. Wo be to him
that misleads me." The order for the ar-
rest of the prince was issued to general
Ordener; he was also ordered to arrest
Dumouriez, who was supposed to be with
the prince, a mistake arising from the
German pronunciation of the name of
Thumery, a companion of the prince.
General Ordener, who was sent to Stras-
burg, transferred the duty of seizing the
duke and all his suite to a major of the
gendarmerie. This officer having, by
means of his soldiers, ascertained the sit-
uation of the house which the prince in-
habited, surrounded it on the night of
March 17, 1804, with from 3 to 400 sol-
diers and gendarmes. The duke at first
wished to defend himself; but the force
43
VOL. IV.
505

was too great to be opposed, and thus the
duke and Thumery, who had been taken
for Dumouriez, a colonel Grundstein, lieu-
tenant Schmidt, an abbé named Wein-
brunn, and five domestics, were seized
and carried prisoners to Strasburg. This
was done with such celerity, that the pris-
oners were not even allowed time to dress
themselves. Early upon the 18th, the es-
cort set off with the duke for Paris, and
as they arrived, towards evening, upon
the 20th, at the gates of the capital, they
received an order to conduct their pris-
oner to Vincennes, where he arrived ex-
hausted by hunger and fatigue and just as
he had dropped asleep, he was awaked,
at 11 o'clock at night, to undergo his trial.
The troops, which were marched to Vin-
cennes on this occasion, were command-
ed by Savary. He found a court-martial,
consisting of general Hullin, the president
together with five colonels, and a captain,
who was secretary. He was accused
of having borne arms against France;
of having offered his services to England,
received agents of that country, and sup-
plied them with means of maintaining
connexions in the interior of France; of
having put himself at the head of a band
of insurgents and other persons, collected
from Baden and Freiburg, and paid by
England; of having had communications
with the fortress of Strasburg, to excite in-
surrection in the neighboring departments;
and of having aided in the plots of England
against the life of the first consul. To
these charges the duke answered that he
had always commanded the vanguard of
his grandfather, the prince of Condé, that
he had a pension of 125 guineas a month
from England, his only means of living:
that he never knew Pichegru, and was
glad that he did not, if what was said of him
was true. The charge of having had any
part in the conspiracies against the life of
the first consul he repelled with indigna-
tion. At the end of the minutes of his
answer, he placed a note in his own hand-
writing, at the suggestion of the captain-
reporter (the official accuser), requesting
an interview with the first consul: "My
name," he wrote, "my rank, my way of
thinking, and the horrors of my situation,
induce me to hope that he will not refuse
my request." Though nothing was prov-
ed against the prince, no witnesses being
brought against him, he was executed the
next morning at 6 o'clock, in the fosse of
the castle. The prince met death with
the greatest composure: Several circum-
stances have been related respecting his
execution, as that a lantern was tied to his
506
ENGHIEN.
breast to direct the aim of the soldiers;
that he gave a lock of his hair to one of
the soldiers to carry to the princess de
Rohan, and that an officer snatched it
away with the words, "No one shall re-
ceive the commissions of a traitor," and
many other particulars, some of which
have been proved false, and some are not
authenticated. Very different accounts
have been given of the conduct of the first
consul in this affair. Thus it has been said
that Josephine and Hortense entreated him
to spare the life of the prince; that Cam-
bacères and Berthier represented to him,
in the most pressing manner, the useless-
ness of this bloody measure, and that he
seemed disposed to yield to them when
the news of the prince's death arrived:
according to others, he would not listen to
the entreaties and representations of his
wife and of his friends. (None of these
statements are of authority. See the note
contained on the following page.) On
the other hand, it is known to every im-
partial investigator, that Napoleon was far
from being of a cruel disposition, that he
was never deaf to prayers for mercy, if
the great interests of France allowed him
to listen to them. He pardoned most of
the persons implicated in the conspiracy
of Georges; he pardoned the prince of
Hatzfeld; he offered pardon even to Staps,
the young assassin at Schönbrunn; in
short, proofs enough exist to show that his
disposition was the opposite of cruel. The
narratives of several persons concerned
in the duke's death, tend also to exculpate
the chief consul. Savary, duke of Rovi-
go, informs us in his Mémoires, that the
consul heard, through him, of the execu-
tion of the prince with amazement, and
greatly regretted it. The count Réal,
counsellor of state, then prefect of Paris,
and therefore charged with the police of
that city, declares the same. He has as-
serted in the U. States, where he has lived
a long time,* that Napoleon did not know
of the execution of the duke until after it
had taken place, and that he learned it
with amazement from Savary's mouth,
and that the consul had intended to set the
prince at liberty. This agrees with the
following statement, which we have from
the most authentic source. Joseph, the
brother of the consul, found him, after this
catastrophe, much affected, and highly in-
dignant at those persons whom he accus-
ed of having occasioned this catastrophe.
He regretted much that he had lost so fine
*In presence of Joseph Bonaparte, count de Sur-
villiers, Mr. Duponceau, general Lallemand, cap-
tain Sary and others.
an opportunity of doing an act of
mercy.
Even long after, in conversation with his
brother, he frequently alluded to this sad
event, and, with his usual vivacity, obsery-
ed, "it would have been noble to pardon a
prince, who, in plotting against me, avait
fait son métier." "He was young," contin-
ued Napoleon, "my favors would have at-
tached him to me; he would have become
better acquainted with the state of France,
and would have ended by entering my
service; it would have been gratifying to
have had the descendant of the great
Condé for my aid-de-camp." This view
is corroborated by Napoleon's own asser-
tions, in Las Cases' Memorial, vol. vii. p. 437.
The declarations of Napoleon himself, in
his will, however, are at variance with this
view of the subject. He there says, "I
ordered the duke of Enghien to be ar-
rested and executed, because it was ne-
cessary for the safety, the welfare and the
honor of the French nation. Under the
same circumstances I should act in the
same way; the death of the duke of Eng-
hien is to be imputed to those who plotted
in London against the life of the first con-
sul, and who intended to bring the duke
of Berri by Beville, and the duke of Eng-
hien by Strasburg, into France." Savary,
who was himself a witness of the regrets
of the consul on account of the death of
the duke, gives the following explanation
of this inconsistency; that Napoleon, even
on his death bed, preferred to take the
charge of the duke's death upon himself,
rather than to allow his power to be doubts
ed; and that he acted thus from regard to
the dignity of a sovereign, who, if he en-
joys the credit of the good which is done
in his name, would act unworthily in
throwing the blame of the evil done in his
name upon others. He says, when the
emperor uses the words Le duc d'Enghien
est mort parceque je l'ai voulu, his meaning
amounts only to this: "When I reigned,
no one dared conceive the thought of dis-
posing of the life or liberty of any one.
It might have been possible to impose up-
on me, but never for a moment to en-
croach upon my power." Las Cases, vol.
vii. p. 418, gives a long passage, as con-
taining the words of Napoleon himself on
this subject. In this he says that France
was infested with conspirators sent from
London, that his life was in constant dan-
ger (a well known fact), and that he acted
as in war, to put a stop to these outrages.
He there goes only on the ground of jus
tice, thinking it due to his honor to de-
fend himself personally. It is certain, that
in the critical situation in which he found



t
1
ENGHIEN.
507

not knowing the import of it. Réal was
asleep, and the letter was put on his man-
tel-piece. In the morning, when he open-
ed the letter, he hastened to the first con-
sul, but it was too late. The fatal sen-
tence had beert executed. But who sends
despatches of such a nature without or-
ders to deliver them immediately and per-
sonally? In the whole of the process,
there was an odious haste. Napoleon
says, that when he was first spoken to of
Enghien, all the orders for his arrest, &c.
were already drawn up; and here is an
unpardonable delay. Who is guilty of
*So we are informed, by good authority, count
Réal declared himself in the U. States. An-
himself, walking upon volcanoes, still ac-
tive, and ever ready for eruption, he could
not have suffered it to be believed that such
t an act could be committed without his
consent. A belief in his power was of
the utmost importance to the peace and
order of France. The welfare of France
t required that he should take upon him-
self the responsibility of every act done
s in his name. Another account of this
catastrophe is given in Bignon's Histoire
i de France depuis le 18 Brumaire (Novem-
1 ber, 1799) jusqu'à la Paix de Tilsit (Juillet,
1 1807), Paris, 1829, with the motto, Je l'en-
S gage à écrire l'histoire de la diplomatie
Française de 1792 à 1815. Testament de
i Napoléon. (See Bignon.) He says, among other account is given in an article, Napoleon and
1 other things, such was the character of
Bourienne, in the American Quarterly Review,
the first consul, that none of his acts can September, 1830: "We have it, says the Re-
1 be taken from him-Le mal, comme le view, in our power, from high authority (that of
1 bien qu'il a fait, lui appartient et n'appar- a person not now in this country), to state, what
tient qu'à lui-an assertion much too gene- why the duke d'Enghien suffered death without
the duke of Rovigo was not aware of, the reason
1 ral, because the greatest man can build the sanction or knowledge of the first consul.
I only with the materials which the time The prisoner, in extremity, asked to see the first
affords him. Napoleon himself often re- consul, which was not permitted; but the judge-
peated-"I am no God; I do not do what I advocate, Dantancourt, humanely suggested to
1 wish, but what I can." Bignon says that, letter sent to Réal. During that eventful night,
him to write a letter; which was done, nd the
in a note written by Napoleon himself, but the first consul had been called up five times, on
not yet published, there is the following the arrival of as many messengers, with insignifi-
passage respecting the duke d'Enghien: cant despatches. So often disturbed, he gave
"If guilty, the commission was right to orders not to be called again, unless for a very se-
rious occasion. M. Réal sent the duke d'Eng-
1 sentence him to death; if innocent, they hien's letter to Malmaison by a private horseman
I ought to have acquitted him, because no of the gendarmerie, who, uninformed of its con
order whatever can justify a judge in vio- tents, gave no intimation that it required immedi-
lating his conscience." He says, also, that ate attention. It was laid on a table, where it
at this time (before the execution), people remained unnoticed till after the first consul had
deliberately risen, and made his toilet as usual,
who were near the first consul saw him without the least notion of its contents. In the
internally struggling (livré aux angoisses les meanwhile, indeed, before he got out of bed, the
plus pénibles) between what he thought a ill-starred writer of that neglected letter was shot.
fatal necessity, and what his own disposi- The interview between the first consul and Réal,
tion dictated; but that no friend advised which immediately followed that between the first
consul and Savary, disclosed the deplorable cause,
mercy. He then continues: "None of the as Savary's prior tidings had revealed the catas-
statements given of the arrest and sentence trophe. Réal's reception was that of a man who
of the duke of Enghien explain why there had been guilty of unpardonable negligence. He
was no communication between the court- will, no doubt, at some proper time, submit his
martial and the superior authority, be- account to the world. But he knows that the
duke d'Enghien was not sacrificed to a tyrant's
tween Vincennes and Malmaison." And the passions, policy or fears; that the general agita-
question forces itself on our minds, Was tion and very natural misunderstanding which nis
every thing so preconcerted, was the sen- family and friends had occasioned throughout the
tence of death so certain, that it was not capital and the council, the over-zealous, perhaps
treacherous advice of some, the over-active, pre-
even sent to the first consul for considera- cipitate despatch of others, and one of those mis-
tion? Here we may add, at the same adventures, which are so common in the affairs
time, Why was the duke's request for an of this world, are the causes to which this disaster
interview with the chief consul not re- was owing. Once done, however, nulla vestigia
ported to the latter, neither the petition retrorsum, never to recant, or apologize or recede,
was one of Bonaparte's imperious maxims. He
which he presented to the court-martial, felt the full force of the French provero, that
nor the letter which he wrote, some say whoever excuses, accuses himself; and nothing
from Strasburg, others from Vincennes? would induce him to disown a deed done under
The answer is this: count Réal declared his orders, though they were violated to his infinite
before the same persons, whom we have injury and mortification in almost every stage of
the proceeding." Perhaps both accounts are
mentioned in a previous note, that, on the correct; at all events, both exculpate Napoleon
fatal night, a gendarme delivered a letter, from the haste of the process.
508
ENGHIEN.

both? To whom is to be ascribed the irreg-
ularities in the whole process, which M.
Dupin, in his publication on this catastro-
phe, proves to have existed, and which the
duke of Rovigo acknowledges, and even
imputes to certain individuals? We are
far from pretending to be able to clear up
this mystery. Individuals have accused
each other; but (according to the words
of Louis Bonaparte, count de St. Leu, in
his Réponse) cette affaire est loin d'être
éclaircie. Count Hullin accuses Savary of
the haste, and himself of the irregularity
of the process, pleading ignorance re-
specting the forms of courts-martial. Sa-
vary accuses Talleyrand, most positively,
of the whole crime, and, it cannot be de-
nied, makes it plausible. His motive is
said to have been to precipitate the first
consul into an act which should stain him
with Bourbon blood (with which Talley-
rand and many others were themselves
stained), so as to prevent him from becom-
ing a second Monk, and restoring the Bour-
bons, which, of course, would have ruined
Talleyrand. Talleyrand, on the other hand,
defended himself in a letter to Louis XVIII,
on this subject, with which the king was
fully satisfied. History, we trust, will even-
tually fix the guilt on the name to which
it belongs. As for Napoleon, we cannot
but believe that he actually considered the
duke of Enghien guilty of having plotted
against France (he could not imagine him
so insane as to live on the frontier of
France without an object); probably, also,
of having been concerned in, or at least ac-
quainted with, the conspiracies of Georges,
&c. at Paris; that he therefore believed
the duke might be sentenced to death by
the court-martial;* but, at all events, in-
*We quote from the article of the American
Quarterly Review, above-mentioned, the follow-
ing passage: "The question, then, for the first
consul's decision, was not, as Bourienne states it,
with many odious surmises, whether the prisoner
should be executed, but whether he should be
tried by a military tribunal. Bourienne was no
longer near the person of the first consul. All
his revelations are hearsays. The duke of Rovi-
go's account is the most particular and authentic
that has appeared. The explanations of the duke
d'Alberg and baron Massias are but remote and
argumentative. The memoirs of Cambacères,
as we have said, will have very important bear-
ings on this affair. We have not seen the duke
of O'ranto's memoirs, and do not know what he
says; nor have we read M. Dupin's pamphlet,
in which the case is professionally considered.
Prince Talleyrand's memoirs will, no doubt, con-
tain whatever may be his apology. The letter
he addressed to the king concerning it remains
unknown to the public; and all the documents
connected with this proceeding have disappeared
from the public archives, which Savary says were
tended to pardon him (for such a parlon
would not only have accorded with Na-
poleon's disposition, but have been ser-
viceable to his politics: he wanted peace);
that, however, others, either from a crim-
inal desire to please the first consul, and
acting under the supposition that he wish-
ed the duke's death, or from some other
motive, hastened the execution; that Bo-
naparte, justly, was then unwilling to
have it supposed that such an act could
be committed against his will, as he was
just forming a government, and establish-
ing order in its different departments, and
the belief in his power was indispensable;
and that he finally thought it beneath his
dignity to accuse his servants, on his
death bed, preferring to take the odium
upon himself, pleading in excuse the
in the custody and power of Talleyrand, as sec-
retary of that department. We can give assur-
ance, on authority which cannot mistake or be
mistaken (if wrong, it must be intentionally so,
and we have been deceived ourselves, which we
cannot believe), that the idea of the death of the
duke d'Enghien never crossed the first consul's
mind, till he was astonished and confounded by
the tidings communicated to him by Savary of his
execution. Whatever the precipitation of some
of his ministers, or the intrigues of others, may
been surprised, his measures hurried, and the re-
have designed; however his own ideas may have
sult enchained, it is certain, unless we are grossly
misinformed (and if we are, it is designedly), that
the sudden, violent and impolitic death of the vic-
tim of various untoward circumstances, was as
door it is laid as an unpardonable crime, as to any
unexpected and as unwelcome to him, at whose
one living. The question was, not whether he
he
should be put to death, but whether he should be
put on his trial. Joseph, Josephine, Cambacères
Berthier, earnestly expostulated with the chief
magistrate against it. Talleyrand was for strong
measures. He said he knew the Bourbons well;
that they were insensible to every thing but fear.
Joseph, who was living at Morfontaine, and tran-
siently in town, the 20th of March, the day the
duke d'Enghien was taken a prisoner to Paris,
spoke to his brother in his behalf, warmly urging
the defence of the grandson of the prince of
Condé, who, he reminded his brother, had seven
times crowned him for as many distinctions gain-
ed at the royal school of Autun: to which expos-
tulation the first consul's reply affords a curious
proof of the state of his mind at the moment
His answer was given by declaiming the follow-
ing passage from a speech of Cæsar, in Corneille's
tragedy of Pompey":
"Votre zéle est faux, si seul il redoutoit
Ce que le monde entier à pleins vœux souhaitoit ;
Et s'il vous a donné ces craintes trop subtiles,
Qui m'ôtent tout le fruit de nos guerres civiles,
Où l'honneur seul m'engage, et que pour terminer
Je ne veux que celui de vaincre et de pardonner,
Où mes plus dangereux et plus grands adversaires,
Si tôt qu'ils sont vaincus, ne sont plus que mes frères ;
Et mon ambition ne va qu'à les forcer,
Ayant dompté leur haine, à vivre et m'embrasser.
Oh! combien d'allégresse une si triste guerre
Aurait-elle laissée dessus toute la terre,
Si l'on voyoit marcher dessus un même char,
Vainqueurs de leur discorde et Pompée et César "

ENGHIEN-ENGIA.
emergency of the times, rather than to
throw it upon others, who could not plead
this excuse, and who, probably, would find
means to exculpate themselves after his
death; particularly, as the chief accusa-
tion would probably have been against
Talleyrand, who had just betrayed him,
so that a charge then preferred might have
looked like an act of revenge. As to the
illegality of arresting a person on the ter-
ritory of another and friendly power, the
first consul must have thought himself
sufficiently excused by the plots con-
stantly detected against his life, and the
immense danger in which he himself and
the peace of France were placed. "This
was a matter," says Napoleon at St. Hele-
na, "between the French government and
that of Baden."*
We will only observe, in conclusion,
that the person who was supposed to
be the duke of Enghien, and to visit
Georges at Paris, was Pichegru. The
consequences of the death of the young
prince were not favorable for Napoleon,
except, perhaps, that it struck the conspir-
ators with fear, and may thus have pre-
vented some new conspiracies. But in
France, where the prince was respected
for bravery, all classes were afflicted,
and the friends of the first consul not the
least; for he had arrived at, and thus far
maintained, his high station without shed-
ding blood, so that people had begun
to feel secure, and now, all the former
apprehensions were awakened. Foreign
courts generally showed great reserve on
this occasion, except those of Russia and
England; but the higher classes, who
were essentially opposed to a revolution,
the chief trait of which was opposition to
the feudal system, exclaimed loudly against
it. The court of St. Petersburg went in-
to mourning, and made the duke's death
a point of diplomatic discussion. The
execution of the duke of Enghien was a
fruitful source of libels and falsehoods
against Napoleon, repeated so often, that
the opinion of many is still influenced by
them; and we have given so much space
to the consideration of the subject, from
its important bearing on the history of
*A singular example of an arrest, attended
with circumstances of the same illegality which
marked that of the duke, sometime since took place.
in Germany. During the prosecutions against the
liberals in that country, the Prussian government
wished to secure the person of M. Cousin (q. v.),
the distinguished French metaphysician then in
Saxony (1824), and Prussian officers were sent
into Saxony to arrest him. This was in a time
of profound peace, when the government and its
chief were in no danger.
509
Napoleon. After the restoration of the
Bourbons, a monument was erected to the
memory of the unfortunate prince in the
chapel of Vincennes, by the king of France
and the chambers.
The works which afford the most in-
formation respecting this event, are the
Memoirs of the Duke of Rovigo; Exam-
ination of the Proceedings of the Court-
martial instituted to try the Duke of Eng-
hien; A justificatory Memorial published
by the duke de Vicenza (Caulaincourt),
who was charged to coöperate in the ar-
rest of the duke, and to deliver an expla
nation respecting the violation of the ter-
ritory of the elector of Baden after the
arrest; some Letters published by the
duke of Dalberg, minister from the court
of Baden to the French government, in the
year XII (1804); Minutes made on the Ex-
humation of the Duke of Enghien in 1816;
A Deposition of Sieur Anfort, brigadier
of gendarmerie at Vincennes; A Note
from Baron de Massias, then French min-
ister at the court of Baden; the Memoirs
of Las Cases and O'Meara. Cambacères's
memoirs will probably contain important
information on this point, as Rovigo says
he charged him to give an account of it.
Sir Walter Scott's account of this subject
in his Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, is a
web of facts and unfounded rumors, and
bears rather the stamp of the newspaper
accounts published at the time when the
events took place, than that of history.
In the beginning of 1830, the baron de
Matthias, who was French minister at
Carlsruhe when the death of the duke of
Enghien took place, addressed a letter to
M. de Bourienne (author of the Mémoires
of Napoleon, which, in several instances,
have been proved to deviate much from
truth). In this letter, M. de Matthias, who
was acquainted with many details of the
duke's arrest, &c., asserts positively, that
Napoleon was deceived respecting the
duke's alleged crime, Dumouriez's stay at
Ettenheim, &c. We refer the reader to
the article Napoleon and Bourienne, al-
ready mentioned in the American Quar-
terly Review, September, 1830, to enable
him to judge of Bourienne's authority.
ENGIA; an island near the coast of the
Morea, in a gulf to which it gives name;
anciently called Egina (q. v.), Enone and
Myrmidonia; about 30 miles in circum
ference, but rendered by rocks nearly in-
accessible, except on the N. W. It has
no harbors, and but one town, which con-
tains about 800 inhabitants. In it are seen
the remains of a temple dedicated to Ve-
nus, and another dedicated to Jupiter
43*

510
ENGIA-ENGLAND.
25 miles S. S. W. Athens; lon. 23° 35′ E.;
lat. 37° 42′ N.
ENGIA, GULF OF (anciently Saronic
Gulf); a gulf on S. E. coast of European
Turkey, so called from the island situated
in it; about 60 miles in length from N. W.
to S. E., and 25 in breadth, at the mouth.
ENIGMA. (See Enigma.)
ENGLAND; the southern and most con-
siderable division of Great Britain; bound-
ed N. by Scotland, S. by the English chan-
nel, which divides it from France, E. by
the German ocean, and W. by Wales, the
Atlantic ocean, and the Irish channel. It
is of a triangular figure, and extends from
50° to 55° 40′ N. lat., and from 1° 50' E. to
6° W. lon. From N. to S. it is 400 miles in
length, and is in some places 300 miles
broad. The superficial extent of the
country has been variously estimated, from
28,000,000 to 46,000,000 of statute acres.
The population of England and Wales
appears to have been, from the most accu-
rate computations, about 5,500,000 in the
year 1700; in 1750, about 6,500,000; in
1770, about 7,500,000; in 1790, 8,675,000;
in 1801,9,168,000; in 1811,10,488,000; and
in 1825, it amounted to 12,422,700. The
country is divided into 40 counties, name-
ly, Bedford, Berks, Bucks, Cambridge,
Chester, Cornwall, Cumberland, Derby,
Devon, Dorset, Durham, Essex, Glouces-
ter, Hereford, Hertford, Huntingdon,
Kent, Lancaster, Leicester, Lincoln, Mid-
dlesex, Monmouth, Norfolk, Northampton,
Northumberland, Nottingham, Oxford,
Rutland, Salop, Somerset, Southampton,
Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, War-
wick, Westmoreland, Wilts, Worcester,
York, East, North and West. The coun-
ties are subdivided into hundreds, wards,
lathes, wapentakes, rapes, tithings, &c.;
the whole containing 25 cities, 172 bor-
oughs, and about 10,000 parishes. The
aspect of the country is various and de-
lightful. In some parts, verdant plains
extend as far as the eye can reach, water-
ed by copious streams, and covered by
innumerable cattle. In others, the pleas-
ing vicissitudes of gently-rising hills and
bending vales, fertile in corn, waving with
wood, and interspersed with meadows,
offer the most delightful landscapes of ru-
ral opulence and beauty. Some tracts
abound with prospects of the more ro-
inantic kind-lofty mountains, craggy
rocks, deep, narrow dells, and tumbling
torrents; nor are there wanting, as a con-
trast to so many agreeable scenes, the
gloomy features of black, barren moors
and uncultivated heaths. The native
animals of England are the fallow deer,
the dog, the fox, the wild cat, the marten,
the foumart, badger, mole, hedgehog, &c.
The domestic animals are cattle, horses,
goats, sheep and hogs. The wild boar
was formerly a native of the country, as
also the wolf and the bear, but as the
country advanced in improvement, they
gradually became extinct. Of the birds,
the most remarkable are the eagle, falcons
of various species, owls, ravens, carrion
crows, rooks, swans, the cuckoo, the cor-
morant, the nightingale, the peacock, the
swallow, the stork, the curlew, the snipe,
the plover, the pheasant, the black cock,
the ptarmigan (sometimes, but rarely, met
with on the lofty mountains of Wales and
Cumberland), the grouse, the partridge,
the pigeon, the lark, the starling, the
thrush, &c. The most considerable riv-
ers are the Thames, Severn, Medway,
Trent, Ouse, Tyne, Tees, Wear, Mersey,
Dee, Avon, Eden and Derwent. In aid
of these, an extensive system of canal
navigation has been established (see Canal),
by which an easy access is opened into
the interior, and the produce of the coun-
try transported by an easy and expeditious
process, from the most remote parts to
the sea. Several beautiful lakes occur in
different parts of the country. The most
remarkable of these are in the north-west
counties,, and particularly in Westmore-
land and Cumberland. The soil of Eng-
land is various, consisting generally of
clay, loam, sand, chalk, gravel and
peat. The principal productions of the
country are wheat, barley, oats, rye,
French wheat, beans and peas. The
climate of England, from its northern po-
sition, is rather rigorous and ungenial;
and, from its being an island, it is liable to
sudden and frequent changes, and to great
variations of dryness and moisture. It is
at all times uncertain; and its atmosphere,
being inclined to cold and damp, is on
this account not so favorable to the ripen-
ing as to the growth of vegetable produc-
tions; and in the northern counties, more
especially, the harvest is liable to be seri-
ously injured by rain. Owing to its insu
lar situation, however, it is liable to no
great extremes either of heat or cold."
The general range of the thermometer is
from 86 degrees in summer to 16 and 10,
in winter. The indigenous fruits are few,
and of little value; but others have been
introduced, or brought to perfection, by
the skill and careful cultivation of the
English gardeners. These are chiefly ap-
ples, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, nec-
tarines, apricots, figs, grapes, and other
fruits. Hops are cultivated to a consider
ENGLAND.
able extent in the southern counties. Tim-
ber grows abundantly in most parts of the
Country: the trees are principally oak,
elm, ash, beach, alder and willow. The
mines and quarries of England afford a
constant supply of most valuable produce.
Coal is found in great abundance in the
northern, and in some of the midland and
western counties. Iron abounds in Shrop-
shire, Gloucestershire, Derbyshire, the
north of Lancashire, and it is produced,
though not in equal abundance, in other
counties. Tin is confined to Cornwall
and the adjoining parts of Devonshire,
and black lead to a small district in Cum-
berland. Mines of copper are wrought in
Cornwall, Devonshire, Derbyshire and
Anglesey, and partially in Yorkshire and
Staffordshire. In many parts of the king-
dom, marbles and freestone, or calcareous
sandstone, of various colors and textures,
are abundant. There are also mines of
rock-salt, pits of fuller's earth, potter's
clay, &c. The manufactures of England
are of prodigious extent. That of wool is
one of the most ancient in the country,
and is supposed to have been introduced
by the Romans. The annual value of
the woollen manufactures is estimated at
about 20 millions. The cotton manufac-
ture is of more recent establishment than
the woollen, and has been carried to
great perfection by the aid of every sort
of powerful, complicated and ingenious
machinery. The cotton wool imported
amounts to about 125 millions of pounds;
and the value of cotton manufactures ex-
ported, to £20,000,000. The hardware
manufactures, of iron and steel, copper
and brass, have been also brought to un-
rivalled perfection in England, and in-
clude the most ponderous productions of
the casting furnace and rolling mill, as
well as the most minute and trifling arti-
cles, such as pins, and all sorts of chil-
dren's toys. The annual value of the
iron and steel articles manufactured may
be estimated at £10,000,000. The silk
and linen manufactures are carried on in
England, but not to any great extent. In
Nottinghamshire is carried on the manu-
facture of stockings. English earthen-
ware is finished with beauty and taste,
and in great variety, principally at the
potteries of Staffordshire; and glass is
made in various parts, chiefly in Newcas-
tle, Sunderland, Bristol, and, on a smaller
scale, at some other places. China-ware
of a very superior quality is made in Der-
by and Worcester. In London, every sort
of fine and elegant manufacture is carried
on, such as cutlery, jewelry, articles of
511

gold and silver, japan ware, cut glass, cab-
inet and upholstery work, and gentlemen's
carriages, clocks, watches, &c. From the
countries in the north of Europe, namely,
Denmark, Russia, Sweden, Poland and
Prussia, England imports iron, kelp, tim-
ber, flax, hemp, coarse linens, pitch, tar,
tallow, corn, pearl and potashes, &c.;
from Germany, corn, flax, hemp, linens,
rags, skins, timber and wines; from Hol-
land, geneva, cheese, butter, rags, flax,
hemp, madder, clover and other seeds,
corn, bacon, &c.; from France, wines,
brandy, lace, cambric, lawns, silks, trin-
kets, &c.; and from Spain and Portugal,
and Italy, barilla, brimstone, oil, cochi-
neal, fruits, wool, cork, dye-woods, wines,
brandy, silk, drugs, gums, &c. The im-
ports from Turkey consist principally of
carpets, drugs, dye-stuffs, fruits, silk, &c.
From North America are imported flour,
provisions, masts, timber, cotton, wool,
tobacco, rice, tar, pitch, pot and pearl-
ashes, indigo, furs, &c. From South Amer-
ica, since the emigration of the Portu-
guese court to the Brazils, are imported
cotton, wool, skins, cochineal, logwood,
indigo, Brazil wood, sugar, drugs, &c.
The articles principally imported from the
West Indies are sugars, rum, coffee, pep-
per, ginger, indigo, drugs and cotton.
From the East Indies, China and Persia,
are imported teas, spices, raw silk, mus-
lins, nankeens, sugar, indigo, cloves and
other spices, opium, quicksilver, drugs,
gums, rice, saltpetre, &c. The exports from
Britain consist of all the various manu-
factures: they amount, in official value, to
about £37,000,000 annually; the imports
to about £25,000,000. In addition to her
commerce and manufactures, England
has extensive fisheries both at home and
abroad. Salmon are caught in most of
her rivers, and the seas around her coasts
yield herrings, mackerel, pilchards, white
fish, oysters, and other shell-fish. The
Newfoundland fishery at one time employ-
ed a considerable number of vessels; but
it has since fallen off. The whale fishery,
both in the North and South seas, is pros
ecuted to a considerable extent. The estab-
lished religion of England is Episcopacy.
The Episcopal establishment of England
consists of the 2 archbishops of Canterbury
and York, and of 24 bishops, who have the
privilege of a seat in the house of peers.
There is also the bishop of Sodor and
Man, who is not possessed of this privi-
lege. The constitution of England is a for
limited monarchy. The executive powers
are vested in the king, who acts through
the medium of responsible advisers. The
512
ENGLAND-CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

legislative power resides in the king, lords
and commons. (For the history, consti-
tution, &c. of England, see Great Britain.)
ENGLAND, CHURCH OF.
CHURCH OF. The establish-
ed religion in England is Episcopacy.
The king is the supreme head; by this
authority he convenes and prorogues the
convocations of the clergy. The church
is governed by 2 archbishops and 25
bishops. The archbishop of Canterbury
is styled the primate of all England, and
to him belongs the privilege of crowning
the kings and queens of England. The
province of Canterbury comprehends 21
bishoprics. In the province of the arch-
bishop of York, who is called the primate
of England, there are 4 bishoprics. Arch-
bishops and bishops are appointed by the
king, by what is called a congé d'élire, or
leave to elect, which is sent to the dean
and chapter naming the person to be cho-
sen. The bishop of London, as presiding
over the capital, has the precedence of all
the others. The bishop of Durham has
certain prerogatives, as presiding over a see
that constitutes a county palatine; the
bishop of Winchester is third in dignity;
the others take rank according to seniori-
ty of consecration. The archbishops and
bishops (except the bishop of Sodor and
Man) have seats in the house of lords, and
are styled the spiritual lords. The arch-
bishops have the title of grace, and most
reverend father in God, by divine provi-
dence; bishops are addressed by the title
of lord, and right reverend father in God, by
divine permission. The former are said to
be enthroned, the latter installed. To eve-
ry cathedral belong several prebendaries
and a dean, who form the dean and chap-
ter, or council of the bishop. The next
order of the clergy is that of archdeacons;
their number is 60; their office is to re-
form abuses, and to induct into benefices.
The most numerous and laborious order
of the clergy are the deacons, curates,
vicars and rectors. The office of the dea-
con is confined to baptism, reading in the
church, and assisting the priest at the
communion. A parson is one who has
full possession of all the rights of a parish
church; if the great tithes are impropri-
ated, the priest is called a vicar; if not, a
rector: a curate is one who is not insti-
tuted to the cure of souls, but exercises
he spiritual office in a parish under a rec-
tor or vicar. (For the annual expenses of
the church of England, see Ecclesiastical
Establishments.) The convocation of the
clergy, which is the highest ecclesiastical
court. has not been permitted by govern-
ment to do any business since 1717, and
is merely convened as a matter of form,
The doctrines of the church of England
are contained in the thirty-nine articles
the form of worship is directed by a litur
gy. The first steps to the establishment
of the English church were slow. It re-
tained at first many of the features of the
Roman church, both in regard to doctrine
and rites. After the parliament had de-
clared Henry VIII the only supreme head
of the church, and the convocation of the
clergy had voted that the bishop of Rome
had no more jurisdiction in England than
any other foreign bishop, the articles of
faith of the new church were declared to
consist in the Scriptures and the three
creeds, the Apostolic, the Nicene and the
Athanasian (see Creeds); the real pres-
ence, the use of images, the invocation of
saints, &c., were still maintained. Under
Edward, the new liturgy was composed in
English, and took the place of the old mass;
the doctrines were also stated in forty-two
articles. With the reign of Mary, the old
religion was reestablished; and it was not
till that of Elizabeth that the church of
England was finally instituted. As no
change was made in the episcopal form
of government, and some rites and cere-
monies were retained, which many of the
reformed considered as superstitious, this
circumstance gave rise to many future
dissensions. The controversy concerning
the ceremonial part of divine worship
commenced with those exiles, who, in
1554, fled from the persecutions of queen
Mary, and took refuge in Germany. On
the accession of Elizabeth, they returned,
and renewed the contest at home, which
had begun abroad. These were called Pu-
ritans, and, at one time, comprised many
distinguished members of the English
clergy. (See Puritans.) On the accession
of James, the Puritans hoped for some re-
lief; but an Episcopal hierarchy was more
favorable to his views than the Presbyte-
rian form of government, and he publicly
adopted the maxim "No bishop, no king."
When the English divines returned from
the synod of Dort, the king and the ma-
jority of the Episcopal clergy discovered
an inclination to the sentiments of Armin-
ius, which have since prevailed over Cal-
vinism among the English clergy. Under
Charles I, the attempts made, through the
instrumentality of Laud, to reduce all the
churches of Great Britain under the juris
diction of bishops, and the suppression of
the opinions and institutions that were pe
culiar to Calvinism, cost the archbishop
of Canterbury his head, and had no little
effect in imbittering the civil contest be

NOAUDI
CHURCH OF ENGLAND. HO
513
tween the throne and the parliament. the Apostles', Nicene and Athanasian
After the death of Laud, the parliament creeds. The 9th and following articles
abolished the Episcopal government, and contam the doctrine of original sin, of
condemned every thing in the ecclesias- justification by faith alone, of predestina-
tical establishment that was contrary to tion, &c. The 19th, 20th and 21st de-
the doctrine, worship and discipline of the clare the church to be the assembly of the
church of Geneva. As soon as Charles II faithful; that it can decide nothing except
was restored to the throne, the ancient by the Scriptures. The 22d rejects the
forms of ecclesiastical government and doctrine of purgatory, indulgences, the
public worship were restored; and, in adoration of images, and the invocation of
1662, a public law, entitled the act of uni- saints. The 23d decides that only those
formity, was enacted, by which all who re- lawfully called shall preach or administer
fused to observe the rites and subscribe the sacraments. The 24th requires the
the doctrines of the church of England, liturgy to be in English. The 25th and 26th
were entirely excluded from its dominion. declare the sacraments effectual signs of
In the reign of William III, and particu- grace (though administered by evil men),
larly in 1689, the divisions among the by which God excites and confirms our
friends of Episcopacy gave rise to the two faith. They are two; baptism and the
parties called the high-churchmen, or non-ju- Lord's supper. Baptism, according to
rors, and low-churchmen. The former main- the 27th article, is a sign of regeneration,
tained the doctrine of passive obedience, the seal of our adoption, by which faith
or non-resistance to the sovereign under is confirmed and grace increased. In
any circumstance whatever; that the he- the Lord's supper, according to article
reditary succession to the throne is of 28th, the bread is the communion of the
divine institution, and cannot be interrupt- body of Christ, the wine the communion
ed; that the church is subject to the juris- of his blood, but only through faith (art.
diction of. God alone; and, consequently, 29th); and the communion must be ad-
that certain bishops deposed by king ministered in both kinds (art. 30). The
William, remained, notwithstanding, true 28th article condemns the doctrine of
bishops; and that those who had been ap- transubstantiation, and the elevation and
pointed in their places were rebels and adoration of the host; the 31st rejects
schismatics, and all who held communion the sacrifice of the mass as blasphemous;
with them were guilty of rebellion and the 32d permits the marriage of the
schism. The gradual progress of civil clergy; the 33d maintains the efficacy
and religious liberty, during the last 150 of excommunication.
The remaining
years, has settled practically many such articles relate to the supremacy of the
controversies. The great increase of the king, the condemnation of Anabaptists
dissenters in recent times (they are es- (q. v.), &c.
timated to be more numerous than the
members of the established church) has
led to new concessions in their favor; the
repeal of the corporation and test acts
(q. v.), and the Catholic emancipation
(q. v.), as it is called, are among the im-
portant events of the late reign. We have
said, that the doctrines of the church of
England are contained in the thirty-nine
articles; we are not ignorant that the
most eminent English divines have doubt-
ed whether they are Calvinistic or Lu-
theran, that some have denominated them
articles of peace, and that not a few have
written in direct opposition to them. But
they are the established confession of the
English church, and, as such, deserve a
short analysis. The 5 first articles con-
tain a profession of faith in the Trinity;
the incarnation of Jesus Christ, his de-
scent to hell, and his resurrection; the
divinity of the Holy Ghost. The 3 fol-
lowing relate to the canon of the Scrip-
ture. The 8th article declares a belief in
In the U. States, the members of the
church of England, or Episcopalians, form
a large and respectable denomination.
When the revolutionary war began, there
were only about eighty parochial clergy-
men of this church to the northward and
eastward of Maryland; and they derived
the greater part of their subsistence from
the English society for the propagation of
the gospel in foreign parts. In Maryland
and Virginia, the Episcopal church was
much more numerous, and had legal es-
tablishments for its support. The incon-
venience of depending on the mother
church for ordination, and the want of an
internal Episcopacy, was long severely felt
by the American Episcopalians. But their
petitions for an Episcopate of their own
were long resisted by their superiors in
England; and their opponents in the U.
States objected to the measure from an
apprehension that bishops from England
would bring with them an authority which
would interfere with the civil institutions
514
CHURCH OF ENGLAND-ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

of this country, and be prejudicial to the
members of other communions. After
the U. States had become independent of
Great Britain, a new difficulty arose on
the part of the English bishops: they
could not consistently depart from their
own stated forms of ordination, and these
contained political tests improper for
American citizens to subscribe. Doctor
Lowth, then bishop of London, obtained
an act of parliament allowing him to dis-
pense with these political requisitions.
Before this act was passed, doctor Seabu-
ry was consecrated at Aberdeen by the
non-juring bishops of Scotland; and, not
long after, doctor White of Philadelphia,
doctor Provost of New York, and doctor
Madison of Virginia, were consecrated by
the English archbishops. In 1824, there
were in the U. States 10 bishops, about
350 clergymen, and upwards of 600 con-
gregations. (See bishop White's Memoirs
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the
United States, Philadelphia, 1820; also the
article Church of England in Rees' Cyclo-
pædia.)
ENGLISH CHANNEL (called by the French
la Manche) is that part of the Atlantic
ocean which lies between the north-west
coast of France and the southern coast of
England. Its eastern extremity is con-
nected with the German ocean by the
straits of Calais, and on the west it is im-
perceptibly confounded with the Atlantic
ocean. It lies between lat. 48° 38′ and
51° N., and lon. 1° 20′ E. and 5° 43′ W.
At its termination-on a line drawn from
Land's End to the extreme easterly point
of the department of Finisterre, in France
-it is about 40 leagues wide. On the
On the
French coast, it forms three considerable
bays; the most easterly receives the
Somme; the second receives the Seine
and several smaller rivers; the third and
largest lies on the south-west of the penin-
sula of Cotentin. On the English coast,
is Mount bay, between Lizard point and
Land's End; between Lizard point and
Start point is a large gulf, on which are
situated Falmouth and Plymouth; the
gulf of Exeter lies to the east of Start
point. The principal islands in the Eng-
lish channel are the Isle of Wight on the
English coast, and the Norman islands
lying on the French coasts, but belonging
to England, the principal of which are
Guernsey and Jersey. The prevailing
winds are from the west. The channel, be-
ing shallow and confined, is subject, from
its communication with the Atlantic, to
nigh and impetuous tides. Its waters
contain many fish, of which the most im-
portant are the mackerel and the herring.
The oysters of Cancal are also famous.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE; the language spo-
ken by the people of England, and, with
some dialectical variations, in Scotland, in
a part of Ireland, and in other parts of the
globe which now are, or originally were,
within the British dominions. Of all who
speak the English language, the people
of the U. States of America, next to the
inhabitants of England itself, are the most
important in respect to their influence in
spreading and cultivating it. Their very
extensive commerce, which is now second
to none but that of England, affords the
means of contributing to the dissemina-
tion of their language over all parts of the
globe. To this also we may add their
efforts in religious missions, which have
been attended with a similar effect. From
these and other causes, we have the highest
reason to believe that English will, before
the lapse of many years, be spoken as the
native tongue of a larger proportion of
the inhabitants of the two continents than
any other known language, unless, per-
haps, the Chinese and its dialects should
still maintain that rank. The Saxon, or
Anglo-Saxon (q. v.) language, as it is more
frequently called, was the basis of the
English; and both have descended from
what is commonly denominated the Goth-
ic or Teutonic stock, particularly the dia-
lect called Low German. (q. v.) It has,
however, retained many words of the an-
cient language spoken by the Britons be-
fore the arrival of the Saxons among
them. Upon the introduction of Chris-
tianity into Great Britain, in the 6th cen-
tury, which was done through the church
of Rome, the Latin language contributed,
by degrees, to the common dialect of the
nation. About the year 1150, according
to doctor Johnson, the Saxon dialect of
our ancestors took a form in which the
beginning of our present English can
plainly be discovered. From that period
to this, it has been constantly receiving
additions from various languages, and
may now, according to doctor Web-
ster, be considered
ster, be considered as composed of,
1st, Saxon and Danish words
of Teu-
tonic and Gothic origin; 2d, British or
Welsh, Cornish and Armoric, which may
be considered as of Celtic origin; 3d,
Norman ; 4th, Latin; 5th, French; 6th,
Greek; 7th, a few words directly from the
Italian, Spanish, German, and other lan-
guages of the continent of Europe; 8th, a
few foreign words, introduced by commerce
or by political and literary intercourse.
(Introd. Eng. Dict.) This origin of our
ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
language justifies the opinion of doctor
Blair, who, in his Lectures on Rhetoric,
characterizes it as a rude compound.
The leading characteristics of the English
language are said, by our own writers, to
be, 1. That it is strong and expressive;
which qualities are enhanced by a facility
in compounding words; but in this last
particular, it is certainly far inferior to the
German. 2. That it is very copious, few
languages being more so. Under this
head we may remark, that it possesses
one decisive advantage over most other
modern languages; that, in addition to
the language commonly used in prose, it
has a very copious stock of words exclu-
sively used in poetical composition. 3.
That it possesses great flexibility, or ca-
pacity of being adapted to all styles of
composition, the grave and gay, forcible
and tender, sublime and ludicrous. But
in this respect, we do not know that it is
strikingly distinguished from many other
modern languages. 4. That it nas the ad-
vantage of being more simple in its form
and construction than any of the European
languages. This simplicity consists, prin-
cipally, in the following particulars:-its
nouns have only two cases, the nom-
inative and genitive (this deficiency of
cases, however, prevents our using inver-
sions of phrases like those which the
Latin language allows; the French lan-
guage is even inferior to the English in this
respect), and have no difference of declen-
sion; its adjectives have no variation of
gender or number, and are only varied to
express the degrees of comparison; and
the conjugations of its verbs are far less
complex than those of the other languages.
5. Among other qualities, we also hear the
harmony of our language mentioned.
But, as a general remark, we think, with a
late writer, that "strength and expressive-
ness, rather than grace and melody, are the
distinguishing qualities of the English lan-
guage."-" Different nations," says lord
Kaimes (Elements of Criticism), "judge
differently of the harshness or smoothness
of articulate sounds: a sound, for exam-
ple, harsh and disagreeable to an Italian,
may be abundantly smooth to a northern
ear: here every nation must judge for
itself; nor can there be any solid ground
for a preference, when there is no com-
mon standard to which we can appeal."
In order to judge correctly on this point,
we must observe how it strikes the ears
of foreigners, who have some acquaintance
with it; yet we must, at the same time,
receive with much caution the observa-
515

tions of men who have as strong a partial-
ity as ourselves for their native lan-
guage. As a general remark, we think,
that those modern languages which are
derived from the Latin are more harmo-
nious than those of Teutonic origin. (See
Consonant.) But, in order to satisfy our-
selves how far we are liable to be deceived
in respect to the supposed excellences of
our native tongue, we extract the follow-
ing remarks from that popular and spright-
ly, though not very profound writer, La
Harpe:-"The English language, which
would be almost half-French, if its in-
comprehensible pronunciation did not
separate it from all the languages of the
world, and make applicable to it what
Virgil said of the geographical position of
the country-
Et penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos'-
A race of men from all the world disjoined'-
the English is still more overloaded than
our own (French) with auxiliaries, parti-
cles, articles and pronouns; it has less
conjugating also, and its modes are ex-
cessively limited. It has no conditional
tense; it cannot say, as in French, je
ferais, j'irais, &c.; but it is necessary to
prefix to the principal verb one of these-
I would, I must, I could, I should have to.
It cannot be denied that these signs, in-
cessantly repeated, and even equivocal in
their signification, argue a deplorable pov-
erty, and have a resemblance to barbarism.
But what, to every one except an English-
man, most bears that character, is their
striking viciousness of pronunciation,
which seems to be in conflict with the
principles of human articulation. Now,
this ought always to have a tendency to
fix the nature of the sounds, and it is par-
ticularly the object and intention of the
vowels, which cannot meet the ear with
too great distinctness. But what shall
we say of a language, in which the
vowels themselves, the very elements
of all pronunciation, are so often indeter-
minate, and in which so many syllables
are either half crushed between the teeth,
or vanish with a sibilant sound on the
edge of the lips? The Englishman,'
says Voltaire, 'gains upon us two hours a
day, by swallowing half of all his words.'
I do not, however, attach much in
portance to such reproaches, because a
language is always sufficiently good for
those who use it from their infancy; but
it is true, that we find a thousand English-
men, who speak French tolerably well,
for one Frenchman, who is able to speak
516
ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

good English; and this disproportion be-
tween two nations, closely united as they
are by a regular and established inter-
course, must be principally caused by the
strangely whimsical pronunciation of the
language of the English." (vol. i, p. 143.)
"Yet, notwithstanding the indistinctness
of their vowels, and their masses of conso-
nants, they lay claim to harmony of lan-
guage; and we will allow it to them, if,
in return, they will admit that this harmo-
ny can be felt by themselves alone. They
have, too, some advantages which, I
think, we cannot deny them. Inversion
of language is allowed in their poetry al-
most to as great an extent as in Italian,
that is, much less than in Latin and
Greek. Their constructions and poetical
forms are bolder, and yet more manage-
able than ours. They can also employ
rhyme, or not, as they please, and can in-
dulge more than we can in the formation
of new words." Observations of this
kind must, however, be taken with much
allowance. Another French writer, cited
by Mr. Mitford in his Harmony of the
English Language, says "The English
speak so much between their teeth, that
the French cannot understand them;" and
adds "l'Anglois est la seule langue pour
laquelle il ne faut pas une langue." "It is
impossible (says Mr. Mitford) not to ac-
knowledge that there is much justice in
this imputation." In our article Ameri-
canism (q. v.), we directed the reader's
attention to the important fact, that Eng-
land and the U. States of America offer
the first instance in history of two great,
independent and active nations, having a
common language, but situated at a great
distance from each other, and daily devel-
oping new and characteristic features.
These relations must, sooner or later, ex-
ert a powerful influence upon the com-
mon language; for no language is so sta-
ble as not to undergo continual changes,
if spoken by a people in the full vigor of
social and political life. This state of
things has already produced some effect
on the English language, as we have ob-
served in that article. But, from the deep
and natural interest felt by Americans in
the literature of England, which must be
a part of their own as long as Shakspeare
and Milton shall live in their works, the
effect has hitherto been inconsiderable,
and not greater than we should expect
from the mere circumstance of so dif-
ferent and remote local situations. The
most material difference, probably, has
heen in the pronunciation of the lan-
guage, which, however important in our
daily conversation, is of secondary im-
portance in relation to the literature and
written language of the two countries. It
has often been observed by English trav-
ellers and others, that the pronunciation
of the U. States is far more uniform than
that of England; and so nearly alike eve-
ry where, that the people of any one town
or district are perfectly understood in eve-
ry other part of the country; which is not
the case in England. When considered
more minutely, however, there has for a
long time existed a marked distinction be-
tween the pronunciation of the New Eng-
land and Southern States. In New Eng-
land, it is supposed by some, that the pro-
nunciation has been, till lately, very nearly
what it was in the mother country a cen-
tury ago or more. However this may be,
it is a well-known fact that the New Eng-
land pronunciation has been materially
changed since the publication and general
use of Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary,
or within the last thirty years. That
which prevailed before that period, was
probably much influenced by the very gen-
eral use of a small dictionary published by
Perry. (See Worcester's edit. of Johnson,
Pref, p. ix.) The pronunciation of some
of the Southern and Middle States was
more affected by the instruction of Scot-
tish and Irish teachers, who, besides pe-
culiarities of pronunciation, have taught
the people of these states to confound the
established idiomatic distinction between
shall and will, and should and would.-The
orthography of our language has undergone
no material change in the U. States, it being
the general inclination to follow that of
the best English writers of the age. But
English orthography is so irregular, par-
ticularly in the use of the vowels, as to
make our language more difficult than
any other to the European nations. The
signs of the sounds are so inconstant, that
they do not, when first heard by a foreign-
er, impress themselves on the memory so
distinctly as those of the other European
languages do, and, of course, cannot be so
easily remembered for future use. To
this embarrassment is to be added our
custom of throwing back the accent to the
first syllables of words, which necessarily
produces that hurried and indistinct utter
ance, of which foreigners so justly com
plain. We may here add a general re
mark or two of an intelligent German,
who has had much experience in writing
English, and whose observations are con-
firmed by our own experience, so far as
ENGLISH LANGUAGE-NEW ENGLAND.
we have had occasion to consider this
subject. The English language is pe-
culiarly adapted to exact discussions of
all practical matters in society, and to po-
litical inquiries. It has also more force
than the European languages generally, in
descriptive writing, whether prose or po-
etry; and in poetry, it has more power in
epic than in lyric composition; the latter
requiring that more metaphysical character
of language which is found in the highest
degree, probably, in the German. The
scholars of Germany, who have studied
our language more thoroughly than any
other nation has done, remark, that Eng-
lish is much less abstract than their own;
and that we admit new formations of
words much more reluctantly and ca-
priciously than the Germans do. It is
also to be observed, that we adopt new
terms from the French, with more facility
than from the German, notwithstanding
the close affinity of the latter to our own
language. This tendency to introduce
Gallicisms led doctor Johnson to appre-
hend, that, unless some check were inter-
posed, the English nation would one day
"be reduced to babble a dialect of France."
(For further ir formation respecting the
English language, see the article Anglo-
Saxon. For further information respect-
ing English history, see Great Britain.)
ENGLAND, LITTLE, beyond Wales, is a
portion of country lying along the south-
western coast of South Wales, remarkable
for being inhabited by the descendants
of a colony of Flemings, who came over
from Flanders under king Henry I.
ENGLAND, NEW; the name of the North-
eastern States of the North American
Union; bounded N. by Canada, E. by
New Brunswick and the Atlantic, S. by
the Atlantic and Long Island sound, and
W. by New York. This division comprises
the states of Maine, Vermont, New Hamp-
shire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and
Connecticut. Lon. 66° 49' to 73° 15′ W.;
lat. 41° to 48° 12′ N. Population in 1810,
1,271,974; in 1820, 1,659,793. For its pop-
ulation, according to the census of 1830,
now in progress, see the article United
States. This census will probably give a
population of about two millions in New
England, of whom three fourths are
farmers. The remainder are engaged in
commerce, manufactures, &c. Some of
the farmers are, of course, partly engaged
in commerce also. The face of the country
is generally uneven, and agreeably diversi-
fied. A part of it is mountainous. The
soil is various, from barren sand to the
richest clays and loams. It is generally
VOL. IV.
44
517

better fitted for grazing than tillage. The
most important production is grass. Beef,
mutton, pork, butter and cheese are abun-
dant. Indian corn, rye, wheat, barley and
oats are extensively cultivated. New Eng-
land is the most populous part of the U.
States. The inhabitants are mostly of
English descent. There is no country in
the world where education is so generally
diffused among all classes of people. It
is the most manufacturing part of North
America. (See, among other articles,
Cotton Manufacture.) The statement of
the secretary of the treasury, of the
commerce of the U. States for the year
ending Sept. 30, 1829, gives the following
results:
Imports. Exports.
$14,382,155 10,754,739
New England States,
Middle States, Ohio,
Michigan Territory,
District of Columbia & $50,667,191 29,958,729
Southern States and
Florida,..
}$9,443,181 31,645,003
$74,492,527 72,358,671
The inhabitants of New England have
several peculiarities, distinguishing them
from the inhabitants of the other U. States,
owing to their descent from the Puritans,
and other causes. In the other states, they
are familiarly called Yankees (q. v.), which
name, in Europe, is given to the citizens of
all the U. States. The Notions of a Trav-
elling Bachelor, by Mr. Cooper, contains
some good remarks on New England.
The name of New England was once
official. Thus a charter was granted to
the first settlers at Salem, by the name of
"governor and company of Massachusetts
bay, in New England." The country was
at first called North Virginia; but after
captain Smith had surveyed it, and
presented the map to Charles I, then
prince of Wales, he gave it the name of
New England. Sebastian Cabot (q. v.) dis-
covered the coast of this region, and Plym-
outh, then called New Plymouth, in Mas-
sachusetts, was the first settlement here.
The first settlers landed Dec. 11 (old style),
1620. Before landing, they signed a
solemn covenant, forming themselves into
a body politic for the purpose of making
equal laws for the general good. They
were republicans before they landed, and
have virtually remained so ever since-a
circumstance always to be considered in
comparing the American revolution with
that of other countries. This republican,
spirit showed itself early at several periods.
Charles II, after his restoration, sent com
missioners to New England (in 1664) to
inquire into and examine the state of the
518
NEW ENGLAND-ENGRAVING.

colonies, and to reform the administration
of affairs there. A report was made by
the commissioners about 1665, which will
be found in Hutchinson's Collection of
State-Papers, &c., p. 412, &c., in which
they give an account of the state of
the colonies, and are particularly severe
in their animadversions upon the colony
of Massachusetts. Before that period, the
judicial and other processes issued in some
of the colonies of New England, at least in
Massachusetts, had been in the name or
under the authority of the colony, and not
in the name of the king. The commis-
sioners remark (p. 417), that "the colony
of the Massachusetts was the last and the
hardliest to use his majesty's name in the
forms of justice."* They also added (p.
417), that they "visited all other colonies
before this, hoping that the submission
and condescension of the other colonies to
his majesty's desires would have abated
the refractoriness of this colony, which
they much feared." "They (the Massa-
chusetts colony) proclaimed by sound of
trumpet, that the general court (of the col-
ony) was the supremest judicatory in the
province; that the commissioners pre
tending to hear appeals was a breach of
their privileges granted to them by the
king's royal father, and confirmed to them
by his majesty's own letter, and that they
should not permit it." (p. 418.) "They say
that king Charles the First gave them
power to make laws, and to execute them,
and granted them a charter as a warrant
against himself and his successors, and
that so long as they pay the fifth part of
all gold and silver ore, which they shall
get, they shall be free to use the privileges
granted them; and they are not obliged to
the king, but by civility." (p. 420.) They
further added-That "they (the Massa-
chusetts colony) did solicit Cromwell, by
one Mr. Winslow, to be declared a free
state, and many times in their laws styling
themselves this state, this common-
wealth, and now believe themselves to be so."
(p. 420.) They close by remarking, "Their
way of government is commonwealth-like;
their way of worship is rude, and called
Congregational; they are zealous in it, for
they persecute all other forms." (p. 422.)
The declaration of the general court (of
the colony) of their rights under the char-
ter in 1661, strongly supports the views
which the commissioners gave of the
claims of Massachusetts. (1 Hutch. Hist.
Mass. supplement, vol. 13, p. 529.) These
documents abundantly prove how early
* See 1 Hutchin. Hist. of Mass., 223, 233, note.
10. 452.
.
the colony aspired to substantial indepen
dence, and how slowly it allowed the in-
terposition of the king in any of its in-
ternal concerns, and how jealous it was
of every exercise of prerogative. A peo-
ple so alive to their own rights, and so
persevering in maintaining them, could not
fail of being involved in disputes with the
government of Great Britain from a very
early period in their history. Down to the
annulling of their first charter, and the
grant of their new charter by William and
Mary in 1692, there was scarcely any har-
mony between the government in Eng.
land and that in the Massachusetts colony
In 1643, four of the New England colo-
nies, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Plym-
outh and New Haven, on account of the
dangers from the Indians, from the Dutch
at New York, and from the French in
Canada and Acadia, entered into a league
offensive and defensive. By the articles
of this confederacy, each colony was to
appoint two commissioners, who were
to assemble alternately in the respective
colonies, and were empowered to enact
ordinances of general concern; and, in
case of invasion, each colony was bound
to furnish a certain quota of men and
money. (See Hubbard's Hist. of New
England; Hist. of New England, by Han
nah Adams; Hutchinson's Hist. of Mas-
sachusetts; Prince's New England Chro-
nology; Tudor's Letters on the Eastern
States; See also article New England.)
ENGRAVING is the art of representing,
by means of lines and points produced on
a metallic surface by cutting or corrosion,
the figures, lights and shades of objects, in
order to multiply them by means of print-
ing. The engraver is to the painter what
the translator is to the author. As it is
impossible to give a spirited translation of
a work of genius without a portion of the
author's fire, so it is essential to a good
engraver that he should feel and under-
stand the character of his original, and be
initiated into the secrets of drawing, that
his copy may be at once correct and spir-
ited The art of engraving on copper was.
invented in Europe in the first half of the
15th century. The Chinese seem to have
been acquainted with it long before. The
Dutch, the Italians and the Germans
compete for the honor of its invention in
Europe. It is known that the art was ex-
ercised by the Italian Finiguerra as early
as 1460. The inventors of it were the gold-
smiths, who were in the habit of making
devices on their wares; and these, being
often executed with much elegance, ex-
cited the desire to multiply copies by
ENGRAVING.
transferring them to paper. Engraving
differs from printing in having its subjects
cut into a hard surface, instead of being
raised above it, as is the case with types
and wood cuts. Many metals and alloys
have been employed for the purpose of
engraving. The most common is copper,
which is soft enough to be cut when cold,
and hard enough to resist the action of the
press. We shall now proceed to explain
the methods of executing different de-
scriptions of engraving. The graver, an
instrument of steel, is principally used in
engraving on copper; it is square for
cutting of broad lines, and lozenge for the
finest, and must be tempered to that exact
state, which will prevent the point from
breaking or wearing by its action on the
metal. The graver is inserted in a handle
of hard wood, resembling a pear with a
longitudinal slice cut off, which is to ena-
ble the artist to use it as flat on the plate as
his fingers and thumb will permit. This
instrument is used for removing the imper-
fections discoverable in etchings, and ex-
clusively in engraving writing. In working,
this instrument is held in the palm of the
hand, and pushed forward so as to cut out
a portion of the copper. The scraper is a
long, triangular piece of steel, tapering
gradually from the handle to the point;
the three edges produced by this form,
being sharpened on the oil-stone, are used
for scraping off the roughness occasioned
by the graver, and erasing erroneous
fines. The burnisher is a third instru-
ment of steel, hard, round, and highly
polished, for rubbing out punctures or
scratches in the copper. The oil-stone
has been already mentioned. To these
may be added the needle, or dry point,
for etching, and making those extremely
fine lines, which cannot be made with the
graver. It is held in the fingers in the
same way as a pen or pencil. Various
kinds of varnish, resin, wax, charcoal and
mineral acids are also employed in differ-
ent parts of the operation, according to
the subject, and the style of engraving
which is adopted. The first which we
shall describe is
Line Engraving. To trace the design
intended for engraving accurately on the
plate, it is usual to heat the latter suf-
ficiently to melt white wax, with which it
must be covered equally and thin, and
suffered to cool; the drawing is then
copied in outlines, with a black-lead pencil,
on paper, which is laid with the pencilled
side upon the wax, and the back rubbed
gently with the burnisher, which will
transfer the lead to the wax. The design
519

must next be traced, with an etching nee-
dle, through the wax on the copper, when,
on wiping it clean, it will exhibit all the
outlines ready for the graver. The table
intended for engraving on should be per-
fectly steady. Great care is necessary to
carry the hand with such steadiness and
skill, as to prevent the end of the line
from being stronger and deeper than the
commencement; and sufficient space
must be left between the lines to enable
the artist to make those stronger, gradual-
ly, which require it. The roughness or
burr occasioned by the graver must be
removed by the scraper, the lines filled by
the oil-rubber, and the surface of the cop-
per cleansed, in order that the progress
of the work may be ascertained. If any
accident should occur, by the slipping of
the graver beyond the boundary required,
or lines are found to be placed erroneous-
ly, they are to be effaced by the burnisher,
which leaving deep indentings, these must
be levelled by the scraper, rubbed with char-
coal and water, and finally polished lightly
with the burnisher. As the uninterrupted
light of the day causes a glare upon the sur-
face of the copper, hurtful and dazzling to
the eyes, it is customary to engrave beneath
the shade of silk paper, stretched on a
square frame, which is placed reclining
towards the room, near the sill of a win-
dow. Such are the directions and means
to be employed in engraving historical
subjects: indeed, the graver is equally
necessary for the remedying of imperfec-
tions in etching; to which must be added
the use of the dry point in both, for mak-
ing the faintest shades in the sky, archi-
tecture, drapery, water, &c., &c.
Stippling. The second mode of en-
graving is that called stippling, or engrav-
ing in dots. This resembles the last men-
tioned method in its processes, except
that, instead of lines, it is finished by minute
points or excavations in the copper.
These punctures, when made with the
dry point, are circular: when made with
the graver, they are rhomboidal or trian-
gular. The variations and progressive
magnitude of these dots give the whole
effect to stippled engraving. This style
of work is always more slow, laborious,
and, of course, more expensive, than en-
graving in lines. It has, however, some
advantages in the softness and delicacy of
its lights and shades, and approaches
nearer to the effect of painting than the
preceding method. A more expeditious
way of multiplying the dots has been con
trived in the instrument called a roulette,
a toothed wheel, fixed to a handle which,
520
ENGRAVING.

by being rolled forcibly along the copper, a comparatively small number of im
produces a row of indentations. This pressions.ANG
method, however, is less manageable than Etching. Of engravings which re-
the other, and generally produces a stiff quire the aid of aquafortis, the principal is
effect.
Engraving of Mezzotintos differs entirely
from the manner above described. This
method of producing prints which resem-
ble drawings in India-ink, is said by Eve-
lyn, in his history of chalcography, to
have been discovered by prince Rupert.
Some accounts say that he learned the
art from an officer named Siegen or Si-
chem, in the service of Hesse-Cassel. It
was, some years past, a very favorite way
of engraving portraits and historical sub-
jects; of the former, the large heads of
Fry are of superior excellence. The tools
required for this easy and rapid mode of
proceeding are, the grounding-tool, the
scraper and the burnisher. The copper-
plate should be prepared as if intended for
the graver, and laid flat upon a table, with
a piece of flannel spread under it, to pre-
vent the plate from slipping; the ground-
ing-tool is then held perpendicularly on
it, and rocked with moderate pressure
backwards and forwards, till the teeth of
the tool have equally and regularly mark-
ed the copper from side to side; the ope-
ration is afterwards repeated from end to
end, and from each corner to the oppo-
site; but it is necessary to observe, that the
tool must never be permitted to cut twice
in the same place; by this means the sur-
face is converted into a rough chaos of in-
tersections, which, if covered with ink
and printed, would present a perfectly
black impression upon the paper. This
is the most tedious part of the process.
The rest, to a skilful artist, is much easier
than line engraving or stippling. It con-
It con-
sists in pressing down or rubbing out the
roughness of the plate, by means of the
burnisher and scraper, to the extent of the
intended figure, obliterating the ground for
lights, and leaving it for shades. Where
a strong light is required, the whole ground
is erased. For a medium light, it is mod-
erately burnished, or partially erased. For
the deepest shades, the ground is left en-
tire. Care is taken to preserve the insen-
sible gradations of light and shade, upon
which the effect and harmony of the piece
essentially depend. Engraving in mezzo-
tinto approaches more nearly to the effect
of oil-paintings than any other species.
It is well calculated for the representation
of obscure pieces, such as night scenes,
&c. The principal objection to the
method is, that the plates wear out speedi-
ly under the press, and, of course, yield
etching. He that would excel in this
branch of the arts must be thoroughly
acquainted with drawing. The ground
used in etching is a combination of as-
phaltum, gum mastic and virgin wax.
The proportions of the ingredients should
be obtained by experiment. The copper-
plate is hammered to a considerable de-
gree of hardness, polished as if intended
for the graver, and heated over a charcoal
fire; the ground is then rubbed over it,
till every part is thinly and equally var-
nished. The varnish is then blackened
by the smoke of a lamp, that the operator
may see the progress and state of his
work. The next object is to transfer the
design to the ground, which may be done
by drawing it on thin white paper with a
black-lead pencil, and having it passed
through the copper-plate printer's rolling
press; the lead will be conveyed firmly
to the ground, which will appear in per-
fect outlines on removing the paper.
Another method is, to draw the design re-
versed from the original; rub the back with
powdered white chalk, and, laying it on the
ground, trace the lines through with a blunt
point: this operation requires much pre-
caution, or the point will cut the ground.
After the plate is prepared, the operator,
supporting his hand on a ruler, begins his
drawing, taking care always to reach the
copper. Every line must be kept distinct,
throughout the plate, and the most distant
should be closer and more regular than
those in the fore ground, and the greater
the depth of shade, the broader and deep-
er must the lines be made. When the
etching of the plate is completely finished,
the edges of it must be surrounded by a
high border of wax, so well secured that
water will not penetrate between the plate
and it. The best spirits of aquafortis
must then be diluted with water, and
poured upon the plate, which undergoes
a chemical action wherever it has been
laid bare by the needle, while the remain-
der of the surface is defended by the var-
nish. The bubbles of fixed air, and the
saturated portions of metal, are carefully
brushed away with a feather. After the
operator thinks the acid has acted long
enough, he pours it off, and examines the
plate. If the light shades are found to be
sufficiently bit in, they are covered with
varnish, or stopped out. The biting is then
continued for the second shades, which
are next stopped out: and so on. After

ENGRAVING.
the process is completed, the varnish is
melted and wiped off, the plate cleaned
with oil of turpentine, and any deficien-
cies in the lines remedied with the graver.
As the acid cannot be made to act with
perfect regularity, etchings will always be
rough in comparison with line engravings.
This very circumstance, however, fits
etching for the representation of coarse
objects in nature, such as trunks of trees,
broken ground, &c., especially on a large
scale. In landscape engraving, we gene-
rally find a mixture of methods, the
coarser parts being etched, the more deli-
cate cut with the graver. Letters and
written characters are mostly cut, and sel-
lom etched.
(For the mode of engraving in aquatin-
ta, see Aquatinta)..
Steel Engraving was introduced by our
celebrated countryman, Mr. Perkins. The
steel plate is softened by being deprived
of a part of its carbon; the engraving is
then made, and the plate hardened again
by the restoration of the carbon. The
great advantage of steel plates consists in
their hardness, by which they are made
to yield an indefinite number of impres-
sions; whereas a copper plate wears out
after 2 or 3000 impressions, and even
much sooner if the engraving be fine.
An engraving on a steel plate may be
transferred, in relief, to a softened steel
cylinder by pressure; this cylinder, after
being hardened, may again transfer the
design, by being rolled upon a fresh steel
plate: thus the design may be multiplied
at pleasure. Steel plates may also be
etched.
Engraving on precious Stones is accom-
plished with the diamond or emery. The
diamond possesses the peculiar property
of resisting every body in nature, and,
though the hardest of all stones, it may be
cut by a part of itself, and polished by its
own particles. In order to render this
splendid substance fit to perform the ope-
rations of the tool, two rough diamonds
are cemented fast to the ends of the same
number of sticks, and rubbed together till
the form is obtained for which they are
intended; the powder thus produced is
preserved, and used for polishing them in
a kind of mill furnished with a wheel of
iron; the diamond is then secured in a,
brazen dish, and the dust, mixed with olive-
oil, applied; the wheel is set in motion,
and the friction occasions the polished sur-
face so necessary to give their lustre due
effect. Other stones, as rubies, topazes
and sapphires, are cut into various angles
on a wheel of copper; and the material
521
for polishing those is tripoli diluted with
water. A leaden wheel, covered with
emery mixed with water, is preferred for
the cutting of emeralds, amethysts, hya-
cinths, agates, granites, &c. &c.; and they
are polished on a pewter wheel with trip-
oli: opal, lapis lazuli, &c., are polished
on a wheel made of wood. Contrary to
the method used by persons who turn
metals, in which the substance to be
wrought is fixed in the lathe, turned by it,
and the tool held to the substance, the
engraver of the crystal, lapis lazuli, &c.,
fixes his tools in the lathe, and holds the
precious stone to them, thus forming vases,
or any other shape, by interposing dia-
mond dust mixed with oil, or emery and
water, between the tool and the sub-
stance, as often as it is dispersed by the
rotary motion of the former. The en-
graving of armorial bearings, single fig-
ures, devices, &c., on any of the above
stones, after they are polished, is perform-
ed through the means of a small iron
wheel, the ends of the axis of which are
received within two pieces of iron, in a
perpendicular position, that may be clos-
ed, or otherwise, as the operation re-
quires; the tools are fixed to one end of
the axis, and screwed firm; the stone to
be engraved is then held to the tool, the
wheel set in motion by the foot, and the
figure gradually formed. The material
of which the tools are made is generally
iron, and sometimes brass: some are flat,
like chisels, gouges, ferules, and others
have circular heads. After the work is
finished, the polishing is done with hair
brushes fixed on wheels and tripoli.
Engraving in Wood has been practised
for several centuries, and originally with
tolerable success; it languished for a great
part of the 18th century, but revived
towards the close, and is still practised in
a manner which reflects credit on the
ingenuity of the age. The lines, instead
of being cut into the substance, are raised,
like the letters of printing types, and
printed in the same manner. The wood
used for this purpose is box, which is
preferred for the hardness and closeness
of its texture. It is cut across the
grain, into pieces of the height of com-
mon types, that the engraving may be
made upon the end of the grain, for the
sake of strength and durability. The sur
face must be planed smooth, and the
design drawn on it with a black-lead
pencil; the graver is then used, the finer
excavations from which are intended for
white interstices between the black lines
produced by leaving the box untouched,
44*
522
ENGRAVING.

and the greatest lights are made by cut-
ting away the wood entirely, of the in-
tended form, length and breadth; but the
deepest shades require no engraving.
Much of the beauty of this kind of
engraving depends upon the printing. A
recent improvement has been made in
wood engraving, which is this: The
blocks are prepared as before, and
then covered with flake white. The
drawing is then made on this, and the
wood engraver has only to cut out the
lights. The beautiful wood cuts, executed
by Branston and Wright, for the Tower
menagerie and zoological gardens (after
designs by Harvey), recently published in
London, are executed in this manner.
Wood engravings have this advantage,
that they may be inserted in a page of
common types, and printed without sepa-
rate expense. They are very durable,
and may be multiplied by the process of
stereotyping.
Colored Engravings. Colored engrav-
ings are variously executed. The most
common are printed in black outline, and
afterwards painted separately in water-
colors. Sometimes a surface is produced
by aquatinta, or stippling, and different
colors applied in printing to different parts,
care being taken to wipe off the colors in
opposite directions, that they may not in-
terfere with each other. But the most
perfect as well as most elaborate produc-
tions, are those which are first printed in
colors, and afterwards painted by hand.
Engravers, modern. Among modern,
nations, the Italians, French, Germans, and
English have rivalled each other in pro-
ducing great works in the department of
engraving; but, on the whole, the superior-
ity seems to belong to the Italians and
French, both for the number and the value
of their productions; and more particu-
larly for the excellence of their impres-
sions. Many great works, executed in
Germany, are sent to Paris to be struck
off. In Germany, Frederic von Müller,
whose Madonna di S. Sisto is still a jewel
in collections, died too early for the art.
C. Rahl distinguished himself by his en-
graving of Fra Bartolomeo's Presentation
of Christ in the Temple, and of Raphael's
St. Margaret. K. Hess, Reindel, Umer
(lately deceased), Leybold, Lutz and A.
Kessler have produced fine cabinet-pieces.
John in Vienna, Kobell in Munich, Barth,
Amsler and Rushweyh in Rome, are dis-
tinguished in different branches. Chodo-
wiecki, Bause, Bolt, Clemens, Gmelin, and
many others, have contributed much to
advance the art of engraving. In gene-
ral, it may be mentioned as a favorable
sign of the times, that all the first artists
in Germany apply their talents to great
works, whilst the taste for souvenir en-
gravings seems rapidly dying away. Those
engravers who have produced the best
plates for scientific works, so very impor-
tant a branch of the art, and those in the
department of geography, would deserve
to be mentioned, if we had room. France
has maintained her early fame, in the art
of engraving, down to the most recent
times. The engravings of A. Boucher-
Desnoyers (for instance, the Madonna di
Foligno, LaVierge, dite La Belle Jardinière,
Francis I, and Margaret of Navarre, Phe-
dre and Hippolyte, the portrait of the
Prince de Benevento) are acknowledged
masterpieces. Lignon's St. Cæcilia from
Domenichino, his Atala, his portrait of
Mademoiselle Mars; Massard's St. Cæcil-
ia of Raphael, and Apollo with the Muses
of Giulio Romano; Richomme's, Dien's,
Girodet's, Gudin's, Audouin's plates, no
less magnificently than carefully executed;
Jazet's large pieces in aquatinta (for in-
stance, from the paintings of Vernet)-all
manifest how rich France is in great en-
gravers. Neither ought we to forget the
magnificent literary works, almost con-
stantly published in France, which owe
their ornaments to the skill of French en-
gravers. In the most recent productions
of the French engravers, an imitation of
the school of Morghen is observable; whilst
some young Italian and German artists
have aimed at something higher than even
Morghen's productions. Since the art of
painting has ceased to produce many
works worthy of multiplication by the
burin of the first engravers, these have
occupied themselves chiefly with ancient
masterpieces, and engraving has taken a
higher station among the fine arts. Morg-
hen, the pupil of Volpato, and those who
have followed him, have produced works
before unequalled. The Milanese school
of engravers, in particular, has reached a
degree of perfection, through Anderloni
and Longhi, which no other country can
probably equal. Longhi's Sposalizio is as
yet the greatest production in the art of
engraving. Toschi, of Parma, has ac-
quired immortality by his Entrance of
Henry IV into Paris (from Gérard), in 1826;
Schiavone, by his Ascension of the Holy
Virgin (from the painting of Titian), which
may be called perfect, in regard to its
picture-like effect. Bettelini, Bonato,
Gandolffi, Garavaglia, Fontana Rosaspi-
na, Benoglio, Giberti, Palmerini, Poporati,
Pavon (by birth a Spaniard, however),
ENGRAVING-ENHARMONIC.
Rainaldi and Rampoldi have produced
beautifully finished engravings; and Luigi
Rossini and Pinelli have etched scenes
full of life. Splendid works, in which
typography and chalcography unite their
attractions, have appeared at Florence,
Venice, Rome and Milan, But England
is richer in such works, as the sceneries
there form a peculiar and very important
branch of the productions of the art.
Some of these works, however, exhibit an
exaggerated delicacy, bordering on affec-
tation; while others neglect details, and
betray too much effort for effect. But the
productions of Earlom, Pether, Dixon,
Green, &c., must not be confounded with
the works just referred to. The plates of
Raphael's cartoons, in Hampton court,
on which Thomas Holloway and Webber
have been engaged, are praised as the
highest specimens of the art. In these
engravings, the masterly etching, which
often permits them to allow the etchings
themselves to remain, is worthy of admi-
ration. Smith, Middiman, Byrne, James
Mason, James and Charles Heath, William
Woollet, William Sharp, John Burnet,
and John Browne are known to all collec-
Their works are, comparatively,
seldom seen on the European continent,
because of their high prices. What La-
sinio is for Italy, Moses aims to be for
England, by his delicate sketches: among
his other productions are his imitations of
Retsch's illustrations of Göthe's Faust.
But his copies of foreign masters are often
deficient in correctness. C. Rolles and
E. Finden also deserve mention among
distinguished English engravers. The
neatness, so much esteemed in England,
has been promoted by the new art of sid-
erography, which has not yet been applied
to the execution of great works; whilst, in
France and Germany, lithography, an in-
vention of the latter country, has been
preferred. With the Dutch, the burin is,
at present, not very successful, if we com-
pare their present artists to the former
school of Pontius and Edelinck. But for
picturesque etchings and productions by
the needle, the skill formerly displayed
has been preserved by Troostwyk, Van Os,
Overbeck, Jansen, Chalon, and others.
For more highly finished productions, in
which the burin and needle must unite, in
order to produce a tone, as in the engra-
vings of Rembrandt's pictures, Claessens
and De Frey are acknowledged masters.
What Russia, Denmark and the Nether-
lands have produced in this branch, is not
unworthy of notice. The engravings of
Switzerland, mostly in Aberli's manner,
523

form a class by themselves. In the U.
States, engraving has been cultivated with
more success than any other department
of the fine arts, though it cannot be ex-
pected that a country so young, and so dis-
tant from the numerous productions of
former ages, should rival the great works
of the art in Europe. But small engra-
vings, particularly on steel, for souvenirs.
have been produced, which may bear
comparison with European productions
of the kind. Among American engrav-
ers, Longacre, Kelly, Durandt, Danforth
(now in London), Cheney, Gallaudet,
Ellis, Hatch, and others, well deserve to
be engaged on subjects of more perma-
nent interest than souvenir engravings.
Of the European artists who have been
most distinguished in wood engraving, we
would mention the names of the Sueurs,
Jackson, Moretti, Canossa, Roger, Caron,
Papillon, Beugnet, Dugoure. Among the
most famous of the living artists, in this
line, in England, are Thompson, Brans-
ton, Wright, Bonner, Slader, Sears, Nes-
bit, Hughes. In the U. States, Anderson,
Adams, Mason, Fairchild, Hartwell, and
others, are distinguished. After the art
of engraving in mezzotinto was intro-
duced into England, by prince Rupert, it
was carried to much perfection there.
John Smith, who lived towards the end
of the 17th century, has left more than
500 pieces in this style. He and George
White formed a new epoch in the art,
which the latter particularly improved, by
first etching the plates, whereby they ac-
quired more spirit. Of late years, many
artists in England have devoted themselves
to this branch: among these are McAr-
dell, Honston, Earlom, Pether, Green,
Watson, Dickinson, Dixon, Hudson, J.
Smith, &c. (For a list of the most dis-
tinguished engravers, from the earliest
times, see Elmes, Dictionary of the Fine
Arts, article Engraving.)
ENGROSSING, in law, denotes the wri-
ting a deed over fair, and in proper, legible
characters; also, the getting into one's
possession, or buying up large quantities
of corn, or other provisions, with the in-
tention of selling them again.
ENHARMONIC; the epithet given, by the
ancient Greeks,to that of their three genera,
which consisted of quarter tones and ma-
jor thirds. They, however, had original-
ly another kind of enharmonic, more sim-
ple, and easier of execution than this, and
upon which the quarter tones or dieses
were considered, by the theorists of the
old school, as innovations too refined and
artificial.
524
SENNEPER-ENTAIL. 3

ENNEPER OF EMPER ROAD (in German,
Enneper Strasse) extends about 9 miles from
Hagen to Gevelsberg, in the Prussian pro-
vince of Westphalia (formerly the county
of Mark), along the river Enneper or Em-
per, the banks of which are completely oc-
cupied with water-works. All sorts of iron-
work are manufactured here. It is one
of the most industrious parts of Germany,
and may be compared to Sheffield or
Birmingham, in England. Iron and steel
manufactures are the chief. Sythes and
blades for cutting straw are here made
annually to the number of 30,000 doz-
ens.
ENNIUS, Quintus; a celebrated Latin
poet of the earlier times of the republic,
born at Rudiæ, in Calabria, 239 B. C.
Cato the Censor became acquainted with
him in Sardinia, was his pupil, and
brought him to Rome, where he soon
gained the friendship of the most distin-
guished men (Scipio Africanus the Elder
and others), and instructed the young men
of rank in Greek. With an extensive
knowledge of the Greek language and
literature, he united a thorough acquaint-
ance with the Oscan and Latin tongues,
and was thereby enabled to exert a great
influence on the last. The rough and
unpolished style, which is to be attributed
to the time in which he lived, was more
than compensated by the energy of his
expression and the fire of his language.
Quintilian extols him highly, and Virgil
shows how much he esteemed him by
introducing whole verses from his poems
into his own works. He attempted every
species of poetry, sometimes more, some-
times less, after the Greek manner. He
wrote an epic, "Scipio," in hexameters;
Roman annals, from the most ancient
times to his own; tragedies and come-
dies, of which we have some fragments;
satires and epigrams; and translations.
He was presented with the citizenship for
his services to the Latin language and
poetry, of which the Romans regarded
him as the father. The fragments of his
works have been collected by Hesselius
(Amsterdam, 1707, 4to.).
ENOCH; one of the patriarchs, who
lived before the deluge. He became the
father of Methuselah at the age of 65
years; and, at the age of 365 years,
"God took him." The words quoted are
generally understood to mean that Enoch
did not die a natural death, but was re-
moved as Elijah was. Paul (Heb. xi.) is
of the same opinion.
Enoch, the Prophecy of, is an apocry-
pha! book, ascribed to Enoch, by a mis-
understanding of a passage in the Epistle
of Jude, v. 14. Several fathers of the
church have testified their respect for it,
but the Catholic church never has adopted
it as canonical. The Abyssinians åre said
to receive it into the canon. It was for a
long time lost, but Joseph Scaliger dis-
covered a part of it. Scaliger, Vossius
and others attribute it to a Jew who lived
between the Babylonian captivity and
Christ's birth. St. Augustine, Tertullian
and Origen quote it.
ENOS, the son of Seth and father of
Cainan; one of the patriarchs, who lived to
the age of 905 years. This family pre-
served the worship of God, whilst that of
Cain was plunged in all kinds of impiety
ENSEMBLE (French, the whole) is used
in the fine arts to denote the general effect
of a whole work, without reference to the
parts. Thus we speak of the ensemble
of a picture, when we consider the effect
of the whole representation on the mind
of the spectator. A thing may be excel-
lent in its parts, as, for instance, a comedy,
if the different characters are well drawn;
yet it may be deficient in its ensemble,
that is, as a whole. Rousseau uses this
word, in the same meaning, in music; but,
at present, ensemble is used for a composi-
tion of several voices, in which the chief
voices are independent of each other, as
the quintetts and finales in operas and ora-
torios.
ENSIGN (from the Latin insigne, stand-
ard). Ensign bearer, commonly called
ensign, is the lowest commissioned officer
in the English army, and that of the U.
States. In the French army, under Na-
poleon, the oldest and most distinguished
sergeants bore the colors. Napoleon or-
dered that those sergeants who could not
write, and who had distinguished them-
selves, should be preferred, "because they
could not be properly promoted farther,
and yet deserved some distinction on
account of their bravery." (See Las
Cases' Memorial.)-In naval language,
ensign is a large standard or banner,
hoisted on a long pole, erected over the
poop, and called the ensign-staff. It is
more commonly called flag. (q. v.)
ENTABLATURE. The horizontal, contin-
uous work, which rests upon a row of col-
umns. (See Architecture, vol. i., p. 338,
right column.)
ENTAIL, OF TAIL (from entailler, French,
to mortise or cut into a piece of wood, so
as to fit another piece into it, and make a
Joint), is, in law, an estate cut or carved
out of the fees, so that the remaining
estates, that is, the remainder or reversion,

ENTAIL-ENTOMOLOGY.
together with the estate tail, or all the
estates tail, will constitute the entail fee.
It is, accordingly, always a lesser estate
than a fee simple. (See Estate.)
ENTERITIS (from EvTepov, an intestine);
inflammation of the intestines. It is
known by the presence of fever, fixed
pain in the abdomen, costiveness, and
vomiting. The causes are acrid sub-
stances, indurated fæces, long-continued
and obstinate costiveness, spasmodic colic,
and a strangulation of any part of the in-
testinal canal; but another very general
cause is the application of cold to the
lower extremities, or to the belly itself. It
is a disease which is most apt to occur at
an advanced period of life, and is very
liable to a relapse. It comes on with an
acute pain, extending, in general, over the
whole of the abdomen, but more especial-
ly round the navel, accompanied with
eructations, sickness at the stomach, a
vomiting of bilious matter, obstinate cos-
tiveness, thirst, heat, great anxiety, and a
quick and hard, small pulse. After a
short time, the pain becomes more severe,
the bowels seem drawn together by a kind
of spasm, the whole region of the abdo-
men is highly painful to the touch, and
seems drawn together in lumpy contrac-
tions; invincible costiveness prevails, and
the urine is voided with great difficulty
and pain. The inflammation, continuing
to proceed with violence, terminates at
last in gangrene; or, abating gradually,
it goes off by resolution. Enteritis is
always attended with considerable danger,
as it often terminates in gangrene, in the
space of a few hours from its commence-
ment. The treatment must be begun by
taking blood freely from the arm, as far as
the strength of the patient will allow; but,
the disease occurring more frequently in
persons rather advanced in years, and of a
constitution somewhat impaired, it be-
comes more important to limit this evacu-
ation, and rely, in a great measure, on the
effects of a number of leeches, applied to
the abdomen. Another very useful step
is to put the patient into a hot bath, which
may presently induce faintness; or, where
his cannot be procured, fomenting the
abdomen assiduously. When the symp-
toms are thus materially relieved, an am-
ple blister should be applied. It becomes,
also, of the first importance to clear out
the bowels. After the disease is removed,
care should be taken to guard against ac-
cumulation of fæces, exposure to cold, or
any thing else likely to occasion a relapse.
ENTOMOLOGY (from evropa, insects, and
A6yos, doctrine) is that branch of zoology
525
which treats of the structure, habits and
consequent arrangement of the third class
of articulated animals called insecta or in-
sects, which may be briefly characterized
as articulated animals, furnished with ar-
ticulated feet and a dorsal vessel or rudi-
mental vestige of a heart, respiring by
means of two principal parallel trachea,
and provided with two movable antennæ
and a distinct head. The observation of
this numerous, diversified and interesting
class of beings, and, consequently, the or-
igin of entomological science, must neces-
sarily have been coeval with the creation
of man. Without, however, insisting up-
on this, or referring to the sacred volume
in proof thereof, we shall content our-
selves with dating it in the 80th Olympi-
ad, or five hundred years before Christ,
as, according to Pliny, it was about that
period when Hippocrates wrote upon in-
sects. Aristotle (Ept Twv KтOS KOPLOV TWV EV-
Topwv) describes them as consisting of
three parts-head, trunk and abdomen;
he then speaks of what he calls tribes of
insects, dividing them, from their mode of
progression, into those that walk and those
that fly, noticing and commenting on their
wings, proboscis, antennæ and feet, care-
fully observing the latter, and exhibiting
in this, as in every other department of
zoology, that accuracy which so eminent-
ly distinguished the philosophical precep-
tor of Alexander the Great. Pliny is the
next author of any note whose attention
seems to have been directed to the study
in question, for, in his 11th book, he speaks
of various bees, wasps, &c. From this
period, down to 1519, when the work of
Albertus Magnus upon insects was pub-
lished, the science made a silent but cer-
tain progress. Its advance in the suc-
ceeding 30 years is visible in the efficient
attempt at a better system of classification
than had hitherto prevailed, in the De
Animantibus Subterraneis of the last men-
tioned author, in 1549. He there divides
insects into three classes-those that walk,
those that fly, and those that swim, de-
scribing several species of each class. In
1552, Wotton published his De Differen-
tiis Animalium, and was followed by nu-
merous writers on the subject of insects,
whose books possessed more or less merit:
some of them were illustrated with figures,
and all tended to render the study more
worthy of the name of a science. To par-
ticularize them within the limited bounds
of an article of this nature, is impossible.
We must, therefore, be permitted to pass
them over with this general notice, the
folio of the learned and liberal Aldrovan-
526
ENTOMOLOGY.

dus, 1602, and Mouffet's Insectorum Thea-
trum, excepted, which richly merit distinc-
tion. The Experimenta, &c. of Redi, 1671,
deserves especial attention for its triumph-
ant refutation of the then popular error
of equivocal generation-an error whose
origin is buried in the remotest antiquity,
upheld by the ancient philosophers, and
not even yet eradicated from the minds of
the common people. Redi demonstrated
the fact, that every living animal is derived
from an egg, deposited by a parent every
way similar to itself. Previous to this, in
1669, the great work of Swammerdam-
Historia Insectorum Generalis-was given
to the public, but was utterly neglected
until the death of the author, in 1680,
when it was instantly discovered to be of
such value as to demand a translation.
No bookseller could be found who would
risk the expense of printing the Biblia
Naturæ, a second work from the same
pen, until it accidentally fell into the pos-
session of the learned Boerhaave, wno
published it, together with the life of
Swammerdam, in 1738. In that book,
which is still considered as one of the
most valuable we possess on the anatomy
of insects, he divides them into the four
following classes:-1. those whose char-
acters are constant, undergoing no change
whatever, and which preserve for life the
form in which they leave the ovum; spi-
ders, &c. 2. those which, on their liber-
ation from the ovum, have the appearance
of an insect without wings, but otherwise
completely formed, and that pass into the
state of a nymph or chrysalis, from which
they issue provided with wings, and fitted
for continuing the species; dragon-flies,
&c.: 3. those which, having existed in
the ovum in a disguised form, leave it un-
der the appearance of an insect (caterpil-
lar), which feeds and increases in size,
while the various parts of the new ani-
mal, into which it is to be converted, are
forming under its skin, and finally be-
comes a nymph; moths, butterflies, &c.:
4. those which, having arrived at maturi-
ty, do not divest themselves of their skin,
but pass into the chrysalis state under it,
remaining there till the metamorphosis is
completely effected, when, quitting both
skins at once, they come forth in their fi-
nal and perfect form; ichneumons, &c.-
Malpighi and Vallisnieri also enriched the
science with the results of their observa-
tions, in common with others of less note.
The Memoires, &c., of Perrault (Paris,
1671), Lister's book on spiders, the Histo-
ria Animalium Angliæ, &c. (1678), and
those of Ferrand, Mollerus and Berelio,
all tended to the same result. In 1685, a
Latin edition of the works of Goedart was
published by doctor Lister, just named, a
learned entomologist of that period, and
physician to queen Anne, who gave a new
arrangement to the materials collected by
his industrious though not very acute au-
thor, who was more of a collector and
painter of insects than a scientific observ-
er. In that work, Lister establishes 10
classes of insects:-1. moths with erect
wings, or diurnal butterflies; 2. moths
with horizontal wings, the perfect insect
of the caterpillar, called the geometra by
Goedart; 3. moths with deflected wings;
4. libellulæ; 5. bees; 6. beetles; 7. grass
hoppers; 8. dipterous flies; 9. millepedes;
and, 10. spiders. There is nothing, how-
ever, in this mode of division, which mer-
its any peculiar praise, or that should pre-
vent us from passing immediately to the
microscopical discoveries of the celebrated
Leuwenhoeck, from whose inventive ge-
nius and patient observations the science
received such essential benefit, not more
by what he himself discovered, than by
the foundation he laid for that system of
close and minute observation which alone
leads to truth. Our limits will only per-
mit us to designate Blankaart and Geyer-
us, as occupying a similar rank with Goe-
dart. Ray, however, deserves more par-
ticular notice. His descriptions are very
exact and detailed, and his various works,
Synopsis Methodica Animalium, &c. (Lond.,
1683), Synopsis Methodica Avium et Pisci-
um (Lond., 1713), and the Historia Insec-
torum (Lond., 1710), sufficiently demon-
strate his claim to the title of the first true
systematist. His was the glory of serving
as a zoological guide to the illustrious
Swedish reformer, of whom we shall soon
have to speak. Ray divides insects into
two great classes-those which undergo
a metamorphosis after having been pro-
duced, and those which do not. He
again subdivides each of these classes in-
to orders, characterized by the feet, or by
their absence; by their habitations; by
the size or conformation of the various
parts of the body; by their larvæ, &c.
In this arrangement were included cer-
tain tribes of vermes, subsequently sepa-
rated by Linnæus. The voluminous pro-
ductions, upon this subject, of the inde-
fatigable Réaumur, who directed his re-
searches into every department of science,
appeared in Paris in 6 vols., 4to., 1734-
1742. His Mémoires pour servir à l'His-
toire des Insectes-for such is its modest
title is an admirable work, both with re-
spect to the number and value of the ob
ENTOMOLOGY.
servations it contains. It is to be lament-
ed that the 7th volume, which is completed,
remains unpublished. The intended re-
maining ones were not commenced when
Réaumur died, in 1757.-But a greater
name than any we have yet mentioned is
that of the illustrious reformer of the nom-
enclature of the natural sciences. Not-
withstanding the labors of so many in-
genious, learned and acute observers of
nature, the history of animals, and that of
insects in particular, remained in a con-
fused state until the illustrious Linnæus
reduced the chaotic pile to order. Direct-
ing all the energies of his clear and com-
prehensive mind to the subject, he pro-
duced, in his well known Systema Nature,
1735, the first truly methodical work. In
a final edition of the same book, we find
an arrangement of insects differing from
that contained in the former; and, as that
is the one always referred to at the pres-
ent day, and as his divisions are, to a cer-
tain extent, still retained, we deem it
proper to notice it here. He divides in-
sects into coleoptera, hemiptera, lepidoptera,
neuroptera, hymenoptera, diptera and ap-
tera. In this class were also included the
crustacea and arachnides, now forming the
first and second classes of the third great
division of the animal kingdom, or the
animalia articulata. The system of Lin-
næus, though not a natural one, was well
adapted to the limited number of animals
then known, and which, with respect to
insects, did not exceed 800 or 900. Its
subsequent alterations necessarily arose
from the immense number of new ones
which the increasing zeal of observers de-
tected in every part of the globe. L'Ad-
miral, Detharding, Lesser, Degeer, Roesel,
Scopoli and Geoffroy, all contributed, and
some of them greatly, to multiply facts
and detect errors. Lyonnet, however, mer-
its something more than the bare mention
of his name. Animated by a zeal that no
disappointment could damp, and armed
with a patience that set obstacles at defi-
ance, this untiring inquirer devoted seven
years of his life to the anatomy of a sin-
gle insect-the larva of a species of cossus
that inhabits the willow. The plates of
his work, the Traité Anatomique de la
Chenille du Saule (4to., 1762), 18 in num-
ber, were all engraved by his own hand,
with a minuteness, fidelity and elegance
that have seldom, if ever, been equalled.
The ensemble is pronounced, by the greatest
authority of our age, a chef-d'œuvre both
of anatomy and engraving. We cannot
stop to notice particularly the labors of
Schæffer Seba, Forster and Drury, each
527

of whom added something to the general
fund of knowledge. With respect to
those of Fabricius, it is otherwise. This
celebrated entomologist, and pupil of Lin-
næus, published numerous and valuable
works on his favorite science, of which
we will only cite the Entomologia System-
atica, emendata et aucta (4 vols., 8vo., 1792
1794), the Supplementum Entomologia
Systematica (1798), and the Systema Eleu-
theratorum, Rhyngotorum, &c. (from 1801
to 1805). He was the first who had re-
course to the parts of the mouth, or organs
of manducation, as a basis of distribution;
and a vast number of new species of in-
sects were described by him, in his re-
markably concise but clear manner, with
which Gmelin, a naturalist, or rather edi-
tor, of a very different class, enriched the
Systema of Linnæus. The career of this
distinguished man, whose love of truth in
matters of science is strongly exemplified
in his well known emphatic epitaph on
John Hill, was prematurely arrested by
death in 1807, just as he was preparing
to publish his Systema Glossutorum, an ex-
tract from which is given by Illiger in his
Magazin für Insectenkunde. The splen-
did and costly works of Olivier (5 vols.,
fol., Paris, 1789-1808), Donovan (Lond.,.
1778-1805), Palisot de Beauvois (Paris,
fol., 1805 et seq.), Cramer (4 vols., 4to.,
with 400 colored plates, Amsterdam, 1779,
continued by Stoll, in 1 vol., 4to., 1790 et
seq.), together with a multitude of others
of a less magnificent description, bring our
sketch down to a period in the annals of
the natural sciences which is graced by
the name of Cuvier. It is to him that we
are indebted for what is termed the 'natu-
ral method, or an arrangement in which,
to use his own words, "all beings of the
same genus are placed nearer to each
other than to those of all other genera,
the genera of the same order similarly
disposed with respect to those of all other
orders, &c." The energy and discrimi-
nation of this modern oracle of the natural
sciences, as he has justly been styled, aid-
ed by untiring industry, have fixed the
foundations of zoology upon the immuta-
ble basis of comparative anatomy. From
the moment his Tableau élémentaire de
l'Histoire naturelle des Animaux, and his
Leçons d'Anatomie Comparée, made their
appearance, the entomologist, in common
with the cultivators of every other branch
of zoology, was sensible that he at last
held the clew by which he could hope to
traverse the hitherto impracticable laby-
rinth. The study now became a greater
object of interest than ever. Lamarck pro-
528
ENTOMOLOGY.

duced his work upon invertebral animals,
and Latreille, guided by Cuvier, soon gave
to the world his famous entomological sys-
tem, an exposition of which will close this
necessarily limited, and consequently im-
perfect sketch. Among the modern writers
of eminence on the subject of insects, Mac-
Leay, Leach and Kirby stand preeminent
in England. Prussia boasts of her Klug
and Illiger; Germany of her Knoch,
Mannerheim and Germar; Russia of her
Fischer; Sweden of her Paykull, Gyllen-
hal and Schoenherr; and France, that
favorite seat of science, of the greatest en-
tomologist of the age-the venerable La-
treille. There, too, count Dejean is at
this moment busied with his admirable
work on coleopterous insects, 4 volumes
of which are already published, and
which, when completed, will leave noth-
ing to be desired with respect to that or-
der. Leon Dufour, of the same country,
by his various memoirs on the anatomy
of a new species of brachinus, on that of
the coleoptera, of the cicadaria, of the cica-
della, of the forficulæ, &c., has given am-
ple proofs of his devotion to the science,
and of his title to the rank of the first en-
tomological anatomist of the age. Sa-
vigny, also, who sacrificed his sight to his
anatomical investigations, and was one of
the savants who accompanied the expe-
dition to Egypt, has rendered the most
important services to this branch of zool-
ogy, by his work on the mouths of insects.
But while we willingly render justice to
these distinguished foreigners, let us not
forget what is due to ourselves. Mel-
sheimer (who furnished Knoch with the
greater part of his species), Say, Hentz,
Le Conte, Harris, and many others, have
successfully exerted themselves in detect-
ing and describing the insects of the U.
States; and, at this moment, a valuable
work on the lepidoptera of North Ameri-
ca, by Messrs. Boisduval and Le Conte, is
publishing in Paris.-The history of the
first and second classes of articulated ani-
mals, or the crustacea (crabs, lobsters, &c.)
and arachnides (spiders), is so involved
with that of the third, or the insecta or in-
sects, properly so called, that but little sep-
arate allusion has been made to it. In all
the systems of which we have spoken,
these two classes were considered as in-
sects. Brisson was the first who sepa-
rated them; and his class of the crustacea,
which he placed before that of insects,
contains all those animals which have
more than six feet, or the apiropodes of
M. Savigny. It is only, however, within
a few years, that a rigorous application of
anatomical observations has enabled the
French naturalists to arrange them in
their natural order. They now form
three distinct classes of the third great
division of the animal kingdom, which
comprises the animalia articulata, or artic-
ulated animals. The crustacea and arach-
nides, being the most perfect of the three,
so far as their organization is concerned,
are placed first, and the insects last. The
subjoined tabular view shows the manner
in which they are arranged and divided
by Latreille, the great entomologist of the
day.
Synoptical View of the Entomological System of Latreille.
CLASS I.
CRUSTACEA.
FIRST GENERAL DIVISION.
MALACOSTRACA.
SECOND FAMILY.
MACROURA.
Astacus, Lat.
Anomala.
Locusta.
a. Eyes on a movable ped-
Astacini.
Carides.
Sub-genera, 42.
icle.
ORDER I.
DECAPODA.
FIRST FAMILY.
BRACHYURA.
Cancer, L.
Pinnipedes.
Arcuata.
Quadrilatera.
Orbiculata.
Trigona.
Cryptopoda.
Notopoda.
Sub-genera, 62.
ORDER II.
STOMAPODA.
FIRST FAMILY.
UNIPELTATA.
Squilla, Fab.
Sub-genera, 5.
SECOND FAMILY.
BIPELTATA.
Phyllosoma, Leach.
b. Eyes fixed and sessile.
ORDER III.
AMPHIPODA.
Gammarus, Fab.
'Sub-genera, 25.
ORDER IV.
LEMODIPODA.
Cyamus, Lat.
Sub-genera, 4.

ORDER V.
ISOPODA.
Oniscus, L.
Epicarides
Cymothoada.
Sphæromides.
Idoteides.
Asellota.
Oniscides.
Sub-genera, 35

SECOND GENERAL DIVISION.
ENTOMOSTRACA.
ORDER I.
BRANCHIOPODA.
Monoculus, L.
Lophyropa.
Phyllopa.
Sub-genera, 18.
ORDER II.
PECILOPODA.
FIRST FAMILY.
XYPHOSURA.
Limulus, Fab.
Tachypleus, Leach.
SECOND FAMILY.
SIPHONOSTOMA.
Caligides, Lat.
Lerneiformes, id.
Genera and sub-genera, 9.
TRILOBITES.
Genera, 5.
CLASS II.
ARACHNIDES.
ORDER I.
PULMONARIÆ.
FIRST FAMILY.
ARANEIDES.
Mygale, Walck.
Aranea, L.
Tubiteles.
Inequiteles.
Orbiteles.
Laterigrades.
Citigrades.
Saltigrades.
Sub-genera, 33.
SECOND FAMILY.
PEDIPALPI.
Tarantula, Fab.
Scorpio, L.
Sub-genera, 4.
ORDER II.
TRACHEARIE.
FIRST FAMILY.
PSEUDO-SCORPIONES.
Galeodes, Oliv.
Chelifer, Geoff.
SECOND FAMILY.
PYCNOGONIDES.
Pycnogonum, Brun.
Phoxichilus, Lat.
Nymphon, Fab.
THIRD FAMILY.
HOLETRA.
VOL. IV.
45
ENTOMOLOGY.
FIRST TRIBE.
PHALANGITA.
Phalangium, L.
Gonoleptes.
Siro.
Macrocheles.
Trogulus.
SECOND TRIBE.
ACARIDES.
Acarus, L.
Sub-genera, 19.
CLASS III.
INSECTA.
ORDER I.
MYRIOPODA.
FIRST FAMILY.
CHILOGNATHA.
Iulus, L.
Sub-genera, 5.
SECOND FAMILY.
CHILOPODA.
Scolopendra, L.
Sub-genera, 2.
ORDER II.
THYSANOURA.
FIRST FAMILY.
LEPISMENE.
Lepisma, L.
Sub-genera, 2.
SECOND FAMILY.
PODURELLE,
Podura, L.
Sub-genera, 2.
ORDER III.
PARASITA.
Pediculus, L.
Sub-genera, 8.
ORDER IV.
SUCTORIA.
Pulex, L.
ORDER VER
COLEOPTERA.
due
FIRST GREAT DIVISION.
Pentamera.
FIRST FAMILY.
CARNIVORA.
FIRST TRIBE.
CICINDELITE.
D
Cicindela, L. M
Sub-genera, 9.
SECOND TRIBE.
CARABICI.
Carabus, L.
Truncatipennes.
Bipartiti.
Quadrimani.
Simplicimani.
Patellimani.
Grandipalpi.
Subulipalpi.
Sub-genera, 123
THIRD TRIBE.
HYDROCANTHARI
Dytiscus, Geoff
Gyrinus, L.
Sub-genera, 6.
SECOND FAMILY.
BRACHELYTRA.
Staphylinus, L.
Fissilabra.
Longipalpi.
Denticrura.
Depressa.
Microcephala.
Sub-genera, 24
THIRD FAMILY
SERRICORNES
Section I.
STERNOXI.
FIRST TRIBE.
BUPRESTIDES
Buprestis, L.
Sub-genera, 4.
SECOND TRIBE.
ELATERIDES.
Elater, L.
Sub-genera, 14.
Section II.3
MALACODERMES
FIRST TRIBE.
CEBRIONITES..
Cebrio, L.
Sub-genera, 12.
SECOND TRIBE.
LAMPYRIDES
Lampyris, L.
Sub-genera, 11.
THIRD TRIBE.
MELYRIDES.
Melyris, Fab.
Sub-genera, 6.
FOURTH TRIBE.
I CLERII.
Clerus, Geoff.
Sub-gencra, 10
FIFTH TRIBE.
FTINIORES
Ptinus, L.
Sub-genera, 6
1
529









530
Section III.
XYLOTROGI.
Lymexylon, Fab.
Sub-genera, 4.
FOURTH FAMILY.
CLAVICORNES.
Section I.
FIRST TRIBE.
PALPATORES.
Mastigus, Hoff.
MrSub-genera, 2.
d
SECOND TRIBE.
HISTEROIDES.
Hister, L.
Sub-genera, 6.
THIRD TRIBE.
SILPHALES.
Silpha, L.
Sub-genera, 9.
FOURTH TRIBE.
SCAPHIDITES.
by Scaphidium, Oliv.
Sub-genera, 2.
FIFTH TRIBE.
NITIDULARIÆ.
Nitidula, Fab.
Sub-genera, 6.
SIXTH TRIBE.
ENGIDITES.
Dacne, Lat.
Sub-genera, 2.
SEVENTH TRIBE.
DERMESTINI.
Dermestes, L.
Sub-genera, 6
EIGHTH TRIBE.
BIRRHII.
Byrrhus, L.
Sub-genera, 2.
Section II.
FIRST TRIBE.
ACANTHOPODA.
Heterocerus, Bosc.
SECOND TRIBE.]
MACRODACTYLA
Dryops, Oliv.
Sub-genera, 4.
FIFTH FAMILY.
"PALPICORNES.
FIRST TRIBE.
HYDROPHILII.
Hydrophilus, Geoff.
Sub-genera, 9.
SECOND TRIBE.
SPHERIDIOTA.
Sphæridium, Fab.
Sub-genus, 1.
ENTOMOLOGY.
SIXTH FAMILY.
LAMELLICORNES.
FIRST TRIBE.
SCARABEIDES.
Scarabæus, L.
Coprophagi.
Arenicoli.
Xylophili.
Phyllophagi.
Anthobii.
Melitophili.
Sub-genera, 80,
SECOND TRIBE.
LUCANIDES.
Lucanus, L.
Passalus, Oliv.
Sub-genera, 7.
SECOND GENERAL DIVISION.
Heteromera.
FIRST FAMILY.
MELASOMA.
Pimeliariæ.
Blapsides.
Tenebrionites.
Sub-genera, 36.
SECOND FAMILY.
TAXICORNES.
FIRST TRIBE
DIAPERIALES.
Diaperis, Geoff.
Sub-genera, 8.
SECOND TRIBE.
COSSYPHENES.
Cossyphus, Oliv.
Sub-genera, 2.
THIRD FAMILY.
STENELYTRA.
FIRST TRIBE.
HELOPII.
Helops, Fab.
Sub-genera, 14.
SECOND TRIBE.
CISTELIDES.
Cistela, Fab.
Sub-genera, 3.
THIRD TRIBE.
SERROPALPIDES.
Dircæa, Fab.
Sub-genera, 7.
FOURTH TRIBE.
CEDEMERITES.
Edemera, Oliv.
Sub-genera, 4.
FIFTH TRIBE.
RHYNCHOSTOMA.
Mycterus, Clairv.
Sub-genera, 2
FOURTH FAMILY
TRACHELIDES.
FIRST TRIBE.
LAGRIARIÆ.
Lagria, Fab.
Sub-genera, 2.
SECOND TRIBE.
PYROCHROIDES.
Pyrochroa, Geoff.
Sub-genus, 1.
THIRD TRIBE.
MORDELLONE.
Mordella, L.
Sub-genera, 5.
FOURTH TRIBE.
ANTHICIDES.
Notoxus, Geoff.
Sub-genera, 2.
FIFTH TRIBE.
HORIALES.
Horia, Fab.
Sub-genus, 1.
SIXTH TRIBE.
CANTHARIDE
Meloe, L.
Sub-genera, 12.
THIRD GENERAL DIVISION
Tetramera.
FIRST FAMILY.
RHYNCHOPHORA
Bruchus.
Attelabus.
Brentus.
Brachycerus.
Curculio.
Lixus.
Rhynchænus.
Calandra.
Sub-genera, 51.
SECOND FAMILY.
XYLOPHAGI.
Scolytus.
Paussus.
Bostrichus.
Monotoma.
Lyctus.
Mycetophagus.
Trogosita.
Sub-genera, 23
THIRD FAMILY.
PLATYSOMA.
Cucujus, Fab.
Sub-genera, 2.
FOURTH FAMILY.
LONGICORNES
VI 10V
OHW-30 ENTOMOLOGY. NOTE
FIRST TRIBE.
PRIONII.
Parandra.
Spondylis.
Prionus.
SECOND TRIBE.
CERAMBICINI
Cerambyx,
L.
Sub-genera, 16.
Obrium.
Rhinotragus.
Necydalis.
Distichocheres.
Temesisternus.
Tragocerus.
Leptocera.
Sub-genus, 1.
THIRD TRIBE.
LAMIARIE.
Acrocinus.
Lamia.
Sub-genera, 12.
FOURTH TRIBE.
LEPTURETÆ.
Leptura, L.
Sub-genera, 6.
FIFTH FAMILY.
EUPODA.
FIRST TRIBE.
SAGRIDES.
Sagra, Fab.
Sub-genera, 3.
SECOND TRIBE.
CRIOCERIDES.
Crioceris, Geoff.
Sub-genera, 6.
SIXTH FAMILY.
CYCLICA.
FIRST TRIBE.
CASSIDARIZE.
Hispa.
Cassida.
Sub-genera, 3.
SECOND TRIBE.
CHRYSOMELINE.
Cryptocephalus.
Chrysomela.
Sub-genera, 15.
THIRD TRIBE.
GALERUCITE.
Galeruca.
Sub-genera, 9.
SEVENTH FAMILY.
CLAVIPALPI.
Erotylus, Fab
Sub-gers &
FOURTH GENERAL DIVISION.
Trimera.
FIRST FAMILY.
FUNGICOLE.
SECOND FAMILY
APHIDII.
Psylla.
Thrips.
Aphis.
Eumorphus.
Sub-genera, 3.
SECOND FAMILY.
APHIDIPHAGI.
Coccinella, L.
Sub-genera, 2.
THIRD FAMILY.
PSELAPHII.
Pselaphus.
Claviger.
Sub-genera, 7.
ORDER VI.
ORTHOPTERA.
FIRST FAMILY.
CURSORIA.
Forficula.
Blatta.
Mantis.
Sub-genera, 15.
SECOND FAMILY.
SALTATORIA.
Gryllus.
Locusta.
Acrydium.
Sub-genera, 15.
ORDER VII.
HEMIPTERA.
Section I.
Heteroptera.
FIRST FAMILY.
GEOCORISE.
Cimex, L.
Sub-genera, 40.
SECOND FAMILY.
HYDROCORISE.
Nepa.
Notonecta.
Sub-genera, 5.
Section II.
Homoptera.
FIRST FAMILY.
CICADARIE.
Cicada.
Fulgora.
wellCicadella,
total genera, 29.
Solay
il
Sub-genera, 3.
THIRD FAMILY.
GALLINSECTA.
Coccus, L.
Sub-genus, 1.
ORDER VIII.
NEUROPTERA.
FIRST FAMILY.
SUBULICORNES
Libellula.
Ephemera.
Sub-genera, 2.
SECOND FAMILY
PLANIPENNES.
Panorpatæ.
Myrmeleonides.
Hemerobini.
Termitinæ.
Perlides.
Genera, 8. Sub-genera, 12
THIRD FAMILY.
PLICIPENNES.
Phryganea.
Sub-genera. 4.
ORDER IX.
HYMENOPTERA.
Section I.
Terebrantia.
FIRST FAMILY
SECURIFERA.
FIRST TRIBE.
TENTHREDINETE.
Tenthredo, L.
Sub-genera, 19.
SECOND TRIBE.
UROCERATA
Sirex, L.
Sub-genus, 1.
SECOND FAMILY
PUPIVORA.
FIRST TRIBE.
EVANIALES.
Fonus.
Sub-genera, 4.
SECOND I'RIBE.
ICHNEUMONIDES.
ront Ichneumon, L.
ve seb-genera. 20.
line
531



20.ivong

532
ENTOMOLOGY-ENTRE-DUERO-E-MINHO.
THIRD TRIBE.
GALLICOLE.
Cynips, L.
Sub-genera, 2.
FOURTH TRIBE.
CHALCIDIE.
Chalcis, Fab.
Sub-genera, 16.
FIFTH TRIBE.
OXYURI.
Bethylus, Fab.
Sub-genera, 11.
SIXTH TRIBE.
CHRYSIDES.
Chrysis, L.
Sub-genera, 6.
Section II.
Aculeata.
FIRST FAMILY.
HETEROGYNA.
Formica.
Mutilla.
Sub-genera, 15.
SECOND FAMILY.
FOSSORES.
Scolietæ.
Sapygites.
19
Sphegides.
Bembecides.
Larrates.
Nyssones.
Crabronites.
Sub-genera, 38.
THIRD FAMILY.
DIPLOPTERA.
FIRST TRIBE.
MASARIDES.
Masaris, Fab.
Sub-genus, 1.
SECOND TRIBE.
VESPARIÆ.
Vespa, L.
Sub-genera, 9.
FOURTH FAMILY.
ANTHOPHILA.
Section I.
Andreneta.
Sub-genera, 6.
Section II.
Apiaria.
Sub-genera, 38.
ORDER X.
LEPIDOPTERA.
FIRST FAMILY.
DIURNA.
Papilio, L.
Sub-genera, 29.
SECOND FAMILY.
CREPUSCULARIA.
Sphinx, L.
Sub-genera, 13.
THIRD FAMILY.
NOCTURNES.
Phalana, L.
Section I.
Hepialites.
Sub-genera, 3.
Section II.
Bombycites.
Sub-genera, 2.
Section III.
Pseudo-Bombyces.
Sub-genera, 8.
Section IV.
Aposura.
Sub-genera, 2.
Section V.
Noctualites.
Sub-genus, 1.
Section VI.
Tortrices.
Sub-genera, 4.
Section VII.
Geometræ.
Sub-genera, 3.
Section VIII.
Deltoides.
Sub-genus, 1.
Section IX.
Tineites.
Sub-genera, 12.
Section X.YI
Pterophorites.
Sub-genus, 1.
ORDER XI.
RHIPIPTERA.
Xenos.
Stylops.
ENTRE-DUERO-E-MINHO; a province
of Portugal, bounded north by Galicia, a
province of Spain; east by Tralos-Mon-
tes and Spain; south by Beira, from
ORDER XII.
DIPTERA.
FIRST FAMILY.
NEMOCERA.
Culex.
Tipula.
Sub-genera, 49.
SECOND FAMILY.
TANYSTOMA.
Asilus.
Empis.
Cyrtus.
Bombylius.
Anthrax.
Thereva.
Leptis.
Dolychopus.
Sub-genera, 45.
THIRD FAMILY.
TABANIDES.
Tabanus, L.
Sub-genera, 7.
FOURTH FAMILY.
NOTACANTHA.
Mydas.
Chiromyza.
Pachystomus.
Stratiomys.
Sub-genera, 16.
FIFTH FAMILY.
ATHERICERA.
FIRST TRIBE
SYRPHIDE
Syrphus, L.
Sub-genera, 24.
SECOND TRIBE.
CESTRIDES.
Estrus, L.
Sub-genera, 5.
THIRD TRIBE.
CONOPSARIE.
Conops, L.
Sub-genera, 6.
FOURTH TRIBE.
MUSCIDES.
Musca, L.
Sub-genera, 73
SIXTH FAMILY.
PUPIPARA.
Hippobosca, L.
Nycteribia, Lat.
Sub-genera, 8.
which it is separated by the river Duero
and west by the Atlantic: square miles,
according to Hassel, 2121; others, 3455:
population, according to Antillon. 907,965,
ENTRE-DUERO-E-MINHO-EPAMINONDAS.
Ebeling, 817,167; Barros, 1,123,495: hous-
es, 181,853. It takes its name from its sit-
uation between the rivers Duero and Min-
ho, the latter of which waters part of
its northern borders, as the former bounds
the south about 60 miles from north to
south, and 35 from east to west. The
soil is fertile, and the air pure and healthy.
It produces corn, wine, oil and flax in
abundance, with great numbers of sheep,
and plenty of game and fish. It is di-
vided into 6 jurisdictions, which contain
1460 churches, 963 parishes, and 1130
convents. It has several seaports, situ-
ated on navigable rivers, which render it
very commercial. The principal towns
are Braga (the capital), Oporto (the largest
town), Viana, Guimaraens, Amarante,
Moncao, and Ponte de Lima.
ENTRESOLE. The same as Attic. (q. v.)
ENVOY. (See Ministers, Foreign, and
Diplomacy.)
EOLIAN HARP. (See Eolian Harp.)
EOLIANS. (See Eolians.)
EOLIPILE. (See Eolipile.)
EOLUS. (See Eolus.)
EON, THE CHEVALIER DE. (See D'Eon.)
Eos. (See Aurora.)
EPACTS (from inayo, induco, intercalo),
in chronology; the excesses of the solar
month above the lunar synodical month,
and of the solar year above the lunar year
of twelve synodical months; or of several
solar months above as many synodical
months, and several solar years above as
many dozen of synodical months. The
epacts, then, are either annual or men-
strual.
Menstrual Epacts are the excesses of
the civil or calendar month above the
lunar month. Suppose, for example, it
were new moon on the first day of Janu-
ary; since the lunar month is 29 days,
12 hours, 44 minutes, 3 seconds, and the
month of January contains 31 days, the
menstrual epact is 1 day, 11 hours, 15
minutes, 57 seconds.
Annual Epacts are the excesses of the
solar year above the lunar. Hence, as
the Julian solar year is 365 days, 6 hours,
and the Julian lunar year 354 days, 8
hours, 48 minutes, 38 seconds, the annual
epact will be 10 days, 21 hours, 11 min-
utes, 22 seconds, that is, nearly 11 days.
Consequently, the epact of 2 years is 22
days; of 3 years, 33 days, or rather 30,
since 30 days make an embolismic or in-
tercalary month. Thus the epact of 4
years is 14 days, and so of the rest; and
thus, every 19th year, the epact becomes
30, or 0; consequently, the 20th year, the
epact is 11 again; and so the cycle of
533

epacts expires with the golden number, or
lunar cycle of 19 years, and begins with
the same; these are Julian epacts: the Gre-
gorian depend upon the same principles,
allowing only for the difference of the re-
spective years. As the new moons are
the same, that is, as they fall on the same
day after every 19 years, so the difference
between the lunar and solar years is the
same after every 19 years. And, because
the said difference is always to be added
to the lunar year, in order to adjust or
make it equal to the solar year, therefore
the said difference respectively belonging
to each year of the moon's cycle, is called
the epact of the said year, that is, the
number to be added to the same year, to
make it equal to the solar year.
Rule to find the Gregorian Epact. The
difference between the Julian and Gre-
gorian years being equal to the difference
between the solar and lunar year, or 11
days, therefore the Gregorian epact for
any year is the same with the Julian
epact for the preceding year; and hence
the Gregorian epact will be found by
subtracting 1 from the golden number,
multiplying the remainder by 11, and
rejecting the 30s. This rule will serve
till the year 1900; but, after that year, the
Gregorian epact will be found by this
rule: Divide the centuries of the given
year by 4, multiply the remainder by 17
then to this product add 43 times the quo
tient, and also the number 86, and divide
the whole sum by 25, reserving the quo-
tient: next multiply the golden number
by 11, and from the product subtract the re-
served quotient, and the remainder, after
rejecting all the 30s contained in it will
be the epact sought. The following table
contains the golden numbers, with their
corresponding epacts, till the year 1900.
Table of Gregorian Epacts.
Golden
Number.
Epacts.
Golden
Number.
Epacts.
Golden
Number.
Epacts.
I.
0
VIII. 17 XV. 4
II.
11
IX. 28 XVI. 15
III.
22
X. 9 XVII. 26
IV.
3
XI.
20 XVIII. 7
V. 14
XII.
1 XIX. 18
2423
VI. 25 XIII. 12
VII. 6 XIV. 23
I.
0
EPAMINONDAS; a Theban hero, wno,
for a short time, raised his country to the
summit of power and prosperity. He
was descended from the ancient kings of
Boeotia, but was without fortune, and
lived in seclusion till his 40th year. He
was fortunate in enjoying the instructions
45*
534
PAGEPAMINONDAS-EPAULETTE.BICAS

of the Pythagorean philosopher, Lysis,
who inspired him with the high senti-
ments which ennobled his life. He
made his first public appearance in Spar-
ta, whither he had been sent, with others,
at the invitation of the Lacedæmonians, in
order to end the war between the two
countries by negotiation. In this affair,
he displayed as much firmness and dig-
nity as eloquence, and steadfastly opposed
the surrender of the towns of Boeotia, in
the possession of Thebes. The war was
continued, and Epaminondas was made
general. With 6000 men, he defeated
the invading army, of double the number,
at Leuctra (378 B. C.). He led the at-
tack in person on the enemy's phalanx,
while his friend Pelopidas, at the head of
the sacred band, fell upon their flank.
The Spartans lost their king, Cleombro-
tus, and 4000 men. Two years after,
Epaminondas and Pelopidas were made
Bootarchs. They invaded Peloponnesus
together, detached several nations from
the alliance of Lace læmon, and delivered
the Messenians, whose capital they re-
built. Epaminondas then marched with
his army to Sparta, but this city was so
bravely and skilfully defended by Agesi-
laus, that the Theben hero, finding winter
approaching, and the Athenians now in
declared hostility with Thebes, evacuated
Laconia, after laying waste the low coun-
try. An accusation was brought against
him, on his arrival in Thebes, because he
and Pelopidas had kept the Bootarchate
beyond the legal time. "Yes," he re-
plied, "I have deserved death; yet I pray
that you would write on my grave-The
Thebans put Epaminondas to death, be-
cause he compelled them, at Leuctra, to
attack and overcome those whom they
had never before dared to meet; because
his victory delivered his country, and
made Greece free; because the Thebans
were led by him to the siege of Lacedæ-
mon, which thought itself fortunate in es-
caping total ruin; because he rebuilt Mes-
sene, and secured it with strong walls.""
These words produced a general excite-
ment in his favor, and he was acquitted.
After procuring, by his influence, the
freedom of Pelopidas, who was kept pris-
oner by the tyrant of Pheræ, a new war
broke out between Sparta and Thebes.
Both sides raised large armies. Epami-
nondas invaded Peloponnesus again, and
advanced suddenly upon Lacedæmon,
which he expected to find destitute of de-
fenders. But Agesilaus, having been ap-
prised of his march, had hastened back,
and was prepared to meet him. The
On
Thebans, however, attacked him, and
forced their way into the middle of the
city; but despair stimulated the courage
of the Lacedæmonians, and the Thebans
were forced to retreat. To make amends
for this failure, Epaminondas marchel
with 33,000 men into Arcadia, where
the greatest force of the enemy was as-
sembled. Here was fought the battle of
Mantinea. Epaminondas led one of the
wings against the Lacedæmonian pha-
lanx, and routed it; but was surrounded
by the enemy, while he was pursuing
them, and wounded in the breast by a
javelin. After a hard conflict, the The-
bans rescued his body and shield.
the other wing, the battle was indecisive;
and both parties, on hearing of the death
of Epaminondas, had retired, after erect-
ing a trophy. The hero was still alive,
but was informed by the physicians that
he must die as soon as the weapon was
extracted from the wound. When news
of the victory was brought him, he ex-
claimed, "I have lived long enough,"
and drew out the weapon with his own
hands. His friends regretting that he
left no children, "I leave," said he, "two
immortal daughters, the victories at Leuc-
tra and Mantinea." He died 363 B. C.,
aged 48. He has been extolled no less for
his moral purity, goodness and gentle-
ness, than his military talents. He never
uttered a falsehood, even in jest. He was
a man, as Nepos says, adorned with every
virtue, and stained by no vice.
EPAULEMENT, in fortification, is a kind
of breastwork, to cover the troops in front,
and sometimes in flank. This term is fre-
quently used for any work thrown up to de-
fend the flank of a post, or any other place.
EPAULETTE (the French diminutive of
epaule, shoulder) signifies a military orna-
ment, worn on the shoulder. It origin-
ated, in the time of Louis XIV, from the
riband by which the belt sustaining the
sword was kept from slipping from the
shoulder. In some armies, every officer
wears them, as in the Prussian; but there is
a sufficient difference between those worn
by different ranks, to enable a lieutenant or
a captain to be distinguished immediately
from a major or a colonel, and these again
from the generals-a circumstance some-
times of great importance in battles. This
means of distinction has this advantage,
that it is not obvious to the enemy, as white
plumes, &c., are. In the Russian and
Prussian armies, every officer has two
epaulettes; in the French army, this is
not the case, but the shoulder on which
the epaulette is worn distinguishes a cap-
EPAULETTE-DE L'EPEE.
tain or lieutenant. Many troops in the
French service wear woollen epaulettes;
for instance, the grenadiers; and Napo-
leon thought them an efficient protection
of the shoulder against the blows of
swords. Many of his cavalry and infan-
try had epaulettes. Epaulettes have been
Introduced into the English navy, and, in
that service, the following are the grada-
tions of rank, as distinguished by them.
Masters and commanders have one ep-
aulette on the left shoulder; post-cap-
tains, under three years, one epaulette on
the right shoulder, afterwards two epau-
lettes; rear-admirals have one star on the
strap of the epaulette, vice-admirals two
stars, and admirals three stars. Epau-
lettes are also worn by many civil officers
on the continent of Europe, when in uni-
form.
EPÉE, Charles Michael (abbé de l').
This benefactor of the deaf and dumb
was born, 1712, at Versailles. He had
chosen the clerical profession, but, being
unwilling to subscribe to the formulary
of faith introduced on the occasion of the
Jansenist controversy, he devoted himself
to law for a while, but was afterwards
preacher, and canon at Troyes. His in-
timacy with the celebrated bishop Soanen,
and the accordance of their religious sen-
timents, drew upon him the displeasure
of the archbishop of Paris, who forbade
the abbé, for some time, to hear confes-
sions, even those of his pupils. The idea
of bestowing on the deaf and dumb the
advantages of society, by means of a lan-
guage of signs, was not first conceived
by him, though, according to his own
account, it arose in his mind without any
foreign suggestion. As early as the end of
the 16th century, a Spanish Benedictine
monk, Pedro de Ponce, had educated two
children of the constable of Castile, who
were born deaf and dumb, so successfully
that they were able not only to read and
write, but also learned arithmetic, several
languages, and the principles of religion,
and even gained some knowledge of nat-
ural philosophy and astronomy. In Eng-
land, Switzerland, &c., successful exper-
iments had also been made with the deaf
and dumb, and, in 1748, a Spaniard,
named Pereira, came to Paris, and ex-
hibited to the academy of sciences some
deaf and dumb persons, educated by
him, who excited general astonishment
by their acquirements. None of these
teachers, however, had published any
thing on the method employed by them,
and, excepting the works of J. P. Bonet
and Ramirez, both Spaniards, only im-
53

perfect accounts of it had ever been given
to the world. So that it is plain that De
l'Epée was, in some measure, the invent-
or of this mode of instruction, which he
first tried on two sisters, and found his
efforts so successful, that he resolved to
devote his life to the business. This
noble-spirited man was a true father to
the unfortunate, for whom he established
an institution at his own expense. He
spent his whole income, besides what
was contributed by benevolent patrons,
such as the duke of Penthièvre, in the
education and maintenance of his pupils,
for whose wants he provided with such
disinterested devotion, that he often de-
prived himself of the necessaries of life.
He once, when quite advanced in years,
passed the winter without fuel, in order
that his adopted children might suffer no
want of any thing, and he was often mis-
erably dressed, while they were constant-
ly well clothed. This benevolent zeal he
carried so far as to derange his pecuniary
affairs, and to excite the displeasure of
his relations; and yet he sent a request
to Catharine II of Russia, who was de-
sirous to aid him, that she would send
him a deaf and dumb boy from her do-
minions, instead of presents. His com-
passion for a deaf and dumb youth whom
he found in rags, in the streets of Pe-
ronne, involved him in much difficulty.
He was convinced that this forlorn youth
was the injured heir of the rich family of
the count of Solar: he took him under
his protection, and demanded the restora-
tion of his rights. A lawsuit followed,
which was at first decided in his favor;
but when he and the duke of Penthièvre
(the only protectors of the poor Joseph
Solar) were dead, the decision was re-
voked, and the youth, driven into poverty
again, was compelled to enter the army
as a common cuirassier, and died soon
after in an hospital. (This has been made
the subject of a play by Bouilly, L'Abbé de
l'Epée, which is rather a narration in dia-
logue than a drama, and which Kotzebue
has prepared for the German stage, un-
der the same title.) The abbé de l'Epée
died in 1789. Notwithstanding his efforts,
he never could accomplish his favorite
project, an institution for the deaf and
dumb at the public expense, which was
first obtained by his successor, the abbe
Sicard, who has much improved the
mode of instruction. De l'Epée left sev-
eral writings on the instruction of the
deaf and dumb, and the method pursued
by him. Of all the societies in Europe,
the philanthropic society at Paris was the
536
DE L'EPEE-EPHORI.

only one which did itself the honor of
choosing this remarkable man among its
members. (See the article Dumb and
Deaf, where the subject of their instruc-
tion is treated at length.)
EPERNAY, a place in France, depart
ment of the Marne, five leagues and a
half from Rheims, with 5000 inhabitants,
is the principal place of the trade in
champagne. (q. v.) Near the place are
large caves, cut in chalk, in which great
numbers of bottles of champagne are stor-
ed, arranged according to the vineyards.
EPHEMERA; the name of a genus of
insects, belonging to the order neuroptera,
which is thus characterized: wings four,
erect, reticulated, posterior ones much
smaller; extremity of the abdomen fur-
nished with three filiform appendages.
May-fly or day-fly is the popular name
of the ephemeræ, of which there are sev-
eral species. From the short duration
of the existence of these insects, the term
ephemeral has been derived, which is used
to signify any thing short-lived or tempo-
rary. The larvæ, or grubs, inhabit stand-
ing and running waters, usually abound-
ing in the latter. As baits for fish, they
are much esteemed, and the perfect insect
is also used for the same purpose. Great
numbers fall into the water, and become
the prey of fishes and birds; and they
exist in such quantities in Carniola, that
when dead they are collected in baskets,
and even in carts, to be used as manure
for the land. We are informed that the
country people think they have been un-
successful, if each does not procure 20
cart-loads of them for that purpose.
Those who have witnessed the occasional
migrations of locusts and other predatory
insects, will not think this incredible.
The ephemere live but a few hours, after
becoming perfect insects, appearing gen-
erally a short time before sunset, flying
about in the most irregular manner, rising
and descending like gnats, in immense
swarms. They emerge from the chrys-
alis, on the banks of the stream, and
make their exit from the envelope or
case. A curious circumstance in their
history is, that, after the developement of
the perfect insect, it is incapable of per-
forming the offices of reproduction, until it
has regularly moulted for the second time.
The skin is found attached to walls, twigs
of trees, &c., in the situations where they
are common. When at rest, these insects
preserve the wings in a vertical position,
and are found in this position, in a se-
mi-torpid state, a short time previous to
their death, which follows almost imme-
diately after the impregnation of the fe-
male. In the state of larvæ, they are said
to live a year, and in that of the chrysalis
or pupa, two years. Respiration is con-
ducted through branchial tufts along the
back, and the pupa differs from the larva
only in having dorsal appendages, in
which the wings are enclosed. One spe-
cies known to naturalists deviates from
the characters of the order in having but
two wings, but in other respects corre-
sponding to its brethren. In America,
they rarely appear in such quantities as
in Europe, and in no part of it, we be-
lieve, are they so abundant as to be re-
markable.
EPHEMERIDES, in astronomy; tables
calculated by astronomers, showing the
present state of the heavens, for every
day at noon; that is, the places wherein
all the planets are found at that time. It
is from these tables that the eclipses,
conjunctions and aspects of the planets
are determined, horoscopes or celestial
schemes constructed, &c.
EPHESUS, the capital of Ionia, in Asia
Minor, was built, according to Justin, by
the Amazons; according to Strabo, by
Androchus, the son of Codrus. It was
the grand emporium of western Asia,
having a convenient and spacious harbor.
Though repeatedly destroyed by war and
earthquakes, it was soon rebuilt. It was
famous for its temple of Diana, called
Artemision, and situated between the town
and the harbor, the chief architect of
which was Cheresiphon, or Ctesiphon.
It was of the Ionic order. The nations
of all Asia Minor were employed 220
years on this edifice, which was 425 feet
long, and 200 broad, and was adorned
with 127 pillars, each 60 feet high. Still
more worthy of notice were the numer-
ous statues and paintings of the most
celebrated Grecian masters, to be seen
there. It had been destroyed 7 or 8
times before Pliny wrote, particularly by
the notorius Erostratus, 356 B. C., whose
only object in burning the temple was to
perpetuate his name. The temple, how-
ever, was rebuilt, with more magnificence
than ever, by the Ephesians, whose wom-
en contributed their trinkets to the gene-
ral fund raised for this purpose. Its ruins
are now the residence of cowherds and
their cattle, and the once splendid city is
a poor village, called Aiasoluk. Hirt has
written on the temple of Ephesus.
EPHIALTES; the same as incubus.
(q. v.)
EPHIALTES. (See Aloides.)
EPHORI; magistrates of Sparta, estab-

EPHORI-EPIC.
lished, as some think, by Theopompus,
745 B. C., or, according to others, by Ly-
curgus, to conduct the internal adminis-
tration, particularly the judicial business,
during the absence of the kings. They had
an especial superintendence over the edu-
cation of youth. They were five in num-
ber, chosen from the people, and held
their office only a year; but soon began
to lessen the power of the kings, and fa-
voured oligarchy.
EPHRAIMITES. Frederic the Great, in
the seven years' war, established a mint at
Leipsic, which he let to the Jews Ephraim,
Itsig and company. The amount of rent,
increasing from year to year, rose at last
to $7,000,000 of the bad money coined
there. The Jewish contractors struck off
a vast quantity of eight groschen pieces,
which depreciated in value every year, so
that the fine mark, in 1761, rose to 35 dol-
lars, and the old Augustus and Frederic
d'or passed for 20 dollars. To impose on
the public, the number of the year 1753
was put upon these small coins. The
people gave these eight groschen pieces
the name of Ephraimites. At the end of
the war, they were redeemed by the Saxon
government.
EPHRATA; an irregular village built
and occupied by a society of Seventh-day
Baptists, on the Cocalico creek, in Lancas-
ter county, Pennsylvania, 60 miles from
the city of Philadelphia, and 38 from Har-
risburg. This society, usually denominat-
ed the Dunkers, was founded by Conrad
Beissel, a German of much intelligence
and piety, who had received a regular ed-
ucation at Halle, and took orders as a Cal-
vinistic minister; but, being persecuted for
his opinions on some points of theology,
which he could not reconcile to his mind,
he left Europe, and retired to this place
about the year 1720, and soon formed a
little colony, called Ephrata, in allusion to
the Hebrews who used to sing psalms on
the borders of the Euphrates. It contains
several very ancient and singular buildings,
the principal of which are a brother and
a sister house. The two houses for the
brethren and sisters are very large, and are
four stories high: each contains a chapel,
and is divided into small apartments, so
that six dormitories, which are barely
large enough to contain a cot (in former
times, a bench and block for the head), a
closet and an hour-glass, surround a com-
nion room, in which each mess have their
meals and pursue their respective avoca-
tions. This people are remarkable for
their rigid adherence to the precepts and
ordinances of the New Testament, even to
537
the washing of the feet before administer-
ing the sacrament; and do not admit of
any innovations whatever on the estab-
lished forms and ceremonies of Christ.
They are very observant of the Sabbath
(the seventh day). The dress of the breth-
ren and sisters is that of the Franciscans
or White Friars. The members of the
society are now much dispersed; a large
body of them now live in community at
the Antietam in Franklin county, Penn-
sylvania. At one period, about 60 or 70
years since, they were very numerous,
exceeding 500 in the cloister. The few
that remain in the convent, and the mem-
bers in the adjacent country, differ in no
respect from their neighbors in dress or
manners, though they live in the faith of
their fathers, and are remarked for their
exemplary lives and deportment. The
ancient community entertained some opin-
ions, which, in the present day, are deem-
ed visionary, and the product of enthusi-
asm and speculation. They are much
misrepresented, however, by those writers
who assert, that they live chiefly upon
roots and other vegetables, the rules of
the society not allowing them flesh, ex-
cept on particular occasions; that they
consider future happiness to be attained
only by penance and outward mortifica-
tion in this life; and that they disclaim
violence, even in cases of self-defence,
and suffer themselves to be defrauded or
wronged rather than go to law. These
writers are also in error when they state
that they allow no intercourse between
the brethren and sisters, not even by mar-
riage. On the contrary, whenever two
wish to engage in the bonds of wedlock,
they are aided by the society, though they
consider celibacy a virtue. They are
peaceful, and their manner of living is
temperate; but they enjoy in moderation
the same temporal goods and comforts as
their fellow men. They are distinguished
for their music, which is peculiar, com-
posed and arranged by themselves.
EPI; a Greek preposition (ni), having a
number of significations-on, upon, in,
over, above, under, before, &c. This was
the reason of its being compounded with
many words which passed over into Latin,
and thence into English, as a number of
the following articles will show.
EPIC; a poem of the narrative kind
This is all that is properly signified by the
word, although we generally understand
by it a poem of an elevated character,
describing the exploits of heroes. With-
out entering into the various theories of
epic composition, we shall state the views
538
01
EPIC.

of one of the most distinguished critics
of our age-A. W. von Schlegel-on this
subject. As action is the object of the
drama (q. v.), so narration is that of the
epic. But as the event related is some-
thing already past, the epic is less stirring
than the drama, which represents an ac-
tion as just happening, and therefore fills
the mind with a lively excitement; hence
the more quiet tone of the epic, and the
pauses which may be allowed in the in-
terest of the description, whilst the char-
acter of the drama is to set before the
spectator a rapid succession of actions,
and completely engross him in the exhi-
bition; hence, too, the poet is allowed to
introduce passages of philosophical reflec-
tions (the frequency and propriety of
which, of course, must be regulated by
the taste and judgment of the writer);
nay, the very epithets by which the per-
sons and events of the epic poem are de-
signated, are of a descriptive character,
and indicate the poet's observation of
what is going on; whilst, in the drama, he
must not make himself visible at all. The
epic is not a hasty journey, in which we
hurry towards a certain end, but an ex-
cursion, on which we take time to view
many objects on the road, which the art
of the poet presents to amuse us. Jean
Paul Richter, in his Vorschule der Aesthetik
(Introduction to Esthetics), says on this
point: "The epic poet may fly from re-
gion to region, between heaven and hell,
but he must, at least, describe his flight and
his way. Slow and prolonged description
is allowed in the epic. How long does
Achilles rage! How slow is the death
of Christ!* Hence the propriety of a
calm and minute description of the shield
of Achilles; hence the propriety of the
episode. The multitude of actors retards,
like a number of wheels in clock-work,
the course of the machine; since each
actor requires room for his action. Nov-
els are epic compositions, and follow the
same rules. Yorick's journey occupies
but three days; the fifth book of Don
Quixote is confined to one evening, in a
tavern. The action of the poem becomes
tedious, it is true, in case of repetition, and
stops when action foreign to the main
purpose is introduced; but the main ac-
tion of the poem may be divided into
parts without being exposed to the charge
of these faults, as the unity of a day is
not destroyed by its division into hours."
Unity, indeed, is necessary in the epic
as in every poem, and, in fact, in every
production of art. (See Drama.) But
* In Klopstock's Messiade.ong
this unity need not be so scrupulously ob
served as in the drama. A writer of ge-
nius may be allowed to overstep the rules,
and say, "I do not intend to give you a
perfect epic, but merely fragments," as By-
ron has done in the case of the Giaour.
Such productions, however, must always
remain exceptions to the class of epic com-
positions. Parts of different operas are
sometimes combined for an evening's en-
tertainment; but no one would call such a
performance an opera. The fragments
of a masterly work of sculpture may be
beautiful, and much more beautiful and
more valuable than many complete stat-
ues; yet fragments are not statues.
From what has been said, it appears
that the epic may treat very different sub-
jects, grave and elevated like Dante's and
Milton's poems, glowing and romantic like
Ariosto's and Wieland's epics, cheerfitl and
ludicrous like Tassino's and Butler's ad-
mirable productions. Accordingly, epics
have been divided into heroic; mock-he-
roic, as the excellent La Secchia Rapita
(The Rape of the Bucket), or Pope's Rape
of the Lock, or Boileau's Lutrin; romantic
as Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered; allegoric,
as Dante, &c.; but these divisions can
never be very definite, as they pass imper-
ceptibly into each other. Whilst Homer
is, we might almost say, plastic, Ariosto
is almost lyric, and always descriptive
in quite another style, and Milton often
pours forth his religious sentiments in a
lyric strain; yet the poems of all are
epics.
As the language and the literature of a na-
tion always mutually affect each other, we
trace this influence, of course, in epic po-
etry. Who can calculate the great influ-
ence which Homer probably had on the
Greek language? Whilst, on the other
hand, it is partly owing to the plastic trait
in the two ancient languages, that this
characteristic was imparted to their epic
poetry. Among the modern languages of
Europe, none is so well adapted to descrip-
tion as the English-a circumstance, to
which, probably, is partly owing the great
number of English epics, or poems of an
epic character, of which many are truly
beautiful, including all varieties, from the
sublimity of Paradise Lost to the wit of
Hudibras. Spenser, Milton, Glover, But-
ler, Pope, Scott, Byron, Moore, Campbell,
Southey, and many other distinguished
names, are embraced in the list of English
epic writers. In the number of good epics,
the Italians are next to the English, among
modern nations, and can produce three of
the highest character, while the English

EPIC.
have but one of the highest rank to oppose
to them: these three are Dante's Divina
Commedia, one of the grandest productions
of the human mind; Ariosto's Orlando
Furioso, the flower of romantic poetry;
and Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered, a poem
which, if deficient in originality and
character, two very important ingredi-
ents of an epic, cannot be surpassed in
sweetness and harmony, and, in fact, has
not, in our opinion, been equalled in these
respects. The Italians are very rich in
burlesque and satiric epics. The Germans
possess one great ancient epic, the Nibelun-
genlied (q. v.), a poem of the grandest
design, and of the highest rank in regard
to the characters described, excelling in
this respect the Iliad of Homer; the chief
personage of which is violent, self-willed,
and incapable of self-government, so as to
fall far below the rank of a true hero,
whose attributes should be firmness and
self-command, a spirit unshaken in adver-
sity, and an intellect adequate to every exi-
gency. But in respect to poetical execu-
tion and beauty of language, the Nibelun-
genlied cannot be compared with the Ion-
ic rhapsodies. Of a very early date, like-
wise, is the satirical epic Reynard the Fox
(q. v.), a poem alike original in design and
execution, in well-conceived and well-ex-
ecuted satire. It may be considered a
model of satiric epic poetry. The great-
est modern epic of the Germans is the
Messiade, by Klopstock, which we con-
sider faulty in its very conception, as the
life of the Savior offers but little matter
suitable for the epic poet, so that the po-
em in general has little of an epic char-
acter. It is not much read in Germany;
when perused, it is generally as a task, and
from a feeling of duty. In modern times,
the Germans have had several epics from
Wieland, Schultze and others; but he who
has enjoyed Camoens, Ariosto, and the
epics of the British poets, will not think
that the German epics rise in value by
comparison: still less should we think
of extolling those German epics which
partake more or less of the character of
idyllic poetry; and the most celebrated
of which is Göthe's Hermann und Doro-
thea, a poem much esteemed by his coun-
trymen in general (but in which we were
never able to take any great interest), giv-
ing quaint descriptions in incorrect hexam-
eters: it must be remembered, however,
that when this poem was written, hexame-
ters, in German, were something new, and
the standard of correctness had then not
been raised so high as it has since been,
chiefly by the exertions of A. W. von
539
Schlegel. Still less could we ever relish
the Louisa of Voss, a poem which treats
in regular epic style the scenes in the life
of a country clergyman, and in which the
standing epithet ehrwürdig (respectable) is
as often and gravely repeated, whenever
the "pastor of Grünau" is mentioned, as
swift-footed, in Homer, with the name of
Achilles. Descriptiveness is not so promi-
nent a feature in the German language, as
in the English (it is more abstract and
metaphysical, hence in poetry more lyrical),
and therefore it does not so naturally lead
the poet to epic poetry. The most impor-
tant epic of the Spaniards is Ercilla's
Araucana, a poem, which, to foreigners,
generally appears like a dull chronicle,
defective in poetical conciseness of lan-
guage and originality of ideas. The
Spaniards possess several epics of an al-
legoric-religious character. One of the
noblest of epic productions, is Camoens'
Lusiad, which, like a magnificent flower,
sprung naturally out of a heroic and glo-
rious age, and which, in spite of the many
animadversions on particular parts of it, in
which the taste of the age may have pre-
vailed over the higher claims of poetry, will
be prized as long as noble ideas and beau-
tiful descriptions are valued. The French
language, the chief traits of which are
precision, and an agreeable and often
charming vivacity, is not very well adapt-
ed for the epic, which, not to become te-
dious in the slow progress of the narra-
tive, requires a copious and descriptive
language; qualities for which the French
language is by no means remarkable. The
Henriade strikes most foreigners as a fail-
ure, in which the author's intellect was su-
perior to his genius. Boileau's comic ep-
ic, the Lutrin, is much esteemed. Of the
Greek epics, it is well known that Ho-
mer's Iliad and Odyssey are the principal.
Much the most distinguished Roman epic.
is the Aneis of Virgil. Lucan's Phar-
salia is rather a historical chronicle than
an epic. It is intended as an apotheosis
of Pompey. The licentious Petronius also
wrote an epic on the civil wars of Cæsar and
Pompey. Valerius Flaccus, contempora-
ry of Vespasian, wrote an epic on the Ar-
gonauts, too close an imitation of the Ar
gonautica of Apollonius Rhodius. There
are, however, some noble passages in Va-
lerius Flaccus. Silius Italicus wrote an
epic on the second Punic war. Statius,
contemporary of Domitian, is the author
of the Thebaid, which he dedicated to this
corrupt tyrant. His style is bombastic and
affected; but he is a writer of genius.
Dante acknowledges this in his poem.
540
EPICHARMUS-EPICURUS.

EPICHARMUS OF Cos, a philosopher of
the Pythagorean school, lived in the latter
part of the fifth century before Christ, at
Syracuse, and there wrote his celebrated
comedies, now lost. Their number is reck-
oned at 52, and the titles of 40 of them
have been preserved. The tyrant Hiero
banished him from Syracuse, on account
of his philosophical principles, and some
allusions in his comedies. He ended his
days in his native place, at an advanced age.
The Sicilian comedy of Epicharmus, prior
to the Attic, grew out of the mimes, which
were peculiar to this island, making a sort
of popular poetry. He arranged the sep-
arate unconnected scenes, exhibited in the
mimes, into continued plots, as in tragedy.
His comedies were long regarded as mod-
els in this species of composition, and are
as much distinguished by their knowledge
of human nature as by their wit and live-
ly dialogue. The Sicilian comedy, in op-
position to the Attic-Ionic, is also desig-
nated as the Doric comedy.
EPICHIREMA is the name given, in logic
and rhetoric, to a conclusion, whose pre-
mises are at the same time proved by
reasons annexed, so that an abridged com-
pound argument (polysyllogism) is formed.
EPICTETUS. This celebrated Stoic, born
at Hieropolis, in Phrygia, A. D. 90, lived
at Rome, where he was the slave of Epaph-
roditus, a brutal freedman of Nero, whose
abuse and mal-treatment he bore with
the fortitude of a Stoic. It is related
of him, that, his master once striking a
severe blow upon his leg, he calmly re-
monstrated, telling him that he would
break the limb. The tyrant redoubled his
blows, and broke the bone. "Did I not
tell thee so?" was the only exclamation
of the philosopher. He was afterwards
set at liberty, but always lived in the great-
est poverty. The foundation of his mo-
rality was patience and abstinence. The
excellence of his system was universally
acknowledged. Domitian banished him,
with other philosophers, from Rome; for
the tyrant could not but hate men whose
principles breathed scorn of all injustice
and wickedness. Epictetus settled in Epi-
rus, but returned after the death of Do-
mitian, and was in high esteem with Adri-
an and Marcus Aurelius, and, A. D. 134,
was made governor of Cappadocia. Arri-
an collected the sayings of Epictetus, his
teacher; we have them still, under the ti-
tle of Enchiridion. Besides this manual,
we have four books more of philosophical
maxims, by him. Of both works, espe-
cially of the Enchiridion, there have been
many editions. Schweighäuser has pub-
lished them together (Leipsic, 1799, sqq.
5 vols.). As a proof of the high respect
in which Epictetus was held, it is said that
his study lamp was sold after his death
for 3000 drachmas.
EPICURUS; born at Gargettus, near
Athens, 342 B. C. This Greek philoso-
pher was the son of poor parents, and of
so studious a disposition, that, in his 12th
year, he went to Athens to attend the in-
structions of the grammarian Pamphilius.
Once hearing him repeat a verse of Hesiod,
in which Chaos is called the first of all
created beings, he inquired who created
Chaos, for he must be the first of existen-
ces. The grammarian referred him to the
philosophers, whom Epicurus henceforth
zealously attended. But he was not con-
tented with seeing Athens only. In order
to cultivate his mind, and to collect infor-
mation, he travelled through various coun-
tries, and at last, in his 36th year, opened
his school in a garden at Athens. He was
soon surrounded by crowds of scholars.
He taught that the greatest good consists
in a happiness, springing not fr m sensual
gratification or vicious pleasures, but from
virtue, and consisting in the peace and
harmony of the soul with itself. He ac-
cordingly renounced vice, and embraced
virtue, not for their own sakes, but for
their connexion with happiness, vice be-
ing as incompatible with it as virtue is es-
sential to it. He recommended wisdom,
moderation, temperance, seclusion from
political affairs, gentleness, forbearance
towards the self-love of men, firmness of
soul, the enjoyment of decent pleasures
(so far as it does not incapacitate us for new
pleasures), and contempt of life. Freedom
from pain he regarded as desirable, but, at
the same time, he bore with fortitude the
most excruciating pains of body. Although
he distinctly showed the meaning of his
doctrines by his own exemplary life
(which some, however, charged with pride
and envy), yet they have been often mis
understood or misrepresented. His doc-
trine of the origin of the universe, bor-
rowed from Democritus, is atomical and
material. Proceeding upon the axiom,
that nothing can be produced from noth
ing, he assumed two necessary, eternal
and infinite first causes-space, and atoms,
or indivisible bodies, arranged in endless
variety. These atoms, by virtue of their
natural gravity, moved in space, and min-
gled with one another. To make the un-
ion possible, he supposed them to move, not
in straight but in curved lines. By these
motions, they crossed and hit each other
in all possible ways; and from their num

EPICURUS-EPIDEMIC.
herless combinations and intervolutions,
arose bodies and beings of all kinds. Al-
though single atoms had no other quali-
ties than figure and gravity, they produced,
when combined in bodies, the various
qualities that affect the senses, as color,
sound, smell, &c. He further taught, that
as all things arose from the union of atoms,
so all things will be again destroyed by
their dissolution; that there are multitudes
of worlds, formed by chance, which are
continually rising and falling. The world,
as it has had a beginning, must have an
end; and out of its ruins, a new one will
be formed. He found no difference be-
tween men and brutes, and ascribed the
origin of the soul to the same material
process above described. The gods, he
thought, lived in eternal tranquillity, un-
concerned about the world. This doctrine,
which was not unjustly charged with
atheism and materialism, drew upon him
much opposition and calumny. He lived
to the age of 72 (270 B. C.). His system
found many followers in Rome, among
whom Celsus, Pliny the elder, and Lucre-
tius, were the most eminent, although it
never attained the reputation of the Peri-
patetic, Stoic, and Platonic schools. Little
is left of his numerous writings. Some
fragments of a Treatise on Nature have
been found at Herculaneum, and pub-
lished by Orelli (Leipsic, 1818). The oth-
er accounts of his philosophy are only the
poem of Lucretius, and the notices of it
in Cicero, Pliny the elder, &c., and two
letters (published by Schneider, Leipsic,
1813, in a revised and improved edition),
-An epicurean, according to the perverted
meaning of the epicurean doctrine, is one
who is devoted to sensual enjoyments,
particularly those of the table.
EPICYCLE, in the ancient astronomy,
was a subordinate orbit or circle, which
was supposed to move on the circumfer-
ence of a larger one, called the different;
by means of which one motion, apparent-
ly irregular, was resolved into two that
were circular and uniform. And when
the observed motion was so irregular and
complicated as not to be resolved with one
epicycle, others were added, till a nearer
approximation was obtained. This sys-
tem owed its origin to a prejudice that
seems to have been extremely ancient, in
favor of circular motion; and the prob-
lem that principally engaged the attention
of astronomers in those times, was to as-
sign the proper proportion of the different
and epicycle which should approximate
nearest to absolute observation. (See As-
tronomy, History of).
46
VOL. IV.
541
EPICYCLOID, in geometry, is a curve
generated by a point in one circle, which
revolves about another circle, either on
the concavity or convexity of its circum-
ference, and thus differs from the common
cycloid, which is generated by the revo-
lution of a circle along a right line; though
the latter has sometimes been assimilated
with the former, by considering the right
line as the circumference of a circle whose
diameter is infinite, The invention of
epicycloids is ascribed to M. Roemer, the
celebrated Danish astronomer.
EPIDAURUS; one of the most considera-
ble towns and commercial seaports of an-
cient Greece; situated in Argolis, in the
Peloponnesus; particularly celebrated for
its magnificent temple of Esculapius,
which stood on an eminence not far from
the town. An inscription over the en-
trance declared it to be open only to pure
souls. Crowds of invalids resorted to the
place, in hopes of obtaining a cure from
the beneficent divinity, in whose honor
festivals were celebrated yearly.
EPIDEMIC, OF EPIDEMIC DISEASE (from
inì and dnpos, among the people), signifies
a state of sickness which prevails in a
place or tract of country only for a tem-
porary period. An epidemic always orig-
inates in transient external influences,
which gradually produce such changes in
the bodily system, as finally bring on the
sickness. Thus many diseases appear to
arise from some peculiar morbid matter in
the atmosphere, brought by particular
winds; e. g., the influenza, and other dis-
eases: also, poor or scanty food, un-
wholesome mixtures, &c., may occasion
epidemics. Seasons of scarcity, which
compel men to have recourse to unusual
means of subsistence, (as, for example, in
Norway and Sweden, to the bark of trees
instead of corn), often occasion epidemics.
The ergot in rye is supposed to be the
cause of raphania. Bad barley, or much
mixture of bearded darnel (lolium temulen-
tum), makes the beer which is prepared
from it unwholesome, and produces
sickness in those who partake of it.
Causes producing a disturbed state of
mind, such as war, sieges, earthquakes,
&c., by their effects on the nervous sys
tem, may very much favour the produc-
tion of epidemic diseases, or, at least, ren-
der them more malignant. Epidemics
sometimes begin with a few, sometimes
attack great numbers of persons at once,
as commonly happens in a great and sud-
den change of wind or weather. If, for
instance, after a long continuance of a
west or south-west wind, with warm
542
EPIDEMIC-EPIGASTRIC.

weather, it suddenly changes to an east or
north-east wind, we hear people complain-
ing directly of coughs, colds, rheumatisms,
&c. An epidemic, at its commencement,
is usually mild, and becomes more dan-
gerous as it spreads; as it goes off, it, for
the most part, assumes a mild character
again. It frequently terminates as gradu-
ally as it began, but sometimes suddenly.
Many persons are not at all affected by
the prevailing epidemic. The cause prob-
ably lies in their bodily habit, which is
opposed to the prevailing influences, and
makes them capable of resisting them
longer than other persons. Thus it often
happens that men with chronic complaints,
hypochondriacs, &c., remain free from
epidemic disorders. Epidemics are often
confounded with contagious disorders.
The first originally are not contagious;
their origin and propagation depend on
general influences, and they commonly
generate no contagious matter, producing
the same disease in another body by con-
tact with it. It is only in particular cir-
cumstances, especially if the disorder is
a violent one, and many patients are
crowded into a narrow room, that a con-
tagious matter can be generated, forming
a corrupt atmosphere about the sick, and
capable of exciting the disease in persons
who come near it. Even under these cir-
cumstances, contagion does not necessari-
ly take place, and the ignorant generally
conceive a hasty and groundless fear of
contagion. Thus, for instance, that is
frequently ascribed to contagion, which is
only the consequence of a violent shock
of the nervous system at the sight of a
sick person, perhaps in a loathsome state,
whereby the disease, to which the body
was already disposed, is more quickly
developed.
EPIDERMIS (from ini, upon, and dépua,
the true skin); the scarf-skin. (See Cu-
tic.e, and Skin.)
EPIDOTE. This mineral is found crys-
tallized in rhombic prisms variously mod-
ified, both laterally and at its extremities.
It cleaves parallel to the sides of a right-
oblique-angled prism of 115° 36', and
64° 24', which is therefore its primary
crystal. Some of its more interesting
secondary or actually occurring forms
are the following, viz.: 1. the primary
crystal, altered by the truncation of its
acute lateral edges, and terminated at both
extremities by dihedral summits; 2. the
same, but terminated by four-sided pyr-
amids, whose apices are truncated; 3.
the primary crystal, with all its lateral
edges truncated and terminated as in the
last instance. The prisms are generally
streaked longitudinally; lustre, vitreous
color, green and gray prevalent. Among
the most common shades of the first is
pistachio-green; the gray colors pass into
white; translucent on the edges, and
sometimes transparent; brittle; hardness
above that of feldspar, and little inferior
to quartz; specific gravity, 3.26 to 3.42.
Some of the larger crystals from Norway
consist of concentric coats, the outer ones
of which, being peeled off, leave a crystal
with smooth faces. Thin crystals are
often observable. When massive, the in-
dividuals are columnar, straight, and
either parallel or divergent; they are
sometimes granular, and even become,
occasionally, impalpable, when they are
strongly connected. The deep green va-
rieties are called, in common language,
epidote, while the gray are denominated
zoisite; no distinction exists between the
two, except what arises out of color. The
granular variety has also been distinguish-
ed by the separate appellation of scorza,
and a light reddish-black variety from
Piedmont, which is highly charged with
oxide of manganese, has been called the
manganesian epidote. The chemical com-
position of epidote is as follows, the spe-
cimen analyzed consisting of the green
variety from Norway: silica, 37; alu-
mine, 21; lime, 15; oxide of iron, 24;
oxide of manganese, 1.50. Before the
blow-pipe, this species melts, with much
intumescence, into a greenish transparent
glass. Epidote is found in the oldest
rocks, in which it occupies drusy cavities,
or narrow veins, being irregularly distrib-
uted through them, without ever entering
into their composition, as a regular in-
gredient. Magnificent crystals of it, two
or three inches in length, and one or
two in diameter, are found at Arendal, in
Norway, and are hence called Arendalite.
Similar varieties occur in Sweden, and
at Franconia, New Hampshire. Finely
crystallized specimens come from Pied-
mont; and the zoisite variety is found in
the Tyrol, and in a great number of places
in the U. States. The transparent crys-
tals, of a fine color, are sometimes wrought
by the lapidary; though they are esteem-
ed of little value in jewelry.
It
EPIGASTRIC (epigastricus, from ini, upon,
or above, and yarrio, the stomach). That
part of the abdomen that lies over the
stomach is called the epigastric region.
reaches from the pit of the stomach to an
imaginary line above the navel, supposed
to be drawn from one extremity of the last
of the false ribs to the other. Its sides are

EPIGASTRIC-EPILOGUE.
called hypochondria, and are covered by
the false ribs, between which lies the
epigastrium.
EPIGLOTTIS (from ini, upon, and yλúrris,
the tongue); the cartilage at the root of
the tongue, that falls upon the glottis, or
superior opening of the larynx; upper
part of the windpipe. Its figure is nearly
oval; it is concave posteriorly, and con-
vex anteriorly. Its apex or superior ex-
tremity is loose, and is always elevated
upwards by its own elasticity. While
the back of the tongue is drawn back-
wards in swallowing, the epiglottis is put
over the aperture of the larynx; hence it
shuts up the passage from the mouth into
the larynx. The base of the epiglottis is
fixed to the thyroid cartilage, the os hy-
oides, and the base of the tongue, by a
strong ligament.
EPIGONI; the collective name of the
sons of the seven Greek princes, who
conducted the first war against Thebes,
without success. The name signifies
after-born, or successors, from inì and yiy-
Verlat, to be born. (See Thebes.)
EPIGRAM (from ini, upon, and yoápw, I
write); originally an inscription, then a
poetical inscription in temples, on tombs,
&c. The object requires brevity, but
admits of all kinds of sentiments and
ideas; and it is a great mistake to suppose
the epigram always satirical. From its
concise and expressive character, it is,
indeed, well fitted for satire, and often
employed for satirical purposes, as it was,
likewise, with the Romans; but an epi-
gram may be didactic, satiric, comic,
lyric, or elegiac. Lessing, in his Theory
of the Epigram, says, that it is made up
of two parts-of an interesting idea and
a striking conclusion; but Herder has
shown that this is not the essential
character of the epigram, though a fre-
quent and agreeable form. It was not,
by any means, generally the case with
the Greek epigrams. The epigram, with
the Romans, flourished most, as was nat-
ural, in corrupt times, when satire found
most occasion for reproach, and wit took
the place of noble ideas. Catullus and
Martial were distinguished epigrammatic
poets among the Romans. Marot, in the
time of Francis I, Piron, J. B. Rousseau,
Lebrun, Boileau, and even Racine, are
distinguished in this department among
the French. The most piquant epigrams
of the Romans and French are also the
most licentious; and offend as much by
their indelicacy as they divert by their in-
genuity. The tender and pathetic epigram
of the Greeks has been supplied by the mad-
543
rigal among the Italians, Spanish, Portu-
guese and French. The French have distin
guished themselves beyond most nations in
epigram. Lebrun says, in one of his poems,
Si l'epigramme, à la vingtième fois,
Ne vous plait mieux, elle n'est assez bonne.
EPIGRAPH; the inscription (q. v.), e. g.,
on a temple, or prefixed to a book (mot-
to).-Epigraphy; the study or knowledge
of inscriptions, a science auxiliary to his-
tory. The epigraphic side of a coin is
that on which the image and the inscrip-
tion are impressed: monepigraphic is the
name given to it, if it has only an inscrip-
tion; anepigraphic, if it has only an image.
(For the origin of the word, see Epi-
gram.)
EPILEPSY (in Latin, epilepsia, from
the Greek nápßavo, to seize upon); a
nervous disease, depending on various
causes, often exceedingly complicated,
and incapable of being removed; hence so
often an incurable periodical disease, ap-
pearing in single paroxysms. It, for the
most part, is preceded by a cold vapor
(aura epileptica), creeping up from the
foot or hand to the breast and head; but
sometimes there are no precursive symp-
toms. The patient suddenly falls, com-
monly with a cry, the thumbs are con-
vulsed, other parts are agitated more or
less, entire insensibility succeeds, the
breath is short and quick, broken, and
accompanied with groans, the mouth
foams, the face is convulsed, the teeth
gnash together, the eyes are distorted, the
urine and other evacuations are dischar-
ged involuntarily, the eyes are wide open
and staring, and insensible to the light.
The paroxysm is usually over in 10 or 20
minutes. The patient awakes as from a
deep sleep, entirely unconscious of what
has past; he feels nothing unpleasant,
except fatigue, and a little pain in his
limbs. Sometimes the paroxysms occur
9 or 10 times in an hour, or oftener;
sometimes only once a month, at the
change of the moon, or every six months,
or at still longer periods. During the
paroxysm, all that is to be attended to is
to prevent the patient from injuring him-
self. All other attempts, such as forcing
open the thumbs, and the like, are of no
avail, except to terminate the paroxysm
sooner, but, at the same time, occasion a
quicker return of it, and render the dis-
ease more difficult to cure.
EPILOGUE (from the Greek ini and
X6yos, word, speech); the closing address
to the audience at the end of a play.
The epilogue is the opposite of the pro-
logue, or opening address. Many of
544
EPILOGUE-EPINAY.

Shakspeare's plays have an epilogue as
well as prologue, in which the poet some-
imes craves the indulgence of the spec-
tators for the faults of his piece and the
performance, and sometimes intimates in
what light his work is to be considered.
The epilogue is sometimes a necessary
appendage, to tell us something of a com-
position, which cannot be gathered from
the composition itself. As it is very diffi-
cult to prevent prologues and epilogues
from sinking into mere common-places,
and from injuring rather than aiding the
play, they afford an opportunity for real
genius to show its powers.
EPIMENIDES; a celebrated philoso-
pher and poet of antiquity, born in Crete,
in the 6th century before Christ. By
some he is reckoned among the seven
wise men, instead of Periander. He is
represented as favored with divine com-
munications, and as an infallible prophet.
When the Athenians were visited with
war and pestilence, and the oracle de-
clared that they had drawn on themselves
the divine anger by the profanation of
the temple, in which the followers of
Cylon had been put to death, and must
expiate their offence, they sent for Epi-
menides who was renowned for his wis-
dom and piety, from Crete, to reconcile
them to the gods. He gratified their
wishes, and introduced various useful in-
stitutions. On his departure, he refused
to accept any presents, and asked no
other reward than a branch from the olive
consecrated to Minerva. There is a story
of his having slept in a cavern, according
to some, 40 years, and according to others,
a still longer period. On awaking, he
found, to his astonishment, every thing
changed in his native town. He died
in his native country, at an advanced
age. This story is the ground-work of
Göthe's poem, the Waking of Epimeni-
des, for the anniversary of the battle of
Leipsic.
Kontinet Pop
EPIMETHEUS, in Greek mythology; a
son of Japetus and Clymene; he mar-
ried Pandora, by whom he had Pyrrha,
the wife of Deucalion. (Apollod. i, 7, 2.)
It was Epimetheus who had the curios-
ity to open the box which Pandora had
brought with her, and from which issued
a train of evils, that have ever since afflict-
ed the human race. Hope alone remain-
ed in the bottom of the box, Pandora
having shut it before she could escape,
that she might comfort mortals after they
had expiated their sins. It is to be re-
marked, that in this Greek tradition, cu-
riosity and disobedience are made the
origin of evil, as in the Mosaic account
of the fall. (See Pandora.)
EPINAY, Louise (madame d'). This
accomplished lady, celebrated for her
connexion with Rousseau, was the daugh-
ter of M. Tardieu Desclavelles, who lost
his life in Flanders, in the service of Louis
XV, and left his family in very moderate
circumstances. This, and the favor which
Desclavelles had enjoyed at court, excited
an interest for the daughter, and she was
married to M. Delalive de Bellegarde,
who received the office of farmer-general.
But the extravagance of the young man
soon disturbed the happiness which had
been expected from this union. During
the earlier part of her life, she formed an
acquaintance with the philosopher of
Geneva, who, quick and susceptible in
all his feelings, devoted himself to the
fascinating and accomplished woman
with an ardor, the depth and strength of
which he describes himself in his Con-
fessions. She was not insensible to the
homage of her bear, as she used to call
him, on account of his eccentricities.
She did all that was in her power to place
him in a situation corresponding to his
wishes. She gave him a cottage (the
hermitage, since so famous) in her park
of Chevrette, in the vale of Montmorency.
Here the author of the Nouvelle Heloise
passed many days, rendered happy by his
romantic attachment to madame d'Epi-
nay; until he became jealous of baron
Grimm, whom he had himself introduced
to his mistress; and in consequence of
this feeling, which he took no pains tc
conceal, a coolness, and finally an aver-
sion took place between him and the
lady, which is but too plainly expressed
in his Confessions. A defence of the
later conduct of madame d'Epinay to-
wards Rousseau may be found in Grimm's
Correspondence, where an account is also
given of some works written by her, of
which the most celebrated is Les Conver-
sations d'Emilie. In this the authoress,
in a rather cold, but neat style, sets forth
the principles of moral instruction for
children, with equal elegance and depth
of thought. It obtained, in 1783, the
prize offered by Monthion (then chan
cellor to the count d'Artois) for useful
works of this kind, in preference to the
Adèle et Théodore of madame de Genlis.
She also wrote Lettres à mon Fils, and
Mes Moments heureux. An abridgment
of her highly interesting memoirs, and
her correspondence, showing her relations
with Duclos, Rousseau, Grimm, Holbach,
Lambert, &c., appeared in Paris, in S

EPINAY-EPISODE.
vols., 1818. They give a true picture
of the refined but corrupt manners
which prevailed among the higher clas-
ses in France during the government
of Louis XV. Madame d'Epinay died in
1783.
EPIPHANY; a festival, otherwise called
the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles,
observed on the 6th of January, in honor
of the appearance of our Savior to the
three magi, or wise men, who came to
adore him, and bring him presents. The
kings of England and Spain offer gold,
frankincense and myrrh, on Epiphany, or
twelfth day, in memory of the offerings of
the wise men to the infant Jesus. The
festival of Epiphany is called by the
Greeks, the feast of lights, because our
Savior is said to have been baptized on
this day; the baptism is by them called
illumination. The feast of Epiphany is
also called, in Germany, the festival of
the three holy kings. The primitive
church also gave this name to the birth-
day of our Savior. The Greek church
calls the same feast Theophany (appear-
ance of God).
EPIPHORA. This figure of rhetoric is the
emphatic repetition of a word at the end
of several sentences, or stanzas, as the
anaphora is the repetition of it at the be-
ginning. Thus, in Byron's song, Zwn us, cas
ayanw, these words are repeated at the
end of every stanza; and in the Spanish
Romance muy doloroso (translated by By-
ron), the words Ay de mi, Alhama!
EPIRUS; a province bordering on
Greece, and often included in it; the most
southerly part of modern Albania. (q. v.)
The oracle of Dodona (q. v.), the oldest
in Greece, was in Epirus, in a temple of
Jupiter, which was built according to the
direction of a black pigeon, or rather of
an Egyptian priestess. There are
There are no
traces remaining of that celebrated city,
nor has the grove of oaks, with the never-
failing fountains, been yet discovered.
Mythology probably derived from this
country the infernal rivers of Acheron
and Cocytus; and here, too, the poisonous
vapors exhaled from Avernus (now called
Vall dell' Orso). The country is moun-
tainous, but, along the sea-coast, pleasant
and fertile. In ancient times, the Cha-
onians were the most powerful tribe.
Several Greek colonies settled among
them. The most celebrated of the kings
of Epirus was Pyrrhus, who made war
upon the Romans. Being delivered from
the Macedonian yoke by the Romans,
when they conquered Philip II, the Epi-
rots gradually became so powerful, that
545
they assisted Antiochus and Perseus
against the Romans, but thereby only
hastened their own downfall. Paulus
Emilius (q. v.) subdued them, and gave
up their towns to pillage. Seventy towns
were destroyed, and 150,000 men sold into
slavery. Epirus, from this time, shared
the fortunes of the Roman empire, till it
was conquered by the Turks, under Amu-
rath II, in 1432. Castriot (Scanderbeg,
q. v.), the last of the royal family in
Epirus, and educated at the Ottoman
court, threw off the Turkish yoke; but,
after his death, his country was again con-
quered by Mahomet II, 1466. It is prin-
cipally inhabited by Arnauts. (q. v.)
EPISCENIUM, in modern theatres, the
front part of the stage; in ancient thea-
tres, the upper part of the scene.
EPISCOPACY. (See England, Church
of, and Roman Catholic Church.)
EPISODE (Latin episodium, from the
Greek Gódov) is employed by Aristotle,
in two significations. Sometimes it de-
notes those parts of a play which are be-
tween the choruses, and sometimes an
incidental narrative, or digression in a
poem, which the poet has connected with
the main plot, but which is not essential to
it. In modern times, it has been used in
the latter sense only. With the best poets,
the episode is not a mere patch or piece
to fill out the poem, not an unnecessary
appendage, serving merely to swell the
size of the work, but it is closely connected
with the subject, points out important con-
sequences, or developes hidden causes.
Of this kind is the narrative of the de-
struction of Troy, in Virgil's Æneid. This
was the cause of the hero's leaving his
country, and wandering over the sea; but
the poet does not commence with it, be-
cause he wishes to bring the plot into a
narrower space, in order to make it more
distinct and lively. He therefore inserts
it in the course of the story, but so skil-
fully, that we expect it in this very place;
and it not only serves as a key to what
has gone before, but prepares us for what
is to come, viz., the passion of Dido. In
this way, the episode becomes an essential
part of the whole, as it must necessarily
be, if it is of any importance to preserve
the unity of the poem. So with the tale
in Wieland's Oberon; it appears inciden-
tal, but explains to us the reason of Ohe-
ron's singular interest in the fate of Huon.
In epic poetry, there is much more room
for the episode than in dramatic, where
the poem is confined to a present action.
The term episode has also been transfer
red to painting, especially historic paint
46*

546
EPISODE-EPITAPH.
ing, in a sense analogous to that which it
has in poetry.
EPISTOLÆ OBSCURORUM VIRORUM
(Letters of obscure Men-in the double
sense of obscure); a collection of satirical
letters, which first appeared in 1515, pre-
tending to be written by well known cler-
gymen and professors in the countries
on the Rhine, particularly of Cologne,
in barbarous Latin, in which, together
with theological controversies on different
topics, were contained sharp satires on the
excesses of the clergy of that time. The
celebrated Ulrich von Hutten, with other
men of learning, took part in this work.
Oldest edition, by Aldus Manutius (Co-
logne, 1505, 4to.). In 1517, these letters
were numbered among the prohibited
books by a papal bull. They have been
lately republished, in 1826. This was un-
doubtedly one of the most interesting pub-
lications of its time.
EPISTYLIUM. (See Architecture, vol. 1,
page 338, right column.)
only the word Masséna. And simplicity
is equally essential to give effect to the
record of the gentle virtues of domestic
life.
We will here give a few epitaphs de-
serving of remembrance. One of the
happiest is that of sir Christopher Wren,
in St Paul's, London, of which he was the
architect:
Si monumentum quæris, circumspice.
Mercy's epitaph on the field of battle at
Nordlingen is also very appropriate. It is,
Sta,
viator; heroem calcas.
The marchioness of Santa Cruz caused
a monument to be executed by Canova,
for her daughter, intending it to cover also
her own remains, with this inscription:
Mater infelicissima filiæ et sibi.
Count Tessin, governor of Gustavus
III of Sweden, ordered the words
Tandem felix
106
to be inscribed on his tomb. The follow-
ing is sir Isaac Newton's epitaph:
Isaacum Newton,
Quem immortalem
Testantur Tempus, Natura, Coelum,
Mortalem hoc Marmor
Fatetur.
One
of
Entre ces peupliers paisibles,
Repose Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Approchez, coeurs droits et sensibles,
Votre ami dort sous ce tombeau.
of the simplest and saddest is that
pope Adrian, written by himself:
EPITAPH (from the Greek niraptov, from
inì, upon, and rapos, tomb); the inscription
on a tombstone. The Greeks applied
this name to those verses which were
sung in memory of a deceased person, on
the day of his funeral, and on the anni-
versary of this day. An epitaph should
be characterized by brevity and truth. M. Ducis wrote the following epitaph
Nothing can be farther from its nature on his friend J. J. Rousseau, buried on
than the long-winded stories on tombs, of- the island in the lake of Ermenonville.
ten as untrue as they are long, and which (q. v.)
differ from common prose in nothing but
an arbitrary division into long and short
lines. The Germans have a proverb, "He
lies like a tombstone, and is as impudent
as a newspaper." The English are pecu-
liarly addicted to long epitaphs, relating a
whole life, with a catalogue of the merits
of the deceased. An English church-
yard affords much food for reflection. It
is plain, that the form of an epitaph should
correspond with the character of the sub-
ject of it. The epitaphs of men who
have performed great actions, known to
the whole world, or who have made dis-
coveries in science and art, which are
acknowledged by their age, should be as
simple as possible, consisting of little else
than their name, which is, of itself, enough
to bring up a whole history to the memo-
ry of the reader. Long panegyric and
reflection are out of place here. Who
would not prefer, on a tombstone erected
to Washington, the single name Wash
ington, to any attempt to point out his
merits? The column erected to the mem-
ory of general Massena, who is buried in
the cimetière de l'Est, in Paris, contains
Adrianus, Papa VI, hic situs est,
Qui nihil sibi infelicius
In vita,
bob Quam quod imperaret.
Duxit.
910
The following epitaph, by doctor John-
son, on a celebrated musician, is extreme-
ly happy:
Phillips, whose touch harmonious could remove
The pangs of guilty power and hapless love,
Rest here, distressed by poverty no more;
Find here that calm thou gav'st so oft before;
Sleep undisturbed within this peaceful shrine,
Till angels wake thee with a note like thine.
But the finest we have ever read is the
simple inscription in St. Anne's church,
at Cracow, dedicated by count Siera-
kowski to the illustrious Copernicus.
Sta, sol, ne moveare.
The very words of Scripture, which
were used as a pretext for the persecution
EPITAPH-EPOCH.
of the great truth which he discovered, are
here employed to form his epitaph.
Epitaphs, notwithstanding the solemn
circumstances with which they are asso-
ciated, have not unfrequently been made
the vehicles of pleasantry, or of satire, as
in the following, composed by La Fon-
taine on himself:
Jean s'en alla comme il était venu,
Mangeant le fond avec le revenu.
Croyant trésor chose peu nécessaire;
Quant à son temps, bien sut le dispenser;
Deux parts en fit, dont il soulait passer
L'une à dormir et l'autre à ne rien faire.
The quaint humor of doctor Franklin
also expressed itself in the following
lines:
The body
of
Benjamin Franklin,
printer,
(like the cover of an old book,
its contents torn out,
and stripped of its lettering and gilding,)
lies here, food for worms;
yet the work itself shall not be lost;
for it will (as he believed) appear once more
in a new
and more beautiful edition,
corrected and amended
by
the Author.
Of satirical epitaphs, one of the best
known is that on Piron, written by him-
self, in a spirit of revenge, against the
French academy:
Ci-git Piron qui ne fut rien
Pas même académicien.
547

To mark a friend's remains these stones arise;
I never knew but one, and here he lies.
EPITHALAMIUM (from 0áλapos); a nup-
tial song. Among the Greeks and Ro-
mans, it was sung by young men and
maids at the door of the bridal chamber
of a new married couple. It was accom-
panied with shouting and stamping with
the feet. It consisted of praises of the
bridegroom and bride, with wishes for
their happiness. Among the Romans, the
husband scattered nuts among the young
men at the same time. Examples may
be seen in Theocritus's epithalamium of
Helen, and the epithalamium of Catul-
lus.
EPITOME (from the Greek introun, from
ini (q. v.), and repvw, I cut); an abridgment,
an abbreviation, or compendious abstract.
EPOCH, or ERA, is a certain fixed point
of time, made famous by some remarka-
ble event, from whence, as from a root,
the ensuing years are numbered or com-
puted. As there is no astronomical con-
sideration to render one epoch preferable
to another, their constitution is purely
arbitrary, and, therefore, various epochas
have been used at different times, and
among different nations. The following
article is from the Companion to the Brit-
ish Almanac for 1830:-
It will render the comparison of eras
much easier, if we give some account of
what is meant by a solar and a lunar year.
A solar year is that space of time, during
which all the seasons have their course.
The following is said to be found in the This takes place in 365 days, 5 hours,
cemetery of Père la-Chaise:
Ci-git ma femme. Ah! qu'elle est bien
Pour son repos et pour le mien.
The following was made on Montmaur,
a man of remarkable memory, but de-
ficient in judgment:
Sous cette casaque noire
Repose bien doucement,
Montmaur, d'heureuse mémoire,
Attendant le jugement.
We cannot assert, however, that these
three last, any more than the two pre-
ceding them, ever appeared, except on
paper.
Epitaphs have not unfrequently been
written on animals, as the following:
L'oiseau, sous ces fleurs enterré,
N'enchantait pas par son ramage,
N'étonnait pas par son plumage,
Mais il aimait; il fut pleuré.
Byron's misanthropy vented itself in
the epitaph on his Newfoundland dog,
which he concluded with the following
lines
or wide no
48 minutes, and 49 seconds; and an ap-
proximation to that time has been adopted
by those nations which have had suf-
ficient astronomical science to determine
it. But, as it would be impracticable to
begin every new year at a different hour
of the day, which would be necessary if
the perfect year should always be com-
pleted before the commencement of a
new one, 365 days have been taken as the
length of a year, leaving the odd hours
and minutes to accumulate until they
amount to a whole day, when they are
added to the year, making what is called
a leap year, or intercalary year, of 366
days. The various ways of doing this
will be detailed when we speak of the
different eras. Some nations still use a
year of 365 days, without any intercala-
tion; and this is called a vague, or erratic
year, because its commencement varies
through all the different seasons.
lunar year consists of 12 moons, or 354
days. This may be convenient enough
for short periods, but is so ill adapted for
A
548
JOSEPOCH. PISE

the computation of a civilized nation, that
none but Mohammedans have continued
in the use of it, even for a little time. It
suits the course of time so ill, that its com-
mencement varies, in a few years, through
all the seasons; and many men amongst
the nations which use it can remember
the fasts and festivals altering from sum-
mer to winter, and again from winter to
summer, and their seed-time and harvest
alternately wandering from the beginning
of the year to the end. The luni-solar
year is that in which the months are
regulated according to the course of the
moon, but to which, from time to time, a
month is added, whenever the year would
range too widely from its original situa-
tion. This year is inconvenient, from its
varying duration; but as, in a long course
of years, the months remain nearly at the
same situation, it is less objectionable than
the pure lunar year. It was the mode of
computation of the Greeks and Romans,
and is even now that of the Chinese, Tar-
tars, Japanese and Jews. All these vary-
ing modes render the comparison of dates
much more difficult than it appears to be
at the first view. We shall endeavor so
far to simplify the calculation as to enable
any arithmetician to compute, within a
day or two, the eras of every nation, and
to reduce them to the Christian era.
The Roman Era. The Roman year, in
its arrangement and division, is that on
which our year is entirely founded. The
Romans reckoned their time from the
date which some of their antiquaries
chose to assign for the founding of Rome,
viz. the 21st of April, in the 2d year of
the 6th Olympiad, or 754 B. C. This era
is designated by the letters A. U. C., or ab
urbe condita (from the building of the
city). The first year used by them, and
attributed to Romulus, consisted of ten
months, from March to December, or 304
days. (For an account of the Roman
mode of computing time, see Calendar.)
The Roman year has been adopted by
almost all Christian nations, with no other
variation than taking the birth of Christ as
the commencement, instead of the building
of Rome. If the given Roman year be less
than 754, deduct it from 754; if the given
Roman year be not less than 754, deduct
753 from it; the remainder gives the year
(B. C. and A. D., in the first and second
cases respectively) in which the Roman
year commences. Examples:-
MC Required the year 780 A. U. C.
deduct 753
27 A. D.
Required the year 701 A. U. C.
754
701
53 B. C.
The Olympiads. The Greeks computed
their time by the celebrated era of the
Olympiads, which date from the year 776
B. C., being the year in which Corcbus
was successful at the Olympic games.
This era differed from all others in being
reckoned by periods of four years instead
of single years. Each period of 4 years
was called an Olympiad; and, in marking
a date, the year and Olympiad were both
mentioned. The year was luni-solar, of
12 or 13 months. The names of the
months varied in the different states of
Greece, but the Attic months are most
usual. (For a further account of the Greek
mode of computing time, see Calendar.)
To reduce the date by Olympiads to our
era, multiply the past Olympiad by 4,
and add the odd years; subtract the sum
from 777 if before Christ, and subtract
776 from the sum if after Christ; the re
mainder will be the beginning of the given
year. To decide on the exact day would
be very difficult, on account of the altera-
tions which the system has undergone.
It will be, perhaps, sufficient to observe,
that the year begins within a fortnight of
the middle of July.-N. B. Some au-
thors, as Jerome and Eusebius, have con-
founded the Olympiads with the era of
the Seleucides, and computed them from
the 1st of September.
The Christian Era. The Christian era,
used by almost all Christian nations, dates
from January 1st, in the middle of the
4th year of the 194th Olympiad, in the
753d of the building of Rome, and 4714th
of the Julian period. It was first intro-
duced in the sixth century, but was not
very generally employed for some cen-
turies after. The Christian year, in its
division, follows exactly the Roman year,
consisting of 365 days for three succes-
sive years, and of 366 in the fourth year,
which is termed leap year. This compu-
tation subsisted for 1000 years, throughout
Europe, without alteration, and is still used
by the followers of the Greek church:
other Christians have adopted a slight al-
teration, which will be shortly explained.
The simplicity of this form has brought
it into very general use, and it is custom-
ary for astronomers and chronologists, in
treating of ancient times, to date back in
the same order from its commencement.
There is, unfortunately, a little ambiguity
on this head, some persons reckoning the
EPOCH.
year immediately before the birth of
Christ, as 1 B. Č., and others noting it
with 0, and the second year before Christ
with 1, making always one less than those
who use the former notation. The first is
the most usual mode, and will be employ-
ed in all our computations. The Christian
year (or Julian year), arranged as we have
shown, was 11' 11" too long, amounting
to a day in nearly 129 years; and, towards
the end of the sixteenth century, the time
of celebrating the church festivals had
advanced ten days beyond the periods
fixed by the council of Nice, in 325. It
was in consequence ordered, by a bull of
Gregory XIII, that the year 1582 should
consist of 355 days only, which was ef-
fected by omitting ten days in the month
of October, viz., from the 5th to the 14th;
and, to prevent the recurrence of a like
irregularity, it was also ordered, that, in
three centuries out of four, the last year
should be a common year, instead of a
549

leap year, as it would have been by the
Julian calendar. The year 1600 remain
ed a leap year, but 1700, 1800 and 1900
were to be common years. This amend-
ed mode of computing was called the
new style, and was immediately adopted
in all Catholic countries, while the old
style continued to be employed by other
Christians. Gradually the new style was
employed by Protestants also. The last
ten days of 1699 were omitted by the
Protestants of Germany, who, in conse-
quence, began the year 1700 with the
new style; and in England, the reformed
calendar was adopted in the year 1752, by
omitting eleven days, to which the dif
ference between the styles then amounted.
The alteration was effected in the month
of September, the day which would have
been the third being called the fourteenth.
The Russians continued to use the old
style till the present year, 1830, when they
adopted the new style.
To turn the Old Style to the New.
From the alteration of style to the 29th February, 1700, add 10 days.
From 1st of March, 1700, to 29th of February,
66
35
1800, "
1900,
Examples.
66
1800," 11
1900, " 12
2100, " 13
"12"
17th March, 1801, O. S., is 29th March,
19th February, 1703, O. S., is 2d March,
24th December, 1690, O. S., is 3d January,
20th December, 1829, O. S., is
There will sometimes be a difference
of one year in a date, from the circum-
stance that, in many countries, the time of
beginning the year has varied. In Eng-
land, until the year 1752, the year was
considered to begin on the 25th of March:
any date, therefore, from the 1st of Janu-
ary to the 24th of March, will be a year
too little. It had been the practice, for
many years preceding the change of style,
to write both years, by way of obviating
mistakes; as, 1st of February, 1703 or
1707-8, meaning the year 1708, if begun
in January, or 1707, if begun in March.
In some countries, Easter day was the first
day of the year; in others, the 1st of
March; and in others, again, Christmas
day; but no certain rule can be given, as,
even in the same nation, different provinces
followed a different custom. All nations,
at present using either the old or new
style, begin the year on the 1st of January.
The Creation has been adopted as an
epoch by Christian and Jewish writers,
and would have been found very con-
venient, by doing away with the difficulty
and ambiguity of counting before and af-
"13"
1801, N. S.
1703, N. S.
1691, N. S.
1830, N. S.
1st January,
ter any particular date, as is necessary
when the era begins at a later period.
But, unfortunately, writers are not agreed
as to the precise time of commencing.
We consider the creation as taking place
4004 years B. C.; but there are about 140
different variations in this respect.* The
following are those that have been most
generally used:-
The Era of Constantinople. In this era
the creation is placed 5508 years B. C.
It was used by the Russians until the time
of Peter the Great, and is still used in the
Greek church. The civil year begins the
first of September, and the ecclesiastical
towards the end of March; the day is not
exactly determined. To reduce it to our
era, subtract 5508 years from January to
August, and 5509 from September to the
end.
Era of Antioch, and Era of Alexandria.
We place these together, because, although
they differed at their formation by 10
years, they afterwards coincided. They
were both much in use by the early
*See Companion to the British Almanac for
1828, p. 49.
550
EPOCH.

Christian writers attached to the churches
of Antioch and Alexandria. In the com-
putation of Alexandria, the creation was
considered to be 5502 years before Christ,
and, in consequence, the year 1 A. D. was
equal to 5503. This computation contin-
ued to the year 284 A. D., which was
called 5786. In the next year (285 A. D.),
which should have been 5787, ten years
were discarded, and the date became
5777. This is still used by the Abyssin-
ians. The era of Antioch considered the
creation to be 5492 years before Christ,
and, therefore, the year 285 A. D. was
5777. As this was equal to the date of
Alexandria, the two eras, from this time,
were considered as one. Dates of the
Alexandrian era are reduced to the Chris-
tian era by subtracting 5502 until the year
5786, and after that time by subtracting
5492. In the era of Antioch, 5492 are
always subtracted.
The Abyssinian Era. The Abyssinians
reckon their years from the creation,
which they place in the 5493d year before
our era*, on the 29th of August, old style;
and their dates will consequently exceed
ours by 5492 years and 125 days. They
have 12 months of 30 days each, and 5
days added to the end, called pagomen,
from the Greek word inayopevai (added).
Another day is added at the end of every
4th year. To know which year is leap
year, divide the date by 4, and if 3 re-
main, the year will be leap year. It
always precedes the Julian leap year by
1 year and 4 months. To reduce
Abyssinian time to the Julian year, sub-
Year of the cycle.
The
tract 5492 years and 125 days.
Abyssinians also use the era of Martyrs,
or Diocletian, with the same months as in
the above.
The Jewish Era. The Jews usually
employed the era of the Seleucides, until
the fifteenth century, when a new mode
of computing was adopted by them.
Some insist strongly on the antiquity of
their present era; but it is generally be-
lieved not to be more ancient than the
century above named. They date from
the creation, which they consider to have
been 3760 years and 3 months before the
commencement of our era. Their year
is luni-solar, consisting either of 12 or 13
months each, and each month of 29 or 30
days. The civil year commences with or
immediately after the new moon follow-
ing the equinox of autumn. The average
length of the year of 12 months is 354
days; but, by varying the length of the
months Marchesvan and Chisleu, it may
consist of 353 or 355 days also. In the
same manner, the year of 13 months may
contain 383, 384, or 385 days. In 19
years, 12 years have 12 months each, and
7 years 13 months. The following table
of 19 years will show the number of
months in each year, as well as the first
day of their year, reduced to the new
style. The first day will not always be
quite accurate, as certain lucky and un-
lucky days require the postponement of a
day in some years. The year must be
divided by 19, and the remainder will
show the year of the cycle. If there be
no remainder, it is the 19th year.
The 1st begins about the 2d of October, and consists of
•
·
Month
.12
. 12
. 13
. 12
. 12
2d
22d of September,.
3d
10th
.
4th.
29th
5th
19th
6th..
8th
7th..
27th
8th.
16th
9th
.
10th
11th.
12th
13th
14th.
15th.
•
•
.
·
5th of October,
25th of September,
14th
2d of October,
21st of September,
10th
66
29th
CC
16th
.
.. 18th
66
17th
7th
66
18th.
25th
19th.
. 14th
. 13
•
12
13
12
.
•
12
. 13.
12
12
13
12
12
13
12
.13
The Abyssinians place the birth of Christ in the 5500th year of the creation, and conse
quently eight years after our era.
EPOCH.
To reduce the Jewish time to ours, sub-
tract 3761, and the remainder will show
the year: the beginning of the year may
be ascertained by the above table, and the
months must be counted from that time.
The ecclesiastical year begins six months
earlier, with the month of Nisan. Con-
sequently, when the given year is eccle-
siastical, deduct a year in the date from
Nisan to Elul, inclusive. The Jews
frequently, in their dates, leave out the
thousands, which they indicate by plac-
ing the letters pab meaning opona "ac-
cording to the lesser computation." It
will be unnecessary to mention the various
other epochs that have taken place from
the creation, as those detailed or referred
to are the only ones that have been in gen-
eral use.
551

indiction 15. It consists of 7980 years,
and began 4713 years before our era. It
has been employed in computing time, to
avoid the puzzling ambiguity attendant on
reckoning any period antecedent to our
era, an advantage which it has in com-
mon with the mundane eras used at dif-
ferent times. By subtracting 4713 from
the Julian period, our year is found. If
before Christ, subtract the Julian period
from 4714.
The Era of Diocletian, called also the
Era of Martyrs, was much used by Chris-
tian writers until the introduction of the
Christian era in the sixth century, and is
still employed by the Abyssinians and
Copts. It dates from the day* when Dio-
cletian was proclaimed emperor, at Chal-
ilcedon, 29th August, 284. It is called the
Era of Martyrs, from the persecution of
the Christians in the reign of Diocletian.
The year consists of 365 days, with an
additional day every fourth year. Divide
the date by 4, and if 3 remain, the year is
bissextile. It contains 12 months of 30
days each, with 5 additional in common
years, and 6 in leap years. To reduce
the years of this era to those of the
Christian, add 283 years 240 days.
When the Diocletian year is the year after
leap year, it begins one day later than
usual, and, in consequence, one day must
be added to the Christian year, from the
29th of August to the end of the follow-
ing February.
The Era of Nabonassar received its
name from that of a prince of Babylon,
under whose reign astronomical studies
were much advanced in Chaldæa. The
years are vague, containing 365 days each,
without intercalation. The first day of
the era was Wednesday, February 26th,
747 B. C. To find the Julian year on
which the year of Nabonassar begins,
subtract the given year, if before Christ,
from 748, and if after Christ, add it to
747.
The Egyptian Era. The old Egyptian
year was identical with the era of Nabo-
nassar, beginning on the 26th February, 747
B. C., and consisting of 365 days only.
It was reformed 30 years before Christ, at
which period the commencement of the
year had arrived, by continually receding,
to the 29th of August, which was deter-
mined to be in future the first day of the
year. Their years and months coincide
exactly with those of the era of Diocle-
Ptian. It appears from a calculation, that,
in 30 B. C., the year must have begun on
the 31st of August; in which case we
must suppose the reformation to have
taken place eight years earlier: however
that may be, it is certain, that the 29th of
August was the day adopted, and the
number of the year one more than would
have resulted from taking 747 as the com-
mencement of the era. To reduce to the
Christian era, subtract 746 years 125 days.
The old Egyptian year was in use for
above a century after Christ; the re-
formed year being at first used only by
the Alexandrians.
The Julian Period is a term of years
produced by the multiplication of the
lunar cycle 19, solar cycle 28, and Roman
3
This is said, by mistake, to be Thursday, in
L'Art de vérifier les Dates.
The Grecian Era, or Era of the Seleu-
cides, dates from the reign of Seleucus
Nicator, 311 years and 4 months before
Christ. It was used in Syria for many
years, and frequently by the Jews until
the 15th century, and by some Arabians
to this day. The Syrian Greeks began
their year about the commencement of
September; other Syrians in October,
and the Jews about the autumnal equi-
nox. We shall not pretend to great accu-
racy in this era, the opinions of authors
being very various as to its commence-
ment. It is used in the book of the Mac-
cabees, and appears to have begun with
Nisan. Their year was solar, and con-
sisted of 365 days, with the addition of a
day every fourth year. To reduce it to
our era, supposing it to begin 1st Sep-
tember, 312 B. C., subtract 311 years and
4 months.
The Death of Alexander the Great dates
from the 12th of November, 324 B. C.,t
*Diocletian was not, in reality, proclaimed
until some months after this time.
This would be more accurately 323 B. C,
but the above date is more usually adopted
552
EPOCH.

on which day the 425th year of Nabo-
nassar began. This era was computed by
years of 365 days, with a leap year of
366 every four years, like the Julian year.
The months were of 30 days each, with
5 additional. To compute it, deduct 323
from the given year, and the remainder
will be the year of the Christian era.
If before Christ, deduct the year from
324.
The Era of Tyre began the 19th of
October, 125 B. C., with the month Hy-
perberetæus. The months were the same
as those used in the Grecian era. The
year is similar to the Julian. To reduce it
to our era, subtract 124; and if the given
year be less than 125, deduct it from 125,
and the remainder will be the year before
Christ.
The Cæsarean Era of Antioch was used
in Syria, by Greeks and Syrians. The
months are the same as those given under
the Grecian era. The Greeks began with
Gorpiæus, September, in the year 49 B.
C., and the Syrians with Tishri I, Octo-
ber, of 48 B. Č.
The Era of Abraham is used by Euse-
bius, and begins the 1st of October, 2016
B. C. To reduce this to the Christian
era, subtract 2015 years 3 months, and
the remainder will be the year and
month.
The Spanish Era, or Era of the Caesars,
is reckoned from the 1st of January, 38
years B. C., being the year following the
conquest of Spain by Augustus. It was
much used in Africa, Spain and the south
of France. By a synod held in 1180, its
use was abolished in all the churches de-
pendent on Barcelona. Pedro IV of Ar-
ragon, abolished the use of it in his
dominions in 1350. John I of Castile
did the same in 1382. It continued to be
used in Portugal until 1455. The months
and days of this era are identical with
those of the Julian calendar; and, conse-
quently, to turn this time into that of our
era, we have only to subtract 38 from the
year. Thus the Spanish year 750 is
equal to the Julian 712. If the year be
before the Christian era, subtract it from
39.
The Era of Yezdegird III, or the Persian
Era, was formerly universally adopted in
Persia, and is still used by the Parsees in
India, and by the Arabs, in certain com-
putations. This era began on the 16th of
June, A. D. 632. The year consisted of
365 days only, and, therefore, its com-
mencement, like that of the old Egyptian
and Armenian year, anticipated the Julian
year by one day in every four years. This
difference amounted to nearly 112 days
in the year 1075, when it was reformed
by Jelaledin, who ordered, that, in future,
the Persian year should receive an ad-
ditional day whenever it should appear
necessary to postpone the commencement
of the following year, that it might occur
on the day of the sun's passing the same
degree of the ecliptic. This took place
generally once in 4 years; but, after seven
or eight intercalations, it was postponed
for a year. It will be observed, that such
an arrangement must be perfect, and that
this calendar could never require refor-
mation; but it has the inconvenience of
making it very difficult to determine be-
forehand the length of any given year, as
well as that of causing a difference occa-
sionally in the computation of persons
living under different meridians; those
living towards the East sometimes begin-
ning their year a day after others more
westwardly situate; the sun rising in the
old sign to those in the former situation,
who consequently continued in the old
year another day; while the others, hav-
ing their sun rise in the new sign, began
a new year. The present practice of the
Parsees in India varies in different prov-
inces, some beginning the year in Sep-
tember, and others in October.
months have each 30 days, and the inter-
calation of 5 or 6 days occurs at the end
of Aban. To reduce this era to the
Christian year, add 630 to the given year,
and the sum will be the year of our era
in which the year begins, according to the
practice of the Parsees. Every day of
the Persian month has a different name.
The
The Era of the Armenians. The Ar
menians began their era on Tuesday, the
9th of July, A. D. 552. Their year con-
sists of 365 days only, and therefore an-
ticipates the Julian one day in every four
years. The Armenian ecclesiastical year
begins on the 11th of August, and has an
additional day at the end of every fourth
year; and consequently coincides in di-
vision with the Julian year. To reduce
ecclesiastical Armenian years to our time,
add 551 years and 222 days. In leap
years, subtract one day from March 1 to
August 10.-The Armenians frequently
use the old Julian style and months in
their correspondence with Europeans.
For the French Revolutionary Calendar
see Calendar, vol. 2, page 403. As this
plan lasted so short a time, it will take
less space to insert a table of years cor-
responding with the Christian era, than to
give a rule for the deduction of one era
from another.

10 11 1792-3
2 1793-4
3 1794-5
4 1795-6
51796-7
6 6
1797-8
801799-1800
1800-1801
9
10 1801-2
11 1802-3
12 18034
13 1804-5
EPOCH.
7 1798-9 14 1805-6on
The Mohammedan Era, or Era of the He-
gira, dates from the flight of Mohammed
to Medina, which event took place in the
night of Thursday, the 15th of July, A. D.
622. The era commences on the follow-
ing day, viz., the 16th of July. Many
chronologists have computed this era from
the 15th of July, but Cantemir has given
examples, proving that, in most ancient
times, the 16th was the first day of the
era; and now there can be no question,
that such is the practice of Mohammedans.
The year is purely lunar, consisting of 12
months, each month commencing with
the appearance of the new moon, without
any intercalation to bring the commence-
ment of the year to the same season. It is
obvious, that, by such an arrangement,
every year will begin much earlier in the
season than the preceding, being now in
summer, and, in the course of 16 years, in
winter. Such a mode of reckoning, so
much at variance with the order of nature,
could scarcely have been in use beyond
the pastoral and semi-barbarous nation by
whom it was adopted, without the power-
ful aid of fanaticism; and even that has
not been able to prevent the use of other
methods by learned men in their compu-
tations, and by governments in the collec-
tion of revenue. It will also be remark-
ed, that, as the Mohammedans begin each
month with the appearance of the new
moon, a few cloudy days might retard the
commencement of a month, making the
preceding month longer than usual. This,
in fact, is the case, and two parts of the
same country will sometimes differ a day
in consequence; although the clear skies
of those countries where Islamism pre-
vails rarely occasion much inconvenience
on this head. But in chronology and
history, as well as in all documents, they
use months of 30 and 29 days, alternately,
making the year thus to consist of 354
days: eleven times in 30 years, one day is
added to the last month, making 355 days
in that year. Consequently the average
length of a year is taken at 354 days,
the 12th of which is 293, differing
from the true lunation very little more
than 3 seconds, which will not amount to
a day in less than 2260 years-a degree of
exactness which could not have been at-
tained without long continued observa-
VOL. IV.
47
553
tions. The intercalary year of 355 days
occurs on the 2d, 5th, 7th, 10th, 13th,
15th, 18th, 21st, 24th, 26th, and 29th
years of every 30 years. Any year being
given, to know whether it be intercalary or
not, divide by 30, and if either of the
above numbers remain, the year will be
one of 355 days. To reduce the year of
the Hegira to that of the Christian, the
following mode, though not strictly accu-
rate, is sufficiently so for most purposes.
The Mohammedan year being a lunar
year of 354 days, 33 such years will
make 32 of ours. We have only, then, to
deduct one year for each 33 in any given
number of Mohammedan years, and add
622 (the year of our era, from which
their computation commences), and we
obtain the corresponding year of the
Christian era.
Indian Chronology. The natives of In-
dia use a great variety of epochs, some of
which are but little understood, even by
themselves, and almost all are deficient
in universality and uniformity, so that the
same epoch, nominally, will be found to
vary many days, or even a year, in differ-
ent provinces. The solar, or, more prop-
erly, the sidereal year, is that which is
most in use for public business, particu-
larly since the introduction of European
power into India. This year is calculated
by the Indian astronomers at 365 days, 6
hours, 12 minutes, 30 seconds, or, ac-
cording to others, 36 seconds. Therefore,
in 60 Indian years, there will be a day
more than in 60 Gregorian years. The
difference arises from not taking into con-
sideration the precession of the equi-
noxes, which is equal, in reality, to some-
thing more than 20 minutes, though by
them calculated at 23 minutes. The luni-
solar computation is not at present so.
common as it formerly was, although
still much used in some parts of India,
and common every where in the regula-
tion of festivals, and in domestic arrange-
ments. Both the solar and luni-solar
forms may be used with most of the In-
dian eras, though some more particularly
affect one form and some the other. The
luni-solar mode varies in different prov-
inces, some beginning the month at full
moon, others at new moon. We shall
describe that beginning by the full moon,
which is used in Bengal; the other meth-
od will be easily understood when this is
known. Each year begins on the day of
full moon preceding the beginning of the
solar year of the same date. The months
are divided into halves, the first of which
is entitled badi, or dark, being from the
554
EPOCH.

full moon to the new; and the last, sudi,
or bright, from new to full moon. These
divisions are sometimes of 14 and some-
times of 15 days, and are numbered gen-
erally from 1 to 15, though the last day
of the badi half is called 15, and that of
sudi is called 30. By a complicated ar-
rangement, a day is sometimes omitted,
and again a day is intercalated, so that,
instead of going on regularly in numeri-
cal order, these days may be reckoned 1,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10. The subject is
enveloped in some obscurity; and it will
be, perhaps, sufficient to observe, that the
time of a lunation is divided into 30 parts,
called tiths, and, when two tiths occur in
the same solar day, that day is omitted in
the lunar reckoning, and restored by in-
tercalation at some other period. When
two full moons occur in one solar month,
the month also is named twice, making a
year of 13 months. In the case, also, of
a short solar month, in which there should
be no full moon, the month would be
altogether omitted. All these circum-
stances render the luni-solar computation
a matter of much difficulty; and to re-
duce it exactly to our era, would require
a perfect knowledge of Hindoo astrono-
my. But as the solar reckoning is by far
the most general, we shall only observe,
that the lunar month precedes the solar
month by a lunation at most; and conse-
quently a lunar date may be nearly known
from the solar time, which is of easy cal-
culation. The eras which are generally
known are the following:-
The Caliyug. This era is the most
ancient of India, and dates from a period
3101 years before Christ. It begins with
the entrance of the sun into the Hindoo
sign Aswin, which is now on the 11th of
April, N. S. In the year 1600, the year
began on the 7th of April, N. S., from
which it has now advanced 4 days, and,
from the precession of the equinoxes, is
still advancing at the rate of a day in 60
years. The number produced by sub-
tracting 3102 from any given year of the
Caliyug will be the Christian year in
which the given year begins.
The Era of Salivahana may be joined
here to that of the Caliyug, being identi-
cal with it as to names of months, divis-
ions and commencement, and differing
only in the date of the year, which is 3179
years more recent than that, and there-
fore 77 years since our era. It is much
used in the southern and western prov-
inces of India, and papers are frequently
dated in both eras. The years of this
era are called Saca. The number 77 must
be added to find the equivalent year of
the Christian era. Both these eras are
most commonly used with solar time.
The Era of Vicramaditya, which has
its name from a sovereign of Malwa, may
also be placed here, as it uses the same
months as the two above mentioned; but
it is more generally used with lunar time.
This era is much employed in the north
of India, and its years are called Samvat.
It began 57 years before Christ; and that
number must be deducted to bring it to
our era. In Guzerat, this era is used, but
it begins there about the autumnal equi-
nox. The months all begin on the days
of the entrance of the sun into a sign of
the Hindoo zodiac, and they vary from
29 to 32 days in length, though making
up 365 days in the total, in common years,
and 366 in leap years. The intercalation
is made when and where it is required,
not according to any arbitrary rule, but
by continuing the length of each month
until the sun has completely passed each
sign. This will bring about 26 leap years
in every century. It would require long
and complicated calculations to find ex-
actly the commencement and duration of
each month, but we shall not err more
than a day or two by considering them to
be of 30 and 31 days alternately.
The Bengalee year appears to have
been once identical with the Hegira; but
the solar computation having subsequent-
ly been adopted, of which the years ex-
ceed those of the Hegira by 11 days, it
has lost nearly 11 days every year, and is
now about 9 years later, the year 1245 of
the Hegira beginning in July, 1829, and
the Bengalee year 1236 beginning 13th
of April of the same year. The number
593 must be added to bring this to the
Christian era.
The Chinese, like all the nations of the
north-east of Asia, reckon their time by
cycles of 60 years. Instead of numbering
them as we do, they give a different name
to every year in the cycle. As all those
nations follow the same system, we shall
detail it here more particularly. They
have two series of words, one of ten, and
the other of twelve words; a combina-
tion of the first words in both orders is
the name of the first year; the next in
each series are taken for the second year;
and so to the tenth in the eleventh year,
the series of ten being exhausted, they
begin again with the first, combining it
with the eleventh of the second series; in
the twelfth year, the second word of the
first series is combined with the twelfth
of the second; for the thirteenth year

EPOCH.
he combination of the third word of the
first list with the first of the second list, is
taken, that list also being now exhausted.
To make this clearer, we shall designate
the series of ten by the Roman letters,
that of twelve by the italics, and the
whole cycle of 60 will stand thus:-
5ee
31 a g
46 f k
555
the year required. The Chinese frequently
date from the year of the reigning sove-
reign; and in that case, there is no way of
having the corresponding date, but by a
list of emperors. We subjoin a list of
those who have reigned for the last two
centuries.
Tartar Dynasty.
Hi-tsong began to reign A. D. 1616.
Yong-ching "
1a a
2bb
16 f d
17 ge
32 b h
47 gl
3 cc
18 hf
33 ci
48 h m
Hoai-tsong
4 dd
19 i g
34 d k
49 i a
Shun-chi
20 kh
35 el
l
50 kb
Kang-hi
6ff
21 ai
36 fm
51 a c
7 gg
8hh
22 b k
37 g a
52 b d
23 cl
38 h b
9ii
24 d m
39 i c
54 d f
53 ce Kia-king"
Kien-lung
10k k
25 e a
40 k d
55 e g
11 a l
26 fb
41 a e
56 fh
12 b m
27 g c
42 bf
57 gi
13 ca
28 h d
43 cg
58 h k
14 d b
29 i e
44 d h
66 1627.
"1644.
1662.
"1723.
39
1736.
1796.
59 il
15 e c 30 kf
45 e i
60 km.
The series of 10 is designated in China
by the name of teen kan, or celestial signs.
The Chinese months are lunar, of 29 and
30 days each. Their years have ordinarily
12 months, but a 13th is added whenever
there are two new moons while the sun is
in one sign of the Zodiac. This will oc-
cur seven times in 19 years. The boasted
knowledge of the Chinese in astronomy
has not been sufficient to enable them to
compute their time correctly. In 1290
A. D., the Arab Jemaleddin composed a
calendar for them, which remained in use
until the time of the Jesuit Adam Schaal,
who was the director of their calendar
until 1664. It then remained for five
years in the hands of the natives, who so
deranged it, that, when it was again sub-
mitted to the direction of the Christians,
it was found necessary to expunge a
month to bring the commencement of the
year to the proper season. It has since
that time been almost constantly under
the care of Christians. The first cycle,
according to the Romish missionaries, be-
gan February 2397 B. C. We are now,
therefore, in the 71st cycle, the 27th of
which will begin in 1830. To find out
the Chinese time, multiply the elapsed
cycle by 60, and add the odd years; then,
if the time be before Christ, subtract the
sum from 2398; but if after Christ, sub-
tract 2397 from it; the remainder will be
*Dr. Morrison carries it back to the 61st year
of Hwang-te,2596 B. C., making the present year
to fall in the 74th cycle; but, according to the
celebrated historian Choofootze, Hwang-te reign-
ed about 2700 B. C. making 75 cycles from that
period, which is, probably, more correct than
either of the above statements.
Tara-kwang
now emperor.
66
66
3335
1820,
The Japanese have a cycle of 60 years,
like that of the Chinese, formed by a
combination of words of two series. The
series of ten is formed of the names of
the elements, of which the Japanese
reckon five, doubled by the addition of
the masculine and feminine endings je
and to. The cycles coincide with those
of the Chinese; but a name is given to
them instead of numbering them. Their
years begin in February, and are luni-so-
lar, of 12 and 13 months, with the inter-
calations as before mentioned under the
head of China. The first cycle is said to
begin 660 B. C.; but this cannot be cor-
rect, unless some alteration has taken
place, as the Chinese cycle then began
657 B. C. We know, however, too little
of Japan to pronounce positively respect-
ing it; but thus far it is certain, that the
cycle now coincides with that of the
w coincides with that
Chinese.
To an article of this nature it may not
be thought superflous to append a slight
notice of the manner in which some of
the aboriginal tribes of America reckoned
their time before its discovery by the na-
tives of Europe. The science of astrono-
my seems to have advanced there to a
much greater extent than is commonly
imagined. The extraordinary accuracy
of the Mexicans in their computations,
surpassing that of the Europeans of their
time, cannot be accounted for other-
wise than by the supposition that they
had derived it from some people more
civilized than themselves; and would ap-
pear incredible, if not well attested by
Spanish authors of the 15th century, as
well as by many hieroglyphic almanacs
yet remaining, of undoubted antiquity.
The Peruvians and Muyscas had lunar
years of great accuracy also; but this is
less surprising, as the phases of the moon
556
EPOCH EPODE.

are sufficiently visible to the eye, and
their returns frequent. We shall detail
that of the Mexicans only.
The year of the Mexicans consisted of
365 days; it was composed of eighteen
months of twenty days each, and five ad-
ditional, called nemontemi, or void. At
the end of a cycle of 52 years, 13 days
were added, and at the end of another
cycle 12 days, and so on, alternately,
making an addition of 25 days in 104
years. This made the mean year to con-
sist of 365 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes, 9
13
seconds, being only 2 3919" shorter than
the truth. As the wanton destruction of
the Mexican monuments and hieroglyph-
ic records, by their cruel and barbarous
conquerors, has left little to study, and
the extermination of the Mexicans of
superior order has done away with their
system, we shall not detail the names of
their months and particulars of their cycles,
which afford striking coincidences with
those of the Tartars, Japanese, &c. We
shall only add, that their first cycle began
in the month of January, A. D. 1090.
List of the Correspondence of Eras with the Year 1830.
[When the commencement of the year coincides with the Christian year, that alone will be given;
when it begins at a different season, the month in which the 1st of January, 1830, occurs will be also
stated.]
Arrangement
in preceding
Article.
1 Roman year
2 Olympiads
3 Year of the world.
4
5 66
6
66
7 Era of Nabonassar
8 Egyptian
9 Julian period
10 Diocletian, or of Martyrs
11 Seleucides, or Grecian
12 Death of Alexander
13 Era of Tyre.
14 Cæsarian of Antioch
15
66
66
16 Era of Abraham
Correspond- Abbre-
ence with viations.
1830.
... 2583
7th month 1st year of 652
(Constantinopolitan account) 7338
(Alexandrian account) 7322
(Abyssinian account) 24th Tahsas 7322
(Jewish account) 7th Thebet 5590
17 Spanish, or of the Cæsars
18 Persian era of Yezdegird III
19 Armenian common year.
ecclesiastical year
20
66
21 Hegira..
22 Caliyug
23 Salivahana (Saca)
24 Vicramaditava (Samvat)
25 Bengalee
26 Fuslee (Bengal account)
(Telinga account)
27
28 Parasurama
29 Grahaparivrithi
30 Brihuspotee (Bengal)
(Telinga)
31
8th month of 2578
24th Cohiac 2576
6543
24th Cohiac 1546
Audynæus 2141
3d month 2153
4th month 1954
(Greek account) Audynæus 1878
(Syrian account) Canun II 1877
4th month 3845
1868
A. U. C.
Olymp.
A. M. Const.
A. M. Alex.
A. M. Abyss.
A. M.
Er. Nab.
A. Eg.
Jul. Per.
r. Diocl.
r. Seleuc.
A. Mort. Alex.
r. Tyr.
Cæs. Ant.
r. Abr.
A. Cæs.
(Parsee account) 1199 A. Pers.
4th or 5th month
}
29th Drethari 1279 An. Arm.
12th Kagoths 1278
7th Regeb 1245
A. H.
Poos or Margaly 4931 Cal.
66
66
1752 Saca.
66
66
1886 Samvat.
66
66
1236 Beng. Sen.
66
1237 Fusl.
แ
66
1239 Fusl.
Paras.
4th month of 1005
54th year of 21st cycle
35th year of 84th cycle
24th year of 83d cycle
11th month of Kechow, 71st cycle
32 Chinese year
EPODE (Latin epodos, from the Greek
nwods, from ni and acidw, I sing); the last
division in the choral song of the an-
cients, which was sung when the chorus,
after the strophe and antistrophe, had
returned to its place (see Chorus); so
that it was a kind of closing song, or
Grah.
Cyc. Brih.
finale. This epode had a peculiar meas-
ure, and an arbitrary number of verses.
By the term epode is also understood a
sort of satirical ode; according to Hephaes-
tion, one which has longer and shorter
iambic verses, following each other alter-
nately. This name is also given to the

NGH EPODE-EQUATION OF PAYMENTS. TAUDI
5th book of the odes of Horace. All the
odes in this book, however, are not satir-
ical, and Scaliger therefore supposes, that
the name here signifies an appendix to
the odes; the epodes having been joined
to the other works of the poet after his
death.
EPOPEE. (See Epic.)
EPOPTE (from the Greek ni and onтоμаι,
I see); inspectors, or spectators, i. e., in-
itiated; a name given to those who were
admitted to view the secrets of the great-
er mysteries, or religious ceremonies of
the ancient Greeks.
EPROUVETTE; the name of an instru-
ment for ascertaining the strength of fired
gunpowder, or of comparing the strength
of different kinds of gunpowder. One of
the best, for the proof of powder in artille-
ry, is that contrived by doctor Hutton. It
consists of a small brass gun, about 23 feet
long, suspended by a metallic stem, or rod,
turning by an axis, on a firm and strong
frame, by means of which the piece os-
cillates in a circular arch. A little below
the axis, the stem divides into two
branches, reaching down to the gun, to
which the lower ends of the branches are
fixed, the one near the muzzle, the other
near the breech of the piece. The upper
end of the stem is firmly attached to the
axis, which turns very freely by its ex-
tremities in the sockets of the supporting
frame, by which means the gun and stem
vibrate together in a vertical plane, with
a very small degree of friction. The
piece is charged with a small quantity of
powder (usually about two ounces), with-
out any ball, and then fired; by the force
of the explosion, the piece is made to
recoil or vibrate, describing an arch or
angle, which will be greater or less ac-
cording to the quantity or strength of the
powder.ed
EPSOM; a place in England, 15 miles
south of London, in Surrey; population,
2890. It is celebrated for its medicinal
springs, of a purgative quality, and for
the downs, on which horse-races annually
take place. Near it Henry VIII built a
splendid palace, called Nonsuch.
EPSOM SALT (Sulphate of magnesia,
cathartic salt) appears in capillary fibres or
acicular crystals; sometimes presents mi-
nute prismatic crystals. The fibres are
sometimes collected into masses; and it
also occurs in a loose, mealy powder: its
color, white, grayish or yellowish: it is
transparent, or translucent, with a saltish,
bitter taste. It is soluble in its own weight
of cold water, and effloresces on exposure
to the air. It is composed of water, sulphu-
557
ric acid and magnesia. It is found cover-
ing the crevices of rocks, in caverns, old
pits, &c., in the vicinity of Jena, on the
Harz, in Bohemia, &c., in mineral springs,
in several lakes in Asia, and in sea-water.
It is obtained for use from these sources,
or by artificial processes, and is employed
in medicine as a purgative. The English
name is derived from the circumstance.
of its having been first procured from the
mineral waters at Epsom, England. (See
Magnesia.)
EQUATION, in algebra, is the expres-
sion of the equality of different indica-
tions of the same magnitude; as, for in-
stance, 9 and 2 are equal to 11, in math-
ematical characters is expressed thus:-
9+2-11; or, 3 from 4 leave 1, is 4-3
1. An equation may contain known
quantities and unknown quantities. The
latter are usually indicated by the last
letters of the alphabet; and it is one of
the main objects of mathematics to re-
duce all questions to equations, and to
find the value of the unknown quantities
by the known, which is sometimes a
difficult, but, at the same time, interesting
operation; because x, or the unknown
quantity, may be given under so involved
a form as to require the greatest tact to
determine its value. The work of Meier
Hirsch, already mentioned in the article
Algebra, is perhaps the best collection of
equations for solution. There must always
be as many equations as there are un-
known quantities; and it is not always
easy to form these from the question pro-
posed. The equation is called simple,
quadratic, cubic, bicubic, of the fifth, &c.
degree, according to the exponent of the
unknown quantity; for instance (x2-
4cdy+xp) x4pq-sin 4p, is an equation
of the sixth degree. Equations are the
soul of all algebraical operations.
EQUATION OF PAYMENTS, in arithmetic,
is the finding the time to pay at once sev-
eral debts due at different times, and
bearing no interest till after the time of
payment, so that no loss shall be sustain-
ed by either party. The rule commonly
given for this purpose is as follows:-
Multiply each sum by the time at which
it is due; then divide the sum of the
products by the sum of the payments,
and the quotient will be the time required.
Thus, for example, A owes B £190, to
be paid as follows; viz. £50 at 6 months,
£60 at 7 months, and £80 at 10 months:
what is the equated time at which the
whole ought to be paid, that no loss may
arise, either to debtor or creditor? By
the rule,
47*
EQUATION OF PAYMENTS-EQUESTRIAN ORDER.
558

50 X 6 300
60 X 7=420
80 X 10800
190
bios pis and its axis is the axis of the earth. It
) 1520 (8 months, equat.
1520
time.
This rule, however, is founded on a sup-
position, that the interest of the several
debts which are payable before the equa-
ted time, from their terms to that time,
ought to be equal to the sum of the in-
terest of the debts payable after the
equated time, from that time to their
terms respectively, which, however, is
not correct, as it is the discount that is
to be considered, and not the interest,
in the latter sums. In most cases, how-
ever, that occur in business, the error is
so trifling, that the popular rule will prob-
ably always be made use of, as being by
far the most eligible and expeditious
method that we could suggest.
divides the celestial sphere into the north-
ern and southern hemispheres. During
his apparent yearly course, the sun is
twice in the equator, at the beginning of
spring and of autumn. (See Equinox,
and Day.) Then the day and night are
equal,-whence the name of equator
The situation of the stars, with respect to
the equator, is determined by their declen-
sion and right ascension. (q. v.) The
equator, or equinoctial, called by mariners
simply the line, is that great circle of our
globe, every point of which is 90 degrees
from the poles, which are also its poles,
and its axis is the axis of the earth. It is
in the plane of the celestial equator. All
places which are on it, have invariably
equal days and nights. (See Day.) Our
earth is divided by it into the northern
and southern hemispheres. The diur
nal revolution of the earth is in the di
rection of it. It crosses the centre of
Africa, the islands of Sumatra, Borneo
Celebes, &c., in Asia, then traverses the
Pacific ocean, and crosses South Ameri-
ca, in Colombia, thence proceeds through
the Atlantic back to Africa. To cross
the line, in navigation, is to pass over the
equator. The equatorial regions are sub-
ject to long calms, alternating with fright-
ful hurricanes. As equal or mean time
is estimated by the passage of arcs of the
equator over the meridian, it frequently
becomes necessary to convert parts of
the equator into time, and the converse,
which is performed by the following
analogy, viz.--as 15° : 1 hour: : any arc
of the equator: the time it has been in
passing. Or, conversely, 1 hour: 15°
3: any given time: to the arc of the
equator.-From this circle is reckoned
the latitude of places, both north and
south, in degrees of the meridian. (See
Latitude, and Longitude.)
EQUATION OF TIME, in astronomy, de-
notes the difference between mean and
apparent time, or the reduction of the ap-
parent unequal time, or motion of the
sun or a planet, to equable and mean
time or motion. If the earth had only a
diurnal motion, without an annual, any
given meridian would revolve from the
sun to the sun again in the same space
of time as from any star to the same star
agam, because the sun would neyer
change his place with respect to the stars.
But as the earth advances almost a de-
gree eastward in its orbit in the time that
it turns eastward round its axis, what-
ever star passes over the meridian on any
day with the sun, will pass over the same
meridian on the next day, when the sun
is almost a degree short of it, that is,
minutes 56 seconds sooner. If the year
contained only 360 days, as the ecliptic
does 360 degrees, the sun's apparent
place, so far as his motion is equable,
would change a degree every day, and
then the sidereal days would be 4 min-
utes shorter than the solar. The mean
and apparent solar days are never equal,
except when the sun's daily motion in
right ascension is 59; which is nearly
the case about the 15th of April, the 15th
of June, the 1st of September, and 24th
of December, when the equator is 0, or
nearly so; and it is at its greatest about
the 1st of November, when it is 16' 14".
EQUATOR. By the celestial equator is
understood that imaginary great circle in
the heavens, the plane of which is per-
pendicular to the axis of the earth; it is
everywhere 90° distant from the poles of
the earth, which are therefore its poles,
EQUATORIAL, UNIVERSAL, or PORTA-
BLE OBSERVATORY is an instrument in-
tended to answer a number of useful pur-
poses in practical astronomy, independent
of any particular observatory. It may be
employed in any steady room or place,
for performing many useful problems.
EQUERRY, in the British customs; an
officer of state, under the master of the
horse. There are five equerries, who
ride abroad with his majesty; for which
purpose, they give their attendance
monthly, one at a time, and are allowed
a table.
EQUESTRIAN ORDER, in Roman anti-
quities (ordo equestris). The equites did
not at first form a distinct order, but were

EQUESTRIAN ORDER-EQUINOX.
merely selected, 100 from each tribe, as
the body-guard of the king, and were
called celeres, because they were mount-
ed. Their number was afterwards in-
creased; but when the equites became a
distinct order, or class, is not known with
certainty; it was probably soon after the
expulsion of the kings. None but those
who were named by the censor belonged
to the order of equites; they were taken
from plebeian or patrician families, and
those who were of illustrious descent were
called illustres, speciosi, &c. Their num-
ber was not fixed. In the latter periods
of the republic, property of the value of
400 sestertia was required for admission
into it. The privileges of a knight or
eques were, 1. to receive a horse from the
state; 2. a gold ring (hence annulo aureo
donari, i. e. to be made a knight); 3. an-
gustus clavus, a narrow strip of purple on
the tunic; 4. a particular seat on public
occasions. At first, their duty was to
serve the republic in war; but, at a later
period, they became judges, and farm-
ers of the public revenues. Caius and
Tiberius Gracchus wrested the right of
being judges from the senate, and gave
it to the equites. Some authors date the
elevation of the equites to a third class at
this period. Every fifth year, the censor
held a review of the equites, on which
occasion they passed before him, leading
their horses. If any one of their number
had been guilty of any offence, even if he
had only neglected his horse, the censor
ordered it to be sold, which was equiva-
lent to degrading him from the order;
hence adimere equum, to degrade a
knight. Others, who had committed
slighter offences, for which they were to
be deprived of their rank, were omitted
in the list, which was read aloud by the
censor. The first on the list was called
princeps. The farmers of the revenue
were divided into classes, each having a
president, called magister societatis: the
members were called publicani. They
were hated in the provinces.
of EQUILIBRIST (from the Latin æquilib-
rium); one who keeps his balance, in un-
natural positions and hazardous move-
ments. The equilibrist entertains the
spectator by his artful motions, attitudes,
leaps, &c. Every rope-dancer is an
equilibrist. India is the native country
of equilibrists; and the accounts given by
travellers of the Indian balancers border
on the incredible. The French, too, are
distinguished as equilibrists. Such per-
formers are met with in all the large cities
of Europe and America. The equilibrists
559
are frequently also buffoons, jugglers,
conjurers, &c.
EQUINOCTIAL, in astronomy; a great
circle of the sphere, under which the
equator moves in its diurnal motion. It
is the same as the celestial equator. (See
Equator.)
EQUINOCTIAL GALES; storms which
are observed generally to take place about
the time of the sun's crossing the equator
or equinoctial line, at which time there
is equal day and night throughout the
world.
EQUINOCTIAL POINTS are the two
points wherein the equator and ecliptic in-
tersect each other: the one, being in the
first point of Aries, is called the vernal
point; and the other, in the first point of
Libra, the autumnal point.
EQUINOX is that time of the year
when the day and night are equal: the
length of the day is then 12 hours; the
sun is ascending 6 hours, and descending
the same time. This is the case twice a
year, in the spring and in autumn, when
the sun is on the equator. When the sun
is in this situation, the horizon of every
place is, of course, divided into two equal
parts by the circle bounding light and
darkness; hence the sun is visible every
where 12 hours, and invisible for the
same time in each 24 hours. (See Day.)
The vernal equinox marks the beginning
of spring, the autumnal that of autumn:
at all other times, the lengths of the day
and of the night are unequal, and their
difference is the greater the more we ap-
proach either pole, and in the same lati-
tude it is every where the same. Under
the line, this inequality entirely vanishes:
there, during the day, which is equal to
the night, the sun always ascends 6 hours,
and descends 6 hours. In the opposite
hemisphere of our earth, the inequality
of the days increases in proportion to the
latitude: the days increase there, while
they diminish with us, and vice versa.
The points where the ecliptic comes in
contact with the equator are called equi-
noctial points. The vernal equinoctial
point was formerly at the entrance of the
constellation of Aries; hence the next
30 degrees of the ecliptic, reckoned east-
ward from it, have been called Aries; but
this point long ago deserted the constella-
tion of Aries, and now stands under
Pisces; for it is found by observation,
that the equinoctial points, and all the
other points of the ecliptic, are continual-
ly moving backward, or westward; which
retrograde motion of the equinoctial points
is what is called the precession of the
560
ROMUEQUINOX-EQUITY.pa

equinoxes. (See Precession.) It appears
from the result of calculations, that the
path of either of the poles is a circle, the
poles of which coincide with those of the
ecliptic, and that the pole will move along
that circle so slowly as to accomplish the
whole revolution in about 25,791 years,
nearly. The diameter of this circle is
equal to twice the inclination of the eclip-
tic to the equator, or about 47 degrees.
Now, as the ecliptic is a fixed circle in
the heavens, but the equator, which must
be equidistant from the poles, moves with
the poles, therefore the equator must be
constantly changing its intersection with
the ecliptic. And from the best observa-
tions, it appears, that the equator cuts the
ecliptic every year 50 seconds .25 more
to the westward than it did the year be-
fore; hence the sun's arrival at the equi-
noctial point precedes its arrival at the
same fixed point of the heavens every
year by 20 minutes 23 seconds of time, or
by an arc of 50 seconds .25. Thus, by
little and little, these equinoctial points
will cut the ecliptic more and more to the
westward, till, after 25,791 years, they re-
turn to the same point.
EQUISETUM; a genus of plants, be-
longing to the Linnæan class cryptoga-
mia. The species are very common in
wet places, and are commonly called
horse-tails. The fructification is in termi-
nal oval or conical heads, composed of
peltate scales; the seeds numerous and
very minute; the stem simple or branched,
striate, and composed of articulations, each
surrounded at base with a scarious sheath,
which is toothed on the margin; the
branches are verticillate and destitute of
leaves. Five species are natives of the U.
States, all common to the Eastern continent.
The E. hyemale (shave-grass or scouring-
rush) has a remarkably rough stem, and
is used for polishing wood, ivory, and the
metals; for this purpose, a piece of iron
wire is introduced into the hollow of the
stem, which is then rubbed against the
substance under operation. The asperity
of the cuticle is owing to its containing a
proportion of silex. Being a rare plant
in England, it is imported into that coun-
try in considerable quantities from Hol-
land, and is an article of commerce in
other parts of Europe: the value of that
exported from the Rhone is estimated at
nearly $2000 annually. We are not
aware that this plant has been found very
abundantly at any particular locality in
the U. States, though it occurs sparingly
throughout a great portion of the Union.
EQUITY. We call that, in a moral sense,
equity, which is founded in natural jus-
tice, in honesty, and in right, ex æquo et
bono. So, in an enlarged view (as Mr.
Justice Blackstone has observed, 3 Comm.
429), "equity, in its true and genuine
meaning, is the soul and spirit of all law;
positive law is construed, and rational law
is made by it. In this, equity is synony-
mous with justice; in that, to the true and
sound interpretation of the rule." Hence
Grotius has defined it to be the correction
of that, wherein the law, by reason of its
generality, is deficient. It is applied to
cases which the law does not exactly de-
fine, but which it submits to the sound
judgment of the proper interpreter, arbitrio
boni viri permittit. In this sense, equity
must have a place in every rational sys-
tem of jurisprudence; if not in name, at
least in substance. It is impossible, that
any code, however minute and particular,
should embrace or provide for the infinite
variety of human affairs, or should furnish
rules applicable to all of them. Every
system of laws must necessarily be de-
fective; and cases must occur, to which
the antecedent rules cannot be applied
without injustice, or to which they can-
not be applied at all. It is the office,
therefore, of a judge, to consider whether
the antecedent rule does apply, or ought,
according to the intention of the lawgiver,
to apply to a given case; and, if there be
two rules, nearly approaching to it, but of
opposite tendency, which ought to govern;
and, if there exist no exact rule applicable
to all the circumstances, whether the par-
ty is remediless, or the rule furnishing the
closest analogy ought to be followed.
The general words of a law may em-
brace all cases; and yet it may be clear
that all could not have been intentionally
embraced; for, if they were, it would de-
feat the obvious objects of the legislation.
So words of doubtful import may be
employed, and of a more or less extensive
meaning. The question, in such cases,
must be, in what sense the words were
used; and it is the part of a judge to look
to the objects of the legislature, and to
give such a construction of the words as
will further those objects. He is not at
liberty to set aside the law, but to ex-
pound it. Custos non conditor juris, ju-
vare, supplere, interpretari, mitigare jus
civile potuit; mutare vel tollere non potuit
(Taylor's Elements of Civil Law, 214).
This is an exercise of equitable construc-
tion. It is the administration of equity.
Hence arises a variety of rules of interpre-
tation of laws according to their nature
and operation, whether they are remedial
EQUITY.
or penal, or restrictive of general right, or
in advancement of public justice. But
this is not the place to consider those
rules, or the application of them in differ-
ent systems of law. In the law of Eng-
land and the U. States, equity has a dif-
ferent and more restrained meaning. We
distinguish our remedies for wrongs, or
for the enforcement of rights, into two
classes-those which are administered in
courts of law, and those which are ad-
ministered in courts of equity. The
rights secured by the former are called
legal; those secured by the latter are
called equitable. The former are said to
be rights and remedies at common law,
because recognised and enforced in
courts of common law. The latter are
said to be rights and remedies in equity,
because they are administered in courts
of equity or chancery, or by proceedings
in other courts analogous to those in
courts of equity or chancery. Now, in
England and America, courts of common
law proceed by certain prescribed forms,
and give a general judgment for or against
the defendant. They entertain jurisdic-
tion only in certain actions, and give
remedies according to the particular exi-
gency of such actions. But there are
many cases in which a simple judgment
for either party, without qualifications and
conditions, and particular arrangements,
will not do entire justice, ex æquo et bono,
to either party. Some modification of
the rights of both parties are required;
some restraints on one side or the other;
and some peculiar adjustinents, either
present or future, temporary or perpetual.
Now, in all these cases, courts of com-
mon law have no methods of proceed-
ing, which can accomplish such objects.
Their forms of actions and judgment are
not adapted to them. The proper reme-
dy cannot be found, or cannot be admin-
istered to the full extent of the relative
rights of all parties. Such prescribed
forms of actions are not confined to our
law. They were known in the civil law;
and the party could apply them only to
their original purposes. In other cases,
he had a special remedy. In such cases,
where the courts of common law cannot
grant the proper remedy or relief, the law
of England and of the U. States (in those
states where equity is administered) au-
thorizes an application to the courts of
equity or chancery, which are not con-
fined or limited in their modes of relief
by such narrow regulations, but which
grant relief to all parties, in cases where
they have rights, ex æquo et bono, and
561

modify and fashion that relief according
to circumstances. The most general de-
scription of a court of equity is, that it
has jurisdiction in cases where a plain,
adequate and complete remedy cannot
be had at law; that is, in the common
law courts. The remedy must be plain;
for, if it be doubtful and obscure at law,
equity will assert a jurisdiction. So it
must be adequate at law; for, if it fall short
of what the party is entitled to, that founds
a jurisdiction in equity. And it must be
complete; that is, it must attain its full end
at law; it must reach the whole mischief
and secure the whole right of the party,
now and for the future; otherwise equity
will interpose, and give relief. The juris-
diction of a court of equity is sometimes
concurrent with that of courts of law;
and sometimes it is exclusive. It exer-
cises concurrent jurisdiction in cases
where the rights are purely of a legal
nature, but where other and more effi-
cient aid is required than a court of law
can afford, to meet the difficulties of the
case, and ensure full redress. In some
of these cases, courts of law formerly re-
fused all redress; but now will grant it.
But the jurisdiction having been once
justly acquired at a time when there was
no such redress at law, it is not now re-
linquished. The most common exercise
of concurrent jurisdiction is in cases of
account, accident, dower, fraud, mistake,
partnership and partition. The remedy
is here often more complete and effectual
than it can be at law. In many cases
falling under these heads, and especially
in some cases of fraud, mistake and ac-
cident, courts of law cannot and do not
afford any redress; in others they do, but
not always in so perfect a manner. A
court of equity also is assistant to the
jurisdiction of courts of law, in many
cases, where the latter have no like au-
thority. It will remove legal impedi-
ments to the fair decision of a question
depending at law. It will prevent a
party from improperly setting up, at a
trial, some title or claim, which would be
inequitable. It will compel him to dis-
cover, on his own oath, facts which he
knows are material to the right of the
other party, but which a court of law
cannot compel the party to discover. It
will perpetuate the testimony of witnesses
to rights and titles, which are in danger
of being lost before the matter can be
tried. It will provide for the safety of
property in dispute pending litigation. It
will counteract and control, or set aside,
fraudulent judgments. It will exercise,
562
EQUITY-CHEMICAL EQUIVALENTS.

in many cases, an exclusive jurisdiction.
This it does in all cases of merely equi-
table rights, that is, such rights as are
not recognised in courts of law. Most
cases of trust and confidence fall under
this head. Its exclusive jurisdiction is
also extensively exercised in granting
special relief beyond the reach of the
common law. It will grant injunctions
to prevent waste, or irreparable injury, or
to secure a settled right, or to prevent
vexatious litigations, or to compel the
restitution of title deeds; it will appoint
receivers of property, where it is in dan-
ger of misapplication; it will compel the
surrender of securities improperly ob-
tained; it will prohibit a party from leav-
ing the country in order to avoid a suit;
it will restrain any undue exercise of a
legal right, against conscience and equity;
it will decree a specific performance of
contracts respecting real estates; it will,
in many cases, supply the imperfect exe-
cution of instruments, and reform and
alter them according to the real inten-
tion of the parties; it will grant re-
lief in cases of lost deeds or securities;
and, in all cases in which its interference
is asked, its general rule is, that he who
asks equity must do equity. If a party,
therefore, should ask to have a bond for
a usurious debt given up, equity could
not decree it unless he could bring into
court the money honestly due without
usury. This is a very general and im-
perfect outline of the jurisdiction of a
court of equity; in respect to which it has
been justly remarked, that, in matters
within its exclusive jurisdiction, where
substantial justice entitles the party to re-
lief, but the positive law is silent, it is
impossible to define the boundaries of
that jurisdiction, or to enumerate, with
precision, its various principles. (Those
who wish for more information on the
subject may consult the elementary trea-
tises of Fonblanque on Equity, lord
Redesdale's Treatise on Equity Pleadings,
and Cooper's Equity Pleadings; and the
Practical Treatises of Equity by Maddock
and Jeremy.)
Equity, Courts of. The equity juris-
diction, in England, is vested, principally,
in the high court of chancery. (See
Chancellor.) The court is distinct from
the courts of law. American courts of
equity are, in some instances, distinct
from those of law; in others, the same
tribunals exercise the jurisdiction both of
courts of law and equity, though their
forms of proceeding are different in their
two capacities. The supreme court of
the U. States, and the circuit courts, are
invested with general equity powers, and
act either as courts of law or equity, ac-
cording to the form of the process and the
subject of adjudication. In some of the
states, as New York, Virginia and South
Carolina, the equity court is a distinct tribu-
nal, having its appropriate judge, or chan-
cellor, and officers. In most of the states,
the two jurisdictions centre in the same
judicial officers, as in the courts of the U.
States; and the extent of equity jurisdic-
tion and proceedings is very various in
the different states, being very ample in
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Ma-
ryland, Virginia and South Carolina, and
more restricted in Maine, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. But the
salutary influence of these powers on the
judicial administration generally, by the
adaptation of chancery forms and modes
of proceeding to many cases in which a
court of law affords but an imperfect rem-
edy, or no remedy at all, is producing a
gradual extension of them in those states
where they have been heretofore very
limited. (See Chancellor, Common Law,
and Courts.)
EQUITY OF REDEMPTION. Upon a mort-
gage, although the estate, upon nonpay-
ment of the money, becomes vested in the
mortgagee, yet equity considers it only a
pledge for the money, and gives the party
a
right to redeem, which is called his
equity of redemption. If the mortgagee is
desirous to bar the equity of redemption,
he may oblige the mortgager either to pay
the money or be foreclosed of his equity,
which is done by proceedings in chan-
cery by bill of foreclosure. (See Mort-
gage.)
EQUIVALENTS, CHEMICAL; a term em-
ployed in chemical philosophy, to express
the system of definite ratios, in which the
corpuscular subjects of this science recip-
rocally combine, referred to a common
standard, reckoned unity. The principal
facts relating to chemical combinations re-
quire to be stated, in order to render the
present subject intelligible. And in the
first place, leaving out of view the combi-
nations of liquids with each other, and
the common cases of solution in water
and alcohol, the first law relating to the
combination of substances is, that the com-
position of bodies is fixed and invariable;
or, in other words, a compound substance,
so long as it retains its characteristic prop-
erties, always consists of the same ele-
ments, united together in the same pro-
portion. Sulphuric acid, for example, is
always composed of sulphur and oxygen,
CHEMICAL EQUIVALENTS.
in the ratio of 16 parts, by weight, of the
former, to 24 of the latter; no other ele-
ments can form it, nor can its own ele-
ments form it in any other proportion.
Sulphate of barytes, in like manner, is al-
ways composed of 40 parts of sulphuric
acid and 78 of barytes. If sulphuric acid
and barytes should enter into combination
in any other proportion, some new com-
pound, different from sulphate of barytes,
would be formed. The second law re-
lating to this subject is, that, when one body
combines with another in different propor-
tions, the larger proportion of one of the in-
gredients has a simple arithmetical ratio to
the smaller proportion;-the second quan-
tity being a simple multiple of the first;
and if there is a third or fourth propor-
tion, the same ratio continues between
them. The combinations of the two sub-
stances, which, in their gaseous state,
form, by their mixture, the atmosphere,
oxygen and nitrogen,-unite in five differ-
ent proportions, and form a good illustra-
tion of this law, these proportions having
to each other the simple ratio of 1, 2, 3,
4, 5.
Nitrogen. Oxygen.
Nitrous oxide consists of 14 8
Nitric oxide,
14
Hypo-nitrous acid,
Nitrous acid,
Nitric acid,
16
.. 14 24
14 32
14
40
To give an example from the salts,-the
bicarbonate of potash contains twice as
much carbonic acid as the carbonate; and
the oxalic acid of the three oxalates of
potash is in the ratio of 1, 2, and 4. This
law is often called the law of multiples, or
of combination in multiple proportion. It
has been established only by compara-
tively recent investigations, but the most
rigid researches have abundantly evinced
that it is a well-founded law. The third
law of combination is no less remarkable
than the preceding, and is intimately con-
nected with it. Water and hypo-sulphur-
ous acid may be adduced for its illustra-
tion. The former is composed of 8 ox-
ygen to 1 hydrogen; the latter of 8 oxygen
to 16 sulphur. Now, the well-known
substance sulphureted hydrogen is con-
stituted of 1 hydrogen to 16 sulphur; that
is, the quantities of hydrogen and of sul-
phur, which combine with the same quan-
tity of oxygen, combine with one another.
Again, 40 parts of selenium, with 8 of ox-
ygen, form the oxide of selenium, and,
with 1 of hydrogen, seleniureted hydro-
gen; 36 parts of chlorine, with 8 of oxy-
gen, constitute the oxide of chlorine, and,
with 1 of hydrogen, form muriatic acid
563

gas; 16 parts of sulphur combine with 36
of chlorine to form the chloride of sul-
phur. It is manifest, from these exam-
ples, that bodies unite according to pro-
portional numbers; and hence has arisen
the use of certain terms, as, proportion,
combining proportion, or equivalent, to ex-
press them. Thus the combining pro-
portions of the substances just alluded to
are,-
1
. 8
•
•
. 16
Hydrogen,
Oxygen,
Sulphur,
Chlorine,
Selenium,
.36
.. 40
When one body combines with another
in more than one proportion, then the law
of multiples, already explained, comes in-
to action. Thus
Hypo-sulphurous
acid is com-
posed of
Sulphurous acid,
Sulphuric acid,
Oxygen.
Sulphur,
16 or 1 pr. +8 or 1 pr.
16 or 1 pr. +16 or 2 pr.
16 or 1 pr. 24 or 3 pr.
The most usual combination is 1 propor-
tion of one body either with 1 or with 2
proportions of another. Combinations of
1 to 3, or 1 to 4, are very uncommon, unless
the more simple compounds likewise exist.
But this law does not apply to elementary
substances only, since compound bodies
have their combining proportions, which
may likewise be expressed in numbers.
Thus, since water is composed of one pro-
portion, or 8, of oxygen, and one propor-
tion, or 1, of hydrogen, its combining
proportion is 9. The proportion of sul-
phuric acid is 40, because it is a compound
of one proportion, or 16, of sulphur, and
three proportions, or 24, of oxygen; and,
in like manner, the combining propor-
tion of muriatic acid is 37, because it is a
compound of one proportion, or 36 of
chlorine, and one proportion, or 1, of
hydrogen. The proportional number of
potassium is 40, and, as that quantity
combines with 8 of oxygen to form pot-
ash, the combining proportion of potash
is 48. Now, when these compounds
unite, one proportion of the one combines
with one, two, three or more proportions
of the other, precisely as the simple sub-
stances do. The hydrate of potash, for
example, is constituted of 48 potash and 9
of water, and its combining proportion is,
consequently, 48+9, or 57. The sulphate
of potash is composed of 40 sulphuric
acid + 48 potash. The combining pro
portion of this salt is, therefore, 88. The
muriate of the same alkali is composed of
564
CHEMICAL EQUIVALENTS

37 muriatic acid +48 potash; its com-
bining proportion is, therefore, 85. The
composition of the salts affords an excel-
lent illustration of this subject; and, to
exemplify it still further, a list of the pro-
portional numbers of a few acids and al-
kaline bases is subjoined.
Fluoric acid,.. 10
Phosphoric acid, 28
Muriatic acid,. 37
Sulphuric acid, 40
Nitric acid,... 54
Arsenic acid,.. 62
Lithia,. . . . . 18
Magnesia,... 20
28
.
Lime,
Soda,
Potash,
Strontia,
Barytes, ..78
32
.... 48
.. 52
...
Now bodies uniting according to their
proportional numbers, as has been seen
above, the proportion of each base ex-
presses the precise quantity required to
neutralize a proportion of each of the
acids. Thus 18 of lithia, 32 of soda, and
78 of barytes combine with 10 of fluoric
acid, forming the neutral fluates of lithia,
soda and barytes, and are termed equiva-
lents of each other, as well as of fluoric
acid. The same fact is obvious, with re-
spect to the acids; for 28 of phosphoric,
40 of sulphuric, and 62 of arsenic acid
unite with 28 of lime, forming a neutral
phosphate, sulphate and arseniate of lime,
and these acids, in like manner, are equiv-
alents of each other and of lime. These
circumstances afford a ready explanation
of the fact, that when two neutral salts
mutually decompose one another, the re-
sulting compounds are likewise neutral.
If 88 parts of neutral sulphate of potash
are mixed with 132 of the nitrate of ba-
rytes, the 78 barytes unite with the 40 sul-
phuric acid, and the 54 nitric acid of the
nitrate combine with the 48 potash of the
sulphate-not a particle of acid or alkali
remaining in an uncombined condition.
The method of determining the propor-
tional numbers, as might be anticipated
from what has gone before, is, to analyze
a definite compound of two simple sub-
stances which possess an extensive range
of affinity. No two bodies are better
adapted for this purpose than oxygen and
hydrogen, and that compound of these is
selected which contains the smallest quan-
tity of oxygen. Water is such a sub-
stance; and it is therefore regarded as a
compound of one proportion of oxygen to
one proportion of hydrogen. But analy-
sis proves that it is composed of 8 parts
of the former to 1 of the latter, by which
the relative weights of their proportions
are determined, that of oxygen being eight
times heavier than that of hydrogen.
Some compounds are next examined
which contain the smallest proportion of
oxygen or hydrogen in combination with
some other substance, the quantities of
each being the smallest that can unite to-
gether. Carbonic oxide with respect to
carbon, and sulphureted hydrogen with
respect to sulphur, answer this description
perfectly. The former consists of 8 oxy-
gen and 6 carbon; the latter of 1 hydro-
gen and 16 sulphur. The proportional
number of carbon is, consequently, 6, and
of sulphur, 16. The proportions of all
other bodies may be determined in the
same manner. Since the proportional
numbers merely express the relative
quantities of different substances which
combine together, it is, in itself, immateri-
al what figures are employed to express
them. The only essential point is, that
the relation should be strictly observed.
Thus we may make the combining pro-
portion of hydrogen 10; but then oxygen
must be 80, carbon 60, and sulphur 160.
Doctor Thomson makes oxygen 1, so that
hydrogen is eight times less than unity, or
0.125, carbon 0.75, and sulphur 2. Doc-
tor Wollaston fixes oxygen at 10, by which
hydrogen is 1.25, carbon 7.5, and so on.
According to Berzelius, oxygen is 100.
The system of Wollaston becomes the
same as doctor Thomson's by merely di-
viding by 10; that is, by placing the deci-
mal point more to the left by one figure;
and then, if we multiply by 8, it is con-
verted into Mr. Dalton's scale, in which
hydrogen is the standard.-Tables of the
combining quantities of all chemical agents
have been drawn up and arranged to
guide the chemist in experimental re-
searches. The utility of these tables is
very extensive. Through their aid, and
by remembering the proportional num-
bers of a few elementary substances, the
composition of a great number of com-
pound bodies may be calculated with fa-
cility. By knowing that 6 is the com-
bining proportion of carbon and 8 of
oxygen, it is easy to recollect the compo-
sition of carbonic oxide and carbonic
acid,-the first being 6 carbon + 8 oxy-
gen, and the second 6 carbon +16 oxy-
gen. 40 is the number of potassium, and
potash, being its protoxide, is composed
of 40 potassium +8 oxygen. From these
few data, we know at once the composi
tion of the carbonate and bicarbonate of
potash. The first is 22 carbonic acid +
48 potash; the second, 44 carbonic acid
+48 potash. These tables are rendered
still more useful, if accompanied by a log-
ometric sliding scale, the application of
which to this purpose was a happy inven
CHEMICAL EQUIVALENTS.
on of doctor Wollaston. As it is not
possible to include, on a single scale, the
names of all substances, those are selected
which are the most frequent subjects of
reference. These are arranged in the or-
der of their relative weights, and at such
distances from each other, according to
their weights, that the series of numbers,
placed on a sliding scale, can at pleasure
be moved, so that any number express-
ing the weight of a compound may be
brought to correspond with the place of
that compound in the adjacent column.
The arrangement is then such that the
weight of any ingredient in its composi-
tion, of any reagent to be employed, or
precipitate that might be obtained in its
analysis, will be found opposite the point
at which its respective name is placed.
Let us illustrate its use by a few exam-
ples. 1. The quantity of any substance,
which is equivalent to a given quantity of
any other inscribed on the scale, may be
learned by inspection; the quantities taken
being quite arbitrary, and such as are lia-
ble to suit the purpose at any time. Thus,
by bringing 50, on the slider (in a scale
where the weight of hydrogen is express-
ed by 1), opposite to magnesia, or to its
equivalent, 20, it will be seen that 50 parts
of that earth are equivalent to 70 lime,
120 potash, &c. 2. It ascertains the quan-
tity of each base that is equivalent to a
given quantity of any acid. Thus 50 on
the slider being brought opposite to sul-
phuric acid, or to its equivalent, 40, it ap-
pears that 50 parts of this acid saturate 25
of magnesia, 35 lime, 60 potash, &c. In
a similar manner, it is capable of indicat-
ing the quantities of different acids re-
quired to saturate each base; thus 50
parts of magnesia saturate 100 of sulphu-
ric acid, 135 nitric acid, &c. 3. It ena-
bles us to determine, by inspection, the
proportions of the components in a given
quantity of any substance of known com-
position. Thus, by bringing 100, on the
slider, opposite to 72, the equivalent of
dry sulphate of soda, we find 55.5 on the
slider, opposite to the equivalent of sul-
phuric acid, and 44.5 opposite to the
equivalent of soda; numbers which, to-
gether, make up 100 of the salt. It ex-
presses not only the proximate, but the
ultimate elements of compounds. Thus,
keeping the slider in the same situation as
above, we find 22.4 on the slider, opposite
to 16, the equivalent of sulphur, and 33.1
opposite to 24, the equivalent of three pro-
portions of oxygen; and 22.4-33.1 make
up, together, 55.5 of sulphuric acid. By
reference to the equivalents of sodium and
VOL. IV.
48
565

oxygen, we find, also, that 44 parts of soda
are made up of 33 sodium and 11 oxygen.
4. The quantity of any substance required
to decompose a given quantity of another.
by simple elective attraction, is at once
taught by the scale. Thus, if we wish
to know the smallest quantity of sulphu-
ric acid adequate to decompose 100
parts of chloride of sodium, by bringing
100, on the slider, opposite to chloride of
sodium, or its equivalent, 60, we find 663,
on the slider, opposite to 40, the equiva-
lent of dry sulphuric acid, and opposite to
49, the equivalent of sulphuric acid of
commerce, we find 81 of the latter. We
must, therefore, employ 663 of the former,
or 813 of the latter. Again, to know the
quantity of dry sulphate of soda which
would result if all the common salt were
decomposed, we shall find 120, on the
slider, opposite to the dry sulphate, or to
its equivalent, 72, and 270 opposite to the
crystallized sulphate, or to its representa-
tive number, 162. 5. The quantities of
salts, each consisting of two ingredients,
that are required for mutual decomposi-
tion, may be learned by a similar use of
the sliding scale. Supposing, for instance,
that we have 83 parts of sulphate of pot-
ash, and wish to know the quantity of
chloride of barium required for their de-
composition; bring 83, on the slider, op-
posite to sulphate of potash, or to 88, its
representative, and opposite to 106, the
equivalent of chloride of barium; we find
100 on the slider, which is the number
required. The results of this decomposi-
tion may also be learned by examining
the instrument when in the same situation
of the slider; for opposite to the equiva-
lent of sulphate of barytes, 118, we find
on the slider 111, and opposite to chloride
of potassium we find 71.5 on the slider,
the two last numbers indicating the result-
ing quantities of the new compounds.
Again, from the weight of a precipitate, it
is easy to deduce the quantities of salts
which have afforded it. Thus, if we had
obtained by experiment 120 parts of dry
sulphate of barytes, on bringing that
number opposite to its equivalent, 118,
we see at once that they may have result-
ed from 89 of sulphate of potash, and
108 of chloride of barium; and moreover,
that 120 parts of barytic sulphate are
composed of 40.6 sulphuric acid, and 79.4
barytes; the sulphuric acid consisting of
16.5 sulphur and 24.1 oxygen, and the ba-
rytes of 8.15 oxygen and 71.25 barium.
Other applications still, of the scale of
chemical equivalents, are pointed out by
doctor Wollaston in his memoir, explana-
566
CHEMICAL EQUIVALENTS-ERCILLA Y ZUNIGA.

tive of its principle and uses, in the Phil.
Trans. for 1814; but the accurate and
ready solution of so many important prac-
tical problems as have been noticed above
are sufficient to show its importance to
the chemist. Doctor Ure remarks of it,
that it is "an instrument which has con-
tributed more to facilitate the general
study and practice of chemistry than any
other invention of man."
ERA. (See Epoch, and Era.)
ERASMUS, Desiderius, born at Rotter-
dam, 1467, was the illegitimate son of a
Dutchman of Gouda, by name Gerard, and
the daughter of a physician. He was a
singing-boy in the cathedral of Utrecht
till his ninth year, then entered the school
at Deventer, where he displayed such
brilliant powers, that it was predicted that
he would be the most learned man of his
time. After the death of his parents,
whom he lost in his fourteenth year, his
guardians compelled him to enter a mon-
astery; and, at the age of seventeen, he as-
sumed the monastic habit. The bishop
of Cambray delivered him from this con-
straint. In 1492, he travelled to Paris, to
perfect himself in theology and polite lit-
erature. He there became the instructer
of several rich Englishmen, from one of
whom he received a pension for life. He
accompanied them to England in 1497,
where he was graciously received by the
king. He returned soon after to Paris,
and then travelled into Italy to increase his
stock of knowledge. In Bologna, where
he received the degree of doctor of theo-
logy, he was one day mistaken, on account
of his white scapulary, for one of the phy-
sicians who attended those sick of the
plague; and, not keeping out of the way
of the people, as such persons were re-
quired to do, he was stoned, and narrowly
escaped with his life. This accident was
the occasion of his asking a dispensation
from the vows of his order, which the
pope granted him. He visited Venice,
Padua and Rome; but, brilliant as were
the offers here made him, he preferred the
invitation of his friends in England, where
the favor in which he stood with Henry
VIII promised him still greater advanta-
ges.
When he visited the lord chancellor
sir Thomas More without making him-
self known to him, the chancellor was so
delighted with his conversation, that he
exclaimed "You are either Erasmus or
the devil." He was offered a benefice, but
was unwilling to fetter himself by an office
of this kind. He was for a short time
professor of Greek at Oxford. He after-
wards travelled through Germany and the
Netherlands, and went to Bâle, where he
had his works printed by Froben. He
died in 1536. His tomb may be seen at
Bâle, in the Calvinistic cathedral.-To pro-
found and extensive learning Erasmus
joined a refined taste and a delicate wit.
Naturally fond of tranquillity and indepen-
dence, he preferred the pleasures of lite
rary ease and retirement to the pomp of
high life. His caution and worldly pru-
dence offended many of the best men of
his times. He did great and lasting ser-
vice to the cause of reviving learning.
Although he took no direct part in the ref-
ormation, and was reproached by Luther
for lukewarmness, he attacked the disor-
ders of monkery and superstition, and
every where promoted the cause of truth.
He wished for a general ecclesiastical
council, to be composed of the most learn-
ed and enlightened men, but did not live to
see his wish accomplished. He therefore
confined his efforts to serve the world by
his writings, which will always be prized for
their interesting matter and graceful style.
The best edition is by Le Clerc, Leyden,
1703, 10 vols. fol. His life has been writ-
ten by Burigny. Jortin's life of Erasmus
is a valuable work. Besides his editions
of various classics, and his other philologi-
cal and theological writings, we will only
mention his well known book in praise of
folly (Encomium Moria), and his collo-
quies. His letters are very valuable in
reference to the history of that period.
ERATO (from páw, I love); one of the
muses, whose name signifies loving, or
lovely. She has much in common with
Terpsichore-the same attributes, the same
dress, and frequently a lyre and plectrum.
She presides over the songs of lovers, and
touches, as Ovid, in his Art of Love, in-
forms us, the hearts of the coldest maidens
by her tender lays. (See Muses.)
ERATOSTHENES, a learned man in the
times of the Ptolemies, born at Cyrene, in
Africa, B. C. 275, librarian at Alexandria,
improved the science of mathematical ge-
ography, which he corrected, enlarged,
and reduced to system. He gained his
greatest renown by his investigations of
the size of the earth. He rendered much
service to the science of astronomy, and
first observed the obliquity of the ecliptics.
(See Ecliptic.) Of his writings, one only
remains complete,-Catasterismi,-which
treats of the constellations (Schaubach,
with a commentary, 1795). Of his geo-
graphical works, which were long in high
repute, the scattered remains were collect-
ed and published by Seidel, 1798.
ERCILLA Y ZUNIGA, don Alonzo de;
ERCILLA Y ZUNIGA-ERFURT.
knight of St. James, and chamberlain to the
emperor Rodolph, the third son of a Spanish
jurist, who was also a knight of the above
order. When he was born is uncertain,
but it was before 1540. His mother, from
whom he inherited the name of Zuñiga,
carried him, after the early death of his
father, to the court of the empress Isabella,
consort of Charles V. The young Alonzo
was page to the Infant don Philip, and ac-
companied him on his travels through the
Netherlands and a part of Germany, and
through Italy, Poland, Bohemia and Hun-
gary, and, in 1554, went with him to Eng-
land, on the occasion of his marriage with
queen Mary. Soon after this, an insurrec-
tion breaking out among the Araucanians,
a tribe of Indians on the coast of Chile,
Ercilla joined an expedition sent against
them. The difficulties which the Span-
iards had to encounter, the heroic resist-
ance of the natives, and the multitude of
gallant deeds by which the war was sig-
nalized, inspired the young and brave
Ercilla with the idea of making it the sub-
ject of an epic poem, to which he gave the
name of La Araucana. He began the
work on the spot, writing often during the
night what had been achieved in the day
(Tomando ora la espada, ora la pluma), and
was obliged sometimes, for want of paper,
to use pieces of leather. Ercilla is said
afterwards to have come near losing his
life by reason of a groundless charge of
mutiny, and to have been actually on the
scaffold before his innocence was made
known. He returned to Spain, very much
out of health, and after having finished the
first part of his epic. All this he performed
before completing his 29th year. In 1570,
he married Maria Bazan, at Madrid, whose
charms and virtues are celebrated by him
in various passages of his poem. In 1577,
the first part of his poem, in 1590, the
whole, was published. His merits were
not rewarded; for he died at Madrid in
great poverty and obscurity. The time
and circumstances of his death are uncer-
tain; he must have been alive, however, in
1596, as Mosquera, in his book on military
discipline, speaks of him as his contempo-
rary. He left no legitimate children, but
two natural sons and a daughter.-The
Araucana is a historical epic in the oc-
tave measure, in which the author con-
fines himself, with the exception of some
episodes and a few fictions, to the exact
historical course of events. Hence the
poem often assumes almost the character
of a chronicle. Voltaire's judgment on
this poem (in his Essai sur la Poésie épique)
shows that he had not read it. Cervantes,
567

in the sixth book of Don Quixote, ranks it
by the side of the best Italian epics; but
probably few persons, uninfluenced by pa-
triotic pride, will agree with him. It has
been continued by a certain don Diego de
Santisteban Osorio. Lope de Vega has
taken from the epic of Ercilla the materi-
als for his piece Arauca Conquered.-
The first part of the Araucana, as already
stated, appeared in 1577, in 15 cantos; the
second part in 1578: the whole, in three
parts, 1590, contains 37 cantos; new ed.
Madrid, 1776. It has been translated into
Italian, and twice into French (but abridg-
ed), Paris, 1824. (See Araucanians.)
EREBUS; son of Chaos and Darkness.
He married his sister, Night, and was the
father of the Light and Day. The Parcæ,
or Fates (q. v.), by some, are called his
daughters. He was transformed into a
river, and plunged into Tartarus, because
he aided the Titans. From him, the name
Erebus was given to the infernal regions,
particularly that part of it which is desig-
nated as the abode of virtuous shades, and
from which they pass over immediately to
the Elysian fields.
ERECTHEUS. (See Ericthonius.)
EREMITE (from the Greek conuos, a des-
ert); one who secludes himself from so-
ciety. (See Anachorite.)
ERESICTHON. (See Erisicthon.)
ERFURT; an important Prussian fortress
in Thuringia. It was ceded to Prussia at
the peace of Paris, since which time its
fortifications have been much strengthen-
ed. It is situated on the great road which
leads from Frankfort on the Maine to the
north of Germany, passing, in part of its
course, along the mountains called the
Thuringian Forest (Thüringer Wald). In
the fifteenth and sixteenth century, Erfurt
was a flourishing commercial place, and
contained not less than 60,000 inhabitants:
at present, there are not more than 21,330,
in 2781 houses. The university, establish-
ed in 1378, was suppressed by the Prussian
government in 1816, for the purpose of
merging it in one of those great estab-
lishments for education, of which Prus-
sia has so many. The inhabitants are,
mostly Lutherans. There are two forts,
called Petersberg and Cyriaksberg. Erfurt
is the capital of a government, and the
seat of several courts, and contains a royal
academy of practical science, two gymna
sia (royal schools), an institution for the
deaf and dumb, a musical society, and seve-
ral other institutions. The large bell called
Susanna, made of the finest bell-metal, and
weighing 275 cwt., and the cell in which
Luther lived, while an Augustine monk,
568
ERFURT-ERHARD.

from 1505 till 1512, are shown as curiosities.
According to tradition, Erfurt was founded
as early as the fifth century, by a certain
Erpes. It was not a free imperial city, but
always maintained a sort of independence,
notwithstanding the claims of the elector
of Mentz. In 1483, it concluded a treaty
with Saxony, by which it agreed to pay
an annual sum for protection. In the
seventeenth century, the elector of Mentz
finally obtained possession of it. In 1814,
it was granted to Prussia, by the congress
of Vienna. The government, of which it
is the capital, contains 1404 square miles,
with 257,500 inhabitants, in 22 large towns,
12 small towns, and 401 villages. Erfurt
is celebrated for the interview between
Napoleon, and Alexander (emperor of Rus-
sia), several kings, and many princes, in
September, 1808, when the French empe-
ror's power was at its acme. The chief
object of Napoleon was the entire pacifi-
cation of Europe, as he believed he had
finally succeeded in effecting that of the
continent. (See the article Congress, vol.
iii. p. 431.) He and Alexander jointly
invited the king of England to accede to
the peace; but their pressing letter was
answered only by the minister, who, as
Napoleon expressed himself, attempted to
renew the questions which had been de-
cided at Jena and Friedland. "He wished
me," says he, "to confess that I had been
guilty of violence at Bayonne, by acknowl-
edging the cortes of Spain and the re-
gency of Portugal." We add here, that
remarkable document, the letter of Napo-
leon and Alexander to the king of Eng-
land, which is only a repetition of the sen-
timents expressed by Napoleon, in his letter
to George III, after his adoption of the
title of emperor:-"Sire, the present situa-
tion of Europe has brought us together
at Erfurt. Our first wish is to fulfil the
desire of all nations, and, by a speedy pa-
cification with your majesty, to take the
most effectual means for relieving the suf-
ferings of Europe. The long and bloody
war, which has convulsed the continent,
is at an end, and cannot be renewed.
Many changes have taken place in Eu-
rope; many governments have been de-
stroyed. The cause is to be found in the
uneasiness and the sufferings occasioned
by the stagnation of maritime commerce.
Greater changes still may take place, and
all will be unfavorable to the politics of
England. Peace, therefore, is, at the same
time, the common cause of the nations of
the continent and of Great Britain. We
unite in requesting your majesty to lend
an ear to the voice of humanity, to sup-
press that of the passions, to reconcile
contending interests, and secure the wel-
fare of Europe, and of the generation over
which Providence has placed us." This
letter was answered by Canning, with an
open note to Napoleon's minister of foreign
affairs. In the answer which Napoleon
sent to the letter of the emperor Francis
of Austria, which contained the liveliest
assurances of his good disposition, the
French emperor entreats him, in the most
decisive language, to adopt a frank, open
and sincere policy.
ERGOT is an elongated, cylindrical ex-
crescence, a little curved, and somewhat
resembling a horn, which sometimes takes
the place of the grain in several cultivated
grasses, particularly in rye, which, when
in this state, is commonly called spurred
rye. It has been considered by some au-
thors as a disease, by others as a fungus,
and has been referred by the latter to the
genus sclerotium. A grain, when attack-
ed, becomes at first soft and pulpy, after-
wards hardens, and elongates gradually;
when young, it is red or violaceous, after-
wards lead colored, and finally black,
with a white interior: generally two or
three grains in a spike only are affected:
wet weather is favorable to its develope-
ment. When bread containing this sub-
stance has been eaten, it has produced
very formidable consequences-sometimes
gangrene of the extremities and death.
Ergot is an important article in materia
medica; has been found capable of exert-
ing a very powerful and specific action
upon the uterus, and is administered in
small doses in certain extreme cases. This
remedy has been principally used in the
U. States. Of late, it has been success-
fully employed in France.
ERHARD, Christian Daniel, professor of
criminal law at Leipsic, was born 1759, at
Dresden, and studied law from 1778 to 1781,
at Leipsic, where he devoted himself to
history, philosophy and the arts. In 1801,
the emperor Alexander I appointed him
correspondent of the legislative commis-
sion at Petersburg, with a pension: many
academies, likewise, appointed him an
honorary member. He obtained impor-
tant places as an instructer in his science,
and also as a practical jurist. His wri-
tings are on the important subjects of
philosophical and positive law, and con-
tain many original views. His fame was
widely extended by his work on the legis
lation of Leopold II in Tuscany. In his
remarks on the works of Algernon Sidney,
on forms of government, in several trea-
tises published by him in his Amalthea,-
ERHARD-ERICTHONIUS.
a periodical of 1788 and 1789,-in the pref-
ace to his translation of the commercial
code, and the civil code of France, and
in his essays De Arbitrio Judicis, and De
Notione Furti, he has discussed some of
the most important subjects of legislation.
His translation of the Code Napoléon (2d
edition 1811), is universally acknowledged
to be the best. His last, and, perhaps,
his greatest labor, was the sketch of a
criminal code for Saxony. As far as it
was finished, it has been published by
one of his scholars-doctor Friderici.
He died in 1813. He united variety of
learning, acuteness, wit, and agreeable
manners, to the most excellent feelings.
ERHARD, John Benjamin, doctor of
medicine at Berlin, was born 1766, at
Nuremburg. His father, a poor wire-draw-
er, who had a good deal of musical and
literary taste, endeavored to cultivate the
same tastes in his only child. The boy
left school at the age of 11 years, and was
desirous of learning his father's trade,
and becoming acquainted with engraving.
He received instruction in drawing, and
afterwards in engraving, in French and
Italian, and also took lessons on the harp-
sichord. Being destitute of books, he en-
deavored to procure philosophical works
from the dealers in old books; but he
could obtain nothing but a few Latin
manuals of the school of Wolf. A love
for Latin and Greek was awakened in
him; philosophy led him to mathematics;
and here, too, the writings of Wolf were
his guides. Thus Erhard was engaged
till his 13th year, when an epileptic attack
obliged him to renounce, for a time, all
mental exertion. After his recovery, he
resumed his studies in philosophy and
the mathematics in his 16th year. At 20,
he formed an acquaintance with a cele-
brated surgeon, Siebold, who was aston-
ished at such proficiency in a young me-
chanic, and endeavored to engage him in
the study of medicine at Wurzburg. Er-
hard, however, in consequence of his re-
publican principles, continued still to live
as a mechanic. He had chosen his guides
in morals when a boy of 14, and, in the
main, was always faithful to them. He
says in a manuscript essay, "One of
these guides was a slave and the other an
emperor,-Epictetus and Marcus Aureli-
us, and by their advice, I determined to
desire nothing but what fate forced upon
me; while they both taught me to seek for
happiness not in external circumstances,
but in my own heart." After the death
of his mother, in 1787, Erhard resolved
to go to Wurzburg to study medicine.
569

He remained there two years, and, in
1792, obtained a doctor's degree at Altorf.
He had no inclination to the practice of
physic, on account of the situation of
affairs at that time. The French revolu-
tion filled him with fears for the fate of
Germany. He was in doubt what part to
act, hating the aristocratic party for what
they intended to do, and the democratic
party for what they had actually done;
he determined, therefore, to visit North
America. But, having lost all his proper
ty in 1793, by the treachery of an agent,
he became much embarrassed, and, in
1797, accepted a place in Anspach under
the minister Von Hardenberg. Two years
after, he went to Berlin, where he re-
ceived permission to practise physic, to
which he afterwards entirely devoted
himself. He died in 1827. Among his
works, are his treatise on the medical
science, and his Theory of Laws, which
relate to the health of citizens, and the
use of medical science in legislation,
which was published at Tübingen, in
1800. His treatise On the Right of the
People to a Revolution (Jena, 1795) ex-
presses the views to which he was led
by reflection on the great events of that
period.
ERIC. Fourteen kings of this name
have reigned in Sweden, the last of whom
ascended the throne in 1560. He ex-
hibited much energy of character, but
drove his brothers to rebellion by his vio-
lence and severity. His tyranny, and a
disgraceful marriage, alienated the minds
of his subjects; and his brothers, John
and Charles, formed a party against him,
which deprived him of the crown, in
1568, with the consent of the states. He
died (1577) in prison by poison. He was
active and industrious. A patron of the
arts, he esteemed and patronised artists
and mechanics, received the Huguenots
with open arms, abolished many super-
stitious usages in religion, and rendered
commerce and navigation flourishing.
His judicial institutions, too, are particu-
larly worthy of praise. He created a high
nobility in Sweden, by conferring the
dignity of count and baron. (See Cel-
sius's History of Eric XIV, in Swedish,
Greifswalde, 1776.)
ERICTHONIUS, or ERECTHEUS, son of
Dardanus and Batea, and grandson of
Jupiter, was king of Troas. He was the
richest man in his kingdom, having in his
meadows 3000 mares with foals. Boreas
fell in love with one of these mares, and
transformed himself into a horse. The
product of this union was 12 colts, which
48*
570
ERICTHONIUS-ERIGENA.

bounded over the plains without injuring
a spire of grass, and skimmed the waves
of the sea. Ericthonius obtained the king-
dom of Troy by the death of his brother
Ilus without children. He married Asty-
oche, the daughter of Simos, by whom
(or, according to some by Callirrhoë,
the daughter of Scamander) he became
the father of Tros.-Another Ericthonius,
king of Athens, was, as fable relates, the
son of Vulcan and Atthis, daughter of
Cranaus. Ericthonius was educated in
the temple of Minerva, by the goddess her-
self. When he grew up, he drove Am-
phitryon from his throne, and reigned in
his stead. He erected a statue to Miner-
va; or, according to some a temple in
the citadel, and instituted, in her honor,
the festival called Panathenæon. The
fabulous history of this Ericthonius is
differently related. He is said to have
had dragon's feet; and, on account of his
inability to walk, to have invented a four-
wheeled covered wagon to conceal his
feet in it. For this reason, Jupiter placed
him among the stars, where he became a
constellation, under the name of Boötes
(q. v.)
ERIDANUS (probably the Po, in Italy);
a river famous in mythology, mentioned
in the return of the Argonauts. When
Phaeton, who is also called Eridanus, was
struck by the thunderbolts of Jupiter, he
fell into this river-and his three sisters,
the Heliades, lamented him till they were
changed into poplars. They did not
cease to weep for him even in this con-
dition; and their tears, falling into the
water of the river, became transparent
amber. It is believed by many, that the
amber found on the shores of the Baltic
passed, by barter, through several savage
tribes, until it reached the Adriatic sea,
where Greek and Phoenician merchants
came to buy it.
ERIE; a lake of North America, through
which the boundary line runs which sep-
arates the United States from Canada;
about 280 miles in length from S. W. to
N. E., from 10 to 63 in breadth, and 658
in circumference; containing about 12,000
square miles. It is 120 feet deep, and its
surface is 334 feet above that of lake On-
tario, with which it is connected by the
Welland canal, and 565 feet above the
tide water at Albany, with which it is
connected by the great Erie canal; lon.
78° 35' to 83° 10 W.; lat. 41° 20′ to
42° 50′ N. This lake is of dangerous
navigation, on account of the great num-
ber of rocks which project, for many
miles together, from the northern shore,
without any shelter from storms. A con
stant current sets down lake Erie, and,
with the prevalence of north-western and
south-western winds, renders the up-lake
navigation tedious. There are several
tolerably good harbors on the south shore,
the principal of which are Buffalo and
Dunkirk, New York; Erie, Pennsylvania.
Sandusky, Ohio, besides the harbor at
Put-in-bay island. It discharges its waters
at the north-east end into the river Niagara.
A battle was fought on this lake, Sep-
tember 10th, 1813, between the American
fleet, under commodore Perry, and the
English fleet, in which the latter was
taken. The lake is now navigated by
seven steam-boats. The rapid progress
of civilization is also perceptible in the
region beyond it. In 1812, the news of the
declaration of war against G. Britain by the
U. States did not reach the post of Michili-
mackinac under two months. It is now
within ten days' distance from the Atlan-
tic ocean. Its navigation will probably be
much increased when the Ohio and Erie
canal is finished. (See Canals, and Inter-
nal Navigation.)
ERIGENA (John Scotus). The birth-
place of this eminent scholar and meta-
physician has been disputed; notwith-
standing the patronymic usually affixed
to his name, signifying the Irishman, the
weight of evidence seems to predominate
in favor of Ayrshire, in Scotland. At
an early age, he visited Greece, and espe-
cially Athens, where he devoted himself
to the study of Oriental as well as clas-
sical literature, and became no mean pro-
ficient in logic and philosophy. Charles
the Bald, king of France, invited him to
his court, and encouraged him in the pro-
duction of some metaphysical disquisi-
tions, which gave great offence to the
church, by the boldness with which he
impugned the doctrines of transubstan-
tiation and predestination. But his grand
offence was the translating into Latin a
pretended work of Dionysius the Areop-
agite, the supposed first Christian preach-
er in France. Many passages in this
treatise, although popular among the cler-
gy of the east, were extremely obnoxious.
to the Romish hierarchy; and a perempto-
ry order from pope Nicholas to Charles,
commanding the immediate transmission
of the culprit to Rome, induced that mon-
arch to connive at his escape into England,
in preference to delivering him up to the
vengeance of the papal see. Alfred the
Great received Erigena gladly, and placed
him at the head of the establishment late-
ly founded by him in Oxford, then called
ERIGENA-ERLANGEN.
the King's hall, and now more generally
known as Brazen-nose college. Here he
continued to lecture on mathematics, logic
and astronomy, about the year 879; but,
after a residence of little more than three
years, disputes arising, traditionally said
to have proceeded from the severity of
his discipline, he gave up his professor-
ship, and retired to the abbey of Malmes-
bury, where he again superintended a
number of pupils, whom the fame of his
learning had drawn to him. The time
of his decease, or murder, for he is said
to have been stabbed to death by his
scholars, with the iron styles or bodkins
then in use for writing,-is variously stated
as having occurred in the years 874, 884,
and 886; it is, however, more credibly
asserted, that the jealousy of the monks,
rather than the insubordination of his pu-
pils, was the real cause of his death, inas-
much as his heterodoxy had given great
offence to their fraternity. This state-
ment of facts has, however, been, with
considerable probability, disputed by other
writers, who are of opinion that the Eng-
lish historians have confounded John
Scotus Erigena with another, John Scot,
abbot of Ethelingay, who taught at Ox-
ford. In proof of the latter supposition,
Mackenzie, in his first volume of Scottish
writers, quotes a letter from Anastasius
Bibliothecarius to Charles the Bald, writ-
ten in 875, which speaks of Erigena as
then dead. Doctor Henry, in his History
of England, thinks it probable that he
died in France. A treatise written by
him with great acuteness and metaphysi-
cal subtilty, De Divisione Natura, was
published at Oxford, in folio, by doctor
Gale, in 1681. A work of his, against
transubstantiation, entitled De Corpore et
Sanguine Domini, is also extant, print-
ed in 1558. He is said to have been as
celebrated for his wit as for his learning.
ERINNYES. (See Furies.)
ERIPHYLE, daughter of Talaus, and
wife of Amphiaraus (q. v.), whom she be-
trayed for a necklace presented to her by
Polynices, so that he was compelled to go
to the war of the seven princes against
Thebes, where he knew he was to perish.
Her son, Alcmæon, slew her for her
treachery; but Esculapius restored her
to life. The necklace was made by Vul-
can, and had the power of rendering
whoever wore it unlucky.
ERIS, the goddess of discord, daughter
of Night, and sister of Nemesis and
the Parcæ or Fates (q. v.), not being in-
vited to the marriage of Peleus, she re-
venged herself by throwing a golden ap-
571

ple into the room where the gods and
goddesses were assembled, with this in-
scription: For the most beautiful. Juno,
Minerva and Venus contended for it;
hence it was called the apple of discord.
Jupiter appointed the son of Priam, Paris,
then a shepherd on mount Ida, judge. He
awarded the apple to Venus, and was re-
warded by her with the beautiful Helen,
on whose account the Trojan war was
kindled.
ERISICTHON, or ERESICTHON, son of
Triopas, king of Thessaly. He attempt-
ed to cut down a grove sacred to Ceres.
Beginning with a large and beautiful oak,
the abode of one of the dryads, under the
shade of which the rest of the dryads
commonly celebrated their dances in
spite of all previous warnings, in spite of
the blood of the nymph, which flowed
from the first stroke, he would not re-
linquish his design till the oak fell, and
its spiritual inhabitant was deprived of
life. The rest of the dryads now fled to
Ceres, and implored her vengeance on
this act of impiety. The goddess des-
patched the demon of hunger, which
overshadowed Erisicthon with its wings
while he slept, and breathed into him its
poisonous breath. From this moment, a
continual craving for food raged within
him. He soon consumed all his posses-
sions, and, when food could no longer be
procured for him by the art of his daugh-
ter, who had many times sold herself for
a slave from love to him, and escaped
from her purchasers by her power of
assuming different forms, which she had
received from Neptune, he devoured his
own limbs, as far as he could reach
them, and died in a dreadful state of des-
pair.
ERLANGEN; a city in the kingdom of
Bavaria, circle of the Rezat, on the Reg-
nitz, containing 813 houses, with 11,580
inhabitants; lat. 49° 35' 36" N.; lon. 11°
14' E. The city is distinguished for its
university, founded in 1743, by Frederic,
margrave of Bayreuth. When Erlangen
fell under the Prussian sceptre, the uni-
versity began to flourish; but, this part of
the country being taken from Prussia in
1806, the university remained in a lan-
guishing condition until the district was
annexed to Bavaria. (See Anspach.) 1
then became important as the Protestant
university of the country, and several dis-
tinguished scholars were appointed pro-
fessors. The regular revenue of the uni
versity is from 60 to 70,000 rix dollars
(from about 40 to 50,000 Spanish dollars)
but the government often makes it addi-
572
ERLANGEN-ERNESTI.

tional grants. The library, since that of
Altdorf has been added to it, contains
100,000 volumes.
ERMARK; a Turkish word, signifying
river, and contained in many geographical
names, as Kizil-Ermark (Red-river); Jekil-
Ermark (Green-river).
ERMENONVILLE; a village in the depart-
ment de l'Oise, about 8 leagues from
Paris; the country seat of M. de Girardin,
celebrated for its large and handsome
park, in which the remains of Rousseau
were entombed upon an island of poplars.
French and foreigners, particularly the
English, frequently go thither from Paris,
during the summer, to visit the tomb of
Rousseau. In former days, the fair Gabri-
ele d'Estrées resided at Ermenonville, in
a hunting castle, of which a tower still
standing, bears the name of that favorite
of Henry IV. After her death, Ermenon-
ville fell into the hands of that faithful
friend of Henry, whom grief for the loss
of his master carried off two days after
the king's assassination by Ravaillac. Er-
menonville has been made still more re-
markable in later times. J. J. Rousseau
died there, after having lived there only
six weeks. His bones were removed from
the island of poplars to the Pantheon.
The ornaments of art contribute to the
embellishment of this beautiful spot, so
highly favored by nature. The elder de
Girardin, author of a work on horticulture,
expended 3,000,000 francs on it in 30
years.
ERMINE (mustela erminea, Lin.). This
beautiful little animal belongs to the tribe
digitigrada, or quadrupeds characterized
by moving on the extremities of their toes,
and endowed with a greater degree of
agility than that possessed by the planti-
grada, or those walking on the whole sole
of the foot. The ermine, according to the
observations of the prince of Musignano,
is the common weasel of the U. States in
its winter hair. It is found in the northern
parts of this continent, and those of Asia
in great abundance; though it is not con-
fined to these regions, since it occurs even
in our Middle States, and also in the tem-
perate parts of Europe. In the Middle
and Eastern States, it is known as the wea-
sel; further north, and in England, it is
called stoat in its summer, and ermine in
its winter hair. In France, in summer, it
is termed roselet, and in winter hermine: in
this state, it is the mus Ponticus of Pliny.
The habits of the ermine are very similar
to those of the common weasel of Eu-
rope frequenting barns and out-houses,
generally making its retreats beneath the
floor and rafters. It feeds on mice and
rats, and soon clears its haunts of these
pernicious depredators; but it does not al-
ways confine itself to this food. It is very
destructive to poultry, birds and young
rabbits; it is also a great devourer of
eggs.
In the neighborhood of Hudson's bay, er-
mine are very abundant, particularly in
the barren grounds and open plains.
When in pursuit of their prey, they carry
their tails horizontally, and display great
quickness and agility. During the win-
ter, it is extremely difficult to distinguish
them, from their color so closely resem-
bling that of the snow. Like many other
species of this genus, the ermine has the
faculty of ejecting a fluid of a musky odor.
In its summer dress, it is of a light, ferru-
ginous or chestnut-brown color over the
head, back, sides and upper half of the
tail; the under part is nearly of a pure
white; the lower portion of the tail be-
comes gradually darker, till, at the extrem-
ity, it is quite black. Its fur is short, soft
and silky. In its winter coat, it is of a
pure white over the whole head, body
and limbs, the lower half of the tail alone
retaining its dark hue. The fur, at this
time, is much longer, thicker and finer
than in summer. In Norway, it is taken
in traps baited with flesh; in Siberia, it is
either shot with blunt arrows, or taken in
a trap made of two flat stones, propped
by a stick, to which is fastened a baited
string, which, on the least touch of the
animal, releases the stone, which falls and
crushes it. The fur of the ermine is in
great request, and was formerly one of
the insignia of magistrates. When used
as linings of cloaks, the black tuft from
the tail is sewed to the skin at irregular
distances. This animal is not readily
tamed: when caught, and kept in a cage,
it exhibits every mark of its ferocious and
savage character, by killing or injuring
every thing within its reach.
ERNESTI, John Augustus, founder of a
new theological and philosophical school
in Germany, was born at Tennstädt, in
Thuringia, 1707. He studied theology at
Pforta, Wittenberg and Leipsic. Having
been made associate instructer (1731) and
rector (1734) of the Thomas-school in
Leipsic, he devoted himself principally to
ancient literature, and the studies connect-
ed with it. In 1742, he was appointed ex-
traordinary professor of ancient literature
in the university there, and, in 1756, ordi-
nary professor of eloquence. In 1759,
an ordinary professorship of theology was
added to his other offices. He performed
the duties of both professorships till 1770,

ERNESTI-ERPENIUS.
when he resigned the former. He be-
came, in succession, first professor of the
theological faculty, canon at Misnia, as-
sessor of the consistory at Leipsic, and
president of the Jablonowski academy
of sciences at Leipsic. He died 1781.
By a careful study of profane philology,
he had fitted himself for a thorough study
of theology, and was thus led to a more
judicious exegesis of the biblical writers,
and, in general, to more liberal theological
views. Theological criticism, so far as it
is founded on philology and grammatical
illustrations, was greatly promoted by
him. Of his accuracy as a critic and
grammarian, his editions of Xenophon's
Memorabilia of Socrates, the Clouds of
Aristophanes, Homer's works, Callimachus,
Polybius, Suetonius, Tacitus, and, above
all, his admirable edition of Cicero's works
(first, at Leipsic, 1738), are sufficient proofs.
For the elegance of his Latin style, he
well deserves to be called the Cicero of
Germany. His Opuscula Orat. (Leyden,
1762), Oration. (Leipsic, 1791), Initia Doc-
trin. Solidioris (Leipsic, 1736), have been
often published. His theological writings
are no less numerous.-ERNESTI, Augustus
William, nephew of the preceding, was born
1733, and died 1801. He was professor of
philosophy and eloquence, and a distin-
guished philologist. We are indebted to
him, among other works, for a good edi-
tion of Livy and Ammianus Marcellinus.
EROS; the Greek name of Cupid and
Amor (which see; see also Anteros).
EROSTRATUS. (See Heratostratus.)
EROTIC (from the Greek pws, love); re-
lating to love.-Erotic Poetry; amatory
poetry.-The name of erotic writers has
been applied, in Greek literature, particu-
larly to a class of romance writers, and to
the writer of the Milesian Tales. These
writers belong to the later periods of Greek
literature, and abound in sophistical sub-
tilties and ornaments. The best of them
are Achilles Tatius, Heliodorus, Longus,
Xenophon of Ephesus, and Chariton.
There is a collection of them-Scriptores
erotici Græci, Cura Mitscherlichii (Bipont.
1792-1793, 3 vols.).
EROTOMANY (from ows, love, and pavia,
madness). This term has been employed,
by some writers, to denote that modifica-
tion of insanity, of which the passion of
love is the origin, and in which the love
of a particular individual constitutes the
predominant idea, occupying the whole
attention of the patient. Licentious
thoughts and physical excitement do not
exist in this disease. Those who are af-
flicted with erotomany fix their affections
573
on a certain object, often one which they
have had but a single opportunity to see;
sometimes also one which cannot return
their love. The eye is lively and animat-
ed; the look, passionate; but the conduct
of the subjects always within the limits of
propriety. They forget themselves, and
yield a pure, often a secret worship to
their idol, whose wishes and caprices
they implicitly obey. Sometimes erotoma-
ny begins under the form of melancholy,
instead of raving; the patient is pensive
and silent: it then terminates in a sort of
nervous fever. The discovery of it is
sometimes difficult: the passion betrays
itself, however, at the sight, or even the
name, of the loved object; the counte-
nance grows animated; the pulse, quick,
strong and spasmodic. Hippocrates, by
these symptoms, discovered the love of
Perdiccas to his father's mistress; and Era-
sistratus, the affection of Antiochus for his
step-mother, Stratonice. Erotomany some-
times passes into perfect delirium, leads
to suicide, hysterics, &c. It depends on
the same causes as other mental diseases.
Young people are peculiarly subject to it,
who have an excitable nervous system and
a lively imagination, who give themselves
up to excess in pleasure, or are spoiled by
reading romances, and rendered effeminate
by an injudicious education and indolence.
Low and light diet has been recommended
in this disease, together with active exertion
of body and mind.
ERPENIUS, Thomas (properly Van Er-
pen), a learned Orientalist, was born at
Gorcum in Holland, in 1584, and studied
at Leyden, where he at first despaired of
success. His confidence, however, was
soon revived, and he returned to his stud-
ies with so much zeal, that his progress
justly astonished his instructers. His
fame rests principally on his acquaintance
with the Oriental languages, which he
began to learn under Joseph Scaliger.
To extend his knowledge of them, he vis-
ited England, France, Italy and Germany
and became acquainted with the most
eminent 'scholars, who gave him advice
and instruction. He was received with
particular marks of friendship by the
great Casaubon. He learned, at the same
time, the Persian, Turkish and Ethiopian
languages. After a tour of four years, he
returned, in 1612, to Holland, and was
appointed professor of Arabic and other
Oriental languages, except the Hebrew,
the Hebrew professorship being already
filled. Erpenius discharged the duties of
this office with ability and zeal. He es-
tablished a press at great expense, for the
574
ERPENIUS--ERSKINE.

printing of works of Oriental literature.
In 1619, a second Hebrew professorship
was founded at Leyden, and committed to
Erpenius. Soon after, he received the office
of Oriental interpreter to the states-general.
The most learned Arabs admired the ele-
gance with which he expressed himself
in their language, so rich in delicate pe-
culiarities. His reputation, as a perfect
master of the Arabic, became universal,
and he was repeatedly invited by the king
of Spain to explain inscriptions on the
Moorish buildings and monuments. The
works of Erpenius (some of which were
published after his death) are held in the
highest estimation. It was his intention
to publish an edition of the Koran, with a
Latin translation and a commentary, a
Thesaurus Grammaticus of the Arabic, and
an Arabic dictionary; but he was carried
off by a contagious disease, in 1624, at the
age of 40. Beside his Grammatica Arabi-
ca, his Grammatica Hebraica, and other
grammatical works, his most valuable and
celebrated publication is his Elmacini
Historia Saracenica (1625, folio).
ERROR, in astronomy, is the difference
between the places of any of the heavenly
'bodies, as determined by calculation and
observation. Thus the error in the lunar
tables is the difference between the place
of the moon, as given in the tables, and as
determined by observation; and this error
is marked with the signor, accord-
ing as it is to be added to or subtracted
from the tabular result.
ERSCH, John Samuel; the father of mod-
ern German bibliography. He was born
at Grossglogau, in Lower Silesia, June 23,
1766, and, while a mere tyro, showed un-
common love for bibliography. Being en-
couraged in this pursuit by Tabri and
other learned men, he published the Rep-
ertory of the German Journals, and oth-
er Periodical Collections of Information
on the Subjects of Geography, History,
and Sciences connected with them, 1790-
1792, 3 vols. Becoming known to Schütz
and Hufeland, they engaged him in the
editing of their Universal Repertory of
Literature, 1785-1790. This work was
published in 1793, and was followed in
1799 by the Quinquennium, extending from
1791 to 1795; and, in 1806, by another, ex-
tending from 1796 to 1800. These works
contain notices of all the separate publi-
cations which appeared during that pe-
riod, and even all the essays printed in the
journals and other periodicals. They
are executed with accuracy, on a good
plan, and with a general account of re-
views, whose character for partiality or
impartiality is illustrated by examples. At
the same time, Ersch began to prepare a
Universal Dictionary of Modern Authors,
which he afterwards limited to European
writers. This was the origin of his Gelehr-
tes Frankreich (Literary France,) Hamburg,
1797-1806, 3 vols., with two supplements.
In the year 1803, he was made professor
of geography and statistics in the universi-
ty of Halle, where he published his Man-
ual of German Literature, from the Mid-
dle of the 18th Century till the latest Times
(Amsterdam and Leipsic, 1812,2 vols. 8vo.,
2d edition, Leipsic, 1822), and the Uni-
versal Encyclopædia of Arts and Sciences
(Leipsic, 1818, 4to): 16 parts had appeared
in 1827. By the former work, he first gave
a systematic character to modern German
bibliography; and its completeness, ac-
curacy and arrangement make it a model
for such a work. What knowledge, what
attention and industry, are requisite to
conduct a work like the Encyclopædia,
as he has done it, needs no explanation.
He died in January, 1828.
ERSKINE, Thomas, lord Erskine, an
eminent lawyer, was the third and young-
est son of David Henry Erskine, tenth
earl of Buchan, in Scotland. He was
born in the year 1750, and was educated
partly at the high school of Edinburgh,
and partly at the university of St. An-
drews. The contracted means of his
family rendering a profession necessary,
he was embarked at Leith as a midship-
man, and, from this time, did not revisit
Scotland until a few years before his
death. He never obtained a commission
in the navy, which he quitted after a ser-
vice of four years, and entered into the
royals, or first regiment of foot, in 1768.
In 1770, he married, and went, with his
regiment, to Minorca, where he spent three
years. He served in the army six years,
and, during that time, acquired considera-
ble reputation for the acuteness and versa-
tility of his talents in conversation; and it
is supposed that this circumstance, and the
earnest persuasion of his mother, a lady
of uncommon acquirements and penetra-
tion,-induced him, at the age of 26, to em-
brace the legal profession. He entered as
a fellow-commoner at Trinity college,
Cambridge, in 1777, merely to obtain a
degree, to which he was entitled as the
son of a nobleman, and thereby to shorten
his passage to the bar; and he, at the same
time, entered himself a student of Lin
coln's Inn. He also became a pupil in the
office of Mr., afterwards judge Buller,
then an eminent special pleader, and sub-
sequently in that of Mr., afterwards baron
--

ERSKINE.
Wood. He was called to the bar in 1778,
and his success was immediate. Acciden-
tally introduced to captain Baillie, who
had been removed, by the earl of Sand-
wich, from the superintendence of Green-
wich hospital, he was employed by that
gentleman to oppose a motion of the at-
torney-general, for leave to file an indict-
ment against him for a libel on the earl.
He showed so much eloquence and spirit
on this occasion, that, on leaving the court,
he received 30 retainers from attorneys
who happened to be present. This occur-
rence took place in the Michaelmas fol-
lowing the Trinity term in which he had
been admitted; and, in a few months af-
terwards, he was equally favored by being
chosen to appear at the bar of the house
of commons, as counsel for Mr. Carnan,
the bookseller, against a bill introduced by
lord North, then prime minister, to restore
to the universities the monopoly in alma-
nacs, which Mr. Carnan had succeeded
in abolishing by legal judgment. His
speech in opposition to this impolitic pro-
posal was much admired, and, the bill be-
ing lost by a considerable majority, his
reputation became so established, that he
was henceforward engaged either for
plaintiff or defendant in the most impor-
tant causes during a practice of 25 years.
In May, 1783, he received a silk gown,
and, the same year, was elected member
of parliament for Portsmouth. The latter
honor he acquired from the reputation he
obtained there when acting as counsel on
the celebrated trial of admiral Keppel;
and he was unanimously rechosen for the
same borough on every succeeding elec-
tion, until raised to the peerage. The
rights of juries he firmly maintained on
all occasions, but particularly in the cel-
ebrated trial of the dean of St. Asaph for
libel, when justice Buller refused to re-
ceive the verdict of "guilty of publishing
only," as returned by the jury. In 1789,
he found another fortunate opportunity
for the display of his peculiar eloquence,
in a defence of Mr. Stockdale, the book-
seller, for publishing what was charged as
a libellous pamphlet in favor of Mr. Has-
tings, whose situation at the time (being
then about to take his trial) gave him ad-
mirable scope for the animated appeal to
feeling, by which his oratory was so fe-
licitously distinguished. In 1792, being
employed to defend Thomas Paine, when
prosecuted for the second part of his Rights
of Man, he declared that, waiving all per-
sonal convictions, he deemed it right, as
an English advocate, to obey the call: by
the maintenance of which principle, he
575
lost his office of attorney-general to the
prince of Wales. The most arduous ef
fort, however, in his professional life,
arose out of the part cast upon him, in
conjunction with Mr., afterwards sir Vica-
ry Gibbs, in the trials of Hardy, Tooke,
and others, for high treason, in 1794.
These trials lasted for several weeks; and
the ability displayed by Mr. Erskine on
this eventful occasion was admired and
acknowledged by all parties. He was a
warm partisan of Mr. Fox, and a strenu-
ous opposer of the war with France; on
which subject he imbodied his sentiments
in a pamphlet, entitled A View of the
Causes and Consequences of the War with
France; when such was the attraction of
his name, that it ran through the unpre-
cedented number of 48 editions. In 1802
the prince of Wales not only restored him
to his office of attorney-general, but made
him keeper of his seals for the duchy of
Cornwall. On the death of Mr. Pitt, in
1806, when lord Grenville received the
commands of George III to form a new
administration, Mr. Erskine was created a
peer by the title of lord Erskine, of Re-
stormel castle, in Cornwall, and raised to
the dignity of lord high chancellor of
Great Britain; but was soon removed by
the dissolution of the brief administration.
of which he formed a part. Owing to a
decay in fortune, originating in an unfor-
tunate landed purchase, and a great fall
of income from the loss of professional
emoluments, the latter years of his life
were, notwithstanding the extreme buoy-
ancy of his spirits, exceedingly imbittered.
Nor were these difficulties abated by the
circumstance of an unhappy second mar-
riage, and some eccentricity of conduct,
exceedingly incompatible with his age and
station. In his leisure, he amused him-
self by editing several of the state trials.
The preface to Mr. Fox's Speeches was
also written by him, as well as a political
romance, in two volumes, entitled Arma-
ta, and some pamphlets in support of the
Greek cause. He died in 1823, of an in-
flammation of the chest. The talents of
lord Erskine were peculiarly those of the
accomplished advocate, in which charac-
ter he exhibited a power of commanding,
at the instant, all the resources of his
mind, and a dexterity of applying them,
which no one at the English bar ever ex
ceeded. This faculty, united with great
spirit and courage, rendered him peculiarly
able on the defensive side of political per-
secution; and some leading, but disputed
constitutional doctrines have been firmly
established by his exertions. As a senato-
576
ERSKINE-ERZERUM.

rial orator, his claims were but secondary;
nor as a political writer is he entitled to
much distinction. Many of Erskine's
speeches at the bar have been published
under the following titles: Speeches of
the Hon. Thomas Erskine, now Lord Ers-
kine, when at the Bar, on Subjects con-
nected with the Liberty of the Press and
against Constructive Treasons, in 4 vols.
2d edition, London, 1813; and Speeches of
Lord Erskine, when at the Bar, on Mis-
cellaneous Subjects, 1810, by Ridgway.-
David Montague, the eldest of his sons,
now lord Erskine, was for some time
minister plenipotentiary to the U. States,
and afterwards resident at the court of
Würtemberg.
ERUPTION, in medicine; a sudden and
copious excretion of humors, and the same.
with exanthema, or breaking out; as the pus-
tules of the plague, small-pox, measles, &c.
ERWIN OF STEINBACH; a celebrated
architect in the 13th century. (See Stras-
burg, Minster of.)
ERYNGO (eryngium); a genus of plants,
belonging to the natural order umbellifera.
The species are herbaceous, and have
something of the aspect of the thistle; the
leaves are alternate, simple or divided,
and are furnished with spines on their
margins; the flowers are sessile, often of
a bluish color, capitate, and surrounded
by a common receptacle. The E. cam-
pestre was formerly much employed in
Europe as a tonic, and as proper to excite
appetite; but its virtues are feeble, and it
has now gone out of use, except as a
sweetmeat. Several species of eryngium
inhabit the southern and south-western
parts of the U. States, and one is found as
far north as Philadelphia.
ERYSIPELAS (from puw, I draw, and
Texas, adjoining; named from the neigh-
boring parts being affected by the erup-
tion); the rose, or St. Anthony's fire.
This disease is an inflammatory affection,
principally of the skin, when it makes its
appearance externally, and of the mucous
membrane, when it is seated internally;
and is more liable to attack women and
children, and those of an irritable habit,
than those of a plethoric and robust con-
stitution. Erysipelas sometimes returns
periodically, attacking the patient once or
twice a year, or even once every month;
and then, by its repeated attacks, it often
gradually exhausts the strength, especially
if the patient be old and of a bad habit.
Every part of the body is equally liable to
it; but it more frequently appears on the
face, legs and feet, than any where else,
when seated externally. It is brought on
by all the causes that are apt to excite in-
flammation, such as injuries of all kinds,
the external application of stimulants, ex-
posure to cold, and obstructed perspira-
tion; and it may likewise be occasioned
by a certain matter generated within the
body, and thrown out on its surface. A
particular state of the atmosphere seems
sometimes to render it epidemical. A spe-
cies of erysipelatous inflammation, which
most usually attacks the trunk of the body,
is that vulgarly known by the name of
shingles, being a corruption of the French
word ceingle, which implies a belt. In-
stead of appearing a uniform inflamed
surface, it consists of a number of little
pimples extending round the body a little
above the umbilicus, which have vesicles
formed on them in a short time. Little or
no danger ever attends this species of
erysipelas.
ERZERUM, OF ARZERUM, or ARZ-ROUM
(anciently Arze); a city and the capital of
Turkish Armenia, or Turcomania, and
also of a pachalic to which it gives name;
250 miles N. N. E. of Aleppo, 510 E. by S.
of Constantinople; lon. 40° 57' E.; lat. 39°
58 N.; population, according to Hassel,
Cannabich, Malte-Brun, &c., only 25,000.
According to the Edinburgh Gazetteer
100,000, or 130,000. Mr. Morier, who visited
this city in 1808, gives the following esti-
mate: Turkish families, 50,000; Armenian,
4 or 5000; Greek, 100; Persians living in a
caravansary, about 1000. Mr. Morier men-
tions, that from the original estimate he de-
ducted more than one third of the number
of Turkish families; but the reduced state-
ment, at the rate of five persons to a family,
makes the Turkish population amount to
250,000. It is an Armenian archbishop's
and Greek bishop's see. Erzerum is situ-
ated near the head of the Euphrates, on a
rising ground, at the base of a chain of
mountains, which are usually covered with
snow. The climate is healthy, but the cold
in winter intense. It is surrounded by a
double stone wall, with four gates. It is
well built; the houses generally of stone,
with rafters of wood, and terraced, having
grass growing on the tops, and sheep
and calves feeding there; so that, when
seen from a distance, the roofs of the
houses can hardly be distinguished from
the plain at their foundation. The streets
are mostly paved, the bazars are spa-
cious and well stocked, and the place ex-
hibits an appearance of much industry.
It contains about 100 mosques, 1 Greek
and 2 Armenian churches, and 16 baths.
It has considerable manufactures, and an
extensive trade in copper, and articles from
ERZERUM-ESCHENBACH.
Persia, and countries north-west of Hin-
dostan. It is a very ancient town; the
inhabitants date its foundation from the
time of Noah. Population of the pachalic,
according to Hassel, 300,000. Square
miles, 21,400.
ERZGEBIRGE (German; meaning the ore
mountains); a chain of mountains running
between Saxony and Bohemia, till they
meet the Riesengebirge, on the frontiers
of Silesia. The highest summits, which
are on the side of Saxony, rise to 3800
or 3900 feet above the level of the sea.
The Erzgebirge consist chiefly of the
gneiss granite formation, and in this the
principal beds of ore are to be found.
Masses of porphyry and basalt are found
on and in this formation. Towards Sax-
ony, beds of clay slate rest on the gran-
ite and gneiss; and above the clay slate
are granite and syenite. Towards Bohe-
mia, the primitive formation is covered
for a considerable extent by brown coal
mountains, and the remainder by clay
slate. These mountains are rich in mines
of silver, iron, copper, lead, cobalt, arsenic,
&c. Erzgebirge is also the name of one
of the five circles of the kingdom of Saxo-
ny, comprising 2456 square miles, with
450 to 500,000 inhabitants. The whole
circle is one of the most industrious in
Germany. Mining occupies more than
12,000 of the people. Freiberg, Anna-
berg, Schneeberg, &c., have become im-
portant by means of the neighboring sil-
ver and tin mines, the smelting works, the
manufactories of arsenic and of a blue
color from cobalt. The Erzgebirge is the
chief manufacturing district in Saxony.
Annaberg is the chief seat of the lace-
making business. There are manufacto-
ries of calico, cloth, stockings, arms, nee-
dles, gold and silver lace, of flax and wool,
and cotton. Chemnitz and Zwickau, towns
in this circle, carry on an active business
in the sale of the manufactured goods,
which are exported to many parts of the
world.
Es, or Ers (és or s); a Greek preposi-
tion, signifying to. It has been added, in
the Romaic language, to several geo-
graphical names, and has contributed to
corrupt the ancient names; for instance,
Setines, the modern name of Athens, is
formed from es Athinai, to Athens; Sti-
ves, for es Thivai, to Thebes; Istamboul,
or Stamboul (Constantinople), for es tin
polin, literally translated, to the city.
ESCALADE, in war; a furious attack of
a wall or a rampart, carried on with lad-
ders, to pass the ditch or mount the ram-
part, without proceeding in form, breaking
VOL. IV.
49
577

ground, or carrying on regular works to
secure the men.
ESCAPE, in law, is where a person ar-
rested gains his liberty before he is deliver-
ed by law.. Escapes are either in civil or
criminal cases; and may be distinguished
into voluntary and negligent; voluntary,
where it is with the consent of the keeper;
negligent, where it is for want of due care.
In civil cases, after the prisoner has been
suffered voluntarily to escape, the sheriff
can never after retake him, and must an-
swer for the debt; but the plaintiff may
retake him at any time. In the case of a
negligent escape, the sheriff, upon fresh
pursuit, may retake the prisoner, and the
sheriff shall be excused if he has him again
before any action is brought against him-
self for the escape. In criminal cases, an
escape of a person arrested is an offence
against public justice, and the party is
punishable by fine and imprisonment.
ESCHEAT, in law, denotes an obstruc-
tion of the course of descent, and a conse-
quent determination of the tenure by some
unforeseen contingency; in which case,
the land naturally results back to the origi-
nal grantor, or lord of the fee.
ESCHENBACH, Wolfram von, who flour-
ished in the first half of the 13th century;
one of the most voluminous and also of
the most distinguished German poets of
the Suabian period. Of a lively imagin-
ation and penetrating spirit, rich and
original in his descriptions, and a com-
plete master of language and versification,
he elevated himself to a high rank among
epic poets. Nothing is known of his
private circumstances, except that he be-
longed to a noble family, probably in the
Upper Palatinate. He was knighted at
Henneberg, and passed his life in the
performance of the duties of chivalry,
being supported by his poetical genius
and the liberality of princes. He distin-
guished himself among the minnesingers
(q. v.) of the Wartburg. Towards the
end of his life, he returned to the castle of
his fathers, and was buried in the church
of Our Lady of Eschenbach. (See an ac-
count of him in the Museum of ancient
German Literature and Art, published by
Hagen, Docen and Büsching, vol. 1st.)
His poems are partly original, and partly
imitated from the French and Proven-
çal literature. The most esteemed of
his numerous works are, The Parcival
(printed 1477, 4to., found also in Müller's
Collection), the Titurell, or the Guardian
of the Graale (printed in 1477, 4to.), the
Margrave of Narbonne, Lohengrin (edit-
ed by Görres, Heidelberg, 1813), William
578
ESCHENBACH-ESCORT.

of Orange, and Godfrey of Boulogne.
Some of his poems are in the Collection
of Manessi.
ESCHENBURG, John Joachim, professor
in the Carolinum at Brunswick, was born
at Hamburg, in 1743, and died at Bruns-
wick, in 1820. He received his early ed-
ucation at Hamburg, then studied at
Leipsic, under Ernesti, Gallert, Morus
and Clodius, and at Göttingen, under
Heyne and Michaelis. He afterwards
went to Brunswick as a tutor; and, on
the death of the poet Zacharias, he was
appointed to the professorship in the Car-
olinum there-an office which he filled
till his death. Germany is indebted to
him for an acquaintance with many good
English writers on aesthetics; for exam-
ple, Brown, Webb, Burney, Fuseli (prop-
erly, Fuessly) and Hurd. Eschenburg
translated their works, with valuable ad-
ditions to some of them. He also pub-
lished, in different periodicals, accounts
of English literature, and thus contributed
to make the literary treasures of England,
an object of great admiration among the
Germans. His most valuable work was
translation of Shakspeare (Zurich,
1755-87, 14 vols., also 1798-1806, 12
vols.). Wieland had engaged in this un-
dertaking before Eschenburg; but the
translation of the latter is the most com-
plete which has yet been made, and is
still esteemed, though inferior to Schle-
gel's in elegance, harmony and verbal
accuracy. He extended his reputation
by the publication of his lectures, de-
livered in the Carolinum, by his Theo-
rie und Literatur der schönen Wissen-
schaften, nebst einer Beispielsammlung da-
zu, and by his Handbuch der classischen
Literatur.
ESCHINES. (See Eschines.)
ESCHYLUS. (See Eschylus.)
ESCLEPIADES. (See Esclepiades.)
ESCLEPIADIC. (See Esclepiadic.)
EscoIQUIZ, don Juan, the confidential
friend of Ferdinand VII, born in 1762,
of an ancient family of Navarre, was, in
his youth, page to Charles III. From
an inclination for serious studies, he chose
a religious in preference to a military life,
and received a canonicate in the cathedral
at Saragossa. His amiable qualities ac-
quired for him many friends and patrons
at court, and he was appointed instructer
to the prince of Asturias. He soon suc-
ceeded in winning the favor of the prince.
The courage and frankness with which
he expressed himself to the king and
queen in 1797, 1798, on the subject of the
calamities which pressed so heavily on
The
Spain, drew upon him the enmity of the
prince of peace (Godoy), who procured
his banishment to Toledo. Escoiquiz
sought, even in his exile, by memorials,
which he sent to the king, to undeceive
the royal family as to the favorite, but
ineffectually. The prince of peace gained
a continually increasing influence with
the king, so that the prince of Asturias,
in March, 1807, wrote to Escoiquiz, "that
he was in fear for his crown," and "look-
ed to him for advice and assistance."
Escoiquiz immediately hastened to Ma-
drid, where the revolting affair of the Es-
curial was agitated. He defended the
prince of Asturias with so much ability
as to effect a decided change in public
opinion. When Ferdinand ascended the
throne, in 1808, Escoiquiz was made
counsellor of state. He advised the jour-
ney to Bayonne, and accompanied Fer-
dinand thither. He was present at the
interview with Napoleon, who knew his
influence, and labored to gain him. Es-
coiquiz constantly exhorted the king of
Spain not to abdicate the throne, what-
ever consequences might ensue.
abdication, however, took place, and Es-
coiquiz accompanied Ferdinand to Va-
lençay, but was soon after separated from
him, and removed to Bourges, where he
lived in retirement four and a half years.
He returned to Valençay, December, 1813,
when the course of events had rendered
Napoleon inclined to a reconciliation with
Ferdinand VII and the Infant, and took
part in all the proceedings which seated
the Bourbons on the throne of Spain,
immediately before the final fall of Na-
poleon. In 1814, he left the court, and
retired to Saragossa. He fell into dis-
grace, because he had advised the king
to accept, at least in part, the constitution
of the cortes. He behaved with firmness
when arrested by order of the king.
Some time after, he was recalled, but was
disgraced a second time. Escoiquiz also
acquired some reputation as an author,
and translated into Spanish Young's
Night Thoughts, Milton's Paradise Lost,
and other works. His explanation of the
motives which induced Ferdinand to go
to Bayonne, is an important document for
the history of the time. He died in exile,
at Ronda, in Andalusia, in 1820. His life
is a fair commentary on Ferdinand's
character.
ESCORT; a guard; a body of armed
men which attends an officer or baggage,
provisions or munitions conveyed by land
from place to place, to protect them.
This word is sometimes used for naval

ESCORT-ESCURIAL.
protectors; but the proper word in this
case is convoy. (q. v.)
ESCULAPIUS. (See Esculapius.)
ESCURIAL (el Escorial), a celebrated
building, is situated midway up the as-
cent of the chain of mountains which
bounds Old Castile, 22 miles from Madrid.
The choice of this rugged situation by
Philip II indicates the stern and melan-
choly character which history ascribes to
that prince. It was erected in conse-
quence of a vow made by Philip, on the
of the battle of St. Quentin, at which,
however, he was not present. He ded-
icated it to St. Lawrence, whose festival
was on that day. Every thing in the
Escurial reminds us of the instrument
of the martyrdom of this saint-a grid-
iron. It is seen upon the doors, win-
dows, altars and sacerdotal habits; the
edifice itself is in that form. It is a quad-
rangular building, with the principal front
to the west, behind which is a mountain;
the opposite side, which faces Madrid,
has the form of the shortened handle of a
gridiron; and the four legs are represent-
ed by the four little square towers which
rise above the four angles. The exterior
of the Escurial is not magnificent in the
architecture. It has rather the austere
simplicity of a convent than the elegance
of a palace. In front of the door of the
church is a fine peristyle; over the front
of which are six colossal statues of the
kings of Israel, which appear as if just
balanced on their slender pedestals. The
two in the middle are David and Solo-
mon. The sculptor has endeavored to
give to these two statues the features of
Charles V and Philip II. The number
of windows, doors and courts has been
exaggerated to a ridiculous degree, in the
descriptions of the abbé de Vayrac and
señor Colmenar. They state that there
are 11,000 doors. In the whole, there is
something striking, but it does not corre-
spond to the idea formed of it from the
accounts given by those writers. The
edifice is built of hewn stone, of a species
of granite; its color has become brown
with time, and adds to the austerity of
the building. It is a quadrangle, 740 feet
in length, by 580 in breadth. The Escu-
rial is said to have cost 50,000,000 dollars.
The most remarkable pictures are the
Virgin Mary, by Guido; the Woman taken
in Adultery, and St. Jerome writing, by
Vandyke; the Martyrdom of St. Ursula,
and the Fall of the Angels, by Pellegrino
Tibaldi, in the church, where are also
some good paintings by Navarrete and by
Lucas Cambiano. In the two vestries
579
The
are several pictures of Paul Veronese,
Rubens, Spagnoletto, and Titian; an As-
sumption, by Annibal Carracci, and the
Lord's Supper, by Tintoretto. The altar
piece in the vestry, by the Portuguese
Claudio Coelho, is one of the most stri-
king; it is Charles II, accompanied by
the nobility, on his knees before the holy
sacrament. The pictures of St. Sebas-
tian, of natural size, and the Savior dis
puting with a doctor of the law, are
some of the best among those of Titian.
Three by Raphael-one, called the pearl,
on account of its superior excellence, is
a Holy Family; another, the Visitation,
in which the modesty of the virgin, and
her embarrassment on appearing before
Elizabeth, with the unexpected signs of
her pregnancy, cannot be too much ad-
mired. The Pantheon is a subterranean
apartment, situated immediately beneath
the grand altar of the chapel. A long,
arched stairway, lined on all sides with
polished marble, and descending far be-
low the surface of the earth, conducts to
this apartment. The whole interior is
lined with dark marble, beautifully veined,
and of great lustre. This is the burying
place of the Spanish royal family.
bodies of the princes who have not reign-
ed are deposited in one chamber, those
of the kings and queens in another. The
remains of the duke of Vendome rest in
the Pantheon, as those of marshal Tu-
renne do in the church of St. Denis. A
superb lustre, pendent from the cupola,
is lighted up on extraordinary occasions.
The coffins which contain the bodies of
the kings and queens are placed on each
side of an altar, in three rows, and in dif-
ferent compartments. The cases are of
bronze and porphyry, and simple yet no-
ble in their form. The two great clois-
ters are painted in fresco; the paintings
are by Tibaldi, and the figures are of
colossal size. Guercino, Velasquez, and
other celebrated painters, have ornament-
ed several galleries and cloisters. Here
is the famous picture of Raphael, called
the Madonna del Pez. This picture rep-
resents the young Tobit, conducted by
the angel Raphael, offering, with a timid
air, the tribute of his fish. The group is
composed, beside the angel and Tobit, of
Christ, the virgin Mary, and St. Jerome,
in a cardinal's habit, reading the Bible to
them. The library, founded by Philip
II, and much augmented by his son, is
remarkable for the large number of Greek
and Arabic manuscripts, and for the
paintings. There are several pleasure-
houses at a short distance from the con-
580
ESCURIAL-ESPINASSE.

vent, belonging to the Infantes. The
monks are very liberal, and allow any
person, of decent dress and demeanor,
free access to the library and all its books.
The royal family used to pass six weeks
here every year, before king Ferdinand's
reign; it is now, scarcely ever visited by
his majesty or his brothers. The number
of monks is now (1830) 140 or 150.
ESCUTCHEON, in heraldry, is derived
from the French écusson, and that from
the Latin scutum. It signifies the shield
whereon coats of arms are represented.
ESKI; a Turkish word, signifying old,
contained in several geographical names;
as, Eski cheher, old city.
ESKIMAUX. (See Esquimaux.)
ESMENARD, Joseph Alphonse; a poet,
born in 1769, at Pélissane, in Provence.
After having finished his education at
Marseilles, he made a voyage to St. Do-
mingo, and, on his return, formed an ac-
quaintance with Marmontel, which de-
veloped his literary tastes. At the begin-
ning of the revolution, he belonged to the
club of Feuillans, and on its downfall
was obliged to leave the country. He
travelled five years in England, Germa-
ny and Italy, and, on his return from
Constantinople, settled in Venice, where
he formed the design of his poem La
Navigation. He returned to France, was
again banished for his political writings,
returned after the revolution of the 18th
Brumaire, and labored with La Harpe
and Fontanes on the Mercure de la France.
He accompanied Le Clerc to St. Domin-
go, and, after his return, received a place
in the ministry of the interior. His Navi-
gation appeared in the year 1805. He
is blamed for many defects, but his talent
for describing scenes on the ocean is uni-
versally admired. In 1808, he brought
upon the stage an opera, entitled Trajan,
and was banished once more by Napo-
leon, after having been assailed by nu-
merous enemies, and made a member of
the institute. After three months, he re-
turned from exile, and died in 1811.
ESMERALDAS; a province of Colom-
bia, on the coast of the Pacific ocean,
abounding in wax, copal, balsams, manil-
la, indigo, tobacco and excellent cacao.
Its mountains are covered with rare and
valuable woods, and contain gold mines.
Fine emeralds are also found in this prov-
ince.--Esmeraldas is likewise the name
of a river and a seaport of this province.
ESNEH, ESNE, or ASNA (called, by the
Egyptians, Sné, or Sna); a city of Upper
Egypt, in the Thebaid, on the left bank
of the Nile, about 27 miles S. of the ruins
of Thebes, and 350 S. S. E. of Cairo; lat.
25° 17' 38 N.; lon. 32° 34' 56" E. Es-
neh stands on the site of the ancient La-
topolis. Among the ruins there is a beau-
tiful portico of 24 columns, which is one
of the most perfect remains of Egyptian
architecture. The ceiling contains a zo-
diac, which has been supposed to be 2000
years older than that of Denderah; but
Champollion, in one of his letters, dated
1829, is decidedly of the opinion that the
great temple of Esne, as it is called, instead
of being one of the most ancient buildings
of Egypt, is one of the most modern. He
draws this conclusion from the rudeness
and stiffness of the bass-reliefs and hiero-
glyphics, as well as from the inscriptions.
The latter contain merely the names of
different Roman emperors. "The real age
of the pronaos of Esneh," says M. Cham-
pollion, "is, therefore, not of a more re-
mote period than the reign of the empe-
ror Claudius; and the sculptures, among
which is the famous zodiac, are as late as
the time of Caracalla." The marquis
Spineto, in his Lectures on the Elements
of Hieroglyphics, is of the same opinion.
Esneh is of considerable importance in a
commercial point of view. The great car-
avan coming from Sennaar stops at this
place, and a camel market, famous through-
out all Egypt, is held here. Among the
population of Esneh are 300 Coptic fami-
lies. Not far from it are the ruins of an-
other temple, with a zodiac, not so well
preserved, however, as that in the ceiling.
Feb. 25, 1799, the French were attacked
here by the Mamelukes.
ESOP. (See Esop.)
ESOPUS. (See Esopus.)
ESOTERIC Greek; secret, revealed only
to the initiated). In the mysteries or se-
cret societies of the ancients, the doctrines
were distinguished into the esoteric and
exoteric, the former for the initiated, who
were permitted to enter into the sanctua-
ry itself (the Esoterics), and the latter for
the uninitiated (the Exoterics), who re-
mained in the outer court. The same
distinction is also made, in philosophy, be-
tween those doctrines which belong pe-
culiarly to the initiated, and those which
are adapted to the limited capacities of the
unlearned.
ESPAGNOLETTO. (See Spagnoletto.)
ESPALIERS; rows of trees planted about
a garden, and trained up regularly to a
lattice of wood-work, in a close hedge, for
the defence of tender plants.
ESPINASSE, Julie Jeanne Eléonore.
This amiable lady, who united the most
brilliant talents to a heart susceptible of

E ESPINASSE-ESQUIMAUX.
the warmest love, was born at Lyons,
1732. She was an illegitimate child, but
passed for the daughter of a citizen, whose
name she bore. She was selected as a
companion by the marchioness du Def-
fand, whose offers she gladly accepted,
being in a state of extreme indigence. At
first, the two ladies lived together in the
greatest harmony; but the superior at-
tractions of Julie, which captivated even
d'Alembert, a most devoted admirer of
du Deffand, soon made the marchioness
regard her as a dangerous rival, and their
connexion was broken off. Mlle. l'Espi-
nasse, however, had already made many
friends, and the king, by the recommend-
ation of the duke de Choiseul, granted her
a pension. From this time, she shone in
the great world, surrounded by a brilliant
circle of admirers. D'Alembert endeav-
ored in vain to obtain her affections; he
only succeeded in obtaining her esteem.
The marquis of Mora, a young Spanish
nobleman, loved her, and was loved in re-
turn; but was soon superseded in her af-
fections by colonel Guibert, celebrated for
his connexion with Frederic II. Her
letters show the strength of her sensibili-
ty and the caprices of her love, which
was blindly lavished without regard to re-
ciprocation. She died in 1776.
ESPIRITU-SANTO, or SPIRITU-SANTO
(the Spanish for Holy Ghost); a name of
ten occurring in geography. For instance,
it belongs to a place on the island of Cu-
ba; to a bay of Florida; to an island in
the gulf of California; to a bay of Mexi-
co, &c.
ESPLANADE, in fortification; the slop-
ing of the parapet of the covered way to-
wards the open country; the same with
glacis.
ESPRÉMÉNIL, James Duval d', a native
of Pondicherry, counsellor of the parlia-
ment of Paris, and deputy from the
nobility to the states-general in 1789,
was distinguished for talent and virtue.
D'Espréménil had entertained the pro-
ject of restoring to France the states-
general; and, at the session of the par-
liament, Nov. 19, 1787, he spoke with
energy in favor of that scheme, and in
opposition to the measures of the ministry.
He renewed his animadversions, May 3,
1788, in consequence of which he was
seized and banished to the isle of St. Mar-
garet. Being recalled to Paris in 1789, he
was nominated a deputy to the states-gen-
eral, when he defended the monarchy
against innovators with as much warmth
as he had before opposed the despotism
of the ministry. He made a speech
581
against the union of the different orders,
and, when he saw the minority of the no-
bles about to leave the chamber of ses-
sion, he exclaimed, "We are on the field
of battle: the cowards desert us: but let
us close our ranks, and we are still strong
enough." In opposing the establishment
of paper money, in September, 1790, he
made the singular proposition to reestab-
lish the monarchy in the full plenitude of
its power. He afterwards endeavored in
vain to curb the revolutionary fury, to
which he was destined to fall a victim.
On the 27th of July, 1792, he was assail-
ed by a band of armed men, by whom he
was badly wounded, and narrowly escap-
ed being killed. His friends then entreat-
ed him to leave France; but he refused,
saying he ought to await the consequences
of a revolution of which he had been one
of the prime movers. He was at length
condemned by the revolutionary tribunal,
and perished on the scaffold in 1793.
D'Espréménil was 48 years of age at the
time of his execution.
ESPRIT, in French, signifies spirit. In
English, the phrase esprit de corps is not
unfrequently used in the sense of attach-
ment to the class or body of which one is
a member.
ESQUIMAUX; an Indian nation of North
America, occupying nearly all of the
northern part of the continent, from
Prince William's sound along the coasts
of the Icy sea and of Hudson's bay to the
borders of the Atlantic on the Labrador
coast. Those to the N. W. of Hudson's
bay are of a larger size than those of Lab-
rador, but they are all dwarfish. Their
origin is uncertain; but they are evident-
ly different from the aborigines generally
diffused over the country, in language,
character, habits of living, complexion
and stature. Their features are harsh
and disagreeable, their cheek bones prom-
inent, their noses small and flat, their eyes
small and black, and their lips thick.
They are clothed in the skins of marine
animals, which constitute their principal
subsistence. Besides taking seals and
whales, they hunt the reindeer, the bear,
wolves, and other wild beasts. Their do-
mestic animals are a large kind of dogs,
which they use for draught and the chase,
and which they prefer to the reindeer.
Their arms are bows and arrows, spears
and knives. Their canoes are composed
of a frame of wood or whalebone, cover-
ed with seal skins. The smaller kind, ca.
pable of containing only one person, are
called kayaks. They sometimes use at
larger kind. called oomiak, for transport-
49*
582
ESQUIMAUX-ESSENTIAL OILS.

ing luggage and removing their families,
which afford accommodations for twenty
persons. There is no authentic account
of their numbers. They are represented
as being without any kind of government,
and nothing is known of their religious
notions. They wrap up the dead in skins,
and deposit the body, with the arms of
the deceased, in the hollow of a rock. In
1764, the Moravian Brethren from Green-
land established a mission in Labrador.
They have induced the Esquimaux with-
in their influence to abolish the custom of
putting to death widows and orphans, and
that of abandoning the aged who were in-
capable of procuring their own subsist-
ence. The missionaries are of opinion
that the Esquimaux originated from
Greenland, on account of the great simi-
larity of their manners and customs, and
of their language, to those of the Green-
landers.
ESQUIRE; anciently, the person that
attended a knight in the time of war, and
carried his shield. Those to whom the
title of esquire is now due in England, are,
all noblemen's younger sons, and the el-
dest sons of such younger sons; the eldest
sons of knights, and their eldest sons; the
officers of the king's courts, and of his
household; counsellors at law, justices
of the peace, &c., though the latter are
only esquires in reputation: besides, a
justice of the peace holds this title no
longer than he is in commission, in case
he is not otherwise qualified to bear it;
but a sheriff of a county, who is a superi-
or officer, retains the title of esquire during
life, in consequence of the trust once re-
posed in him. The heads. of some an-
cient families are esquires by right of
prescription.
Ess, Charles van, born in 1770, at War-
burg, in the bishopric of Paderborn, en-
tered the Benedictine abbey of Huysburg,
near Halberstadt, in 1788, where he sub-
sequently became prior; but, on the sup-
pression of the abbey, in 1804, he became
a parish preacher at this place. In 1811,
the bishop of Paderborn appointed him
episcopal commissioner, with the full
powers of vicar-general in the depart-
inents of the Elbe and Saal. In this situ-
ation, he evinced a great predilection for
the Roman see. It is said that he took
but little part in the translation of the
New Testament which was published
under his and his brother's name, and he
subsequently disclaimed any coöperation
in it. In 1810, he wrote a History of the
Abbey of Huysburg, and, at the time of
the Protestant jubilee, in 1817, a Short
History of Religion, which was publicly
burnt by the scholars in Halberstadt, at
the celebration of the festival of the refor-
mation, and which was answered by some
scholars in the vicinity. He died Oct. 22,
1824.-His brother, Leander van Ess,
Benedictine of the abbey of Marienmün-
ster, in the territory of Paderborn, and, at
a later period, a parish priest at Schwa-
lenberg, in the principality of Lippe, and,
since 1813, professor extraordinary of the-
ology, and preacher at Marburg, also one
of the directors of the seminary for teach-
ers at that city, has distinguished himself
by his translation of the New Testament,
published at Sulzbach, by Seidel. The
pope, it is true, has lately prohibited this
translation; but, in 1820, a new edition ap-
peared, under the name of Leander only.
This translation has had a great influence
upon the German Catholics.
ESSAYING. (See Assaying.)
ESSENES, or ESSEANS; a sect among the
Jews, the origin of which is unknown, as
well as the etymology of their name.
They are first mentioned in the book of
Maccabees, about B. C. 150. They lived
in solitude, and had all their possessions
in common. Certain examinations pre-
ceded the admission of candidates to their
society. Philo says, that they sacrificed
no living creature, and that they shunned
cities. Josephus says, that they sent pres-
ents to the temple, but offered no sacri-
fices there. They had purer ideas of God
than the Jews commonly entertained, a
strict code of morals, and a Pythagorean
manner of life. Instead of performing
external rites, they devoted themselves to
prayer and silent devotion, scrupulously
observed the Sabbath, were extremely ab-
stinent, and healed diseases of every kind
by roots and herbs. They rejected the
subtilties of the Pharisees and the epicu-
reanism of the Sadducees. History no
where supports the supposition that Jesus
and John were members of this body.
(See Bellermann's Ancient Accounts of the
Essenes and Therapeute, Berlin, 1821.)
The principal ancient writers who give
an account of this sect are Josephus, Philo
and Pliny.
ESSENTIAL OILS. This name is applied
to those volatile fluids usually obtained
from aromatic plants, by subjecting them
to distillation with water. The oil is vol-
atilized with the aqueous vapor, and is ea-
sily condensed; a small portion of it is
retained in solution by the water; but the
greater part separates, and is obtained
pure from the difference in their specific
gravity. In some instances, as, for exam-

ESSENTIAL OILS-ESTAFET.
ple, in the rind of the orange and lemon,
the oil exists in distinct vesicles, and may
be obtained by expression. The principal
volatile or essential oils are those of tur-
pentine, aniseed, nutmeg, lavender, cloves,
caraway, peppermint, spearmint, sassafras,
camomile and citron. The taste of these
oils is acrid and burning; and their odor
very pungent, generally resembling the
taste and smell of the vegetables affording
them. They are generally fluid, and re-
main so even at a low temperature; but
some congeal at a very moderate degree
of cold, and others are naturally concrete.
They are extremely volatile, and boil at a
temperature considerably above that of
boiling water; thus oil of turpentine boils
at 315°. They are very soluble in strong
alcohol, but, on adding water largely, are
precipitated. They are soluble in ether
in like manner, but do not form soaps
with the alkalies, by which they are dis-
tinguished from the fixed oils. They are
readily inflamed by strong nitric acid;
especially with the precaution of adding a
little sulphuric acid to render the former
more concentrated. Exposed to the ac-
tion of the air, they undergo an alteration
in consequence of the absorption of oxy-
gen, become thickened, and gradually
change into a solid matter, resembling the
true resins. When digested with sulphur,
they unite with it, forming what have been
called balsams of sulphur. One of the
most useful and abundant of the essential
oils is that of turpentine, commonly called
spirit of turpentine. It is obtained by dis-
tilling turpentine and water, in due pro-
portions, from a copper alembic. It is per-
fectly limpid and colorless, has a strong
smell, a bitterish taste, boils at 316°, and is
extremely inflammable. It is the solvent
employed in making a variety of varnishes;
but for purposes of nicety, it requires to be
rectified by a second distillation. In gen-
eral, the volatile oils are used in the prac-
tice of medicine, or as perfumes. Those
applied to the latter use, as the essence of
rose,
of jasmine, violet, &c., are possessed
of a more feeble odor, and, being obtained
from the flowers of their respective plants,
require much care in their preparation.
This is done by spreading upon white
wool, impregnated with olive oil, the petals
of the flowers, and leaving them for some
time, covered over with a woollen cloth,
upon which flowers are also scattered.
The flowers are renewed from time to
time, until the olive oil employed appears
to be saturated with the oil of the flowers,
when this last is separated by digesting
the wool in alcohol.
583
ESSEQUIBO; a river of English Guiana,
which flows into the Atlantic; lon. 58° 30′
W.; lat. 7° N. It is 20 miles wide at its
mouth, but difficult of navigation, on ac-
count of the sand banks, which run in
different directions across its entrance. It
contains a number of islands. The influ-
ence of the tide is felt about 100 miles up.
the river.
ESSEQUIBO; a settlement of English
Guiana, on the borders of the above river,
originally belonging to the Dutch, but,
after having several times changed pos-
sessors, was finally ceded to Great Britain
in 1814. The settlement is flourishing,
the country well cultivated, and extremely
fertile, in coffee, cotton, cocoa and sugar.
ESSEX, earl of, (See Devereux.)
ESSEX; a post-town in Essex county
New York, on the western shore of lake
Champlain; 14 miles south-west of Bur-
lington, 16 from Elizabethtown. There
is a flourishing village on the lake in this
township, which has considerable trade.
The celebrated split rock is in this town-
ship, 5 miles south of the village. It pro-
jects 50 yards into lake Champlain; the
point, consisting of about half an acre,
and covered with trees, is separated from
the main rock about 20 feet. The height
of the rock, on each side of the opening,
is about 20 feet. It appears to have been
separated by some great convulsion, and
is esteemed a great curiosity.
ESSLINGEN. (See Aspern.)
ESTACHAR, or ESTAKAR, or ISTACHAR;
a town in Persia, in Chusistan; 30 miles
N. N. E. of Schiras, 160 S. S. E. of Ispa-
han; lon. 53° 40′ E.; lat. 30° 5 N. Near
it are the ruins of ancient Persepolis.
These ruins are on a plain, 6 miles in
breadth, and 105 in length, from north-
west to south-east. It is usually called
Murdasjo, and the inhabitants pretend that
it included 880 villages. The soil is
chiefly converted into arable land, and
watered by a great number of rivulets.
According to Le Bruyn, no traces of the
city now remain; the magnificent ruins
which he saw in the year 1704, and of
which he has given a description, with
many plates, are those of the royal palace
of the ancient kings of Persia, which the
Persians call Chilminar, or Chalmenaer,
which signifies forty columns. Among
other ruins are those of a tomb, supposed
to be the tomb of Darius.
ESTAFET; a particular kind of cou-
rier, who goes only a certain distance,
when he is relieved, like a mail-carrier.
He rides on horseback, and is furnished
by the post-office. Estafettes travel faster
584
TESTAFET-ESTATE.

than the mails, and may be had at any
time on the European continent. They
are often employed by merchants to convey
information of fluctuations in the stocks,
the early knowledge of which is often of
the highest importance. Estafettes are
bound to perform the different stages in a
certain time, and not to carry any other
letters than those of their employer, with-
out his permission. In Italian, the word
is staffetta, in German, staffette, in French,
estaffette, in Spanish, estafeta, the Italian
being the original. It is probably derived
from staffa, a stirrup, staffetta signifying
a small stirrup, perhaps formerly used in
preference by estafettes.
ESTAFFETTE D'ALGER, L'. At the time
of the French expedition to Algiers,
in 1830, a semi-weekly paper of this
name was published in Africa; it was
a political, military, commercial and mar-
itime journal, containing the bulletins,
&c., of the armies, describing the en-
gagements with lithographic plans, giv-
ing sketches of the African commerce,
and of the resources and customs of the
country, military anecdotes, &c. Such a
paper is unique. We cannot help wish-
ing that Scipio had published a Cursor Af-
ricanus, or Alexander an 'Ayyclos 'Aatavos.
But we should then, probably, complain
as much of the mass of information as we
now do of its defectiveness. The Estaffette
is regularly sent to France by steam-boats.
ESTAING, Charles Henry, count d', ad-
miral and lieutenant-general of the armies
of France before the revolution, was a
native of Ravel, in Auvergne, and was de-
scended from an ancient family in that
province. Count d'Estaing commenced
his career by serving in the East Indies
under Lally, when he was taken prisoner
by the English, and sent home on his pa-
role. Having engaged in hostilities again
before he had been regularly exchanged,
he was taken a second time, and impris-
oned at Portsmouth. During the Ameri-
can war, he was employed as vice-admi-
ral. At the capture of the island of Gre-
nada he distinguished himself; but on
every occasion he showed more courage
than conduct or professional skill. He
promoted the revolution; and, in 1789,
he was appointed a commandant of
the national guards at Versailles. In
1791, he addressed to the national assem-
bly a letter full of protestations of at-
tachment to the constitution, on the
occasion of the approaching trial of
the king. He suffered under the guil-
lotine, 1793, as a counter-revolutionist, at
the age of 65.
ESTAMINET (French); a public place
where smoking is permitted, which, in
France, is not allowed generally in coffee-
houses, &c. In the Netherlands, public
houses in general are called estaminets, be-
cause smoking is permitted in all. Esta-
minets, with their floods of beer and clouds
of smoke, furnish an important part of a
Dutchman's happiness. In London, also,
the same name has been given to coffee-
houses where smoking is permitted.
ESTATE, in law, signifies the title or
interest which a person has in lands, ten-
ements, hereditaments, or other effects,
the word being derived from the Latin sta-
tus, which means the condition or circum-
stance in which a person stands in regard
to his property. Estate is real or personal.
The phrase personal estate is applicable
not only to movables, goods, money,
bonds, notes, but also to some fixtures
temporarily attached to lands or build-
ings; and the distinction between those
fixtures which are temporarily such,
and those which belong to, and form
a part of the house, or other real estate, is
of importance, as this distinction will de-
termine how it is to be attached on mesne
process, or seized and sold, or set off on
an execution, and also how it descends
on the decease of the proprietor. But
personal estate also applies to some inter-
ests in lands or houses; thus a lease of
them for a certain number of years, though
it be more than a hundred, and so longer
than any person is likely to live, is per-
sonal estate; and yet an estate for the life
of the owner, or of any other person, in
these subjects, though the person, by
whose life the interest is limited, may
ever so old or infirm, and likely to survive
ever so short a time, is real estate, and is
subject to the law regulating such estate,
in regard to sales and descents. Real
estate in lands is of various kinds and de-
scriptions, according to the quantity of in-
terest, its duration, or the time by which it
is limited in respect to its commencement
or termination, and the number and con-
dition of the owners. A fee simple is the
amplest estate which the law admits of.
(See Fee.) A freehold is an estate for the
life of any person or persons, or any
greater estate. An estate in a is one
limited to certain heirs. (See Entail.)
Only real estate and a freehold greater
than for the life of one person, can be en-
tailed; but such an estate is of various
kinds, such as tail-male, where it descends,
in successive order, to the male heirs of the
grantee in direct descent; tail-female,
where it is thus limited to the female de
be
ESTATE-ESTATES.
scendants: if it goes in successive order
to his descendants without any distinc-
tion, it is called an estate in tail-general; if
it is limited to certain descendants, as the
children of a certain wife, it is an estate in
tail-special. An estate in remainder is one
of which the owner is to come into pos-
session after the expiration of an inter-
mediate estate of another person, or num-
ber of persons or heirs; and so also is an
estate in reversion: thus, if one grants an
estate tail, this estate tail may expire, in
which case the lands will come back or
revert to the grantor, and his estate, which
still remains to him after he has granted
the estate tail, is therefore called a rever-
sion. As to the number of owners, an es-
tate in common is a freehold belonging to
more than one proprietor, in undivided
shares; and so also is an estate in joint-
tenancy; but there is this distinction be-
tween these two kinds of estates, that
when one joint-tenant dies, his share
goes to the other joint-tenants, which is
not the case in tenancies in common. An
estate in coparcenary arises when an es-
tate in fee simple descends, on the decease
of the owner, to his daughters, sisters,
aunts, or female cousins, or their repre-
sentatives, being females; and they are
called coparceners, or, for brevity, parce-
ners. Real estate left to any one by will
is called a devise, or an estate by devise, in
distinction from a bequest of personal
property, which is called a legacy.
ESTATES (in politics). Man, in the ru-
dest state of human existence, lives almost
entirely independent. We cannot properly
speak of liberty in such a state, because
liberty, truly so called, implies the protec-
tion of each man's rights by the laws of
an organized society, the main object of
political institutions being to secure in-
dividual liberty, by affording equal pro-
tection to all. But what a number of gra-
dations are to be found between the law-
lessness of the savage and the rational in-
dependence of the citizen of a free state.
There are several prominent stages in the
progress of man from the one to the other
of these points:-a. The state of unsettled
and roving tribes, the hunters and nomades.
Though very great difference exists among
nations in this state, yet all political devel-
opement is so much checked by the non-
existence of landed property (the begin-
ning of proper civilization), that we may
class them all together. b. The patriarchal
state, in which the authority and power of
the father of a family (patria potestas), that of
the magistrate and of the priest are united
in one person: this is the first rude begin-
585

ning of political civilization.* c. The state
in which the authority of the father and
the magistrate are separated, but that of
the priest and the magistrate still remain
blended. This is the theocratic state. In
this, priests form a separate caste, and are
the rulers. d. When the authority of the
father, priest and magistrate are separated,
and the distinction between the family and
state is clearly understood, but yet birth
decides to what class an individual be-
longs. This is the state of castes. The
whole people is divided into different
classes, with different privileges. e. That
state of government, which prevails in
many parts of Europe, where the nobility
have hereditary privileges, and correspond.
to the castes in the East, whilst the other
subjects are divided into classes distin-
guished by their occupations, as peasants,
citizens, &c. f. That state of political soci-
ety in which all the members have equal
privileges and rights, and are subject to
equal burdens. In this class must be includ-
ed several of the republics of antiquity, not-
*We cannot abstain here from a few remarks
of whom Charles Louis de Haller must be con-
on the gross error of many politicians of Europe,
sidered the head, on account of his notorious
work Restauration der Staatswissenschaft, oder
Theorie des natürlichen geselligen Zustandes, der
Chimere des Künstlich-bürgerlichen entgegen-
ration of the Science of Politics, or Theory of the
gesetzt, Winterthur, 1816-1820, 4 vols. (Resto-
natural-social State, in Opposition to the Chimera
of the artificial-civil). These absolutists ridicule
the idea of a social contract, as the basis of the
political constitution of a nation, deriving all their
arguments against it from the patriarchal origin of
the political state. Political unions, say they,
no where began with such a contract, but grew out
of the relations of families. Haller calls it an
idea communicated to him from Heaven, that, the
father being the natural ruler of the children, the
master stands in the same relation to his slaves,
and the prince to his subjects. He says there is
no foundation for the notion that princes are made
for their subjects, but both are correlative-a
very logical deduction, certainly, from the original
condition of men! as if the highest branches of
mathematics, particularly the exalted and ab-
stract theory of functions, were visionary and
groundless, because mathematics began with sim-
ple calculations applied to the most ordinary busi-
ness of life, geometry, with the surveying of the
banks of the Nile after its inundation! as if the
laws of architecture applied to the erection of the
stately cathedral were chimerical, because archi-
tecture began with the construction of miserable
huts! as if grammatical writing were nonsense,
as if the laws of war, by which its horrors are
because language began with inarticulate sounds!
mitigated, were unfounded, because war began
with common murder! Yet Mr. Haller's theory
is so well received by the illiberal party in Ger
many, that a production which most probably
would not even have found a publisher in Eng
land or the U. States, is there held up as a standard
work! (See Constitutions.)
586
ESTATES.X

withstanding a large portion of the inhab-
itants were in servitude; for the slaves, in
these cases, were not considered as belong-
ing to the state, were not members of the
political society. Such an anomalous form
of government as existed in Algiers, where
a tribe of soldiers, kept up by perpetual
recruits from abroad, and excluding their
own children from any share in their polit-
ical privileges, elected their ruler, and tyr-
annised over the other inhabitants of the
country, without allowing them any rights
(although they did not actually treat them as
slaves, at least not as the property of individ-
uals), such a government does not fall un-
der any one of the established divisions,
and, in fact, can hardly be regarded in a dif-
ferent light from an association of robbers.
That condition of government mentioned
under e forms the subject of this article.
Estates are those political bodies which
partake, either directly or by representa-
tion, in the government: they are different
from corporations (q. v.), which very often
had, and still have, certain political privi-
leges. Estates are of Teutonic origin,
being found only in countries occupied
by the descendants of Teutonic tribes.
They are to be considered as a conse-
quence of the feudal system, which origi-
nated from certain customs prevalent
among the Germans, and from their con-
quests. (See Feudal System.) From the
feudal system sprang the modern hered-
itary nobles-a privileged body, partaking
essentially in, or, in some instances, chiefly
forming the government. (See Nobility.)
Bondage became gradually established-an
institution, in many cases, of much more
recent date than those who profit by it
maintain. (See Villenage.) At the same
time that the high nobility began to con-
stitute a distinct and hereditary class
(which is of much later date than the ori-
gin of feudalism), the high clergy, in many
countries, began to participate in the gov-
ernment as a body, which they were, in
those barbarous times, as much entitled to
do as the warlike nobility; since they were
the only members of society with whom
the little knowledge which had survived
the fearful storms of the dark ages had
taken refuge. More or less distinct from
ea other, and from the lower orders of
their respective classes, the high nobility
and clergy continued to form the estates,
which, together with the prince, consti-
tuted the general government so far as
any general government can be said to
have existed, when every feudal lord was,
in most respects, entirely independent,
and the higher clergy were almost always
feudal lords, so that a conflict of innu-
merable interests, privileges and liberties
prevented any general and orderly admin-
istration of government and justice. "That
prodigious fabric (as Hume calls it), for
several centuries, preserved such a mix-
ture of liberty and oppression, order and
anarchy, stability and revolution, as was
never experienced in any other age, or any
other part of the world." But the time
appeared when cities began to claim and
assume political rights, the time to which
we may apply, in respect of all Europe,
what Spelman applies to England at the
time of the Norman conquest, Novus
seclorum nascitur ordo. It is to the cities
that we owe the origin of the third estate, or
citizens, from whom, through their contests
with the other estates or estate (if the no-
bility and clergy were united), and through
their greater number, which rendered a
representation of them necessary, origin-
ated more general views of the adminis-
tration of government and justice, more
equitable laws, and more correct notions
of individual liberty. To the historian,
who sees, amid the conflicts of feudalism,
the beginning of the political importance
of the cities, it is like the first appearance
of the rays of morning after a long and
stormy night. (See Cities.) But the pow-
er of the other estates was too great; nor
was it to be expected that the third estate
should be in advance of the age: a gen-
eral representation was not yet founded.
The period from the downfall of the Ro-
man empire to the establishment of the
constitution of the U. States, may be call-
ed, by way of distinction, the time of privi-
leges, hardly any part of the political sys-
tem being established, or administered on
general principles, or a well organized
plan, but almost every thing being done
by special privileges and grants; common
rights arising from citizenship being hard-
ly recognised, the individual enjoying
only certain privileges, as a member of
a favored class. The privileges of these
three estates, arising from
from different
causes, and acquired in different ways,
were, of course, very different. However,
the right to grant taxes was common to
all, because taxes were at first considered
as a mere gift to the prince, it being cus-
tomary in all the Teutonic estates for the
monarch to defray the expenses of gov-
ernment, particularly of war, on account
of the large share of property which was
every where set aside for him, as has been
shown in the article Civil List. (See also
Domain.) However, in many countries,
the estates were not called together; in

ESTATES-ESTE
others, their conduct rendered them very
unpopular. Both their own incapacity
and the power of the government render-
ed them, in most countries, either useless
or obnoxious; and, in many countries, both
the people and the government were
equally desirous to abolish them, though
for different reasons. The time of the
French revolution approached, and views
of general justice and legal equality be-
came popular throughout Europe. Every
reader knows that the system of the es-
tates was abolished in France, and all the
countries where the French obtained an
ascendency in the new formation, or the
reformation of governments. Since the
downfall of Napoleon, many governments
have reestablished the estates, or endeav-
ored to satisfy the spirit of the age, which
calls for a secure individual liberty, by a
new organization of them. This sub-
ject has been particularly treated in the
article Constitution. (q. v.) In Sweden,
there is a fourth estate-that of the
crown peasants. Circumstances have
changed so entirely, civilization has so
nearly equalised the different orders, the
interests of men have become so general-
ized, that the institution of estates has be-
come unsuited to the wants of the age:
they have had their time, and have become
obsolete. They are directly contrary to
the spirit of our age, as is the whole feudal
systen., and can only be considered as
remnants of former times, forms from
which the spirit has long since departed.
They serve at present only to frustrate the
most just and reasonable demand of soci-
ety-individual liberty, protected by equal
laws and an equal representation.
ESTE; one of the most ancient and il-
lustrious families of Italy. Muratori traces
its origin to those petty princes who gov-
erned Tuscany in the time of the Carlovin-
gians (10th century). In later times, they
received from the emperors several districts
and counties, to be held as fiefs of the em-
pire, viz. Este, Rovigo, Montagnana, Ca-
sal Maggiore, Pontremoli and Obertenga,
with the title of marquis. Of this family
was Guelfo IV, who, having received the
investiture of the duchy of Bavaria,
founded the house of Brunswick, which,
from this circumstance, was called the
Estensian Guelf. During the 12th, 13th,
and 14th centuries, the history of the house
of Este is connected with the vicissitudes
of the other ruling families and free states
of Upper Italy. In the contests between
the Guelfs and Ghibelines, the marquises
of Este, as leaders of the Guelf party,
acquired the territories of Ferrara and
587
Modena, notwithstanding many reverses.
This house was much distinguished for
its patronage of the arts and sciences.
Nicolas II (died 1388) first made the court
of Ferrara the seat of refinement and
taste. The reign of Nicolas III (died
1441) was still more brilliant. He opened,
in 1402, the university of Ferrara, founded
by his father, Albert, and which had been
suppressed during his minority; he also
founded that of Parma. His liberality
attracted the most distinguished men of
the age, among whom were Guarini of
Verona, the ancestor of the celebrated
poet, and Giovanni Aurispa. He trans-
mitted his love of literature to his sons,
Lionel and Borso, who endeavored to
render Ferrara the country of scholars
and poets. The reign of Lionel was dis-
tinguished neither by conquests nor other
great political occurrences; but no prince
of the house of Este was more beloved
by his contemporaries for his amiable dis-
position, the charms of his wit, and the
elegance of his manners. He encouraged
industry and commerce, the arts and
sciences, by every method, and was him-
self a model of eloquence in the Latin
and Italian languages. He corresponded
with the most distinguished men of Italy,
and contributed more than any prince of
his time to restore ancient literature to
that splendor which rendered the 16th
century so illustrious. Under his brother
and successor, Borso, (died 1471), agricul-
ture, commerce, and all the arts of peace,
were in a flourishing condition. Borso
was fond of pomp, but, as he neither main-
tained fortresses nor armies, his expendi-
tures did not exhaust his finances. The
emperor Frederic III, enchanted with his
reception by Borso, on his passage through
Ferrara, conferred on him the title of
duke of Modena and Reggio. Borso also
obtained from the pope, Pius V, the duchy
of Ferrara, which he held as a fief of the
church. His successor, Ercole I (died
1505), suffered much from the Venetians
and their allies, who wished to deprive the
house of Este of its territories; but Milan,
Florence and Naples took arms in his
defence, and a general war was the con-
sequence. After concluding a disadvan-
tageous peace in 1484, Ercole maintained
a neutrality for 21 years, although im-
portant revolutions took place in Italy.
During this period, his subjects enjoyed all
the blessings of peace, and his capital was
distinguished for elegance and refinement.
Boiardo, count of Scandiano, the cele..
brated author of Orlando Innamorato, was
his friend and minister.
Ariosto, yet
588
TESTE.

very young, already enjoyed the ducal
favor, and the court of Ferrara was adorn-
ed by the most celebrated geniuses of the
period. His son, Alfonso I (died 1534),
succeeded him. His second wife was the
famous Lucretia Borgia, whose bril-
liant talents and love of literature con-
tributed in some measure to obliterate the
infamy of her early years. Ariosto was
in the service of Alfonso's brother, the
cardinal Ippolito, a patron by no means
worthy of such a poet. His sacred office
could not restrain him from violence and
crime; and he caused the eyes of his
brother Julius, his rival in the affections
of a lady, to be put out, because she had
praised their beauty. Alfonso suffered
this barbarous act, at which all Ferrara
was indignant, to go unpunished; but the
injured Julius and his brother Ferdinand
entered into a conspiracy to dethrone
him, for the purpose of rendering his re-
venge on Ippolito more sure. The con-
spiracy was detected, and the punishment
of the two brothers was commuted into
perpetual imprisonment, at the moment
when the axe was suspended over their
heads. Alfonso also displayed great mili-
tary talents. He entered into the league
of Cambray, in 1509. The Venetians,
under Angelo Trevisani, appeared at the
mouth of the Po, and spread terror
through the whole province of Ferrara.
He enclosed this fleet, which ascended
the river, within the fire of his batteries
constructed on both banks, captured part,
and burnt the rest: this victory was com-
memorated by the most celebrated Italian
poets. Pope Julius II abandoned the
league of Cambray, and joined the Vene-
tians; he laid Alfonso, whom he could
not persuade to follow his example, under
an interdict, and declared all his papal
fiefs forfeited. By this measure of Julius,
Alfonso lost Modena, and was deserted by
his allies. The French, however, con-
tinued in their alliance with him, and he
contributed to the victory which they
gained at Ravenna in 1512. But, the
French being soon after obliged to leave
Italy, Alfonso stood alone. Meanwhile
Julius died; but his successor, Leo X, re-
fused to restore to Alfonso the cities of
Modena and Reggio, which Francis I,
who favored the house of Este, had
obliged him to promise. The papal court
even attempted the assassination of the
dake, by the captain of his guard. Al-
fonso, thus menaced on all sides, was
preparing to defend himself, when the
death of Leo X (1521) delivered the house
of Este from the impending ruin. Adrian
VI revoked the censures of the church
but Clement VII, his successor, seemed
to have inherited the hatred of his uncle
Leo; he kept Alfonso out of possession of
Modena, and even endeavored to deprive
him of his other states. Soon afterwards,
the capture of Rome (1527) enabled the
emperor Charles V to restore to him his
ancient possessions, and to confirm the
claims of the house of Este. Alfonso
excelled all the Italian princes of his time,
in uniting military glory with political
talents; none of them was surrounded by
more distinguished men, and none has
been celebrated by nobler poets; among
whom Ariosto is the most illustrious. His
successor, Ercole II (died 1559), was at-
tached to Charles V, who, by his great
preponderance, subjected all Italy to his
influence. His brother Ippolito, at Rome,
on the contrary, was attached to the French
interest. This cardinal, who built the
splendid villa d'Este, at Tivoli, was the
most munificent patron of the arts and
sciences of that age.
sciences of that age. Alfonso II (died
1597) inherited, it is true, from his ances-
tors, a love of letters, but a still greater
fondness for pomp and luxury. His dis-
putes with the grand-duke of Tuscany,
regarding the precedency, and his efforts
to obtain the crown of Poland, which in-
volved him in great expense, occupied his
whole political career. His finances were
exhausted, and his subjects burdened with
taxes. The first poets, and most distin-
guished men of Italy, continued, how-
ever, to adorn his court; but the persecu-
tions of Tasso suggest only melancholy
or disgraceful recollections for the house
of Este. The seven years which the
poet passed in a mad-house, either for
having dared to love the princess Leonora,
sister of the duke, or because, in the ex-
cess of his passion, he had so far forgot
himself as to offend the pride of his sove-
reign, bear witness to the cruelty of Al-
fonso. Although he was married three
times, he was childless; and he appointed
his cousin Cæsar (died 1628), son of a nat-
ural son of Alfonso I, his successor. On
Caesar's accession to the dukedom, pope
Clement VIII declared the choice to have
been illegal, and all the papal fiefs held by
the house of Este to have reverted to the
church. Cæsar possessed so little firm-
ness of character, that he immediately
yielded to the menaces and armies of the
pope, and surrendered Ferrara, together
with the other ecclesiastical fiefs. For-
tunately, the emperor did not dispute his
succession to the imperial fiefs; he re-
mained in possession of Modena and

ESTE-ESTREES.
Reggio, but was obliged to uspute the
possession of Garfagnano in two wars with
the republic of Lucca, until the contest
was finally settled by the mediation of
Spain. The violent temper of his son
and successor, Alfonso III, at first excited
apprehensions of a cruel and tyrannical
reign; but the death of his wife, Isabella
of Savoy, to whom he was warmly at-
tached, effected such a change in his
character, that he resigned the govern-
ment into the hands of his eldest son,
Francis, and retired to a capuchin mon-
astery in the Tyrol, under the name
of Giovanni Battista of Modena, where
he passed his days in religious meditation
and acts of piety. Since the loss of Fer-
rara, the house of Este has been distin-
guished only for its ancient splendor.
Francis I, son of Alfonso III, died in
1658; Alfonso IV, in 1662; Francis II, in
1694: Rinaldo I died in 1737. The last
mentioned prince, who was in early life a
cardinal, married Charlotte Felicitas of
Brunswick, daughter of the duke of Han-
over, and thus reunited the two branches
of the house of Este, which had been
divided since 1070 His son Francis III
(died 1780) deserves to be mentioned as a
patron of literature. Muratori and Tira-
boschi were his subjects, and received
pensions from him. Ercole III, the last
duke of Modena, Reggio and Mirandola,
married his only daughter, Maria Beatrice,
to the arch-duke Ferdinand of Austria:
a fruit of this marriage was the second
wife of Francis of Austria. Ercole had
accumulated great treasures, but lost the
affections of his subjects, and, on the ap-
proach of the French armies, in 1796, he
fled to Venice. Modena and Reggio were
included in the Cisalpine confederacy
(republic), and the house of Este was
definitively deprived of the sovereignty
by the treaty of Campo-Formio (q. v.),
Oct. 17, 1797. (See Modena.)
ESTHER; originally a Jewish girl, a
prisoner in Persia. Her beauty gained
her the love, and made her the queen, of
the king Ahasuerus. Her intercession
delivered the Jews from a general pro-
scription, to which they had been subject-
ed by Haman, a minister and favorite of
the king. The history of this event is the
subject of the book of Esther. Many
writers suppose that this Ahasuerus is the
Artaxerxes of the Greeks. There are
many different suppositions respecting the
author of the book of Esther.
ESTHETICS. (See Esthetics.)
ESTHONIA, or the GOVERNMENT OF RE-
VAL; the northern part of the Russian prov-
50
VOL. IV.
589
ince of Livonia, consisting of 7000 square
miles, and containing 302,600 inhabitants,
Though much of its soil is sandy,' it pro-
duces grain, hemp, flax, cattle, horses, &c.
Reval is the capital. The Esthonians, a
Finnish tribe, anciently belonged to the
Russian monarchy, and were called
Tschuds. They afterwards attempted to
deliver themselves from the Russian
yoke; and, after 1385, when the country
was sold to the Teutonic knights, it made
a part of Livonia, with which, after being
100 years subject to Sweden, it reverted
to Russia. Under Catharine II, it re-
ceived the name of the government of
Reval, but, in 1797, was again called the
government of Esthonia. Much has been
written on the unhappy situation of the
serfs in Livonia and Esthonia. The Es-
thonians live in mean habitations, are
rough and hardy, and profess the Christian
religion.
The emperor Alexander did
much towards alleviating the condition
of the peasants; and servitude has been,
to a certain extent, abolished in this
country.
ESTRAYS and WAIFS. Estrays are any
valuable beasts, not wild, found within a
lordship, and whose owner is not known,
such as are commonly impounded, and not
claimed. They are then to be proclaimed
in the church and two nearest market
towns, on two market days, and, not being
claimed by the owner, belong to the king,
and now commonly, by grant of the
crown, to the lord of the manor, or the lib-
erty.-Waifs are goods which are stolen,
and waved, or left by the felon on his be-
ing pursued, for fear of being apprehend-
ed, and forfeited to the king or lord of
the manor.
ESTRÉES, Gabrielle d' (duchess of Beau-
fort), the mistress of Henry IV of France,
born about 1571, was the daughter of
Antoine d'Estrées, a descendant of one
of the noblest houses in Picardy, for a
long time grand maître de l'artillerie, who
distinguished himself in the defence of
Noyon against the duke of Mayenne, for
which Henry IV made him governor of
the Isle de France. Gabrielle was about
20 years of age when Henry first saw her
on a visit to Cœuvres castle; and her
beauty immediately captivated him. Ga-
brielle, however, who was attached to the
duke of Bellegarde, was at first little in-
clined to gratify the wishes of the king.
But Henry still urged his suit, and often
stole by the sentinels of his enemies, in
the dress of a peasant, to see the object
of his love. The heart of the lady was
at length moved by such ardor and de-
590
ESTREES-ESTREMADURA.

votion. She became the mistress of the
chivalric monarch, who never loved any
other woman so passionately. To escape
the severe scrutiny of her father, Henry
married her to a nobleman named Damer-
val, of Liancourt; but, says Sully, il sut
empêcher la consommation du mariage,
and subsequently dissolved the marriage,
on the ground of Damerval's impotency,
although this nobleman had had 14 chil-
dren by a former wife. Henry intended
to raise Gabrielle to the throne as his law-
ful wife. For this purpose, he not only pro-
cured a divorce from Margaret of Valois,
but also raised the county of Beaufort to a
duchy, which he bestowed on Gabrielle,
thus giving her a high rank at court.
This design was strongly opposed by Sul-
ly, who often represented to the monarch
the bad consequences of such a measure.
Gabrielle, therefore, became his bitter ene-
my, and, instigated by the enemies of the
minister, she once so far forgot herself as
to urge the king to discharge him. Hen-
ry's reply was, "By God, madam, if I
must lose one of you, I would rather give
up ten mistresses like you, than one ser-
vant like him." So ardent, however, was
his passion for Gabrielle, that he once
wrote to her in a moment of danger, "If I
am conquered, you know me too well to
believe that I shall flee. My last thought
shall be God's, my last but one yours."
Notwithstanding the determination of the
king, and the wishes of Gabrielle, their
marriage never took place. Just before
Easter, in 1599, when negotiations were
already in train for the divorce of the
king, she retired from court, by the advice
of René Bénoit, the king's confessor, and
went to Paris to spend Passion week.
On Maundy Thursday, having eaten an
orange after dinner, she was suddenly
seized with convulsions, which distorted
her beautiful countenance, and, on Satur-
day, she died in the most excruciating
torments. Apoplexy, with convulsions,
was the cause assigned for her death; but
no one can doubt that she was poisoned.
The king's grief for her loss was exces-
sive; and, what is seldom the case, the
royal mistress was universally lamented.
Her amiable disposition, the gentleness of
her character, and the modesty which
prevented her from meddling with public
affairs, won her general favor. She had
three children by the king, Cæsar and
Alexander, afterwards dukes of Vendome,
and a daughter, Catharine Henrietta, after-
wards the wife of the duke of Elbeuf.
Her biography, which appeared some
years ago, in France, is accompanied by
an interesting correspondence between
Gabrielle and her royal lover.
ESTRÉES, Louis César (duc d'), mar-
shal of France, and minister of state, born
at Paris, in 1695. He fought against the
Spaniards, under the duke of Berwick, and
distinguished himself so much that he
was raised to the rank of field-marshal,
and inspector-general of the cavalry. In
the war of 1741, he obtained the confi-
dence of marshal Saxe, by the passage of
the Maine at Seligenstadt, his conduct at
the battle of Fontenoy, and the sieges of
Mons and Charleroi. In 1756, he receiv-
ed the baton of marshal of France, and
appeared in Germany at the head of
100,000 men. His audience with Louis.
XV, closed with these words: "By the
1st of July, I shall have driven the ene-
my beyond the Weser, and shall be pre-
paring to enter Hanover." He kept his
word, and gained a decisive victory over
the duke of Cumberland at Hastenbeck.
The Hanoverians were preparing to leave
the electorate, when the marshal was re-
called by court intrigues, and succeeded
by Richelieu. After the defeat at Min-
den, he was sent to Giesen, where he
assumed no command, but was content to
assist Contades with his advice. At the
close of the war, he was created duke.
He died 1771, without issue. He merited
his dignities by his services, and was not
less esteemed as a citizen than as a sol-
dier.
ESTREMADURA; the name of a Spanish
and a Portuguese province. The Spanish
province of
Estremadura is bounded N. by Leon and
Old Castile, E. by New Castile, S. by
Andalusia, and W. by Portugal; about 90
miles each way. It formerly made part
of Portugal, but, being separated from
that country, it is sometimes called Estre
madura of Castile. The country is moun-
tainous, and the air in summer is exceed-
ingly hot, wholesome to the natives, but
insupportable to strangers. Spring water
is scarce, and the inhabitants are compel-
led to use principally that of ponds. The
soil is fertile in grain, grapes. and other
fruits. Cattle and fine wool constitute
their principal commerce. The principar
towns are Badajoz, Merida, Truxillo,
Xerez de los Caballeros, Ellerena, Coria,
and Placentia. Population in 1797,
428,393. Square miles, 14,478. This
country has furnished excellent generals
to Spain.
Estremadura, the province of Portugal,
is bounded N. by the province of Beira,
E. and S. by Alentejo, and W. by the

ESTREMADURA-ETHELRED II.
Its mean length, from north to
south, is 124 miles; its width 77 miles.
The Tagus divides it into two nearly equal
parts. The northern part is mountainous.
It contains some mineral springs. Earth-
quakes are more frequent here than in any
other part of Portugal. The soil in gene-
ral is fertile, but in the south sandy. Ag-
riculture is so neglected, that the produc-
tion hardly suffices for the consumption.
Cattle abound in the mountains, fish in the
rivers, and metals in the earth; but indus-
try is wanting. The population is about
700,500, and is less active than that of the
northern provinces.
ETANIA, in the Basque language, signi-
fies dwelling, and is the origin of the ter-
minations of Lusitania, Aquitania, &c.
ETCHING; one species of engraving on
copper, the lines being corroded in with
aqua fortis, instead of being cut with a
graver, which, for many purposes, is su-
perior to engraving; but there are others
in which the subjects must be graved, not
etched. In general, in engravings on
copper executed in the stroke manner,
etching and graving are combined; the
plate is begun by etching, and finished
with the graver. Landscapes, architect-
ure and machinery receive most assist-
ance from etching, which is not so appli-
cable to portraits and historical designs,
though in these, also, it has a place. (For
an account of the process of etching, see
Engraving.)
ETEOCLES and POLYNICES; sons of
Edipus and Jocasta. After their father's
banishment, A. C. 1230, they agreed to
rule in Thebes, each a year alternately.
Eteocles violated this compact, and Poly-
nices fled to implore the assistance of
Adrastus, king of Argos, who marched
against Thebes, with Polynices and six
other Grecian princes. The city made an
obstinate defence. The two brothers fell
by each other's hand; and Creon, their
uncle, ascended the throne of Thebes.
He prohibited the interment of Polynices,
under penalty of death; but Antigone,
sister of the deceased, yielding to the
voice of nature, resolved to perform this
last rite for her deceased brother. She
was discovered, and buried alive by the
order of Creon. This act of cruelty re-
coiled on himself; for his son, Hæmon,
who was in love with her, killed himself
on her grave. (See Thebes.)
ETHELBERT, king of Kent, succeeded
his father, Hermenric, about 560, and soon
reduced all the states, except Northum-
berland, to the condition of his depend-
ants. In his reign Christianity was first
591
introduced into England. Ethelbert mar-
ried Bertha, the daughter of Caribert,
king of Paris, and a Christian princess,
who, stipulating for the free exercise of
her religion, brought over with her a
French bishop. Her conduct was so ex-
emplary as to prepossess the king and
his court in favor of the Christian religion.
In consequence, pope Gregory the Great
sent a mission of forty monks, headed by
Augustin, to preach the gospel in the
island. They were well received, and
numbers were converted; and the king
himself, at length, submitted to be bap-
tized. Civilization and knowledge fol-
lowed Christianity, and Ethelbert enacted
a body of laws, which was the first writ-
ten code promulgated by the northern
conquerors. He died in 616, and was
succeeded by his son Edbald.
ETHELBERT, king of England, son of
Ethelwolf, succeeded to the government
of the eastern side of the kingdom in 857,
and in 860, on the death of his brother
Ethelbald, became sole king. His reign
was much disturbed by the inroads of the
Danes, whom he repulsed with vigor, but
without success, as, whenever they were
driven from one part of the country, they
ravaged another. He died in 866.
ETHELRED I, king of England, son of
Ethelwolf, succeeded his brother Ethel-
bert in 866. The Danes became so for-
midable, in his reign, as to threaten the
conquest of the whole kingdom. Assist-
ed by his brother Alfred, Ethelred drove
them from the centre of Mercia, where
they had penetrated; but, the Mercians
refusing to act with him, he was obliged
to trust to the West Saxons alone, his he-
reditary subjects. After various successes,
the invaders continually increasing in
numbers, Ethelred died, in consequence
of a wound received in an action with
them, in 871.
ETHELRED II, king of England, son of
Edgar, succeeded his brother, Edward the
Martyr, in 978, and, for his want of vigor
and capacity, was surnamed the Unready.
During his reign, the Danes, who had for
some time ceased their inroads, renewed
them with great fury. After having re-
peatedly obtained their departure by pres-
ents of money, he effected, in 1002, a
massacre of all the Danes in England.
Such revenge only rendered his enemies
more violent; and, in 1003, Sweyn and his
Danes carried fire and sword through the
country. They were again bribed to de..
part; but, upon a new invasion, Sweyn
obliged the nobles to swear allegiance to
him as king of England; while Ethelred,
592
ETHELRED II-ETHNOGRAPHY.

in 1013, fled to Normandy with his family.
On the death of Sweyn, he was invited
to resume the government. He died at
London in 1016.
ETHELWOLF, king of England, succeed-
ed his father, Egbert, in 838, and, soon af-
ter his accession, associated his son Athel-
stan with him, giving him the sovereignty
over Essex, Kent and Sussex. In 851,
the Danes poured into the country in such
numbers, that they threatened to subdue
it; and, though opposed with great vigor
by Athelstan and others, they fixed their
winter quarters in England, and next year
burnt Canterbury and London. During
these troubles, Ethelwolf made a pilgrim-
age to Rome, with his son Alfred, where
he staid a year, and, on his return, found
Athelstan dead, and succeeded by his next
son, Ethelbald, who had entered into a
conspiracy with some nobles, to prevent
his father from again ascending his throne.
To avoid a civil war, the king gave up the
western division of the kingdom to his
son, and soon after, summoning the states
of the whole kingdom, solemnly conferred
upon the clergy the tithes of all the prod-
uce of the lands. He survived this grant
about two years, dying in 857.
ETHER; a very volatile fluid, produced
by the distillation of alcohol with an acid.
The ethers are a very important class of
compounds, differing in their qualities ac-
cording as they are produced by the dif-
ferent acids; but they also agree in the
possession of certain general properties.
They are highly volatile, odorous, pun-
gent and inflammable; miscible with wa-
ter, and capable of combining with alco-
hol in every proportion. They receive
their names from the acids by whose ac-
tion on alcohol they are produced; as sul-
phuric ether, nitric ether, muriatic ether,
&c. (for a particular account of which,
see the respective articles under these de-
nominations).
ETHER, in philosophy. (See Ether.)
ETHEREGE, Sir George, one of the wits
of Charles's day, chiefly known as a wri-
ter of comedy, was born about 1636. He
is supposed to have been for some time at
Cambridge, then to have travelled, and,
on his return, to have been entered at one
of the inns of court. He appears, how-
ever, to have paid little attention to any
thing but gay pursuits. In 1664, he pre-
sented to the town his first comedy, enti-
tled the Comical Revenge, or Love in a
Tub; which, although written with a very
incongruous mixture of prose and verse,
as suited the taste of the times, was well
received. The author was immediately
enrolled among the courtly wits of the
day, and, in 1668, brought out his next
piece, entitled She Would if She Could,
which was very coarsely licentious. In
1676, he produced his third and last com-
edy, entitled The Man of the Mode, or
Sir Fopling Flutter; at which time, he
was, as the dedication implies, in the ser-
vice of Mary of Modena, the second duch-
ess of York. This performance was still
more applauded than the preceding, and
the Sir Fopling was, for a long time,
deemed the ideal of the superlative beau
or coxcomb of the age, as Dorimant was
intended to represent its rakish fine gen-
tleman, or Rochester. Etherege's plays
are little more than lively conversation
pieces, with a great paucity of genuine
humor or felicitous plot, and have long
been placed on the manager's shelf. His
future career was very much in character.
Having injured his constitution and for-
tune, he sought to marry a rich elderly
widow, who made his acquirement of the
honor of knighthood the condition of her
acceptance. This, on the accession of
James II, he attained, and was appointed
envoy to Ratisbon, whence he wrote two
very pleasant letters to the duke of Buck-
ingham, which are printed in the Bio-
graphia Britannica. On the revolution, he
is said to have joined his former master in
France. He was courtly and companion-
able, sprightly and generous, but deemed
a little too much of his own Sir Fopling.
Besides his plays, he wrote much light
and easy poetry, such as songs, lam-
poons, panegyrics, &c., which are not
without the merit usually belonging to
the mob of gentlemen who write with
ease.
ETHIOPIANS, an indefinite term in an-
cient times, was used to signify all people
of a dark or black skin, as well in Asia
as Africa. Homer, who calls them the
blameless, therefore places the Ethiopians
both in the east and the west. Afterwards,
the inhabitants of Abyssinia were called
by this name, Abyssinia being denomina-
ted Ethiopia. The Ethiopian women,
who are frequently sold as slaves in Con-
stantinople, are celebrated for their fine
forms. (See Negroes.)
ETHIOPS MINERAL. (See Mercury.)
ETHNOGRAPHY (from the Greek Ovos,
nation, and yoápw, I write); a term used by
the Germans and French to signify the
description of nations. It describes the
customs, religion, &c., in fact, every thing
which is characteristic of a nation. The
importance of this department of knowl-
edge, and the progress which has been
ETHNOGRAPHY-ETIQUETTE.
made in it since travelling has so much in-
creased, and the prejudices of travellers so
much diminished, is evident. Ethnographi-
cal; belonging to the science just describ-
ed, and also the history of nations. A his-
tory, for example, is either chronological,
when events are recounted in the order of
time, or ethnographical, when the history
of an individual people is given by itself.
(See History.)
ETIENNE; famous printers of this name.
(See Stephens.)
ETIENNE, Charles Guillaume; a dra-
matic and political writer, born in 1778 at
Chamouilly, in the department of the Up-
per Marne. He went to Paris in 1796,
and was at first engaged in editing some
journals, but afterwards devoted himself
to writing pieces for the stage. In 1810,
he was appointed censor of the Journal
de l'Empire. The general police of the
periodicals was afterwards committed to
him, as chief of the literary division in the
ministry of the interior. His Les deux Gen-
dres obtained him a place in the national
institute, and the choice was announced
to him in the words of apostolic history-
"And they chose Stephen (Etienne), a
man full of the spirit." His comedy, L'In-
trigante, notwithstanding the violent oppo-
sition of his enemies, had already been
represented 11 times with unbounded ap-
plause, when the emperor prohibited its
performance, though he had himself for-
merly commanded its representation in the
Tuileries. The reason assigned was, that
the courtiers had taken offence at some
passages; or, according to other accounts,
Napoleon had found in it certain disagree-
able allusions. Hence the author was
obliged to make alterations in subsequent
editions of the piece, on which account
the first edition was much sought after,
and sold for 25 francs. After the abdica-
tion of Napoleon, the prohibition against
the comedy was revoked, but the author
was deprived of his office of censor. On
the emperor's return from Elba, Etienne
recovered his former places. As president
of the national institute, in congratulating
Napoleon on his return, he spoke boldly
of the securities demanded by public
opinion, and of the liberty of the press.
After the restoration of the Bourbons, he
was again removed from his offices, and
from the institute, by a royal decree. He
then devoted himself, with great success,
to political writings, and was the author
of the Lettres sur Paris, in the Minerve
Française, which give an interesting and
faithful account of the commotions that
distracted the court and the capital from
593

1818 to 1820. The splendid success which
these letters met with, induced the elec-
toral college of the department of the
Meuse to choose him deputy in 1820, and
again in 1822. Besides the above-mention-
ed works, Etienne has also written many
theatrical pieces, of which the best are the
operas Cendrillon and Joconde. The his-
tory of the French stage (Histoire du The-
âtre Française, depuis le Commencement
de la Révolution jusqu'à la Réunion générale,
1820, 4 vols.), by Etienne and Martainville,
is a valuable work, written with taste and
impartiality.
ETIQUETTE (French; a ticket); prima-
rily an account of ceremonies; hence, in
present usage, forms of ceremony or de-
corum; the forms which are observed to-
wards particular persons in particular pla-
ces, especially in courts and on public oc-
casions. From the original sense of the
word, it may be inferred, that it was for-
merly the custom to deliver cards con-
taining orders for regulating the ceremo-
nies on public occasions. Those countries
in which etiquette among the higher or-
ders has been most rigidly enforced, have
rarely been free and prosperous; and this
artificial splendor, and external honor paid
to the great, have, in general, been more
anxiously exacted by them in proportion
as real respect was wanting. When the
Roman emperors surrounded themselves
with imposing ceremonies, they had long
ceased to be the masters of the world; and
the imperial court at Byzantium was nev-
er more observant of trifling and empty
forms, than when the provinces were in
insurrection, and the barbarians swarmed
under the walls of the capital. Philip
the Good, duke of Burgundy, whose van-
ity prompted him to put himself on a lev-.
el with his sovereign, is the father, as it
were, of the modern system of etiquette,
which has been introduced since his time,
with more or less strictness, into many
courts of Europe. To make himself
equal, in the eyes of the world, to the first
prince in Christendom, he surrounded
himself with a multitude of retainers and
courtiers, and prescribed to them an eti-
quette so formal and minute, that the
Spanish court alone (so lively and gay in
the time of the Moors) surpasses it in
strictness. At the present day, the great
diffusion of knowledge and education, by
which all classes are brought into closer
contact; the general democratic tendency
of the age; the free and active intercourse
between nations-all have contributed
much to diminish the strictness of eti-
quette. Probably, no nation has carried
50*
594
TETIQUETTE-ETRURIA.
etiquette to a greater degree of nicety and
absurd formality than the Chinese.
ETNA. We will only add to the account
given of this mountain under the head of
Etna, that, on May 26, 1830, it is stated
that seven new craters were opened, and
that eight villages, with their inhabitants,
were destroyed. It was not possible, until
eight days after the eruption, to approach
the scene of ruin.
ETOLIA. (See Etolia.)
ETON; a village in England, in Bucks,
separated from Windsor by the river
Thames, over which is a bridge; 22 miles
N. W. London; population, 2279. It is
celebrated for its royal college, which was
founded in the 19th year of Henry VI., in
1440, and contains 70 king's scholars,
from 300 to 350 independent scholars, 10
choristers, besides inferior officers, &c.,
of the college. The college library is
large. The revenue of the college amounts
to about £5000 a year.
Porson, and
other distinguished men, were educated
at this institution. Gray's ode to Eton
college is probably fresh in the minds of
our readers.
The Eton Montem is one of the many
old and curious customs in England.
The scholars of the college march in pro-
cession to Salt-hill, where their captain,
the best scholar, recites a passage from
some ancient author. The young gen-
tlemen, called salt-bearers, and arrayed in
fancy dresses, then disperse in various
directions, to collect money from all pas-
sengers, not allowing any one to pass
without giving something. The money
thus collected, which usually amounts to
several hundred pounds, is given to the
captain, to enable him to take up his resi-
dence at one of the universities. The
royal family and a splendid company
generally attend the ceremony.
ETRURIA. This beautiful region, bound-
ed west by the Mediterranean, east by
the Apennines, north by the river Magra,
and south by the Tiber, is the country of
the ingenious Etruscans, who have arisen
from beneath the ruins of the remotest
antiquity in the history of modern art, and
in the archæological investigations of our
time The chief river of the country was
the Arnus (Arno). This country, which
corresponds nearly with the present Tus-
cany, was very early a confederation,
under the rulers of the twelve principal
cities, each of which formed a republic
by itself. They were, Pisa (Pisa), Pisto-
ria (Pistoja), Florentia, Fæsulæ, Volater-
ræ (Volterra), Volsinii (Bolsena), Clusium
(Chiusi), Arretium (Arrezzo), Cortona, Pe-

rusia (Perugia), Falerii (Falari), and the
rich city of Veji. The chiefs of these re-
publics were styled lucumones, who were
also the priests and generals, and held their
meetings in the temple of Volturna, where
they deliberated together on the general
affairs of the country. Porsenna, cele-
brated in Roman history, was a lucumo.
Etruria was at the height of its glory at
the time of the building of Rome, and
served for a model to the new government.
Surpassed only by the Greeks in their
highest splendor, the Etruscans excelled
in architecture, ship-building, medicine,
the art of making arms and fortifications,
building dykes, and in tactics; they were
distinguished particularly for their inge-
nuity and skill in the construction of all
articles of comfort and of luxury. They
carried on a considerable commerce in
Italy and Greece with their works of art,
and founded many important colonies.
Their commercial intercourse with the
Greeks soon made them their rivals in
refinement. The progress made by the
Etruscans of that age in painting and the
plastic arts is peculiarly interesting to ar-
chæologists, as the study of their remains
(sculptured gems, sarcophagi, vases, &c.)
leads to the explanation of their mytholo-
gy. (See Inghirami's Monum. Etruschi,
Fiesole, 1826, 6 vols. 4to. more accurate
than Gori's Museum Etruscum.) They
received the germs of their art, which had
in itself sufficient charms to create a new
epoch in modern taste, from Greece and
Egypt. The Etruscan vases, with their
peculiar bass-reliefs and paintings, have
been carefully examined by Millin, and in
Boettiger's Treatise on Pictured Vases.
(See Vase). The Etruscan painters, how-
ever, were unacquainted with the mixture
of colors, and the distribution of light and
shade: their common colors were black
and brownish red. Theatrical entertain-
ments, music and poetry were not unknown
to them. Before they had reached that
degree of refinement to which the Greeks
arrived, this people and their arts sunk to-
gether under the political storms of the
age, partly through internal dissensions,
and partly by the oppression of foreign
nations. The Romans received their re-
ligious usages, their primitive architecture,
&c., from the Etruscans. At the end of
their most flourishing period, the Gauls
drove them from their settlements in Up-
per Italy, and some of them fled to the
Alps; from whom the Rhotians derived
their origin. They finally became the vic-
tims of Roman ambition. The Romans
sent them governors, but allowed them to
ETRURIA-ETYMOLOGY.
retain their own manners and laws, the
choice of their consuls, and, in general, a
reasonable degree of freedom. They af-
terwards fell, with Rome, under the power
of foreign conquerors. From this time
the history of Etruria, or Tuscany, as it
has since been called, has become inter-
woven with that of Italy and Germany.
Tuscans and Etruscans, however, were
names as foreign to the people as Tyrrhe-
nians. They called themselves Rasena.
The ancient Latin term was Etruria for
the country, Tusci for the people. Etrus-
cans did not come into use till after Cato's
time. Under the later emperors, the coun-
try was called Tuscia; hence Toscana in
the middle ages. The origin of the
Etruscans is extremely doubtful. Ancient
writers, misconstruing early traditions,
represented them as descendants of the
Greeks an opinion which was long re-
ceived. Niebuhr, however, thinks there
is no foundation for this opinion, and, from
many circumstances, ingeniously attempts
to prove that they originated from the
northern mountains, the Alps. We must
refer the reader to his learned disquisition
on this point in his History of Rome, di-
vision Tuscans and Etruscans. The dis-
covery of a great number of vases, in
1830, on the estate of the prince of Cani-
no, not far from the north-western coast
of Italy, nearly opposite Elba, seems to
corroborate this opinion. Besides the
vases which contained Greek inscriptions,
and which are considered by many to
be of an age when Greece was still in a
state of semi-barbarism, many ornaments
of gold, with engraved gems, and a su-
perb fawn, considered by Thorwaldsen
as a most perfect piece of art, have been
dug up. If it is true that Greece re-
ceived the fine arts from Etruria, it is an
interesting question how Egyptian civili-
zation was first brought to the Etruscans.
(See Tuscany.) By the peace of Lune-
ville (q. v.), 1801, the name Etruria was
restored, and the territory was constituted
a kingdom, under the hereditary prince
of Parma, Louis, Infant of Spain, only
son of Ferdinand I, duke of Parma. Af
ter the death of Louis (1803), his widow,
Maria Louisa, daughter of Charles IV,
king of Spain, administered the govern-
ment as guardian of her son, Charles
Louis; but she resigned her authority,
Dec. 10, 1807, in consequence of a treaty
between France and Spain. Etruria now
became a French province; and a decree
of the senate of May 30, 1808, declared
the states of Tuscany, under the title of
the departments of the Arno, the Mediter-
595

ranean and the Ombrone, a part of the
French empire (the grand empire). In
1809, this territory was given to Eliza,
sister of Napoleon, with the title of grand-
duchess of Tuscany. In 1814, Tuscany
again received its former rulers,
ETTENHEIM; a small town in the grand-
duchy of Baden, 19 miles S. S. E. Stras-
burg, with 2680 inhabitants. The place
has become celebrated in consequence of
the duke of Enghien (q. v.) having been
arrested here.
ETYMOLOGY (from the Greek ropoλoyia,
from rupos, true, real, and Aoyos, word);
that branch of philology which teaches the
origin of words, traces the laws by which
the changes in languages take place, and
discovers the true meanings of words by
examining their roots and composition.
It is at once the delicice philologica, and a
safeguard against the corruption of words
by a careless application of them. Ety-
mology becomes particularly interesting
when applied to those languages which
are not so much the product of accident
as of settled laws, which continue to
operate as long as the language exists.
Etymology has not unfrequently led to
important historical conjectures, because
the language of a tribe is often the only
record of its descent, the individuals com-
posing it having lost all tradition of their
origin. Who can doubt the importance
of etymology, taking it in its widest sense,
as treating of the origin and nature of
words, and of the connexions of differ-
ent languages; in short, as occupied with
the laws which regulate the formation
of languages, which stand preeminent
among the most interesting, important
and noble productions of the human
mind? To be a sound etymologist, re-
quires many rare qualifications, among
which are a thorough knowledge of many
and very different languages; great cau-
tion, which will not be easily led astray by
appearances; a philosophical mind, which
easily conceives the associations of ideas,
and traces the different, yet connected
notions which the same root expresses in
different languages; in one language rep-
resenting, perhaps, the most concrete, and
in another the most abstract idea; a per-
fect knowledge of phonology, or the sci-
ence of human sounds, and the organs
which produce them, and a natural taste
and adaptation for the study, which, like
every gift of nature, may be much devel
oped, but cannot be produced by labor
Etymology has been cultivated with much
zeal and success in our day, as illustrative
both of single languages (how much, for
596
ETYMOLOGY-EUCLID.

instance, has Buttmann done for Greek
etymology), and of the relations between
whole families of languages. Modern
scholars have been assisted in their re-
searches in this department, not merely
by the materials which former ages have
accumulated, but by the great advance-
ment which has been made in the knowl-
edge of languages before unknown, ow-
ing to the more frequent and rapid com-
munication between the most distant parts
of the globe, to materials collected by mis-
sionaries, &c. In general, it may be said
that the Germans have done more for ety-
mology than any other nation; while,
comparatively speaking, very little has
been done by the English, whom almost
every word in their language conducts
into a foreign country, and with whom it
might be supposed etymology would be
much more generally cultivated than with
a nation like the Germans, whose lan-
guage forms a whole in itself, the words
of which explain each other as far as
common use requires.
Etymology might be divided into the
higher and lower, as we have the higher
and lower mathematics, and it might, per-
haps, be correct to say, that higher ety-
mology examines the origin of the root
of a certain word, its connexions with cor-
responding words in other languages, &c.,
and that it treats only of the higher laws of
the formation of languages; but, of course,
the line of distinction between these two
divisions cannot be very accurately drawn.
As an instance of our meaning, let us trace
the origin of disagreeableness; ness is an
affix frequent in substantives, correspond-
ing to the German niss, and indicating a
state, effect, or abstraction; a syllable
which is to be found in some shape or other
in all Teutonic dialects; dis (the Latin dis,
asunder), a prefix often of the same mean-
ing as the English un, conveying the idea
of negation; agreeable, from the French
agréable, of which able is an adjective
affix from the Latin; a, a preposition often
indicating at, as à plaisir, at pleasure; gré,
at last, is the root of the word, analogous
to grat, the root of the Latin gratus, and
having the same meaning. Higher ety-
mology now continues to trace the root
of gratus in several languages, or endeav-
ors to do so. It is not improbable that it
would be found that g is an augment
which, in several other languages, is left
out. (See the article F). To find the
root of a word is always the first object
of etymology, but often difficult, because
several different syllables may sometimes
present themselves as probable roots. Eu-
phony must be always taken into the ac-
count, and letters which are added merely
for the sake of improving the sound must
be thrown aside. As another instance, we
may take the word lawless; this consists
of a substantive, law, and a syllable, less,
corresponding to the German syllable los,
which is also used as an adverb, and has
then the meaning of off; it is the root of
lösen, to loosen, to separate, connected,
probably, with the Latin laxare and luere,
the Greek Augat, Augew, Anew; and the same
with the Swedish lösa, the Icelandic leisa,
and the Anglo-Saxon lezan and lysan. Law'
is a root which we recognize in the corres-
ponding word, or connected ones, of a great
many languages, Teutonic, Latin and
Greek, and probably Asiatic ones, and is,
besides, connected with the German legen,
to lay, to lay down, which corresponds to
the lagjan of Ulphilas in the Gothic trans-
lation of the Bible, the Icelandic leggia,
the Swedish lägga, the Greek Aeyopat. Law
is also connected with the Latin locus and
locare. The French loi probably comes
from the Latin lex, as the inhabitants of
Gaul received laws in a very complete
state from the Romans before the Franks
conquered Gaul, and from the truncated
genitive legis, loy and loi can easily have
originated. It is to be remarked that de-
rived languages, as the Italian, French,
&c., very often form their substantives
from the genitives of the original language,
as the Italian Giove of Jovis.
EUBEA. (See Negropont.)
EUCHARIST (from the Greek εὐχαριστία,
thanksgiving, from cb, well, and xapis, grace);
the name for the Lord's Supper, because
the Scriptures inform us, that Christ, after
having taken the wine and bread, blessed
them (or gave thanks). (See Sacrament,
and Corpus Christi.)
EUCHLORINE. (See Chlorine.)
EUCLID, called the father of mathe-
matics, was born at Alexandria in Egypt,
about 300 B. C., studied at Athens under
Plato, taught geometry at Alexandria in
the reign of Ptolemy Šoter, and extended
the boundaries of mathematical science.
The severity and accuracy of his method
has never been surpassed. The most pro-
found of his works is that which treats of
geometrical analysis. His elements (Eroxsia)
are still extant. One of the best editions
is by Gregory, Oxford, 1703, fol. His wri-
tings on music give us the best idea of the
state of that art among the Greeks. His
work on geometrical analysis displays his
acuteness to the greatest advantage.-2.
Euclid of Megara was the founder of the
Megaric school. Although Megara is at
B1AZBAN EUCLID-EUGENE.
a considerable distance from Athens, and
its inhabitants were forbidden, under pen-
alty of death, to enter the Athenian territo-
ries, he used to go to the city in disguise,
in the evening, to enjoy the instruction of
Socrates, and return at day-break. He
afterwards deviated from the simple sys-
tem of his teacher, and changed his plain
irony into the most subtle disputation.
With the Eleatics, he maintained that
there was but one being in the universe;
and this being he called the true and good.
For its subtilty and disputativeness his
school was also called the Eristic school.
He died 424 B. C. Eubulides was one
of his pupils.
EUDEMONISM, EUDEMONOLOGY; the
doctrine of happiness, or that system which
makes human happiness its prime object,
the highest motive of every duty, and of a
virtuous life, and consequently the whole
foundation of morals. Eudæmonism is
contradistinguished to that morality or pure
system of philosophy, which makes virtue
itself the chief object, independent of its
tendency to promote human happiness.
Eudæmonist; one who supports the doc-
trine of Eudæmonism.
EUDIOMETER; an instrument for ascer-
taining the purity of air, or, rather, the
quantity of oxygen contained in any given
bulk of elastic fluid. Dr. Priestley's dis-
covery of the great readiness with which
nitrous gas combines with oxygen, and is
precipitated in the form of nitric acid, was
the basis upon which he constructed the
first instrument of this kind. It consisted
of a glass vessel, containing an ounce by
measure. This was filled with the air to be
examined, which was transferred from it
to a jar, of an inch and a half diameter in-
verted in water; an equal measure of
fresh nitrous gas was added to it, and the
mixture was allowed to stand two minutes.
If the absorption were very considerable,
more nitrous gas was added, till all the
oxygen appeared to be absorbed. The
residual gas was then transferred into a
glass tube, two feet long and one third of
an inch wide, graduated to tenths and
hundredths of an ounce measure; and
thus the quantity of oxygen absorbed was
measured by the diminution that had taken
place. Other eudiometrical methods were
employed by cther chemists. Volta had
recourse to the detonation of air with hy-
drogen gas. For this purpose, two meas-
ures of hydrogen gas are introduced into
a graduated tule, with three of the air to
be examined, and fired by the electric
spark. The diminution of bulk observed
after the vessel had returned to its original
597

temperature, divided by three, gives the
quantity of oxygen consumed. The ac-
tion of liquor prepared from sulphur and
potash, or sulphur and lime, boiled in
water, and the slow combustion of phos-
phorus, have, likewise, been employed in
eudiometry. Dobereiner has suggested
the use of little balls of spongy platina, for
the purpose of detecting minute portions
of oxygen in a gaseous mixture, in which
hydrogen is also present. Its effect is im-
mediate and complete. The moment the
substance rises above the surface of the
mercury, in the tube containing the mix-
ture, the combination of the oxygen and
hydrogen begins, and in a few minutes is
completed. So energetic is it in its action,
that it enables hydrogen to take 1 of oxy-
gen from 99 of nitrogen-a result which it
is impossible to obtain by electricity.
EUERGETE (benefactors). This name
was given to a small nation, called Agri-
aspa or Arimaspi, in the Persian province
of Drangiana, because they saved the elder
Cyrus with his army in the desert, when
in great distress for want of provisions.
This little tribe had a good form of gov-
ernment, entirely different from that of the
surrounding barbarians. Alexander, there-
fore, not only left them their constitution
and liberties entire, but also granted them,
at their request, some territories in their
vicinity. Some princes have borne this
name, e. g., the Ptolemies.
EUGENE, Francis, of Savoy, known as
prince Eugene, fifth son of Eugene Mau-
rice, duke of Savoy-Carignan, count of
Soissons, and Olympia Mancini, a niece
of cardinal Mazarin, was born at Paris,
1663. Among all the generals and states-
men of Austria, none has rendered more
numerous and important services than
Eugene. He was great alike in the field
and the cabinet. Contrary to his own in-
clinations, Eugene was destined for the
church. He petitioned Louis XIV for a
company of dragoons, but was refused on
account of the opposition of Louvois,
minister of war, who hated the family of
Eugene. Indignant at this repulse, and
at the insults offered to his family, and
particularly to his mother, Eugene, in 1683.
entered the Austrian service, as two of
his brothers had already done. He served
his first campaign as a volunteer against
the Turks, under two celebrated generals,
Charles, duke of Lorraine, and Louis,
prince of Baden, with so much distinction
that he received a regiment of dragoons.
Louvois, jealous of the reputation of En-
gene, said angrily, "He shall never re-
turn to his country." Eugene, to whom
598
EUGENE-EUGENE DE BEAUHARNAIS.

these words were reported, replied, "I
shall return in spite of Louvois;" and, in
fact, some years afterwards, he entered
France at the head of a victorious army.
In 1687, after the battle of Mohacz, he
was made lieutenant field-marshal. War
having broken out between France and
Austria, he prevailed upon the duke of
Savoy to enter into an alliance with the
emperor, and commanded the imperial
forces sent for the defence of Savoy He
rejected the tempting offers made by
France to engage him in her service, and
was raised by the emperor to the rank of
general field-marshal. After the war in
Italy was concluded, he was sent to Hun-
gary with the rank of commander-in-chief.
He defeated the Turks at the battle of
Zenta (September 11, 1697), and obtained,
on that occasion, the applause of Europe,
and the entire confidence of the imperial
armies, although his enemies, envious of
his glory, accused him of temerity, in un-
dertaking so hazardous an enterprise. The
loss of the Turks at Zenta obliged them
to accede to the peace of Carlowitz, 1699,
which was the first symptom of their de-
cline. The Spanish war of succession
next called Eugene to a new theatre of
glory. Italy became the field in which he
displayed his military talents. He advanc-
ed rapidly through the passes of the Tyrol,
at the head of 30,000 men, in the face of
marshal Catinat, who endeavored in vain
to arrest his progress. Villeroi was still
more unsuccessful, being surprised and
defeated, near Cremona, by Eugene. In
1703, he received the command of the
army in Germany; and, being appointed
president of the council of war, he was the
soul of all important enterprises, to which
he imparted great activity; and his effi-
cient coöperation with Marlborough frus-
trated the plans of France and her allies.
In the battle of Hochstädt (Blenheim, see
Blenheim), August 13, 1704, the two heroes
gained a decisive victory over the French
and Bavarian army, commanded by the
prince of Bavaria and marshal Tallard,
the latter of whom was made prisoner.
In 1705, Eugene returned to Italy, where
he was severely wounded in an engage-
ment with the French under the duke de
Vendôme, and being obliged to retire from
the field, his army was defeated; but Ven-
dôme was recalled, and his successor, the
duke de la Feuillade, could not withstand
Eugene, who now hastened to the relief
of Turin, stormed the French lines, forced
them to raise the siege, and in one month
drove them out of Italy. In 1707, he
entered France, and laid siege to Toulon;
but the immense superiority of the enemy
obliged him to retire into Italy. The fol
lowing years he fought on the Rhine, took
Lille, and defeated the marshals Villars
and Boufflers at the battle of Malplaquet,
where he himself was dangerously wound-
ed. In this situation, he maintained that
calmness peculiar to great souls: when
the officers urged upon him the necessi-
ty of providing for his personal safety,
"What need of bandages," said he, "if we
are about to die here? If we escape, the
evening will be time enough." After the
recall of Marlborough, which Eugene op-
posed in person, at London, without suc-
cess, and the defection of England from
the alliance against France, his farther
progress was in a great measure checked,
more particularly after the defeat of gene-
ral Albemarle at Denain. The peace of
Rastadt, the consequence of the treaty of
Utrecht, was concluded between Eugene
and Villars in 1714. In the war with Tur-
key, in 1716, Eugene defeated two superior
armies at Peterwaradin and Temesvar
and, in 1717, took Belgrade, after having
gained a decisive victory over a third army
that came to its relief. The treaty of Pas-
sarovitz was the result of this success.
During fifteen years which followed, Aus-
tria enjoyed peace, and Eugene was as
active in the cabinet as he had been in
the field, when the Polish affairs, in 1733,
became the source of a new war. Eugene
appeared, in his old age, at the head of an
army, on the banks of the Rhine, but re-
turned to Vienna, without effecting any
thing of importance. He died in 1736, at
the age of 72. The Austrian department
of war, to which he imparted such activity
during his presidency, relapsed, after his
death, into its former imbecility.
EUGENE DE BEAUHARNAIS, duke of
Leuchtenberg, prince of Eichstedt, ex-
viceroy of Italy, was born September 3,
1781. He was the son of the viscount
Alexander Beauharnais (q. v.), who was
guillotined 1794, and Joséphine Tascher de
la Pagerie, afterwards wife of Napoleon and
empress of France. During the French
revolution, Eugene entered the military
service, and, at the age of 12 years, accom
panied his father, when he took the com-
mand of the army of the Rhine. After
his father's death, he joined Hoche, in La
Vendée, when his mother was in prison.
After the 9th Thermidor, he returned to
his mother at Paris, and remained three
years devoted to study. In 1796, José-
phine was married to general Bonaparte,
then commander-in-chief of the army of
Italy; and Eugene accompanied his father-
EUGENE BEAUHARNAIS-EJLENSPIEGEL.
n-law in his campaigns in Italy and
Egypt. He was promoted to a high rank
in the service, and, in 1805, created a
prince of France and viceroy of Italy.
In the same year, he distinguished himself
m the campaigns against Austria, and, after
the peace of January 13, 1806, married
the princess Augusta of Bavaria. In
1807, Napoleon made him prince of
Venice, and declared him his heir to the
Kingdom of Italy. He administered the
government of Italy with great prudence
and moderation, and was much beloved
by his subjects. In the war of 1809, he
was at first unsuccessful against the arch-
duke John, but soon afterwards gained the
battle of Raab, and distinguished himself
at Wagram. He conducted with great
prudence on the occasion of the divorce
of Napoleon from his mother. The 3d
of March, 1810, Napoleon appointed him
successor of the prince primate, who had
been created grand-duke of Frankfort.
In the Russian campaign, he commanded
the third corps d'armée, and distinguished
himself in the battles of Ostrowno, Mohi-
lo, and that on the Moskwa (Borodino).
In the disastrous retreat, he did not desert
the wrecks of his division for a moment,
but shared its toils and dangers with the
soldiers, and encouraged them by his ex-
ample. To him and to Ney, France was
indebted for the preservation of the re-
mains of her army during that fatal re-
treat. On the departure of Napoleon and
Murat, he was left in the chief command,
and showed great talent at that dangerous
conjuncture. We find him again at the
battle of Lützen, of May 2, 1813, where,
by surrounding the right wing of the
enemy, he decided the fate of the day.
Napoleon sent him from Dresden to the
defence of Italy, now menaced by the
enemy's forces, where military operations
commenced after the dissolution of the
congress of Prague, and the accession
of Austria to the league of the allied
powers. Eugene maintained the defence
of Italy even after the desertion of Murat.
After the fall of Napoleon, he concluded
an armistice with count Bellegarde, by
which he delivered Lombardy, and all
Upper Italy, to the Austrians. Eugene
hen went immediately to Paris, and
hence to his father-in-law at Munich.
He was at the congress of Vienna. On
the return of Napoleon from Elba, he
was obliged to leave Vienna, and retire
to Baireuth. He was an inactive spectator
of the events in 1815. By the articles
of Fontainebleau, an indemnification was
assigned him for the loss of his estates in
599

Italy, which were valued at 20-25 mil-
lions of francs: but the congress of Vi-
enna, confirmed his dotation in the march
of Ancona, and the king of Naples was
obliged to pay him 5 million francs. By
an ordinance of the king of Bavaria, he
was created duke of Leuchtenberg, No-
vember, 1817. The Bavarian principal-
ity of Eichstedt was bestowed upon
him, and his posterity declared capable
of inheriting in case of the failure of the
Bavarian line. He died at Munich,
Feb. 21, 1824, leaving two sons and four.
daughters. Prince Eugene, under a sim-
ple exterior, concealed a noble character,
and great talents. Honor, integrity, hu-
manity, and love of order and justice, were
the principal traits of his character. Wise
in the council, undaunted in the field,
and moderate in the exercise of power,
he never appeared greater than in the
midst of reverses; as the events of 1813-
1814 prove. He was inaccessible to the
spirit of party, benevolent and beneficent,
and more devoted to the good of others
than his own. He died of an organic dis-
order of the brain. (See Vie politique et
militaire d'Eugène Beauharnais, Vice-roi
d'Italie, by Aubriet, second edition, Paris,
1825.) His sister is the duchess of Saint-
Leu, Hortensia Eugenia, wife of Louis
Bonaparte, former king of Holland, but
lives separate from her husband. His son,
the duke Augustus, who succeeded him,
was born Oct. 10, 1810. His eldest daugh-
ter, Joséphine, was married 23d of March,
1823, to Oscar, crown-prince of Sweden,
son of Charles XIV; his second daughter,
Hortensia Eugenia, was married to the
prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, in
1826. Amalia Eugenia married the em-
peror of Brazil, in 1829.
EULENSPIEGEL, Tyll, was born at
Kneitlingen, a village of Wolfenbüttel,
not far from Schöppenstädt, and died,
about 1350, in the little town of Möl-
len, about 18 miles from Lubec, where
his gravestone, with a looking-glass (spie-
gel) and an owl (eule) upon it, in allusion
to his name, yet stands. His name has
become proverbial in Germany for all
sorts of wild, whimsical frolics, which are
committed from pure love of fun; for
Tyll was continually engaged in such, as
he roved about through Lower Saxony and
Westphalia, and even as far as Poland and
Rome. Accounts of them are still preserv-
ed in the popular traditions of Germany.
At what time and in what language they
were first committed to writing can hard-
ly be determined. From the title of the
old popular editions, it would seem to have
600
130319 EULENSPIEGEL-EULER

been in Low-German, and it has been sup-
posed, without sufficient evidence, that
Thomas Murner, the Franciscan, doctor
of theology and law, and an antagonist of
Luther, known by his Fool's Complaint,
and other writings of a similar stamp, trans-
lated them into High-German. Indecencies
are frequently to be found in the book, but
they belong to the age. It has been a fa-
vorite book, not only with the German, but
many other nations, has been translated into
English, French, Latin, Dutch and Polish,
has been often imitated, and has passed
through editions without number. (See
Reichard's Bibliothek der Romane, vol. 2
and 4; Flögel's Geschichte der Hofnarren,
and Görres' Ueber die Volksbücher.) The
earliest printed edition, as far as can be
ascertained, is the High German, Stras
burg, 1519, 4to. A very rare engraving by
Luke of Leyden is called the Eulenspiegel
(l'Espiègle).
EULER, Leonard; a mathematician,
born at Bale, 1707, learned from his father,
a clergyman, the first rudiments of the
science in which he was afterwards so
distinguished. At the university of Bâle
he enjoyed the instructions of John Ber-
nouilli, and the friendship of Daniel and
Nicholas Bernouilli, who successfully em-
ulated their father's fame. In his 19th
year, he gained the accessit of the prize
offered by the Paris academy of sciences
for the best treatise on the masting of
vessels. Catherine I, desirous of com-
pleting the establishment of the academy
of Petersburg, invited Daniel and Nicho-
las Bernouilli thither. Nicholas died, and
Daniel soon returned to his native country,
after having procured a place in the acad-
emy for his friend Euler. Euler now
constituted the whole mathematical de-
partment in the academy, and labored
with astonishing industry; he composed
more than half of the treatises in this
branch of science contained in the 46
quarto vols. published by the academy,
from 1727 to 1783, and, at his death, left
about 100 unpublished dissertations, which
were successively printed by the society.
To the Paris academy of sciences he also
presented several treatises (among the rest,
his dissertation Inquisitio phys. in Causam
Fluxus ac Refluxus Maris, which gained
the prize, though Bernouilli and Maclaurin
were among his competitors), and carried
off or divided 10 prizes. In 1741, he ac-
cepted an invitation from Frederic the
Great to become professor of mathemat-
es in the Berlin academy, but, in 1766, re-
turned to Petersburg, where he died in
1783. in the office of director of the mathe-
matical class of the academy He receiv
ed from all parts of Europe flattering
marks of respect. The academy of
sciences in France chose him, in 1775,
one of its foreign members, though none of
those places, then so much an object of am-
bition, was vacant. He also received con-
siderable presents for the assistance which
he rendered to Tob. Mayer (q. v.) in pre-
paring his lunar tables, and £300 sterling,
as his share of the prize offered by the
English parliament for the best method
of determining the longitude at sea. He
distinguished himself, particularly, by his
endeavors to perfect the analytic method,
according to the system of Bernouilli, and
the Leibnitzian school, and to complete
its separation from pure geometry, which
Newton's disciples principally employed
in their investigations. He first gave the
example of those long processes, in which
the conditions of the problem are first
expressed by algebraic symbols, and then
pure calculation resolves all the difficul-
ties. In this, Euler displayed extraordi-
nary acuteness, and a profound as well as
inventive genius. He gave a new form
to the science. He applied the analytic
method to mechanics, and enlarged the
boundaries of this science. He greatly
improved the integral and differential cal-
culus (q. v.), of which he afterwards pub-
lished a complete course, which surpass-
ed every thing then extant on this subject.
His first essay, On the Masting of Vessels,
and still more his residence at Petersburg,
undoubtedly led him to the application of
mathematics to the building and manage-
ment of vessels; and he composed his Thé-
orie compl. de la Construct. et de la Mancu-
vre des Vaiss., which has been introduced
into the French naval school, and trans-
lated into English, Italian and Russian.
The great questions on the system of the
universe, which Newton left to his suc-
cessors to resolve, were the constant ob-
ject of Euler's inquiries, and constitute
the subjects of most of his prize essays.
An extensive dioptric treatise, Sur la Per-
fection des Verres object. des Lunettes, in the
Mémoires de Berlin, 1747, was the result of
his inquiries into the means of improving
spectacles. The share which he contribu-
ted, by this work, towards the discovery of
achromatic telescopes, is sufficient to dis-
tinguish his name in this department also.
But, in his treatises on physics, he often
proposes untenable hypotheses, and ap-
pears only to be seeking opportunities for
calculation. He also employed himself
in metaphysical and philosophical specu-
lations. He attempted to prove the im
EULER-EUPHONY.
materiality of the soul, and to defend rev-
elation against free thinkers. In his well-
known Lettres à une Princesse d'Alle-
magne, sur divers Sujets de Phys. et de
Philos. (Berlin, 1763, 3 vols., since re-
published several times; also in German,
Petersburg, 1773), he attacks the Leib-
nitzian system of monads, and preestab-
lished harmony; but it is evident that
this was not the field for him to shine
in. Meusel has given a catalogue of
his numerous writings, which have not
appeared in collections. We will only
mention here his Theoria Motuum Plan-
etarum et Cometarum (Berlin, 1744, 4to.);
his Introductio in Analysin Infinitorum
(Lausanne, 1748, 2 vols.); his work al-
ready mentioned, which has always been
regarded as his greatest production-Insti-
tutiones Calculi Differentialis (Berlin, 1755,
4to.); his Institutiones Calculi Integralis
(Petersburg, 1768-70, 3 vols. 4to.; new
edition, 4 vols., 1792-94); his remarka-
bly clear and intelligible Introduction to
Algebra (ed. by Ebert, Berlin, 1801, 2
vols.); his Dioptrica (Petersburg, 1767-71,
3 vols. 4to.); his Opuscula Analytica, &c.
Euler was of an amiable character, unas-
suming in his manners, of a cheerful and
always pleasant temper; he was fond of
society, and had the art of enlivening it
by an agreeable wit. During the last 17
years of his life, he was totally blind.
By his first marriage, he had 13 children,
5 of whom were living when he married
his second wife, his sister-in-law. Of
his sons, John Albert, born at Petersburg,
1734, where he died, 1800, followed in his
father's steps, was a thorough and expert
mathematician, and wrote many treatises,
of which seven gained prizes. A cata-
logue of them has been given by Meusel.
EULOGIES Compose, particularly in
French literature, a separate branch of
belles-lettres. In the age of Louis XIV,
they took the place of biography. Their
object being the praise of distinguished
men, truth has been often sacrificed in
them to flattery. The French academy,
especially, has paid this tribute to literary
merit. The epoch of eulogies began with
Fontenelle, who published two volumes
of them, in 1731, distinguished for their
clearness, vivacity and elegance. Those
which followed them were written with
much oratorical pomp. Some of the best
eulogies are by Thomas (author of Essais
sur les Éloges), D'Alembert, La Harpe
and Condorcet.
EUMENIDES. (See Furies.)
EUNOMIA. (See Hours.)
601

the eunuchs, destined to become the
guardians of the great harems of the
Turkish empire, are made such in a vil-
lage near Siout, the capital of Upper
Egypt, where the operation is performed
mostly by Coptic priests. The slaves
who suffer are too young to have any
moral repugnance to the ceremony which
they have to pass through; on the con-
trary, they are, most of them, it is said,
delighted with the prospect of the fine
clothes, horses, &c., which they will have
at command when they become guard-
ians of the harems. Burckhardt, Sonnini,
Belzoni, and other travellers, differ in
respect to the number of those who die
in consequence of the operation. Doc-
tor Madden, to whom the Coptic priests
were ordered by the casheff to state the
proportion, says that, out of 100, 15 die.
(See Letter xxv, in R. R. Madden's Tra
els in Turkey, Egypt, Nubia and Palestine,
London, 1829, Philadelphia, 1830.)
EUPATORIUM; a genus of plants, be-
longing to the natural order composita,
containing a great number of species,
most of which are natives of America.
Their roots are perennial, possessing a
rough, bitter, or aromatic taste; the leaves
opposite, verticillate, or, sometimes, alter-
nate; the flowers small, white, reddish,
or bluish, in corymbs. More than 30
species inhabit the U. States, among them
the E. perfoliatum (thorough-wort, or
bone-set), a common plant, in low
grounds, throughout the Union. The
leaves of this plant are opposite, and join-
ed together at the base, the two forming,
apparently, a single leaf, which is perfo-
rated by the stem. This plant is a popu-
lar remedy, acting powerfully as a sudo-
rific and emetic, and sometimes as a pur-
gative. The E. ayapana of Brazil, which
has been much celebrated, possesses sim-
ilar properties, and probably many others
of the genus do also.
EUPHONY (from the Greek cupwvin, in
Latin euphonia, from pwv, sound, and su,
well) means agreeable and harmonious
sound, particularly the harmony of words;
thus, for instance, we say, in Italian more
regard has, probably, been paid to eupho-
ny than in any other modern European
language; in fact, this language has often
disregarded etymology for the sake of
euphony. In general it may be said, that
the languages which are derived from the
Latin have paid more regard to euphony
than those of the Teutonic stock; the lat-
ter adhering, too often pedantically, to
the etymology of words, as if the lan-
EUNUCHS. (See Castrates.) Many of guage was intended only for the eye, and
VOL. IV.
51
302
EUPHONY-EURIPIDES.

not much more for the ear. Euphony is
more particularly consulted in a language,
when it is still in its youth; but the more
there has been written in it, the less regard
is paid to euphony in the formation of new
words. From a similar cause, more re-
gard is paid to euphony among the lower
than among the higher classes. With
the former, language is addressed more
to the ear than the eye; but, as we ascend
to the higher classes, the language be-
comes more a means of written commu-
nication, and euphony is more neglected.
Again, in that nation in which most is
written, and which affords the fewest
occasions for public speaking-we mean
the German-comparatively little atten-
tion is paid to euphony, and much to
etymology; so that, when the people have
formed a practical and euphonic word,
contrary to the strict rules of etymology,
which, in England or the U. States, the
two most practical of civilized countries,
would instantly come into use, a German
writer will not use it without a cautious
"so called" (sogenannt). The Greeks
gave its due weight to euphony, and the
Romans, also, allowed it a great influ-
ence, as every nation will do, in which
the language is addressed more to the
ear than to the eye.
given its name to two departments, that of
the Eure, and that of the Eure and Loire.
(See Department.) The river rises in the
department of the Orne, and falls into the
Seine, on the left bank, near Pont-de-
l'Arche, after a course of 124 miles, being
navigable for about half the distance.
EURIPIDES. This poet was born in the
1st year of the 75th Olympiad, at Sala.
mis, on the day on which the vast navy
of Xerxes was defeated by the Greeks:
and thus this event serves as a point of
connexion of the three greatest tragic
poets of Greece; for Eschylus was one
of the victors on this occasion, and the
young Sophocles danced at the triumph.
Of the youth of Euripides we know only
that his father, in consequence of some
false prediction, intended to train him for
an athlete; but his natural inclination led
him to different pursuits. At first he
studied painting, but afterwards applied
himself to rhetoric, under Prodicus, and
to philosophy, under Anaxagoras (not
Socrates). These studies had so power-
ful an influence on his poetry, that he
might be called the rhetorical tragedian
with no less truth than he is called the
philosophical tragedian. Euripides lived
at a time when Greek tragedy was carried
to its greatest perfection by Sophocles, to
be ranked as second to whom is high
glory. These two poets were the favor-
ites of their age. The tragedies of Eurip-
ides were represented at the same time
with those of Sophocles, and sometimes
gained the prize in preference.
critics, indeed, did not agree unanimously
in this decision of the public; and the
unsparing satire of Aristophanes was di-
rected against the popular poet, whom he
ridiculed in cutting parodies. "Aris-
tophanes," says Richter, "like another
Moses, showers his frogs on Euripides,
only to chastise his lax and relaxing mo-
rality, not blinded, like Socrates, by his
moral sentences to the immoral tendency
of the whole." The number of his trage-
dies has been variously stated, from 75
to 92; as it is known that he finished his
works with great care, the former esti-
mate seems more probable. Only 19
are extant, on the merit of which we
have the following criticism by A. W.
Schlegel: "Considering Euripides by
himself, without comparing him with his
predecessors, selecting many of his better
pieces, and taking single passages in oth-
ers, we cannot deny him extraordinary
merit. But if we regard him in connex-
ion with the history of the art, and look
EURE; a river of France, which has at the whole scope and aim of his pieces,
EUPHRATES, OF PHRAT, or FRAT; one
of the largest and most celebrated rivers
of Asia, which has its rise in the moun-
tains of Armenia, from two principal
sources, one issuing from a mountain
in the vicinity of Bajazid and Dradin,
not far from mount Ararat, the other from
mountains around Erzerum. These two
streams unite near Palo. The general
course of the river is south-easterly. At
Corna, 130 miles above its mouth, it is
joined by the Tigris. The united stream,
called the Shat ul Arab, flows into the Per-
sian gulf, 70 miles below Bassora. The
whole length is upwards of 1500 miles.
It is navigable for ships of 500 tons to Bas-
sora, and, in the driest season, for large
boats to Shukaskac, a day's sail above
Corna. According to Kinneir, the great-
est increase of the Euphrates is in Jan-
uary, when it rises 12 feet perpendicular.
The Euphrates is one of the most cele-
brated rivers of antiquity. On its banks
is generally placed the paradise of the
Mosaic records; and here Nimrod laid
the foundations of the Babylonian em-
pire. Between the Euphrates and the
Tigris lay the fertile Mesopotamia, the
country of the patriarchs.
EUPHROSYNE. (See Graces.)
The

EURIPIDES-EUROPA.
as it appears in those which have come
down to us, we find cause for much and
severe censure. Of few writers can so
much good and evil be truly said. He had
an inexhaustible invention, and the most
various accomplishments; but, amidst an
abundance of brilliant and attractive qual-
ities, there is wanting that elevated grav-
ity of spirit, and that nice dramatic tact,
which we admire in Eschylus and Soph-
ocles. He is always aiming to please, no
matter by what means. Hence it is that
he is so unequal: frequently he has pas-
sages of exquisite beauty; at other times
he sinks into mere common-place. With
all his faults, he has an admirable ease,
and a certain insinuating grace." If the
reader would view both sides of the poet's
character, he may peruse A. W. Schle-
gel's essay, A Comparison of the Phæ-
dra of Euripides with that of Racine, in
connexion with what he has said in the
fifth of his Lectures on the Dramatic Art
and Literature. A part of the faults of
Euripides may be charged to the age in
which he lived, which was an age of
sophistical disquisition, of political con-
troversy and rhetorical art; though it can
never be a sufficient apology for wrong,
that it is fashionable. Euripides made it
a chief aim to awaken the tender emo-
tions. "He knew," says another critic,
"the nature of the passions, and had the
art of inventing situations in which they
could have their full play. Withal he
has an elegiac tone, which seldom or
never fails of its effect. Most of his char-
acters were once in the enjoyment of
distinguished prosperity, and the retros-
pect, in their present situation, checks the
violence of the passions, and lowers them
to the tone of lamentation. For this
reason, in his tragedies, the passions are
breathed forth in soft complaints, rather
than raised to a lofty height; for the same
reason, he is so rich in moral sentences,
and philosophical declamations, as his
personages have always coolness enough
to reflect on their situation. Euripides
knew well what was suited to produce
an effect at the moment. The times of
boldness, when Eschylus wrote, were
past, and the power of the state was be-
ginning gradually to sink. The pathetic
manner of Euripides then became pop-
ular." Various faults may be found with
his loose plan, his often unintelligible
changes of character, his superfluous cho-
ruses, and sometimes, too, his subject;
but he stands preeminent in true, natural
expression of the passions, in interesting
situations, original groupings of character,
603
and various knowledge of human nature.
He is a master too, in the art of man-
aging the dialogue, in adapting the speech-
es and answers to the character, the sex
and station, the known or private views,
the present disposition of the speaker, and
the necessity of the moment, in short, to
all that gives distinctness and individuality
to a person. There is, too, a certain ten-
derness and softness diffused over his
writings, which cannot fail to please the
mind. He has been often called the
woman-hater, probably on account of his
many severe sentences on the follies of
the female sex. Yet he was not disin-
clined to the sex, and is said to have had
two wives. We meet, too, in his works,
occasional descriptions of female loveli-
ness, and his sensibility to the nobler
charms of female purity and virtue can-
not be denied. It is not likely, as has
been said, that his hatred of women, and
of his own wife in particular, drove him
from Athens to Macedonia; he went at
the invitation of king Archelaus, whose
favor and confidence he enjoyed. Ac-
cording to the tradition, he there met with
an unfortunate end, being torn to pieces
by dogs, or dying in consequence of their
bites. The monarch erected a splendid
monument, with the inscription, "Thy
memory, O Euripides, will never perish."
Still more honorable was the inscription
on the cenotaph at Athens: "All Greece
is the monument of Euripides; the Ma-
cedonian earth covers only his bones."
Sophocles, who survived him, publicly
mourned his loss. The most celebrated
editions of Euripides are those of Paul
Stephanus (Paris, 1602, 2 vols.), of Barnes
(Cambridge, 1694, folio), of Musgrave
(Oxford, 1778, 4 vols. 4to.), and of Mo
rus and Beck (Leipsic, 1779-88, 4to.).
The latest critical editions are by Mat-
thiæ (Leipsic, 1813-20, 6 vols.), and by
Bothe (Leipsic, 1825, sqq.). Valkanaer,
Brunck, Porson, Markland, &c., have de-
voted themselves to the illustration of
single tragedies.
EUROPA, in mythology; the daughter
of Agenor, king of the Phoenicians, and
the nymph Mella, or Telephassa, and
sister of Cadmus, whose name, signifying
white, is said to have been given to the
European continent, whose inhabitants
are white. The fable relates, that one of
Juno's attendants stole a paint-box from
the toilet of her mistress, and gave it to
Europa. Her native beauty, heighten-
ed by this means, won the love of Jupi-
ter, who, in order to possess her, changed
himself into a white bull, and appeared
604
EUROPA-EUROPE.

in this shape on the shores of the sea,
where she was strolling with her compan-
ions. Attracted by the beauty and gen-
tleness of the animal, she even ventured
to mount upon his back, when he imme-
diately plunged into the sea with his
lovely prize, and swam to the island of
Crete. Here he transformed himself into
a beautiful youth, and had by her Minos,
Sarpedon and Rhadamanthus. She af-
terwards married Asterius, king of Crete,
who, being childless, adopted her three
sons.
EUROPE; the smallest of the great di-
visions of our globe, but distinguished
above the rest by the character of its
population, the superior cultivation of the
soil, and the flourishing condition of arts,
sciences, industry and commerce, the
multitude of large and well-built cities,
and its power and influence over the
other parts of the world. Of the origin
of its name and its inhabitants, history
furnishes no certain account. It is most
probable, that the first inhabitants emi-
grated from Asia, the cradle of the human
race. Greece was first peopled by the
emigrants. In that country, about 1400
years before our era, grew up the Helle-
nes, who soon outstripped the civilization
of Asia. The most flourishing period of
that nation, commonly called the Greeks,
was about 300 B. C. Equally distin-
guished in action and speculation, adorn-
ed by the arts and sciences, rich in the
noblest productions of cultivated minds,
it will be, as long as civilization endures,
an object of admiration, and its remains
the foundation of our knowledge and
taste. But with the dissolution of Alex-
ander's empire, which had been raised on
the ruins of Grecian freedom, Greece
sunk into insignificance. At the same
time another nation was rising in Italy,
the Romans, who appeared, indeed, at an
earlier period, but made no figure in his-
tory till they had become masters of Ita-
ly, and had proved victorious in their
struggle with the Carthaginians. From
that period, their power began to extend
over all Europe. They subdued the di-
vided Greeks, and transplanted their arts
and refinement to the Italian soil. By
the progress of the Roman arms, Spain,
Portugal, France, the coast of England,
Belgium, Helvetia, the part of Germany
between the Danube and the Alps, the
Hungarian provinces (then called Panno-
nia, Illyria and Dacia), became known,
and received the Roman manners, lan-
guage and refinement. Agriculture was
introduced, and flourishing cities rose
The
among the wandering nomades.
Christian religion, which spread through-
out the wide Roman empire, was also
a powerful instrument in the civilization
of most of the European nations. Ger-
many alone resisted the overwhelming
power of Rome, and thereby prevented
the spreading of Roman civilization in
the north of Europe, which still remained
unknown in history. With the fall of
the Roman empire, occasioned chiefly by
its separation into the Eastern and West-
ern empires, a great change in the political
constitution of Europe was produced, by
the universal emigration of the northern
nations. These nations poured down
upon the beautiful and cultivated coun-
tries of the Roman empire, now in the
weakness of decline, and Roman art and
science were obliged to give place to the
barbarity, the deep ignorance and super-
stition of the middle ages. The Ostro-
goths and Lombards settled in Italy, the
Franks in France, the Visigoths in Spain,
and the Anglo-Saxons in South Britain,
reducing the inhabitants to subjection, or
becoming incorporated with them. The
empire of the Franks was enlarged, un-
der Charlemagne, to such an extent, that
the kingdoms of France, Germany, Italy,
Burgundy, Lorraine and Navarre were
afterwards formed out of it. About this
time, the northern and eastern nations of
Europe began to exert an influence in the
affairs of the world. The Slavi, or Scla-
vonians, founded kingdoms in Bohemia,
Poland, Russia, and the north of Germa-
ny; the Magyarians appeared in Hun-
gary, and the Normans agitated all Eu-
rope. The establishment of a hierarchy
was now undertaken by the popes, and
finally carried to its completion by Greg-
ory VII and Innocent III. (See Empire.)
Their power was increased by the cru-
sades. Nevertheless, this struggle be-
tween Asia and Europe had the effect of
forming a middle class, of leading the
peasant gradually to throw off the chains
of bondage, and of introducing the arts
and sciences through the Arabs and Greeks
into Europe. The revival of letters, by
the Greeks fleeing from Constantinople,
gave an entirely new impulse to Europe.
The establishment of universities, the in-
vention of printing, and the reformation,
served to cherish and develope these
seeds of improvement. The feudal con-
tests, the struggle of privileges, led eventu-
ally to the acknowledgment and establish-
ment of the rights of the individual. (See
City, Corporation, and Estates.) Out of
the chaos of the middle ages, arose the

EUROPE.
states of Germany, France, Spain, Por-
tugal, England, Scotland, Switzerland,
the Italian powers, Hungary, Bohemia,
Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and
Russia. By the capture of Constantino-
ple (1453), the Turks, with their fanatical
military despotism, became a European
power. Austria, Holland, Prussia and
Sardinia were also added to the number
of European states; and Russia, from
the time of Peter I, was changed from
an Asiatic into a European empire. The
attempts of Charles V and Louis XIV to
become masters of Europe failed; but,
in our own times, Napoleon conceived
the project of forming, from the Europe-
an states, a universal monarchy, and pur-
sued it for 10 years. Since the formation
of the states of Europe, the following
have disappeared from the list of inde-
pendent powers: Hungary, Poland, the
German empire, Scotland, Bohemia, Ven-
ice, Genoa, and Milan. The following
have been added: the states of the Ger-
man confederacy, the Italian states, the
republic of the Ionian islands, and that of
Cracow. A natural consequence of the
general diffusion of intellectual cultiva-
tion, and the decay of the feudal system,
has been the gradual developement of the
ideas of equal right and individual liber-
ty; bloody struggles have naturally en-
sued between the adherents of the new
and old opinions, and Europe is still con-
vulsed by them. (See Feudal System,
Napoleon, &c.)-Europe is washed on
three sides by the sea, which is called by
different names, and belongs either to the
Northern Arctic or the Atlantic ocean.
A narrow strait of the Mediterranean
separates it from Africa. On the east,
alone, it joins the main land, being there
separated from Asia by an imaginary line.
Europe is situated in the northern frozen
and the northern temperate zones, be-
tween 10° and 63° east longitude, and 36°
and 71° north latitude. Including the
islands, which contain about 317,000
square miles, the whole extent of Europe
amounts to about 3,250,000 square miles,
of which Russia comprises nearly one
half. The greatest length, from cape St.
Vincent, in Portugal, to the northern ex-
tremity of the eastern boundary, at Way-
gatt's straits, is about 3500 miles. The
greatest breadth, from cape Matapan, in
the Morea, to the North Cape, in Nor-
way, is about 2500 miles. Europe is re-
markably well watered, although its rivers
have not so long a course, nor such large
cataracts, as those in other parts of the
globe, particularly in America. The
605
On
principal rivers are the Elro, the Rhone
and the Po, running in o the Mediterra-
nean; the Danube, the Dnieper and the
Dniester, into the Black sea; the Don, into
the sea of Azoph; the Wolga, into the
Caspian; the Dwina, into the Arctic ocean;
another Dwina, or Duna, the Vistula and
the Oder, into the Baltic; the Elbe, We-
ser and Rhine, into the North sea; the
Seine, into the English channel; the Loire
and Garonne, the Duero and Tagus, the
Guadiana and Guadalquiver, into the At-
lantic. The Wolga and Danube are the
longest. Of its nun ercus lakes, the lar-
gest, which, however, bear no compari-
son with the North American, are in the
north of Europe; viz., in Russia, lakes
Ladoga (the largest in Europe), Onega,
and Tchudskoe, or Peipus; in Sweden,
lakes Maler, Wener, and Wetter.
the borders of Germany and Switzerland
is lake Constance; on the borders of It-
aly and Switzerland is the lake of Gene-
va (lake Leman); in Hungary are lakes
Platten and Neusiedler. A great part of
Europe is mountainous; the southern
more so than the northern. The most
elevated region is Switzerland, from
which there is a descent, which termi-
nates, on the side of the North sea and
the Baltic, in low plains. The lowest
and most level parts are Holland and
northern Germany, Denmark, Russia and
Prussia. The highest mountains are the
Alps, in Switzerland and Italy, which
spread from those countries in various di-
rections, extend westwardly into France,
and are connected by the Cevennes with
the Pyrenees, which separate France
from Spain. One chain of the Alps
stretches south towards the Mediterra-
nean; then, taking an easterly course, runs
through Italy, under the name of the
Apennines. Several branches run east-
wards from the Alps, through the south
of Germany, as far as the Turkish prov-
inces. Another chain, the Jura, runs to
the north, and separates Switzerland from
France. In the east of Europe are the
Carpathian mountains, which, on one
side, meet the Sudetic range, and on the
other, the mountains of Turkey in Eu-
rope. The highest mountain in Europe
is Mont Blanc, in Savoy, one of the Alps,
which is said to be 15,766 feet above the
level of the sea. Several of the European
mountains are volcanoes; as Etna, Ve-
suvius and Hecla. It is a fact worthy of
notice, that none of the volcanoes of Eu-
rope are to be found in any of the great
chains of mountains which have just been
enumerated. The only one on the conti
51*
606
EUROPE.

nent is Vesuvius, and this is too much de-
tached to be considered as properly forming
one of the Apennines. Etna, in the isl-
and of Sicily, rising to the height of 10 or
11,000 feet above the level of the sea, is the
largest European volcano. The Lipari
islands, anciently called the Eolian, a few
miles to the north of Sicily, bear evident
marks of a volcanic origin; and, in several
of them, subterranean fires are still in ope-
ration. The volcano of Stromboli is in al-
most incessant activity, and differs, in this
respect, from any other with which we
are acquainted. The Azores, in the At-
lantic ocean, are doubtless indebted for
their formation to the same circumstance
as the Lipari islands; and, indeed, new
rocks have risen from the sea in their vi-
cinity, within a recent period. An erup-
tion took place at St. George, during the
present century. Iceland, too, though
lying under 65° of north latitude, presents
the most abundant tokens of the presence
of volcanic fire, and has often suffered
under its devastations. Mount Hecla is
the most noted, though not the only
source of the eruptions on this island.
To the possession of many inland seas,
and, consequently, of a line of coast very
extensive in proportion to its area, Europe
is greatly indebted for the great advance-
ment of its inhabitants in civilization;
these circumstances being favorable to
that intercourse without which nations
never make great advances. The pe-
ninsulas are six: Scandinavia, Jutland,
Crimea (Taurica Chersonesus), Italy,
Spain and Greece. The soil of Europe,
though not equal in luxuriance to that of
the tropics, is, almost throughout, fit for
cultivation. The tracts in the northern
zone are almost the only exception.
With respect to climate, Europe may be
divided into three parts, the warm re-
gion, where the lemon-trees grow wild,
as far as 48° north lat., having a pleasant
spring, a hot summer, and short winter;
the temperate, as far as 65° N., in which
grain ripens; and the cold region, to the
extreme north, where nothing will grow
but reindeer-moss, and no domestic ani-
mal can live except the reindeer. The
products are not so various as in other
parts of the world, and many of them
were originally brought from foreign
countries and naturalized; but, on the
other hand, Europe can boast of a more
perfect cultivation. Among the animals
are horses, some of which are of the
nobler breeds, horned cattle, sheep in
Spain, Saxony and England, of the finest
wool, asses, goats, swine, dogs, reindeer,
wild beasts of different kinds, valuable for
their flesh or fur, whales, sea-cows, sea-
dogs, abundance of wild and tame fowl,
large quantities of fish in the seas, lakes
and rivers, among which the herring, in
particular, affords sustenance to many of
the inhabitants; useful insects, such as
bees, silkworms, kermes, gall flies, and
Spanish flies. Oysters and pearl muscles
also abound. It produces all kinds of
grain, and sufficient for its consumption;
beautiful garden plants; abundance of
fruits, including those of southern cli-
mates, such as figs, almonds, chestnuts,
lemezs, oranges, olives, pomegranates,
dates; also flax, hemp, cotton, madder,
tobacco, the best kinds of wine, and a
great variety of wood for fuel, and for
house and ship building. The birch and
the willow best endure the cold of the
northern polar circle. Europe produces
all the varieties of metals and minerals
in great excellence and abundance. In
gold and silver, Hungary and Transylva-
nia are the richest; in iron, the northern
countries, Sweden, Norway and Russia.
Salt of all kinds, rock, sea and spring salt,
is also abundant in Europe. The inhab-
itants, estimated by Malte-Brun at 200
millions, at least, are unequally distributed;
in Russia and Sweden there are from 15
to 18 to a square mile; in the Netherlands,
where the population is most dense, Italy,
France, Great Britain and Germany, the
same extent supports from 150 to 250
persons. The inhabitants consist of sev-
eral different races, speaking distinct lan-
guages. The stocks to which the princi-
pal languages belong, are-the Teutonic,
which is the mother of the German,
Dutch, English, Swedish and Danish;
the Latin, or Roman, now spoken only
by the learned, but the mother of the
Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and
Walachian; the Sclavonic, to which be-
long the Russian, Polish, Bohemian, Bul-
garian, Vandal, and the Servian, or Illyrian.
Besides these, there are the modern Greek;
the Turco-Tartaric; the Finnish, and
Hungarian; the Cimbrian, in Wales and
the north-west part of France (Bretagne);
the Scottish, or Gaelic, in Scotland and
Ireland; the Basque, among the Pyrenees.
The most widely spoken is the German,
with its kindred languages, formed by
a union of the Roman with the Sclavonic.
The prevailing religion is the Christian,
which includes several churches, viz., the
Roman Catholic, which is the most nu-
merous; the Protestant (Lutheran, Cal-
vinistic and Anglican), consisting of nu
merous sects-Anabaptists, Mennonites,

EUROPE.
Quakers, Unitarians, Methodists, Moravi-
ans; and the Greek church. A part of
the inhabitants profess the Jewish, a part
the Mohammedan religion. Among the
Laplanders and Samoeides there are also
some heathens, but their number is small.
Agriculture has made great advances in
Europe, and is daily improving. In this
respect, those countries are particularly
distinguished where the Teutonic lan-
guages are spoken, as, also, are France
and a part of Italy. In no part of the
world are manufactures carried to such
perfection as in several of the European
countries, especially in Great Britain,
France, the Netherlands and Germany.
The inhabitants work up not only native
European, but also foreign products, and
supply all the wants and luxuries of life.
Commerce is not less active, and is pro-
moted by well-constructed roads and ca-
nals, by well-organized posts, banks, in-
surance companies, commercial compa-
nies, and fairs. The commerce of Europe
extends to all quarters of the world, and
every sea is filled with European ships.
In this respect, Great Britain is most dis-
tinguished. Europe is the seat of art and
science; to her belongs the honor of dis-
covering the most important truths, of
giving birth to the most useful inventions,
the finest productions of genius, the im-
provement of all the sciences. In intel-
lectual progress, the Teutonic races, and
those who speak the languages derived
from the Latin, have surpassed the Scla-
vonic nations. The Turks have remain-
ed strangers, in many respects, to the
literary and scientific improvement which
has marked the other European nations.
Eighty-five universities provide for the
higher branches of education; numerous
gymnasia and academies for the prepara-
tory studies, and a great number of lower
schools, particularly in Germany, are em-
ployed in educating the common people.
In many places there are academies of
science, and societies of all kinds, for the
cultivation of the arts and sciences. By
its physical situation, Europe is divided
into East and West Europe. West Eu-
rope comprises the Pyrenean peninsula
(Spain and Portugal), the country west
of the Alps (France), the countries north
of the Alps (Switzerland, Germany and
the Netherlands), the country south of
the Alps (Italy), the islands of the North
sea (Great Britain, Ireland and Iceland),
and the countries on the Baltic (Den-
mark, Norway, Sweden and Prussia).
607
East Europe contains the countries north
of the Carpathian mountains (Russia and
Galicia), and the countries south of the
Carpathian mountains (Hungary, in its
more comprehensive sense, and Turkey).
The following are the political states of
Europe: the three empires of Austria,
Russia and Turkey; 17 kingdoms, viz.,
Portugal, Spain, France, Great Britain,
the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Nor-
way, Sardinia, the Two Sicilies, Greece,
Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Wür-
temberg and Poland; 1 ecclesiastical
state, the papal dominions; 8 republics,
viz., Switzerland, the Ionian islands, Cra-
cow, San Marino, Hamburg, Lubeck,
Bremen and Frankfort; 1 electorate,
Hesse; 6 grand-duchies, Baden, Hesse-
Darmstadt, Saxe-Weimar, Mecklenburg-
Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Tus-
cany; 12 duchies, viz., Oldenburg, Go-
tha, Meiningen, Altenburg, Brunswick,
Nassau, Dessau, Bernburg, Cöthen, Mode-
na, Parma and Lucca; 1 landgraviate,
Hesse-Homburg; 1 grand principality, Fin-
land, and 12 principalities, viz., Hohenzol-
lern-Hechingen, Hohenzollern-Sigmarin-
gen, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarz-
burg-Sondershausen, Waldeck, Lippe-
Detmold, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lichten-
stein, Reuss-Greiz, Reuss-Schleiz, Reuss-
Lobenstein and Reuss-Ebersdorf.
Inhabitants. The most important races
inhabiting Europe are classed by Hassel,
in his statistical tables (1823), in the fol
lowing proportions: 1. Roman nations,
75,829,000-including the French, Ital-
ians, Spaniards, Portuguese, Walloons.
Walachians; 2. Teutonic, or German na
tions, 60,451,800-including the Germans,
Dutch and English, Danes, Norwegians
Swedes; 3. Sclavonian nations, 68,255,000
including the Russians, Poles, Lithua
nians, Livonians, &c., Wendish, &c..
Tschechen, Sclavonians, Croats, Ras-
cians and Servians, Morlachians, Bos
nians, &c.; 4. Caledonians, including the
Highlanders and Irish, 8,200,000; 5.
Turks, 2,350,000; 6. Greeks, 4,834,000;
7. Arnauts, 530,000; 8. Magyarians,
4,472,000-including the
the Bulgarians,
522,000; 9. Finns, 1,370,000, Esthonians,
480,000, Laplanders, 17,800 (the three last
belong to the Mongol race); 10. Cymri,
or Low Bretons, 1,661,000; 11. Basques,
620,000; 12. Maltese, 88,000. The tables
of the same distinguished geographer,
published in 1817, estimate the Jews at
1,179,500; the Gipsies at 313,000; the
Armenians at 131,600.
608
STATISTICAL VIEW OF ALL THE

EUROPEAN STATES
1 Anhalt-Bernburg,
2 64 Dessau,.
Cothen,
3
4 Austria,
5 Baden,
6 Bavaria,
7 Bentinck,
AREA
in English
square
miles.
Catholics. Protestants.
3341
345
1,200
330
360
POPULATION.
Greeks.
Mohamme-
daus.
Jews.
Total.
38,510
390
38,900
56,800
1,270
59,270
34,835
415
35,610
500 480,000 32,100,500
16.930 1,090,911
57,574 4,032,590
2,900
1,300
244,200
258,603 25,650,000 3,000,000 2,970,000
5,926 730,808 343,173
31,317 2,880,383 1,094,633
25
2,900
8 Brunswick,
1,491
2,500 240,400
9 Bremen,..
68
1,500
50,000
10 British Empire,
117,788
6,085,300 16,197,321
11 Cracow,..
494
12 Denmark,
52,268
100,812 19,000
2,000 2,049,531
0651,500
15,000 22,297,621
7,288
127,100
6,000 2,057,531
. 13 Frankfort on M.*
14 France,
91
213,838 31,099,518
6,000
42,800
5,200
54.000
892,947
60,000 32,052,465
15 Greece,
?
550,000
16 Hamburg,
150
3,060
139,440
7,500
150,000
17 Hanover,
14,735
...
200,000 1,370,574
12,000
1,582,574
19
18 Hesse-Cassel,
Darmstadt,
4,428
105,000
492,300
5,400
602,700
3,922
120,000 582,900
16,000
718,900
20
Homburg,
166
2,931
17,683
1,050
21,664
21 Hoh. Hechingen,
129
15,000
I
15,000
23 Ionian Islands, .
22 " Sigmaringen,
386
386
39,600
400
40,000
998
35,200
800
133,898
24 Lichtenstein,
51
5,800
25 Lippe-Detmold,
436
1,600
75,118
26 Lucca,
413
145,000
5111
5,500
175,398
5,800
76,718
145,000
27 Lübeck,
143400
45,703
400
46,503
23 San Marino, .
22
7,000
7,000
29 Meck. Schwerin,
4,746
957
437,105
3,102
441,164
30"
Strelitz,.
765
50
78,510
8331
79,393
31 Modena,.
2,092
377,500
1,500
379,000
32 Nassau,
1,753
157,638
184,651
5,717
348,006
33 Netherlands,
25,367
3,660,000 3,237,500
80,000
6,977,500
34 Oldenburg,
35 Parma,
2,459
70,700 175,538
970
247,208
2,203 437,400
437,400
36 Portugal,
36,510
3,782,550
3,782,550
37 Prussia,.
107,159 4,694,000 7,930,403
154,000 12,778,403
38 Reuss, elder line,
145
24,020
80
24,100
39" younger
40 Russia,
41 Sardinia,
447
57,470
220
57,690
1,414,436 5,500,000 2,658,500 33,326,500 150,000 360,000 41,995,000
28,912 4,142,177 22,000
3,200 4,167,377
42 Saxony,
575 48,000
1,350,000
2,000 1,400,000
43 Saxe-Altenburg,
496
150
109,343
109,493
44
45
"Coburg,..
"Meiningen,
1,036
11,500
130,593
1,200
143,293
884
400
128,239
950
129,589
46 "Weimar,
1,416
9,512
210,911
1,231
221,654
47 Schaumb. Lippe,§
206
100
25,500
25,600
48 Sch. Rudolstadt,
49 Sondershausen,
404
200
56,625
160 56,985
358
200
47,906
48,106
50 Sicilies (the Two),
41,284
7,412,717
51 States of Church,
52 Sweden,.
17,210 2,468,940
291,163
5,000 3,869,700
2,000 7,414,717
15,000 2,483,940
4,000 3,878,700
53 Switzerland,
14,761 817,110 1,217,760
1,810 2,036,680
54 Spain,
179,074 13,651,172
13,651,172
55 Turkey,
203,566 310,000
5,878,000 2,890,000 315,000
9,393,000
56 Tuscany,
8,381
1,291,130
9,400
1,300,530
57 Waldeck,
459
58 Würtemberg,
7.615
800
464,000 1,062,253
52,700
500
54,000
-
9,150
1,535,403
Total,.
*Frankfort on the Maine.
3,104,780 116,559,075 49,847,495 42,308,398 3,040,500 1,671,640 213,977,108
† Hohenzollern-Hechingen.
Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Schaumburg-Lippe.
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.
mod
EUROPEAN STATES, FOR 1828.
609

FINANCES.
LAND FORCES.
SEA FORCES
GOVERNMENT.*
Revenue.
Debt.
Peace. War.
In peace.
In war.
2
3
1 Absolute; provincial estates.
4 Absolute; estates,t
5 Constitutional,
6
7 Absolute,
Dollars.
180,000
Dollars.
Sail.
Sail.
240,000
3701
7401
284,000
200,000
529
1,058
92,000
640,000
324
648
52,000,000
200,000,000
3,932,880
6,392,424
271,404 750.504 31 31
11,566 20,000
12,031,547
44,402,257
53,898
71,600
62,800
60,000
8 Absolute; provincial estates,
950,773
1,400,000
2,432
4,192
9 Republic,
160,000
1,200,000
385
770
10 Constitutional,
228,849,600 3,490,896,768
90,519
378,370 610 1,050
11 Republic, und. protec. Rus. Prus. & Aus.
133,243
10,000
12 Absolute,
4,080,000
40,000,000
38,819
·
13 Republic,
304,000
3,200,000
475
14 Constitutional,
157,760,000
480,000,000
281,000
74,000 97
946
320,000 329
120
-
350
15 ?
2,580
50
16 Republic,
17 Estates,.
18 Absolute,
600,000
5,200,000
1,050
2,596
4,680,000
12,000,000
12,940
26,108
1,800,000
780,000
9,859
11,353
19 Constitutional,
2,351,456
5,589,450
8,421
12,390
20 Absolute,.
72,000
180,000
200
400
21
248,000
145
290
22
120,000
200,000 370
740
23 Republic, under protec. of Britain,
565,600
1,600
1,600
21 Constitutional, ...
430,000
55
110
25 Absolute; estates,.
196,000
280,000
690
1,380
26 Constitutional,
288,000
600,000
800
800
3
3
27 Republic,
160,000
1,200,000
406
812
28 Republic, protected by the pope,
12,000
—
29 Estates, with considerable power,
920,000
3,800,000
3,137
7,160
30
200,000
200,000
742
1,434
31 Absolute,.
600,000
400,000
1,860
1,860
32 Estates,
724,000
2,000,000
2,800
6,056
35 Absolute,
33 Constitutional,
34 Absolute,.
•
12,000,000
178,078,670
43,297
69,472 93
600,000
2,177
4,354
600,000
2,000,000
1,320
1,320
36 ?
8,740,800
24,000,000 40,000 70,000 23
37 Absoluto; provincial estates,
30,477,600
114,840,440 165,000 524,428
38 Absolute; estates,
39
56,000
160,000
2,000,000
480,000
206
412
538
1,076
40 Absolute,.
52,000,000
200,000,000
600,000 1,039,117 12
41
8,740,800
24,000,000
28,000
60,000
││ ། │
| | | | | |8|||||2-
150
12
28
42 Estates,
4,400,000
12,800,000
13,307
24,000
43
240,000
329,640
982
1,964
44
360,000
1,200,000
1,366
2,732
45
300,000
1,000,000
1,150
2,300
46 Constitutional,
47 Estates,
719,784
2,400,000
2,164
4,020
1
86,000
120,000
240
480
48
130,000
170,992
539
1,078
49 Absolute,
120,000
160,000
451
902
•
50
12,593,484
84,000,000
28,436
60,000
12
246
51 Elective monarchy; absolute,
4,800,000
98,000,000
9,100
52 Constitutional,
7,000,000
17,264,812
45,201
9,100 6
138,569 30
f
3721
53 Confederated republics,
25,509
54 Absolute; cortes,.
26,520,000
230,443,062
46,000 173,550 34 60
55 Despotism,
11,200,000
36,000,000
80,000 200,000 80 160
56 Absolute,
8,000 8,000
57 Estates,
160,000
480,000
518 1,036
58 Constitutional,
3,342,318
10,942,766
4,906
27,910
Total,
658,847,899 5,341,721,211 1,909,175 4,578,430 1,368 2,641
*The word Constitutional is set against those states which have representative governments in the modern
sense of the term. The words Absolute, estates, indicate that though the representation of the estates exists,
the government is, in fact, absolute; as in Prussia, where the power of the estates is limited to expressing
their opinions on subjects which the government lays before them. The word Estate, simply, indicates, that
the estates have actually some share in the government. When not otherwise stated, the government is monarchical
† Austria is composed of very different parts. (See Austria, and Constitution.)
Among these are 216 xebecs.
610
EUROPE-EUSTATHIUS.

Among the best sources for the current
statistics of Europe, we would mention
the Genealogischer Historischer und Sta-
tistischer Almanach, an annual, published
at Weimar, and established by the cele-
brated geographer Hassel. This is a
work of much merit in many respects.
For English statistics, the Companion to
the British Almanac, published annually
by the society for the diffusion of useful
knowledge, is of great value.
EURYALE; 1. queen of the Amazons.-
2. A daughter of Minos.-3. A daughter
of Protus, king of Argos.-4. See Gor-
gons.
EURYALUS; 1. one of the Greek heroes
at the siege of Troy.-2. One of the com-
panions of Æneas, famous for his friend-
ship with Nisus, with whom he was kill-
ed, after having forced his way with him
into the enemy's camp. VIRGIL, Eneid,
IX. 175.
EURYDICE. Among the many women
of antiquity who bore this name, the most
celebrated is the wife of Orpheus, who
died by the bite of a serpent. Her hus-
band, inconsolable for her loss, descended
to the lower world, and, by the charms of
his lyre, moved the infernal deities to grant
him permission to bring her back. This
they granted, on condition that he would
not look round upon her till he had
reached the upper world. Forgetting his
promise, he looked back, and lost her for-
ever. This story has often formed a fine
subject for poets.
EURYNOME; the daughter of Oceanus;
according to Hesiod, the mother of the
Graces. (q. v.)
EUSEBIA (Greek); piety; in the modern
allegorical sense, the presiding genius of
theology.
EUSEBIUS, surnamed Pamphilus, the
father of ecclesiastical history, born at
Cæsarea, in Palestine, about 270, A. D.,
died about 340, and was the most learned
man of his time. He was a presbyter,
and, in 314, was appointed bishop in his
native city. He was at first opposed to
the Arians, but afterwards became their
advocate, and with them condemned the
doctrines of Athanasius. His ecclesi-
astical history, written, like his other works,
in Greek, is contained in 10 books, and
extends from the birth of Christ to 324
(the best editions are that of Valesius,
Paris, 1639, fol. and that of Reading, Can-
erbury, 1720, fol.). Of his Chronicon,
with the exception of some fragments of
the original, we have only an Armenian
translation, and the Latin version of
Jerome. Besides these, there are yet
extant, 15 books of his Præparatio Evan-
gelica, which is particularly valuable for
the extracts it contains from lost philo-
sophical works. Of the 20 books of his
Demonstratio Evangelica, in which he
shows the superiority of Christianity to
Judaism, we have only 10 imperfectly
preserved; and, finally, a life, or rather
eulogium, of Constantine. Notices of his
life may be found in the above quoted
edition of Valesius. Danz, Möller and
Kessner have written briefly on his value
and credibility as a historian.
EUSTACHI, Bartolomeo, a physician
and anatomist, born at San Severino, in
the mark of Ancona, studied Latin, Greek
and Arabic at Rome, and devoted himself
to the various departments of medical sci-
ence, more particularly those which re-
late to the structure of the human body,
and was made physician to the cardinals
Carlo Borromeo, and Giulio della Rovera;
he was also appointed professor in the
institution della Sapienza, at Rome. There
is hardly any part of anatomical science
which he did not enrich by profound re-
searches or important discoveries. Some
of the parts discovered by him have re-
ceived their names from him: thus the
canal that unites the internal ear with the
back part of the mouth, is called the eu-
stachian tube; so also the eustachian valve
of the heart. Among his works are his
Tabula anatomica, quas e Tenebris tandem
vindicatas, et Pontificis Clementis XI Munifi-
centia Dono acceptas, Præfatione Notisque
illustravit Joannes-Maria Lancisi (Rome,
1714, fol.). This work is remarkable as
containing excellent drawings of the hu-
man body, which were executed in 1552,
but not discovered and published till a
much later period. The text has never
been found. Albinus published an ex-
cellent commentary on these tables (Ley-
den, 1743, fol.). Another of his works,
De Anatomicorum Controversiis, is also lost.
Besides these, we have many other valua-
ble works by him. Boerhaave published
an edition of them at Leyden, 1707, which
was reprinted at Delft, 1736. Eustach)
died at Rome, 1574.
EUSTATHIUS, a commentator on Ho
mer and the geographer Dionysius, orig-
inally a monk, afterwards deacon, and
finally, 1155, archbishop of Thessalonia.
He died after 1194. Though not very eu-
lightened in his theological views, he was
deeply read in the classics, and a man of
extensive erudition, as appears from his
commentaries compiled from the old
scholiasts, of which that on Homer, in
particular, is an inexhaustible mine of

EUSTATHIUS-EVAPORATION.
philological learning (Rome, 1542-50,
4 vols. fol., and Bâle, 1559-60, 3 vols.
fol., new edition, Leipsic, by Weigel, com-
menced in 1825, 4to.).
EUSTATIA, ST., one of the Leeward isl-
ands, fifteen miles south-east of Saba,
and eight north-west of St. Christopher's,
is a huge rock, rising out of the waves, in
the form of a pyramid, 29 miles in cir-
cumference. Sugar, cotton and maize
are raised here; but the principal pro-
duction is tobacco, which is cultivated on
the sides of the pyramid, to its very top.
There is but one landing place, and that,
though difficult of access, is strongly for-
tified. The number of inhabitants is
18,000, of whom 4000 are whites, chiefly
Dutch, and 14,000 negroes. The Dutch
nade the first settlement on this island
about the year 1600. In the year 1665, it
was captured by an English expedition.
The French, however, soon afterwards
expelled the British, and restored it to the
Dutch in 1667. The English retook it in
1689, and restored it on the termination
of the war in 1697. In 1781, a large naval
and military force, under admiral Rod-
ney, compelled the inhabitants, who were
incapable of defence, to submit at discre-
tion.
The English commanders, under
the pretence that the people of the island
had supplied the U. Sta.es with naval
stores, confiscated all private property, and,
at one blow, reduced the unfortunate in-
habitants to poverty. In the same year,
however, the island was retaken by a
small body of French troops, under the
command of the marquis de Bouille. St.
Eustatia was again attacked by the Eng-
lish in 1809, and compelled to submit;
but, in 1814, the Dutch government was
restored.
EUTERPE; one of the muses, considered
as presiding over music, because the in-
vention of the flute is ascribed to her.
She is usually represented as a virgin
crowned with flowers, having a flute in
her hand, or with various instruments
about her. As her name denotes, she is
the inspirer of pleasure. (See Muses.)
EUTHANASIA; a gentle, easy, happy
death. Wieland gave this name to one
of his works.
EUTROPIUS, Flavius; a Latin histori-
an, who, as he himself informs us, bore
arms under the emperor Julian. The
place of his birth and his history are un-
known to us. He flourished about 360
A. D. His abridgment of the history
of Rome (Breviarium Historia Romana)
reaches from the foundation of the city to
the time of the emperor Valens, to whom
611
it is dedicated. The style, though not fin
ished, is perspicuous. The most esteemed
editions are those of Havercamp (Leyden,
1729), Verseik (Leyden, 1762, 2 vols.), and
Tzschucke (Leipsic, 1804).
EUXINE (Pontus Euxinus); the ancient
name for the Black sea.
EVAN; a surname of Bacchus. (See
Bacchus.)
If any
EVANGELICAL. The king of Prussia
has endeavored, for some time past, to
unite his Lutheran and Calvinist subjects.
There was, in fact, little difference in the
faith of many of the two denominations;
many of the Calvinists, or the Reformed, as
they are called in Germany, not holding to
predestination and several other Calvinistic
points; and many of the Lutherans hav-
ing not adhered to the doctrine of consub-
stantiation. Not a few, however, still ad-
here strictly to the tenets of their differ-
ent sects. To assist the union, as it was
styled, the Lord's supper is now adminis-
tered uniformly, in all Protestant church-
es, throughout the kingdom, viz.: unleav-
ened bread is used in the rite.
Lutheran, however, wishes to receive the
host in the old way, he may have it,
because the sacrament in all Lutheran
churches is administered in this form
likewise. Calvinist preachers, or rather
such as were formerly Calvinists, are now
often appointed in Lutheran churches, and
vice versa. This union has had some sal-
utary influences; but the question may be
reasonably asked, What is the character
of the two sects in their present state?
Have they given up or become indifferent
to the important points of distinction
which formerly existed between them?
Nothing, in this respect, has been settled.
In the public documents, the words Lu-
theran or Calvinist are never used at pre-
sent, evangelical being substituted in the
room of both. The king even went sc
far, a few years ago, as to prohibit the use
of the word Protestant, in any publica-
tion, and ordered the term evangelical to
be employed, on occasion of a theological
controversy which had attracted his maj-
esty's attention.
EVAPORATION is the conversion of
liquid and solid bodies into elastic fluids,
by the influence of caloric. Expose, for
instance, water to heat, bubbles at first
adhere to the sides of the vessel, which,
by degrees, ascend to the surface, and
burst. These bubbles rise the more rap-
idly in proportion to the heat. Water is
evaporated by the heat of the sun merely,
and even without this in the open air, and
the vapor, rising into the air, is condensed
612
EVAPORATION-EVE.

into clouds. The general cause of evapo-
ration is caloric; but different substances
require different degrees of it. Water is
particularly subject to evaporation. It
evaporates at a very low temperature, and,
from the immense quantity which is
spread over the earth, it may be inferred,
with great probability, that the most im-
portant changes in our atmosphere are oc-
casioned by it. Instruments have been
invented to measure the evaporation of
water (see Atmometer), but the results are
uncertain. If we assume, as experiments
justify, that the annual evaporation aver-
ages 30 inches (i. e. that the vapor, if re-
converted into water, would cover the sur-
face from which the evaporation took
place, to a height of 30 inches), then, the
surface of all the waters on our earth be-
ing assumed at 128,000,000 of geographi-
cal miles, 60,000 cubic miles of water
would be annually changed into vapor;
and the amount will be still greater, if we
add to it the evaporation from moist earth
and from the watery parts of the vegeta-
ble and animal kingdoms. In summer,
evaporation is generally much greater than
in winter; yet it is not so inconsiderable
in cold weather as we might suppose
from the small quantity of caloric then
sensible. Even in the polar circles, it
does not entirely cease; for ice evaporates
in the open air. To account for the phe-
nomenon of evaporation, two hypotheses
have been formed; that it is a conversion
of fluids into elastic vapor by their union
with caloric, or that it is a real solution of
the fluids in the air. The latter theory
has been opposed, particularly by De Luc.
He maintains that, in evaporation, water
combines with caloric, without being dis-
solved in the air. The principal argument
in support of this theory is, that cold is
generated by the evaporation of a liquid.
Cold is only the absence or consumption
of caloric. If now, in evaporation, caloric
is consumed, i. e., is combined with the
evaporated water, this consumption must
generate a sensible cold. De Luc further
maintains, that the air, so far from con-
tributing to evaporation, prevents it by its
pressure. If this pressure is removed, the
same quantity of water requires far less
caloric to evaporate it; for experiments
show that water evaporates more rapidly
in a vacuum than in the air, and Saussure
says, that at the same degree of the ther-
mometer and hygrometer, the evaporation
on mountains, where the air is of three
times less density, is more than double
that in the valleys. Later experiments
render it still more evident, that a dissolv-
ing power of air is not necessary to change
water into an elastic vapor, since, other-
wise, it could not be produced in a vacu-
um. Such a dissolving power in the air,
however, is absolutely required to effect a
uniform mixture of this vapor with air;
otherwise, from the difference of the spe-
cific gravities of the two fluids, a separa-
tion must ensue, of which we have no ex-
perience; and we find ourselves compelled
to regard the union of the expansive va-
por with the air as a true solution of the
one in the other. De Luc developed the
first view in the Nouvelles Idées sur la Mé-
téorologie (London, 1786, 2 vols.), while
the solvent power was maintained to be
the cause of evaporation by Hube, in his
treatise On Evaporation (Leipsic, 1790).
(See Perspiration.)
Artificial Evaporation is a chemical pro-
cess, usually performed by applying heat
to any compound substance, in order to
separate the volatile parts. It differs from
distillation, its object being chiefly to pre-
serve the more fixed matters, while the
volatile substances are allowed to escape.
Accordingly, the vessels in which these
two operations are performed, are differ-
ent; evaporation being commonly made
to take place in open, shallow vessels, and
distillation in an apparatus nearly closed
from the external air.
EVE. (See Adam.)
APPENDIX.

DOMICIL, in law. By the term domicil,
in its ordinary acceptation, is meant the
place where a person lives, or has his
home. In this sense, the place where a
person has his actual residence, inhabit-
ancy or commorancy is sometimes called
his domicil. In a strict and legal sense, that
is properly the domicil of a person, where
he has fixed his true, permanent home,
and principal establishment, and to which,
whenever he is absent, he has the inten-
tion of returning (animus revertendi). The
Roman law stated it thus: In eodem loco
singulos habere domicilium non ambigitur,
ubi quis larem rerumque ac fortunarum
suarum summam constituit, unde cursus
non sit discessurus si nihil avocet; unde,
cum profectus est, peregrinari videtur; quod
si rediit, peregrinari jam destitit. (Cod.
Lib. 10, tit. 39, l. 7.) In the French law,
some of its best writers define it thus: Le
domicile est le lieu ou une personne jou-
issant de ses droits, établit sa demesne et le
siége de sa fortune (Denizart, article Dom-
icile); or, as the Encyclopédie Moderne
(article Domicile) expresses it, C'est, à
proprement parler, l'endroit ou l'on a placé
le centre de ses affaires. Vattel (B. 1, ch.
xix, § 22) seems to define it to be a fixed
residence in any place, with an intention
of always staying there. This is not quite
accurate. It would be more correct to say,
that that place is the home or domicil of
a person, in which his habitation is fixed,
without any present intention of removing
therefrom (10 Mass. R. 488). The ques-
tion of domicil is often one of great diffi-
culty and nicety, and so dependent upon
circumstances, that, as it has been ob-
served by lord Stowell (2 Rob. 322), it is
hardly capable of being defined by any
general, precise rules. It is compounded
partly of matter of fact and partly of law.
It is often a mere question of intention;
VOL. IV.
52
sometimes of express intention, and some
times of presumptive intention, from acts
and conduct. The mere dwelling or res-
idence in a place is not, of itself, sufficient
to make it the domicil of the party. He
must be there with the intention of re-
maining (animo manendi). The act of
residence must be coupled with the in-
tention of making it the real, substantial
home of the party, excluding all others.
If, therefore, a person, having his home
in one place, go to another for temporary
purposes, but with an intention to return,
his domicil is not changed by such ab-
sence; nor does he acquire a new domi-
cil in the place of such temporary resi-
dence. If a person go on a voyage to
sea, or to a foreign country for health or
pleasure, or business of a temporary na-
ture, with an intention to return, no one
supposes his domicil to be changed there-
by. But, sometimes, where there has
been a removal for temporary purposes
at first, there may be engrafted on it,
subsequently, an intention of perma-
nent residence. And, in many instan-
ces, therefore, where we are called up-
on to decide upon questions of domicil,
the length of time of the residence be-
comes a material ingredient. Lord Stow-
ell has observed, that it is not unfre-
quently said, that if a person comes to a
place for a special purpose, that shall not
fix a domicil. "This," he adds, "is not
to be taken in an unqualified latitude, and
without some respect had to the time
which such a purpose may occupy; for
if the purpose be of a nature that may
probably, or does actually, detain the per-
son for a great length of time, a general
residence might grow upon the special
purpose. A special purpose may lead a
man to a country, where it shall detain
him the whole of his life." (2 Rob. Rep
614
DOMICIL.

322, 324.) These remarks, again, require
some qualification; for time is not abso-
lutely decisive in such cases, if it is clear,
from other circumstances, that the pur-
pose was wholly temporary and positive.
Suppose a man should go to a country in
ill health, and remain there a number
of years, and, during that whole peri-
od, were incapable of being removed, or
of returning home, without danger to his
life; if such residence were so constrain-
ed, it would not change his former dom-
icil. The question of domicil is of very
great importance, for it often regulates
political and civil rights, and founds or
destroys jurisdiction over the person or
property. Thus, for instance, there is
what is called a political domicil, which
is that place where a party must exercise
his political rights, duties and privileges,
as his right to vote, his duty to pay taxes,
&c. Then there is what is called a civil
domicil, or that where he has fixed his
habitual home or residence, which de-
cides upon his civil rights, and power to
acquire, alienate and dispose of property, to
contract marriage, &c. Then, again, there
is, or may be, a forensic domicil (forum
domicilii), or place where he is to sue or be
sued, and to be subjected to the exercise
of the jurisdiction of judicial courts. It
may, and it often does happen, that the
political, civil and forensic domicil is the
same; but this is a matter, not so much
of general principle, as of positive legisla-
tion in different countries; and, therefore,
it is often regulated, in different countries,
by very different rules, sometimes by op-
posite rules. Some general principles,
however, may assist to guide us, in cases
where there is no positive legislation to
govern the case. 1. The place of birth
of a person is considered as his domicil,
if it be at the time the home of his
parents. Patris originem unusquisque
sequitur. This is generally called domi-
cilium originis (the domicil of nativity).
But, if the parents were then on a visit
or journey (in itinere), the home of the
parents (at least if it were in the same
country) would be deemed the domicil of
nativity. A person born in a foreign
country, while his parents are there under
the allegiance of the government of the
country, though they are there for tem-
porary purposes only, is generally deemed
a subject of such country, and owing al-
legiance to its sovereign. 2. The domi-
cil of birth continues until a new domicil
has been obtained. Infants are general-
ly deemed incapable of changing their
Lomicil during their minority, and, there-
fore, they always retain the domicil of
their parents; and if their parents change
their domicil, that of the infant follows;
and if the father dies, his last domicil is
that of the infant. A person who is of.
age to choose a domicil for himself, still
retains the paternal domicil, while he
continues to remain with his parents.
But when he is emancipated, or has ac-
quired a domicil of his own, he no longer
follows the paternal domicil. 3. The
domicil of birth, also, easily reverts; and
it requires fewer circumstances to estab-
lish in proof, that a party has reverted to
the domicil of his nativity, or family dom-
icil, than to establish his foreign domicil.
The reason is obvious. A residence in
the place of one's birth, unexplained,
gives rise to a general presumption, that
it is of permanent choice; because an
affection for such a place, and a desire to
abide there, are so commonly found among
all classes of persons. 4. The domicil
of a married woman follows that of her
husband. This results from the general
principle, that a person who is under the
authority and power of another, possess-
es no right to choose a domicil. 5. By
the civil law, minors retain, as we have
seen, the domicil of their parents; and
the same principle is said to apply, in
that law, to the case of persons insane,
or non compos mentis, whether they are
under guardianship or not; for the guar.
dian has no power to change their dom
icil, as it may change the order of suc-
cession to their estates. But it has been
said that our law is different, and that a
guardian may change the domicil of his
ward, if he chooses. (9 Mass. R. 543; 5
Pick. R. 20.) But this is a point which
deserves very grave consideration, and
does not seem universally settled, as a
part of the common law. (See Guier v.
O'Daniel, 1 Binney, 352, note; Somerville
v. Somerville, 5 Vesey jr., 787; Pottinger
v. Wightman, 3 Meriv. R. 67.) 6. Prima
facie, the place where a person lives is
taken to be the place of his domicil, until
other facts establish the contrary. 7. Ev-
ery person of full age having a right to
change his domicil, it follows, that if he
removes to another place, with the inten-
tion to remain (animo manendi), the latter
instantaneously becomes his place of
domicil. It is of no consequence, in such
a case, how short his residence may have
been; for it is the fact, coupled with the
intention, that settles his domicil, and
here both are unequivocal. 8. If a per-
son has actually removed to another
place, with an intention of remaining
DOMICIL.
there for an indefinite time, and as a
place of present domicil, it becomes his
place of domicil, notwithstanding he may
have a floating intention to go back at
some future period. 9. The place where
the family of a married man resides is
generally considered as his domicil. But
this may be controlled by circumstances.
For if the place be only a temporary es-
tablishment for his family, or for tempo-
rary objects, it may be different. 10. If a
married man has his family fixed in one
place, and does his business in another,
the former is considered as the place of
his domicil. 11. If a married man has
two places of residence at different times
of the year, that will be esteemed his
domicil which he selects, considers or
describes as his fixed home, or which ap-
pears to be the centre of his affairs, where
he votes, or acts as a citizen. 12. If a
man is unmarried, that is generally the
place of his domicil where he transacts
his business, exercises his profession, or
assumes municipal duties or privileges.
13. Residence in a place by constraint, or
involuntarily, will not give the party a
domicil there; but his antecedent domicil
remains. 14. Mere intention to acquire
a new domicil, without the fact of re-
moval, avails nothing; neither does the
fact of removal, without the intention.
Presumptions arising generally from cir-
cumstances, will not prevail against pos-
itive acts, which fix and determine dom-
icil. 13. Widows retain the domicil which
had been their husbands' until they have
acquired a new one. Vidua mulier amissi
mariti domicilium retinet.-There are some
other considerations, of a general nature,
which deserve enumeration, as they re-
spect domicil in a foreign country. Those
which have been already referred to,
principally respect domicil in different
parts of the same country. 1. We have
already seen, that persons who are born
in a country, are deemed inhabitants and
citizens of that country. Foreigners, also,
who reside there for permanent and in-
definite purposes, or, as Vattel expresses
it (B. I, ch. xix, § 213), who are permitted
to settle and stay in a country, are deem-
ed inhabitants. If they are there merely
on a visit, or for temporary purposes, they
are not deemed inhabitants. 2. A person
who resides in a foreign country, for pur-
poses of trade, is deemed an inhabitant
of that country by foreign nations; and
his character changes with that of the
country. In peace he is deemed a neu-
tral, in war an enemy; and his property
is dealt with accordingly in prize courts.
615

(The Venus, 8 Cranch R. 278.) 3. A per-
son may have a national character of his
trade, although his domicil be in a differ-
ent country. Thus, if he be allowed to
engage in the trade exclusively belonging
to the subjects of an enemy's country, he
will, so far as respects that trade, be
deemed an enemy trader, and his proper-
ty will be liable to condemnation as such,
though his own domicil be neutral. So,
if he is the owner of a plantation in an
enemy's country, the produce thereof will
be liable as prize in the same manner.
So, if he be a partner in a house of trade
in an enemy's country, his property in
the partnership will be deemed the prop-
erty of an enemy. (9 Cranch, 191; The
Vigilantia, 1 Rob. R., 14, 15; The Phoenix,
5 Rob. R., 20; The San Jose Indiano, 2
Gallison's R., 268.) 4. A national character,
acquired by residence in a foreign coun-
try, changes with a change of that resi-
dence; and if no other domicil be ac-
quired by the party subsequently, his na-
tive domicil reverts; and, in such a case,
it will revert as soon as he puts himself
in motion to return to his native country
although he has not actually arrived there.
But the mere return to his native country
does not destroy his foreign domicil, un-
less there is an intention to abandon the
latter. (The Venus, 8 Cranch R., 278,
281; The France, 8 Cranch R., 335.) 5.
If a person quits his own country, for
temporary purposes, or in public em-
ployment, and solely by reason of such
employment, his native domicil is not
changed thereby. If an Englishman,
for instance, should go to Germany in
the king's service, or for a temporary
purpose, the domicil of his birth would
not be changed. But if he entered into
the German service, although with a
general, indefinite intention to return to
England, it would be otherwise. 6. The
descent of real estate, such as lands,
is according to the law of the place, rei
sita. But the descent and distribution
of personal estate is according to the law
of the place of the owner's domicil. It
has been recently doubted in England,
whether a British subject can, by a for-
eign domicil, change the general law of
succession, as to his personal estate, ex-
isting in his own country. But it is ad-
mitted he may change his domicil, in dif-
ferent parts of his own country, and
thereby change the succession and dis-
tribution of his personal estate. (Curling
v. Thornton, 2 Addam's Eccles. R., 17,
19.) 7. A will of personal estate, good
by the law of the place where the party
616
DOMICIL.

has his domicil, is sufficient to pass all
personal estate in any other country.
But, if not good by the law of the place
of the party's domicil, it is said not to be
good to pass personal property in any
other country, although otherwise suffi-
cient by the law of the country where the
personal property is. (Desesbats v. Ber-
quier, 1 Binney, 336. But see Curling v.
Thornton, 2 Addam's Eccles. R. 6, 19 to
25.) 8. Ambassadors and other ministers
still retain the domicil of the country
which they represent, and to which they
belong; and their children, born in the
foreign country where they reside, are
considered as natives of the country of
their own sovereign. It is not so in re-
lation to consuls and other commercial
agents. They are considered as having,
like other subjects, their domicil in the
country where they reside. (Vattel, B.
I, ch. xix, § 217; The Indian Chief, 3
Rob. 13, 27; The Josephine, 4 Rob. 26.)
9. Children born upon the sea are gene-
rally deemed to be natives of the country
to which their parents belong. (See Vat-
tel, B. I, ch. xix, § 216.) The reader who
desires further information on the subject
of domicil, is referred to the title Domicile,
in Denizart, Collection de Jurisprudence.
tom. 6; the same in Encyclopédie Mo-
derne, tom. 10; in Merlin's Répertoire de
Jurisprudence; in 2 Domat, 464, B. I, title
16, s. 3, of Public Law; in Digest, lib.
50, title 1, 1. 1 et seq.; and Code, lib. 10,
title 39, 1. 2, 4, 5, 7; Code Civil de France,
tit. 3, art. 102, &c.; Vöet ad Pand. lib. 5,
tit. 1, sec. 90, 91, 92; Bynkershock, Quæst.
Priv. Juris., lib. 1, ch. 16; Pothier, Cou-
tumes d'Orléans, Introd. n. 16, 20. In the
English and American law, the following
references will be found most useful:
Bruce v. Bruce, 2 Bosanquet & Puller,
229; Somerville v. Somerville, 5 Ves. jr.,
786; Bempde v. Johnstone, 3 Ves. 195;
Curling v. Thornton, 2 Addam's Eccles.
R. 5; Pottinger v. Wightman, 3 Merivale
R. 67; Green's Admiralty Digest, Na-
tional Character; The Venus, 8 Cranch,
278; Wheaton's Digest, title Prize, iv;
Holyoke v. Haskins, 5 Pick. R. 20; Cam-
bridge v. Charlestown, 13 Mass. Rep. 501;
Williams v. Whiting, 11 Mass. Rep. 424;
Guier v. O'Daniel, 1 Rinney's Rep. 352,
note; Elbers v. U. Insurance Company, 16
Jonnson's Rep. 128.
CONTENTS.

Crantara
Crape
Crapelet (C. and A. G.)
Crassus (L. L. and M. L.)..
Crater (see Volcano).
Cravat
Craven (Elizabeth)
Crawfish
Crayer (Gaspar)
Crayons..
Cream of Tartar.
Crébillon (P. J. de)
(C. P. J. de)
Crecy or Cressy en Ponthieu
Credit
Creech (Thomas)
Creed..
Creeks, or Muscogees
Crees, or Knistenaux.
Crefeld....
Cremnitz, or Kremnitz.
Cremona.
Page. Croatia. ...
3 Crocodile
"Croesus..
"Crocus (see Saffron)
"Croisade (see Crusade)
4 Croix, St. (river in Maine)
(river in N. W. Ter-
ritory).
5
- (river in Canada)..
6 Croker (J. W.)
"Cromlech, or Cromleh.
"Cromwell (Oliver, the protec-
7
8
"
"L
tor)
(Oliver)
(Thomas, earl of
Essex)
9 Cronion (see Jupiter)
"Cronos (see Saturn)..
11 Cronstadt, or Burzenland...
"Cronstadt, or Kronschtat
"Crosier..
"Cross.
12
Creole
Dialects..
((
Crescendo, or Cres.
13
Crescent...
Crescenzi (Pietro)
(D. J. B.)
Crescimbeni (Giovanni M.)..
Crespi (Giuseppe M.)
Cressy (see Crecy)
Crest
.....
14
(in baptism)
Bar-Shot.
- Bearer
Bow, or Arbalist
Examination
Fire...
"Crotch (William).
"Crotona, or Croto
15 Croton Oil ...
Croup.
"Crousaz (J. P. de).
66
Crete (see Candia)....... 16 Crow.
Creticus (see Rhythmus)
...
"Crown
40 Crozat (J. A.)
"Cruisers..
42 Crusades.
43
"Crusade, and Crusada (see
article Coins, under the di-
vision Portugal).
Crusca, Academia della (see
Academies)
66
"Crustaceous Animals...
Cruz, Santa (several places
of this name)
"Crypt...
Cruzada...
50 Crypto.
Calvinists
"Cryptogamia..
51 Cryptography
"Cuba
"Cubature of a Solid...
"Cube....
"Cube, or Cubic Number
"Cube, or Cubic Quantity
53 Cube Root
"Cubic Foot .
"Cubit....
"Cuckingstool.
"Cuckoo...
"Cucumber.
"Cucuta..
.
54 Cudworth (Ralph).
"Cuenza..
"L
55
or Bamba
(Sierra de).
"Cueva (John de la)
58 Cufic Writing and Cufic
LL Corona agonothetarum. . " Coins
"Cuirass.
50
62
63
64
69
"
70
71
72
73.
"Cujas (Jaques), or Cujacius. 74
"Culdees
Cretinism
Creûsa..
17
Creutz (G. P. count of)
aurea
castrensis
Creuzer (G. F.).
civica..
....
Crevenna (P. A.)..
18
convivalis
...
"Cullen (William)
Cribbage.
muralis.
"Culloden Muir
Crichton (James)..
natalitia
Cricket
19
navalis
Crillon (Louis de Balbe).... 21
nuptialis
Crime..
obsidionalis
"Cumæ..
(Statistics of)
24
triumphalis
"Cumana
Crimea (see Taurida).
31 Crown (in commerce)..
Criminal Law...
Crisis (in medicine)
Crispin, St. (two of this name) "
Critical Philosophy (see Kant,
and Philosophy).
52 *
31
40
(in an ecclesiastical
sense)..
Glass
༠༠ ཙ
<<
แ
Office
Point..
"Culm...
"Culmination
"Cuma, or Cyme
60
or New Cordova
Cumberland (duke of).....
(Ernest Augus-
tus, duke of)
Mountains
(Richard)
75
(4
76
66
77
...76
618
Cumberland (river).
(town).
Cummazee, or Coomassie.
Cundinamarca
Cunersdorf
Cupel...
Cupellation (see Cupel)
Cupica....
Cupid
Cupola
Curaçao.
CONTENTS.

77, Cyrillian Letters
"Cyrus...
"Cythera
"Czar, Zar, or Zaar
78 Czenstochow, or Czenstoch-
66
owa....
"Czerny George (see Servia).
96 Danegelt..
96 Danforth's Speeder
97 Daniel (the prophet).
"Daniel (Gabriel)
(Samuel)
98 Danish Language, Litera-
" ture, and Art..
"Czirknitz (see Zirknitz) .... "Danishmend...
LL
D.
Dannecker (John Henry von)
Dante....
112
66
(4
113
114
.
Danton (George James)... 117
"Dantzic
118
120
66
Curassoa Oranges
Curds....
Curetes (see Corybantes)...
Curia (Papal)
Curiæ...
Curiatii (see Horatii)
Curius Dentatus (M. A.)
Curlew....
Curran (John Philpot)
Currants
Currency (see Circulating
Medium)
Currents..
Currying
Curry-Powder (see Tur-
meric)
Curtius (Marcus)
Curtius Rufus (Quintus)
79
"D.....
"Da Capo.
80 Dacca...
"Dacca Jelalpore.
81 Dach (Simon)...
"Dacia
"Dacier (André)
(Anna Lefèvre).
"Dactyle (see Rhythm)
82 Dactyliomancy
Dactyliotheca.
Danube
"Daphne
"Daphnin
"Daphnis
99 Darcet (John)
(John Peter Joseph)
"Dardanelles
.... 100 Dardanus ..
101 Darfur, or Darfoor
100 Daria, or Deria
Darien (town)
83 Dactylology, or Dactylono-
my...
66
84 Daduchus
Dædalus.
85 Daendels (H. William).
"Daffodil (see Narcissus)
"Dagh
101
64
(Gulf of)..
(Isthmus of)..
Darius (the name of several
Persian kings)
102 Darmstadt....
86
"Dagobert I (the Great).
"D'Aguesseau (see Agues- "
seau)
Ll
66
(L
66
Custine (A. P. count of)..." Dahl (J. Christian)
Curves....
Cusco, or Cuzco.
Cushing (Thomas)
Customs (see Revenue)
Custos Rotulorum..
Custrin...
Cuticle
Cutlass ..
Cutler (Timothy).
Cutlery
Cutter..
Cutty-Stool..
Cut-Water
Cuvier (G. L. C.F. D. baron)
Cuxhaven
Cuyaba, or Jesus de Cu-
yaba..
87 Daire, or Dairo (see Japan) "
"Dahlia....
"Dahomey
66
Dairy..
"Daisy
"Dal
Dartmoor..
Dartmouth
or Hesse Darm-
121
66
66
stadt (see Hesse) 126
College (see Han-
over, N. H.)..."
Daru (P. A. N. B. count)
Darwin (Erasmus).
(Charles)..
Daschkoff (Catharine Roma-
nowna, princess of) ...
Dataria
103
Date
"Dalai Lama (see Lama).."
88 Dalberg (family of the bar-
66
"
ons of)......
(C. T. A. M.)
(E. J. duke of)
89 Dale (Richard)
Dalecarlia (see Sweden)
90 Dalin (Olof or Olaus)
Dallas (Alexander James)
(Robert Charles)
Cyanogen (see Prussic Acid)"
Cybele..
Cyclades
Cyclic Poets (see Greek Lit-
Cycle..
erature)
Cycloid
Cyclopædia (see Encyclopæ-
dia)...
Cyclopean Works.
Cyder (see Cider)..
Glass (see Glass)
"Dalmatia
"Dalmatica
Dal segno
91 Dalziel (Thomas)
"Dam, Damm..
Damage-feasant
92 Damascenus (John)..
"Damascus..
"Damask...
"Damaskeening, or Damask-
ing..
"Damiens (Robert Francis).
93 Damietta, or Damiat.
Damon and Pythias
"Dampers
"Dampier (William)
Cylinder
Cymbals..
...
Cynics.
Cynosura
Cynthius.
Cypress
Cyprians
"Damps
Cyprian (St.)
94 Dan
Cypris
(Hebrew).
Cyprus.
"Danaë
Cyr (St.)
"Danaïdes
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaics
Cyrene (see Cyrenaica)
Cyri (three saints of this
name).
95 Dancing
.
འཛྫངརིང
(fruit)
Datholite
"Daubenton, or D'Aubenton
(L. J. M.)
104
Daun (L. J. M. count)..
"Dauphin
"Dauphiny.
106
129
སྐྱེ བ བ བ འཕྲུ བ པ བ མ ཚོ བ བ|: ན བ བ པ པ བཤྩ
མཉྫིང་ཚུནང་ཚོབ་དང་སྒོ་ངབ་བམཚོ་ཚོང་མཛོམབ མཚོ
66
105 Davenant (sir William)
David (king of Israel).... 130
(Jacques Louis)... "
"Davidson (Lucretia Maria). 131
"Davie (William Richardson)
Davies (Samuel)
"Davila (Arrigo Caterino)..
Davis (John)..
107 Davis's Straits
"Davit....
..... 132
Davoust (Louis Nicolas)
"Davy (sir Humphrey)
108 Day....
(Thomas)
"Days of Grace
"Deacon..
Deaconess
109 Dead Eye
110
"Dancourt (Florent Carton). 111
"Dandelion (see Leontodon).
Dandolo (Henry)
(Andrew).
Reckoning.
Ropes..
Sea, or
... 133
Asphaltites.."
Deaf and Dumb (see Deaf) 137
Deal (see Pine)..
Dean.
Death
CL
(Agony of).
112
(Civil)
138

CONTENTS.
619
.... 193
Death (Dance of). . . . . . . 140 Dejanira..
(in mythology) ... 139 Deken (Agathe).
(Punishment of). ... 140 Delambre
Watch...
Debenture (see Drawback).
Debt, National (see National
Debt)...
Debtor and Creditor (Laws
of)....
145 Delavigne (J. F. Casimir)..
Delaware (state)
(river)
Bay..
Breakwater.
39
Debure (Guillaume and Guil-
laume François)....... 148
Decade
Decagon
Decalogue
Decameron
Decandolle (A. Pyrame).. "
Decapitation (see Death,
Punishment of).
Decandria...
Decapolis
Decatur (Stephen)
Decazes (Elie)..
Deccan, or the Country of
the South
Decem
December
Decemvirs (see Appius Clau-
dius)....
Decimal Arithmetic
Measure
Decimate..
Deciphering (Art of)
Decius (a Roman emperor)
Mus (Publius)
Deck (see Ship)..
Decker...
Declination of the Sun, of
a Star, or a Planet.
Decomposition (Chemical).
Decoy..
Decree.
Decrepitation.
Decrescendo
Decretal....
Dee (several rivers of this
Deed...
name)..
Deer.
De Facto
Defamation (see Slander)
Defender of the Faith.....
Deffand (Marie du)
Defile...
Definition
Deflagration, and Deflagra-
tor (see Galvanism)
Deflection of the Rays of
Light..
Defoe (Daniel)
Defterdar
Degerando (see Gerando).
Degradation...
Degree (in algebra)
(in geometry)
of Latitude..
Delegate (see Delegation)..
Delegates (Court of)
Delegation
Delft (J. and W.)
(town).
Delftshaven
LL
LL
Delft Ware.
Delhi (province)
(city)..
149
66
LL
Delille (Jacques).
"Delisle, or De L'Isle (G.)..
Della Maria (Dominique)
Delolme (John Louis)
150 Delorme (Marion)
Delos..
152 Delphi.
LL
"Delphini, in Usum (see Dau-
phin)
Delta
LL
Deluc (Jean André)
"Deluge
"Demarara, or Demerary
Demarcation (Line of)
Dembea..
64
(6
66
153 Demerary, or Demarara.
Demesne (see Domain).
Demeter....
66
163 Deodand ...
66 D'Eon (The Chevalier) ... 194
"Department..
164 Dephlogisticated Air (see
Oxygen)...
46
165 Deploy.
"Deportation
"Deposition (in law).
.. 195
197
66
66
166 Depping (George Bernhard) 198
"Deptford
"Deputies, Chamber of (see
Charte Constitutionnelle).
"Derby (county) ....
167
(town)..
"Derbyshire Spar (see Fluate
LL
of Lime, in article Lime)
"Derflinger (George)
168 Derschawin (G. R.)
169 Dervise...
46
Derwent Water.
LL
170
64
Desatir
Desaix de Voygoux (L. C.
A.)..
171 Desault (Peter Joseph).
Descartes (René)
172 Descent (in law)...
66
Deseada, Desirada, or Desid-
erada
De Serre (Hercule)
Deserter..
.. 173 Deseze (Raymond)
...
Demetrius (several kings of
this name).
"Demidoff (Nicolaus, count of)
"Demigods (see Heroes)
154 Demme (H. C. G.).......
"Democracy (see Govern-
ment, Forms of).....
Democritus
(L
Ll
(L
66
Desfontaines (P. F. G.)
"Deshoulières (Antoinette)
"Design (in painting)
"Desmology
LL
199
200
201
.. 20.9
. 201
200
64
20:
Desmoulins (B. Camille).
"Desnoyers (A. Boucher)... "
"Despard (Edward Marcus). 207
"Despot....
174 Dessaix (Joseph-Marie)
Dessalines (Jean-Jacques)
Dessau (Anhalt)....
Dessoles (J. J. P. A.).....
74
...
Destouches (P. N.).
Demoivre (Abraham)..... 175 Desultores.
Demon, Demoniac, Demo-
nology.
Demona (Val di)
155 Demonstration.
157 Demosthenes
"Demotic or Enchorial Alpha-
16 bet.....
158 Demoustier (Charles Albert)
"Demurrage
Demurrer
Den..
"Denarius.
15
..
LL
Detonation
177 Detroit..
66
River, or Strait of St.
Clair..
Deucalion..
178 Deuse, or Duse
"Deuteronomy.
"Deux-Ponts.
179 Deva....
Denderah (Zodiac of)...."
Dendrites, or Arborizations. 182
Dengue Fever (see Fever).
159 Denham (Dixon)
..
LL
(sir John)
Denina (Giacomo Carlo).
160 Denis or Denys, St. (Abbey
66
of)...
Denizen.
161 Denmark
of Longitude.
of Longitude (Mea-
surement of a)... 162
(in universities).... 163
Degrees (Measurement of). 161
Derdamea
Dei Gratia
Deiotarus
Deir....
Deism
Denner (Balthaser).
Denner (John Christian)..
Dennewitz..
Dennie (Joseph)
Dennis (John).
"
20'
209
LL
210
44
211
Devereux (Robert, earl of
Essex)
(Robert, earl of
Essex, son of the
preceding).... "
"Deviation
"Device, or Badge.
Devil
Fish..
183 Devil's Advocate
66
LL
Bridge
Wall
..
190 Devise (in law)
Devolution.
"Devonport
"Devonshire,
163
191
Denon (Dominique Vivant).
"Density..
192
LL
...
Dentifrice
193
of the Earth
212
แ
214
215
duchess of
(Georgiana
Cavendish).."6
duchess of (Eli-
zabeth Her-
vey)....

620
Devonshire, William, duke
of (see Cavendish)
Dew...
De Wette (see Wette)..
De Witt (John).
Dexter (Samuel)
Dey...
Dhioliba (see Niger, and
Timbuctoo)
Diadem..
Diacious (in botany).
Diaglyphon...
Diagnosis (in medicine)
Diagnostic symptoms
Diagonal...
Diagram
Dial (Sun)
Dialect
Dialectics
Dialogue.
Diameter.
Diamond.
District...
LL
CONTENTS.
Digamma
216 Digby (sir Kenelm).
(lord George)
217 Digest (see Civil Law)
Digester
26
218 Digestion (in medicine).
(in chemistry)
LL
Digging
219 Digit (in arithmetic)
66
(in astronomy).
"Digitaline
"Digitalis
"Digraph
"Dijon
"Dike, or Dyke
"Dilapidation
LL
Dilemma..
220 Dilettante
221 Dillenius (John James)
Dill-Seed
222 Dime...
66
(in technical lan-
guage)....... 224
of Poitiers
Diana..
Diana's Tree
Diapason
Diaper
Diaphragm
Diatonic
Diatonum
Intensum,
236 Distillation
"Distress (in law)
237 Dithyrambus
66
Ditters von Dittersdorf (C.)
Ditto....
Divan
238 Diver (see Pearl-Fishery)
a bird (see Loon)..
"Divergent...
"Diverging Series.....
Diversion (in military affairs)
Dividend of Stocks
66
66
(in arithmetic)
Divination..
239 Diving Bell..
"Divisibility.
66
Divining Rod..
Divorce.
"Djebel
"Djezzar (Achmet, pacha of
Acre)
"Djidda (see Jidda)
.. 241 Dnieper, or Dneper, or Nieper
66 Dniester, or Dniestr
Diminutive (in grammar)
223 Diocese, or Diocess
Diocletian (C. Valerius)
Diodati (John)...
Diodorus of Argyrium
225 Diogenes of Sinope
Diomedes (several of this
name)
226 Dion of Syracuse.
Dionæa Muscipula (Venus's
Fly-trap)..
or
Dion Cassius
"Dione....
Dionysia.
CC
Dobberan...
"Dobrowsky (Joseph)
242 Dock...
Docks
243 Dock-Yards..
66
Doctor...
" Doctors' Commons (see Col-
lege of Civilians)
Doctrinaires
66
244
66
Dodd (William).
LL
(Ralph)
254
255
256
66
66
22
66
66
257
LL
66
258
(6
260
262
LL
263
66
265
Sharp Diatonic.
Diaz (Michael and Bartholo-
mew.)...
Dib, or Div
Dibdin (Charles)
Thomas Frognall)
Dice...
Dickinson (John).
College (see Carl-
isle).
"Dionysius the Areopagite
the Elder.
44
227
245 Doddridge (Philip)
244 Dodecandria...
of Halicarnassus. 245 Dodington (George Bubb).
the Little
the Younger
"Dioptrics..
Diorama (see Panorama)
228 Dioscorides (Pedanius).
Dioscuri ...
229 Dip of the Horizon.
244 Dodsley (Robert).
246 Dodona...
246 Dodwell (Henry).
66
Doe, John, and Richard Roe
266
66
64
267
(see Bail, and Writ).... 268
"Dog
Bane..
269
66
Dictator
Dictionary
Didactic Poetry
Didascalia...
Diderot (Denis)
Dido....
Didot (several of this name)
Didymous...
Die (see Architecture, page
338, right column)..
Diebitsch, Sabal Kanski,
count (see Turkey, and
Russia, towards the end).
Diemen (Anthony van)...
Diemen's (Van) Land.
Dieppe ..
Dies Iræ.
Diet, German (see Germany,
and German Confed-
eracy)....
.....
of Hungary (see Hun-
gary).
of Poland (see Poland)
(in medicine)..
Drink..
Dietalia Acta...
Dietrich (J. W. E.)
Dietsch (Barbara Regina)..
Dieu et mon Droit..
Diez (Juan, or John Martin)
Differential Calculus (see
Calculus)...
230 Diploma..
Days.
"Diplomacy
"Doge
231 Diplomatics
249 Dog-Fish.
232 Dipping (among miners)... 250
Dogger
270
"
Needle, or Inclina-
Dog-Grass
233
tory Needle.... "
Dogmas (History of)
Diptycha...
66
Dogmatics..
271
Dogs (Isle of)
251
Dog-Star.
Dogwood
66
Dohm (C. W. von).
272
Doit...
Dolce (Carlo)
Doll (Frederic William)
Dollar
273
66
(Peter)
"Diræ, or Eumenides (see
Furies)...
Directory
"Direct Tax
"Dis....
Discord
234 Discount, or Rebate
"Discus, Disc, or Disk
Diseases (Hereditary)
Dishing Wheels...
235 Dismal Swamp
66
Canal,
or
Chesapeake and Albe-
marle Canal.
"Dismounting
"Dispensary
"Dispensatory
"Disseizin, or Disseisin
"Dissenters (see Non Confor-
236 mists) ....
"Dissidents.
Dissonance
"Distich
252 Dollond (John)..
"Dolomieu (D. G. S. T. G. de)
Dolomite.
Dolphin..
274
"Dolphin of navigators..... 275
"Domain, or Demain, or De-
253 mesne..
LL
Domat (John)
LL
Dome (see Architecture, vol.
1, page 336, right column;
also the article Cupola)..
Domenichino...
254 Domesday or Doomsday
Book..
276
66
277

Domicil
CONTENTS.
... 277 Dragoonades.....
Drake (sir Francis)
(see also page 613)
Domingo, St. (see Hayti)..
Dominic de Guzman (St.)..
Dominica....
Dominical Letter
Dominicans...
Dominique le Père
Domino
.
Domitian (T. F. S.)......
Domremy la Pucelle
Don (river)...
(a title).
Donatists...
Donatus (Ælius)
"
Drama
"Dramaturgy
278 Drapery (see Costume)
"Draught...
"Draughts.
279 Drawback (in commerce)..
"Drawing...
280
66
LL
Slate
"Drayton (William Henry)
Drebbel (Cornelius)...
Dresden....
Dress (see Clothing)
281 Drinker (Edward)
"Droit d'Aubaine
"Droits Réunis
LL
Donau (see Danube).....
Don gratuit....
Donjon (in fortification)...
Donne (John, D. D.)...
Donner (George Raphael)
Don Quixote (see Cervan-
tes)...
Doppelmayr (John Gabriel)"
Dorat (Claude Joseph).... 282
Doree (see Dory)
Dorf..
Doria (family of).
Doric...
Dorigny
name).
Doris (see Nereus)
LL
...
...
Drome..
"Dromedary (see Camel)
"Dropsy..
Drosky.
Drosometer..
Drouais (John Germain)...
Drouet (Jean Baptiste).
Drowning...
Droz (several of this name).
(Joseph).....
66
66
Druids
Drum..
..
294 Dumas (Matthieu)
"Dumb and Deaf, or Deaf
Mutes...
621
329
295
46
300 Dummer (Jeremy)
337
66
Dumont (Stephen)
338
Dumouriez (C. F.)
339
26
Dun....
340
Duncan (Adam)
66
Dundas (Henry)
303 Dunker (see Ephrata,
66
Baptists).
"Dunkirk
304 Dunning (John)
307 Dunois (Jean)
341
also
66
"Duns (John), or Duns Sco-
66 tus..
"Dunstan (St.)
308 Dupaty (J. B. M.)
"Dupin (A. M. J. J.
(Charles)
342
64
66
343
66
344
309 Dupont de Nemours (P. S.). 345
310
L'Etang (see 66
Baylen)....
....
"Dupuis (Charles François).
"Dupuytren (Guillaume). 346
312 Duquesne (Abraham).
"Durango
Durante (Francesco)
313 Dürer (Albert)
LL
66
(6
(several of this
Drupe (in botany).
284 Drury Lane Theatre
285 Druses
Dormant state of animals.."
Dormouse..
Dorpat, or Dörpt
Dorsey (John Syng)
Dort
Dortmund...
Dortrecht (see Dort)
Dory, or John Dory
Dosso Dossi
Dotations of Napoleon
Douane
Double Entente.
Entendre.
Doubling a Cape
Doubloon
upon
Douglas (Gawin).
(John)..
.
LL
Drusus (several of this name)"
"Dryads
286 Dryden (John).
...
Dutch Language, Literature,
Schools of Art, &c. (see
Netherlands)
347
66
349
LL
66
283 Drummond (William).
Drunkenness
LL
Duress (in law)
66
Duroc (Michael)
Düsseldorf
66
314
315
Dutens (Louis)
66
Duties (see Revenue).. 35)
.....
316
Duval (Alexander)
(Amaury).
66
Dwarfs...
351
Dwelling (see Domicil, and
Habitation) ...
35.2
Dwight (Timothy)
318 Dyeing
353
355
"Dry-Rot.
"Dshamy (see Jami)...... 317
"Dshingis Khan (see Gengis
Khan)...
287 Dual (in grammar)
"Dualism, Dualist
Dublin
Dubois (William)
Dubos (Jean Baptiste)....
"Ducange (see Dufresne)...
Ducat...
Ducatoon
Dousa, or Van der Does... 288
Douw, Gerard (see Dow)
Dove (see Turtle Dove, and
Pigeon)...
Dover (in Delaware) ..
(in England)...
(in N. Hampshire).
Duchesne, or Du Chesne
(A.)
Ducis (Jean François)
"Duck...
Straits of)....... 289
Dove-tailing (in carpentry).
Dow (Gerard)..
Dower..
--(a cloth).
Ducking-Stool (see Cucking-
Stool)
Duclos (Charles Pineau)
of Glass
351
(Valentine Jameray) 35)
319 Dyer (John)
"Dyke, Van (see Van Dyke) "
Dynameter..
320 Dynamic and Atomic Theo-
ries...
"Dynamics..
"Dynamometer
"Dyspepsia
322
356
66
E.
"E....
. 361
Ductility
Eagle..
323
a coin (see Coin)
Downing Street.
291
"Du-Deffand, madame (see
Deffand)
Eaheinomauwe
363
Ear...
(road for ships).
"L
Drachm
...
Draco...
Dracunculi
Drag..
Duel
Dragging the Anchor
Dragoman
Dragon.
Shell..
Dragon's Blood.
Dragoon...
66
Downs..
Doxology.
"Dudley (Edmund)......
Doyen (Gabriel François).. 292
(John, duke of North-
umberland)..... "
(sir Henry Bate).. 324 Earlom (Richard)
(Robert, earl of Lei-
293 Dufresne, or Du Fresne
(Charles)..
"L
"Duguay-Trouin (René).
"Dujardin (Charles).
294 Duke...
Dulwich
"Dumarsais (C. C.)..
"Earwig.
328 East.
(6 Easter
329
19
Trumpets
.364
Earl..
365
Marshal of England.
((
Earnest
LL
cester)
Earth.
325
-- (Motion of the)
367
Earthquake
.369
327 Earths
370
371
Island, or Davis'
Island...

622
Eastern Empire (see Byzan-
tine Empire)
East India Companies
Danish
Dutch ..
English
French
Portuguese
Swedish
East India Fly
CONTENTS.
Edmund II ...
372 Edred, king of England.
66
Edridge (Henry).....
380 Edward the Black Prince..
(Charles, the Pre-
tender)....
404 Elbing.
64
Elder.
Elders
408 Eldon (earl of)
Eldorado
409 Eleatic..
...
405 Elecampane
404 Election..
405 Elective Affinity (see Affin-
406 ity)....
"Elector.
373
375
380
the Confessor
372
the Elder
380
I.....
66
II.
III.
IV
V...
VI.
66
Eastport
LL
East River
the Martyr..
Edwards (Bryan)
404
Eaton (William)
381
East Indies (see India, and
the different articles, as
Calcutta, Bengal, &c.).
Easton .
Eau.
de Cologne
de Luce
Ebb (see Tide)
Ebel (John Godfrey)..
Ebeling (C. D.)
Eben (Frederic)
Ebenezer....
Ebert (John Arnold)
Ebionites
..
408 Electra
435
436
437
442
444
409 Electric Calamine (see Zine) "
Electrical Eel
-
410 Electricity
(Jonathan)...... 411 Electro-Dynamics
450
Machines.
.
444
462
Magnetism.
413
Electrometer (see Electric-
ity)...
382 Edwy, king of England... 412
Eel
"Effendi
"Effigy (to execute or degrade
in)
383 Efflorescence.
"Egalité (Philip)
384 Egbert, king of England
"Egede (John).
385 Egeran (see Idocrase)..
Egeria.
..
..
"Egerton (Francis, duke of
Bridgewater)..
Establishments" Egina (see Egina)
Eginetan Style of Art (see
Eginetan Style)..
Egisthus (see Agamemnon).
སྤྱི་འའབྲི་བྱིའའཆིའའའའ་སྤྱི་ འཆྱེདྡྷིསྤྱིའའདི འཧྰུྃ་ལ་འཕྲུ
.. 467
Electrophorus (see Electric-
ity)...
Electro-Statics
Electrum..
"Eleemosynary Corporation
"Elegy...
414 Element.
"Elephant
468
Elephanta, or Elephant Isle 470
"Elephantiasis
415 Elephant's River.
"Elephantina, or El Sag
"Eleusis....
...
"Eleuthera, or Alabaster Isl-
and....
"Elevation of a Place (see Al-
416
66
Elf...
"Elgin (lord).
Ebony.
Ebro
Ecbatana.
386
Ecce Homo
"Egg
Ecclesiastical Courts (see
Plant
Courts)....
"Egil
Egil Scallagrim..
History (see
Christianity) 391
States (sec
Eginhard (Einard)
Church, States
Egis (see Ægis)
of the; also
Curia, Papal)
"Eglantine.
Echalote.
Echard (Lawrence)
Echea..
or
New
Guernsey.
"Elijah
Echeneis
Echinus, or Sea Egg
Echo....
392 Egra, or Eger.
Egra, Eger, or Chebbe
66
393 Egypt
66
46
(Political History of)
(Landing and Cam-
421
paign of the French
in)
424
Echelon
(in mythology)
Eckhel (Joseph Hilary)
Eckmühl
Eclectics
Eclipse of the Moon
Sun.
Ecliptic
Eclogue..
Economy, Political (see Po-
litical Economy)
Edam
Edda...
Eddystone Rocks
Edelinck (Gerard)
Eden (see Paradise)..
(sir F. Morton)
Edgar, king of England.
Edgeworth (Maria) ......
-de Firmont (Hen-
ry Essex)
(Richard Lovell)
Edict....
of Nantes (see Hu-
guenots)....
Edile (see Edile)
Edinburgh...
Review.
Edmund I...
"Egmont (Lamoral).
Island
395
396
Egyptian Mythology (see
Cemetery, Charon, and Hi-
eroglyphics)
398 Ehrenbreitstein
Ehrenstroem
titude)...
the Host
El-Harib...
"Elianus (see Elianus).
Elias (see Elijah)
417 Elio (Francisco Xavier)
Eliot (John)
429
LL
44
LL
Eichhorn (John Godfrey)
(Frederic Charles) 430
Eichstaedt (H. C. A.).
399 Eider Duck.
"Eifel...
"Eisenach
"Ejectment (in law)
El, or Al ..
400 Elain...
LL
431
64
Ll
Eliott (George Augustus).
Elis...
Elixir.
Eliza Bonaparte (see Bacci
occhi)
Elizabeth (St.) of Thuringia
471
472
66
46
འབྱི་ཟིའའའའབྱི
queen of England 476
Charlotte, duchess
of Orleans.... 478
Petrowna, empress
of Russia..... 479
(Christina) of Prus-
sia.....
of France
Islands
Elizabethtown.
432 Elk (see Deer)
433 Ell...
Ellenborough (lord)
Ellery (William)
22
Elastic Gum (see Caout-
chouc)....
66
Elliott (Stephen)
401
Elalia..
"Elasticity
Elater
"Elba
LL Elbe
"Elbée (Gigot d')
403 Elberfeld
404 Elbeuf, or Elboeuf....
"Ellipsis
434
66
Ellipticity of the Terrestrial
Spheroid (see Degree,
Measurement of)
435 Ellis (George).
"Ellora (see Elora)
Ellsworth (Oliver)
"Ellwood (Thomas)
480
66
481
64
LL
482
66
483
66
484

Elongation (in astronomy)
Elopement
Elora....
CONTENTS.
"Enigma (see Enigma)....
Epicurus
623
.... 510
503 Epicycle (in astronomy)... 541
"Epicycloid (in geometry)
Epidaurus..
504 Epidemic, or Epidemic Dis-
ease
510 Epidermis.
Elm....
484
Elmina, or La Mina, or Od-
Engagement, Naval (see
Ship, and Navy)
dena, or St. George del
Engano Isle
Mina...
485
Engel (John James)
66
Elmo's Fire (St.).
Enghien (duke of)..
Elmsley (Peter, D. D.)
66
or Enghuien
"Engia (Gulf of)
(Island of).
509 Epidote.
510 Epigastric.
England
66
Epiglottis.
486
(Little).
(New)...
...
517 Epigram
66
Epigraph
"English Channel
514 Epilepsy.
Language
"Epilogue..
487 Engravers (Modern)
522 Epimenides
Engraving...
518 Epimetheus.
66
Elsinore, Elsineur, or Hel-
singoer
Elysium, Elysian Fields
Elzevir, or Elzvier..
Emanation, Efflux.
Emancipation (see Catholic
Emancipation).
Emanuel the Great, king of
Portugal..
Embalming.
Embargo (in commerce)...
Embassador (see Ambassa-
dor, and Ministers, For-
eign).
Embayed
Ember Weeks or Days
Embezzlement ..
Emblem...
Embonpoint
Embossing, or Imbossing
Embracery
Embroidery.
Embryo..
Emden
Emerald.
Emerson (William)
Emery (John)..
(a mineral)
Emetic..
Emetine
...
•
Emeu, or New Holland Cas-
sowary (see Cassowary).
Emigration
Emigrés
Emilius (see Æmilius)
Eminence..
Emir.
...
Emlyn (Thomas)
Emmet (Thomas Addis)...
Empecinado, The (see Diez).
Empedocles
Emperor
Empiric
Ems..
Emulsions
LL
(Church of)..... 512 Epigoni..
(Line) .. 519 Epinay (madame d')
of Mezzotintos. 520 Epiphany
on precious Epiphora.
Stones..... 521 Epirus
(Steel).... "Episcenium
in Wood .... "Episcopacy (see England,
520 Church of, and Roman
519 Catholic Church)
66
Etching
Stippling.
"Engravings (Colored)
488 Engrossing (in law)
Enharmonic
"Enneper or Emper Road..
Eunius (Quintus).
LL
Enoch
(the Prophecy of)
LL
489 Enos
LL
"Ensign..
Ensemble..
"Entablature.
"Entail, or Tail.
490 Enteritis
"Entomology
522 Episode
523 Epistolæ obscurorum Viro-
66
66
rum
"
512
543
544
545
46
44
546
524 Epistylium (see Architecture,
vol. 1, p.338, right column) "
"Epitaph..
6.
66
66
525
6.
.. 532
533
Entre-Duero-e-Minho
"Entresole (see Attic) ..
"Envoy (see Ministers, For-
492 eign, and Diplomacy).
493 Eolian Harp (see olian
Harp).
LL
"Eolians (see Eolians)
"Eolipile (see olipile).
494 Eolus (see olus)..
Eon, the chevalier de (see
D'Eon)..
495
66
Eos (see Aurora).
...
496 Epact (Rule to find the Gre-
497
gorian).
"Epacts..
LL
(Annual)
Menstrual)
Epithalamium
Epitome...
Epoch, or Era
"
547
14
the Era of Abraham. 552
the Abyssinian Era.. 550
Era of Antioch, and
Era of Alexandria. 549
the Era of the Arme-
nians...
.. 552
.. 552
the Bengalee year.. 554
the Cæsarean Era of
Antioch
the Caliyug.. .. 554
the Chinese cycle... 554
the Christian Era.... 548
the Era of Constanti-
nople.......
the Creation..
549
the Death of Alexan-
แ
Enameling
Encaustic Painting
Enchasing (see Chasing)
Enchorial, or Enchoric
Enclave.
Enclosure
Encratites.
..
498
Encyclopædia, or Cyclopæ-
dia
Encyclopédie (The French),
Endeavor Straits.
Endemic..
Endive..
Endymion...
Eneas (see Eneas)
Eneid (see Virgil)
Enesidemus (see Eneside-
mus).
Enfield (William, LL. D.).
Enfilade
Engadina, or Engadine
LL
(Table of Gregorian) "
"Epaminondas
"Epaulement (in fortification) 534
499 Epaulette..
"Epée (Abbé de l')
Epernay...
64
der the Great.... 551
the Era of Diocletian,
or Era of Martyrs
the Egyptian Era... "
the French Revolu-
tionary Calendar.. 552
the Grecian Era, cr
Era of the Seleuci-
des
... 551
Indian Chronology.. 553
the Japanese cycle.. 555
the Jewish Era.... 550
the Julian Period ... 551
the Mexican year... 556
the Mohammedan
Era, or Era of the
Hegira..
66
535
536
"Ephemera.
แ
501 Ephemerides (in astronomy)
502 Ephesus....
LL
LL
((
26
553
the Era of Nabonas-
537
sar....
551
the Olympiads
540
"Ephialtes (see Incubus)
(see Aloides)
503 Ephori.
"Ephraimites
"Ephrata
Epi...
"Epic
...
"Epicharmus of Cos
"Epichirema.
"Epictetus
ངེའཛུང་འཕྲུ
540
the Roman Era ...
the Era of Salivahana 554
the Spanish Era, or
Era of the Cæsars 552
the Era of Tyre...
44

Erysipelas.
Erzerum, or Arzerum, or
Arz-roum.
"Etching..
"Eteocles and Polynices
591
66
66
Ethelbert, king of England. "
king of Kent
624
CONTENTS
the Era of Vicramadi-
tya......
Erwin of Steinbach....
576 Etania
554
Eryngo...
the Era of Yezdegird
III or the Persian
Era...
552
Epode
Epopee (see Epic)
Epoptæ
Eprouvette
Epsom
Salt....
Equation (in algebra).
Equator
of Payments.
of Time
Equatorial (Universal), or
Portable Observatory
Equerry....
Equestrian Order (in Roman
antiquities)...
Equilibrist...
Equinoctial (in astronomy).
Gales
Points..
Equinox.
Equisetum
Equity
(Courts of).
556 Erzgebirge.
557 Es, or Eis..
"Escalade...
Escape (in law)
Escheat (in law)
"Eschenbach (Wolfram von)
"Eschenburg (John Joachim)
Eschines (see schines)
558 Eschylus (see Eschylus)..
"Esclepiades (see Esclepia-
des)..
..
"Esclepiadic (see Esclepia-
dic)..
66
Escoiquiz (don Juan).
LL
Escort...
577 Ethelred I, king of England "
46
II.
66
"Ethelwolf, king of England 592
"Ether (in chemistry)
66
in philosophy (see
Æther)..
578 Etherege (sir George)
"Ethiopians
"Ethiops Mineral (see Mer-
cury)..
"Ethnography
སྐྱང་སྐབབ
Etienne (see Stephens).... 593
(Charles Guillaume) "
-
"Etiquette
Etna..
...
559 Esculapius (see Esculapius) 579 Etolia (see Ætolia)
"Escurial..
"Escutcheon (in heraldry)
"Eski ....
66
Eskimaux (see Esquimaux)
560 Esmenard (Joseph Alphonse)
"Esmeraldas (province)..
(river)...
562
of Redemption
Equivalents (Chemical)..."
Era (see Epoch, and Era) 566
Eras (List of the Correspon-
dence of, with the Year
1830)..
Esneh, Esne, or Asna
Esop (see Æsop)...
Esopus (see Esopus).
Esoteric..
Espagnoletto (see Spagno-
556 letto)...
Erasmus (Desiderius)..... 566 Espaliers
Erato
Eratosthenes
Ercilla y Zuñiga (don Alon-
zo de)
Erebus...
Erectheus (see Ericthonius)
Eremite....
Eresicthon (see Erisicthon).
Erfurt....
Ergot
Erhard (Christian Daniel)..
"Espinasse (J. J. E.)
"Espiritu-Santo, or Spiritu-
Santo
"Esplanade (in fortification)
567 Espréménil (James Duval d')
"Esprit...
"Esquimaux
Esquire.
Ess (Charles van)
568 Essaying (see Assaying).
"Essenes, or Essæans
(John Benjamin)... 569 Essential Oils ...
Eric (name of several kings) "Essequibo (river)
(settlement)
Ericthonius, or Erectheus.. "
Eridanus..
Erie...
Erigena (John Scotus).
Erinnyes (see Furies)....
Eriphyle
Eris...
Erisicthon, or Eresicthon.
Ermark
Erlangen...
Ermenonville
Ermine
Ernesti (John Augustus)
Eros...
Erostratus (see Eratostratus)
Erotic....
Erotomany
Erpenius (Thomas)
Error (in astronomy)
Ersch (John Samuel)
Erskine (lord)
570 Essex
"Esslingen (see Aspern)..
"Estachar, or Estakar, or Is-
571 tachar..
LL
Estafet..
"Estaffette d'Alger (L')
"Estaing (count d')
Estaminet..
Ll
572 Estate (in law).
"Estates (in politics).
"Este (family of)
"Esther..
573 Esthetics (see Esthetics).
"Esthonia
"Estrays and Waifs
"Estrées (Gabrielle d').
(duc d') ..
"L
..
574 Estremadura (province of
66
LL
Eruption (in medicine). . . . 576
ma dia
To and
To si alt
66
Eton.
580
Montem.
"Etruria...
"Ettenheim
"Etymology
"Euboea (see Negropont).
"Eucharist. ...
Ll
Euchlorine (see Chlorine)..
Euclid....
"Eudæmonism, or Eudæmo-
nology...
Eudiometer
"Euergetæ
"Eugene (prince).
de Beauharnais
594
LL
LL
66
595
66
596
66
64
660
597
66
..598
€ 600
.601
66
Eulenspiegel (Tyll) ...... 599
581 Euler (Leonard)
"Eulogies
"Eumenides (see Furies)
Eunomia (see Hours)..
"Eunuchs
66
582 Eupatorium
Euphony
"Euphrates, or Phrat, or Frat 602
"Euphrosyne (see Graces).. "
Eure...
583 Euripides
46
66
"Europa (in mythology).... 603
"Europe
604
66
"Euryale (three of this name) 610
Euryalus (two of this name)
"Eurydice
"Eurynome
584 Eusebia
"Eusebius
"Eustachi (Bartolomeo)
"Eustathius
585 Eustatia (St.)
587 Euterpe..
589 Euthanasia
"Eutropius (Flavius)
26
Euxine...
Evan (see Bacchus)
"Evangelical...
590 Evaporation
66
611
61
(Artificial)... 612
Spain).... " Eve (see Adam)
(province of
Portugal).. "APPENDIX.
66
613
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 02593 8948
і
To be Withdrawn:
!
MON 0.1 2002